EP2085490B1 - Device for tempering objects - Google Patents

Description

1. a) einem ersten Temperraum und einem zweiten Temperraum, welche jeweils einen Eingang und einen Ausgang haben, wobei zwischen dem Ausgang des ersten Temperraums und dem Eingang des zweiten Temperraums ein Übergabebereich angeordnet ist;
2. b) einer Fördereinrichtung, mittels welcher mit zu tempernden Gegenständen beladene Tragstrukturen im Durchlauf durch die Temperräume förderbar sind und welche ihrerseits eine Übergabeeinrichtung umfasst, mittels welcher die Tragstrukturen im Übergabebereich von dem Ausgang des ersten Temperraums zum Eingang des zweiten Temperraums förderbar sind;
3. c) einer Behandlungseinrichtung, mittels welcher Gegenstände auf ihrem Weg nach dem Verlassen des ersten Temperraums und vor Eintritt in den zweiten Temperraum einer Zwischenbehandlung, insbesondere einer Abschreckung, unterziehbar sind.

The invention relates to a device for tempering objects, in particular vehicle wheels, with

1. a) a first annealing space and a second annealing space, each having an input and an output, wherein between the output of the first annealing space and the input of the second annealing space, a transfer area is arranged;
2. b) a conveying device, by means of which laden with objects to be tempered support structures in the passage through the annealing spaces are conveyed and which in turn comprises a transfer device, by means of which the support structures are conveyed in the transfer area from the output of the first annealing space to the input of the second annealing space;
3. c) a treatment device, by means of which objects on their way after leaving the first annealing space and before entering the second annealing space of an intermediate treatment, in particular a deterrent, are unterziehbar.

At one of the US 2008/0003534 A1 known tempering workpieces are performed on a kind of conveyor carousel through each one of two ovens and transferred by means of a robot arm from the first furnace to the second furnace, where they undergo an intermediate treatment. There, however, the workpieces are tempered or moved individually and not on supporting structures.

From the market known tempering systems for aluminum wheels comprise as a first and second annealing room a solution annealing furnace and an aging furnace, which are arranged one above the other. In a solution annealing furnace, components of the alloy from which the aluminum wheels are made are dissolved. Hereinafter, a solution annealing furnace will be referred to simply as an annealing furnace for the sake of simplicity. Usually in the annealing furnace a temperature of 550 ° C prevails and in the aging furnace a temperature of up to 250 ° C, especially of 180 ° C.

The aluminum wheels are conveyed on carrying racks in the passage through the annealing furnace and the aging furnace. The annealing furnace has on its underside an inlet opening, through which loaded with aluminum wheels carrying frames are introduced by means of a lifting station in the annealing furnace. Inside the annealing furnace, the supporting frames are conveyed on a roller conveyor to an exit opening, which is likewise arranged on the underside of the annealing furnace.

In a transfer area between the annealing furnace and the aging furnace, the supporting frames with the aluminum wheels are taken out of the annealing furnace through the outlet opening by means of a second lifting station and subjected to an intermediate treatment, for which purpose they are lowered into a quenching basin filled with water. The quenching process of the aluminum parts can also be done in an air stream. After quenching, the supporting frames are raised with the aluminum wheels by means of the second lifting station and conveyed through a corresponding inlet opening into the aging furnace. In the aging furnace, the supporting frames with the aluminum wheels are conveyed on a roller conveyor to an exit opening, where they are finally removed from the aging furnace.

The document US2008 / 0003534 A1 describes such a device in the section of the prior art (Fig. 9, sections 3 and 4).

In this known from the market tempering the support frames are promoted together with the aluminum wheels through the annealing furnace, by the quenching tank and by the Auslagerungsofen. The strongly cooled by the quenching in the transfer area supporting frames must be reheated in the aging furnace, which affects the energy balance of the tempering and means an adverse heat loss.

Object of the present invention is to provide a device of the type mentioned, in which the heat loss is reduced.

• d) eine Rangiereinrichtung vorgesehen ist, durch welche auf einer Tragstruktur, die sich im Übergabebereich befindet, ein aus dem ersten Temperraum kommender Gegenstand gegen einen von der Zwischenbehandlung kommenden Gegenstand austauschbar ist.

This object is achieved in a device of the type mentioned in that

• d) a shunting device is provided, by means of which, on a support structure which is located in the transfer area, an object coming from the first annealing space can be exchanged for an object coming from the intermediate treatment.

The object coming from the first tempering space is fed to the intermediate treatment without a supporting structure. As soon as the support structure is loaded with the object coming from the intermediate treatment, it can be supplied to the second annealing space. This can already take place while the object initially carried by the support structure is treated in between. It is not necessary to wait until the treatment process of an object is completed, which would extend the residence time of the support structure outside the tempering rooms, in which it would cool more.

Particularly for the tempering of vehicle parts made of aluminum, for example aluminum wheels, it is favorable if the treatment device comprises a quenching area in which objects can be introduced by means of the maneuvering device. In particular, a quench tank filled with a liquid is provided, into which objects can be immersed by means of the shunting device. Alternatively, aluminum wheels can also be quenched by means of a gaseous medium, with which the objects are acted upon in the quenching area.

The shunting device may comprise a lifting and lowering station with a support table, on which an object can be moved by the transfer device, by means of which this object can be lowered into the quenching basin.

The shunting device advantageously comprises a device on which an article which has been subjected to an intermediate treatment can be temporarily stored until the article coming from the first tempering zone has been removed from the supporting structure which is located in the transfer region. Thus, the treatment device is not occupied by an object while another object is to be supplied.

If the tempering rooms are formed by ovens with oven doors, the furnace doors are fully opened when loading or unloading the ovens in the prior art. However, the created opening is usually larger than would be required to load or unload the oven, thereby removing more heat than necessary from the oven through the opening. In this context, it is advantageous if the furnace door is constructed from a plurality of releasably interlocking door segments and can be opened in such a way that an opening can be generated approximately only in an area in which a gate segment is arranged when the oven door is completely closed. As a result, an opening can be selectively created at the entrance or exit of a furnace where access to the furnace is necessary. This opening is smaller than the entire entrance or exit opening of the furnace, whereby the heat loss is reduced.

For a good throughput of the tempering device, it is favorable if the furnace has such dimensions that a plurality of layers of supporting structures with objects stacked one above the other are stacked be conveyed through it.

In this case, it is advantageous in the furnace door constructed of door segments, if each door segment of the furnace door is arranged in its closed position at the level of a layer of support structures with objects inside the furnace. Thus, in the case of an oven which is opened correspondingly in the region of a door segment, it is possible to specifically access a position within the oven.

Figur 1

einen Längsschnitt durch eine Vorrichtung zum Tempern von Gegenständen mit einem Glühofen und einem Auslagerungsofen;

Figur 2

einen Schnitt der Vorrichtung nach Figur 1 entlang der dortigen Schnittlinie II-II;

Figur 3

einen Schnitt der Vorrichtung nach Figur 1 entlang der dortigen Schnittlinie III-III;

Figur 4

die Vorrichtung nach den Figuren 1 bis 3 in einer Draufsicht;

Figur 5

eine Seitenansicht in größerem Maßstab auf den Bereich eines Ofentors aus Richtung des Pfeils V in Figur 4; und

Figur 6

einen der Figur 1 entsprechenden Längsschnitt zur Verdeutlichung der Arbeitsabläufe.

An embodiment of the invention will be explained below with reference to the drawing. In this show:

FIG. 1

a longitudinal section through an apparatus for annealing objects with an annealing furnace and an aging furnace;

FIG. 2

a section of the device according to FIG. 1 along the section line II-II;

FIG. 3

a section of the device according to FIG. 1 along the section line III-III;

FIG. 4

the device according to the FIGS. 1 to 3 in a plan view;

FIG. 5

a side view on a larger scale on the range of a furnace door from the direction of the arrow V in FIG. 4 ; and

FIG. 6

one of the FIG. 1 corresponding longitudinal section to clarify the workflow.

In the FIGS. 1 . 2 . 4 and 6 is generally designated 10 a device for annealing objects, in which Aluminum wheels 12 for motor vehicles are tempered in a continuous process. In the FIGS. 1 and 6 Movement directions of movable components are illustrated by arrows or double arrows.

The tempering system 10 comprises an annealing furnace 14 with a housing 16 which delimits an annealing space 18. The annealing furnace 14 has an inlet 20 on one end face and an outlet 22 on the opposite end side, which can be closed by furnace gates 24 and 26, respectively. In the annealing furnace 14, a temperature of about 550 ° C is generated in a conventional manner.

Above the annealing furnace 14, a paging furnace 28 is arranged with an inner space 32 bounded by a housing 30. The aging furnace 28 has at the end face which is located on the side of the output 22 of the annealing furnace 14, an input 34. At the opposite end face of the paging furnace 28, the housing 30 has an output 36. The entrance 34 and the exit 36 of the paging furnace 28 are closed by furnace ports 38 and 40, respectively. On the oven door 24, 26, 38, 40 will be discussed in more detail below. The temperature in the interior 32 of the paging furnace 28 is up to 250 ° C, in particular 180 ° C.

In addition to the entrance 20 of the annealing furnace 14 and the outlet 36 of the paging furnace 28, a loading and unloading station 42 is arranged, by means of which the annealing furnace 14 loaded with aluminum wheels 12 to be tempered and annealed aluminum wheels 12 can be removed from the paging furnace 28.

For this purpose, the loading and unloading station 42 comprises a lifting carriage 44, which along vertical guide rails 46a of a guide frame 46 between positions in the region of the entrance 20 of the annealing furnace 14 and positions in the region Output 36 of the paging furnace 28 can be moved. On the lifting carriage 44, a horizontal roller conveyor 48 is mounted with rollers 50, which are driven by a drive 52. In the case of further roller conveyors mentioned below, according to the drive 52 of the roller track 48 drives shown are present, which, however, are not specifically provided with a reference numeral.

The roller conveyor 48 can be lowered by means of a lifting mechanism 49 relative to the lifting slide 44 vertically in a lower lowered position and raised to an upper support position, which will be discussed again below.

The aluminum wheels 12 are transported in bogies 54 or in support frames 56 through the ovens 14, 28, which in FIG. 2 are clearly visible and are made for example of a heat-resistant steel. A bogie 54 and a support frame 56 each include two opposing side walls 58a, 58b, which are connected at the bottom by two parallel spaced apart hollow profiles 60 having a rectangular cross-section. A bogie 54 differs from a support frame 56 by additional low mounted rollers 62, over which each bogie 54 can be moved in the direction perpendicular to the hollow sections 60 direction. On a bogie 54 several support frames 56 can be stacked. In the drawing, a plurality of aluminum wheels 12 are arranged side by side in a support frame 56 on the roller conveyor 48 of the lifting carriage 44 (see. FIGS. 1 and 4 ).

So that a bogie 54 or a support frame 56 with aluminum wheels 12 can be carried down from the roller conveyor 48 into the annealing furnace 14 or out of the aging furnace 28 on the roller conveyor 48, the lifting carriage 44 of the loading and unloading station 42 comprises a telescopic device 64 (see also FIG. 4 ). The telescopic device 64 has two horizontally extendable arms, which are not shown here in detail. These arms can hook on the side cheeks 58a, 58b of a hearth carriage 54 and a support frame 56 and carry them ..

On the side remote from the ovens 14, 28 side of the guide frame 46 a movable in different heights scissor lift 66 is arranged, which carries a further drivable roller conveyor 68 with rollers 70. The lowermost position A and the uppermost position B of the roller conveyor 68 are in FIG. 1 shown. When the lift carriage 44 and the scissor lift table 66 are appropriately positioned, articles can be conveyed back and forth between their roller conveyors 48 and 68.

In FIG. 4 two circumferential conveyor chains 72a, 72b can be seen, which run between two adjacent rollers 70 of the roller conveyor 68 and parallel to these. Their horizontal upper strands can be moved between a lower and an upper position. In the lower position, the upper runs of the conveyor chains 72a, 72b are below the support plane of the roller conveyor 68, so that objects located thereon rest on the roller conveyor 68 and can be moved by rotation of the rollers 70 perpendicular to their longitudinal axis on the roller conveyor 68. In the upper position, the conveying position, the upper runners of the conveyor chains 72a, 72b are raised above the support plane of the roller conveyor 68, so that with circulating conveyor chains 72a, 72b aluminum wheels 12 rest on them and no longer on the roller conveyor 68. Thus, aluminum wheels 12 can be conveyed parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rollers 70 of the roller conveyor 68 by means of the conveyor chains 72a, 72b.

As in FIG. 4 Also shown is a drivable roller conveyor 74 is provided, the horizontal rollers 76, however perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of the rollers 70 of the roller conveyor 68. The support plane of the roller conveyor 74 is aligned with that of the roller conveyor 68 of the scissor lift 66 when it assumes its upper position B, and then connects to this. Below the roller conveyor 74 is a corresponding, but not visible in the figures roller conveyor is arranged. Its support plane is aligned with that of the roller conveyor 68 of the scissor lift table 66 when it assumes its lower position A, and then connects to this.

The aluminum wheels 12 are guided in several layers through the annealing furnace 14 and the aging furnace 28. For this purpose, in the ovens 14, 28 at the bottom each have a plurality of bogies 54 arranged one behind the other, each of which carries a plurality of aluminum wheels 12 side by side (see. FIG. 2 ). In addition, two further support frames 56 can be stacked on each bogie 54, which in turn can be loaded with a plurality of juxtaposed aluminum wheels 12. Overall, a maximum of three layers of stacked aluminum wheels 12 are possible in the present embodiment, of which the lowest resting on the hearth carriage 54 and the two upper on support frames 56. With a corresponding overall height, more or less than three layers can be passed through the ovens 14, 28.

In the annealing furnace 14, the bogies 54 travel in the direction of transport 78 as contiguous with their rollers 62 in a two-track guide rail 80. This runs at a distance from the bottom 82 of the annealing furnace housing 16, which allows a uniform air circulation and an approximately uniform temperature without disturbing temperature fluctuations favored in the annealing space 18.

The propulsion of the shuttle cars 54 in the annealing chamber 18 of the annealing furnace 14 is effected by a known per se sliding system 84, which is commonly referred to as a "pusher" and in FIG. 1 is merely indicated. In this case, after on the output side of the annealing furnace 14, a shuttle 54 was removed, the first adjacent to the input 20 of the annealing furnace 14 bogie 54 is pushed so that it pushes the further inner bogie 54 in the direction of the output 22 of the annealing furnace 14 until at the entrance 20 space for the further bogie 54 is created.

In the removal furnace 28, the shuttle cars 54, however, are conveyed by means of a known per se chain conveyor 86 with two rotating chains 88 from the input 34 to the output 36. The chains 88 each run through a per se known tensioning device 89. As in the Figures 2 and 4 to recognize a drive 90 of the chain conveyor 86 is disposed outside of the housing 30 of the aging furnace 28.

Each bogie 54 rests in the aging furnace 28 with its hollow sections 60 on the chains 88 of the chain conveyor 86, the rollers 62 are exposed without mating contact (see. FIG. 2 ). The chains 88 of the chain conveyor 86 run at a distance from the bottom 92 of the paging furnace 28, so that even in the interior 32 of a uniform air circulation and an approximately uniform temperature without disturbing temperature fluctuations is ensured by a recirculation system.

In contrast to the arrangement of the bogie 54 in the annealing furnace 14, they are promoted by the paging furnace 28 while maintaining a distance from each other and on average faster than in the annealing furnace 14. In this way it is achieved that the bogie 54 with the same dimensions of the ovens 14, 28 dwell shorter in the aging furnace 28 as in the annealing furnace 14. Depending on the distance between the bogie 54 on the Chain conveyor 86 and its average speed can thus be changed, the removal time for the aluminum wheels 12 without the clocking would have to be changed during loading.

Between the outlet 22 of the annealing furnace 14 and the entrance 34 of the paging furnace 28 is a transfer area 94, in which the aluminum wheels 12 can be transferred by means of a transfer station 96 of the annealing furnace 14 to the aging furnace 28.

The transfer station 96 comprises a lifting carriage 98 which can be moved along vertical guide rails 100a of a guide frame 100 between positions in the region of the outlet 22 of the annealing furnace 14 and positions of the region 34 of the discharge furnace 28. On the lifting carriage 98, a horizontal roller conveyor 102 is mounted with drivable rollers 104. The roller conveyor 102 can be lowered by means of a lifting mechanism 103 relative to the lifting carriage 98 vertically in a lower lowered position or raised to an upper support position, which will be discussed again below.

In an analogous manner as the lifting carriage 44 of the loading and unloading station 42 and the lifting slide 98 of the transfer station 96 is equipped with a telescopic device 106. Through this, a bogie 54 and a support frame 56 with aluminum wheels 12 out of the annealing furnace 14 out on the roller conveyor 102 of the lifting carriage 98 or from the roller conveyor 102 down in the aging furnace 28 are carried. This will be discussed again below.

On the side remote from the ovens 14, 28 side of the transfer station 96, a quenching device 108 is arranged. This includes a quench tank filled with cold water 110, in which coming out of the annealing furnace 14 aluminum wheels 12 are quenched before they are introduced into the aging furnace 28.

For this purpose, the quenching device 108 has a lifting and lowering station 112 with two support tables 114, 116 arranged one above the other, of which the lower support table 114 has a drivable roller conveyor 118 and the upper support table 116 has a drivable roller conveyor 120. The support tables 114 and 116 may together in keeping a constant distance from each other along a guide frame 122 between an upper position, which in FIG. 1 is shown, and a lower position in which the lower support table 114 is immersed in the quenching tank 110, are moved.

On the side remote from the transfer station 96 side of the lifting and lowering station 112, a stationary roller conveyor 124 is arranged with a drive. The roller conveyor 124 is mounted at such a height that its support plane is aligned with the support plane of the lower support table 114 of the lifting and lowering station 112 when their support tables 114, 116 occupy their upper position. The distance between the support tables 114, 116 of the lifting and lowering station 112 is dimensioned so that the support plane of the stationary roller conveyor 124 is aligned with the support plane of the upper support table 116 of the lifting and lowering station 112 when the support tables 114, 116 occupy their lower position ,

The lifting carriage 98, the lifting and lowering station 112 and the stationary roller conveyor 124 form a maneuvering device. By this aluminum wheels 12, which come on a hearth truck 54 or on a support frame 56 from the annealing furnace 14, are replaced on the corresponding bogie 54 or the corresponding support frame 56 against coming from the quenching aluminum wheels 12. This will be in Individual explained below.

In FIG. 5 a partially broken side view of the furnace door 26 is shown at the output 22 of the annealing furnace 14 on a larger scale. The comments made below on the furnace door 26 of the annealing furnace 14 also apply mutatis mutandis to the furnace door 24 and to the furnace gates 38 and 40 of the aging furnace 28.

The oven door 26 comprises an upper gate segment 126a, a middle gate segment 126b and a lower gate segment 126c, which in FIG. 1 can be seen. The respectively adjacent gate segments 126a and 126b as well as 126b and 126c are formed at their respectively opposite edges in such a complementary manner to one another that two adjacent gate segments 126a and 126b as well as 126b and 126c can engage in a detachable sealing engagement with one another. For example, one of two opposite edges of two door segments 126 has a groove and the other of these edges has a matching sealing lip.

At the lateral outer edges, each gate segment 126a, 126b, 126c has an upper axis 128a and a lower axis 128b, respectively, which project horizontally outward. In the plan view of FIG. 4 The upper axes 128a of the upper door segment 126a of the furnace door 38 of the paging furnace 28 can be seen. As can also be seen there, the axles 128 carry guide rollers 130 mounted coaxially to the axles at their free ends. These run in laterally arranged vertical guide rails 132, which in turn, viewed from top to bottom, comprise four rail sections 132a, 132b, 132c and 132d include, which are hinged together at their ends via joints 134a, 134b and 134c.

The individual rail sections 132a, 132b, 132c and 132d are about as long as the gate segments 126a, 126b, 126c are high. The lowermost rail section 132d is pivotally and tiltably connected via a hinge 136 to a support plate 138a of an angle 138, which is externally attached to the housing 16 of the annealing furnace 14. The upper axles 128a on the gate segments 126a, 126b and 126c also serve as driving pins, which will be discussed again below.

Below the joints 134a, 134b and 134c between the rail sections 132a, 132b, 132c and 132d and at the respective upper end of the upper rail sections 132a, the ends of pneumatically driven push rods 140 engage hinge points 140a.

The push rods 140 on each side of the furnace door 26 and their drives not specifically provided with a reference numeral each form a coupling 142. Through these, the joints 134a, 134b and 134c of the guide rails 132 and the upper ends of the uppermost rail sections 132a independently in horizontal Direction of the oven housing 16 or 30 away moved or moved back from this position to the oven housing 16 and 30 respectively. In this case, two joints 134 are always moved synchronously flanking the furnace door 26 at the same height, i. always a joint pair of two joints 134a and 134b and 134c.

In FIG. 5 For example, a position is shown in which the joints 134a and 134b are moved away from the furnace housing 16 of the annealing furnace 14 by the coupling device 142. In this position, the rail sections 132b right and left of the oven door 26 are completely removed from the oven housing 16 and extend vertically. The rail sections 132c, by contrast, have their upper end removed from the furnace housing 16 at the joint 134b, whereas their lower end at the joint 134c remains close to the furnace housing 16. As a result, the rail sections 132c are tilted relative to the vertical.

When the rail sections 132a, 132b, 132c and 132d are moved, at the same time, the corresponding gate segments 126a, 126b and 126c running in the guide rails 132 are also moved along. By means of the coupling device 142, each gate segment 126a, 126b and 126c can thus be selectively moved to a position in which the driving pins 128a of a particular gate segment 126a, 126b and 126c are vertically aligned with two fork-like dogs 144a, 144b of a door drive mechanism 146 which is an upper fork tine and a lower fork tine. In each case a driver 144a, 144b is attached to a vertical circulating chain 148a, 148b, which via lower mounted on a common axis 151 epicyclic 149 (see. FIG. 5 ) and not shown upper planetary gears run. A drive and control unit 150 (see. FIG. 4 ) drives the axle 151 of the lower epicyclic wheels 149, so that the circulating chains 148a, 148b are always moved synchronously.

In this way, the furnace door 26 can be opened in segments. If only the upper door segment 126a is to be opened, first the circulating chains 148a, 148b are activated such that the drivers 144a, 144b are in a height with the driving pins 128a of the upper door segment 126a. Then the rail sections 132b running alongside the upper door segment 126a are moved away from the furnace housing 16 of the annealing furnace 14 by the coupling device 142 such that the driving bolts 128a on the upper door segment 126a come to lie between the fork tines of the drivers 144a, 144b. Now the drivers 144a, 144b on the circulating chains 148a, 148b moved up, taking along the guided in the guide rails 132 upper door segment 126a via its upper driving pin 128a upwards. At this time, the upper gate segment 126a separates from the middle gate segment 126b; this and the lower gate segment 126c remain in their closed position. If the furnace door 26 is to be completely closed again, the drivers 144a, 144b are moved in the opposite direction.

When the dogs 144a, 144b take the middle gate segment 126b upwards, the furnace door 26 is opened in the area of the middle gate segment 126b, with the upper gate segment 126a being pushed upwards by the middle gate segment 126b. Such an open position of the oven door 26 is in FIG. 1 shown.

In a corresponding manner, the furnace door 26 can also be opened only in the area of the lower door segment 126 c, in which case the middle and upper door segments 126 b and 126 a are pushed upwards by the lower door segment 126 c.

In other words, the furnace door 26 can be opened in this manner at the bottom, in the middle or at the top in each case in a region of the oven door 26 in which one of the door segments 126a, 126b or 126c is arranged when the oven door 26 is completely closed.

The operation of the tempering system 10 will be described below FIG. 6 explained, where for the sake of clarity, only subsequently addressed components are provided with a reference numeral.

In FIG. 6 are on the roller conveyor 68 of the scissor lift 66 annealed aluminum wheels 12a shown. These are in a next step on the roller conveyor 74 (see. FIG. 4 ). For this purpose, the roller conveyor 68 is moved to its upper position B and brought the conveyor chains 72a, 72b in its conveying position, so that the aluminum wheels 12a are supported only by the conveyor chains 72a, 72b. The conveyor chains 72a, 72b are driven in the direction in which the aluminum wheels 12a are conveyed onto the roller conveyor 74, whereby the roller conveyor 68 is free. From the roller conveyor 74, the aluminum wheels 12a are then transported away for finishing.

The furnace door 40 at the exit 36 of the paging furnace 28 is opened in the middle. On the lifting carriage 44 of the loading and unloading station 42 tempered aluminum wheels 12b can be seen on a support frame 56a. This support frame 56a was previously conveyed by means of the telescopic device 64 through the central opening in the furnace door 40 from the second layer of a stack 152a in the aging furnace 28, which consisted of a hearth truck 54 and a support frame 56 with aluminum wheels 12 on the lifting carriage 44.

For this purpose, first the roller conveyor 48 of the lifting carriage 44 was lowered by means of the lifting mechanism 49 in its relation to the lifting slide 44 lower lowered position. The arms of the telescopic device 64 were moved through the central opening in the oven door 40 in the aging furnace 28 and hooked into the support frame 56 a. When moving back the arms of the telescopic device 64, the support frame 56a followed their horizontal movement. In this way, the support frame 56a has been brought out of the paging furnace 28 by the telescopic device 64 in a position above the roller conveyor 48. This is the position shown.

Now, the roller conveyor 48 by means of the lifting mechanism 49 raised. In this process, their rollers 50 pass the hollow sections 60 of the support frame 56a until the rollers 50 receive the aluminum wheels 12b. The hollow profiles 60 are thereby supported by complementary recesses of the frame of the lifting carriage 44. The telescopic device 64 is released from the support frame 56a, so that it rests on the lifting carriage 44 in said recesses. In FIG. 4 It can be seen that the side cheeks 58a, 58b of the support frame 56 do not touch the rollers 50 of the roller conveyor 48.

The furnace door 40 of the paging furnace 28 is completely closed. The roller conveyor 68 of the scissor lift table 66 remains in its upper position B, wherein the conveyor chains 72a, 72b occupy their lower position.

The lifting carriage 44 is now moved down until the support plane of its roller conveyor 48 is aligned with that of the roller conveyor 68. The annealed aluminum wheels 12b are conveyed from the roller track 48 to the roller track 68 by driving the rollers of the roller tracks 48 and 68, respectively. The supporting frame 56a remains on the lifting carriage 44. The aluminum wheels 12b now lying on the roller track 68 of the scissor lifting table 66 are then removed for finishing, as explained above for the example of the aluminum wheels 12a.

The roller conveyor 68 is moved by means of the scissor lift table 66 in its lower position A, in which its support plane is aligned with that of the arranged below the roller conveyor 74 roller conveyor. Already resting on the latter are aluminum wheels 12, which can not be seen in the figures. These are by driving the arranged below the roller conveyor 74 roller conveyor and by means of the conveyor chains 72a, 72b, which must be raised to on the roller conveyor 68 promoted. The conveyor chains 72a, 72b are moved into position below the rollers 70 of the roller conveyor 68, so that the aluminum wheels come to rest on the rollers 70 of the roller conveyor 68.

The lifting carriage 44, which only carries the supporting frame 56a, is aligned with the scissor lifting table 66 and the aluminum rims 12 to be tempered are conveyed by the scissor lifting table 66 via the supporting frame 56a on the lifting carriage 44.

In FIG. 6 For example, the stack 152b adjacent to the furnace door 24 at the entrance 20 of the annealing furnace 14, which consists of a carriage 54 and a support frame 56 with aluminum wheels 12, can still be loaded with a supporting frame 56 in its uppermost position. Accordingly, the oven door 24 is now opened at the top. The support frame 56a is gripped and held by the telescopic device 64 of the lifting carriage 44, the roller conveyor 48 is brought into its lowered position and the support frame 56a with the aluminum wheels 12 to be tempered by means of the telescopic device 64 in the annealing furnace 14 on the empty space of the stack 152b carried. After the arms of the telescopic device 64 have released the support frame 56a and retracted, the furnace door 24 is closed again.

The now empty lifting carriage 44 can now be moved back to the exit 36 of the paging furnace 28 and the process can be repeated.

To go to the in FIG. 6 In the transition area 94, the following steps were carried out:

The furnace door 26 at the exit 22 of the annealing furnace 14 was opened in the middle. On the lifting carriage 98 of the transfer station 96, an empty support frame 56b can be seen. This support frame 56b was previously moved thereon with aluminum wheels 12c thereon in the manner explained above for the aging furnace 28 by means of the telescopic device 106 through the central opening in the furnace door 26 from the second layer of a stack 152c in the annealing furnace 14, which comprises a lowermost carriage 54 and a support frame 56 with aluminum wheels 12 was. In this case, the roller conveyor 102 of the lifting carriage 98 took this against its lower lowered position.

Subsequently, the roller conveyor 102 was brought by means of the lifting mechanism 103 in its upper support position and thus in contact with the aluminum wheels 12c and the aluminum wheels 12c promoted to the lower support table 114 of the lifting and lowering station 112 by the roller conveyors 102 and 118 were driven accordingly. The support frame 56b remained on the lifting carriage 98th

On the stationary roller track 124 aluminum wheels 12d are stored, which have already been quenched.

Based on this situation, the following steps are now carried out:

The support tables 114 and 116 of the lifting and lowering station 112 are moved downwards so that the aluminum wheels 12c on the support table 114 are lowered into the water-filled quenching basin 110 and thereby quenched. In this position of the support tables 114 and 116, the support levels of the stationary roller conveyor 124, the roller conveyor 120 of the lifting and lowering station 112 and the roller conveyor 102 of the lifting carriage 98 of the transfer station 96 are aligned with each other.

The aluminum wheels 12d are moved from the stationary roller conveyor 124 to the upper support table 116 of the lifting and lowering station 112 and further from this on the roller conveyor 102 via the empty support frame 56b on the transfer station 96 promoted.

In FIG. 6 For example, the third layer of a stack 152d, which consists of a lowermost hearth carriage 54 and a support frame 56 with aluminum wheels 12, can be filled with a support frame 56 next to the entrance 34 of the removal furnace 28. Therefore, the now laden with the aluminum wheels 12d on the support frame 56b lifting slide 98 is driven up to the upper door segment 126a of the furnace door 38 of the paging furnace 28 upwards. By means of the telescopic device 106 of the lifting carriage 98, the support frame 56b is gripped and held and the roller conveyor 102 of the lifting carriage 98 is brought by means of the lifting mechanism 103 in its lower lowered position, so that the support frame 56b is released. The furnace door 38 of the paging furnace 28 is opened at the top and the now still supported by the telescopic device 106 still warm support frame 56b promoted with the aluminum wheels 12d as a third layer on the stack 152d in the aging furnace 28. Subsequently, the furnace door 38 is closed again.

When the shuttle 54, which rests adjacent the exit 36 of the paging furnace 28 on the chain conveyor 86, has been removed, the chain conveyor 86 is activated and all stacks 152 consisting of lowermost shuttle cars 54, carrying racks 56 and aluminum wheels 12 become towards promoted the output 36 of the paging furnace 28. In addition to the entrance 34 of the paging furnace 28 so creates a gap that can be replenished.

After a predetermined residence time of the aluminum wheels 12c in the quenching tank 110, during which some or all of the above-explained operations may take place, the support tables 114 and 116 of the lifting and lowering station 112 become common again moved up. The now quenched aluminum wheels 12c are pushed onto the stationary roller conveyor 124 and stored there.

In the meantime, the lifting carriage 98 has again been moved downwards and positioned so that it can receive the next layer of the stack 152c from the annealing furnace 14. On the example of FIG. 6 this would now be the bottom layer of the stack 152c, so that instead of a support frame 56, a bogie truck 54a with aluminum wheels 12e is conveyed by means of the telescopic device 106 on the lifting carriage 98. The aluminum wheels 12e are conveyed to the lower support table 114 of the lifting and lowering station 112, as discussed in the aluminum wheels 12c.

The quenching operation is performed as explained above. The aluminum wheels 12c are accordingly displaced from the stationary roller track 124, so that they finally come to lie above the carriage 54a on the lifting carriage 98. They are then introduced together with the bogie 54a in the paging furnace 28, to which the lifting slide 98 is first positioned in front of the lower gate segment 126c of the furnace door 38 of the paging furnace 28 and the furnace door 38 is opened at the bottom.

When the stack 152c near the exit 22 of the annealing furnace 14 has been completely removed, the "pusher" 84 is activated. This then pushes the column of aluminum wheels 12 and carrying racks 56 loaded bogies 54 in the annealing chamber 18 of the annealing furnace 14 in the direction of its output 22. The resulting gap next to the entrance 20 of the annealing furnace 14 by the loading process described above by means of the loading and Removal station 42 filled. For this purpose, the bogie 54 b next to the output 36 of the paging furnace 28 in a corresponding manner first promoted on the lifting carriage 44 of the loading and unloading station 42 and the unloading or loading process continues as explained above.

By means of the above-described tempering device 10, it is possible to quench the aluminum wheels 12 between the annealing furnace 14 and the aging furnace 28 without the need for the shuttle cars 54 or the supporting frames 56 to be immersed in the quenching basin 110.

In addition, the dwell time of a hearth carriage 54 or support frame 56 coming from the annealing furnace 14 is kept relatively short in the transfer area 94. By combining the stationary roller conveyor 124 with the upper support table 116 of the lifting and lowering station 112, a bogie 54 or a support frame 56 can be loaded immediately on the transfer station 96 with already quenched aluminum wheels 12 and fed to the paging furnace 28. The entire process from the emergence of a carriage 54 or a support frame 56 from the annealing furnace 14 until it enters the aging furnace 28 in the present embodiment takes about 18 seconds. Due to the short residence time outside the ovens 14, 28 is prevented that the corresponding bogie 54 and the corresponding support frame 56 noticeably cools down, i. the heat loss is low. Heat energy of the hearth carriage 54 and the support frame 56 is supplied to the aging furnace 28. As a result, the total amount of circulating air of each furnace can be reduced overall. This is achieved in a corresponding manner by the loading and unloading station 42 on the opposite side of the ovens 14, 28.

In a modification, not shown, instead of the cooperating with the bogie 54 pushers 84 also a roller conveyor with driven rollers may be provided in the annealing furnace 14, as it is known in and of itself. Such Roller conveyor can be used in addition or only in the aging furnace 28 instead of the chain conveyor 86.

However, the types of conveyors selected in the above-discussed tempering apparatus 10 have some merits. The ovens 14, 28 have a lower energy consumption, since no breakthroughs for supporting the rollers of a roller conveyor are necessary. The ovens 14, 28 can be built with smaller dimensions, since no additional space is required to ensure access, for example for maintenance, to the rollers of a roller conveyor from the outside. The possible smaller design of the ovens 14, 28 in conjunction with the lower heat loss of the bogie 54 and the support frame 56 also allows to reduce the number of heating units to half the number of heating units in known tempering. The problem of the rolls of roller conveyors bending down inside furnaces when resting for a certain time is eliminated.

The quality of the quenching of the aluminum wheels 12 is improved by the deterrent always only one layer of aluminum wheels 12 compared to known tempering, in which always several layers of stacked bogies and supporting frames are quenched together with the aluminum wheels. The quenching of each layer of aluminum wheels 12 allows a specific cooling from the lower to the upper edge region of the aluminum wheels 12. The aluminum wheels 12 can be immersed in the liquid after a predetermined period of time after their removal from the annealing furnace 14, this time period for all aluminum wheels 12 equal can be. The latter is not possible with known ovens, in which aluminum wheels are immersed in several layers in a quenching tank.

Also, the volume of quench tank 110 may be opposite be reduced to that in known tempering, whereby further space can be saved.

Claims (7)

1. Apparatus for tempering objects, in particular vehicle wheels, having

   a) a first tempering space (18) and a second tempering space (32), which each have an entrance (20; 34) and an exit (22; 36), a transfer region (94) being arranged between the exit (22) of the first tempering space (18) and the entrance (34) of the second tempering space (32);

   b) a conveying device (80, 84; 86; 96), by means of which carrying structures (54; 56) loaded with objects (12) to be tempered can be conveyed continuously through the tempering spaces (18, 32) and which, for its part, comprises a transfer device (96), by means of which the carrying structures (54; 56) can be conveyed in the transfer region (94) from the exit (22) of the first tempering space (18) to the entrance (34) of the second tempering space (32);

   c) a treatment device (108), by means of which objects (12) can be subjected to an intermediate treatment, in particular a quenching, after leaving the first tempering space (18) and before entering the second tempering space (32);
   characterised in that

   d) a marshalling device (98, 112, 124) is provided, by which, on a carrying structure (54; 56) situated in the transfer region (94), an object (12) coming from the first tempering space (18) can be exchanged for an object (12) coming from the intermediate treatment, so that objects (12) can be subjected to an intermediate treatment without this carrying structure (54; 56).
2. Apparatus according to Claim 1, characterised in that the treatment device (108) comprises a quenching region (110), in particular a quenching basin (110) filled with a liquid, into which objects (12) can be introduced by means of the marshalling device (98, 112, 124).
3. Apparatus according to Claim 2, characterised in that the marshalling device (98, 112, 124) comprises a lifting and lowering station (112) having a carrying table (114), onto which an object (12) can be moved by the transfer device (96), by means of which station this object (12) can be lowered into the quenching region (110), in particular into the quenching basin (110).
4. Apparatus according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the marshalling device (98, 112, 124) comprises a device (124), on which an object (12) which has been subjected to an intermediate treatment can be temporarily stored until the object (12) coming from the first tempering space (18) has been removed from the carrying structure (54; 56) situated in the transfer region (94).
5. Apparatus according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterised in that at least one tempering space (18; 32) is an inner space (18; 32) of a furnace (14; 28), which can be closed by at least one furnace door (24, 26; 38, 40), the furnace door (24, 26; 38, 40) being constructed from a plurality of releasably interlocking door segments (126a, 126b, 126c) and being able to be opened in a manner that an opening is producible in each case approximately only in a region in which a door segment (126a, 126b, 126c) is arranged when the furnace door (24, 26; 38, 40) is completely closed.
6. Apparatus according to Claim 5, characterised in that the furnace (14; 28) has such dimensions that a plurality of layers, stacked one above the other, of carrying structures (54; 56) having objects (12) can be conveyed through it.
7. Apparatus according to Claim 6, characterised in that each door segment (126a, 126b, 126c) of the furnace door (24, 26; 38, 40) is arranged, in its closed position, at the height of a layer of carrying structures (54; 56) having objects (12) inside the furnace (14; 28).

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