JP2000239738A - Quenching apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To execute the quenching without developing the unevenness by removing steam film developed so as to cover a work as soon as possible when the heated work is dipped into quenching agent. SOLUTION: The work is laid on a tray 4 and disposed to a prescribed quenching position 4' of a quenching vessel 1. At the position surrounding the prescribed quenching position 4', a vibration generating means 7 is arranged. The vibration generating means 7 has plural blades 15 vertically vibrated. The flexible blades 15 directly stir the quenching agent while bending in the quenching agent like a fan so as to develop the transverse vibration in the quenching agent. The transverse vibration (10-120 Hz) developed in the quenching agent is propagated to the prescribed quenching position 4' through the quenching agent. Since the vibrating wave is composed mainly of the transverse vibration (at least not the vibrating wave only in the vertical direction but the three dimensional wave), the steam film on the upper and the lower surfaces of the work laid on the tray 4 in the horizontal direction almost uniformly is removed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for removing a steam film generated so as to cover a workpiece as quickly as possible when a heated workpiece is charged into a quenching agent, and performing uniform quenching. To a quenching device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Quenching is an operation in which steel is heated to an austenitizing temperature, then poured into a quenching agent such as water or oil, rapidly cooled, and hardened by obtaining a martensitic structure. At this time, the temperature of the work put into the quenching agent is about 850 ° C., whereas the boiling point of the quenching agent is about 250 ° C. even when oil is used as the quenching agent. For this reason,
The quenching agent evaporates instantaneously, and the work is covered with the vapor film of the coolant until the work is cooled to some extent.
Since this vapor film inhibits the quenching agent from directly falling on the work, the cooling rate of the work is reduced,
It causes variation in the quality of quenching. In order to solve this problem, a quenching apparatus having a structure for removing a vapor film has been conventionally used.

For example, a quenching apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-311534 discloses a quenching tank that forms a falling path of a V-shaped work formed by combining inclined plates inside a quenching tank. The work is put into the tank with a quenching agent. According to this quenching device, the workpiece falls to the bottom of the quenching tank while colliding with the inclined plate while naturally falling in the quenching agent. Then, the vapor film covering the work is removed by the impact of the work colliding with the inclined plate.

Further, the quenching apparatus shown in FIG. 5 creates a jet flow using a quenching agent stored in a quenching tank, and applies the jet flow to a workpiece to remove the vapor film. is there. As shown in FIG. 5, the quenching tank 1 of the quenching device includes:
An axial pump 2 and a guide blade-containing vent 3 are provided. A plurality of works are arranged in a proper posture in a tray 4 composed of a mesh plate or the like, and are transported by the elevating device 5 to a predetermined quenching position indicated by reference numeral 4 'together with the tray 4. Since the outlet of the guide vane-containing vent 3 is provided toward the predetermined quenching position 4 ', the work is placed in the jet flow of the quenching agent flowing upward from below, and The vapor film covering the work is forcibly removed.

Further, a quenching apparatus is provided which has a horn for ultrasonic irradiation in a quenching tank and irradiates the work with ultrasonic waves propagating a quenching agent to vibrate the work and remove a vapor film. I have.

[0006]

However, these conventional quenching apparatuses have the following problems, respectively. First, in the case of the quenching device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-311534, a method of converting kinetic energy when a work naturally falls through a quenching agent into vibration energy by colliding the work with an inclined plate. Has been adopted. Therefore, the generation of vibration energy varies depending on the falling posture of the workpiece, and it has been difficult to uniformly remove the vapor film. Further, when the work collides with the swash plate, there is a possibility that a dent is formed on the work.

In the case of the quenching apparatus shown in FIG. 5, since the direction of injection of the quenching agent is limited from below to above the quenching tank, the lower surface of the work placed in the tray 4 has a vapor film. Is sufficiently removed, but the removal of the upper surface may be insufficient. For example, in a disk-shaped work such as a gear, the difference is remarkable, and quenching distortion is easily generated. In addition, since the spray direction is orthogonal to the tray, the removal of the vapor film tends to be insufficient at the center of the tray. For this reason, especially in the case of a disk-shaped work, it is necessary to consider the mounting direction such that the board surface is oriented vertically when the work is mounted on the tray 4.

Further, in a quenching apparatus that removes a vapor film by irradiating an ultrasonic wave to a workpiece, a quenching agent generated from the vicinity of the ultrasonic irradiation horn is discharged into the air, thereby deteriorating the working environment. There was a risk of coming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to reduce the working environment due to splashing of a quenching agent when a heated work is charged into the quenching agent. The object is to remove a vapor film generated so as to cover a work as quickly as possible, and to perform uniform hardening.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a quenching apparatus which mediates a quenching agent on a workpiece disposed at a predetermined position in a quenching tank. A vibration generating means for propagating a vibration wave in a direction for efficiently removing the vapor film covering the work.

According to the present invention, the vibration generating means propagates the vibration wave in a direction for efficiently removing the vapor film covering the workpiece.
It is not necessary to arrange at a predetermined position in the quenching tank in consideration of the posture of the work.

Further, in the quenching apparatus according to claim 2 of the present invention, the frequency of the vibration wave is set to 10 to 120 Hz. When the frequency of the vibration wave propagated via the quenching agent is set as in the present invention, the quenching agent is not released into the air from the vibration generating means.

In the quenching apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention, the vibration generating device reciprocally oscillates a plurality of blades arranged in an overlapping manner in the quenching tank in the arrangement direction. Things. According to this configuration, the plurality of blades vibrate in the direction in which the blades are aligned to directly scrape the quenching agent and generate lateral vibration in the quenching agent. In addition, by arranging the blades so as to overlap, all of the frequency, phase, and vibration direction of the vibration waves generated by the blades match, and the vibration waves generated by the blades are not canceled out.

Further, in the quenching apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the plurality of blades are fixed to a vibrating shaft extending vertically in the quenching tank, and the upper end of the vibrating shaft is hardened. It is driven by a vibration motor fixed above the tank. In the present invention, the vibration motor is installed at a position higher than the storage level of the quenching agent stored in the quenching tank, and the vibration motor is not required to have high hermeticity. Further, since the vibration shaft is disposed so as to hang down from the vibration motor, there is no need to provide a hole for penetrating the vibration shaft on a side surface, a lower surface, or the like of the quenching tank. It is not disturbed by the vibration axis.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, the same or corresponding portions as in the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 shows a quenching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. This quenching device also includes a tray 4 on which a work is placed and an elevating device 5 that raises and lowers the tray 4, similarly to the quenching device shown in FIG. The lower end of the elevating platform 5a of the elevating device 5 is determined by the stopper 6, and when the elevating platform 5a is at the lower limit position, the tray 4 is arranged at a predetermined hardening position indicated by reference numeral 4 '.

FIG. 3 schematically shows the tray 4 and the work W placed on the tray 4. The tray 4 has a plurality of shelves 4a, and the shelves 4a and the wall surfaces 4b are made of a member such as a mesh plate through which a quenching agent flows freely. The work W is placed on each shelf 4a of the tray 4 so as to be alternately stacked with the spacer S. Work W shown
Indicates a disk-shaped thing such as a gear, but even in this case, it is not particularly necessary to turn the board surface vertically,
It is placed in the horizontal direction as shown. The elevating table 5a and the stopper 6 of the elevating device are also formed of a member such as a mesh plate through which the quenching agent flows freely. Work W
Is placed on the tray 4 and the lifting platform 5a of the lifting device
It is carried in and out of. A door (not shown) is provided at the upper end position of the lifting range of the lifting table 5a, and loading and unloading of the tray 4 is performed by opening the door.

Further, vibration generating means 7 are provided at four places (see FIG. 2) surrounding the predetermined quenching position 4 '. FIG.
FIG. 2 shows this vibration generator in an enlarged manner. Here, the structure of the vibration generating means 7 will be described with reference to FIGS. The vibration generator 7 includes a vibration motor 8 as a power source. The vibration motor 8 generates only vertical vibration by rotating the two eccentric weights in the same phase and in opposite directions. Power is supplied to the vibration motor 8 via a transistor inverter (not shown) for controlling the frequency (10 to 120 Hz).

The vibration motor 8 is fixed to the mounting table 9 and supported by the guide shaft 11 erected on the base 10 so that the mounting table 9 can be moved only in the vertical direction. A coil spring 12 is inserted into the guide shaft 11, and the distance between the mounting table 9 and the base 10 is maintained by its elastic force. In addition,
By providing a rubber bush or the like at an appropriate position between the mounting table 9 and the base 10 instead of the coil spring 12, the mounting table 9
May be supported.

The mounting table 9 is provided with a vibrating shaft 13 that penetrates the base 10 and extends vertically. A seal 14 for ensuring airtightness is provided between the vibration shaft 13 and the base 10 to block the quenching tank 1 from the atmosphere. A plurality of blades 15 (15 in the illustrated example) are fixed to the vibration shaft 13 so as to overlap with each other at a predetermined interval. The vibration axis 13
Is formed with a male screw, so that the plurality of blades 15 are fixed to predetermined positions of the vibration shaft 13 by the nuts 16, respectively. The blade 15 is made of a flexible plate material such as steel, stainless steel, or titanium, and has a rectangular shape with a length of 400 mm, a width of 200 mm, and a thickness of 2.5 mm. In addition, of the 200 mm width, a range of 70 mm from both ends is flipped upward at an angle of about 10 °. Note that the vibration shaft 13 is
The blades 15 are provided one by one as shown in FIG.
It is supported by the vibrating shaft 13.

The vibration generating means 7 having the above structure is fixed above the quenching tank 1 as shown in FIG. Then, each blade 15 has a liquid level of the quenching agent filled in the quenching tank 1.
It is located below 17.

The quenching apparatus having the above-described structure removes the vapor film covering the work as follows. First, when the vibration motor 8 is operated, the vibration motor 8 vibrates up and down together with the mounting table 9 while expanding and contracting the coil spring 12.
Then, the vibration shaft 13 fixed to the mounting table 9 also vibrates up and down, so that each blade 15 vibrates up and down. Since the blades 15 are flexible, the blades 15 directly scratch the quenching agent while bending like a fan in the quenching agent, and generate lateral vibrations in the quenching agent. Since each blade 15 is vertically aligned so as to overlap each other, all of the frequency, phase, and vibration direction of the vibration wave generated by each blade 15 match, and the vibration waves generated by each blade interfere with each other. There is no cancellation.

The vibration wave (10 to 1) generated in the quenching agent
20 Hz) propagates through the quenching agent to the predetermined quenching position 4 '. Since this vibration wave is centered on a horizontal wave (at least, it is not a vibration only in the vertical direction but a three-dimensional wave), the upper and lower surfaces of the work W placed on the tray 4 in the horizontal direction. Can be almost uniformly removed.

The operation and effect obtained from the embodiment of the present invention having the above configuration are as follows. First, the vibration generating means 7 directly scrapes the quenching agent by the plurality of blades 15 and generates a vibration wave centered on the transverse wave in the quenching agent. The vapor films on the upper and lower surfaces of the work W placed in the directions can be almost uniformly removed. Therefore, even in the case of a work W in the form of a disk which has conventionally required consideration of the mounting direction, such consideration is not required. In addition, it is easier to place the disk-shaped work W or the like on the tray in the horizontal direction, and the number of pieces that can be placed on the tray is usually larger in the horizontal direction. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to perform quenching on a larger number of workpieces W at one time while preventing the occurrence of quenching distortion.

Further, unlike the conventional quenching apparatus for removing a vapor film by ultrasonic waves (20 kHz or more), the quenching apparatus according to the present embodiment applies a three-dimensional vibration having a frequency of 10 to 120 Hz to the quenching agent. Generate waves. In such a frequency range, the phenomenon in which the quenching agent is scattered as droplets of ultrafine particles does not occur as in the case of using ultrasonic waves. For this reason, the droplets of the quenching agent are not released into the air, and there is no possibility that the working environment will deteriorate.

Furthermore, since the blades 15 are vertically aligned so as to overlap each other, the frequency, phase, and vibration direction of the vibration waves generated by the blades 15 are all the same, and the vibration generated by each blade 15 The waves do not interfere and cancel each other. Therefore, the vibration wave surely propagates to the predetermined quenching position 4 ', and the vapor film covering the work can be efficiently removed.

In addition, in the present embodiment, since the vibration motor 8 is installed at a position higher than the liquid level 17 (storage level) of the quenching agent stored in the quenching tank 1, There is no need for hermeticity. Further, the position where the vibration shaft 13 penetrates the quenching tank 1 is also at a position higher than the liquid level 17 of the quenching agent. There is no need to provide a hole through which the quench tank 1 passes, and the hermeticity of the quenching tank 1 itself is not hindered by the vibration shaft 1. Further, the vibration motor 8 is not directly fixed to the lid of the quenching tank 1, but is mounted on the mounting table 9, the coil spring 12,
Since it is fixed via the base 10, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of problems due to the vibration of the vibration motor 8 being directly transmitted to the quenching tank 1.

The power consumption of the vibration motor 32 is smaller than that of the conventional motor 2a for driving the axial pump 2 (see FIG. 5), and the economical efficiency during operation can be improved. For example, when the power consumption of the motor 2a of the conventional axial-flow pump is 2.2 kw / h, the vibration motor 8 of the quenching apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention for obtaining the same steam film removal capability is obtained. Power consumption is reduced to 0.25kw / h.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the vibration motor 8, the vibration shaft 13 and the like are arranged as described above, and the blade 15
Has been described as an example of vibrating vertically.
The present invention is not limited to this, and the blades 15 may be configured to vibrate in other various directions according to the shape of the work to be quenched, the shape of the tray, and the like.

[0030]

According to the present invention, the following effects are obtained. First, according to the quenching device according to claim 1 of the present invention, such considerations are not required even for a workpiece that had to be considered in the direction in the quenching agent in the conventional quenching device, and the variation was reduced. It is possible to perform hardening without heat. In addition, it is possible to perform quenching on a larger number of workpieces at a time while preventing the occurrence of quenching distortion, thereby reducing quenching cost.

Further, according to the quenching apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, splashes of the quenching agent are not released into the air, and it is possible to prevent the working environment from deteriorating.

Further, according to the quenching apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, the vibration wave surely propagates to the work arranged at a predetermined position in the quenching tank, and efficiently removes the vapor film covering the work. can do.

In addition, according to the quenching apparatus of the fourth aspect of the present invention, the vibration motor is not required to have high hermeticity, and the quenching tank itself is also hermetically sealed. In addition, the quenching device can be manufactured at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a quenching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a tray on which a work is placed in the quenching apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing only vibration generating means of the quenching apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a conventional quenching apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Quenching tank 4 'Predetermined quenching position 7 Vibration generation means 15 Blade 17 Quenching agent liquid level

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A vibration generating means for propagating a vibration wave in a direction for efficiently removing a vapor film covering a work through a quenching agent to a work arranged at a predetermined position in a quenching tank. A quenching device characterized by that: 2. The quenching device according to claim 1, wherein the vibration wave has a frequency of 10 to 120 Hz. 3. The vibration generator is provided in the quenching tank,
The quenching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of blades arranged so as to overlap each other are reciprocated in the arrangement direction. 4. The plurality of blades are fixed to a vibration shaft extending vertically in the quenching tank, and an upper end of the vibration shaft is driven by a vibration motor fixed above the quenching tank. The quenching apparatus according to claim 3, wherein