JP2002350068A - Vacuum furnace - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently treat a powdery or powder-containing object to be treated in an atmospheric gas. SOLUTION: A vacuum furnace in which the object to be treated is treated by introducing the atmospheric gas after the inside of the furnace is evacuated to a vacuum is provided with a wire 54 which hangs a lid body 52 and closes the opening of a container 51 containing the object from an opened state by lowering the lid body 52 and a driving cylinder 6 which moves the wire 54 upward and downward.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vacuum furnace, and more particularly to a vacuum furnace capable of performing efficient processing while preventing powdery or powder-containing objects from being scattered in an atmosphere gas. Related to structural improvement.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a pulverizing furnace for a Ti alloy, for example, an object to be processed is charged into a furnace and evacuated, and then H2 gas is introduced into the furnace as an atmosphere gas and the object is heated. Crushed by a self-disintegration reaction, and then slowly cooled. Further, for example, in a vacuum heating furnace made of a powdery Ni-MH-based hydrogen storage alloy, an object to be processed vacuum-heated in a heating chamber is sent to a cooling chamber, and then Ar gas is immediately introduced into the cooling chamber. Is stirred to cool the object.

[0003]

In order to efficiently heat the above-mentioned pulverizing furnace or heating furnace, usually,
The object to be treated is stored in an open container, but in the pulverizing furnace, the Ti alloy is pulverized due to the impact of the self-collapse of the Ti alloy in the H2 atmosphere or the gas flow accompanying the introduction of the H2 gas.
There was a problem that the i-alloy was scattered in the furnace. Also, in the heating furnace, there is a problem that the powdery hydrogen storage alloy is scattered into the furnace with stirring in the furnace by introducing Ar gas. Therefore, the introduction speed and the stirring speed of the gas are reduced, but it is difficult to completely prevent the scattering of the object to be processed. Therefore, there is a problem that rapid cooling and uniform cooling are difficult because of the lack of cooling.

[0004] Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum furnace capable of efficiently performing processing of a powdery substance or an object containing a powdery substance in an atmosphere gas. And

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vacuum furnace for processing a workpiece by introducing a predetermined atmospheric gas after evacuating the vacuum furnace. Lid (52) for container (51) in state
Are provided and lid driving means (6, 54) for closing the opening of the container (51) is provided.

When the vacuum furnace of the first invention is used, for example, as a pulverizing furnace for Ti alloy, if the lid is retracted when heating the Ti alloy, the Ti alloy in the container is efficiently heated. Is done. On the other hand, when H2 gas is introduced as the atmospheric gas, the lid is advanced and the opening of the container is closed, so that the powdered Ti alloy is scattered into the furnace by the gas flow accompanying the gas introduction. Can be prevented.
When the vacuum furnace of the first invention is used as a vacuum chamber of, for example, a vacuum heating furnace made of a Ni-MH-based hydrogen storage alloy, since the container is open in the preceding heating chamber, the object to be processed is kept at a predetermined temperature. Can be heated efficiently. In the cooling chamber, if the opening of the container is closed with a lid, Ar
Even if the gas is rapidly introduced and stirred, the object in the container does not scatter, and the object can be cooled quickly and efficiently.

In the second aspect of the present invention, the cover driving means includes a deformable string (54) for suspending the cover (52) and lowering and moving the same, and the string (54). And a cord-like body moving member (6) for moving the cord in a vertical direction.

In the second aspect of the invention, when a roller is used to transport the container, even if the container periodically moves back and forth due to the oscillation of the roller, the container is closed with the lid closed. It can easily follow the movement.

The reference numerals in parentheses indicate the correspondence with the specific means described in the embodiments described later.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an example in which a vacuum furnace of the present invention is provided as a cooling chamber 1 after a heating chamber of a heating furnace for a hydrogen storage alloy, and FIG. FIG. The cooling chamber 1 has a cylindrical chamber wall 11, and the openings at both ends thereof are closed by airtight doors 12 and 13. Each airtight door 1
2 and 13 are parallel links 23 to an actuator 22 provided at the tip of a rod 21 extending downward from a drive cylinder (not shown).
And is opened as the operation element 22 rises. In the lower part of the cooling chamber 1, transport rollers 31 are arranged at regular intervals in the longitudinal direction.
2, 33 are provided at the same level as the transport roller 31, and the transport roller 32 is continuous with a transport roller (not shown) in the preceding heating chamber.

Below the conveying roller 31 in the cooling chamber 1, a heat exchanger 41 having a rectangular cross section extending in the longitudinal direction is provided so as to be supported by a gantry 411 (FIG. 2) provided on a bottom wall 111. In the upper half of the chamber 1, a heat exchanger 42 having the same shape as the heat exchanger 41 is provided so as to be supported by a frame 421 provided on the top wall 112. Between the upper and lower heat exchangers 41, 42, a rectangular parallelepiped container 51 which is opened upward is located on the transport roller 31, and a powdery object to be processed is accommodated in the container 51. The object to be processed is efficiently heated to a predetermined temperature in the preceding heating chamber in a state of being accommodated in the open container 51, and is carried into the cooling chamber 1 by the transport rollers 31 and 32.

A cover 52 is placed over the opening of the container 51 in the cooling chamber 1. The cover 52 has a rectangular shape slightly larger than the container 51 in a plan view as shown in FIG. The outer peripheral edge 521 (FIGS. 1 and 2) is bent downward. On the outer surface of the lid 52, reinforcing plates 522 having a constant width are joined at a plurality of locations in the longitudinal direction in the lid width direction.
At the center of the reinforcing plate 522 at both ends,
Are provided to penetrate (FIG. 4). One end of a wire 54 is connected to the eyebolt 53, and the other end of each wire 54 is connected to the drive cylinder 6 erected on the top wall 112 of the cooling chamber 1.
Is connected to a wire suspender 62 at the tip of the rod 61. Note that a chain, a coil spring, or the like can be used instead of the wire 54.

At a position facing one side surface of the container 51 positioned on the transport roller 31, a cylindrical wind direction guide plate 71 which expands in diameter toward the container 51 is provided (FIG. 2). Side wall 11 of cooling chamber 1 facing plate 71
3 is provided with a blower storage chamber 81 in which a blower motor 82 is stored. A fan 83 for stirring is mounted on the output shaft of the blower motor 82 so that the wind direction guide plate 7
Suitable for 1. The cooling chamber side wall 114 at a position facing the other side surface of the container 51 is provided with a mountain-shaped wind direction guide plate 72 whose top extends in the direction of the container 51. In addition,
A vacuum exhaust pipe and an Ar gas introduction pipe are connected to the cooling chamber 1 (not shown).

When the object to be processed heated to a predetermined temperature in the heating chamber is cooled in the cooling chamber 1, the airtight door 12 is opened, and the container 51 containing the object to be processed is transported by the transport rollers 31, 3.
By 2, it is carried into a predetermined position in the cooling chamber 1 shown in FIG. In this state, the cover 52 is
As shown by the dashed line 1, it is raised to an upper position that does not interfere with the container 51. After this, the positioned container 5
When the lid 52 is lowered with respect to 1, the lid 52 contacts the opening end surface of the container 51 by its own weight and closes the opening. In this state, the inside of the cooling chamber 1 is exhausted, Ar gas is introduced to a predetermined pressure, the fan 83 is rotated, and the Ar gas is stirred and circulated as shown by the arrow in FIG. I do.

According to this embodiment, since the lid 52 covers the opening of the container 51 in the cooling chamber 1, the Ar gas is rapidly introduced into the cooling chamber 1 and the stirring is sufficiently performed. However, the object in the container 51 does not scatter, and the object can be cooled quickly and efficiently. Since the container 51 is open in the former heating chamber, the object to be processed can be efficiently heated to a predetermined temperature. Further, if the wire 54 is allowed to be loosened while the cover 52 is placed on the container 51, even if an oscillation is performed to periodically rotate the transport roller 31 in order to prevent the transport roller 31 from bending and deforming, the wire 54 is not rotated. As the container moves, it can swing and follow this as shown by the chain line in FIG.

In the above embodiment, the case where the cooling furnace of the present invention is used only for cooling the object to be processed has been described. However, a heater may be added to heat the object to be processed. The heat treatment furnace of the present invention can be used as a Ti alloy pulverizing furnace or the like. In this case, at the time of heating, the lid 52 is pulled up and the container 51 containing the object to be processed is lifted.
Can be efficiently heated by opening the container, and at the time of cooling the object to be processed, by closing the container 51 with the lid 52, the object to be powdered can be rapidly heated without scattering. Cooling can be performed. The lid does not necessarily have to be hung with a wire, but may be lifted and lowered with a cylinder rod, for example. As described above, even when the container moves back and forth with the oscillation of the transport roller, the lid can easily follow the container. Also,
Even if the height of the container changes, this can be easily absorbed.

[0017]

As described above, according to the vacuum furnace of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently process a powder or an object containing powder in an atmosphere gas.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a cooling furnace, showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a cooling furnace.

FIG. 3 is a plan view and a side view of a lid.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing details of a wire connection portion.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Cooling room, 51 ... Container, 31 ... Transport roller, 41, 4
2 heat exchanger, 52 lid, 54 wire, 6 drive cylinder, 83 fan.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Shinobu Inuzuka 1-2-5 Rokuno, Atsuta-ku, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture F-term in Takakura Works, Daido Steel Co., Ltd. 4K063 AA05 AA15 AA16 BA03 CA06 DA07 DA19 DA22

Claims (2)

[Claims] In a vacuum furnace for processing an object by introducing a predetermined atmospheric gas after evacuation, a lid is advanced to an open container containing the object to open the container. A vacuum furnace provided with a lid driving means for closing the vacuum furnace. 2. The lid driving means includes a deformable string that suspends the lid and lowers and advances the lid, and a string moving member that moves the string vertically. The vacuum furnace according to claim 1, wherein