JP2003059632A - Continuous induction heater device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify the power supply for the heater coils in the induction heater device having a heater coils by running a plurality of objects on a turn table. SOLUTION: A transformer secondary coil 23 for power feeding is connected to each of a plurality of heating coil 15, and the plural transformer secondary coils 23 are arranged concentrically at the bottom face of the turn table 5. And a transformer primary coil 20 connected to the high frequency power supply 17 is arranged in fixed state opposed to the transformer secondary coil group, and electromagnetic induction power is supplied collectively from the transformer primary coils 20 to the transformer secondary coils 23 in running state.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention uses an induction heating coil (referred to as a heating coil) for guiding an object to be heated, which is supplied one after another, along with each object to be heated while traveling along a predetermined path. It relates to a device for heating.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, induction heating has been used as one means for heating an object to be heated provided with a conductive material. This induction heating has advantages such as high-speed heating, local heating, and temperature control. Generally, in order to perform induction heating, a heating coil is arranged around an object to be heated stopped at a predetermined position and induction heating is performed in that state, and a heating coil is placed along the object to be heated stopped at a predetermined position. A method of induction heating while moving the object, or a method of placing a heating coil at a predetermined position and passing an object to be heated through the heating coil is used. In any case, the object to be heated and the heating coil are used. Either one of them is often used in a stopped state. When the heating coil is moved, the heating coil is reciprocated within a relatively short range.

[0003]

By the way, recently, there has been an application in which an object to be heated is heated slowly by induction heating over a long period of time. In this case, if a large number of objects to be heated are to be heated, the productivity is poor in the method of starting the heating of the next object after heating one object to be heated. Therefore, in order to induction-heat a plurality of objects to be heated with high productivity, the plurality of objects to be heated are sequentially supplied to the traveling means and heating coils are attached to each of them, and the objects to be heated and the heating coils are connected by the traveling means. It is conceivable to cause the object to be heated to continue to be induction-heated while the vehicle is running along a predetermined route. In this method, since a plurality of objects to be heated are heated simultaneously by induction, productivity can be improved.

However, when this method is adopted, it is necessary to return the heating coil that has traveled together with the object to be heated to its original position, so it is necessary to circulate the heating coil along a loop-shaped path. Therefore, there arises a problem that power supply equipment for the heating coil is complicated and expensive, and troublesome maintenance is required. That is, it is necessary to arrange a slip connecting mechanism using a slip ring or the like in the power feeding equipment for a plurality of heating coils circulating in a loop path, but the slip connecting mechanism supplies a large amount to the heating coil. Since it is not appropriate to place it in the output part where current flows, a high-frequency power source is connected to each of the plurality of heating coils directly or via a transformer, and these high-frequency power sources (and transformers) are connected to the heating coils in a loop-shaped path. It is necessary to have a structure in which a slip connection mechanism is arranged between the high frequency power supply and the commercial power supply while the circuit is traveling in circulation. Therefore, a plurality of high-frequency power supplies (and transformers) that travel with a plurality of heating coils and a slip connection mechanism for energizing the high frequency power supplies are required, which not only increases the cost but also may cause wear or failure in the slip connection mechanism. However, there is a problem that troublesome maintenance is required.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems. In an apparatus for inductively heating a plurality of objects to be heated through a predetermined route while heating them with induction coils, the plurality of heating coils are provided. It is an object of the present invention to provide an induction heating device that simplifies the power supply equipment for the and the maintenance thereof.

[0006]

According to the present invention, in order to simplify the power supply equipment for a plurality of heating coils traveling along a predetermined path together with an object to be heated, a transformer for supplying power to each of the plurality of heating coils is provided. A transformer that is connected to a secondary coil and has a configuration in which a group of secondary coils together with a group of heating coils are circulated and run along a loop-shaped path including a section along a running path of an object to be heated. A structure in which a transformer primary coil connected to a high-frequency power source is fixedly arranged so as to face the group of secondary coils and electromagnetic induction power is collectively supplied from the transformer primary coil to the group of transformer secondary coils that are circulating. Is. With this configuration, by energizing a fixedly arranged transformer primary coil from a high frequency power source, electromagnetic induction power can be fed to a plurality of transformer secondary coils that are running in a non-contact state.
It is possible to energize multiple heating coils while running, without using multiple high-frequency power supplies (and transformers), and without using slip connection mechanism, to multiple heating coils with simple power supply equipment. Can be energized.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An induction heating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a heated object running means for running successively heated objects to be fed through a predetermined path, and a running object. A group of heating coils that are attached to each of the heating objects to inductively heat them, a group of transformer secondary coils for power supply connected to each of the heating coils, and these heating coils and transformer secondary coils. The output device traveling means for circulating the group of output devices having the circuit through a loop-shaped route including a section along the traveling route of the object to be heated, and a group of transformer secondary coils that are circulating. And a fixedly arranged transformer primary coil, and the object to be heated is not run by collectively supplying electromagnetic induction power from the transformer primary coil to the group of transformer secondary coils that are circulating. Characterized in that to allow induction heating al successively. With this configuration, when the objects to be heated are sequentially supplied to the object-to-be-heated traveling means and the heating coils are attached to the objects to be heated, the transformer primary coil to the transformer secondary while the objects to be heated travel on a predetermined path. Each heating coil is energized via the coil, and the object to be heated is induction-heated. Then, when the object to be heated reaches a predetermined position, by removing the heating coil and discharging it from the path, a large number of objects to be heated can be continuously induction-heated, and the objects to be heated can be produced with high productivity. It can be heated.

Here, the supply position of the object to be heated to the route along which the object to be heated and the discharge position from the route are arbitrary, and they may be adjacent positions or may be distant positions. , The shape of the path is arbitrary,
It is preferable that the supply position and the discharge position of the object to be heated are close to each other and the traveling path of the object to be heated is in an open loop shape such as a C shape or a U shape. With this configuration, the loop-shaped traveling path of the heating coil group and the transformer secondary coil group can be formed into a shape such as a circular shape or an oval shape along the entire length of the traveling path of the object to be heated. Therefore, most of the heating coils in the group of heating coils can always be attached to the object to be heated and used effectively.

When the running path of the object to be heated is in the form of an open loop, it is preferable that the running path of the group of output devices having the heating coil and the transformer secondary coil is circular. . With this configuration, means for causing the group of objects to be heated and the group of output devices to travel along the circular path can be realized with a simple structure. That is, by holding the object to be heated and the output device together on a set of turntables and allowing them to travel, these can be traveled through a circular path.

In the case of using a turntable, the transformer primary coil is provided on the lower side of the turntable and on an annular fixed core arranged concentrically with the turntable in a plane parallel to the turntable. It consists of a conductor equipped to be located, and the conductor is
A reciprocating electric path pair including an inner ring portion arranged on substantially the entire circumference on the inner diameter side of the annular fixed core and an outer ring portion arranged on the outer circumference side on the outer diameter side of the fixed core. And a turntable together with a group of moving secondary cores, each of which is provided in the coil and is arranged annularly under the turntable so as to face the fixed core. And each of the secondary coils of the transformers is made up of conductors arranged so as to be located in a plane parallel to the turntable, and each of the conductors is oriented so as to receive electromagnetic induction from the primary coil of the transformer. It is preferable to adopt the above configuration. With this configuration, the transformer secondary coil and the moving core always face the transformer primary coil and the fixed core during rotation of the turntable, so that the secondary current is generated in the transformer secondary coil very efficiently. , The heating coil can be powered.

Further, the conductor forming the transformer primary coil has a multi-turn structure in which the reciprocating electric path pair appears a plurality of times in a section on the traveling path of the object to be heated for enhancing heat input to the object to be heated. It is preferable that With this configuration, the electromagnetic density in the multi-turn configuration region is higher than that in other regions. Therefore, the magnitude and voltage of the secondary current generated in the transformer secondary coil passing through that region can be reduced. It can be increased to increase the output to the heating coil.

The structure of the heating coil used in the present invention is arbitrary as long as it can inductively heat the object to be heated supplied to the object traveling means, and the heating coil is preliminarily heated. The heating coil may be fixedly provided at a fixed position, but the heating coil and the transformer secondary coil may be connected by a flexible cable so that the heating coil can be freely attached to and detached from an object to be heated. Is preferred. With this configuration, after the object to be heated is supplied to an appropriate position on the object-to-be-heated traveling means, the heating coil can be attached to the object to be heated by a manual operation or the like. Accurate positioning with respect to the heated material traveling means is unnecessary, and the supply mechanism for the heated material traveling means can be simplified.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention shown in the drawings will be described below. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a continuous induction heating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view thereof. In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 is a drum that contains an object to be heated, for example, frozen juice. 2 is the object to be heated 1
The feeding conveyor 3 for feeding in is a discharge conveyor for discharging 5, and 5 is a turntable which rotates around the central axis O, on which the object 1 to be heated supplied from the feeding conveyor 2 can be placed. It can be configured. Reference numeral 6 denotes a pedestal that rotatably holds the turntable 5 via a bearing 7, and 8 denotes a rotary drive device for rotating the turntable 5, which includes a motor 9 and a gear 10 rotationally driven by the motor 9. An inner gear 11 and the like attached to the lower surface of the turntable 5 and meshing with the gear 10 are provided. The turntable 5, the pedestal 6, the rotation driving device 8 and the like constitute a heated object traveling means for causing a group of the heated objects 1 placed on the turntable 5 to travel along a predetermined circular path, and , Also serves as an output device traveling means for circulating a group of output devices having a heating coil and a transformer secondary coil, which will be described later, through a loop-shaped route including a section along the traveling route of the object to be heated. ing.
The above-mentioned supply conveyor 2 and discharge conveyor 3 are arranged close to each other, so that when the object 1 to be heated is supplied from the supply conveyor 2 onto the turntable 5, the object 1 to be heated rotates on the turntable 5. After one round, the sheet is discharged to the discharge conveyor 3. Although not shown, a device for transferring the object to be heated 1 from the supply conveyor 2 onto the turntable 5 and a device for transferring the object to be heated 1 from the turntable 5 onto the discharge conveyor 3 Is provided. The objects to be heated 1 may be manually transferred instead of providing these transfer devices.

Reference numeral 15 is a heating coil for inductively heating the object to be heated 1, which is manually attached to and detached from the object to be heated 1 by connecting it to a secondary coil of a transformer described later with a flexible cable. This heating coil 15 is the turntable 5
A plurality of objects are placed on the turntable 5 so that they can be mounted on a plurality of objects to be heated 1 which are placed on the upper part with appropriate intervals.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a high frequency power source for supplying high frequency power to the plurality of heating coils 15, and is provided separately from the turntable 5 so as not to rotate. 1
Reference numeral 8 denotes high-frequency power from the high-frequency power source 17 for each heating coil 1.
5 is a transformer device for transmitting the signal. This transformer device 18 includes an annular fixed core 19 arranged on the pedestal 6 below the turntable 5 and concentrically with the turntable 5, a transformer primary coil 20 mounted on the fixed core 19, and a turntable. On the table 5, a group of moving cores 22 dispersedly arranged in an annular shape so as to face the fixed core 19,
And a group of transformer secondary coils 23 mounted on it.

FIG. 3A is a schematic plan view showing the arrangement of the transformer primary coil 20 and the fixed core 19, and FIG. 3B is a group of the transformer secondary coil 23 and the group of the moving core 22 provided on the turntable 5. 2 is a schematic bottom view showing the arrangement of FIG. 1, and the scale of some of the components is shown differently from FIG. 1 to make the drawing easier to understand. FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view of the transformer device 18. 3 and 4, the transformer primary coil 20
Is composed of a conductor held by a ring-shaped fixed core 19 so as to be located in a plane parallel to the turntable. A reciprocal electric path pair is provided, which includes an inner ring portion 20a arranged on the inner diameter side over substantially the entire circumference and an outer ring portion 20b arranged on the outer diameter side of the fixed core 19 over the entire circumference. . The inner ring portion 20a and the outer ring portion 20b are connected to each other at one end by a connecting portion 20c, and the other end is connected to the connection wiring 20.
It is connected to the high frequency power supply 17 at d and 20d. The inner ring portion 20a and the outer ring portion 20b of the transformer primary coil 20 are respectively formed into annular grooves 19 formed on the upper surface of the fixed core 19.
It is housed in a. In FIG. 4, the inner ring portion 20a,
Although one wire having a circular cross section is shown as a conductor forming the outer ring portion 20b, the present invention is not limited to this, and a wire having a flat cross section is used, or a plurality of wires arranged in parallel is used. May be added.

The plurality of transformer secondary coils 23 provided on the turntable 5 are provided in the same number as the plurality of heating coils 15 arranged on the turntable 5, and are connected to each of the heating coils 15. As is clear from FIG. 3B, the transformer secondary coil 23 is provided in each of the plurality of moving cores 22 provided on the lower surface of the turntable 5. Each transformer secondary coil 23 is composed of a conductor arranged in a plane parallel to the turntable, and the conductor is an inner arc having a radius substantially equal to the radius of the inner ring portion 20a of the transformer primary coil 20. The outer arc portion 23b has a radius approximately equal to the radius of the portion 23a and the outer ring portion 20b.
a, the outer circular arc portion 23b are connected to each other by a connecting portion 23c at one end, and the other end is connected to the heating coil 1 by connecting wires 23d and 23d.
Connected to 5. At least a part of the connection wirings 23d, 23d connected to the heating coil 15 is made of a flexible cable, which allows the heating coil 15 to be moved so as to be attached to and detached from the object to be heated 1. As shown in FIG. 4, the inner circular arc portion 23a and the outer circular arc portion 23b of the transformer secondary coil 23 are housed in arcuate grooves 22a formed on the lower surface of the moving core 22, respectively. The inner circular arc portion 23a and the outer circular arc portion 23
Although one wire having a circular cross section is shown as a conductor forming b, the wire is not limited to this, and a wire having a flat cross section is used, or a plurality of wires arranged in parallel are used. Is also good.

Thus, during the rotation of the turntable 5, the transformer primary coil 20 and the transformer secondary coil 23 are always provided with an inner circular arc portion 23a and an outer circular arc portion 23b, respectively, as shown in FIG. It faces the ring portion 20b and is surrounded by the fixed core 19 and the moving core 22. The fixed core 19 and the moving core 22 are provided in order to prevent the magnetic flux from leaking to the surroundings by allowing the magnetic flux to pass satisfactorily in the plane perpendicular to the transformer primary coil 20 and the transformer secondary coil 23, and to form the ferrite core. A body or a laminate of silicon steel sheets is used. With this configuration, when a high frequency current is passed through the transformer primary coil 20, the secondary current can be generated in the transformer secondary coil 23 very efficiently, and the heating coil 15 can be supplied with power.

FIG. 6 is an equivalent circuit diagram of the transformer device 18. As is apparent from FIG. 6, when power VA (voltage V, current A) is applied from the high frequency power supply 17 to the transformer primary coil 20, the number of transformer secondary coils 23 provided on the turntable 5 is set to n, and If the loss in the transformer device 18 is ignored, electric power VA / n (voltage V / n, current A) can be generated in each transformer secondary coil, and this electric power VA / n is supplied to each heating coil 15. You can Generally, it is necessary to apply a low voltage and a high current to the heating coil, and a high frequency power source drops the voltage by an appropriate transformer to supply power to the heating coil. However, in this embodiment, a plurality of transformer coils are used. As a result of using the next coil 23, the supply voltage to each heating coil 15 is 1
Since it has decreased to / n, it is not necessary to use a transformer separately. Therefore, the power supply equipment for the plurality of heating coils 15 can be simplified, and the transformer device 18 including the transformer primary coil 20 that is fixedly arranged and the transformer secondary coil 23 that rotates together with the turntable 5 is used. Since it is not necessary to use a mechanism, it can be simplified from this point as well, and maintenance is easy.

Next, the operation of the induction heating device having the above structure will be described. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the article to be heated 1 is successively supplied from the supply conveyor 2 onto the turntable 5 at an appropriate timing. At this time, the turntable 5 is rotating slowly and continuously, or the turntable 5
It rotates intermittently so that it stops when the object to be heated is put in or taken out. When the object 1 to be heated is supplied onto the turntable 5, the worker attaches the heating coil 15 to the object 1 to be heated. After that, the object to be heated 1 is a turntable 5
Is rotated and moved as it rotates, and during that time, induction heating is performed by the heating coil 15. When the heated object 1 reaches the position facing the discharge conveyor 3, the worker removes the heating coil 15, and then the object 1 is heated.
Are transferred onto the discharge conveyor 3 and discharged. As described above, a large number of objects to be heated 1 are successively turned over to the turntable 5
The material to be heated 1 can be continuously heated by induction heating and the object to be heated 1 can be heated with high productivity.

In the above embodiment, the turntable 5 is used.
The plurality of transformer secondary coils 23 provided in each of the heating coils 15 have a uniform shape and size.
Although the same electric power is supplied to the transformer secondary coil, if necessary, by changing the length of the transformer secondary coil including the inner circular arc portion 23a and the outer circular arc portion 23b for each transformer secondary coil, The power transmitted to each transformer secondary coil 23 may be changed. With this configuration, it is possible to satisfactorily deal with the case where an object to be heated that requires different amounts of heating heat is sent to the turntable 5.

Further, in the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A, the transformer primary coil 20 is made uniform in the circumferential direction except in the vicinity of the ends of the inner ring portion 20a and the outer ring portion 20b. With this configuration, the transformer secondary coil 23 can always output a constant electric power during the rotation of the turntable 5. However, depending on the article to be heated 1, it may be desirable to increase the amount of heat supplied in a certain region when the turntable 5 travels on a circular path. For example, it may be preferable to increase the amount of heat input by the heating coil 15 at the start of heating the object to be heated 1 and reduce the amount of heat input after heating to some extent. Such a requirement can be met by changing the shape of the transformer primary coil, and FIG. 5 shows an embodiment in that case. In FIG. 5, the transformer primary coil 20A has a multi-turn configuration in which a reciprocating electric path pair appears a plurality of times in a section on the traveling path of the object to be heated in which heat input to the object to be heated should be enhanced. That is, the transformer primary coil 20A has, in addition to the inner ring portion 20a and the outer ring portion 20b arranged over substantially the entire circumference of the annular fixed core 19, a section in which heat input to the object to be heated should be strengthened. Inner ring 20
It has additional turn parts 20e and 20f arranged along a and the outer ring part 20b, respectively.

FIG. 7 shows the transformer primary coil 2 shown in FIG.
It is the equivalent circuit schematic of the transformer apparatus which used 0A. However, in FIG. 7, for the sake of clarity, the additional turn portion 2
Assuming that the section in which 0e and 20f are arranged is 1/4 of the entire circumference, and four transformer secondary coils 23 are arranged on the entire circumference (the center angle of each transformer secondary coil 23 is 90 °). There is. As is apparent from FIG. 7, the additional turn portion 20
In the section where e and 20f are arranged, the transformer secondary coil 23 passing therethrough is applied with a voltage twice as high as that in other areas.
Double the current is produced and thus four times the power can be transferred.

The present invention has been described in detail above with reference to an embodiment in which a horizontally arranged turntable is used as the traveling means. However, the traveling means is not limited to the turntable, and a conveyor such as a belt conveyor or a hanger conveyor may be used. Is also good. Further, the traveling paths of the object to be heated and the heating coil are not limited to the horizontal plane, and can be changed as appropriate.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, a heating coil is attached to each object to be induction-heated while the objects to be heated are successively passed through a predetermined path. This makes it possible to heat the object to be heated with good productivity, and moreover, as an electric equipment for the heating coil,
A transformer secondary coil for power supply is connected to each of the plurality of heating coils, and the transformer secondary coil group is configured to circulate along with the heating coil group through a loop-shaped path. By using a configuration in which a transformer primary coil connected to a high-frequency power source is fixedly arranged so as to face the traveling route and electromagnetically fed to the transformer secondary coil while traveling from the transformer primary coil collectively, It is possible to energize a plurality of running heating coils by electromagnetically feeding power from a fixedly arranged transformer primary coil to a plurality of running transformer secondary coils in a non-contact state, and to provide a plurality of high frequency power supplies (and transformers). It is possible to energize multiple heating coils with simple power supply equipment without using a slip connection mechanism. Has the effect of such can be simplified maintenance with costs can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a continuous induction heating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of the induction heating device shown in FIG.

3A is a schematic plan view showing an arrangement of a transformer primary coil 20 and a fixed core 19, and FIG. 3B is a group of transformer secondary coils 23 and a moving core 22.
Schematic bottom view showing the array of groups

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a transformer device 18.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view showing an arrangement of transformer primary coils 20A according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an equivalent circuit diagram of the transformer device in the embodiment shown in FIGS.

7 is an equivalent circuit diagram of a transformer device using the transformer primary coil 20A shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Object to be heated 2 supply conveyor 3 discharge conveyor 5 turntable 6 mounts 7 bearings 8 rotary drive 15 heating coil 17 High frequency power supply 18 transformer equipment 19 fixed core 20 transformer primary coil 20a inner ring 20b outer ring 20e Inner arc 20f Outer arc part 22 Moving core 23 Transformer secondary coil 23a, 23b additional turn section

Continued front page    (72) Inventor Osamu Yanagawa             552-1 Hirota, Midori-cho, Mihara-gun, Hyogo Prefecture Co., Ltd.             Izumi Food Machinery F term (reference) 3K059 AA08 AA16 AB08 AB19 AD03                       AD40 CD75

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A heated object traveling means for causing heated objects to be supplied one after another to travel through a predetermined route, and an induction heating means for mounting the heated object traveling means on each of the heated objects. A group of heating coils, a group of transformer secondary coils for power supply connected to each one of the heating coils, and a group of output devices having these heating coils and transformer secondary coils are provided in the traveling path of the object to be heated. An output device running means for circulating running through a loop-shaped path including a section along the line, and a transformer primary coil fixedly arranged so as to face a group of transformer secondary coils that are running circularly. By electromagnetically feeding power to the group of the secondary coil of the transformer from the primary coil of the transformer collectively, induction heating can be sequentially performed while the object to be heated is run. Continuous induction heating device. 2. The continuous induction heating device according to claim 1, wherein the object to be heated and the output device are held together by a set of turntables and are run. 3. The transformer primary coil is mounted on an annular fixed core arranged below the turntable and concentrically with the turntable so as to be located in a plane parallel to the turntable. And the conductor is formed on the inner diameter side of the annular fixed core over substantially the entire circumference and on the outer diameter side of the fixed core over the entire circumference. A reciprocating electric path pair having an arranged outer ring portion, wherein a group of the transformer secondary coils are respectively mounted on the coils so as to face the fixed core below the turntable. Along with a group of moving cores distributed in an annular shape, the transformer secondary coil is held by a turntable, and each transformer secondary coil is composed of a conductor arranged so as to be located in a plane parallel to the turntable. So 3. The continuous induction heating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each of the conductors is oriented so as to receive electromagnetic induction from the transformer primary coil. 4. A multi-turn configuration in which the conductor forming the transformer primary coil has a plurality of reciprocating electric path pairs that appear a plurality of times in a section on the object heating path where heat input to the object is to be enhanced. The continuous induction heating device according to claim 3, wherein 5. The heating coil and the transformer secondary coil are connected by a flexible cable so that the heating coil can be freely attached to and detached from an object to be heated.
The continuous induction heating device according to claim 1.