JP2007321231A - Oil quenching device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an oil quenching device with a simplified structure capable of horizontally oscillating a workpiece immersed in a quenching oil. <P>SOLUTION: The oil quenching device 10 is equipped with a chain conveyor 18, a conveyor hoisting mechanism and a conveyor driving mechanism. The chain conveyor 18 is arranged at the upper side of an oil tank 22, receives a workpiece 20 brought into a quenching chamber 25, and carries the workpiece 20 in a horizontal direction within the quenching chamber 25. The conveyor hoisting mechanism reciprocates the chain conveyor 18 between first and second positions. The first position is where the chain conveyor 18 is arranged to receive the workpiece 20 brought into the quenching room 25, meanwhile the second position is where the workpiece 20 on the chain conveyor 18 is immersed in a quenching oil 221. The conveyor driving mechanism provides a driving force to the chain conveyor 18 when it is located at the first or second position. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an oil quenching apparatus that immerses a workpiece heated in a heating chamber in quenching oil in an oil tank in the quenching chamber and cools the workpiece.

  Many of the oil quenching apparatuses stir the quenching oil in the oil tank when performing an oil quenching process on the workpiece. For example, many conventional oil quenching devices create a flow from bottom to top in the quenching oil by stirring the quenching oil with a propeller. Some of them have a configuration that suppresses variation in quenching distortion between the lower side and the upper side of the workpiece by swinging the workpiece immersed in the quenching oil in the vertical direction.

  However, depending on the shape and installation state of the workpiece, even if the workpiece is swung in the vertical direction in the quenching oil, variation in quenching distortion may not be suppressed. For example, in the case where a flat workpiece such as a gear is placed vertically, even if the workpiece is swung in the vertical direction, the effect of suppressing variation in quenching distortion is small.

Therefore, in the prior art, there has been a quenching apparatus having a configuration capable of swinging a workpiece immersed in quenching oil in a horizontal direction using a hydraulic cylinder and a spring (for example, (See Patent Document 1).
International Publication No. WO2006 / 001068A1 Pamphlet

  However, in the quenching apparatus described in Patent Document 1 described above, it is necessary to separately provide a hydraulic cylinder and a spring in order to move the workpiece in the horizontal direction. For this reason, the configuration of the quenching chamber is complicated by the installation of the hydraulic cylinder and the spring, and the manufacturing cost is increased accordingly.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an oil quenching apparatus capable of swinging a workpiece immersed in quenching oil in a horizontal direction with a simple configuration.

  The oil quenching apparatus according to the present invention includes a quenching chamber and a heating chamber. The quenching chamber has an oil tank in the lower part for storing quenching oil. The heating chamber is connected to the quenching chamber via a partition door. The oil quenching apparatus is configured to immerse a workpiece heated in a heating chamber in quenching oil in an oil tank and cool the oil.

  Furthermore, the oil quenching apparatus includes a conveyor, a conveyor lifting mechanism, and a conveyor driving mechanism. The conveyor is disposed above the oil tank in the quenching chamber, receives the workpiece introduced into the quenching chamber, and conveys the workpiece in the horizontal direction in the quenching chamber. Typical examples of conveyors include chain conveyors and roller conveyors.

  The conveyor lifting mechanism reciprocates the conveyor between the first position and the second position. The first position is a position where the conveyor is arranged to receive the workpiece introduced into the quenching chamber. The conveyor is disposed at the first position except during oil cooling. On the other hand, the second position is a position below the first position and is a position where the work on the conveyor is immersed in the quenching oil.

  The conveyor driving mechanism supplies a driving force to the conveyor when the conveyor is in the first position or the second position. When the conveyor driving mechanism drives the conveyor, the workpiece moves in the horizontal direction in the quenching chamber.

  For example, when the conveyor is at the second position, the conveyor driving mechanism drives the conveyor, so that the workpiece swings in the horizontal direction in the quenching oil. On the other hand, when the workpiece is swung in the vertical direction in the quenching oil, the conveyor may be swung in the vertical direction by the conveyor driving mechanism.

  If the above-described configuration is adopted, it is not necessary to separately provide a configuration used only for moving the workpiece in the quenching oil in the horizontal direction.

  According to the present invention, the work immersed in the quenching oil can be swung in the horizontal direction with a simple configuration.

  A schematic configuration of an oil quenching apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The oil quenching apparatus 10 includes a heating chamber 24 and a quenching chamber 25.

  In the heating chamber 24, a heater 242 for performing a heat treatment on the workpiece 20 is disposed. A plurality of rollers 244 for conveying the work in the heating chamber 24 is disposed below the heating chamber 24.

  The quenching chamber 25 is connected to the heating chamber 24 via a vacuum door 26 and an intermediate door 28. Further, the quenching chamber 25 is provided with a front door 16 that is used when a work is carried in and out. The quenching chamber 25 has an oil tank 22 for storing the quenching oil 221 in the lower part. A pair of stoppers 30 and 32 are arranged at a predetermined interval on the bottom of the oil tank 22. In order to agitate the quenching oil 221 on at least one of the left and right sides of the oil tank 22 as viewed from the front of the apparatus (left side in FIG. 1), that is, on the back side or the front side in the direction orthogonal to the paper surface. An oil stirring unit (not shown) is provided.

  Further, a chain conveyor 18 is disposed in the quenching chamber 25. As shown in FIG. 1, the chain conveyor 18 is disposed above the oil tank 22. The position of the chain conveyor 18 shown in FIG. 1 is defined as a first position. The chain conveyor 18 receives the workpiece 20 introduced into the quenching chamber 25 from the outside of the oil quenching apparatus 10 or from the heating chamber 24 at the first position. The chain conveyor 18 is configured to convey the received workpiece 20 in the quenching chamber 25 in the horizontal direction. Specifically, the chain conveyor 18 includes a first sprocket pair 181, a second sprocket pair 183, and two chains 182. The chain 182 is bridged between the first sprocket pair 181 and the second sprocket pair 183, respectively. The workpiece 20 is placed on the chain 182 directly or indirectly through a tray or a basket.

  The oil quenching apparatus 10 further includes a drive motor 12. The drive motor 12 is configured to be rotatable in both forward and reverse directions, and transmits a driving force to the first sprocket pair 181 via the drive shaft 14.

  Here, the characteristics of the oil quenching apparatus 10 will be briefly described. One of the features of the oil quenching apparatus 10 is that the chain conveyor 18 is configured to be reciprocally movable between the above-described first position and the second position shown in FIG. The second position is a position below the first position and is a position where the workpiece 20 placed on the chain conveyor 18 is immersed in the quenching oil 221. Further, as another feature of the oil quenching apparatus 10, a driving force is supplied from the drive motor 12 to the chain conveyor 18 regardless of whether the chain conveyor 18 is disposed at the first position or the second position. The point is mentioned. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 2, the workpiece 20 in the quenching oil 221 can be reciprocated in the horizontal direction by the chain conveyor 18.

  Here, an example of a mechanism for reciprocating the chain conveyor 18 between the first position and the second position will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 (A) and 3 (B). As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the oil quenching apparatus 10 includes a chain winding mechanism 19 and a plurality of chains 192. Each of the chains 192 is attached to a frame 185 in which a first end portion accommodates the chain conveyor 18. The frame 185 is provided with two current plates 198 for adjusting the oil flow in the frame 185. The current plate 198 is disposed along the side surface of the frame 185 along the reciprocating direction of the chain conveyor 18. At this time, it is preferable to arrange the current plate 198 so that the distance between the current plate 198 and the workpiece 20 is 50 mm or less.

  The second end of the chain 192 is connected to the winding unit 196 of the chain winding mechanism 19. The chain winding mechanism 19 raises the chain conveyor 18 by winding the chain 192 around the winding unit 196, and lowers the chain conveyor 18 by sending the chain 192 from the winding unit 196. The winding unit 196 is rotationally driven by a motor 194 that can rotate in both forward and reverse directions.

  Next, an example of a mechanism for supplying a driving force from the driving motor 12 to the chain conveyor 18 will be described with reference to FIG. Two bevel gears 142 and 144 are provided on the drive shaft 14 of the drive motor 12. On the other hand, a bevel gear 189 is provided on the rotation shaft 187 of the first sprocket pair 181. The bevel gear 189 meshes with the bevel gear 142 when the chain conveyor 18 is disposed at the first position, and meshes with the bevel gear 144 when the chain conveyor 18 is disposed at the second position. For this reason, even when the chain conveyor 18 is disposed at either the first position or the second position, the driving force of the drive motor 12 is supplied to the first sprocket pair 181.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the oil quenching apparatus 10. The oil quenching apparatus 10 includes a sensor group 58, an encoder 54, a door opening / closing mechanism 56, a ROM 52, and a CPU 50. The sensor group 58 detects environmental information (for example, temperature) of the oil quenching apparatus 10. The encoder 54 is used to detect the position of the workpiece 20 on the chain conveyor 18. The door opening / closing mechanism 56 controls the opening / closing operation of the intermediate door 28 and the vacuum door 26. The ROM 52 stores a plurality of programs necessary for the operation of the oil quenching apparatus 10. The CPU 50 comprehensively controls the operation of each part of the oil quenching apparatus 10 based on a program stored in the ROM 52.

  Subsequently, the operation of the oil quenching apparatus 10 will be described. Here, an oil quenching process for the workpiece 20 in which a plurality of gears are arranged in a vertically placed state as shown in FIG. 6A will be described.

  In the oil quenching apparatus 10, the workpiece 20 that has been subjected to a desired heat treatment in the heating chamber 24 is introduced into the quenching chamber 25 through the intermediate door 28 and the vacuum door 26 in order to perform oil cooling. The workpiece 20 introduced into the quenching chamber 25 is received by the chain conveyor 18 and conveyed as it is to a predetermined position.

  When it is confirmed by the signal from the encoder 54 that the workpiece 20 is disposed at a predetermined position, the CPU 50 controls the chain winding mechanism 19 to lower the chain conveyor 18. When the chain conveyor 18 reaches the second position, the CPU 50 operates the drive motor 12 to swing the workpiece 20 in the oil tank 22 in the horizontal direction. The swing of the workpiece 20 is repeated intermittently or continuously over a desired oil cooling period. As a result, the workpiece 20 is shaken in a state where it is immersed in the quenching oil 221, and the workpiece 20 is oil-cooled almost uniformly. At this time, the position of the workpiece 20 is detected by the encoder 54. Furthermore, since the stoppers 30 and 32 are disposed at the bottom of the oil tank 22, overrun of the workpiece 20 is appropriately prevented. After the oil cooling for a desired time, the workpiece 20 is pulled up from the oil tank 22 by the ascent of the chain conveyor 18, and is conveyed toward the front door 16 by the rotation of the chain conveyor 18 after a predetermined oil draining time has elapsed. .

  On the other hand, with respect to the work 20 in which a plurality of gears are arranged in a horizontal state as shown in FIG. 6B, the work 20 in the oil tank 22 is swung vertically rather than horizontally. It is preferable to make it. Therefore, the oil quenching apparatus 10 can swing the workpiece 20 in the quenching oil 221 in the vertical direction by the chain winding mechanism 19 swinging the chain conveyor 18 in the vertical direction. It is configured. Whether the workpiece 20 in the quenching oil 221 is swung in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction may be appropriately set according to the state of the workpiece 20.

  Thus, since the oil quenching apparatus 10 does not need to arrange | position a cylinder, a spring, etc. in the oil tank 22 in order to rock | fluctuate the workpiece | work 20 in a horizontal direction, the structure in the oil tank 22 becomes simple.

  In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, although the chain conveyor 18 was used, it may replace with this and may use a roller conveyor.

  The above description of the embodiment is to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown not by the above embodiments but by the claims. Furthermore, the scope of the present invention is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of the claims.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the oil hardening apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the oil hardening apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the mechanism which raises / lowers a conveyor. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the mechanism which supplies a driving force to a conveyor. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the oil hardening apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the loading state of a work.

Explanation of symbols

10-Oil quenching device 12-Drive motor 18-Chain conveyor 19-Wire winding mechanism 20-Workpiece 24-Heating chamber 25-Quenching chamber

Claims (3)

A quenching chamber having an oil tank for storing quenching oil at a lower portion thereof, and a heating chamber connected to the quenching chamber via a partition door, and the workpiece heated in the heating chamber in the quenching chamber An oil quenching device that is immersed in oil and cooled by oil,
A conveyor disposed above the oil tank in the quenching chamber, receiving the workpiece introduced into the quenching chamber and conveying the workpiece in the horizontal direction in the quenching chamber;
A first position for receiving the work introduced into the quenching chamber, and a second position below the first position at which the work on the conveyor is immersed in the quenching oil. A conveyor lifting mechanism for reciprocating the conveyor in between,
A conveyor driving mechanism for supplying a driving force to the conveyor when the conveyor is in the first position and when the conveyor is in the second position;
An oil quenching apparatus comprising:   The oil quenching apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a pair of stopper members that define a reciprocating range of the workpiece placed on the conveyor located at a second position.   The oil quenching apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the conveyor is a chain conveyor.

Images