JP2009035792A - Heat-treatment method and heat-treatment apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a heat-treatment apparatus with which the number of defective articles with the heat-treatment are made to the minimum limit even in the case of being the abnormality in the heat-treatment article, the quality of the article can be determined with the worst pallet unit. <P>SOLUTION: This apparatus is provided with; a heat-treatment pallet 2 for loading the heat-treatment articles 1; a heat-treatment furnace 3 for charging each heat-treatment pallet 2 into the furnace; a heating heater 4 arranged in the heat-treatment furnace 3; a temperature sensor 5 for directly measuring the temperature of the heat-treatment article 1 by coming into contact with this heat-treatment article 1; and a temperature controlling instrument 6 for controlling the heating temperature with the above heating heater 4 based on the detected temperature with the temperature sensor 5. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a heat treatment method and a heat treatment apparatus for heat treating a heat treated component, and relates to a technique for heat treatment at an appropriate heat treatment temperature.

  For example, in order to improve mechanical properties such as strength, metal parts or cast parts are placed in a heat treatment apparatus (heat treatment furnace) and heated at a predetermined temperature for heat treatment (for example, Patent Documents). 1 etc.).

The temperature control at the time of the conventional heat treatment is performed by measuring the atmospheric temperature in the heat treatment furnace with respect to preset processing conditions, and feeding the measured atmospheric temperature data back to the temperature control device (temperature regulator) for heating. The temperature is controlled.
JP 2003-301216 A

  However, in temperature control, since the atmospheric temperature in the heat treatment furnace is measured, the heat treatment status (temperature history) of each heat treated component is unknown. For this reason, when there is an abnormality in the material properties such as strength and elongation in the heat-treated parts, not only the specific product but also a large number of lots is judged as a defective product (reprocessed product or disposal product).

  Therefore, the present invention provides a heat treatment method and a heat treatment apparatus capable of minimizing the number of defective products due to heat treatment and determining the quality of the product on a worst pallet basis even when there is an abnormality in the heat treated parts.

  The present invention is a heat treatment method in which a heat treatment pallet loaded with a heat treatment component is placed in a heat treatment furnace and heated while adjusting the heat treatment temperature to heat treat the heat treatment component, or the temperature of the heat treatment component is directly measured, or It is characterized in that the temperature of a dummy sample having characteristics equivalent to those of a heat-treated component is measured, and temperature adjustment is performed based on the measured temperature data.

  The heat treatment apparatus of the present invention includes a heat treatment pallet on which heat treatment parts are mounted, a heat treatment furnace to be put into each furnace of the heat treatment pallet, a heating means provided in the heat treatment furnace, and the heat treatment parts in contact with the heat treatment parts. The temperature detecting means for directly measuring the temperature of the component, and the temperature control means for controlling the heating temperature by the heating means based on the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means.

  According to the heat treatment method of the present invention, instead of measuring the ambient temperature in the heat treatment apparatus, the temperature of the heat treatment part is directly measured, or the temperature of the dummy sample having the same characteristics as the heat treatment part is measured. Since the temperature adjustment is performed based on the measured temperature data, the heat treatment can be performed by adjusting the temperature based on the heat treatment status (temperature history) of each heat treatment component. Therefore, when there is an abnormality in material properties such as strength and elongation, it is possible to judge the quality of the product in units of heat treatment pallets at the worst, and it is possible to eliminate the quality judgment of the products in a plurality of pallets.

  According to the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention, since the temperature detection means for directly measuring the temperature of the heat treatment part in contact with the heat treatment part is provided, it is possible to grasp the heat treatment state of each heat treatment part, Abnormal material properties such as strength and elongation can be grasped.

  Hereinafter, specific embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

“First Embodiment”
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a heat treatment apparatus according to the first embodiment. The heat treatment apparatus is a heat treatment pallet 2 on which a heat treatment component 1 that is a heat treated component to be heat treated is mounted, a heat treatment furnace 3 to be put into each furnace of the heat treatment pallet 2, and a heating means provided in the heat treatment furnace 3. The heater 4, the temperature sensor 5 that is a temperature detection unit that directly measures the temperature of the heat treatment component 1, and the temperature that is a temperature control unit that controls the heating temperature by the heater 4 based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 5. And a control device (temperature controller) 6.

  The heat-treated part 1 is a metal part or cast part made of, for example, an aluminum alloy that is an automobile part. Here, only an example of the heat-treated component 1 is illustrated, and other components than those described above may be used.

  The heat treatment pallet 2 serves to place a plurality of heat treatment components 1 and is put into the heat treatment furnace 3 for each pallet. The heat treatment component 1 mounted on the heat treatment pallet 2 is supported by a treatment product support base 7 provided on the bottom surface in the heat treatment furnace 3. In this embodiment, the treated product support base 7 is provided with a support portion 8 that fits into the recessed portion 1 </ b> A having a circular arc shape formed in the heat treated component 1 and supports the heat treated component 1.

  The heat treatment furnace 3 is provided with a heater 4 and a fan 9 used for quenching by supplying air into the furnace. The heater 4 is provided on the inner wall surface of the heat treatment furnace 3 and is temperature-controlled by the temperature control device 6. The fan 9 is provided on the ceiling portion of the heat treatment furnace 3 and is used for quenching by blowing air to the heat treatment component 1.

  The temperature sensor 5 is composed of, for example, a thermocouple. The temperature sensor 5 is provided at the tip of the support portion 8 and is in direct contact with the concave portion 1A of the heat treatment component 1. The temperature of the heat-treated component 1 measured by the temperature sensor 5 is sequentially sent to the temperature control device 6.

  The temperature control device 6 measures the component temperature obtained by directly measuring the temperature of the heat-treated component 1 by the temperature sensor 5, and stores the component temperature as a history. The temperature control device 6 controls the temperature by controlling the heater 4 based on the temperature data measured by the heat treatment component 1.

  Next, a heat treatment method using the heat treatment apparatus having the above configuration will be described.

  First, the heater 4 is operated to raise the temperature of the heat treatment furnace 3 to a predetermined processing temperature. Then, when the temperature in the heat treatment furnace 3 reaches a predetermined treatment temperature, the heat treatment pallet 2 on which a plurality of heat treatment components 1 are mounted is put into the heat treatment furnace 3. The heat treatment component 1 is supported by fitting the concave portion 1 </ b> A to a support portion 8 provided on the processed product support base 7, and contacts the temperature sensor 5 provided at the tip of the support portion 8.

  When the heat treatment component 1 is put into the heat treatment furnace 3, the atmospheric temperature in the furnace temporarily decreases. The temperature of the heat treatment component 1 at this time is measured by the temperature sensor 5 and sent to the temperature control device 6. The temperature control device 6 instructs the heating by controlling the heater 4 so as to obtain an appropriate heat treatment temperature based on the product temperature of the heat treatment component 1 measured by the temperature sensor 5. Thereby, the inside of the heat treatment furnace 3 is maintained at an appropriate processing temperature.

  The temperature sensor 5 sequentially measures the temperature of the heat-treated component 1 during the heat treatment. And the temperature control apparatus 6 memorize | stores the product temperature, and takes a temperature history.

  The heat treatment operator determines whether or not heat treatment can be performed based on the temperature history while confirming the accurate temperature of the heat treatment component 1 itself with the temperature history. For example, when the temperature history is confirmed and the heat treatment temperature is significantly deviated from a predetermined value, it is determined whether or not the lot has an abnormality (product abnormality in material properties such as strength and elongation). If there is an abnormality, only the heat treatment component 1 mounted on the heat treatment pallet 2 is inspected. That is, it is possible to save labor for inspecting a plurality of heat-treated parts 1 of a plurality of lots that have been continuously heat-treated.

“Second Embodiment”
FIG. 2 shows a heat treatment apparatus according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of a dummy sample.

  This heat treatment apparatus has the same basic configuration as the heat treatment apparatus of the first embodiment, but differs in that the temperature of a dummy sample having the same characteristics as the heat treatment component 1 is measured. Hereinafter, the description of the overlapping components will be omitted, and only the differences will be described.

  In this heat treatment apparatus, the support portion 8 provided on the processed product support base 7 in the first embodiment is eliminated, and the heat treated component 1 is directly placed on the processed product support base 7. A dummy sample 10 is provided on the heat treatment pallet 2.

  The dummy sample 10 has material characteristics equivalent to those of the heat-treated component 1. The dummy sample 10 is provided with a cooling circuit 11 through which a cooling medium such as compressed air flows, a fin 12 for temperature adjustment, and a temperature sensor 5.

  The cooling circuit 11 is formed as an internal space passage so that the cooling medium circulates in the dummy sample 10. A connector 14 for connecting the dummy sample 10 and the cooling medium pump 13 is provided at the outlet of the cooling circuit 11. Note that the cooling medium pump 13 is disposed outside the heat treatment furnace 3.

  The fins 12 are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the dummy sample 10 and make temperature adjustment efficient.

  The temperature sensor 5 is provided almost at the center of the dummy sample 10 and detects the temperature of the dummy sample 10.

  Next, a heat treatment method using the heat treatment apparatus having the above configuration will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the heat treatment method according to the second embodiment. First, preparations are made in advance in the process of step S1. That is, a temperature sensor is attached to the heat-treated component 1 in a preliminary trial, and heat treatment conditions (temperature history) that improve the quality are stored. And from this result, the temperature rise and temperature fall curves are created as shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 5, the liquid treatment is a heat treatment in which a non-equilibrium phase crystallized during solidification is solidified at a high temperature and then cooled with water to obtain a solid solution having a uniform composition at room temperature, which is air quenching. Is a quenching process in which the heat treatment component 1 is cooled by rotating the fan 9, and the aging process is a process in which a relatively low temperature is maintained and precipitation hardening is caused by an intermediate precipitation phase.

  Then, a dummy sample 10 having a temperature characteristic equivalent to the recorded temperature condition is produced.

  Next, the heat treatment in step S2 is performed. In this heat treatment process, the overlapping process description is omitted, and only the process different from the first embodiment will be described. In addition to mounting a plurality of heat treatment components 1 on the heat treatment pallet 2, a dummy sample 10 is also mounted. At the time of heat treatment, the temperature of the dummy sample 10 is measured by the temperature sensor 5, and the temperature control device 6 feeds back the measured temperature data to the heater 4 to adjust the furnace atmosphere temperature. In step S3, it is determined whether heat treatment is possible. Whether or not heat treatment is possible is determined by looking at the temperature history of the dummy sample 10 stored in the temperature control device 6.

  In the second embodiment, the temperature of the dummy sample 10 having characteristics (such as temperature rise and temperature fall characteristics) equivalent to those of the heat treatment component 1 is measured, so that the temperature of the heat treatment component 1 is directly measured. The exact temperature of the heat-treated component itself can be managed. Therefore, according to this heat treatment method and heat treatment apparatus, when there is a product abnormality in material properties such as strength and elongation, only the heat treatment component 1 mounted on the heat treatment pallet 2 needs to be inspected. The trouble of inspecting the component 1 can be saved.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a heat treatment apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a view showing a heat treatment apparatus according to the second embodiment. FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part of the dummy sample. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the heat treatment method of the second embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a temperature curve obtained by a preliminary trial before heat treatment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Heat processing part 2 ... Heat processing pallet 3 ... Heat processing furnace 4 ... Heater (heating means)
5. Temperature sensor (temperature detection means)
6 ... Temperature control device (temperature control means)
7 ... Processed product support stand 8 ... Supporting part 10 ... Dummy sample 11 ... Cooling circuit 12 ... Fin 13 ... Cooling medium pump

Claims (4)

In a heat treatment method in which a heat treatment pallet loaded with heat treatment parts is put into a heat treatment furnace and heated while adjusting the heat treatment temperature, the heat treatment parts are heat treated.
A heat treatment method characterized by directly measuring the temperature of the heat treated part or measuring the temperature of a dummy sample having characteristics equivalent to those of the heat treated part and adjusting the temperature based on the measured temperature data . A heat treatment pallet on which heat treatment parts are mounted;
A heat treatment furnace to be put into each furnace of the heat treatment pallet;
Heating means provided in the heat treatment furnace;
Temperature detecting means for directly measuring the temperature of the heat-treated component in contact with the heat-treated component;
And a temperature control means for controlling a heating temperature by the heating means based on the temperature detected by the temperature detection means. A heat treatment pallet on which heat treatment parts are mounted;
A heat treatment furnace to be put into each furnace of the heat treatment pallet;
Heating means provided in the heat treatment furnace;
A dummy sample mounted on the heat treatment pallet and having the same characteristics as the heat treatment component;
Temperature detection means for measuring the temperature of the dummy sample;
And a temperature control means for controlling the heating temperature by the heating means based on the temperature of the dummy sample detected by the temperature detection means. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 3,
The dummy sample is provided with a cooling circuit through which a cooling medium flows and a fin for temperature adjustment.

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