JP2009185349A - Multichamber heat treatment furnace - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multichamber heat treatment furnace which can miniaturize its cooling chamber, thereby reduces an amount of a cooling gas to be used, also makes the cooling gas uniformly flow, and imparts a desired material quality to an article to be treated. <P>SOLUTION: This heat treatment furnace includes: a heating chamber 10 that can heat the article W to be treated which has been carried into the inner space that can be sealed up, under a reduced pressure; the cooling chamber 20 that can cool the article W to be treated which has been carried into the inner space that has one opening 31b for moving the article W to be treated and can be sealed up and depressurized, with the cooling gas under a reduced pressure; and a transfer chamber 30 that has a transportation path 45 which is formed toward the inside of the heating chamber 10 and the inside of the cooling chamber 20 and a transportation device 46 for moving the article W to be treated along the transportation path 45 installed in the inner space that can be sealed up and depressurized. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a multi-chamber heat treatment furnace that performs heat treatment and cooling treatment under reduced pressure to modify the material of an object to be treated.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a multi-chamber heat treatment furnace is known as a heat treatment apparatus for performing a treatment such as quenching by heating and cooling a metal material that is an object to be treated. For example, in Patent Document 1 below, a heating chamber provided with a heater, a cooling chamber provided with a cooling device adjacent to the heating chamber, and a heating chamber and a cooling chamber are opened so as to communicate with each other. A multi-chamber heat treatment furnace including one opening, an intermediate door that seals the first opening, and a transfer device that transfers an article to be processed is disclosed. This multi-chamber heat treatment furnace heats the product in a sealed and decompressed heating chamber, then opens the intermediate door and conveys the product to be cooled from the heating chamber to the decompressed cooling chamber. The door is closed and high-pressure cooling gas is circulated in the cooling chamber to cool the article to be processed at high speed.

By the way, the first multi-chamber heat treatment furnace described in the following Patent Document 1 is provided with a sealing door that forms a second opening communicating with the outside in the cooling chamber and can seal the second opening. The product to be processed is charged and extracted from the outside. The second multi-chamber heat treatment furnace described in the following Patent Document 1 is a container in which the cooling chamber can be in close contact with the cylindrical container body fixed to the heat treatment furnace body and the end of the container moving part. It has a gas circulation part that can move forward and backward with respect to the body part, and a clutch ring that can open and close the tight contact part of the container body part and the gas circulation part, and the gas circulation part is retracted with the clutch ring opened. By opening the container body, the product to be processed is charged and extracted into the heat treatment furnace (cooling chamber).
In addition, there exists the following patent document 2 as a multi-chamber heat treatment furnace of the same structure.
International Publication No. 2005/1360 Pamphlet International Publication No. 2005/90616 Pamphlet

  However, as described above, since the cooling chamber is filled with high-pressure cooling gas, it is necessary to provide a large and heavy sealed door with high pressure resistance when the second opening is provided in the cooling chamber. If the cooling chamber is configured to be separable, it is necessary to provide a heavy clutch ring with high sealing performance. That is, there exists a problem that a cooling chamber will enlarge by providing these.

  On the other hand, if the cooling chamber and the heating chamber are arranged adjacent to each other without being adjacent to each other and only one opening is formed in the cooling chamber, the article to be processed after heating is moved when the article to be processed is moved from the heating chamber to the cooling chamber. Dissipate heat. In addition, the cooling chamber must be depressurized after the article to be processed is carried into the cooling chamber, and cooling of the article to be processed is delayed. That is, there is a problem that the product to be processed is modified to a material different from the desired material due to heat dissipation of the product to be processed and delay of cooling.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and can reduce the size of the cooling chamber, thereby reducing the amount of cooling gas used and obtaining a uniform flow of cooling gas. An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-chamber heat treatment furnace capable of obtaining a desired material for a processed product.

The present invention employs the following means in order to solve the above problems.
That is, the present invention provides, as a first solving means, a heating chamber capable of heating an object to be processed carried in a sealable internal space under reduced pressure, and only one opening for moving the object to be processed. A cooling chamber capable of cooling the article to be treated, which is carried into a sealed and decompressable internal space, with cooling gas, a conveyance path formed toward the heating chamber and the cooling chamber, and the treatment A means is adopted in which a transfer device that moves an article along the transfer path includes a transfer chamber provided in an internal space that can be sealed and decompressed.

  Further, as a second solving means related to the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace, a means is adopted in which the cooling chamber in the first solving means is composed of a cylindrical pressure vessel capable of withstanding a pressure of 0.3 MPa or more. .

  Further, as a third solving means related to the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace, the conveying path in the first or second solving means supports a plurality of lower end portions of the article to be processed so as to be movable in the conveying direction. Free rollers are provided, and the transport device is provided with a push-pull member that moves while engaging with the product to be processed and pushes and pulls the product to be processed, and a drive device that moves the push-pull member. , Is adopted.

  Further, as a fourth solving means related to the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace, the conveying path in any one of the first to third solving means is a first conveying path formed toward the inside of the heating chamber. On the other hand, the means that the 2nd conveyance path formed toward the said cooling chamber inside is provided in an orthogonal direction is employ | adopted.

  Further, as a fifth solving means relating to the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace, in any one of the first to fourth solving means, before the article to be processed is carried into the heating chamber, the article to be processed is A means of providing a preheating chamber for preheating is adopted.

  Further, as a sixth solving means relating to the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace, in any one of the first to fifth solving means, before the article to be processed is carried into the heating chamber, the article to be processed is A means of providing a replacement chamber for performing a decompression process is employed.

  Further, as a seventh solving means relating to the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace, in any one of the first to sixth solving means, after the article to be processed is carried out from the heating chamber, the article to be processed is A means of providing a preheating substitution chamber for performing a pressure reduction treatment and a soaking treatment is adopted.

  According to the present invention, since the cooling chamber and the heating chamber are spaced apart to form only one opening for moving the workpiece in the cooling chamber, an opening for charging and extraction is formed in the cooling chamber. And the cooling chamber is not separable, and there is no need to provide a large / heavy sealed door or a heavy clutch ring. Thereby, a cooling chamber can be reduced in size.

In addition, since a transfer chamber that is hermetically sealed and depressurized is provided between the heating chamber and the cooling chamber, the transfer chamber can be appropriately set according to the charging / extraction status of the article to be processed and the transfer status in the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace. The atmosphere is adjusted. Thereby, even if the cooling chamber and the heating chamber are spaced apart to form only one opening for moving the workpiece in the cooling chamber, the atmosphere in the transfer chamber and the cooling chamber should be the same. Can do. In other words, by conveying the product to be processed under reduced pressure, heat dissipation and cooling delay can be prevented, and the processed product can be prevented from being modified to a material different from the desired material.
Furthermore, it becomes easy to reduce the amount of cooling gas used as the cooling chamber becomes smaller and to make the flow of the cooling gas uniform.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[First embodiment]
1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 1 of the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. is there. In addition, the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 1 performs heat treatment of the product W having a cubic shape.

  The multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 1 includes a heating chamber 10 that heats the workpiece W, a cooling chamber 20 that cools the heated workpiece W, and a heating chamber in which the workpiece W is charged and extracted from the outside. 10 and a transfer chamber 30 adjacent to the cooling chamber 20.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the heating chamber 10 includes a vacuum vessel 11 provided with a carry-in / out port 11 a communicating with the transfer chamber 30, and heating that can be provided in the carry-in / out port 11 a to seal the internal space of the heating chamber 10. A chamber door 12, a heat insulating heating chamber 13 having a box shape and provided with a carry-in / out port 13 a, a heat insulating door 14 provided at the carry-in / out port 13 a and capable of thermally shielding the internal space of the heat insulating heating chamber 13, and heat insulation An opening / closing mechanism 15 that opens and closes by moving the door 14 in the vertical direction (see FIG. 3), and a heater 16 that is provided in the adiabatic heating chamber 13 and heats the workpiece W are provided.

As shown in FIG. 3, the vacuum vessel 11 is provided with an air discharge hole 11b connected to a decompression device (not shown) outside the furnace, and the inside of the vacuum chamber 11 is evacuated while the heating chamber door 12 is closed. It is like that. That is, by opening the heat insulation door 14 and evacuating the inside of the vacuum vessel 11, the heat insulation chamber 13 is brought into a vacuum state and a heat insulation state by closing the heat insulation door 14. With such a configuration, the workpiece W carried into the heat insulating heating chamber 13 is heated at a predetermined temperature in a vacuum state and in a heat insulating state.
Instead of the air discharge hole 11b or in combination with the air discharge hole 11b, a communication rod provided with an open / close valve capable of communicating the vacuum container 11 of the heating chamber 10 and the vacuum container 31 of the transfer chamber 30 is provided. May be. That is, vacuum exhaust may be performed from the air discharge hole 11b of the heating chamber 10, or an open / close valve may be opened and vacuum exhaust may be performed from the air discharge hole 31c of the transfer chamber 30 via the communication pipe.

A plurality of free rollers F are provided in the vacuum container 11 and in the heat insulating heating chamber 13. The free roller F is a short cylindrical roller that can freely rotate about its axis, and is continuously provided on the mounting frame 17 so that the two free rollers F face each other. The plurality of free rollers F support only both end portions of the lower surface of the workpiece W, and the workpiece W can move between the carry-in / out port 11a and the inside of the heat insulating heating chamber 13. .
The free roller F only supports the workpiece W as described above, and a simple bearing (for example, a journal with a large gap) so that the function is not impaired even when heated in the adiabatic heating chamber 13. Bearing), and has a simple structure that requires almost no heat countermeasures.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cooling chamber 20 circulates a cooling gas G to cool the article W to be processed, and includes a substantially cylindrical vacuum vessel 21 having a flange portion 21 a, and a vacuum vessel 21. An adiabatic cooling chamber 22 housed inside the cooling vessel 22, a cooling circulation device 23 that is attached to the end portion 21 b of the vacuum vessel 21, and a part of which is inserted into the vacuum vessel 21, And a fixing plate 24 that blocks a part thereof.

The cooling vessel 23 is fixed to the end 21b of the vacuum vessel 21, and the flange portion 21a is hermetically fixed so as to surround the loading / unloading opening (opening) 31b of the side wall portion 31d in the transfer chamber 30 described later. ing. That is, the cooling chamber 20 forms an internal space that is partitioned from the outside and other portions of the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 1 by the vacuum vessel 21, the side wall portion 31 d, and the cooling circulation device 23.
The vacuum vessel 21 is relatively small in size, and is designed to withstand pressure so that the internal space can sufficiently withstand a high pressure of, for example, 0.3 MPa or more.

  The vacuum vessel 21 includes an air discharge hole 21c connected to a decompression device (not shown) outside the furnace, and the inside of the vacuum vessel 21 is evacuated in a state where a carry-in / out port 31b described later is closed. Then, after evacuation, a high-pressure cooling gas G is supplied from a cooling gas supply mechanism (not shown), and the workpiece W is cooled. The cooling gas G is, for example, 0.3 MPa or higher and has a relatively high pressure.

  Instead of the air discharge hole 21c or in combination with the air discharge hole 21c, a communication rod provided with an opening / closing valve capable of communicating the vacuum container 21 of the cooling chamber 20 and the vacuum container 31 of the transfer chamber 30 is provided. Also good. That is, vacuum exhaust may be performed from the air exhaust hole 21c of the cooling chamber 20, or an open / close valve may be opened and vacuum exhaust may be performed from the air exhaust hole 31c of the transfer chamber 30 via the communication pipe.

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG.
The adiabatic cooling chamber 22 is where the workpiece W carried in from the carry-in / out port 31b is left stationary, and is provided in the center of the vacuum container 21 on the transfer chamber 30 side so as to be adjacent to the carry-in / out port 31b. . The adiabatic cooling chamber 22 has both side surfaces and a side surface on the cooling circulation device 23 side partitioned by airtight heat insulating walls 22a to 22c, and rectifiers 22d are provided at upper and lower ends. This rectifier 22d is for uniformizing the velocity distribution of the cooling gas G passing through the adiabatic cooling chamber 22, and is composed of, for example, a plate in which through holes are formed and a plurality of clear flow grids arranged in a grid. .
The plurality of free rollers F described above are provided below the internal space of the heat insulating cooling chamber 22 so as to face the mounting frame 27. The free roller F in the cooling chamber 20 is provided at a position higher than the free roller F in the heating chamber 10.

1 and 2, the cooling circulation device 23 indirectly cools the cooling gas 23 sucked and pressurized by the cooling fan 23 a that sucks and pressurizes the cooling gas G that has passed through the adiabatic cooling chamber 22. And a heat exchanger 23b. The cooling fan 23 a is rotationally driven by a cooling fan motor 23 c disposed so as to be exposed to the outside of the vacuum vessel 21, sucks the cooling gas G from the central portion via the fixed plate 24, and discharges it from the outer peripheral portion.
The heat exchanger 23b is, for example, a cooling fin tube whose inside is water-cooled, and the cooling gas G discharged from the outer peripheral portion of the cooling fan 23a is cooled.

  In addition to such a configuration, the cooling gas G is vertically and air-tightly partitioned by horizontal partition plates 25a and 25b (see FIG. 4) provided between the vacuum vessel 21 and the heat insulating walls 22b and 22c. The fixed plate 24 can be driven to rotate coaxially with the cooling fan 23a, and the outflow of the cooling gas G can be switched up and down. With such a configuration, a flow path of the cooling gas G that can be switched in the vertical direction is formed inside the adiabatic cooling chamber 22.

  The transfer chamber 30 is provided in the charging / extracting port 31a, a loading / unloading port (opening) 31b, a vacuum container 31 provided with an air discharge port 31c connected to a decompression device (not shown), and the charging / extracting port 31a. A loading / extraction door 32, an opening / closing mechanism 33 for opening / closing the charging / extraction door 32, a loading / unloading door 34 provided at the loading / unloading exit 31b, and an opening / closing mechanism 35 for opening / closing the loading / unloading door 34, A first transfer device 36 that moves the workpiece W to the heating chamber 10 and a first conveyor 36 that is provided from the charging / extracting port 31a to the loading / unloading port 11a of the heating chamber 10 to support the workpiece W so as to be movable in the horizontal direction. One transport path 37, a second transport device 40 that moves the workpiece W to the cooling chamber 20, and the vicinity of the charging / extraction port 31 a to the loading / unloading port 31 b so that the workpiece W can be moved in the horizontal direction. The second transport path 41 to support It is. Note that the side wall portion 31 d of the vacuum vessel 31 also constitutes a part of the cooling chamber 20.

The charging / extracting port 31 a is provided at a position facing the heating chamber door 12 of the heating chamber 10. The charging / extracting door 32 can be closed airtight while opening the charging / extracting port 31a by an open / close mechanism 33 provided outside.
The carry-in / out port 31b is provided on the cooling chamber 20 side. The loading / unloading door 34 can open and close the loading / unloading port 31b and hermetically close the inner space of the vacuum vessel 31 by an opening / closing mechanism 35 provided in the upper portion of the inner space of the vacuum vessel 31. is there.
That is, the internal space of the vacuum container 31 is closed by closing the loading / unloading port 11a, the loading / extracting port 31a, and the loading / unloading port 34, and when the decompression device (not shown) is driven in this state, The space has become a vacuum.

  The first transport device 36 includes a first transport rod 38 that engages with the workpiece W and a first drive device 39 that moves the first transport rod 38 along the first transport path 37.

  The first transport rod 38 has an engaging member 38 a that can be raised and lowered at the tip, and moves along the first transport path 37 in the lower portion thereof. That is, the engaging member 38a can be changed at any time between the high position and the low position. At the high position, the engaging member 38a is engaged with the workpiece W and the first drive device 39 pushes and pulls the workpiece W horizontally. In the low position, it can be moved horizontally without being engaged with the workpiece W.

  The first conveyance path 37 is provided with a plurality of free rollers F on an attachment frame 37a provided so as to face each other from the charging / extracting port 31a to the loading / unloading port 11a of the heating chamber 10. The free roller F in one conveyance path 37 and the free roller F in the heating chamber 10 are set to the same height.

The second transport device 40 includes a second transport rod 42 that engages with the workpiece W, a second drive device 43 that moves the second transport rod 42 along the second transport path 41, and a second transport path 41. And an elevating device 44 for elevating and lowering.
The second transport rod 42 has an engaging member 42 a at its tip, and moves along the second transport path 41 in the lower part thereof.

In the second transport path 41, a plurality of free rollers F are provided on a mounting frame 41a provided to face each other, and an orthogonal region X that intersects the first transport path 37 in the vicinity of the charging extraction port 31a. To the carry-in / out port 31b.
A lifting device 44 is connected to the mounting frame 41a so that the free roller F in the second transport path 41 can be made to be the same height as the free roller F in the cooling chamber 20, and the mounting frame 41a and It is possible to set the free roller F to be attached to a position lower than the first conveyance path 37.

  With this configuration, in the internal space of the transfer chamber 30, the first transfer path 37 and the second transfer path 41 form a transfer path 45, and the first transfer apparatus 36 and the second transfer apparatus 42 form a transfer apparatus 46. Yes.

Next, the operation of the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 1 will be described. In this description, it is assumed that all doors are closed in the initial state of the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 1.
First, the charging / extracting door 32 of the transfer chamber 30 is opened and the charging / extracting port 31a is opened. After the workpiece W is charged into the transfer chamber 30 under atmospheric pressure, the charging / extracting door 32 is closed. It is done. Then, a decompression device (not shown) is driven, and the internal space of the transfer chamber 30 is evacuated.

  At the same time that the internal space of the transfer chamber 30 is evacuated, the internal spaces of the heating chamber 10 and the cooling chamber 20 are evacuated from the air discharge holes 11b and 21c to be evacuated. At this time, as described above, the heating chamber 10 and the cooling chamber 30 are provided by providing the communication chambers in the heating chamber 10, the transfer chamber 30, the cooling chamber 20 and the transfer chamber 30, respectively, and opening the open / close valve of the communication rod. The internal space with 20 may be the same pressure as the internal space of the transfer chamber 30. Further, the internal space of the cooling chamber 20 may have the same pressure as the internal space of the transfer chamber 30 by opening the carry-in / out door 34.

Next, after the internal space of the transfer chamber 30 and the heating chamber have the same pressure, the heating chamber door 12 and the heat insulating door 14 are opened.
The article W to be processed moves on the first conveyance path 37 by the first conveyance rod 38 and is conveyed to the inside of the heat insulation heating chamber 13 in the heating chamber 10. At this time, the second transport path 41 is at a low position so as not to interfere with the first transport path 37.

When the article to be processed W moves to the inside of the heat insulating heating chamber 13, the heating chamber door 12 and the heat insulating door 14 are closed, and the article to be processed W is heated by the heater 16 in a heat insulating state and in a vacuum state. After this heat treatment, the heating chamber door 12, the heat insulation door 14 and the carry-in / out door 34 are opened, and the article W to be processed moves on the first conveyance path 37 by the first conveyance rod 38. It is transported to a region X orthogonal to the second transport path 41. At this time, the insides of the heating chamber 10, the cooling chamber 20, and the transfer chamber 30 are all in a vacuum state.
In addition, as above-mentioned, when making the same pressure as the conveyance chamber 30 by opening the carrying in / out door 34 about the cooling chamber 20, the carrying in / out door 34 may be opened beforehand.

When reaching the orthogonal region X of the first transport path 37 and the second transport path 41, the second transport path 41 located at a lower position than the first transport path 37 is raised by the lifting device 44. At this time, the first transport rod 38 has returned to the initial position and does not interfere with the second transport path 41. At this time, the heat insulating door 14 is closed.
After the free roller F in the second transport path 41 rises to a position where the free roller F in the cooling chamber 20 is at the height, the workpiece W is transported to the inside of the adiabatic cooling chamber 22 by the second transport rod 42.

  When the workpiece W reaches the inside of the heat insulating cooling chamber 22, the carry-in / out door 34 is closed, and the internal space of the cooling chamber 20 is sealed. In this state, a relatively high pressure (for example, 0.3 MPa or more) and a small amount of cooling gas G are supplied to the internal space of the cooling chamber 20 from a cooling gas supply mechanism (not shown), and the flow is appropriately switched in the vertical direction. By circulating smoothly and uniformly in the adiabatic cooling chamber 22, the workpiece W is uniformly cooled.

While the workpiece W is being cooled, the internal space of the transfer chamber 30 is restored to atmospheric pressure, and after the workpiece W is cooled, the cooling chamber 20 is restored to atmospheric pressure. After this decompression, the loading / unloading door 34 is opened, and the workpiece W is transported from the adiabatic cooling chamber 22 to the orthogonal region X by the second transport rod 42.
In addition, when a communication rod capable of communicating between the cooling chamber 20 and the transfer chamber 30 is provided, the transfer chamber 30 is not decompressed until the cooling of the workpiece W is completed, and after the cooling of the workpiece W is completed. The open / close valve of the communication pipe may be opened, and the return pressure (decompression) of the cooling chamber 20 and the return pressure (pressure increase) of the transfer chamber 30 may be performed simultaneously. In this case, the return pressure of the transfer chamber 30 is performed by the cooling gas G.

When the article to be processed W is conveyed to the orthogonal region X, the second conveying path 41 is lowered by the lifting device 44, and the article to be processed W is placed on the first conveying path 37 again. Furthermore, it is conveyed from the orthogonal region X to the charging / extracting port 31a from an insertion extractor (not shown) installed outside the furnace, the charging / extracting port 31a is opened, and the workpiece W is extracted out of the furnace. The
Then, when a new workpiece W is charged into the furnace, the above-described operation is repeated again, and a plurality of workpieces W are continuously heat-treated.

  Thus, according to the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 1, the heating chamber 10 and the cooling chamber 20 are spaced apart to form only one carry-in / out port 31 b for moving the workpiece W in the cooling chamber 20. Further, it is not necessary to form a charging / extracting opening in the cooling chamber 20 or to make the cooling chamber separable, and it is not necessary to provide a large / heavy sealing door or a heavy clutch ring. Thereby, the cooling chamber 20 can be reduced in size.

  In addition, since the transfer chamber 30 that can be sealed and depressurized is provided between the heating chamber 10 and the cooling chamber 20, depending on the charging and extraction status of the article W to be processed and the transfer status in the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace, The atmosphere of the transfer chamber 30 is adjusted as appropriate. Thereby, even if the heating chamber 10 and the cooling chamber 20 are spaced apart and only one loading / unloading port 31b for moving the workpiece W is formed in the cooling chamber 20, the cooling chamber 20 and the transfer chamber 30 The atmosphere can be similar. That is, by conveying the workpiece W under reduced pressure, heat dissipation and cooling delay can be prevented, and the workpiece W can be prevented from being modified to a material different from the desired material.

Further, since the first transfer device 36 for carrying the workpiece W into and out of the cooling chamber 20 is provided in the transfer chamber 30 without being provided in the cooling chamber 20, the cooling chamber 20 can be reduced in size by the excess space. it can.
Further, as the cooling chamber 20 is downsized, the amount of the cooling gas G used can be reduced and the flow of the cooling gas G can be made uniform, and the workpiece W can be uniformly cooled.

In addition, since the pressure-resistant performance can be easily designed by downsizing the cooling chamber 20, it is also easy to design a cylindrical pressure-resistant container that can withstand a pressure of 0.3 MPa or more, for example.
Moreover, since the 2nd conveyance path 41 is provided in the orthogonal direction with respect to the 1st conveyance path 37 in the conveyance chamber 30, it can respond | correspond widely to various manufacturing lines.

[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 5 is a plan view schematically showing the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 2 of the present embodiment. In addition, about the component similar to FIGS. 1-4, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and description is abbreviate | omitted.
The multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 2 includes a heating chamber 50, a cooling chamber 20, and a transfer chamber 30.
The heating chamber 50 is not different from the basic structure of the heating chamber 10 of the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 2, but the heating chamber 10 heats only one article W to be processed, whereas two heating chambers 10 simultaneously. The difference is that the processed product W is heated. The heating chamber 50 is provided with a free roller F as in the heating chamber 10.
In addition, although there exists a heating door for heat insulation in front of the heating chamber door 12 in the heating chamber 50, this is the same as that of the heat insulation door 14 in said 1st embodiment, and description is abbreviate | omitted.

Next, the operation of the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 2 will be described.
The two articles W1 and W2 charged in the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 2 are carried into the heating chamber 50 through the same process as the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 1. However, as described above, the cooling chamber 20 is small, and the workpieces W1 and W2 cannot be cooled at the same time, so these are cooled one by one. That is, the article to be processed W1 is first carried out and cooled in the cooling chamber 20 and extracted outside the furnace, and then the article to be treated W2 is carried into the cooling chamber 20 and cooled.

After the article to be processed W1 is carried out from the heating chamber 50 to the transfer chamber 30, the heating chamber door 12 is closed again, and the article to be processed W2 is made to wait in the heating chamber 50.
When the cooling process of the article to be processed W1 is completed and the article to be processed W1 is discharged from the cooled cooling chamber 20 to the transfer chamber 30, the loading / unloading door 34 is closed, and the inside of the cooling chamber 20 is restored again. Depressurized. When the charging / extracting door 32 is opened and the workpiece W1 is extracted from the charging / extracting port 31b to the outside of the furnace, the inside of the transfer chamber 30 is evacuated again after the charging / extracting door 32 is closed. Then, the cooling process of the workpiece W2 in the heating chamber 50 is started.
Furthermore, after the cooling process of the article to be processed W2 is completed and extracted from the outside of the furnace, two articles to be processed W are newly charged into the transfer chamber 30 and the heating process is started.

  Thus, according to the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 2, in addition to the same effects as described above, the heating chamber 50 accommodates two workpieces W, so that the processing efficiency can be significantly improved. . That is, since the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 2 is a high-speed gas cooling system, the cooling time is extremely shorter than the heating time. That is, even if only one workpiece W can be accommodated in the cooling chamber 20, the two workpieces W1 and W2 that are heated and cooled at the same time are cooled with almost no time difference. There is no difference between the materials of the products W1 and W2. Thereby, compared with the case where one to-be-processed product is accommodated in a heating chamber, processing efficiency can be improved about twice.

[Third embodiment]
FIG. 6 is a plan view schematically showing the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 3 of the present embodiment. The multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 3 is obtained by applying the present invention to a so-called vacuum heat treatment type straight-through multi-chamber heat treatment furnace. In addition, about the component similar to FIGS. 1-5, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and description is abbreviate | omitted.

  The multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 3 is provided such that the replacement chamber 60, the first heating chamber 61, the second heating chamber 62, and the transfer chamber 30 are adjacent to each other in order. A cooling chamber 20 adjacent to the transfer chamber 30 is provided in the vertical direction of these installation directions.

  In the replacement chamber 60, the article W to be processed is inserted from the outside of the furnace into the inside through the charging door 70, and the pressure is reduced from the atmospheric pressure to the vacuum prior to the heat treatment. . The internal space of the replacement chamber 60 is sealed when the charging door 70 is closed.

  The first heating chamber 61 and the second heating chamber 62 have almost the same configuration as the heating chamber 50, and are provided with a first door 71 and a second door 72 that can seal the internal space, respectively. The replacement chamber 60 and the first heating chamber 61 communicate with each other by opening the first door 71, and the first heating chamber 61 and the second heating chamber 62 communicate with each other by opening the second door 72. . Further, when the loading / unloading door 12 of the transfer chamber 30 is opened, the second heating chamber 62 and the transfer chamber 30 communicate with each other, and when the extraction door 32 provided facing the loading / unloading door 12 is opened, the transfer chamber 30 and the furnace The outside is in communication. In addition, the conveyance path similar to the said 1st conveyance path 37 is formed from the preheating chamber 61 to the conveyance chamber 30, and each chamber can be evacuated.

Two articles W are moved between the first heating chamber 61 and the second heating chamber 62. That is, since the second heating chamber 62 has only a space for placing the two workpieces W, the two workpieces W in the second heating chamber 62 are sequentially extracted outside the furnace through the cooling chamber 20. At this time, the two workpieces W in the first heating chamber 61 are moved to the second heating chamber 62 by a transport mechanism (not shown). The workpiece W moved to the second heating chamber 62 is extracted outside the furnace through the cooling chamber 20 as in the case of the heating chamber 50.
The reason for the two movements is that the heat treatment takes a long time compared to the cooling treatment or the decompression treatment (gas replacement), so that the variation in the material of the workpiece W is not increased. is there.
In addition, in the 1st heating chamber 61, before each of the 1st door 71 and the 2nd door 72, in the 2nd heating chamber 62, before each of the 2nd door 72 and the heating chamber door 12, it is a heat insulation heating door. However, this is the same as the heat insulating door 14 in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted.

Next, the operation of the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 3 will be described. Note that all doors are closed, and all the chambers are vacuum.
The charging door 70 of the replacement chamber 60 is opened under atmospheric pressure, and the workpiece W is charged into the internal space. Thereafter, the internal space of the sealed replacement chamber 60 is depressurized to become a vacuum.

  When the two workpieces W in the first heating chamber 61 are conveyed to the second heating chamber 62, the first door 71 is opened, and the workpieces W in the replacement chamber 60 are conveyed to the first heating chamber 61. The Thereafter, the first door 71 is closed, but when a new workpiece W is transferred into the replacement chamber 60, the new workpiece W is transferred to the first heating chamber 61 after the decompression process. Then, the first door 71 is closed again, and the heat treatment is performed on these two workpieces W.

  In addition, when there is no workpiece W in the second heating chamber 62 and the heating time in the first heating chamber 61 has elapsed, the second door 72 is opened, and the first heating chamber 61 to the second heating chamber 62 are opened. The article W to be processed is transported inside.

  Thus, according to the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 3, in addition to the effects similar to the effects of the present invention described above, since two heating chambers are provided, various methods of heat treatment can be performed. Various materials can be obtained for the processed product W. In addition, since the transfer chamber 30 is provided, it is possible to easily obtain a configuration in which a transfer device is provided and can freely transfer between a plurality of chambers, and the degree of freedom in designing a multi-chamber heat treatment furnace is also provided. Can be increased.

[Fourth embodiment]
FIG. 7 is a plan view schematically showing the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 4 of the present embodiment. The multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 4 is the one in which the present invention is applied to a so-called atmospheric furnace type straight-through multi-chamber heat treatment furnace. In addition, about the component similar to FIGS. 1-6, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and description is abbreviate | omitted.

  The multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 4 is provided so that the preheating chamber 80, the first heating chamber 61, the second heating chamber 62, the preheating replacement chamber 81, and the transfer chamber 30 are adjacent to each other in order. A cooling chamber 20 adjacent to the transfer chamber 30 is provided in a direction orthogonal to the installation direction.

In the preheating chamber 80, the article to be processed W is charged into the inside of the furnace from the outside through the charging door 90, and the article to be processed W is preheated prior to the heat treatment. The internal space of the preheating chamber 80 is shut off by closing the charging door 90.
In addition, although the heat insulation heating door is provided in front of the 1st door 71 in the preheating chamber 80, this is the same as that of the heat insulation door 14 in said 1st embodiment, and description is abbreviate | omitted.

The preheating replacement chamber 81 performs a preheat treatment on the workpiece W carried inside through the third door 91 and also replaces the air mixed in the preheating chamber 80 with a gas.
A transport path similar to the first transport path 37 is formed from the preheating chamber 80 to the transport chamber 30. Among these, the preheating replacement chamber 81, the transfer chamber 30, and the cooling chamber 20 can be evacuated.

Next, the operation of the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 4 will be described. Note that all doors are closed.
The charging door 90 of the preheating chamber 80 is opened under atmospheric pressure, and the workpiece W is charged into the internal space. At this time, the inside of the 1st heating chamber 61 and the 2nd heating chamber 62 may be filled with explosive gas and surface modification gas. The pressure is almost equal to atmospheric pressure.
Each chamber is moved one by one, and the doors are opened and closed before and after the movement. In the preheating heating chamber 81, the atmospheric gas mixed from the preheating chamber 80 is replaced with gas. At this time, even if explosive gas or surface reforming gas is mixed when the article to be processed W moves from the second heating chamber 62 to the preheating replacement chamber 81, it is exhausted and vacuumed together with the atmospheric gas. After the vacuum, the workpiece W is cooled in the cooling chamber 20 via the transfer chamber 30.

  Thus, according to the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 4, the same effect as the effect of the present invention described above can be obtained.

  Note that the operation procedures shown in the above-described embodiments, the shapes and combinations of the constituent members, and the like are examples, and various modifications can be made based on design requirements and the like without departing from the gist of the present invention.

For example, in the embodiment described above, a part of the cooling chamber 20 is configured by the side wall portion 31d of the transfer chamber 30, but a configuration in which an end wall is provided on the flange portion 21a side of the vacuum vessel 21 and an opening is provided in the end wall. It may be.
Moreover, although the free roller F was provided in the 1st conveyance path 37 and the 2nd conveyance path 41, it replaced with this and, for example, while using a roller hearth, you may use a motor as this conveyance apparatus.

Moreover, in the said embodiment, although each process chamber was arrange | positioned in the horizontal direction, you may make it the structure which arrange | positions each process chamber in the vertical direction.
Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the heating chamber 10 and the cooling chamber 20 were arrange | positioned so as to be orthogonal, you may arrange | position in series.

  Further, for example, a wheel or rail is laid in the lower part of the heating chamber so that the heating chamber 10 is movable and detachable from the transfer chamber 30, and is heated after the heat treatment of the article W to be processed or simultaneously with the heat treatment. The chamber 10 is moved to the vicinity of the transfer chamber 30 and connected to the transfer chamber 30, the atmosphere is blocked by a sealing material or the like, the article W is moved from the heating chamber 10 to the transfer chamber 30, and then the cooling chamber 20 is moved. You may make it the structure which conveys.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 1 of a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 1 in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 2 in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 2 in the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 2 of 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 3 of 3rd embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 4 of 4th embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1, 2, 3, 4 ... multi-chamber heat treatment furnace 10, 50 ... heating chamber 20 ... cooling chamber 21 ... vacuum vessel (pressure vessel)
30 ... Transport chamber 31b ... Loading / unloading exit (opening)
37 ... First transfer furnace 40 ... Second transfer device 41 ... Second transfer path 45 ... Transfer path 46 ... Transfer device 60 ... Replacement chamber 71 ... First heating chamber (heating chamber)
72 ... Second heating chamber (heating chamber)
80 ... Preheating chamber 81 ... Preheating replacement chamber G ... Cooling gas W ... Products to be treated

Claims (7)

A heating chamber capable of heating the article to be processed carried into the sealable interior space under reduced pressure;
A cooling chamber that has only one opening for moving the article to be treated and can cool the article to be treated carried into a sealed and depressurized internal space with a cooling gas;
A transfer chamber provided in an internal space in which a transfer path formed toward the inside of the heating chamber and the inside of the cooling chamber and a transfer device for moving the article to be processed along the transfer path are sealed and depressurized. ,
A multi-chamber heat treatment furnace comprising:   The multi-chamber heat treatment furnace according to claim 1, wherein the cooling chamber is formed of a cylindrical pressure vessel that can withstand a pressure of 0.3 MPa or more. The transport path is provided with a plurality of free rollers that support only the lower ends of the article to be processed so as to be movable in the transport direction.
2. The transport device includes a push-pull member that moves while being engaged with the object to be processed and pushes and pulls the object to be processed, and a drive device that moves the push-pull member. Alternatively, a multi-chamber heat treatment furnace according to claim 2.   The said conveyance path is provided with the 2nd conveyance path formed toward the said cooling chamber inside in the orthogonal direction with respect to the 1st conveyance path formed toward the said heating chamber inside. The multi-chamber heat treatment furnace according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   The multi-chamber according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a preheating chamber that preheats the article to be treated before the article to be treated is carried into the heating chamber. Mold heat treatment furnace.   The multi-chamber according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a replacement chamber that performs a decompression process on the article to be treated before the article to be treated is carried into the heating chamber. Mold heat treatment furnace.   7. A preheating substitution chamber is provided, wherein after the product to be processed is unloaded from the heating chamber, a preheating substitution chamber is provided for subjecting the product to be processed to pressure reduction and soaking. The multi-chamber heat treatment furnace described in the item.

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