JP2519853B2 - Article heating device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to various electric and electronic devices,
A heating device used to test the heat resistance, etc. of the parts and various materials to a predetermined temperature, and to apply the desired heat treatment, especially the required test by sequentially exposing the objects to be heated to a hot atmosphere. The present invention relates to a heating device of a type that sequentially carries out after carrying out a treatment and a treatment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A typical heating device of this type is shown in FIG. In the conventional apparatus shown in FIG. 12 (A), a conveyor C1 such as a chain conveyor or a belt conveyor is circulated in a heating tank H for obtaining a predetermined heat atmosphere, and an object to be heated A is placed on the conveyor C1 to heat it. It passes through the atmosphere.

In the conventional apparatus shown in FIG. 1B, a roller conveyor C2 is arranged in a heating tank H, and an object B to be heated is placed on this conveyor and passed through a hot atmosphere. (C)
In the conventional apparatus shown in the figure, a bed b is arranged in a heating tank H, and an article conveying beam a which can be partially fitted in the bed or which can project above the bed surface is arranged. The object to be heated C arranged on the bed b is rotated by drawing the object so as to draw a rectangular orbit when viewed from the side.
Is intermittently advanced and passed through a hot atmosphere.

[0004]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, since the object to be heated is conveyed in the horizontal direction, the heating tank H is horizontally moved in order to expose the object to be heated to the hot atmosphere for a predetermined time. It has to be formed long, resulting in a large installation area of the device.

Further, since the heating tank H is formed to be long and low in the horizontal direction as described above, the ratio of the size of the loading / unloading port of the object to be heated becomes larger than the height in the heating tank H, and as a result, temperature disturbance in the heating tank by the outside air intrusion from carrying entrance becomes large, in addition to the reliability of the device is lowered, for example, nitrogen gas was introduced into the heating tank H, to obtain a non-oxidizing atmosphere However, there is also a problem that it is difficult to realize it.

Further, when the object to be heated is, for example, a plate-shaped object and must be arranged horizontally, the volume of the heating tank becomes larger than the heat treatment amount of the article, so that the heating amount is higher than the heat treatment amount. There is a problem that the blower attached to the tank H, the capacity of the heater, and the like become large, and the running cost becomes high. Therefore, the present invention, compared to the conventional device, can save the device installation area, less temperature disturbance in the heating tank,
For example, it is easy to maintain a non-oxidizing atmosphere due to the introduction of nitrogen gas, and even when the object to be heated is, for example, a plate-like object, the internal volume in the heating tank can be effectively used to perform a large amount of processing and that much running It is an object of the present invention to provide an article heating device capable of suppressing costs low.

[0007]

According to the present invention, in accordance with the above object, a heating tank having an article carry-in port on one side and an article carry-out port on the other side, and a plurality of stackable stacks while supporting objects to be heated. In the heating tank, means for sequentially moving the article support pallet upward, laterally and downward from the position facing the carry-in port and returning it to the position facing the carry-in port in a circulating manner, and from the carry-in port. The pallet circulation moving means includes a means for loading an object to be heated into an empty pallet facing the carry-in port and a means for unloading a heated product on the pallet returned to the carry-in port from the carry-out port. A pallet, which is placed at a position facing the mouth and into which the object to be heated is loaded, is sequentially stacked on a pallet above the pallet from the bottom, and means for sequentially ascending together with the upper pallet, and a vertical pad formed by the ascending means. Upper row moving means for sequentially moving horizontally from the upper pallet in the row, and the pallets sent by the upper side moving means are sequentially received on the pallets below the pallets and are sequentially received together with the lower pallets. An article characterized by including a means for lowering and a lower lateral moving means for laterally sequentially moving from a lower pallet to a position facing the carry-in port in the vertical pallet row formed by the lowering means. A heating device is provided.

[0008] In order to prevent the drive units of the article heating device from being deteriorated due to exposure to heat and causing malfunction, and to keep the inside of the heating tank as clean as possible, Each drive unit of the heated object carry-in means and the heated object carry-out means, and each driving section of the pallet sequential raising means, the upper lateral moving means, the pallet sequential lowering means and the lower lateral moving means in the pallet circulation moving means, You may collect and arrange in the lower part of an apparatus.

The term "driving portion" as used herein refers to a portion including all or part of a motor such as an electric motor and a piston cylinder device, and a transmission device connected to the motor.

[0010]

According to the article heating apparatus of the present invention, the object to be heated is carried into the heating tank from the article carrying-in port of the heating tank by the carrying-in means and placed on the article supporting pallet waiting at the position facing the carrying-in port. To be done. The pallet on which the object to be heated is placed is lifted by the pallet sequential lifting means, is stacked on the pallet above the pallet from below, and is sequentially lifted together with the upper pallet.

Of the vertical pallet row formed by the pallet sequential raising means, the upper pallet is sequentially moved laterally by the upper lateral moving means. The pallet that has moved in the horizontal direction is received by the pallet sequential lowering means on the pallet below the pallet that has moved in the horizontal direction, and is sequentially lowered together with the lower pallet. Among the pallet rows formed by the pallet sequential descending means, the heated pallets are discharged from the lower pallet by the unloading means.
It is carried out through the article carry-out port, and then the lower lateral mover.
It will be moved laterally in order to the position facing the original goods entrance by the steps.
It is. The next object to be heated is carried into the empty pallet returned to the position facing the article carrying-in port.

Thus, in the heating tank, the article supporting pallet is sequentially moved upward, laterally and downward from the position facing the article carrying-in port, and is circulated so as to return to the position facing the carrying-in port again. The object to be heated that has been loaded onto the pallet during the period is exposed to a predetermined temperature atmosphere and undergoes a test.
Alternatively, it is subjected to necessary heat treatment, and then is carried out from the article carry-out port to the outside of the heating tank by the heated product carry-out means.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a front view of the entire heating apparatus of one embodiment, FIG. 2 is a side view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 1 to 3, the pallet circulation moving means for circulating the article support pallet 8 in the heating tank 1 is omitted. However, in FIG.
1, 321 are shown with the article support pallet 8.
Further, in FIG. 1, both the conveyor 21 for carrying in the article to be heated and the conveyor 22 for carrying out the heated article are shown, but they are omitted in FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 4 shows means (31, 32, 41, 42,) for circulating the article support pallet in the heating tank 1.
5 and 6) are side views showing a conveyor 21 for carrying in an object to be heated and a conveyor 22 for carrying out a heated object. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a part of each of the pallet circulation moving means and the carry-in / carry-out conveyors 21 and 22 shown in plan view. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line YY of FIG. 4, a part of the pallet circulation moving means and the carry-in conveyor 21 are shown.
Only some of them are shown and others are omitted.

This article heating apparatus includes a heating tank 1. The heating tank 1 is provided with an article carry-in port 1A on one side of the lower part and an article carry-out port 1B on the other side opposite to the heating side, and a space in which the article support pallets 8 can be arranged vertically in two rows. The unit 11 is provided. The space 11 can be opened and closed by a heat insulating door 12 on the front side or a heat insulating door 13 on the back side (see FIG. 3).

As shown in FIG. 3, the space portion 11 is partitioned by air ducts 14 on the left and right sides, by an air purifying filter (HEPA filter in this example) 15 on the back side, and by the door 12 on the front side. ing. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the upper side is provided by the heat insulating ceiling wall 16,
The lower side is partitioned by a heat insulating floor wall 17. The outer wall of each air duct 14 is a heat insulating wall 140, and each duct 14 has heaters H1, H2, and H3 arranged in three stages at the front and fans F1, F2, and F3 arranged in three stages at the rear. There is. The fans F1, F2, F3 are rotationally driven by motors M1, M2, M3 attached to the outer surface of the heat insulating wall 140.

By operating each heater and operating the fan by the motor, the air in the heating tank 1 circulates in the direction of arrow ai shown in FIG. That is, the air heated by the heaters H1, H2, and H3 in each air duct 14 is guided to the back surface of the filter 15 by the fans F1, F2, and F3, is purified by the filter 15 and is sent to the space portion 11, It circulates so as to be sucked into the duct 14 again.

Thus, in the space 11, a heating zone of a predetermined temperature is formed on the upper part thereof, and the lower article carrying-in port 1A is formed.
A slow heating zone is formed in the area facing the above, and a slow cooling zone is formed in the area facing the article outlet 1B. As shown in FIG. 4, at the carry-in port 1A of the heating tank 1, the carry-in port 1A is provided from slightly outside thereof.
The carry-in conveyor 21 extends through A to the vicinity of the center of the heating tank 1, and at the carry-out port 1B, the carry-out conveyor 22 extends from slightly outside to the vicinity of the center of the heating tank 1 through the carry-out port 1B. .

As shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, the carry-in conveyor 21 is a roller conveyor having rollers 21a in two rows, and each roller 2 is driven by a motor 21b (see FIG. 4).
1a is rotationally driven in the clockwise direction in FIG. The carry-out conveyor 22 is a roller conveyor provided with rollers 22a in two rows, and each roller 22a is driven by a motor 22b (see FIG. 4).
Is driven to rotate clockwise in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4, the means for circulating the article support pallet 8 in the space 11 in the heating tank comprises the following device. That is, the first pallet support device 31 for supporting the pallets 8 in a state of being stacked upward from the position near the article carry-in port 1A, and the pallet 8 being the article carry-out port 1
The second pallet support device 32 that supports the pallet 8 in a stacked state from the position near B, and the pallet 8 that is disposed at a position facing the carry-in port 1A are lifted to the pallet 8 that is supported by the first pallet support device 31. A first pallet lifting device 4 that can be stacked from below and lifted together with those pallets
Of the pallets 8 on the first and second pallet elevating and lowering devices 42 and 42, which can receive and elevate the pallets 8 supported by the first and second pallet supporting devices 32, The upper lateral moving device 5 that receives and laterally moves the pallet above the second pallet elevating device 42 and the lowermost pallet of the pallets 8 supported by the second pallet elevating device 42 are received at the carry-in port 1A. It is the lower lateral movement device 6 that laterally moves to the facing position.

As will be understood from the explanation of the operation described later, the support device 31 and the lifting device 41 of the pallet are provided in the carry-in port 1.
An example of pallet sequential raising means for sequentially raising the pallets 8 into which the objects to be heated are carried in facing A, and stacking the pallets 8 above the pallets from below and sequentially raising the pallets together with the upper pallets is provided. The device 32 and the elevating / lowering device 42 are pallet sequential descending means for sequentially receiving the pallets sent by the upper lateral movement device 5 which will be described next, overlappingly on the pallets below the pallets, and sequentially descending together with the lower pallets. It constitutes an example.

Next, each of these parts will be sequentially described. First pallet support device 31 and second pallet support device 32 These devices 31, 32 are shown in FIGS. 4 to 7. In particular, FIG. 7 shows these drives from above. The device 31 is an inverted L-shaped pallet support arm 31.
1 has four, and each arm is, as shown in FIG.
It is arranged outside the two rows of rollers 21a of the conveyor 21,
The pallets 8 to be stacked above the conveyor can be projected and retracted below the peripheral portion, and the stacked pallets 8 can be supported from below when protruding as shown in FIG. Each arm 311 is shown in FIG.
And, as shown in FIG. 6, the guide member 3 arranged at a fixed position.
It is rotatably fitted to and supported by 12. Each arm 31
The drive operation of 1 is performed by the drive unit 310, a part of which is shown in FIG. 4 and the whole of which is shown in FIG.

On the other hand, the device 32 is provided with four inverted L-shaped pallet support arms 321 each of which is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the pallets 8 are arranged outside the two rows of the rollers 22a of the conveyor 22 and can appear and disappear below the peripheral portion of the pallet 8 to be stacked above the conveyor. When the pallets 8 project as shown in FIG. 5, the stacked pallets 8 can be supported from below. . As shown in FIG. 4, each arm 321 is rotatably fitted and supported by a guide member 322 arranged at a fixed position. Driving of each arm 321 is performed by a driving unit 320, a part of which is shown in FIG. 4 and the whole of which is shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4, the drive units 310 and 320 are both arranged below the outside of the heating layer 1, and the drive unit 310 is, as shown in FIG. 7, the front right support arm 311. 33A horizontally fixed to the lower end of the horizontal arm 34 fixed to the lower end of the front left support arm 311
A, a rod 35A connecting them, and a gear 33 horizontally fixed to the lower end of the rear right support arm 311.
B, a horizontal arm 34B fixed to the lower end of the rear left support arm 311 and a rod 35B connecting them.

On the other hand, the drive unit 320 includes a gear 36A horizontally fixed to the lower end of the front left support arm 321 and a horizontal arm 37 fixed to the lower end of the front right support arm 321.
A, a rod 38A connecting them, and a gear 36 horizontally fixed to the lower end of the rear left support arm 321.
B, a horizontal arm 37B fixed to the lower end of the rear right support arm 321, and a rod 38B connecting them.

The front gears 33A and 36A mesh with each other, and the gear 36A can be driven forward and backward by a motor 30A. The rear gears 33B and 36B also mesh with each other, and the gear 36B can be driven in the forward and reverse directions by the motor 30B.
Therefore, by operating the motors 30A and 30B in the forward and reverse directions, respectively, the arms 311 and 321 can be simultaneously driven in the direction of the solid line arrow in FIG. 7 to project to the pallet support position shown by the solid line. Also, the motor 30A
It is possible to drive the arms 311 and 321 at the same time in the direction of the two-dot chain line arrow in FIG.

The supporting arms 311 and 321 are also shown in FIG.
Although it is as if they are supporting the pallet 8, the arm position shown in FIG. 1 is originally a retracted position in which the pallet 8 is not supported. It is only shown so that the arm placement is easy to understand. First pallet lifting device 41 and second pallet lifting device 42 These devices 41, 42 are shown in FIGS. 4 to 6.

The apparatus 41 is provided with four pallet raising / lowering arms 411, and each arm is arranged inside two rows of rollers 21a of the conveyor 21, as shown in FIG. 5, and one pallet 8 which will be described later. 4 legs 82 at
(See FIG. 9). Each arm 41
As shown in FIG. 4, 1 is erected at four corners of the elevating plate 412 and, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, is fitted and supported by a guide member 413 arranged at a fixed position so as to be able to ascend and descend. A female screw portion 414 is provided at the center of the elevating plate 412, and a screw rod 415 is passed through the female screw portion 414. The screw rod 415 is connected to a motor 416 in a fixed position, and is driven in the forward and reverse directions by the motor. Therefore, the reverse rotation of the motor 416 causes the screw rod 4 to move.
Each arm 411 can be raised by reversing 15 and raising the elevating plate 412, and the screw rod 415 is normally rotated by the normal rotation operation of the motor 416.
Each arm 411 can be lowered by lowering.

On the other hand, the device 42 includes the pallet lifting arm 4
As shown in FIG. 5, each arm is arranged inside two rows of rollers 22 a of the conveyor 22, and the four legs 82 (see FIG. 9) of the pallet 8 are arranged in relation to each other. It corresponds to. As shown in FIG. 4, each arm 421 is erected at four corners of the elevating plate 422, and is fitted and supported by a guide member 423 arranged at a fixed position so as to be able to ascend and descend. A female screw portion 424 is provided at the center of the elevating plate 422, and a screw rod 425 is passed through the female screw portion 424. Screw rod 42
Reference numeral 5 is connected to a motor 426 in a fixed position, and is driven in the forward and reverse directions by the motor. Therefore, each arm 421 can be raised by reversing the screw rod 425 by the reverse rotation operation of the motor 426 and raising the elevating plate 422, and the screw rod 425 is normally rotated by the normal rotation operation of the motor 426. By lowering the plate 422, each arm 421 can be lowered.

The lifting plates 412 and 422, the screw rods 415 and 425, and the motor 41 in these devices 41 and 42 are used.
6, 6 and 426 are arranged below the outside of the heating layer 1. Upper Traverse Device 5 This device is shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 8.

As shown in FIG. 5, this apparatus is provided with a front beam 51, a rear beam 52, and these beams, which are arranged on both outsides of the loading and unloading conveyors 21 and 22 which are continuously arranged in parallel with the conveyors. Gate-shaped frame 5 standing up from
3, a pair of pallet support arms 54 provided on the upper portion of the frame 53 are provided, and the beams 51 and 52 are driven by a drive unit 55.
Is driven back and forth in the conveyor feeding direction. Driver 55
Is partly shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 and entirely in FIG.

Beam 51 is a parallel beam 5 spaced apart
Both ends of 11 are connected by a connecting member 512 to be integrated, and similarly, the beam 52 is also formed by connecting both ends of parallel beams 521 with a space therebetween by connecting members 522. As can be seen from FIG. 5, the support arms 311 and 321 of the pallet support devices 31 and 32 described above include beams 511 and 521 and beams 521 and 521.
It runs through.

The drive unit 55 comprises several pairs of upper and lower rollers 551 and several pairs of upper and lower chain sprockets 552 which are interlocked with the rollers. , A pair of upper and lower rollers 551
Supports the beams 511 on the front side and the beams 521 on the back side so as to be movable between them in the conveyor transport direction by sandwiching them between the conveyor 21 side and the conveyor 22 side from above and below. The pair of rollers 551 arranged at a fixed position on the conveyor 21 side and the pair of rollers 551 arranged at a fixed position on the side of the conveyor 22 are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the conveyor conveying direction.

In each of the beams 51 and 52, the rollers 551 that are adjacent to each other in the direction perpendicular to the conveyor conveying direction and are at the same height are supported by a common shaft rod, and
A chain sprocket 552 is provided on this.
Thus, for each adjacent pair of rollers 551, a pair of upper and lower sprockets 552 interlocking with these rollers are provided.

On the other hand, the motor 5 is placed at a fixed lower position outside the heating layer 1.
53 is provided, and the power of this motor is transmitted through a chain transmission device 554 to a pair of upper and lower sprockets 55.
2. That is, as shown in FIG.
When 53 is rotated in the normal direction, all the sprockets 552 and rollers 551 rotate in the direction of the solid line arrow, whereby the beams 51, 52 and the frame 53 erected on this are moved to the left in FIG. The pallet support arm 54 also moves to the left at the same time. On the other hand, when the motor 553 is rotated in the reverse direction, all the sprockets 552 and rollers 551 are
8 turns in the direction of the broken arrow in FIG.
1, 52 and the frame 53 erected therewith move to the right in FIG. 4, and the pallet support arm 5 on the frame is moved.
4 also moves to the right at the same time. Thus, the arm 54 can reciprocate between the pallet receiving position above the pallet supporting device 31 and the elevating device 41 and the pallet passing position above the pallet supporting device 32 and the elevating device 42. Note that arm 5
4 supports the front end and the rear end of the pallet 8 from below. Lower lateral displacement device 6 This device is shown in FIGS.

This device 6 is provided with a pair of pallet supporting arms 61, but the parts other than the arms are the same as the device 5 described above.
It has a common configuration with a part of. That is, each of the pair of pallet support arms 61 is supported by the beams 51 and 52 of the upper lateral movement device 5, respectively, below the pallet support arm 54 of the device 5 and on the conveyor 2.
It is located at a position slightly higher than the conveying surface height of Nos. 1 and 22, and is driven in the same direction as the support arm 54 of the upper device 5 in the same direction to face the pallet passing (returning) position facing the heating tank carry-in port 1A and the heating tank carry-out port 1B. Can be reciprocated between pallet receiving positions. The arm 61 supports the front end and the rear end of the pallet 8 from below. -Pallet 8 The pallet 8 is as shown in FIG. 9A is a plan view of the pallet, and FIG. 9B is an explanatory diagram of the pallet leg portion.

The pallet 8 is provided with a bottom plate 81 and a peripheral side wall 80 rising from the peripheral portion thereof, and is formed in a substantially rectangular shape as a whole. On the bottom plate 81, four leg portions 82 are provided so as to project downward, outside the support area of the object to be heated (for example, the glass substrate 9 of the liquid crystal display device). The upper end of each leg 82 is formed in a recess 821, and the bottom of the recess is formed in a conical shape. The lower end 822 of the leg portion 82 is formed in a conical shape. Pallets 8 next to each other,
8 is obtained by fitting each leg portion 82 of the upper pallet 8 into the leg upper end recess 821 of the lower pallet 8.
The vertically adjacent pallets are positioned relative to each other and are vertically stacked. The pallet 8 has three holes 811 for projecting the conveyor rollers (21a or 22a) on the front side and the back side thereof.

Next, the glass substrate 9 in the liquid crystal display device is baked (baked) by the apparatus of the embodiment described above.
A case of processing will be described as an example. The main points of the operating procedure are shown in FIGS. Initially, the door 1 of the heating tank 1
2 is opened and the pallet support arms 311 and 321 in the pallet support devices 31 and 32 are projected to the pallet support position, and a predetermined number of empty pallets 8 are stacked on these arms. In addition, the heating tank 1 of the carry-in conveyor 21
The empty pallet 8 (8a) is also arranged in the inner part. The pallet 8a facing the carry-in port 1A has a bottom plate hole 8
11 (see FIG. 9), the conveyor roller 21a is partially projected upward, and is supported by the lifting arm 411 of the pallet lifting device 41 in the lowered position. This support is performed by supporting the leg portion 82 of the pallet with the arm 411. In addition, the lifting arm 421 of the pallet lifting device 42
Also, at the beginning, lower it. Further, the pallet support arms 54, 6 of the upper and lower lateral movement devices 5, 6 are
1 is arranged at the initial position above the conveyor 22. The above state is as shown in FIG.

When the above preparation is completed, close the heating tank door,
The heaters H1 to H3 and the fans F1 to F3 are operated. Thus, when the upper heating zone of the space 11 in the heating tank 1 is heated to a desired heating temperature and the gradual heating zone near the carry-in port 1A and the gradual cooling zone near the carry-out port 1B reach predetermined temperatures, the conveyor 21 Transporting the glass substrate 9
To start loading. The substrate 9 is carried into the heating tank 1 through the carry-in port 1A, and the peripheral side wall 80 of the empty pallet 8a (see FIG. 9).
And is placed on the conveyor roller 21a in the tank 1 as indicated by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 10 (A). This position is the position where the substrate just enters the pallet when the pallet 8a is raised.

Then, as shown in FIG. 10B,
By raising the elevating arm 411, the pallet 8a
The pallet group already supported by the support arm 311 is piled up from below, and the whole piled pallet is further moved to the arm 31.
Lift up from 1. On the other hand, the lifting arm 42
1 is also lifted, and the pallet group already supported by the support arm 321 is lifted from the arm 321. In this state, the arms 311 and 321 are retracted to the position where they do not support the pallet, and the arm 5 in the vertical moving device is moved.
Move 4 and 61 to the left. By this movement, the arm 54 enters under the uppermost pallet 8 (8b) among the pallets supported by the arm 411.

Next, as shown in FIG. 10C, the elevating arm 411 is lowered to place the uppermost pallet 8b on the lateral movement arm 54, and the elevating arm 421 is also supported by this pallet. The arm 54 is slightly lowered so as not to hinder the movement of the arm 54. Then, the arms 54 and 6
Move 1 to the right. Thus, the top pallet 8b
Are arranged above the pallet group supported on the arm 421.

In this state, as shown in FIG. 10 (D), the elevating arms 411 and 421 are raised to move the left pallet group so that the lowermost pallet 8a is the support arm 31.
The pallet group on the right side is lifted up from the bottom of the pallet 8b which has been laterally moved while being lifted up to a position higher than 1. In this raised state, the lateral movement arms 54, 61
To the left.

After the arms 54 and 61 are moved, as shown in FIG. 11E, the supporting arm 311 is projected to the pallet supporting position, the elevating arm 411 is lowered to the initial position, and the pallet is placed on the arm 311. Are supported in a stacked state. On the other hand, the support arm 321 is also projected to the pallet support position and the arm 421 is lowered, which is performed at the next timing. That is, from the state shown in FIG. 10D, the elevating arm 421 is first lowered, and when the support arm 321 faces between the lowermost pallet 8c and the pallet 8d one above it, The arm 321 is projected to the supporting position in steps. Then arm 42
By lowering 1 to the initial position, the pallet 8d and above are supported by the arm 321, and the pallet 8c is moved to the arm 42.
It is arranged on the conveyor 22 while being supported by 1. At this time, the conveyor roller 22a projects upward from the hole 811 (see FIG. 9) of the pallet 8c. Therefore, when the substrate 9 is present on the pallet 8c, the substrate rides on the conveyor roller 22a,
By the transport operation of the roller, it is carried out of the heating tank from the carry-out port 1B.

Next, after a unloading time of the substrate 9, the process shown in FIG.
(F), the elevating arm 421 is raised again to lift the pallet 8c above the conveyor 22 and above the lower lateral movement arm 61. In this state, the lateral movement arms 61 and 54, which have been placed on the left side so far, are moved to the right, and the arm 61 is arranged below the pallet 8c.

Then, as shown in FIG. 11G, the arm 421 is lowered to the initial position, whereby the pallet 8c is placed on the arm 61, and then the arm 6 is released.
Move 1 to the left. Furthermore, as shown in FIG.
The elevating arm 411 is raised again to raise and receive the pallet 8c from the arm 61.
Is returned to the initial position, and then the arm 411 is lowered to the initial position. Thus, the pallet 8c is placed at the same position as the pallet 8a shown in FIG. 10 (A) and waits for the next substrate loading.

In this way, the substrates 9 are successively carried in by the conveyor 21 to the empty pallets 8 arranged at the positions facing the carry-in port 1A, and the pallets containing new substrates 9 are stored in the heating tank 1 The inside is sequentially moved upward, laterally, and downward from the position facing the carry-in port 1A, during which necessary heat treatment, heating, and slow-cooling processes are performed, and those for which the heat treatment is completed are sequentially carried out to the carry-out port 1B. Is conveyed out of the heating tank 1 by the conveyor 22. Further, the pallet that has been emptied by taking out the heated substrate 9 is returned to the initial position again and waits for the next substrate loading. Thus, the substrates 9 are successively heat-treated one after another.

The above-described heating device has a short horizontal length in spite of being able to process a large number of objects to be heated, and the entire device can be made compact to save the installation area of the device. In addition, the loading and unloading of the object to be heated is at the same or approximately the same height position,
In addition, since it can be formed in the same direction, there is an advantage that it is easy to use by incorporating it into a production line of a product using an object to be heated. Further, the space portion 11 in the heating tank 1 has the loading / unloading ports 1A, 1B.
Since it can be made considerably larger and can be widely raised upward, even if a small amount of outside air enters from the carry-in / carry-out ports 1A, 1B, the temperature is not disturbed, or even if it is suppressed, it is suppressed to be small. Further, since the space portion 11 can be enlarged to reduce the ratio of the invading outside air to the whole in-tank air, it is easy to introduce a nitrogen gas into the heating tank 1 to create a non-oxidizing atmosphere.

Further, since the object to be heated can be arranged in the space 11 in the tank by effectively utilizing its volume, a large amount of processing can be performed as compared with the volume in the heating tank, and the running cost of the apparatus is accordingly increased. It can be suppressed. In the above embodiment, the glass substrate 9 is placed on the pallet 8 circulating in the heating tank 1 to perform the heat treatment. However, the object to be heated itself or a magazine containing one or more objects to be heated, It is also conceivable that the rack or box is carried into the heating tank 1 by the carry-in conveyor 21, raised, moved laterally, and lowered as it is, and carried out by the conveyor 22.

In this case, depending on the size, shape, etc. of the object to be heated or the magazine for holding it, the supporting device 3
1, 32, the elevating devices 41, 42, the structure including the supporting arm of the upper lateral moving device 5, the elevating arm, and the like, the exercise width, and the like may be determined as appropriate. The lower lateral movement device 6 becomes unnecessary. Also, for items to be heated and magazines that hold them,
If necessary, a protrusion (for example, a leg) or a recess for providing a space for the support arms of the left and right support devices 31 and 32 to be projected and retracted between the upper and lower articles may be provided in advance. It suffices if a protrusion or a recess that can be engaged with the support arm of the device 5 is formed in advance.

[0050]

As described above, according to the present invention, compared with the conventional apparatus, the apparatus installation area can be saved, the temperature in the heating tank is less disturbed, and for example, a non-oxidizing atmosphere by introducing nitrogen gas can be easily obtained. Even when the heated product is, for example, a plate-like object, the internal volume in the heating tank can be effectively used to perform a large amount of processing, and the running cost can be suppressed to that low.

When the respective driving parts of the heated object carry-in means and the heated object carry-out means and the respective driving parts of the pallet circulation moving means are provided in the lower part of the apparatus having a relatively low temperature,
It is prevented for a long period of time that each of these drive parts is exposed to heat and deteriorates, or malfunctions occur, and it is easy to maintain the inside of the heating layer in a clean state.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall front view of an article heating device according to an embodiment.

2 is an overall side view of the device shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 1, with a part omitted.

FIG. 4 is a front view of an article carrying-in / carrying-out conveyor and article supporting pallet circulation moving means in the heating tank.

5 is a diagram showing a part of each part shown in FIG. 4 as seen from a plane.

6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line YY of FIG. 4, with a part omitted.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a drive unit in the pallet support device.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a drive unit of the upper and lower lateral movement devices.

9A is a plan view of a pallet, and FIG. 9B is an explanatory diagram of a pallet leg portion.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of an operation sequence of the apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a view for explaining the operation sequence of the device of the embodiment, following FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Heating tank 1A Article loading port 1B
Article carry-out port 21 Carry-in roller conveyor 22 Carry-out roller conveyor 31, 32 Pallet support device 311, 321
Pallet support arm 310, 320 Pallet support device drive unit 41, 42 Pallet lifting device 411, 421
Pallet lifting arm 412,422 Lifting plate 413,423
Guide member 414, 424 Female screw portion 415, 425
Screw rods 416, 426 Motor 5 Upper lateral movement device 51, 52 Beam 53 Gate frame 54 Pallet support arm 55 Beam drive unit 6 Lower lateral movement device 61 Pallet support arm 8 Article support pallet 9 Glass substrate

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A heating tank having an article carrying-in port on one side and an article carrying-out port on the other side, and a plurality of article supporting pallets that can be stacked while supporting objects to be heated are provided in the heating tank. Means for sequentially moving upward, laterally, and downwardly from the position facing the carry-in port, and circulatingly moving back to the position facing the carry-in port, and an object to be heated on an empty pallet facing the carry-in port. And a means for unloading the heated product on the pallet returned to the carry-in port from the carry-out port, wherein the pallet circulation moving means is arranged at a position facing the carry-in port and is heated. Means for sequentially stacking the pallets to be loaded onto the pallets above the pallets from below, and sequentially raising the pallets together with the upper pallets, and laterally shifting from the upper pallet in the vertical pallet row formed by the raising means. The upper lateral moving means for moving and the pallet sent by the upper lateral moving means in sequence,
A means for receiving the pallets on the lower pallets in an overlapping manner and sequentially lowering the pallets together with the lower pallets, and a lower pallet for laterally moving sequentially from a lower pallet in the vertical pallet row formed by the lowering means to a position facing the carry-in port. An article heating apparatus comprising: a lateral moving unit. 2. A pallet sequential raising means, an upper lateral moving means, a pallet sequential lowering means and a lower lateral moving means in each of the driving parts of the heated object carry-in means and the heated object carry-out means, and the pallet circulation moving means. The article heating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the driving units is provided in a lower portion of the apparatus.