JP5686535B2 - Heat treatment equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus for heat-treating an object to be processed in a processing container.

  Patent Document 1 below discloses a heat treatment furnace for recycling nuclear fuel pellet scrap (processed object). This heat treatment furnace includes a cylindrical rotary drum that can accommodate an object to be processed and is rotatable around a horizontal axis, a driving device that rotates the rotary drum, and a heater that is disposed around the rotary drum. And an input part for introducing the object to be processed, an extraction part for extracting the object to be processed after the heat treatment, and a connecting part for connecting the input part and the extraction part to the rotating drum.

  The connecting portion is provided at one axial end of the rotating drum, and the charging portion includes a funnel-shaped supply container connected to the upper portion of the connecting portion. On the other hand, the take-out part includes a funnel-like take-out container connected to the lower part of the connection part. The rotating drum has a horizontal posture, a first inclined posture in which an end portion on the other end side in the axial direction (an anti-connecting portion side) is lowered obliquely downward, and a second inclined posture that is raised obliquely upward. The posture can be changed to the first, and the workpiece is allowed to flow naturally from the supply container to the rotating drum in the first inclined posture, and then the heat treatment is performed with the rotating drum in a horizontal posture, and further rotated in the second inclined posture. An object to be processed after heat treatment is taken out from the barrel and is allowed to flow down naturally into the container.

  Further, the connecting portion is provided with a valve that can be switched between a mode allowing the flow of the workpiece from the supply container to the rotary drum and a mode allowing the flow of the workpiece from the rotary drum to the take-out portion. ing.

JP-A-9-212164

The heat treatment apparatus described in Patent Document 1 heats an object to be processed in a rotating drum, then cools the object by introducing cool air into the rotating drum, and then tilts the rotating drum to be processed. It is comprised so that a thing may be taken out and discharged to a container.
When the object to be processed is cooled in the rotating drum in this manner, the rotating drum becomes a low temperature at the stage of starting the next heat treatment, and the rotating drum must be heated again from a low temperature state to a predetermined heat treatment temperature. There is a problem that (cycle time) becomes long.

In order not to lower the temperature of the rotating drum after the heat treatment is completed, it is conceivable that the workpiece is cooled after being discharged from the rotating drum. In this case, the hot workpiece is removed from the rotating drum through a valve. It is necessary to discharge to the take-out part. However, when a high-temperature object to be processed passes through the valve, there arises a problem that the gas seal of the valve is affected by heat and the durability is lowered.
In particular, in the heat treatment apparatus of Patent Document 1, since the object to be processed is naturally flowed down to the take-out portion by gently tilting the rotating drum, it takes time from the object to be processed to pass through the valve until it has completely passed. As a result, the heat effect on the gas seal is increased, and the temperature drop of the rotary drum is also increased.
In addition, there is a problem that the structure for changing the posture of the rotating drum to the tilted posture is increased in size and complexity, and the cost is increased.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and it is possible to take out the object to be processed which has been heat-treated in the processing container from the processing container and cool it, and to distribute the object to be processed from the processing container to the cooling unit. An object of the present invention is to provide a heat treatment apparatus that can reduce the influence of heat received by the fluid seal of the valve.

A heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention includes a treatment container having a discharge port for a workpiece on one side in a horizontal direction, and a heat treatment section that heat-treats the workpiece contained in the treatment container; A cooling unit that is disposed lower than the discharge port of the object to be processed, and includes a cooling container that accommodates and cools the heat-treated object, and is disposed so as to extend in a substantially vertical direction, and the processing container A circulation pipe that circulates the object to be processed between the discharge port and the cooling section, and a vacuum valve provided in the circulation pipe, and having a fluid seal, and the inside of the circulation pipe and the cooling container It is configured to be in a vacuum state .

  According to this structure, the to-be-processed object after heat-processing in the processing container of a heat processing part can be sent to a cooling part via a flow pipe, and a to-be-processed object can be cooled in this cooling part. Therefore, the temperature drop of the processing container can be suppressed, the time required for the next heat treatment can be shortened, and the energy consumption in the heat treatment section can be reduced. In addition, since the flow pipe is arranged in an upright position, the workpiece can be moved from the processing container to the cooling unit in a short time, and the heat effect on the fluid seal of the valve provided in the flow pipe can be reduced. This can reduce the durability of the valve.

The cooling unit includes a cooling container that contains a processing object and has a receiving port for receiving the processing object from the flow pipe and an outlet for taking out the processing object inside, the cooling container, It is preferable to have an inclined bottom wall in which the receiving side is at a high level and the outlet side is at a low level.
With such a configuration, the object to be processed accommodated in the cooling container through the inlet through the flow pipe can be made to flow toward the outlet along the inclination of the bottom wall and can be easily taken out from the outlet. .

It is preferable that a cooling liquid jacket for circulating the cooling liquid is provided on the wall of the cooling container.
With such a configuration, the cooling efficiency of the object to be processed in the cooling container can be increased.

It is preferable that the cooling unit further includes a stirring mechanism that stirs the workpiece in the cooling container.
With such a configuration, cooling of the object to be processed in the cooling container can be further promoted, and the object to be processed can easily flow along the inclination of the bottom wall by giving movement to the object to be processed. Can do.

The processing container is formed in a cylindrical shape and includes the discharge port at one end in the axial direction thereof.
The heat treatment section includes a rotation drive mechanism capable of rotating the processing container in both forward and reverse directions around its axis, and rotating the processing container in one direction at the time of heat treatment of the object to be processed,
It is preferable that a transfer blade is provided in the processing container to transfer an object to be processed to the discharge port by rotation in the other direction of the processing container.

  According to this configuration, the processing object is heat-treated while rotating the processing container in one direction by the rotation driving mechanism, and then the processing object is discharged by the transfer blade by rotating the processing container in the other direction by the rotation driving mechanism. It can be transferred to the outlet and discharged from the outlet. Therefore, compared with the prior art which changes a processing container into the attitude | position which inclined, and to which a to-be-processed material flows down naturally, a to-be-processed object can be discharged | emitted rapidly. Therefore, the temperature drop of the processing container while discharging the object to be processed can be reduced, and the time required for the next heat treatment can be shortened. Further, since the transfer blade discharges the object to be processed by the rotation of the processing container by the rotation drive mechanism, it is not necessary to separately provide a device for driving the transfer blade, and can be configured at low cost.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to take out the object to be processed after the heat treatment from the processing container and cool it by the cooling unit, so it is possible to suppress the temperature drop of the processing container and shorten the cycle time of the heat treatment, In addition, since the object to be processed can be quickly circulated from the processing container to the cooling unit via the standing-up position distribution pipe, the influence of the heat received by the fluid seal of the valve can be reduced.

It is front explanatory drawing which shows the rotary retort furnace as a heat processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is AA arrow sectional drawing of FIG. It is a perspective view of a spiral blade. It is sectional drawing which expands and shows a rotary joint. It is sectional drawing which shows a cooling container roughly.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory front view showing a rotary retort furnace as a heat treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The rotary retort furnace 1 of the present embodiment heats an object to be processed such as various articles such as powder, granules, agglomerates, and small articles by a batch method. In the following, an example in which powder is an object to be processed will be described.
The rotary retort furnace 1 has a heat treatment part 2 for heat-treating an object to be treated and a cooling part 3 for cooling the object to be treated, and the heat treatment part 2 and the cooling part 3 are separated from the heat treatment part 2 to the cooling part. 3 is connected by a flow pipe 49 for flowing the object to be processed.

  The heat treatment unit 2 supports the retort 11 (processing container), a heating mechanism 12 that heats the workpiece in the retort 11, a support frame 13 that supports the retort 11 and the heating mechanism 12, and the support frame 13. A gantry 14, a rotation drive mechanism 15 that rotationally drives the retort 11, a vacuum pump 16 that evacuates the retort 11, and a supply mechanism 17 that supplies the retort 11 with an object to be processed before heat treatment are provided.

  The retort 11 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and is supported by the support frame 13 so that its axis O is in the horizontal direction. The retort 11 includes a cylindrical body 20 and a first conical part 21 and a second conical part 22 which are provided at both axial ends of the body 20 and are tapered toward the outer side in the axial direction. I have. Further, the retort 11 is supported so as to be rotatable around the axis O by a pair of support portions 23, 23 having bearings and the like. On the inner peripheral surfaces of the first conical portion 21 and the body portion 20, a stirring blade 24 for stirring the object to be processed is provided.

  The retort 11 further includes a first extension portion 25 and a second extension portion 26 that extend outward in the same direction from the axial outer end portions (small diameter portions) of the first cone portion 21 and the second cone portion 22. The supply mechanism 17 is connected to one (left side) first extension portion 25, and a discharge for discharging the object to be processed from the second extension portion 26 is connected to the tip end portion of the other (right side) second extension portion 26. An outlet 27 is formed. That is, the retort 11 is provided with a discharge port 27 facing in the lateral direction (axial center O direction) on one side portion in the horizontal direction.

A connection part 46 that receives the workpiece is connected to the second extension part 26 of the retort 11, and a crushing part 47 is connected to the lower part of the connection part 46.
The connection portion 46 is formed in a box shape or a cylindrical shape, and is configured to receive a heat-treated workpiece discharged from the discharge port 27 of the second extension portion 26 inside. Specifically, an opening tube 46 a into which the distal end portion of the second extension 26 is inserted protrudes from the connection portion 46, and the opening tube 46 a is second through the flexible pipe 65 and the rotary joint 64. It is connected to the extension part 26 so as to be relatively rotatable.
The crushing unit 47 has a function of finely crushing the processing object so that the processing object solidified in the heat treatment process is not clogged with the flow pipe 49.

  The heating mechanism 12 includes a furnace body 28 supported by the support frame 13 and a heater 29 provided inside the furnace body 28. Inside the furnace body 28, the body part 20, the first conical part 21, and the second conical part 22 of the retort 11 are arranged, and these are heated from the outside by the heater 29, whereby the object to be processed in the retort 11. Is heat treated.

  The support frame 13 that supports the retort 11 and the heating mechanism 12 is supported by the support portion 31 in an inclined posture with a predetermined angle α with respect to the gantry 14. Therefore, the axis O of the retort 11 is inclined with respect to the horizontal at an angle α, and the discharge port 27 is disposed at a low level. The inclination angle α is set to about 0.1 to 20 ° according to the fluidity of the object to be processed in consideration of the ease of discharging the object to be processed which will be described later. The second conical portion 22 of the retort 11 is disposed such that the lower surface thereof is inclined upward toward the discharge port 27 side.

  The rotational drive mechanism 15 includes a drive body 33 attached to the support frame 13 and a power transmission unit 34 that transmits the power of the drive body 33 to the retort 11. In the present embodiment, an electric motor as the driving body 33 is coupled to the retort 11 via a chain or a sprocket as the power transmission unit 34 so that power can be transmitted. The rotational drive mechanism 15 is configured to be capable of rotationally driving the retort 11 in both forward and reverse directions by using an electric motor capable of forward / reverse rotation or by including a transmission device in which the power transmission unit 34 can perform forward / reverse switching. ing.

The supply mechanism 17 is connected to a hopper 36 for storing an object to be processed, a supply pipe 37 having an upper end connected to the hopper 36, a vacuum valve 38 provided in the supply pipe 37, and a lower end of the supply pipe 37. And a conveyor device 39.
The hopper 36 is formed in a downward tapered shape, and has a discharge port and a metering unit (metering valve: not shown) at the lower end thereof. The vacuum valve 38 allows or blocks the flow of the object to be processed in the supply pipe 37 by opening and closing thereof, and can maintain the airtightness in the retort 11 when closed by a gas seal (fluid seal) provided therein. is there. The vacuum valve 38 may be configured to automatically open and close by an electromagnetic type or other types, or may be configured to open and close manually. The supply pipe 37 is disposed in a posture substantially perpendicular to the axis O of the retort 11.

  The conveyor device 39 includes a cylindrical body 41 connected to the lower end of the supply pipe 37 and a conveyor section 42 arranged inside the cylindrical body 41. The cylindrical body 41 includes a flexible pipe 61 and a rotary joint 60. , And is connected to the first extension 25 of the retort 11 in a relatively rotatable manner. The conveyor part 42 is a screw conveyor provided with spiral blades around the rotation axis, and is inserted into the first extension part 25 through the flexible pipe 61 and the rotary joint 60. A drive body 44 such as an electric motor is connected to the rotating shaft of the conveyor unit 42 through a power transmission mechanism 43 formed of a chain or a sprocket so that power can be transmitted. Note that a sealing structure such as a sealing member for maintaining the hermeticity in the retort 11 such as a connecting portion between the conveyor portion 42 and the power transmission mechanism 43 is also provided as appropriate. Moreover, the conveyor part 42 can use not only a screw conveyor but another type of conveyor.

The cooling unit 3 includes a cooling container 48 disposed lower than the discharge port 27 of the retort 11, and a stirring mechanism 82 (see FIG. 5) that stirs the workpiece in the cooling container 48.
The cooling vessel 48 is connected to a lower end portion of a flow pipe 49 that extends downward from the connection portion 46 and the crushing portion 47 connected to the discharge port 27 of the retort 11 and is in a standing posture (substantially vertical posture). . The distribution pipe 49 is provided with a powder valve 56 and a vacuum valve 50.

  The powder valve 56 allows or blocks the flow of the object to be processed in the flow pipe 49 by opening and closing. Further, the vacuum valve 50 allows or blocks the flow of the object to be processed in the flow pipe 49 by opening and closing thereof, and prevents the retort 11 and the cooling container 48 from being airtight when closed by a gas seal (fluid seal) provided therein. It is possible to hold.

  FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the cooling container. The cooling container 48 receives the object to be processed finely crushed in the crushing unit 47 through the flow pipe 49 and cools it, and can extract the object to be processed after cooling. The cooling container 48 includes a flat disk-shaped bottom wall 48a, a cylindrical peripheral wall 48b that rises from the outer periphery of the bottom wall 48a, and a disk-shaped lid body 48c that closes the upper end of the peripheral wall 48b. ing.

  The cooling container 48 is inclined so that the rear side (the right side in FIG. 5) is at a high level and the front side (the left side in FIG. 5) is at a low level. A receiving port 48d connected to the lower end of the flow pipe 49 is formed on the rear side of the lid 48c, and an outlet 48e for taking out the object to be processed is formed on the front side of the bottom wall 48a. ing.

  The bottom wall 48a and the peripheral wall 48b of the cooling container 48 each have an inner / outer double structure including an inner wall and an outer wall, and a space formed between the inner wall and the outer wall is a cooling water ( A cooling water jacket (cooling liquid jacket) 48h through which the cooling liquid flows is provided. Cooling water is supplied into the cooling water jacket 48h from a supply port 48g provided on the outer wall of the peripheral wall 48b by the operation of the circulation pump 83, and the supplied cooling water is circulated in the cooling water jacket 48h. It is discharged from the discharge port 48i.

The peripheral wall 48 b of the cooling container 48 is provided with an inlet 48 f for introducing an inert gas such as argon gas into the cooling container 48.
The bottom wall 48a of the cooling container 48 is provided with a shutter device 80 for opening and closing the outlet 48e. The shutter device 80 is actuated by a driving body 81 formed of an air cylinder or the like, and allows or prevents removal of an object to be processed from the cooling container 48.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the shutter device 80 is connected to the upper end of the extraction pipe 51, and the extraction pipe 51 is provided with a vacuum valve 51 </ b> A. The vacuum valve 51A allows or prevents the flow of the object to be processed in the take-out pipe 51, and can keep the air tightness in the cooling container 48 together with the vacuum valve 50 when closed by a gas seal (fluid seal) provided inside. It has become. Then, by opening the shutter device 80 and the vacuum valve 51A, the object to be processed can be taken out from the cooling container 48 and collected in a separately prepared collection container 52. A sealing member is provided as appropriate between the lid 48c of the cooling container 48 and the upper end edge of the peripheral wall 48b to prevent gas leakage between the two.

  The stirring mechanism 82 includes a stirring blade 82 a that rotates in the vicinity of the bottom of the cooling container 48. The stirring blade 82a is provided so as to stir the object to be processed over a substantially entire range of the upper surface of the bottom wall 48a of the cooling container 48. The rotating shaft 82c of the stirring blade 82a is disposed substantially at the center of the cooling vessel 48 and is rotationally driven by a driving body 82b such as a motor provided on the lid 48c. The agitating mechanism 82 promotes cooling by agitating the object to be treated accommodated in the cooling vessel 48 with the agitating blade 82a, and further, the bottom wall in which the whole object to be treated is uniformly formed with the cooling water jacket 48h. Cooling is further promoted by facilitating contact with 48a and the peripheral wall 48b. The agitator 82 also has a function of facilitating the flow of the object to be processed toward the outlet 48e along the inclination of the bottom wall 48a by giving movement to the object to be processed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the vacuum pump 16 is installed on the gantry 14, and is connected to the connection portion 46 via a suction pipe 53. The inside of the retort 11 can be evacuated by driving the vacuum pump 16 with the vacuum valves 38 and 50 closed. Alternatively, the retort 11 and the cooling container 48 can be evacuated by opening the vacuum valve 50 and driving the vacuum pump 16 with the vacuum valves 38 and 51A closed.

  FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the rotary joint 64. The rotary joint 64 includes a fixed side member 67 fixed to the flexible tube 65 and a rotation side member 66 fixed to the second extension portion 26. The rotation side member 66 extends radially outward from one end (left end) of the cylindrical shaft portion 66a that surrounds the outer periphery of the second extension portion 26, and is provided on the second extension portion 26. And a flange portion 66b that is bolted to the flange portion 26a. A seal member 74 composed of an O-ring for maintaining airtightness is provided between the flange portions 26a and 66b.

  On the other hand, the fixed-side member 67 includes an annular first boss portion 67a and a second boss portion 67b that is bolted to an axial end portion (right end portion) of the first boss portion 67a. The portion 67 b is bolted to a flange portion 65 a provided at the end of the flexible tube 65 via the relay ring 68. Seal members 75 and 76 made of O-rings are provided between the second boss portion 67b and the relay ring 68, and between the relay ring 68 and the flange portion 65a, respectively, for maintaining airtightness. The first boss portion 67a is provided with a water jacket 67c into which cooling water flows.

Two rolling bearings 69 are provided between the inner peripheral surfaces of the first and second boss portions 67a and 67b of the fixed side member 67 and the outer peripheral surface of the shaft portion 66a of the rotation side member 66. The rotation side member 66 and the fixed side member 67 are connected to each other by a rolling bearing 69 so as to be relatively rotatable.
Further, a plurality of seal members 70 are provided between the two rolling bearings 69 between the inner peripheral surface of the first boss portion 67a and the outer peripheral surface of the shaft portion 66a. Is filled with grease.

Further, a pressing plate 73 is fixed to one axial end portion (left end portion) of the first boss portion 67a, and a seal member 71 is provided between the pressing plate 73 and one (left side) rolling bearing 69. Grease is also filled in the arrangement space of the seal member 71. Similarly, a seal member 72 is also provided between the second boss portion 67 b and the other (right side) rolling bearing 69, and the space in which the seal member 72 is disposed is filled with grease. The seal members 70, 71, 72 provided between the rotation side member 66 and the fixed side member 67 and the grease filled in the arrangement space between them are provided between the rotation side member 66 and the fixed side member 67. Gas circulation is prevented, and the vacuum in the retort 11 can be maintained.
In addition, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted, it is set as the structure substantially the same also about the rotary joint 60 (refer FIG. 1) arrange | positioned at the 1st extension part 25 side.

  2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a transfer blade. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, inside the retort 11 of the present embodiment, a transfer blade 54 for transferring an object to be processed to the discharge port 27 is provided. The transfer blade 54 is formed in a spiral shape that circulates along the inner peripheral surface of the retort 11. Further, the transfer blade 54 is provided inside the second conical portion 22 and the second extension portion 26, which are closer to the discharge port 27. A through hole 55 penetrating in the axial direction is formed at the center of the transfer blade 54.

As shown in FIG. 1, the transfer blade 54 provided in the second conical portion 22 has an outer diameter that decreases toward the outside in the axial direction of the retort 11, and the transfer blade provided in the second extension portion 26. 54 is formed to have a constant outer diameter over the entire length of the second extension portion 26. Further, the inner diameter of the transfer blade 54 (the diameter of the through hole 55) is constant throughout the transfer blade 54.
The transfer blade 54 acts to push the internal workpiece back to the opposite side to the discharge port 27 when the retort 11 is rotated forward (one-way rotation) around the axis O by the rotation drive mechanism 15. When the reverse rotation (rotation in the other direction) is performed, the workpiece is transferred to the discharge port 27 side.

Next, operation | movement of the rotary retort furnace 1 of this Embodiment is demonstrated.
As shown in FIG. 1, the workpiece to be heat-treated is stored in a hopper 36 before the heat treatment is started. By opening the discharge port of the hopper 36 and the vacuum valve 38, a predetermined amount of the object to be processed is sent to the conveyor device 39, and further, the object to be processed is supplied into the body portion 20 of the retort 11 by operating the conveyor device 39. Is done. The inside of the retort 11 (or the inside of the retort 11 and the inside of the cooling container 48) is evacuated by the vacuum pump 16.

  When the workpiece is supplied into the retort 11, the retort 11 is rotated forward by the rotation drive mechanism 15 and the heating mechanism 12 is operated. Thereby, the to-be-processed object in the retort 11 is heat-processed. Since the retort 11 is inclined so that the discharge port 27 side becomes lower, the object to be processed tends to flow naturally toward the discharge port 27 side, but is pushed back by the transfer blade 54 and further by the stirring blade 24. Stir properly.

  When the heat treatment is finished after a predetermined time has elapsed, the rotation drive mechanism 15 and the heating mechanism 12 are stopped. Next, the retort 11 is rotated in the reverse direction by the rotation drive mechanism 15 and the crushing unit 47 is operated to open the powder valve 56 and the vacuum valve 50. The object to be processed naturally flows down to the vicinity of the second conical portion 22 due to the inclination of the retort 11, and is further transferred to the discharge port 27 by the transfer blade 54 by the reverse rotation of the retort 11. The object to be processed transferred to the discharge port 27 is received by the connecting portion 46 and finely crushed in the crushing portion 47, and immediately flows down to the cooling container 48 from the flow pipe 49 arranged in the standing posture. Then, the workpiece in the cooling container 48 is cooled while being stirred by driving the stirring mechanism 82. Note that an inert gas such as argon gas is introduced into the cooling container 48 to prevent the object to be treated from being oxidized during cooling. However, the cooling by the cooling container 48 may be performed in a vacuum state.

  With the above operation, one cycle of processing is completed. And when performing a process continuously, the above-mentioned operation | movement is performed repeatedly. Further, in order to take out the object to be processed from the cooling container 48, the recovery container 52 may be set at the lower end of the extraction part 51, the shutter device 80 and the vacuum valve 51A are opened, and the recovery container 52 is filled with the object to be processed.

  In the rotary retort furnace 1 according to the present embodiment described above, since the transfer blade 54 is provided in the retort 11, the workpiece can be discharged from the discharge port 27 by the reverse rotation of the retort 11. Therefore, it is not necessary to change the retort 11 to the inclined posture in order to discharge the object to be processed as in the prior art, and the object to be processed can be quickly moved compared to the case where the object to be naturally flowed down by inclination. Can be discharged. Therefore, after one cycle of processing is completed, the time until the next cycle of processing can be shortened, and the temperature drop of the retort 11 during that time can be minimized. Therefore, the cycle time can be shortened and energy consumption can be reduced.

  Further, since the transfer blade 54 acts by the reverse rotation of the retort 11, it is not necessary to separately provide a drive unit for rotating the transfer blade 54. Therefore, an increase in cost associated with the provision of the transfer blade 54 can be minimized.

  Further, since the through hole 55 is formed in the axial center of the transfer blade 54, the transfer blade 54 is less likely to become an air flow resistance when the inside of the retort 11 is evacuated, and the vacuum pump 16 is loaded with low load. And the inside of the retort 11 can be quickly evacuated.

  Since the retort 11 is disposed so as to be inclined so that the discharge port 27 side is low, the object to be processed can flow naturally to the vicinity of the transfer blade 54, and immediately after the heat treatment, the retort 11 is immediately covered by the transfer blade 54. The processed material can be transferred.

Moreover, since the to-be-processed object after heat processing is discharged | emitted from the retort 11, it is cooled in the cooling container 48, Therefore It is not necessary to cool a to-be-processed object in the retort 11. Therefore, it is possible to shift to the heat treatment of the next cycle in a short time while maintaining the temperature of the retort 11 at a high temperature.
Further, since the circulation pipe 49 is in an upright posture, the object to be processed can be quickly circulated from the retort 11 to the cooling container 48, and the heat effect on the gas seal of the vacuum valve 50 provided in the circulation pipe 49 can be reduced. Therefore, the durability of the vacuum valve 50 can be prevented from being lowered.

Since the cooling container 48 is provided with the stirring mechanism 82, it is possible to promote the cooling of the object to be processed in the cooling container 48, and to move the object to be processed and easily flow to the outlet 48 e. can do.
Further, since the cooling vessel 48 is provided with a cooling water jacket, cooling of the object to be processed can be further promoted.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately changed within the scope described in the claims. For example, in the above embodiment, the cooling water jacket 48h is provided on the bottom wall 48a and the peripheral wall 48b of the cooling vessel 48, but it may be provided only on the bottom wall 48a where the object to be processed is more easily contacted. .
Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the support frame 13 which supports the retort 11 and the heating mechanism 12 is arrange | positioned with respect to the mount frame 14 with the 2nd support part 31, it is the 2nd support part 31. The inclination angle α may be adjustable by using a jack device such as a ball jack. In this case, the inclination angle α can be adjusted so that the object to be processed easily flows to the vicinity of the transfer blade 54 in accordance with the fluidity of the object to be processed.

  The heat treatment apparatus of the present invention can also be applied to a heat treatment apparatus for an atmosphere other than vacuum, and in that case, the vacuum pump and the vacuum valve (vacuum seal) in the above embodiment are not necessary.

1: Rotary retort furnace (heat treatment furnace)
2: Heat treatment part 3: Cooling part 11: Retort (processing vessel)
15: Rotation drive mechanism 27: Discharge port 48: Cooling vessel 48a: Bottom wall 48d: Receiving port 48e: Outlet port 48h: Cooling water jacket 49: Distribution pipe 50: Vacuum valve 54: Transfer vane 82: Stirring mechanism

Claims (9)

A heat treatment unit that includes a treatment container having a discharge port for the object to be processed on one side portion in the horizontal direction, and heat-treats the object to be processed contained in the treatment container;
A cooling unit that is disposed at a position lower than the discharge port of the object to be processed in the processing container, and includes a cooling container that houses and cools the heat-treated object to be processed;
A flow pipe that is arranged so as to extend in a substantially vertical direction and distributes an object to be processed between the discharge port of the processing container and the cooling unit,
A fluid seal and a vacuum valve provided in the flow pipe,
A heat treatment apparatus configured to create a vacuum in the flow pipe and the cooling container. The cooling unit includes a cooling container having a receiving port for receiving a processing object from the flow pipe, and an outlet for taking out the processing object inside.
2. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cooling container has an inclined bottom wall in which the receiving side is at a high level and the outlet side is at a low level.   The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the cooling unit further includes a stirring mechanism that stirs the workpiece in the cooling container. The stirring mechanism includes a rotating shaft and a stirring blade extending radially outward about the rotating shaft,
The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the stirring blade is disposed so that a bottom portion thereof is along a bottom wall of the cooling container.   The heat processing apparatus of any one of Claims 1-4 in which the cooling fluid jacket which distribute | circulates a cooling fluid is formed in the wall part of the said cooling container.   The cooling container includes a portion having a double structure of an inner wall and an outer wall on a wall portion surrounding a space in the container, and at least a bottom wall has a double structure between the inner wall and the outer wall. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a cooling liquid jacket for allowing the cooling liquid to flow through is formed.   The heat treatment according to claim 6, wherein the cooling container further has a double wall structure of an inner wall and an outer wall, and a cooling liquid jacket is formed between the inner wall and the outer wall to allow the cooling liquid to flow therethrough. apparatus. The processing container is formed in a cylindrical shape and includes the discharge port at one end in the axial direction thereof.
The heat treatment section includes a rotation drive mechanism capable of rotating the processing container in both forward and reverse directions around its axis, and rotating the processing container in one direction at the time of heat treatment of the object to be processed,
The heat treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a transfer blade is provided in the processing container to transfer an object to be processed to the discharge port by rotation in the other direction of the processing container. The heat treatment apparatus according to any one of the in flow tube, according to claim 1-8 which is further provided powder valve.

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