JP6229340B2 - Vacuum sintering equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vacuum sintering processing facility, and more particularly to a vacuum sintering processing facility capable of performing vacuum sintering processing with a compact structure.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a batch-type vacuum sintering furnace, in which a workpiece is loaded into a single retort equipped with a heater, and a carrier gas is supplied into the retort while being removed. After waxing, degassing, sintering, and cooling are performed in the same retort (conventional example 1). On the other hand, Patent Document 2 shows a continuous heat treatment furnace, which is provided with a dewaxing chamber, a sintering chamber, and a cooling chamber along a transfer chamber provided with a chain belt. The workpiece is conveyed to the required sintering process (conventional example 2).

JP 5-195016 A JP-A-11-125491

  Conventional Example 1 is space-saving because all the processing is performed in a single retort, but there is a problem that it takes time to raise and lower the temperature and production efficiency is low. On the other hand, in the conventional example 2, since necessary processes are performed in the dewaxing chamber, the sintering chamber, and the cooling chamber, respectively, the production efficiency is good, but there is a problem that the entire apparatus becomes large.

  Therefore, the present invention solves such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum sintering processing facility that can efficiently perform a sintering process with a compact apparatus structure.

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention , a vacuum heating chamber (2A, 2B, 2C, 2D) and a transfer device (3) for taking a workpiece into and out of the vacuum heating chamber are provided with a housing unit ( 1A) , and a plurality of vacuum heating chambers (2A, 2B, 2C, 2D) are provided in the longitudinal half of the casing unit (1A) in the vertical direction. Each open part of the body unit (1A) is provided with connecting parts (11, 12) for connecting other casing units in an airtight and detachable manner, and cooling as the other casing unit in one open part. The chamber (4A) is connected, and the other open portion is connected to one open portion of the case unit (1B) having the same structure as the case unit (1A) as the other case unit. On the other open part of the housing unit (1B) Vacuum heating chamber of the housing unit of the same structure (1B) and connected (2A, 2B, 2C, 2D) a transport unit which internally provided a conveying device (3) for loading and unloading the workpiece into (5), and wherein each The vacuum heating chamber (2A, 2B, 2C, 2D) is set to a temperature required for the vacuum sintering process, respectively.

In the present invention , since the cooling chamber can be hermetically coupled to a housing unit containing a plurality of vacuum heating chambers and vacuum sintering can be performed, the sintering can be efficiently performed with a compact apparatus structure. In addition , various vacuum sintering processes can be efficiently performed by connecting the casing units having the same structure with the heating chambers in series.

  The reference numerals in the parentheses indicate the correspondence with specific means described in the embodiments described later.

  As described above, according to the vacuum sintering apparatus of the present invention, the sintering process can be efficiently performed with a compact apparatus structure.

It is a schematic sectional drawing of the vacuum sintering processing equipment in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic side view of a vertical lift. It is a schematic sectional drawing of the vacuum sintering processing equipment in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing of the vacuum sintering processing equipment in 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

  The embodiment described below is merely an example, and various design improvements made by those skilled in the art without departing from the gist of the present invention are also included in the scope of the present invention.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the vacuum sintering equipment of the present invention. In FIG. 1 (1), in the case unit 1 which is closed at one end, a plurality of (four in this embodiment) vacuum heating chambers (hereinafter simply referred to as heating chambers) 2A to 2 in the vertical direction in the longitudinal half. 2D is provided, and a vertical lift 3 as a transfer device is installed in the remaining half of the open side of the housing unit 1. Each of the heating chambers 2A to 2D is provided with a heater so that the temperature in the heating chambers 2A to 2D can be raised to a predetermined temperature. Further, a vacuum exhaust pipe (not shown) is connected to the housing unit 1 so that the heating chambers 2A to 2D can be maintained at a predetermined degree of vacuum. Each heating chamber 2A-2D can be opened and closed on the side facing the vertical lift 3 by a gate valve (not shown).

  The vertical lift 3 has the same structure as that described in JP-T-2013-504686. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the vertical lift is provided with a pair of left and right chains 31 and 32 erected in the vertical direction, and a horizontal platform 33 is mounted on the chain 32. A gear mechanism 34 is provided on the platform 33, and the input side of the gear mechanism 34 is connected to the chain 31. On the platform 33, fork bodies 35, 36 that are extendable in two stages in the lateral direction are disposed, and these fork bodies 35, 36 are connected to the output side of the gear mechanism 34 and are driven to extend and contract. It is like that.

  For example, a plurality of workpieces are arranged in a planar shape on a grid-like tray and placed on the fork body 36. When the workpiece is conveyed in the vertical direction, both chains 31 and 32 are simultaneously operated to raise and lower the platform 33 to a position facing the predetermined heating chambers 2A to 2D. Thereafter, the chain 32 is stopped, only the chain 31 is operated, the forks 35 and 36 are extended to the side via the gear mechanism 34, and the tray on which the workpiece is placed is inserted into the heating chambers 2A to 2D. Or the tray which mounted the workpiece | work after a process is taken out from heating chamber 2A-2D. The vertical lift 3 is not limited to the above structure, and other known structures can be adopted.

  In FIG. 1A, a vacuum flange 11 as a coupling portion is provided on the entire periphery of the opening portion of the housing unit 1, and a vacuum flange 41 is provided in the opening portion as another housing unit. The gas cooling chamber 4 is hermetically coupled. The gas cooling chamber 4 is connected with a vacuum exhaust pipe and a cooling gas supply pipe such as nitrogen. A stirring fan 42 is provided in the ceiling of the gas cooling chamber 4, and vacuum doors 43 and 44 are provided on the chamber walls of the gas cooling chamber 4 on the side connected to the casing unit 1 and on the opposite side. Is provided. Note that the forks 35 and 36 (FIG. 2) of the vertical lift 3 can also extend into the gas cooling chamber 4 on the opposite side of the heating chambers 2A to 2D.

  In the present embodiment, the temperature of each heating chamber is set as follows. That is, the heating chamber 2A has a dewaxing temperature of 500 ° C., the heating chamber 2B has a degassing temperature of 1100 ° C., the heating chamber 2C has a sintering temperature of 1100 ° C., and the heating chamber 2D has an aging temperature of 600 ° C. By setting the temperature as described above, the vertical lift 3 transports the tray T on which a work such as a magnet is placed along the path indicated by the arrow in FIG. 1 (1), thereby dewaxing in the heating chambers 2A to 2C. After degassing and sintering, the workpiece is transported to the gas cooling chamber to cool the workpiece and finish the sintering process. Thereafter, as shown by the arrow in FIG. The placed tray T is conveyed to the heating chamber 2D and subjected to an aging treatment, and then returned to the gas cooling chamber to complete all the treatments. As described above, the sintering and aging treatment can be efficiently performed with a compact apparatus structure. The equipment of the present embodiment is not limited to magnet sintering / aging treatment, but can also be applied to metal sintering / heat treatment.

(Second Embodiment)
In the present embodiment, a vacuum exhaust pipe is independently connected to each heating chamber in the first embodiment so that each heating chamber 2A to 2D can be quickly set to a required degree of vacuum. This is shown by drawing each heating chamber 2A-2D with a double square in FIG. Other structures are the same as those in the first embodiment. According to this embodiment, since each heating chamber 2A to 2D can be evacuated or decompressed independently and set to the required vacuum level, the cleanliness of each heating chamber can be maintained and higher quality baking can be performed. Freezing / aging treatment is possible.

(Third embodiment)
In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the housing unit 1 </ b> A has the same structure as the housing unit 1 of the first embodiment and is open at both ends. A gas cooling chamber 4A having the same structure as that of the first embodiment is coupled as another casing unit, and the heating chamber 2A having the same structure as the casing unit 1A as another casing unit is connected to the other casing unit 1A. The housing unit 1B having the internal lift 2D and the vertical lift 3 is coupled by the vacuum flanges 11 and 12.

  A transport unit 5 as another housing unit is coupled to the housing unit 1B by a vacuum flange 12, 51 at the other open portion. The transport unit 5 is provided with a vertical lift 3 similar to that of the first embodiment in a case open at both ends, and vacuum flanges 51 and 52 are provided at the periphery of the open part at both ends.

  The other opening of the transfer unit 5 is connected to a gas cooling chamber 4B having a structure substantially similar to that of the gas cooling chamber 4A by vacuum flanges 41 and 52. Vacuum doors 43 and 44 are provided on the chamber walls of the gas cooling chamber 4B on the side where it is connected to the transfer unit 5 and on the opposite side.

  In the present embodiment, the temperature of each heating chamber is set as follows. That is, the heating chamber 2A of the housing unit 1A has a dewaxing temperature of 500 ° C., the heating chamber 2B has a degassing temperature of 1100 ° C., the heating chamber 2C has a sintering temperature of 1100 ° C., and the heating chamber 2D is not used. The heating chambers 2A and 2B of the housing unit 1B are set to a high temperature aging treatment temperature of 900 ° C., and the heating chambers 2C and 2D are set to a low temperature aging treatment temperature of 500 ° C.

  With this temperature setting, the tray T on which a work such as a magnet is placed is transported by the vertical lift 3 of the housing unit 1A along the path indicated by the arrow in FIG. 4 and dewaxed in the heating chambers 2A to 2C, respectively. After degassing and sintering, the workpiece is conveyed to the gas cooling chamber 4A to cool the workpiece, and the sintering process is completed. Thereafter, the tray T on which the workpiece is placed is conveyed to the heating chamber 2D by the vertical lift 3 of the housing unit 1A. Here, the tray T is transferred to the vertical lift 3 of the housing unit 1B, and the tray T is transferred to the heating chamber 2A in the housing unit 1B by the vertical lift 3 to perform high temperature aging treatment.

  Thereafter, the tray T in the heating chamber 2A of the housing unit 1B is taken out by the vertical lift 3 in the transfer unit 5 and transferred to the gas cooling chamber 4B to cool the workpiece. Thereafter, the workpiece is again conveyed to the heating chamber 2C in the housing unit 1B by the vertical lift 3 in the conveying unit 5, and a low temperature aging treatment is performed here. Thereafter, the tray T is taken out of the heating chamber 2C by the vertical lift 3 and transferred to the gas cooling chamber 4B where it is cooled to complete the entire process.

In the present embodiment, the aging treatment can be performed in parallel using the heating chambers 2A and 2C and 2B and 2D in the housing unit 1B . Also according to this embodiment, sintering and aging treatment can be performed more efficiently with a compact device structure. Moreover, in each said embodiment, although each housing | casing unit is couple | bonded so that attachment or detachment is possible, you may couple | bond together so that attachment or detachment is not possible by welding etc.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,1A ... casing unit, 1B ... casing unit (other casing unit), 11 ... vacuum flange (joining part), 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D ... vacuum heating chamber, 3 ... vertical lift (conveying device) 4, 4A ... gas cooling chamber (other casing unit), 5 ... transfer unit (other casing unit).

Claims (1)

A transport device for loading and unloading the workpiece into the vacuum heating chamber and said vacuum heating chamber, housed in a housing unit at both ends opened, wherein the housing unit, a plurality of said vertically in the longitudinal direction half A vacuum heating chamber is provided, and each open part of the case unit is provided with a connecting part for connecting another case unit in an airtight and detachable manner, and the other case is provided in one open part. A cooling chamber is connected as a unit, and one open part of a case unit having the same structure as the case unit is connected to the other open part as the other case unit, and the other side of the case unit having the same structure is connected. And connecting each of the vacuum heating chambers to a temperature required for the vacuum sintering process , and connecting each of the vacuum heating chambers to a temperature required for the vacuum sintering process. Set Vacuum sintering treatment facility, characterized in that.

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