JP7319219B2 - Continuous firing furnace - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to continuous firing furnaces.

A continuous sintering furnace is a sintering furnace for continuously heat-treating objects to be treated while conveying them in a treatment chamber. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-55356 discloses that a plurality of trays on which objects to be treated are placed are superimposed on a firing carriage, and the plurality of firing carriages move in the firing furnace in a row in the direction of travel. A bogie hearth furnace is disclosed. Such a bogie furnace excels in continuous firing while transporting a large amount of objects to be treated. Further, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-42664 discloses a technique in which a plurality of hearth rolls are rotated in the same direction to transport an object placed on the hearth rolls. In the technique disclosed in the publication, the support structure for the hearth roll is provided inside the processing chamber. One end of the hearth roll penetrates to the outside of the processing chamber, is fitted with a sprocket, and is configured to obtain rotational driving force. Then, the hearth rolls are driven to rotate in the same direction, and the article is conveyed by the driving force. A continuous firing furnace using such a hearth roll is also called a roller hearth kiln.

JP-A-7-55356 JP-A-2003-42664

By the way, electrode materials and solid electrolyte materials for batteries are prepared in the form of powder. A so-called rotary furnace is also used for sintering such a powder material, but this is a batch process, and in order to improve productivity, it is necessary to increase the size of the equipment. Such powder is not allowed to be contaminated with metallic foreign matter. The inventor of the present invention intends to bake such powder materials under uniform conditions so as to obtain stable performance, to improve the throughput per unit time, and to enhance the production efficiency. From this point of view, a continuous firing furnace for firing a large amount of such powder materials per unit time under uniform conditions has not been technically established.

For example, in the bogie furnace described in Patent Document 1, there is a possibility that the metal used for the baking bogie, rails, and the like rubs against each other to generate fine metal scraps. In the roller hearth kiln as disclosed in Patent Document 2, a large driving force is required to rotate the hearth roll when conveying a large number of sheets at once. If the hearth rolls are misaligned in shape, orientation, or the like, it may not be possible to properly transport them within the processing chamber. In addition, since the load applied to the support structure of the hearth roll increases, metal foreign matter may be generated from the support structure arranged in the processing chamber.

In particular, in order to uniformly bake powder materials in a continuous baking furnace, flat containers such as trays must be stacked and conveyed. In this case, it is necessary to increase the height of the processing chamber for transporting the transported object. The higher the processing chamber, the more difficult it becomes to keep the concentration of the atmosphere gas in the processing chamber uniform.

A continuous firing furnace of one aspect disclosed herein includes a firing furnace body having a processing chamber therein, a pusher, a heater, and a gas supply pipe. The processing chamber includes an inlet, a transport path extending linearly from the inlet, and an outlet provided at the opposite end of the transport path from the inlet. The firing furnace main body includes a plurality of free rollers arranged in order along the transport path at the bottom of the transport path, and guides provided on both sides of the transport path in plan view. The pusher includes a pushing member provided outside the processing chamber on the carry-in entrance side of the conveying path, and a pushing device that pushes the pushing member toward the conveying path. At least the heat radiating portion of the heater is provided in the processing chamber. The gas feed pipes comprise side feed pipes located inside the process chamber and in regulated areas on both sides of the transport path set by the guides. By arranging the side heaters in the regulation areas on both sides of the transfer route, it becomes easy to adjust the concentration of the atmosphere gas in the transfer space of the transfer route.

The gas supply pipe may further include an upper supply pipe arranged inside the processing chamber and in an upper region above the height limit of the conveyed object set in the conveying path.

The gas supply pipe may further include a lower supply pipe arranged inside the processing chamber and in a lower area below the area where the article is conveyed set in the conveying path by the free rollers.

The guides may extend parallel and continuously along the transport path on both sides of the lower part of the transport path at a position higher than the free rollers.

The gas supply pipe may be a ceramic tube having an opening on its side peripheral surface. Further, the gas supply pipe may have a plurality of gas supply holes formed in the side peripheral surface. The gas supply holes may face the transport space in which the transported object is transported by the transport path. The side feed tube may be a straight tube. In this case, a plurality of side supply pipes may be arranged on both sides of the transport path. The plurality of side feed straight tubes may be positioned intermittently along the transport path on both sides of the transport path inside the process chamber. The straight tubes of the plurality of side supply tubes may be arranged along the vertical direction.

The side feed pipe may pass through the process chamber and be connected to the ambient gas feed pipe outside the process chamber. The processing chamber may have a plurality of rows of transport paths extending in parallel and spaced apart from each other. The guides may be arranged between the multiple rows of transport paths and on both sides of the multiple rows of transport paths. The side feed pipes may be arranged between each of the multiple rows of transport paths and on each side of the multiple rows of transport paths.

The side supply pipes arranged between each of the multiple rows of transport paths and on both sides of each of the multiple rows of transport paths may be staggered along the transport paths in adjacent regulation areas.

The side supply pipes arranged between the plurality of rows of conveyance paths may each have gas supply holes formed toward the conveyance paths on both sides of the regulation area in which the side supply pipes are arranged. The side supply pipes arranged in the regulation regions on both outer sides of the plurality of rows of transport paths may have gas supply holes formed toward the outermost row of transport paths among the plurality of rows of transport paths. Side feed pipes arranged between the rows of transport paths may pass through the kiln body in the upper part of the processing chamber.

The side supply pipes arranged in the regulation regions on both outer sides of the multiple rows of transport paths may pass through the calcining furnace main body at the upper portion or the side portion of the processing chamber.

Each of the plurality of free rollers may be a seamless columnar shaft member, and may cross the plurality of rows of conveying paths along a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction. Both ends of the plurality of free rollers may each penetrate the processing chamber and be rotatably supported outside the processing chamber.

The pushing members of the pusher may be configured to face the entrances of the multiple rows of transport paths, respectively, and collectively push the objects to be transported toward the multiple rows of transport paths.

The free roller may be made of a SiC-based material containing silicon carbide.

According to such a continuous firing furnace, the space in which the article can be transported formed above the free roller in the transport path in the interior of the processing chamber is defined between a pair of guides arranged facing each other across the transport path. A ratio h1/w1 between the width w1 and the height h1 above the free roller satisfies h1/w1>1.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a firing furnace body 10. FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of the heat treatment equipment 200. As shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the introduction section 1S of the continuous firing furnace 1. FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the firing furnace main body 10. As shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a side view showing the support structure provided at the end of the free roller 20. FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the gas supply pipe 60, the heater 50 and the guide 40C. FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing another form of the continuous firing furnace 1. As shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a modification of the firing furnace main body 10. As shown in FIG.

One typical embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings below, members and portions having the same function are denoted by the same reference numerals. Also, the dimensional relationships (length, width, thickness, etc.) in each drawing do not reflect the actual dimensional relationships. Up, down, left, right, front, and rear directions are indicated by arrows U, D, L, R, F, and Rr, respectively.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a firing furnace body 10. FIG. In FIG. 1, the firing furnace main body 10 is shown obliquely from the upper left with the left side wall omitted. Here, the material to be heat-treated in the continuous firing furnace 1 is appropriately referred to as a "workpiece". The firing furnace main body 10 is a firing furnace for continuously heat-treating objects to be processed while conveying them in the processing chamber. The processing chamber 12 includes transport paths 15L and 15R extending along straight lines. As shown in FIG. 1, the transport paths 15L and 15R may be provided in multiple rows. In the form shown in FIG. 1, the continuous firing furnace 1 is provided with two rows of transport paths 15L and 15R on the left and right.

Here, the upper and lower sides of the firing furnace body 10 are determined along the vertical direction. In addition, the front and rear sides of the firing furnace body 10 are defined along the transport direction of the transport paths 15L and 15R, with the front side being the front side and the rear side being the rear side. Further, the right and left sides of the firing furnace main body 10 are defined with reference to the forward facing state of the transport paths 15L and 15R.

In the continuous firing furnace 1 illustrated here, the processing chamber 12 can be entirely made of a ceramic material such as SiC, which is excellent in reactivity resistance and heat resistance. In particular, it is possible to prevent contamination of the workpiece with metallic foreign substances such as metallic materials. For this reason, the continuous firing furnace 1 can be suitably used particularly for heat treatment of materials into which metal foreign matter is not allowed to be mixed.

Examples of materials into which metallic foreign matter is not allowed include materials used as electrode active materials and solid electrolytes of various electric storage devices. Here, the electric storage device includes, for example, a lithium ion secondary battery. In a power storage device such as a lithium ion secondary battery, if metallic foreign matter is mixed into the electrode active material or solid electrolyte, it causes elution of the metal during the battery reaction or generation of dentrites.

Examples of firing materials used in lithium ion secondary batteries include lithium composite metal oxides having a layered structure and a spinel structure. Examples of lithium composite metal oxides include LiNi _1/3 Co _1/3 Mn _1/3 O ₂ , LiNiO ₂ , LiCoO ₂ , LiFeO ₂ , LiMn ₂ O ₄ , LiNi _0.5 Mn _1.5 O ₄ , and _LiFePO4 . These can be used as positive electrode active materials.

In addition, fired materials used as solid electrolyte materials include inorganic solid electrolytes such as oxide-based solid electrolytes and sulfide-based solid electrolytes.

The oxide-based solid electrolyte is not particularly limited, and for example, one containing oxygen (O) and having lithium ion conductivity and electronic insulation can be preferably used. Examples _of oxide-based solid electrolytes include _lithium phosphate ( _Li3PO4 ), _{Li3PO4NX , LiBO2NX , LiNbO3} , _{LiTaO3 , Li2SiO3} , and _LiTi2 ( _PO4 ) _3. , Li ₅ La ₃ Ta ₂ O ₁₂ , Li ₇ La ₃ Zr ₂ O ₁₂ , Li ₆ BaLa ₂ Ta ₂ O ₁₂ and the like.

The sulfide-based solid electrolyte is not particularly limited, and for example, one containing sulfur (S) and having lithium ion conductivity and electronic insulation can be preferably used. Examples of sulfide solid electrolytes include Li ₂ SP ₂ S ₅ , Li ₂ S—SiS ₂ , LiI—Li ₂ S—SiS ₂ , LiI—Li ₂ SP ₂ S ₅ , LiI—Li ₂ S—B ₂ S ₃ , Li ₃ PO ₄ —Li ₂ S—Si ₂ S, Li ₃ PO ₄ —Li ₂ S—SiS ₂ , LiPO ₄ —Li ₂ S—SiS, LiI—Li ₂ S—P ₂ O ₅ , LiI—Li ₃ PO ₄ —P ₂ S ₅ and the like.

Demands for power storage devices are increasing particularly with the electrification of vehicles. In the baking treatment of the baking material used for the electric storage device, it is required to increase the processing amount per unit time. On the other hand, in order to obtain stable performance of the electricity storage device, the materials used for the electricity storage device need to be uniformly heat-treated from the viewpoint of the firing atmosphere, firing temperature, and the like. For this reason, a predetermined appropriate amount of the material to be treated is placed in a predetermined container for heat treatment. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1, the containers for heat treatment are stacked in multiple stages and arranged in multiple rows before being introduced into the continuous firing furnace 1 . As a result, the throughput per unit time in the continuous firing furnace 1 increases.

<Heat treatment equipment 200>
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of the heat treatment equipment 200. As shown in FIG. The heat treatment facility 200 includes a continuous firing furnace 1, as shown in FIG. The heat treatment facility 200 is also divided into a plurality of areas 201-206. In areas 201 to 206, containers T for heat treatment are conveyed in order toward the continuous firing furnace 1, as shown in FIG. Objects to be processed are accommodated in the container T, and are stacked in a plurality of stages and placed on the carriage 16 . The carriage 16 is also called a "setter".

In a plurality of areas 201 to 206 , the objects to be treated are placed in containers T for heat treatment, further stacked, and introduced into the continuous firing furnace 1 . Although illustration is omitted, a lid is attached to the top of the uppermost container T among the plurality of stacked containers T. As shown in FIG. A container T for heat treatment in a kiln is also called a "sagger". The lid may be made of the same material as the container T.

In the area 201, the containers T are conveyed step by step. Then, a predetermined amount of material to be processed is put into the container T. As shown in FIG. In the form shown in FIG. 2, the container T is a generally rectangular container with a flat bottom and surrounded by sidewalls. For example, the object to be processed may be flattened to a predetermined depth so that the heat can be spread evenly.

In area 202, containers T are stacked in a predetermined number. In this embodiment, the containers T are stacked in nine stages. The container T has an open top. As shown in FIG. 1, the sidewalls of container T are recessed downward at the upper edge. When the containers T are stacked in multiple stages, a gap t1 is formed between the stacked containers T through the recessed upper edges of the side walls. Such a gap t1 communicates with the inside of the container T and is also called a ventilation window. A lid is attached to the container T on the uppermost stage. In the uppermost container T, it is preferable to similarly form a gap t1 with the lid.

In the region 203 , the stacked containers Td are further placed on the carriage 16 . In this embodiment, the carriage 16 is a generally rectangular plate with the required rigidity. A plurality of stacked containers Td are placed on the carrier table 16 as shown in FIG. In the form shown in FIG. 2, four stacked containers Td are placed on the carriage 16 in an arrangement of 2 columns×2 rows.

In the area 204 , the transport table 16 on which the stacked containers Td are placed is conveyed toward the introduction section 1 S (area 205 ) of the continuous firing furnace 1 . The region 204 is provided with a replacement chamber E1 partitioned by shutters Sh1 and Sh2. The shutter Sh1 separates the exterior of the continuous firing furnace 1 from the replacement chamber E1. The shutter Sh2 separates the replacement chamber E1 and the interior of the continuous firing furnace 1 from each other. The carriage 16 on which the stacked containers Td are placed is introduced into the replacement chamber E1 by opening the shutter Sh1 while the shutter Sh2 is closed.

When the carrier 16 on which the stacked containers Td are placed is introduced into the substitution chamber E1, the shutter Sh1 is closed. Then, the gas atmosphere in the substitution chamber E1 is adjusted to an atmosphere suitable for being connected to the introduction section 1S of the continuous firing furnace 1. Next, the shutter Sh2 is opened to connect the replacement chamber E1 and the introduction section 1S of the continuous firing furnace 1. Then, the transfer table 16 on which the stacked containers Td are placed is transferred from the replacement chamber E1 to the introduction section 1S of the continuous firing furnace 1 . In the transfer from the replacement chamber E1 to the introduction section 1S of the continuous firing furnace 1, it is preferable to use a transfer means such as a ceramic roller that does not generate metallic foreign matter.

A region 205 is an introduction portion 1S of the continuous firing furnace 1, and is separated from the replacement chamber E1 by a shutter Sh2. Although illustration is omitted, at least the introduction section 1S of the continuous firing furnace 1 from the replacement chamber E1 is surrounded by an outer wall. A space closed from the outside is formed by shutters Sh1 and Sh2.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the introduction section 1S of the continuous firing furnace 1. FIG. In FIG. 3, the position of the carriage 16 introduced into the introduction section 1S is indicated by a chain double-dashed line. The introduction part 1S of the continuous firing furnace 1 is provided in front of the transfer paths 15L and 15R of the firing furnace main body 10, as shown in FIG. In the introduction section 1S of the continuous firing furnace 1, the transfer table 16 is introduced from the replacement chamber E1 along the direction perpendicular to the transfer direction of the transfer paths 15L and 15R.

The floor of the introduction section 1S includes a roller R1, stoppers Sp1 and Sp2, and a transfer roller R2. Further, a pusher 30 is provided in the introduction section 1S.

The roller R1 is a roller for introducing the transport table 16 along the transport direction h1 from the replacement chamber E1. A plurality of rollers R1 are provided intermittently along the transport direction h1 from the replacement chamber E1. In the form shown in FIG. 3, the roller R1 is cylindrical, and the rotation axis of the roller R1 is oriented perpendicularly to the transport direction h1 from the replacement chamber E1.

The stoppers Sp1 and Sp2 are members for positioning the carriage 16 introduced along the transport direction h1 from the replacement chamber E1. The stopper Sp1 is arranged at a predetermined position in the transport direction h1 so that the transport table 16 is aligned with the transport path 15L among the two transport paths 15L and 15R. The stopper Sp2 is arranged at a predetermined position in the transport direction h1 so that the transport table 16 is aligned with the transport path 15R. The stopper Sp2 is provided with an elevating mechanism. The stopper Sp2 is lowered to a position lower than the roller R1 or raised to a position higher than the roller R1 by an elevating mechanism.

The transfer roller R2 is a roller for transferring the transport table 16 along the transport direction of the two transport paths 15L and 15R. Transfer roller R2 is arranged between rollers R1. The transfer roller R2 has a transfer roller R22 attached to the upper surface of a base R21. A lifting mechanism (not shown) is provided on the base R21 of the transfer roller R2. The transfer roller R22 is lowered to a position lower than the roller R1 or raised to a position higher than the roller R1 by an elevating mechanism.

When the transfer table 16 is introduced from the replacement chamber E1 into the introduction section 1S, first, the transfer roller R22 and the stopper Sp2 are operated so as to be lowered to a position lower than the roller R1. The transport table 16 is placed on rollers R1 and introduced from the replacement chamber E1 into the introduction section 1S along the transport direction h1. At this time, the position of the conveying table 16 that has been introduced is aligned with the conveying path 15L by the stopper Sp1. Next, the stopper Sp2 is raised. Further, another carrier 16 is introduced from the replacement chamber E1 into the introduction section 1S. The position of the transport table 16 is aligned with the transport path 15R by the stopper Sp2.

Next, the transfer roller R22 is raised to a position higher than the roller R1. Then, the pusher 30 pushes the carriage 16 toward the carriage paths 15L and 15R. As a result, the carriages 16 are respectively introduced into the carriage paths 15L and 15R. At this time, the stoppers Sp<b>1 and Sp<b>2 are preferably retracted to a position where they do not interfere with the pusher 30 . The stoppers Sp<b>1 and Sp<b>2 may remain raised as long as they do not interfere with the pusher 30 .

In the area 206, before the kiln main body 10 of the continuous kiln 1, the carriages 16 are connected along the carriage paths 15L and 15R. In the region 206, the carriage 16 pushed out from the introduction section 1S pushes the rear end of the carriage 16 in a row. As a result, the transport table 16 on which the stacked containers Td are placed is sequentially introduced into the transport paths 15L and 15R of the kiln main body 10 . Here, the roller R1, the stoppers Sp1 and Sp2, and the transfer roller R2 are preferably made of a ceramic material having a required mechanical strength at least at the members or parts that come into contact with the transport table 16. FIG. Such ceramic materials can be, for example, SiC, mullite, alumina, and the like.

<Overall Configuration of Continuous Firing Furnace 1>
Next, the overall configuration of the continuous firing furnace 1 will be described. The continuous firing furnace 1 includes a firing furnace main body 10 and a pusher 30, as shown in FIGS. The firing furnace main body 10 has therein a processing chamber 12 for heat-treating an object to be processed.

The processing chamber 12 includes an inlet 13 , transport paths 15L and 15R, and an outlet 14 . The transport paths 15L and 15R extend straight from the inlet 13. As shown in FIG. The carry-out port 14 is provided at the end of the transport paths 15L and 15R opposite to the carry-in port 13 .

Specifically, the kiln body 10 of this embodiment includes a bottom wall 11B, a right side wall 11R, a left side wall 11L (see FIG. 4), and an upper wall 11U. The bottom wall 11</b>B covers the lower side of the processing chamber 12 and supports the entire firing furnace body 10 . The right side wall 11</b>R extends upward from the right end of the bottom wall 11</b>B and covers the right side of the processing chamber 12 . The left side wall 11L (see FIG. 4) extends upward from the left end of the bottom wall 11B and covers the left side of the processing chamber 12. As shown in FIG. The upper wall 11U covers the upper side of the processing chamber 12 . The bottom wall 11B, the right side wall 11R, the left side wall 11L, and the upper wall 11U have heat resistance and keep the internal processing chamber 12 airtight. Although not shown, the firing furnace main body 10 includes a loading door for opening and closing a loading port 13 on the front side of the processing chamber 12 (right side in FIG. 1), and a loading door on the back side of the processing chamber 12 (left side in FIG. 1). ) is provided for opening and closing the outlet 14 for carrying out.

In the processing chamber 12 of the firing furnace main body 10, transport paths 15R and 15L extending linearly from the inlet 13 to the outlet 14 are provided. The firing furnace main body 10 illustrated in FIG. A left conveying path 15L is provided. Here, the left and right transport paths 15R and 15L extend parallel to each other. In the form shown in FIG. 1, the transport paths 15L and 15R are arranged in two rows, but the transport paths provided in the processing chamber 12 are not limited to two rows unless otherwise specified. For example, three or more transport paths may be formed in the kiln body 10 . By providing a plurality of rows of transport paths in the kiln main body 10, more objects to be processed can be heat-treated more efficiently than when there is only one transport path. It should be noted that it is also possible to have one transport path provided in the kiln main body 10 .

<Free roller>
A plurality of free rollers 20 are arranged in order along the transport direction at the bottom of the transport paths 15R and 15L. The transport table 16 on which the stacked containers Td are placed is placed on a plurality of free rollers 20 arranged along the transport direction. In this embodiment, a plurality of (nine stages in FIG. 1) containers T are stacked and conveyed through the conveying paths 15R and 15L. For this reason, compared to the case where the containers T are transported in one stage without being stacked, more objects to be processed are heat-processed efficiently in the processing chamber 12 .

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the firing furnace main body 10. As shown in FIG. FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the firing furnace main body 10 across the transport paths 15L and 15R and viewed from the front side of the transport paths 15L and 15R. FIG. 5 is a side view showing the support structure provided at the end of the free roller 20. FIG. The configuration of the free roller 20 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1, 4 and 5. FIG. A plurality of free rollers 20 are arranged side by side along the transport direction at the bottom of the transport paths 15R and 15L. Each of the plurality of free rollers 20 is a cylindrical shaft member. In this embodiment, the free roller 20 has a cylindrical outer shape that is seamless in the length direction. Each of the free rollers 20 traverses the bottoms of the transport paths 15L and 15R along a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the transport paths 15L and 15R.

In this embodiment, both ends of the plurality of free rollers 20 penetrate the processing chamber 12 and are rotatably supported outside the processing chamber 12, as shown in FIG. Therefore, even if foreign matter is generated from the rotary support members 22R and 22L, it is difficult for the foreign matter to mix with the object to be processed that is conveyed inside the processing chamber 12. FIG. Both ends of the plurality of free rollers 20 are provided with at least two support rollers 22R1, 22R1 each having a rotation axis aligned with the rotation axis of the free rollers 20 outside the processing chamber 12, as shown in FIG. is placed on top of Therefore, even if the outer diameter or length of the free roller 20 changes due to thermal expansion or thermal contraction, the free roller 20 can stably rotate on the support rollers 22R1, 22R1.

Specifically, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, each of the plurality of free rollers 20 is rotatably supported at least at two locations facing each other across the transport paths 15R and 15L. ing. For this reason, the load applied to the free roller is less likely to increase than, for example, when a cantilever roller that is rotatably supported at one location is employed. Each free roller 20 crosses the bottom of the transport paths 15L and 15R along a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the transport paths 15L and 15R. Therefore, it contacts the bottom of the carriage 16 over the entire length in the direction intersecting the conveying direction. The load on the bar-shaped free roller 20 is kept low, and the deformation and breakage of the free roller 20, and the generation of foreign substances due to scraping of members are also suppressed. Of course, the number of containers T placed on the carrier 16 and the weight of the carrier 16 on which the stacked containers Td are placed are within the range of the predetermined load capacity of the free roller 20. should be

Further, the free rollers 20 of the present embodiment are shaft members, and are arranged so as to traverse the transport paths 15R and 15L arranged in multiple rows. In other words, the free rollers 20 cross the bottoms of the transport paths 15R and 15L in multiple rows along a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the transport paths 15L and 15R. The free rollers 20 support the carriage 16 on each of the transport paths 15L and 15R arranged in multiple rows, and can collectively transport the carriage 16 along the transport paths 15R and 15L. Therefore, the configuration of the continuous firing furnace 1 is simplified compared to the case where free rollers are separately provided for each of the transport paths 15R and 15L.

Left and right ends of each free roller 20 are rotatably supported outside the processing chamber 12 by rotary support members 22R and 22L, as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the right rotation support member 22R supports the right end of the free roller 20. As shown in FIG. The left rotation support member 22L supports the left end of the free roller 20. As shown in FIG. The right rotation support member 22R has a pair of support rollers 22R1, 22R1 (see FIG. 5) that support the free roller 20. As shown in FIG. Although illustration is omitted, the left rotation support member 22L includes a pair of support rollers that support the free roller 20 in the same manner as the right side.

The rotation axes of the pair of support rollers 22R1, 22R1 are aligned with the rotation axis of the free roller 20. As shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the rotation axes of the support rollers 22R1, 22R1 are parallel to the rotation axis of the free roller 20. As shown in FIG. The support rollers 22R1, 22R1 are arranged so as to support the lower surface of the end of the free roller 20 at intervals narrower than the outline of the end of the free roller 20. As shown in FIG. Although not shown, the pair of support rollers 22R1 and 22R1 are rotatably supported. The pair of support rollers 22R1, 22R1 may be composed of, for example, needle bearings. The pair of support rollers 22R1, 22R1 may be rotatably supported by, for example, the inner wall of the firing furnace body 10 or the outer wall of the processing chamber 12, although not shown.

More specifically, in this embodiment, holes 17 through which the free rollers 20 are inserted are formed in each of the right side wall 11R and the left side wall 11L of the kiln main body 10 . Each hole 17 is provided with blocking portions 24R and 24L that suppress the movement of gas and foreign matter through the hole 17. As shown in FIG. The rotary support members 22R and 22L are installed outside the processing chamber 12 closed by the blocking portions 24R and 24L. Therefore, even if foreign matter is generated from the rotary support members 22R and 22L, it is difficult for the foreign matter to mix with the object to be processed inside the processing chamber 12. FIG. Therefore, it is not necessary to limit the material of the rotary support members 22R and 22L to a material corresponding to the type of the object to be processed (for example, a material that can be mixed into the object to be processed without any problem). For example, as in the present embodiment, even in the case where the continuous firing furnace 1 is used to process workpieces in which contamination of metal scraps is a problem, the rotary support members 22R and 22L can be made of metal.

In this embodiment, a ceramic roller made of a SiC-based material containing silicon carbide is used as the material of at least the part of the free roller 20 that is exposed in the processing chamber 12 . By using the SiC-based material as the material of the free roller 20, the required strength of the free roller 20 is ensured. Furthermore, when the object to be treated, which causes a problem of contamination with metal scraps, is treated by the continuous firing furnace 1, the foreign matter generated from the free roller 20 does not affect the object to be treated. Therefore, even an object to be processed, in which contamination of metal scraps is a problem, can be properly processed. In addition, the ceramic roller made of SiC-based material has high rigidity and hardly bends, so that it rotates stably within the processing chamber 12 .

<Pusher>
The configuration of the pusher 30 will be described with reference to FIG. A pusher 30 is provided at the loading port 13 of the processing chamber 12 . The pusher 30 has an extrusion device 31 and a pushing member 32 . The pushing member 32 is provided outside the processing chamber 12 on the carry-in port 13 side of the transport paths 15L and 15R. The push-out device 31 is a device that pushes out the pushing member 32 toward the transport paths 15L and 15R. The pusher 30 pushes the plurality of carriages 16 that are connected in the conveying direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 1) on the plurality of free rollers 20 to the downstream side in the conveying direction (left side in FIG. 1). In this embodiment, the pushing member 32 of the pusher 30 faces the entrances 13 of the multiple rows of transport paths 15L and 15R, respectively, and pushes the objects collectively toward the multiple rows of transport paths 15L and 15R. is configured to

The pusher 30 moves the pushing member 32 in the conveying direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 1) by the pushing device 31 . In this embodiment, when the pushing member 32 moves downstream in the conveying direction (left side in FIG. 1), the pushing member 32 comes into contact with the carriage 16 on which the stacked containers Td are placed. toward the transport paths 15L and 15R. Of the pushing member 32, the contact portion at the tip that contacts the carriage 16 extends in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction in which the conveying paths 15R and 15L extend. The pushing device 31 may be composed of, for example, a hydraulic cylinder. Moreover, the pushing member 32 is preferably made of a ceramic material having a required mechanical strength. For example, a ceramic material made of SiC-based material containing silicon carbide may be used. Since such a material is used, even if the pushing member 32 wears due to contact with the carriage 16, metallic foreign matter does not occur.

The carriage 16 pushed by the pushing member 32 hits the rear end of a plurality of carriages 16 that are continuous in the conveyance direction on the conveyance paths 15R and 15L. Then, the pushing member 32 pushes the carriage 16 further, so that the plurality of carriages 16 connected along the conveying direction of the conveying paths 15L and 15R move forward in the conveying direction. The carriages 16 are sequentially pushed in the conveying direction on the conveying paths 15R and 15L by the pushing member 32, so that the carriage 16 is added to the end of the plurality of carriages 16 arranged along the conveying direction. In addition, a plurality of carriages 16 arranged in a row along the conveying direction move forward along the conveying paths 15L and 15R. The pusher 30 pushes the new carriage 16 by a predetermined distance along the transport paths 15L and 15R at predetermined time intervals. As a result, a plurality of carriages 16 connected on the carriage paths 15R and 15L are intermittently conveyed.

In this embodiment, the carriage 16 is a rectangular plate. In the plurality of carriages 16 connected on the carriage paths 15R and 15L, the rear side surface of the previous carriage 16 hits the front side surface of the subsequent carriage 16 . For this reason, the directions of the previous carriage 16 and the subsequent carriage 16 are aligned in the conveying direction. It is conveyed downstream along the conveying paths 15R and 15L along the plurality of free rollers 20 of the conveying paths 15L and 15R. The conveying direction of the plurality of conveying tables 16 connected on the conveying paths 15R and 15L is likely to follow the pushing direction of the pusher 30. As shown in FIG. Therefore, there is a low possibility that the carriage 16 on which the stacked containers Td are placed will detach from the carriage paths 15R and 15L.

The pusher 30 of the present embodiment collectively pushes out a plurality of rows of the carriages 16 onto the plurality of rows (two rows in the present embodiment) of the carriage paths 15R and 15L using one pushing device 31 . Therefore, the carriages 16 in a plurality of rows are efficiently conveyed. In this embodiment, a plurality of stacked containers Td are placed on the carrier table 16 . Therefore, the processing amount of the object to be processed in the processing chamber 12 can be increased, and the productivity is improved. Since a plurality of rows of carriages 16 are synchronously conveyed, handling of a plurality of stacked containers Td in the processing chamber 12 is facilitated.

<guide>
The firing furnace main body 10 includes guides 40R, 40C and 40L for guiding the transportation of the carriage 16 on the respective transportation paths 15R and 15L. Therefore, even if the conveying direction of the carriage 16 is temporarily disturbed, the carriage of the carriage 16 is guided by the guides 40R, 40C, and 40L. Therefore, the carriage 16 is normally conveyed on the conveyance paths 15R and 15L. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the gas supply pipe 60, the heater 50 and the guide 40C. FIG. 6 schematically shows the arrangement of the gas supply pipe 60, the heater 50 and the guide 40C.

Guides 40R, 40C, and 40L will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 4, and 6. FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the guides 40R, 40C, 40L are provided along the transport direction at positions on both sides facing each other across the transport paths 15R, 15L. The guides 40R, 40C, 40L of this embodiment reliably guide the carriage 16 in the processing chamber 12 along the carriage paths 15L, 15R by coming into contact with the carriage 16 conveyed in a row. High alumina bricks are used as the material of the guides 40R, 40C, and 40L. As a result, heat resistance and strength of the guides 40R, 40C, 40L are ensured.

In this embodiment, the right guide 40R is provided on the right side of the right conveying path 15R, and the intermediate guide 40C is provided on the left side of the right conveying path 15R. Further, the intermediate guide 40C is provided on the right side of the left conveying path 15L, and the left guide 40L is provided on the left side of the left conveying path 15L. In other words, the intermediate guide 40C provided between the plurality of transport paths 15R and 15L guides the transport of the carriage 16 on each of the two adjacent transport paths 15R and 15L. Therefore, the transportation of the carriage 16 is properly guided with a simple configuration. However, separate guides may be provided for each of the plurality of transport paths 15R and 15L.

In the following, among the plurality of guides 40R, 40C, and 40L, the middle guide 40C will be exemplified and explained. However, the configuration described below is the same for the right guide 40R and the left guide 40L. As shown in FIG. 6, of the guide 40C, the contact portion 41 that contacts the carriage 16 conveyed on the conveying paths 15R and 15L (see FIGS. 1 and 4) extends in a direction parallel to the conveying direction. extends continuously without gaps. Therefore, even if the carriage 16 contacts the guide 40C during transportation, the carriage 16 is unlikely to be caught by the guide 40C. Therefore, the possibility of unnecessary rotation of the carriage 16 and breakage of members is further reduced. Therefore, it is possible to stably transport the containers Td stacked in multiple stages on the transport platform 16 .

As shown in FIG. 6, the guide 40C is formed with a roller insertion hole 42 through which the free roller 20 (see FIGS. 1, 4 and 5) is inserted in a direction crossing the transport direction. The inner diameter of the roller insertion hole 42 is wider than the outer diameter of the free roller 20 . Therefore, the guides 40R, 40C, 40L can be formed continuously along the transport paths 15L, 15R without interfering with the free rollers 20. FIG. Moreover, in this embodiment, the free roller 20 is made of a ceramic material such as SiC that hardly bends. Therefore, the free rollers 20 can rotate without contact within the roller insertion holes 42 while supporting the transport table 16 on which the stacked containers Td are placed.

<Conveyance Space for Container Td>
A space in which the container Td is transported inside the processing chamber 12 will be described with reference to FIG. Inside the processing chamber 12, w1 is the width between a pair of guides arranged to face each other with the transport paths 15R and 15L interposed therebetween. The height above the free roller 20 in the processing chamber 12 is h1. A space in which the stacked containers Td can be transported inside the processing chamber 12 satisfies the condition h1/w1>1. Here, the width w1 between the guides is, in other words, the distance between the pair of guides in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction. A width w1 between the guides of the transport path 15L is the distance between the guides 40L and 40C. A width w1 between the guides of the transport path 15R is the distance between the guides 40C and 40R. In other words, the height h1 above the free rollers 20 can be a height above the free rollers 20 within the processing chamber 12 up to the height limit at which conveyance of the article to be conveyed is permitted. h1/w1 can be the aspect ratio when the conveying space in which the articles are conveyed on the conveying paths 15L and 15R is viewed from the front in the conveying direction. Since the condition of h1/w1>1 is satisfied, in the continuous firing furnace 1 of the present embodiment, even when a large number of containers T are stacked in the height direction, the stacked containers Td are placed in the processing chamber 12. The space inside is properly conveyed. The aspect ratio h1/w1 of the transport space may be, for example, 2 or more, or 3 or more.

As described above, the continuous firing furnace 1 disclosed herein includes a firing furnace main body 10 having therein a processing chamber 12 in which a processing atmosphere for heat-treating an object to be processed is formed, and a pusher 30. ing. The processing chamber 12 includes transport paths 15L and 15R that extend straight from the loading port 13 . The firing furnace main body 10 includes a plurality of free rollers 20 arranged in order along the transport paths 15L and 15R at the bottom of the transport paths 15L and 15R. The pusher 30 includes a pushing member 32 provided outside the processing chamber 12 on the inlet 13 side of the transport paths 15L and 15R, and a pushing device 31 that pushes the pushing member 32 toward the transport paths 15L and 15R. ing.

According to the continuous firing furnace 1, the pusher 30 arranged outside the processing chamber 12 can push the carrier table 16 from the inlet 13 of the carrier routes 15L and 15R along the carrier routes 15L and 15R. The conveying table 16 is continuously conveyed on a plurality of free rollers 20 arranged in order at the bottom of the conveying paths 15L and 15R along the conveying paths 15L and 15R. The free roller 20 rotates due to friction with the conveyed object pushed by the pusher 30 . Therefore, the objects to be conveyed along the conveying paths 15L and 15R are stably conveyed along the conveying paths 15L and 15R at an appropriate speed defined by the pusher 30 . In addition, since the pusher 30 is provided outside the processing chamber 12 , foreign matter is less likely to occur during transportation in the processing chamber 12 , and foreign matter is less likely to enter the carriage 16 . Therefore, so-called contamination is reduced.

In the form shown in FIG. 1, the processing chamber 12 includes a plurality of rows of transport paths 15L and 15R extending parallel to each other. Therefore, it is possible to collectively send the objects to be conveyed at once, and to improve the productivity of the objects to be processed.

Also, each of the plurality of free rollers 20 is a seamless cylindrical shaft member. Each of the plurality of free rollers 20 traverses the plurality of rows of conveying paths 15L and 15R along a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction. For this reason, it is possible to transport an article in a synchronized timing on the transport paths 15L and 15R in a plurality of rows. It is possible to match the processing time of the object to be processed with the multiple rows of transport paths 15L and 15R.

Further, the pushing member 32 of the pusher 30 is opposed to the carry-in ports 13 of the multiple rows of transport paths 15L and 15R. The pushing member 32 is configured to collectively push the articles to be conveyed toward the plurality of rows of conveying paths 15L and 15R. Items can be transported in a synchronized timing on the multiple rows of transport paths 15L and 15R. It is possible to match the processing time of the object to be processed with the multiple rows of transport paths 15L and 15R.

<Heater/gas supply pipe>
Firing furnace body 10 includes a plurality of heaters 50, a plurality of gas supply pipes 60, and a plurality of exhaust ports 70, as shown in FIGS. The heater 50 is a device that heats the inside of the processing chamber 12 . It is preferable that at least the heat radiation portion of the heater 50 is provided inside the processing chamber 12 . The objects to be processed stored in the containers Td stacked on the carrier 16 are heated in the processing chamber 12 heated by the heater 50 . A gas supply pipe 60 is a pipe for supplying atmospheric gas into the processing chamber 12 . In this embodiment, the atmospheric gas is oxygen. The exhaust port 70 is an opening for discharging unnecessary reaction gas generated by the heat treatment of the object to be processed from the inside of the processing chamber 12 to the outside. In this embodiment, the reaction gas is heated and moves upward in the processing chamber 12 . Therefore, the exhaust port 70 is provided in the upper wall 11U of the firing furnace body 10 .

In the present embodiment, the object to be processed is a material used for electrodes and solid electrolytes of electric storage devices. Such materials are provided in powder form. In this embodiment, the object to be processed is housed in a container with a flat bottom. The containers T are further stacked, and a plurality of stacked containers Td are introduced into the continuous firing furnace 1 in a state where they are placed on a plurality of conveyors 16 . Thus, in this continuous firing furnace 1, stacked containers Td can be transported. In addition, the processing amount of the object to be processed per unit time can be significantly increased.

On the other hand, materials used for electrodes and solid electrolytes of electric storage devices need to be sintered in a predetermined atmosphere gas at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time so that stable performance can be obtained. There is When the objects to be processed are fired in the stacked containers Td, the objects to be processed in the stacked containers T must satisfy certain firing conditions.

In the firing furnace main body 10 of the present embodiment, as described above, a plurality of rows of transport paths 15R and 15L extending parallel to each other are provided. The containers T containing the objects to be processed are stacked in the height direction, placed on the transport table 16, and transported along the transport paths 15R and 15L.

The transport spaces of the transport paths 15L and 15R in which the stacked containers Td are transported are high in the height direction. Therefore, for example, it is difficult to make the temperature of the atmosphere gas uniform in the height direction of the transfer space only by heating from above the transfer paths 15L and 15R. In addition, even if the heating is performed from the side of the processing chamber 12, the temperature is uniform for each of the transportation paths 15L and 15R because the firing furnace main body 10 is provided with a plurality of rows of the transportation paths 15L and 15R extending in parallel. difficult to make Therefore, when the stacked containers Td are transported along the multiple rows of transport paths 15L and 15R, it is difficult to apply heat evenly to the objects to be processed contained in the stacked containers T. Sometimes. Similarly, it is difficult to uniformize the concentration of the atmospheric gas in the processing chamber 12 only by supplying the atmospheric gas from the side of the processing chamber 12 toward the stacked containers Td.

The transport paths 15L and 15R of the continuous firing furnace 1 of the present embodiment are several times as high as one container T in order to transport stacked containers Td. Furthermore, the stacked containers Td are transported in a state where they are placed on one transport table 16 . The objects to be processed are fired in the containers Td stacked in this way. Therefore, in such a continuous firing furnace 1, it is desirable that the firing conditions in the vertical direction of the transport paths 15L and 15R are more uniform. Further, in the case where the processing chamber 12 of the continuous firing furnace 1 is formed with a plurality of rows of the transport paths 15L and 15R, it is desirable that the firing conditions be more uniform between the transport paths 15L and 15R.

<Heater 50>
Heater 50 includes side heaters 50R, 50C and 50L, as shown in FIG. The side heaters 50R, 50C, 50L are arranged inside the processing chamber 12 and in regulated areas on both sides of the transfer paths 15L, 15R set by the guides 40R, 40C, 40L. By arranging the side heaters 50R, 50C, 50L in the regulation areas on both sides of the transport paths 15L, 15R, it becomes easy to keep the temperature of the transport spaces of the transport paths 15L, 15R uniform. Here, regulation areas on both sides of the transport paths 15L and 15R are set by guides 40R, 40C and 40L. That is, both sides of the transport paths 15L, 15R are defined by the contact portions 41 of the guides 40R, 40C, 40L. The regulated area is an area where the side heaters 50R, 50C, 50L are regulated by the contact portions 41 of the guides 40R, 40C, 40L on the conveyed objects conveyed on the conveying paths 15L, 15R. The side heaters 50R, 50C, and 50L are preferably provided in the space above the restricted area in the processing chamber 12. As shown in FIG. Here, the objects to be conveyed are the carriage 16 and the stacked containers Td placed on the carriage 16 . Since the side heaters 50R, 50C, 50L are arranged in the regulated areas on both sides of the transport paths 15L, 15R, the stacked containers Td placed on the transport platform 16 are heated to both sides of the transport paths 15L, 15R. is heated from

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, stacked containers Td are transported. The height h1 above the free roller 20 is higher than the width w1 between the pair of guides. The aspect ratio h1/w1 of the transfer space can be, for example, 1.5 or more, 2 or more, or 3 or more. According to the continuous firing furnace 1 disclosed here, the side heaters 50R, 50C, 50L are installed inside the processing chamber 12 and on both sides of the transport paths 15L, 15R set by the guides 40R, 40C, 40L. Located in a regulated area. Therefore, heat can be applied from the side of the transfer space. Therefore, even if the transfer space is high in the height direction, it is easy to uniformly adjust the temperature of the transfer space. Therefore, it is possible to ensure predetermined baking conditions for each stacked container T placed on the carrier 16 .

In this embodiment, the guides 40R, 40C, 40L extend continuously in parallel along the transport paths 15L, 15R on both sides of the lower part of the transport paths 15L, 15R at positions higher than the free rollers 20 . Therefore, the objects pushed into the transport paths 15L and 15R by the pushers 30 move smoothly along the transport paths 15L and 15R. Conveyed articles moving on the conveying paths 15L, 15R are prevented from hitting the side heaters 50R, 50C, 50L.

7 is a cross-sectional view showing another form of the continuous firing furnace 1. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the continuous firing furnace 1 may appropriately include an upper heater 50U and a lower heater 50D. The upper heater 50U is preferably arranged inside the processing chamber 12 and in an upper region above the height limit of the conveyed object set in the conveying paths 15L and 15R. Here, it is preferable that the height limit of the conveyed product is determined in advance for each of the conveying paths 15L and 15R. By arranging the upper heater 50U in the upper region above the height limit of the transported object, it becomes easier to keep the temperature of the atmospheric gas in the upper part of the processing chamber 12 uniform. The upper heater 50U is preferably provided in the continuous firing furnace 1 as appropriate.

The lower heater 50D is preferably arranged inside the processing chamber 12 and in a lower area below the area where the article is conveyed on the conveying paths 15L and 15R by the free rollers 20. FIG. Here, the free roller 20 defines the area where the article is conveyed. The lower heater 50D is preferably arranged in a region below the region defined by the free rollers 20 where the article is conveyed. The lower heater 50D may be arranged, for example, between the free rollers 20 intermittently arranged at the bottom of the transport paths 15L and 15R. By providing the lower heater 50D, it becomes easier to keep the temperature of the atmosphere gas under the transfer paths 15L and 15R uniform. The lower heater 50D may be appropriately provided in the continuous firing furnace 1 .

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the processing chamber 12 is provided with a plurality of rows of transport paths 15L and 15R extending in parallel at intervals. The guides 40R, 40C, 40L are arranged between the multiple rows of transport paths 15L, 15R and on both sides of the multiple rows of transport paths 15L, 15R, respectively. The side heaters 50R, 50C, 50L are arranged between the multiple rows of the transport paths 15L, 15R and on both sides of the multiple rows of the transport paths 15L, 15R. In other words, when the processing chamber 12 has a plurality of rows of transport paths 15L and 15R, guides 40C are also provided between the transport paths 15L and 15R. A side heater 50C is provided in a regulated area between the transport paths 15L and 15R set by the guide 40C.

Specifically, the continuous firing furnace 1 of the present embodiment includes side heaters 50R and 50L and an intermediate heater 50C as side heaters. The side heaters 50R, 50L are arranged on both sides of the multiple rows of transport paths 15L, 15R. In other words, the side heaters 50R and 50L are provided outside (on the side of) the transport paths 15L and 15R in the direction crossing the transport direction of the multiple rows of transport paths 15R and 15L. The intermediate heater 50C is provided between the multiple rows of conveying paths 15R and 15L. Therefore, not only the heat generated by the left and right side heaters 50R and 50L but also heat generated by the heat generated by the left and right side heaters 50R and 50L are applied to the workpieces transported along the multiple rows of transport paths 15R and 15L. Heat generated by intermediate heater 50C is also added. Therefore, the objects to be processed stored in the stacked containers Td transported on the multiple rows of transport paths 15R and 15L are more likely to be evenly heated.

The side heaters arranged between the multiple rows of transport paths 15L and 15R and on both sides of the multiple rows of transport paths 15L and 15R are shifted along the transport paths 15L and 15R in adjacent regulation areas. may be placed. Here, FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a modification of the firing furnace main body 10. As shown in FIG. In FIG. 8, among the side heaters 50R, 50C, and 50L, the intermediate heater 50C is displaced from the side heaters 50R and 50L on both sides along the conveying paths 15L and 15R. Thereby, for example, it is possible to easily adjust the temperature of the atmosphere gas in the processing chamber 12 . In this way, the arrangement of the side heaters 50R, 50C, and 50L may be appropriately set in adjacent regulation regions from the viewpoint of facilitating the temperature control of the atmosphere gas in the processing chamber 12. FIG. Further, for example, the side heaters 50R, 50C, and 50L arranged in adjacent regulation areas may be arranged in a staggered manner.

The side heaters 50R, 50C, 50L respectively include radiant tubes 50R1, 50C1, 50L1 and burner bodies 50R2, 50C2, 50L2 connected to the radiant tubes 50R1, 50C1, 50L1. The radiant tubes 50R1, 50C1, 50L1 are arranged inside the processing chamber 12 on both sides of the transfer paths 15L, 15R. The burner bodies 50 R 2 , 50 C 2 and 50 L 2 are attached to the firing furnace body 10 outside the processing chamber 12 .

In this embodiment, the radiant tubes 50R1, 50C1, 50L1 are straight tubes. A plurality of side heaters 50R, 50C, 50L are arranged on both sides of the transport paths 15L, 15R. That is, inside the processing chamber 12, a plurality of side heaters are intermittently arranged on both sides of the transport paths 15L and 15R for each of the transport paths 15L and 15R. Therefore, it is easy to appropriately adjust the temperature of the atmosphere gas along the transport paths 15L and 15R. When the plurality of side heaters 50R, 50C, and 50L are straight tubes, they may be arranged along the vertical direction, for example, as shown in FIG. In this manner, the plurality of side heaters 50R, 50C, and 50L are each formed as a straight tube and arranged along the vertical direction, so that the conveying paths 15L and 15R that are long in the length direction and tall in the height direction can be conveyed. The side heaters 50R, 50C, 50L can be arranged intermittently with respect to the space. As a result, the transport space in which the stacked containers Td are transported can be evenly and easily heated. Although the side heaters 50R, 50C, and 50L are arranged along the vertical direction in the present embodiment, they may be slanted along the transport paths 15L and 15R, respectively. For example, a plurality of side heaters 50R, 50C, 50L may be uniformly tilted in the regulation areas on both sides of the transport paths 15L, 15R.

Also, the radiant tube may be a ceramic tube. Since the radiant tube is a ceramic tube made of ceramic such as SiC, it is possible to prevent metal foreign matter from being generated in the transfer space due to the side heaters 50R, 50C, and 50L.

The burner bodies 50R2, 50C2, 50L2 may be arranged in the kiln body 10 outside the processing chamber 12, as shown in FIG. For example, the burner main body 50C2 of the side heater 50C arranged between the multiple rows of conveying paths 15L and 15R may be arranged above the firing furnace main body 10. In this case, since the burner main body 50C2 is arranged in the upper part of the kiln main body 10, the burner main body 50C2 of the side heater 50C arranged between the plural rows of conveying paths 15L and 15R is positioned at a short distance, A burner body 50C2 is connected. Therefore, the thermal efficiency of the side heater 50C is kept high.

Further, in this embodiment, the burner bodies 50R2 and 50L2 of the side heaters 50R and 50L arranged on both sides of the multiple rows of transport paths 15L and 15R are arranged above the firing furnace body . Note that the burner bodies 50R2 and 50L2 of the side heaters 50R and 50L respectively arranged on both sides of the multiple rows of transport paths 15L and 15R are arranged on the sides of the firing furnace body 10. may Also in this case, the burner main bodies 50R2 and 50L2 are arranged on the upper portion or side portion of the kiln main body 10. As shown in FIG. Therefore, the burner bodies 50R2 and 50L2 are connected to the burner bodies 50R2 and 50L2 of the side heaters 50R and 50L arranged on both sides of the multiple rows of conveying paths 15L and 15R at short distances. Therefore, the thermal efficiency of the side heaters 50R and 50L is kept high.

Thus, each heater 50 can employ a tubular tube burner (a radiant tube burner in this embodiment). Therefore, the heater 50 can be easily installed at an appropriate position. As an example, the heater 50 of this embodiment is a linearly extending tube burner. In this embodiment, in the processing chamber 12, linear radiant tubes are arranged above the guides 40R, 40C, and 40L in plan view. Therefore, the heater 50 does not come into contact with the stacked containers Td placed on the transport table 16 transported on the transport paths 15L and 15R. Radiant tubes 50R1, 50C1, 50L1 of each heater 50 are attached so as to pass through the upper wall 11U of the kiln body 10, as shown in FIG. The burner bodies 50R2, 50C2, 50L2 of the heater 50 are attached to the base ends of radiant tubes 50R1, 50C1, 50L1 penetrating the upper wall 11U of the kiln body 10 to the outside. According to the heater 50, the radiant tubes 50R1, 50C1, 50L1 extend into the processing chamber 12, and gas is burned in the radiant tubes 50R1, 50C1, 50L1. The heat generated by the radiant tubes 50R1, 50C1, 50L1 spreads in the processing chamber 12 by radiant heat.

When a tube burner is used as the heater 50, the shape of the tube burner should be adjusted so that the heater 50 does not hit the stacked containers Td placed on the transport platform 16 transported along the transport paths 15L and 15R. can be selected. From this point of view, it is preferable that the tube burners are arranged above the guides 40R, 40C, and 40L in plan view. The tube burner may have a shape other than linear (eg, U-shaped, W-shaped, etc.). If the tube burners have a shape other than a straight shape, they may be arranged along the transport paths 15R, 15L in the upper regions of the guides 40R, 40C, 40L.

Thus, in the present embodiment, the side heaters 50R, 50L and the intermediate heater 50C both extend vertically within the processing chamber 12. As shown in FIG. Therefore, even if the transport paths 15R and 15L are long, each heater 50 can be easily arranged at an appropriate position. In particular, by setting the longitudinal direction of the intermediate heater 50C to the vertical direction, the intermediate heater 50C is fixed to at least one of the top wall 11U and the bottom wall 1B (in this embodiment, the top wall 11U), and a plurality of rows of conveying paths can be arranged. An intermediate heater 50C can be appropriately arranged between 15R and 15L. However, it is also possible to change the installation method of the heater 50 . For example, the longitudinal direction of the side heaters 50R and 50L may be the front-rear direction of the continuous firing furnace 1 (left-right direction in FIG. 1).

<Gas supply pipe 60>
The gas supply pipe 60 includes side supply pipes 60R, 60C, 60L. They are arranged inside the processing chamber 12 and in regulation areas on both sides of the transport paths 15L, 15R set by the guides 40R, 40C, 40L. By arranging the side heaters 50R, 50C, 50L in the regulation areas on both sides of the transfer paths 15L, 15R, it becomes easy to adjust the concentration of the atmosphere gas in the transfer space of the transfer paths 15L, 15R. The continuous firing furnace 1 of this embodiment is provided with side supply pipes 60R, 60C and 60L, as shown in FIG. The side heaters 50R, 50C and 50L are preferably provided in the space above the regulated area defined by the guides 40R, 40C and 40L in the processing chamber 12. As shown in FIG. Here, the objects to be conveyed are the carriage 16 and the stacked containers Td placed on the carriage 16 . Since the side supply pipes 60R, 60C, 60L are arranged in the regulated areas on both sides of the transport paths 15L, 15R, the stacked containers Td placed on the transport table 16 can be transported along the transport paths 15L, 15R. Necessary atmosphere gas required for firing is supplied from both sides of the . The gas supplied here can be various gases such as, for example, oxygen.

In this embodiment, side heaters 50R, 50C and 50L are also provided in the regulation areas on both sides of the transport paths 15L and 15R. The side supply pipes 60R, 60C, 60L are preferably provided at positions that do not interfere with the side heaters 50R, 50C, 50L. Moreover, it is preferable that they are arranged at positions that do not hinder the heat from the side heaters 50R, 50C, and 50L to the conveyed objects conveyed along the conveying paths 15L, 15R.

As shown in FIG. 1, the side supply pipes 60R, 60C, and 60L pass through the processing chamber 12 and are connected to ambient gas supply pipes (not shown) outside the processing chamber 12. good.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the height above the free roller 20 is higher than the width w1 between the pair of guides arranged facing each other across the transport paths 15R and 15L. h1 is high. The aspect ratio h1/w1 of the transfer space can be, for example, 1.5 or more, 2 or more, or 3 or more. According to the continuous firing furnace 1 disclosed here, the side feed pipes 60R, 60C, 60L are arranged inside the processing chamber 12 and on both sides of the transport paths 15L, 15R set by the guides 40R, 40C, 40L. are located in the regulatory domain of Therefore, the atmosphere gas can be supplied from the side of the transfer space. Therefore, even when the transfer space is high in the height direction, it becomes easier to more uniformly adjust the atmospheric gas in the transfer space. Therefore, it is possible to ensure predetermined baking conditions for each stacked container T placed on the carrier 16 .

In this embodiment, the guides 40R, 40C, 40L extend continuously in parallel along the transport paths 15L, 15R on both sides of the lower part of the transport paths 15L, 15R at positions higher than the free rollers 20 . Therefore, the objects pushed into the transport paths 15L and 15R by the pushers 30 move smoothly along the transport paths 15L and 15R. Conveyed articles moving on the conveying paths 15L, 15R are prevented from hitting the side supply pipes 60R, 60C, 60L.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, the continuous firing furnace 1 may appropriately include an upper supply pipe 60U and a lower supply pipe 60D. The upper supply pipe 60U is preferably arranged inside the processing chamber 12 and in an upper region above the height limit of the conveyed object set in the conveying paths 15L and 15R. The lower supply pipe 60</b>D is preferably arranged inside the processing chamber 12 and in a lower region below the region in which the free rollers 20 set the conveying paths 15</b>L and 15</b>R to convey the articles.

By arranging the upper supply pipe 60U in the upper region above the height limit of the conveyed object, it becomes easier to keep the concentration of the atmospheric gas in the upper part of the processing chamber 12 uniform. The upper supply pipe 60U is preferably provided in the continuous firing furnace 1 as appropriate. By providing the lower supply pipe 60D, it becomes easier to keep the concentration of the atmosphere gas in the lower portions of the transfer paths 15L and 15R uniform. The lower supply pipe 60D is preferably provided in the continuous firing furnace 1 as appropriate.

The gas supply pipe 60 may be composed of a ceramic tube having an opening on its side peripheral surface. Such a ceramic tube may be composed of, for example, a ceramic sintered porous body. Further, the gas supply pipe 60 may have a plurality of gas supply holes 61 formed in the side peripheral surface. In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, the gas supply holes 61 are preferably directed to the transfer space through which the articles are transferred by the transfer paths 15L and 15R. As a result, the atmosphere gas is appropriately supplied to the transfer space in the processing chamber 12 through each gas supply hole 61 . The ceramic tube used for the gas supply pipe 60 is a ceramic tube made of ceramic such as SiC.

In this embodiment, the side feed tubes 60R, 60C, 60L are straight tubes, as shown in FIGS. A plurality of side supply pipes 60R, 60C, 60L are arranged on both sides of the transport paths 15L, 15R. The straight tubes of the plurality of side supply pipes 60R, 60C, 60L are intermittently arranged inside the processing chamber 12 on both sides of the transport paths 15L, 15R along the transport paths 15L, 15R. Therefore, it is easy to appropriately adjust the concentration of the atmosphere gas along the transport paths 15L and 15R. Further, when the plurality of side supply pipes 60R, 60C, 60L are straight tubes, they may be arranged along the vertical direction as shown in FIGS. In this embodiment, the side heaters 50R, 50C, 50L and the side supply pipes 60R, 60C, 60L are arranged along the vertical direction. It may be tilted obliquely. For example, the plurality of side heaters 50R, 50C, 50L and the plurality of side supply pipes 60R, 60C, 60L may be uniformly inclined in the regulation areas on both sides of the transport paths 15L, 15R. .

In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the processing chamber 12 is provided with a plurality of rows of transport paths 15L and 15R extending in parallel at intervals. The guides 40R, 40C, 40L are arranged between the multiple rows of transport paths 15L, 15R and on both sides of the multiple rows of transport paths 15L, 15R, respectively. The side supply pipes 60R, 60C, 60L are arranged between the multiple rows of the transport paths 15L, 15R and on both sides of the multiple rows of the transport paths 15L, 15R. In other words, when the processing chamber 12 has a plurality of rows of transport paths 15L and 15R, guides 40C are also provided between the transport paths 15L and 15R. A side supply pipe 60C is provided in a restricted area between the transport paths 15L and 15R set by the guide 40C.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, side supply pipes 60R, 60C, 60L are respectively arranged between the multiple rows of transport paths 15L, 15R and on both sides of the multiple rows of transport paths 15L, 15R. may be staggered along the transport paths 15L and 15R in adjacent regulation areas. This makes it easy to adjust the concentration of the atmosphere gas in the processing chamber 12 . In this manner, the arrangement of the side supply pipes 60R, 60C, and 60L may be appropriately set from the viewpoint of facilitating the concentration adjustment of the atmosphere gas in the processing chamber 12. FIG. For example, the side supply pipes 60R, 60C, 60L arranged in adjacent regulation areas may be staggered.

Specifically, the continuous firing furnace 1 of the present embodiment includes side supply pipes 60R and 60L and an intermediate supply pipe 60C as side supply pipes. The side supply pipes 60R, 60L are side supply pipes arranged in regulation areas on both outer sides of the multiple rows of transport paths 15L, 15R. In other words, the side supply pipes 60R, 60L are provided outside (on the side of) the transport paths 15L, 15R in the direction intersecting the transport direction of the multiple rows of transport paths 15R, 15L. 60 C of intermediate|middle supply pipes are arrange|positioned between the conveyance path|route 15R of multiple rows, and 15L. For this reason, the workpieces transported along the multiple rows of transport paths 15R and 15L are not only supplied with the atmosphere gas from the left and right side supply pipes 60R and 60L, but are also supplied with the multiple rows of transport paths 15R and 15L. Heat generated by intermediate feed pipe 60C between 15L is also added. Therefore, heat tends to be applied more evenly to the objects to be processed stored in the stacked containers Td transported on the transport paths 15R and 15L in a plurality of rows.

The intermediate supply pipe 60C arranged between the multiple rows of transport paths 15L and 15R may pass through the firing furnace main body 10 above the processing chamber 12 as shown in FIG. Further, the side supply pipes 60R, 60L arranged in the regulation areas on both outer sides of the multiple rows of transport paths 15L, 15R may pass through the firing furnace main body 10 at the upper portion or the side portion of the processing chamber 12. Then, it may be connected to an atmospheric gas supply pipe outside the firing furnace main body 10 . This simplifies the piping configuration of the side supply pipes 60R, 60C, and 60L. For the side supply pipes 60R, 60C, and 60L in the processing chamber 12, pipes having heat resistance must be selected. Furthermore, the side supply pipes 60R, 60C, and 60L must be made of a material such as a ceramic tube that does not generate metallic foreign matter. Therefore, the side supply pipes 60R, 60C, and 60L are more sophisticated and more expensive than the atmosphere gas supply pipes connected outside the firing furnace body 10. As shown in FIG. By leading the side supply pipes 60R, 60C, 60L out of the processing chamber 12, the length of the side supply pipes 60R, 60C, 60L can be shortened. Accordingly, the cost of the continuous firing furnace 1 can be reduced.

Thus, according to the continuous firing furnace 1 disclosed here, the side supply pipes 60R and 60L are provided outside (on the side of) the direction crossing the transport direction from the multiple rows of transport paths 15R and 15L. It is The intermediate supply pipe 60C is provided between the multiple rows of transport paths 15R and 15L. As a result, not only the ambient gas supplied from the left and right side supply pipes 60R and 60L but also the gas on the side between the multiple rows of the transport paths 15R and 15L are applied to the workpieces on the multiple rows of transport paths 15R and 15L. Atmospheric gas supplied from the partial supply pipe 60C also spreads. Therefore, the atmosphere gas is likely to spread uniformly over a large number of objects to be processed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, each gas supply pipe 60 is formed with a plurality of gas supply holes 61 for supplying the atmosphere gas introduced into the pipe into the processing chamber 12 . Atmospheric gas is appropriately supplied into the processing chamber 12 through each gas supply hole 61 . Specifically, in the intermediate supply pipe 60C between the multiple rows of transport paths 15R and 15L, a gas supply hole 61 facing the direction of the left transport path 15L (see FIGS. 1 and 2) (left front side of the paper surface in FIG. 4) is provided. , and a gas supply hole (not shown) directed toward the right conveying path 15R (see FIGS. 1 and 2). Therefore, the ambient gas is appropriately supplied from the intermediate supply pipe 60C between the two transfer paths 15R, 15L toward each of the two transfer paths 15R, 15L. It is preferable that the side supply pipes 60R and 60L have at least gas supply holes facing the transport paths 15R and 15L (that is, the inside of the processing chamber 12). In this case, the amount of atmosphere gas supplied per unit time to the intermediate supply pipe 60C may be greater than that supplied to the side supply pipes 60R and 60L.

As shown in FIG. 1, each gas supply pipe 60 extends vertically inside the processing chamber 12 . Therefore, when the transportation paths 15R and 15L are long, the gas supply pipe 60 is preferably arranged at an appropriate interval with respect to the transportation paths 15L and 15R. Since the gas supply pipe 60 extends vertically, it can be arranged at an appropriate position with respect to the transport paths 15L and 15R. In particular, by making the longitudinal direction of the intermediate supply pipe 60C between the multiple rows of transport paths 15R and 15L the vertical direction, intermediate supply to at least one of the upper wall 11U and the bottom wall 1B (upper wall 11U in this embodiment) is performed. With the pipe 60C fixed, the intermediate supply pipe 60C can be appropriately arranged between the multiple rows of transport paths 15R and 15L. However, it is also possible to change the installation method of the gas supply pipe 60 . For example, the longitudinal direction of the side supply pipes 60R and 60L may be the front-rear direction of the continuous firing furnace 1 (left-right direction in FIG. 1). Also, instead of the side supply pipes 60R and 60L, a plurality of ambient gas supply holes may be provided in each of the right side wall 11R and the left side wall 11L.

The positional relationship between the intermediate heater 50C, the intermediate supply pipe 60C, and the intermediate guide 40C will be described below. However, the positional relationship described below is the same for the side heaters 50R, 50L, the side supply pipes 60R, 60L, and the side guides 40R, 40L. As shown in FIG. 6, the horizontal direction that perpendicularly intersects the transport direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 6) is defined as a restriction direction in which transport of the container T is restricted. Both ends of the intermediate heater 50C and the side supply pipe 60C in the regulating direction are positioned between (more specifically, inside) the both ends of the guide 40C in the regulating direction.

In other words, of the intermediate heater 50C and the side supply pipe 60C, the end on the left conveying path 15L (see FIGS. 1 and 4) side is in contact with the guide 40C that contacts the conveyed object conveyed on the left conveying path 15L. It is positioned further away from the left conveying path 15L than the portion 41 is. Similarly, of the intermediate heater 50C and the side supply pipe 60C, the end on the right conveying path 15R (see FIGS. 1 and 4) side is the contact point of the guide 40C that contacts the conveyed object conveyed on the right conveying path 15R. (not shown) on the side farther from the right conveying path 15R.

In other words, the ends of the heater 50 and the gas supply pipe 60 on the transport path side are positioned further away from the transported object than the contact portions of the guides 40R, 40C, and 40L with the transported object. Therefore, even if the conveying direction of the conveyed objects (in this embodiment, the container T and the carriage 16) is disturbed, the conveyed objects do not come into contact with the heater 50 and the gas supply pipe 60. FIG. Therefore, the possibility that the heater 50 and the gas supply pipe 60 will be damaged is reduced.

Here, electrode materials and solid electrolyte materials for electric storage devices are exemplified as the objects to be treated, but the objects to be treated are not limited to these. According to the continuous firing furnace 1 exemplified here, it is possible to realize stable transport of the transported object appropriately. In baking powder material, containers containing powder material can be stably transported in a stacked state. In addition, the inside of the processing chamber 12 of the firing furnace body 10 can be made entirely of ceramics. In this case, it is possible to prevent metal foreign matter from entering the object to be processed. Further, as described above, the side heaters 50R, 50C, and 50L are provided on the sides of the conveying spaces of the conveying paths 15L, 15R, thereby controlling the temperature of the conveying spaces of the conveying paths 15L, 15R through which the articles are conveyed. becomes easier. Further, the side supply pipes 60R, 60C, 60L as the gas supply pipes 60 are provided on the sides of the transfer spaces of the transfer routes 15L, 15R, so that the transfer spaces of the transfer routes 15L, 15R through which the articles are transferred are transported. It becomes easy to manage the concentration of the atmosphere gas. These configurations are appropriately combined in the continuous firing furnace 1 and interact with each other to improve the function of the continuous firing furnace 1 .

Further, the continuous firing method for powder material disclosed herein includes, as shown in FIG. A step (202) of stacking the containers T, a step (203) of placing the stacked containers Td on the carrier 16, and a continuous firing furnace for the carrier 16 on which the stacked containers Td are placed. and a step (205) of pushing along the transport paths 15L and 15R prepared in 1. Here, the transport paths 15L and 15R prepared in the continuous firing furnace 1 include a plurality of free rollers 20 intermittently arranged at the bottom of the transport paths 15L and 15R, and the transport paths 15L and 15L on both sides of the transport paths 15L and 15R. , and guides 40R, 40C, and 40L for guiding the carriage 16 pushed into 15R. The transport table 16 on which the stacked containers Td are placed moves along the transport paths 15L, 15R defined by the guides 40R, 40C, 40L in sequence. According to such a continuous firing method for powder materials, a large amount of powder materials can be conveyed to the firing furnace as described above, and continuous processing of the powder materials is possible.

Although detailed descriptions have been given above with reference to specific embodiments, these are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the claims. The technology described in the claims includes various modifications and changes of the embodiments described above. It is also possible to employ some of the techniques exemplified in the above embodiments in a continuous firing furnace.

1 Continuous Firing Furnace 10 Firing Furnace Main Body 12 Processing Chamber 13 Carry-In Port 14 Carry-Out Ports 15R, 15L Conveyance Path 20 Free Rollers 22R, 22L Rotational Support Members 24R, 24L Blocking Part 30 Pusher 31 Extruding Device 32 Pushing Members 40R, 40C, 40L Guide 41 contact part 42 roller insertion hole 50 heaters 50R, 50L side heater (side heater (heater))
50C intermediate heater (side heater (heater))
50U upper heater (heater)
50D lower heater (heater)
60 gas supply pipes 60R, 60L side supply pipes (side supply pipes (gas supply pipes))
60C intermediate supply pipe (side supply pipe (gas supply pipe))
60U upper supply pipe (gas supply pipe)
60D lower supply pipe (gas supply pipe)

Claims (20)

a firing furnace body having a processing chamber inside;
a pusher;
a heater;
a gas supply pipe;
The processing chamber is
a loading port;
a conveying path extending along a straight line from the inlet;
a carry-out port provided at an end opposite to the carry-in port of the transport path,
The firing furnace main body is
a plurality of free rollers arranged in order along the transport path at the bottom of the transport path;
Guides provided on both sides of the transport path in plan view,
The pusher is
a pushing member provided outside the processing chamber on the carry-in entrance side of the transport path;
a pushing device for pushing the pushing member toward the conveying path,
The heater is
At least a heat radiating section is provided in the processing chamber,
The gas supply pipe is
side supply pipes located inside the processing chamber and in restricted areas on both sides of the transport path set by the guides;
Continuous firing furnace. The gas supply pipe is
further comprising an upper supply pipe arranged inside the processing chamber and in an upper region above a height limit of the conveyed object set on the conveying path;
The continuous firing furnace according to claim 1. The gas supply pipe is
further comprising a lower supply pipe disposed inside the processing chamber and in a lower region below the region where the article is conveyed set in the conveying path by the free roller;
A continuous firing furnace according to claim 1 or 2. Said guide
continuously extending in parallel along the transport path on both sides of the lower part of the transport path at a position higher than the free roller;
A continuous firing furnace according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. The continuous firing furnace according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said gas supply pipe is a ceramic tube having an opening on its side peripheral surface. The gas supply pipe is
A plurality of gas supply holes are formed in the side peripheral surface,
Continuous firing furnace according to any one of claims 1 to 5. 7. The continuous firing furnace according to claim 6, wherein said gas supply hole is directed to a transfer space through which articles are transferred by said transfer path. The side supply pipe is a straight pipe,
A plurality of side supply pipes are arranged on both sides of the transport path, and the straight tubes of the plurality of side supply pipes are arranged along the transport path on both sides of the transport path inside the processing chamber. intermittently placed
Continuous firing furnace according to any one of claims 1 to 7. 9. The continuous firing furnace according to claim 8, wherein the straight tubes of the plurality of side supply tubes are arranged along the vertical direction. 10. The continuous firing furnace according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the side supply pipe penetrates the processing chamber and is connected to an ambient gas supply pipe outside the processing chamber. . The processing chamber is
Equipped with multiple rows of conveying paths extending in parallel at intervals,
Said guide
arranged between the multiple rows of transport paths and on both sides of the multiple rows of transport paths,
The side supply pipe is
arranged between each of the plurality of rows of transport paths and on each of both sides of the plurality of rows of transport paths;
Continuous firing furnace according to any one of claims 1 to 10. Side supply pipes arranged between each of the plurality of rows of transport paths and on both sides of the plurality of rows of transport paths are staggered along the transport paths in adjacent regulation regions, The continuous firing furnace according to claim 11. 12. The side supply pipes arranged between the plurality of rows of transport paths are formed with gas supply holes directed to the transport paths on both sides of the regulation area in which the side supply pipes are arranged. Or the continuous firing furnace described in 12. 2. The side supply pipes arranged in the regulation areas on both outer sides of the plurality of rows of transport paths are formed with gas supply holes directed to the outermost row of the transport paths among the plurality of rows of transport paths. The continuous firing furnace according to any one of 11 to 13. 15. A continuous line according to any one of claims 11 to 14, wherein side feed pipes arranged between the rows of conveying paths pass through the kiln body in the upper part of the processing chamber. Firing furnace. 16. Any one of claims 11 to 15, wherein the side supply pipes arranged in the regulation areas on both outer sides of the plurality of rows of transport paths pass through the calcining furnace main body at the upper portion or the side portion of the processing chamber. The continuous firing furnace according to item 1. Each of the plurality of free rollers is a seamless cylindrical shaft member, and traverses the plurality of rows of conveying paths along a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction,
16. The continuous firing furnace according to any one of claims 11 to 15, wherein both ends of said plurality of free rollers respectively penetrate said processing chamber and are rotatably supported outside said processing chamber. 18. The pushing member of the pusher is configured to face inlets of the plurality of rows of conveying paths, respectively, and collectively push the articles to be conveyed toward the plurality of rows of conveying paths. The continuous firing furnace according to any one of 1 to 1. The continuous firing furnace according to any one of claims 11 to 18, wherein said free rollers are made of SiC-based material containing silicon carbide. Inside the processing chamber, the space formed above the free roller in the transport path and capable of transporting the article to be transported is defined by the width w1 between the pair of guides arranged facing each other with the transport path interposed therebetween. 20. The continuous kiln according to any one of claims 1 to 19, wherein the ratio h1/w1 of the height h1 above the free roller satisfies h1/w1>1.

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