JP7418937B2 - heat treatment equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention provides at least a charging chamber into which a workpiece to be heat-treated is charged, a plurality of processing chambers through which the workpiece is heat-treated, an extraction chamber through which the workpiece heat-treated in the processing chamber is extracted, and the above-mentioned A conveyance device that moves between the charging chamber, the processing chamber, and the extraction chamber, charges the processed material in the charging chamber into the processing chamber, and charges the processed material heat-treated in the processing chamber into the extraction chamber. A heat treatment facility that is integrated with a transfer chamber having a heat treatment chamber, or at least a charging/extraction chamber that charges the workpiece to be heat-treated and extracts the heat-treated workpiece, and a heat treatment equipment that heat-treats the workpiece. The material is moved between the plurality of processing chambers, the charging/extraction chamber, and the processing chamber, and the material to be treated before being heat-treated in the charging/extraction chamber is charged into the processing chamber, and the material is heat-treated in the processing chamber. The present invention relates to a heat treatment facility that is integrated with a transfer chamber having a transfer device for loading the material to be processed into the charging/extraction chamber. In particular, in each of the above-mentioned heat treatment facilities, the workpiece before being heat-treated is loaded into each processing chamber by the transport device in the transport chamber and heat-treated, and the heat-treated workpiece is transferred from each processing chamber to the above-mentioned transport device. When heat-treating various types of workpieces with different processing times as described above, the workpieces are inserted and moved, and the heat-treated workpieces are extracted from this conveying device to heat-treat the workpieces one after another. In this case, the transfer time chart is set so that the workpiece before heat treatment is carried into the processing chamber by the transfer device in the transfer chamber at an appropriate timing, and the workpieces with different processing times are efficiently heat-treated in each processing chamber. It is characterized in that it is automatically created and can be controlled so that the times at which the heat treatment of the objects to be treated are completed do not overlap.

Conventionally, heat treatment equipment for heat-treating objects to be treated has been constructed by loading the objects one after another into a long continuous processing furnace, and moving the objects one after another within this continuous processing furnace. Continuous heat treatment equipment that continuously performs heat treatment such as heating, soaking, and cooling on objects, or an independent batch-type processing device in which the objects to be processed are charged into BACKGROUND ART Batch-type heat treatment equipment is known that individually performs heat treatment such as heating, soaking, and cooling on the above-mentioned objects to be treated.

In addition, in recent years, as shown in Patent Document 1, a charging chamber into which a workpiece to be heat-treated is charged, a plurality of processing apparatuses for heat-treating the workpiece, and a workpiece heat-treated in the processing apparatus have been developed. An extraction device that extracts the material, and a material to be processed in the charging chamber that is moved between the charging chamber, the processing device, and the extraction device to charge the material to be processed into the processing device, and a material to be processed that has been heat-treated in the processing device. As shown in Patent Document 2, there is a heat treatment equipment equipped with a transfer device for loading the material into the extraction device, or a transfer device is provided with an insulating chamber and a waiting room, and the material to be heat-treated in the processing device is transferred to the transfer device. A heat treatment facility is shown in which the extraction operation and the operation of loading the workpiece from the conveyance device into each conveyance device can be performed successively and replaced.

Here, in the heat treatment equipment described above, if the processing time of the workpieces to be processed in each processing device is the same, the workpieces are sequentially charged from the transport device to each processing device at fixed time intervals. The thus heat-treated workpieces are sequentially loaded into a conveyance device at regular intervals from each treatment device, and the workpieces loaded into the conveyance device are transferred to the extraction device. By sequentially extracting the materials, the objects to be processed can be sequentially processed in a fixed period of time.

However, in recent years, there has been a wide variety of products to be processed, and it has become necessary to continuously produce products with different heat treatment times without regularity. The objects to be processed having different heat treatment times are sequentially carried out from the transport device to each processing device as described above and heat-treated, and the objects to be heat-treated in this way are transported from each processing device. If the material to be processed is loaded into the equipment and the material to be processed is charged into the transport device and then extracted by the extraction device, since there is only one transport device, the material loaded into the transport device from the charging chamber will be extracted. The operation time for transporting the processed material and loading it into the processing equipment may overlap with the operation time for transporting the processed material heat-treated in another processing equipment to the extraction equipment using the transport equipment and extracting it into the extraction equipment. be.

In addition, since the transport cycle time described below requires a certain amount of time from the start of operation to the completion of operation, if materials to be treated with different heat treatment times are loaded into the processing equipment regardless of the transport cycle time, If the time to perform the processing or the time to extract from each processing device are close, these operation times will overlap.

In such a case, if priority is given to the operation of transporting the workpiece loaded into the transport device and charging it into the processing device, it becomes necessary to delay the timing of extracting the workpiece that has been heat-treated in the processing device, On the other hand, there is a problem that the heat treatment time for the workpiece is longer than planned, resulting in product defects.However, if priority is given to transporting the heat-treated workpiece in the processing equipment and extracting it to the extraction equipment, it is difficult to load the workpiece. It becomes necessary to delay the timing of charging the material to be processed from the chamber to the processing equipment, and the processing equipment becomes idle for a long time, resulting in a decrease in productivity. The timing of transporting the processed material loaded into the transport device from the chamber and loading it into each processing device, and the timing of extracting the processed material that has been heat-treated in each processing device are extremely complicated. It has become extremely difficult to create efficient transport time charts for heat treatment equipment for each processing device.

In addition, as shown in Patent Document 3, conventional heat treatment equipment has processing cells such as a heating chamber, a cooling chamber, and a preparation chamber arranged around the outer periphery of an airtight chamber equipped with a transport mechanism. The objects to be processed are loaded one after another into an airtight chamber equipped with a transport mechanism, and the objects to be processed are sequentially moved to each processing cell such as a heating chamber, cooling chamber, and preparation chamber. A method in which the processed material is heat-treated has also been proposed.

However, even in such heat treatment equipment, the workpieces are transferred to each processing apparatus one after another by the transport mechanism installed in the airtight chamber as described above, and the workpieces are heat-treated for different heat treatment times. When a heat-treated workpiece is transferred to each processing cell in turn for heat treatment, the operation time for transporting the workpiece by a transport mechanism and loading it into one processing cell is different from the time required for transporting the workpiece to one processing cell using the transport mechanism, and The timing for extracting the heat-treated workpieces from each processing cell overlaps, making the timing of extracting the heat-treated workpieces very complicated, making it difficult to guide the workpieces to each processing cell in turn. There was a problem in that it became difficult to carry out heat treatment efficiently.

Patent No. 5669981 Patent No. 5686918 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-183728

The present invention provides at least a charging chamber into which a workpiece to be heat-treated is charged, a plurality of processing chambers through which the workpiece is heat-treated, an extraction chamber through which the workpiece heat-treated in the processing chamber is extracted, and the above-mentioned A conveyance device that moves between the charging chamber, the processing chamber, and the extraction chamber, charges the processed material in the charging chamber into the processing chamber, and charges the processed material heat-treated in the processing chamber into the extraction chamber. A heat treatment facility that is integrated with a transfer chamber having a heat treatment chamber, or at least a charging/extraction chamber that charges the workpiece to be heat-treated and extracts the heat-treated workpiece, and a heat treatment equipment that heat-treats the workpiece. The material is moved between the plurality of processing chambers, the charging/extraction chamber, and the processing chamber, and the material to be treated before being heat-treated in the charging/extraction chamber is charged into the processing chamber, and the material is heat-treated in the processing chamber. It is an object of the present invention to prevent the above-mentioned problems from occurring in a heat treatment facility that is integrated with a transfer chamber having a transfer device for loading the material to be processed into the charging/extraction chamber.

That is, in the heat treatment equipment as described above, the present invention allows the workpiece to be heat-treated to be loaded into each processing chamber by the transport device in the transport chamber, heat-treated, and to remove the heat-treated workpiece from each processing chamber. The heat-treated workpieces loaded into the transport device are inserted into the transport device from each processing chamber and moved, and the heat-treated workpieces are extracted from the transport device. Even when heat-treating various workpieces with different processing times as described above, the workpieces before being heat-treated are carried into the processing chamber by the transport device in the transport chamber at an appropriate timing. Automatically create a transport time chart so that workpieces with different processing times can be heat-treated efficiently in each processing chamber, and control the times at which the heat treatment of workpieces is completed so that they do not overlap. This is the issue.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the first heat treatment equipment of the present invention includes at least a charging chamber into which a workpiece to be heat-treated is charged, a plurality of processing chambers into which the workpiece is heat-treated, an extraction chamber for extracting the heat-treated material in the processing chamber; moving between the charging chamber, the processing chamber, and the extraction chamber, and charging the material to be processed in the charging chamber into the processing chamber; In heat treatment equipment that is integrated with a transfer chamber having a transfer device for loading the heat-treated workpiece into the extraction chamber in the processing chamber, a transfer device for transporting the workpiece before heat treatment from the charging chamber to the transfer chamber. charging operation time (TXa) for charging the workpiece into the processing chamber via the processing chamber, and extraction operation time (TXb) for extracting the processed material heat-treated in the processing chamber from the processing chamber to the extraction chamber via the transfer device in the transfer chamber. Transport cycle time (TX) is the total time between extracting the heat-treated workpiece from the processing chamber and loading the workpiece before heat treatment into the processing chamber. (BX), and adjust the time for heat treating the workpiece in each of the processing chambers to a time obtained by subtracting the switching operation time (BX) from a multiple of the transport cycle time (TX), and When the workpiece before being heat-treated is loaded into the processing chamber via the transport device in the transport chamber and heat-treated, the control device determines the time for heat-treating the workpiece in each processing chamber. , the time at which the heat treatment of the workpieces is completed in each of the processing chambers does not overlap, and the time at which the workpieces stay in the extraction chamber is the same as each workpiece being heat-treated in another processing chamber. The transport cycle time is controlled so that it does not overlap with the time that the object stays in the extraction chamber.

Here, in the first heat treatment equipment, in the case of a heat treatment equipment in which the charging chamber, a plurality of processing chambers, an extraction chamber, and a transfer chamber having a transfer device are integrally provided,
The above-mentioned extraction operation time (TXb) is the time (Tx1) for moving the transfer device at the position of the charging chamber to the position of the processing chamber from which the heat-treated workpiece is extracted, and The time (Tx2) for charging the processed material into the transport device, the time (Tx3) for moving the transport device loaded with the heat-treated processing material to the position of the extraction chamber, and The time (Tx4) for charging the processed material from the transport device to the extraction chamber, and the time (Tx4) for moving the transport device to the position of the charging chamber after charging the heat-treated processing material ( Tx5) and the total time (Tx1+Tx2+Tx3+Tx4+Tx5),
The above-mentioned charging operation time (TXa) is equal to the time (Tx6) for charging the workpiece before heat treatment from the charging chamber to the transport device in the transport chamber, and the time (Tx6) when the workpiece before heat treatment is charged. The time (Tx7) for moving the transferred transport device to the position of the processing chamber, the time (Tx8) for loading the workpiece before heat treatment from the transport device into the processing chamber, and the time (Tx8) for moving the workpiece before heat treatment to the processing chamber position. This is the total time (Tx6+Tx7+Tx8+Tx9) including the time (Tx9) for moving the transport device to the position of the charging chamber after loading the processed material,
The transport cycle time TX (=TXa+TXb) is (Tx1+Tx2+Tx3+Tx4+Tx5+Tx6+Tx7+Tx8+Tx9), and the switching operation time (BX) is the time (Tx2) for loading the workpiece heat-treated in the processing chamber into the transport device. , the time (Tx3) for moving the transport device loaded with the heat-treated workpiece to the position of the extraction chamber, and the time (Tx3) for charging the heat-treated workpiece from the transport device to the extraction chamber. time (Tx4), time to move the transfer device to the position of the charging chamber after loading the heat-treated workpiece (Tx5), and transfer the workpiece before heat treatment from the charging chamber. The time (Tx6) for loading the workpiece into the transport device, the time (Tx7) for moving the transport device loaded with the workpiece before heat treatment to the processing chamber position, and the time (Tx7) for loading the workpiece before heat treatment. This is the total time (Tx2+Tx3+Tx4+Tx5+Tx6+Tx7+Tx8) including the time (Tx8) for charging from the transport device to the processing chamber.

In the first heat treatment equipment of the present invention, when the workpiece to be treated before being heat-treated is loaded from the charging chamber into the processing chamber via the transfer device in the transfer chamber and heat-treated, The control device is configured such that the heat treatment completion time of the workpieces to be heat-treated by being charged into the processing chamber from the charging chamber via the transfer device is the heat treatment completion time of each workpiece being heat-treated in other processing chambers. or if the time at which the above-mentioned workpieces stay in the extraction chamber overlaps with the time at which each workpiece that is being heat-treated in another treatment room stays in the extraction chamber, the The operation of loading the workpiece into the processing chamber via the device is not performed, and the judgment is made again after one transport cycle time, while the heat treatment completion times do not overlap and the workpiece is If the time of stay in the extraction chamber does not overlap with the time of stay in the extraction chamber of each workpiece being heat-treated in another processing chamber, the workpiece is transferred from the charging chamber to the transfer chamber. It is possible to perform an operation of charging the processing chamber.

In this way, in the first heat treatment equipment, even when the workpieces are heat-treated for different processing times in each processing chamber, the heat-treated workpieces are transferred from the processing chamber where the heat treatment of the workpieces has been completed. In addition to being able to take out the objects appropriately, the objects to be processed can be heat-treated by being loaded into the processing chamber from the charging chamber via the transfer device in the transfer chamber at an appropriate timing corresponding to the transfer cycle time. Therefore, it becomes possible to automatically create a transport time chart of heat treatment equipment for efficient heat treatment in each processing chamber even for objects to be processed whose processing times are different.

In addition, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the second heat treatment equipment of the present invention includes at least a charging/extraction method in which a workpiece to be heat-treated is charged, and a heat-treated workpiece is extracted. a plurality of processing chambers for heat-treating objects to be processed; the objects to be processed before being heat-treated in the charging/extraction chamber are charged into the processing chamber; the objects to be heat-treated in the processing chamber are charged/extracted; In a heat treatment facility that is integrated with a transfer chamber having a transfer device for loading into the extraction chamber,
The charging operation time (TYa) in which the workpiece before heat treatment is charged from the charging/extraction chamber to the processing chamber via the transfer device in the transfer chamber, and the processing time of the heat-treated workpiece in the processing chamber. The total time including the extraction operation time (TYb) for extracting from the chamber to the extraction chamber via the transfer device in the transfer chamber is defined as the transfer cycle time (TY), and the heat-treated material is extracted from the processing chamber and heat-treated. The time until the previous workpiece is loaded into the processing chamber is defined as the switching operation time (BY),
Adjusting the time for heat treating the workpiece in each of the processing chambers to a time obtained by subtracting the switching operation time (BY) from a multiple of the transport cycle time (TY),
When the workpiece before being heat-treated from the charging/extraction chamber is charged into the processing chamber via the transport device in the transport chamber and heat-treated, the control device determines the time period for heat-treating the workpiece in each processing chamber. Based on the above, the time at which the heat treatment of the workpiece is completed in each of the processing chambers does not overlap, and the time at which the workpiece stays in the charging/extraction chamber does not overlap with the time at which the heat treatment of the workpiece is completed in the other processing chamber. The transport cycle time is controlled so that it does not overlap with the time each workpiece spends in the charging/extraction chamber.

Here, in the case of a heat treatment facility in which the charging/extraction chamber, a plurality of processing chambers, and a transfer chamber having a transfer device are integrally provided in the second heat treatment facility,
The above-mentioned extraction operation time (TYb) is equal to the time (Ty1m) for moving the transport device at the position of the charging/extraction chamber to the position of the processing chamber from which the heat-treated workpiece is extracted, and The time (Ty2m) for charging the material to be treated into the above-mentioned transport device, the time (Ty3m) for moving the transport device loaded with the heat-treated material to the position of the charging/extraction chamber, and the time for the heat treatment. The total time of the time (Ty4m) for charging the heat-treated workpiece from the transport device into the charging/extraction chamber and the time (Ty5m) for taking out the heat-treated workpiece from the charging/extraction chamber. (Ty1m+Ty2m+Ty3m+Ty4m+Ty5m),
The above-mentioned charging operation time (TYa) is the time for charging the workpiece before heat treatment into the charging/extraction chamber (Ty6m) and the time for charging the workpiece before heat treatment from the charging/extraction chamber. The time (Ty7m) for loading the workpiece into the transport device in the transport chamber, the time (Ty8m) for moving the transport device loaded with the workpiece before heat treatment to the position of the processing chamber, and the time (Ty8m) for loading the workpiece into the transport device before heat treatment. The time (Ty9m) for charging the processed material from the transport device to the processing chamber, and the time for moving the transport device to the position of the charging/extraction chamber after charging the processed material before heat treatment. (Ty10m) and the total time (Ty6m+Ty7m+Ty8m+Ty9m+Ty10m),
The transport cycle time TY (=TYa+TYb) is (Ty1m+Ty2m+Ty3m+Ty4m+Ty5m+Ty6m+Ty7m+Ty8m+Ty9m+Ty10m), and the switching operation time (BY) is the time (Ty2m) for loading the workpiece heat-treated in the processing chamber into the transport device. , the time (Ty3m) for moving the transfer device loaded with the heat-treated workpiece to the position of the charging/extraction chamber, and the time (Ty3m) for moving the transfer device loaded with the heat-treated workpiece to the position of the charging/extraction chamber; The time to charge the extraction chamber (Ty4m), the time to take out the heat-treated workpiece from the charging/extraction chamber (Ty5m), and the time to charge the workpiece before heat treatment into the charging/extraction chamber. (Ty6m), the time (Ty7m) to load the workpiece before heat treatment from the charging/extraction chamber into the transport device, and the time (Ty7m) to charge the workpiece into the transport device before heat treatment. The total time (Ty2m+Ty3m+Ty4m+Ty5m+Ty6m+Ty7m+Ty8m+Ty9m) is the time to move the workpiece to the processing chamber position (Ty8m) and the time to load the workpiece before heat treatment from the transport device into the processing chamber (Ty9m).

Further, in the second heat treatment equipment, in addition to the charging/extraction chamber, a plurality of processing chambers, and a transfer chamber having a transfer device, the heat-treated workpiece is kept on standby in the processing chamber. In the case of heat treatment equipment that is integrated with a standby cooling room for cooling,
The above-mentioned extraction operation time (TYb) is equal to the time (Ty2n) for moving the conveyance device at the position of the charging/extraction chamber to the position of the processing chamber from which the heat-treated workpiece is extracted, and The time (Ty3n) for loading the workpiece into the transport device, the time (Ty4n) for moving the heat-treated workpiece to the standby cooling chamber position by the transport device, and the time (Ty4n) for loading the workpiece into the transfer device, The time (Ty5n) for charging the material from the transport device into the standby cooling chamber, and the position of the transport device in the charging/extraction chamber after charging the heat-treated workpiece into the standby cooling chamber. A first extraction operation time (TYb1) consisting of a time for moving (Ty6n), and a time for moving the transfer device to the standby cooling room position after loading the workpiece to the processing chamber before heat treatment. (Ty10n) and the time (Ty11n) for charging the cooled workpiece in the standby cooling room to the transport device, and moving the transport device loaded with the cooled workpiece to the position of the charging/extraction chamber. (Ty12n), time to charge the cooled workpiece from the transport device to the charging/extraction chamber (Ty13n), and time to take out the cooled workpiece from the charging/extraction chamber (Ty14n). The total time (TYb=TYb1+TYb2=Ty2n+Ty3n+Ty4n+Ty5n+Ty6n+Ty10n+Ty11n+Ty12n+Ty13n+Ty14n) is the second extraction operation time (TYb2) consisting of
The above-mentioned charging operation time (TYa) is the time for charging the workpiece before heat treatment into the charging/extraction chamber (Ty1n), and the time (Ty1n) for charging the workpiece before heat treatment into the charging/extraction chamber. The time (Ty7n) for loading the workpiece into the transport device in the transport chamber, the time (Ty8n) for moving the transport device loaded with the workpiece before heat treatment to the position of the processing chamber, and the time (Ty8n) for loading the workpiece into the workpiece before heat treatment. The total time (Ty1n+Ty7n+Ty8n+Ty9n) including the time (Ty9n) for charging the processed material from the transport device to the processing chamber,
The transport cycle time TY (=TYa+TYb) is (Ty1n+Ty2n+Ty3n+Ty4n+Ty5n+Ty6n+Ty7n+Ty8n+Ty9n+Ty10n+Ty11+Ty12+Ty13n+Ty14n),
The switching operation time (BY) is the time (Ty3n) for loading the heat-treated workpiece in the processing chamber into the transport device, and the time (Ty3n) for loading the heat-treated workpiece into the transport device. The time (Ty4n) for moving the heat-treated workpiece to the position of the standby cooling chamber, the time (Ty5n) for loading the heat-treated workpiece from the transport device into the standby cooling room, and the loading time for loading the workpiece into the standby cooling room. The time (Ty6n) for moving the conveyance device to the position of the charging/extraction chamber after loading, and the time for loading the workpiece before heat treatment from the charging/extraction chamber into the conveyance device in the aforementioned conveyance chamber. (Ty7n) and the time (Ty8n) for moving the transport device loaded with the workpiece before heat treatment to the processing chamber position, and the time (Ty8n) to move the workpiece before heat treatment from the transport device to the processing chamber. The total time including the charging time (Ty9n) is (Ty3n+Ty4n+Ty5+Ty6n+Ty7n+Ty8n+Ty9n).

Further, in the second heat treatment equipment, in addition to the charging/extraction chamber, a plurality of processing chambers, and a transfer chamber having a transfer device, a storage room for storing the processed material before heat treatment is integrated. In the case of heat treatment equipment provided,
The above-mentioned extraction operation time (TYb) is equal to the time (Ty6p) for moving the transport device at the position of the charging/extraction chamber to the position of the processing chamber from which the heat-treated workpiece is extracted, and The time (Ty7p) for charging the material to be treated into the aforementioned transport device, the time (Ty8p) for moving the transport device loaded with the heat-treated material to the position of the charging/extraction chamber, and the time (Ty8p) for charging the material to be heat-treated The total time (Ty6p+Ty7p+Ty8p+Ty9p+Ty15p) of the time to charge the processed material from the transport device into the charging/extraction chamber (Ty9p) and the time to take out the processed material after heat treatment from the charging/extraction chamber (Ty15p),
The above-mentioned charging operation time (TYa) is the time for charging the workpiece before heat treatment into the charging/extraction chamber (Ty1p), and the time for charging the workpiece before heat treatment from the charging/extraction chamber. The time (Ty2p) for loading the workpiece into the transporting device in the transporting chamber, the time (Ty3p) for moving the transporting device loaded with the workpiece to be heat-treated to the storage room position, and the time before heat-treating. The time for loading the workpiece from the transport device into the storage chamber (Ty4p), and the time for moving the transport device from the storage chamber position to the charging/extraction chamber position (Ty5p) , the time (Ty10p) for moving the transfer device from the position of the charging/extraction chamber to the position of the storage chamber after loading the heat-treated workpiece into the charging/extraction chamber, and Time (Ty11p) for loading the workpieces into the chamber before heat treatment into the transport device, and moving the transport device loaded with the workpieces before heat treatment from the storage room position to the processing chamber position. (Ty12p), the time (Ty13p) for loading the workpiece before heat treatment from the transport device into the processing chamber, and the time (Ty13p) for loading the workpiece before heat treatment from the position of the processing chamber to the transport device loaded with the workpiece before heat treatment. The total time (Ty1p+Ty2p+Ty3p+Ty4p+Ty5p++Ty10p+Ty11p+Ty12p+Ty13p+Ty14p) including the time to move to the position of the charging/extraction chamber (Ty14p),
The transport cycle time TY (=TYa+TYb) is (Ty1p+Ty2p+Ty3p+Ty4p+Ty5p+Ty6p+Ty7p+Ty8p+Ty9p+Ty10p+Ty11+Ty12+Ty13p+Ty14p+Ty15p),
The switching operation time (BY) is the time (Ty7p) for loading the heat-treated workpiece in the processing chamber into the transport device, and the time for loading the transport device loaded with the heat-treated workpiece.・Time to move the heat-treated workpiece to the extraction chamber position (Ty8p), time to charge the heat-treated workpiece from the transport device to the charging/extraction chamber (Ty9p), and charging/extraction time of the heat-treated workpiece The time (Ty10p) for moving the transport device from the charging/extraction chamber position to the storage chamber position after loading the material into the storage chamber, and The time to load the workpiece into the transport device (Ty11p), the time to move the transport device loaded with the workpiece before heat treatment from the storage chamber position to the processing chamber position (Ty12p), and the workpiece before heat treatment The total time (Ty7p+Ty8p+Ty9p+Ty10p+Ty11p+Ty12p+Ty13p) is the total time including the time (Ty13p) for loading the sample from the transport device into the processing chamber.

Here, in the second heat treatment equipment of the present invention, when the workpiece to be treated before being heat-treated from the charging/extraction chamber is charged into the processing chamber via the transfer device in the transfer chamber and heat-treated, The control device determines the completion time of the heat treatment of the workpieces to be heat-treated by charging them from the charging/extraction chamber to the processing chamber via the transport device, and the completion time of the heat treatment of each workpiece being heat-treated in other processing chambers. or when the time at which the aforementioned workpiece stays in the charging/extraction chamber overlaps with the time at which each workpiece that is being heat-treated in another processing chamber stays in the charging/extraction chamber. In this case, the workpiece is not charged into the processing chamber from the charging/extraction chamber via the transfer device, and the judgment is made again after one transfer cycle time, while the heat treatment completion times do not overlap. In some cases, the workpiece may be loaded into the processing chamber from the loading/extraction chamber via the transfer chamber.

In addition, in the case of equipment equipped with a standby cooling room, even if the time of stay in the standby cooling room overlaps with the time of stay in the standby cooling room of each workpiece being heat-treated in another processing room. , do not perform the charging operation.

In this way, in the second heat treatment equipment, even if the workpieces are heat-treated for different processing times in each processing chamber, the heat-treated workpieces are transferred from the processing chamber where the heat treatment of the workpieces has been completed. The material can be taken out appropriately, and the material to be processed before heat treatment can be loaded into the processing chamber from the charging/extraction chamber via the transfer device in the transfer chamber at an appropriate timing corresponding to the transfer cycle time. This makes it possible to automatically create a transport time chart for heat treatment equipment for efficient heat treatment in each treatment chamber, even for objects that require different treatment times.

In the first heat treatment equipment of the present invention, as described above, the time for heat treating the workpiece in each treatment chamber is adjusted by the control device to the time obtained by subtracting the exchange operation time from a multiple of the transport cycle time. In addition, when the workpieces to be treated before being heat-treated are loaded from the charging chamber into the processing chamber via the transfer device and heat-treated, the control device controls the time for heat-treating the workpieces in each processing chamber. Based on this, the heat treatment completion time of the workpieces to be heat-treated by being charged from the charging chamber to the processing chamber via the transfer device does not overlap with the heat treatment completion time of each workpiece being heat-treated in other processing chambers. At the same time, the time at which the workpiece stays in the extraction chamber does not overlap with the time at which each workpiece that is being heat-treated in other processing chambers stays in the extraction chamber, and control is carried out for each transport cycle time. Therefore, even when heat-treating workpieces with different processing times in each processing chamber, the heat-treated workpieces can be transferred from the processing chamber where the heat treatment of the workpieces has been completed in accordance with the transport cycle time. In addition to being able to take out the workpiece at an appropriate timing, the workpiece before being heat-treated can be loaded into the processing chamber from the charging chamber via the transport device at an appropriate timing corresponding to the transport cycle time and heat-treated. Even for workpieces with different processing times, it is now possible to automatically create an efficient transport time chart for heat treatment equipment in each processing chamber and control the time at which the heat treatment of the workpieces is completed so that they do not overlap. Ta.

In addition, in the second heat treatment equipment of the present invention, as described above, the time for heat treating the workpiece in each treatment chamber is set by the control device to the time obtained by subtracting the replacement operation time from the multiple of the transport cycle time. At the same time, when the material to be treated before being heat-treated from the charging/extraction chamber is charged into the processing chamber via the transport device and heat-treated, the control device controls the material to be processed in each processing chamber. Based on the heat treatment time, ensure that the times at which the heat treatment of the workpieces is completed in each of the processing chambers do not overlap, and that the time at which the workpieces stay in the charging/extraction chamber or the standby cooling room is different from that of the others. Since the time of each workpiece being heat-treated in the processing chamber is controlled at each transport cycle time so that it does not overlap with the time that each workpiece stays in the extraction chamber, it is possible to heat-process the workpieces for different processing times in each processing chamber. Even when heat treatment is completed, the heat-treated workpiece can be taken out from the processing chamber at a timing corresponding to the transport cycle time, and the workpiece before heat treatment can be removed from the processing chamber. , the material can be loaded from the charging chamber via the transport device into the processing chamber for heat treatment at an appropriate timing corresponding to the transport cycle time, and even for objects to be processed whose processing times differ, each processing chamber can be efficiently processed. It is now possible to automatically create a transport time chart for heat treatment equipment and control the times at which the heat treatment of the objects to be treated does not overlap.

The heat treatment equipment according to the first embodiment of the present invention is shown, and includes a charging chamber into which objects to be heat-treated are charged, a plurality of processing chambers in which objects to be processed are heat-treated, and objects to be heat-treated in the processing chambers. The material to be processed in the charging chamber is charged into the processing chamber by moving between the extraction chamber, the charging chamber, the processing chamber, and the extraction chamber, and the material to be heat-treated in the processing chamber is transferred. In a heat treatment facility that is integrated with a transfer chamber having a transfer device for charging the extraction chamber, the material to be processed before being heat-treated is charged from the charging chamber into the processing chamber via the transfer device and heat-treated. FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram illustrating the entire transport cycle process in which a heat-treated workpiece is extracted from a processing chamber to an extraction chamber via a transport device, and the workpiece is successively heat-treated. FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing an extraction operation cycle in which a workpiece heat-treated in a processing chamber is extracted into an extraction chamber via a conveyance device in the heat treatment equipment according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing a charging operation cycle in which a workpiece to be treated before being heat-treated is loaded from the charging chamber into the processing chamber via a transfer device in the heat treatment equipment according to the first embodiment. In the heat treatment equipment according to Embodiment 1, when a new workpiece is charged into the processing chamber from the charging chamber via the transfer device into the processing chamber in which the heat treatment of the workpiece has been completed, the workpiece is heat-treated. , (A) indicates that the heat treatment completion time of a new workpiece to be heat-treated by loading it into the processing chamber where the heat treatment of the workpiece has been completed is the heat treatment completion time of each workpiece that has been heat-treated in another processing chamber. (B) is a transport time chart showing the timing of heat treatment and transport of the workpiece in a state where the transport is not going well, and (B) is a transport time chart showing the timing of loading a new workpiece into the processing chamber when the extraction times overlap. The timing of the heat treatment and the transport of the workpiece is shown by shifting one transport cycle time by one transport cycle time, leaving a waiting time of one transport cycle time, and then charging a new workpiece into the processing chamber by determining that the extraction times do not overlap. It is a conveyance time chart. In the heat treatment equipment according to Embodiment 1, if the workpiece cannot be prepared in the charging chamber by the time the processing chamber is scheduled to be replaced with a new workpiece, recovery can be performed in the shortest possible time. 3 is a conveyance time chart showing the timing of heat treatment and conveyance of the object to be treated in a state in which the heat treatment is performed. A heat treatment facility according to a second embodiment of the present invention is shown, which includes a charging/extraction chamber in which a workpiece to be heat-treated is charged and a heat-treated workpiece is extracted, and a plurality of processes for heat-treating the workpiece. a transfer chamber having a transfer device for charging the processed material before heat treatment in the charging/extraction chamber into the processing chamber and for charging the processed material heat-treated in the processing chamber into the charging/extraction chamber; In heat treatment equipment, the material to be treated before being heat-treated is charged into the processing chamber from the charging/extraction chamber and heat-treated, and the heat-treated material is transferred from the processing chamber to the charging/extraction chamber. FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing the entire conveyance cycle process in which the workpieces are extracted and heat-treated one after another. In the heat treatment equipment according to Embodiment 2, a new workpiece is charged into the processing chamber from the charging/extraction chamber via the transfer device into one processing chamber in which the heat treatment of the workpiece has been completed, and the heat treatment is performed. In doing so, (A) indicates that the heat treatment completion time of a new workpiece to be heat-treated by loading it into the processing chamber where the heat treatment of the workpiece has been completed is the same as the heat treatment completion time of each workpiece that has been heat-treated in another processing chamber. It is a transport time chart showing the timing of heat treatment and transport of the processing object in a state where the transport is not going well, overlapping with the completion time, and (B) is a transport time chart showing the timing of loading a new processing object into the processing chamber when the extraction time is After determining that the extraction times do not overlap, the timing of the heat treatment and transport of the workpieces is changed by shifting one transport cycle time by one transport cycle time due to the overlapping determination, leaving a wait time of one transport cycle time, and then charging a new workpiece into the processing chamber based on the determination that the extraction times do not overlap. 3 is a conveyance time chart shown in FIG. A heat treatment facility according to a third embodiment of the present invention is shown, which includes a charging/extraction chamber in which a workpiece to be heat-treated is charged and a heat-treated workpiece is extracted, and a plurality of processes for heat-treating the workpiece. a transfer chamber having a transfer device for charging the processed material before heat treatment in the charging/extraction chamber into the processing chamber and for charging the processed material heat-treated in the processing chamber into the charging/extraction chamber; In addition, in heat treatment equipment that is integrated with a standby cooling chamber for waiting and cooling the heat-treated workpiece in the processing chamber, the workpiece before heat treatment is loaded into the processing chamber from the charging/extraction chamber. FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing the entire transport cycle process in which the heat-treated workpieces are extracted from the processing chamber to the charging/extraction chamber, and the workpieces are successively heat-treated. FIG. 7 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing an extraction operation cycle in which the heat-treated material in the processing chamber is extracted into the charging/extraction chamber in the heat treatment equipment according to the third embodiment. FIG. 7 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing a charging operation cycle in which a workpiece to be treated before being heat-treated is charged into the processing chamber from the charging/extraction chamber in the heat treatment equipment according to the third embodiment. In the heat treatment equipment according to Embodiment 3, a new workpiece is charged into the processing chamber from the charging/extraction chamber via the transfer device into one processing chamber in which the heat treatment of the workpiece has been completed, and the heat treatment is performed. In doing so, (A) indicates that the heat treatment completion time of a new workpiece to be heat-treated by loading it into the processing chamber where the heat treatment of the workpiece has been completed is the same as the heat treatment completion time of each workpiece that has been heat-treated in another processing chamber. It is a transport time chart showing the timing of heat treatment and transport of the processed object in a state where the transport is not going well and overlaps with the completion time, and (B) shows the timing of loading a new processed object into the processing chamber when the extraction time is After determining that the extraction times do not overlap, the timing of the heat treatment and transport of the workpieces is changed by shifting one transport cycle time by one transport cycle time depending on the overlapping determination, leaving a wait time of one transport cycle time, and then charging a new workpiece into the processing chamber based on the determination that the extraction times do not overlap. 3 is a conveyance time chart shown in FIG. The heat treatment equipment according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention is shown, and includes a charging/extraction chamber in which a workpiece to be heat-treated is charged and a heat-treated workpiece is extracted, and a plurality of treatments for heat-treating the workpiece. a transfer chamber having a transfer device for charging the processed material before heat treatment in the charging/extraction chamber into the processing chamber and for charging the processed material heat-treated in the processing chamber into the charging/extraction chamber; In addition, in heat treatment equipment that is equipped with an integrated storage chamber for storing the workpieces before heat treatment, the workpieces before heat treatment are charged into the processing chamber from the charging/extraction chamber and heat-treated. FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing the entire transport cycle process in which the treated workpieces are extracted from the processing chamber to the charging/extraction chamber, and the workpieces are successively heat-treated. FIG. 7 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing an extraction operation cycle in which the heat-treated material in the processing chamber is extracted into the charging/extraction chamber in the heat treatment equipment according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 7 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing a charging operation cycle in which a workpiece to be treated before being heat-treated is charged into the processing chamber from the charging/extraction chamber in the heat treatment equipment according to the fourth embodiment. In the heat treatment equipment according to Embodiment 4, a new workpiece is charged into the processing chamber from the charging/extraction chamber via the transfer device into the processing chamber in which the heat treatment of the workpiece has been completed, and heat treatment is performed. In doing so, (A) indicates that the heat treatment completion time of a new workpiece to be heat-treated by loading it into the processing chamber where the heat treatment of the workpiece has been completed is the same as the heat treatment completion time of each workpiece that has been heat-treated in another processing chamber. It is a transport time chart showing the timing of heat treatment and transport of the processed object in a state where the transport is not going well and overlaps with the completion time, and (B) shows the timing of loading a new processed object into the processing chamber when the extraction time is After determining that the extraction times do not overlap, the timing of the heat treatment and transport of the workpieces is changed by shifting one transport cycle time by one transport cycle time depending on the overlapping determination, leaving a wait time of one transport cycle time, and then charging a new workpiece into the processing chamber based on the determination that the extraction times do not overlap. 3 is a conveyance time chart shown in FIG.

Hereinafter, heat treatment equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described based on the accompanying drawings. Note that the heat treatment equipment according to the present invention is not limited to that shown in the embodiments below, and can be implemented with appropriate modifications within the scope of the gist of the invention.

(Embodiment 1)
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the heat treatment equipment according to the first embodiment includes a charging chamber 10 into which the workpiece W to be heat-treated is charged, and a plurality of chambers (in the example shown in the figure) into which the workpiece W to be heat-treated is charged. 5) processing chambers 20 (20a to 20e), an extraction chamber 30 for extracting the heat-treated material in the processing chamber 20, and between the charging chamber 10, the processing chamber 20, and the extraction chamber 30. A transfer chamber 40 having a transfer device 41 that moves to load the workpiece W in the charging chamber 10 into the processing chamber 20 and to charge the workpiece W heat-treated in the processing chamber 20 into the extraction chamber 30; are integrated.

In the heat treatment equipment according to the first embodiment, as an initial stage, the workpiece W before being heat-treated is transferred from the charging chamber 10 to each processing chamber by a transfer device 41 provided in the transfer chamber 40. 20 (20a to 20e) in order, and the workpieces W to be processed before being heat-treated are heat-treated in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e).

Here, in the heat treatment equipment according to the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. A transport cycle step is performed in which the heat-treated workpiece W is extracted from the processing chamber 20 to the extraction chamber 30 by the transport device 41 and the workpiece W is heat-treated. .

The transport cycle time (TX) in this transport cycle step is such that the workpiece W heat-treated in the processing chamber 20 shown in FIG. The extraction operation time (TXb) for extracting at The total time including the operation time (TXa) is (TX=TXa+TXb).

Here, in the heat treatment equipment according to Embodiment 1, the extraction operation time (TXb) is set as shown in FIG. , the case where the extraction is carried out from the processing chamber 20c to the extraction chamber 30 via the transfer device 41 in the transfer chamber 40 will be explained as an example, and the above-mentioned charging operation time (TXa) is heat-treated as shown in FIG. An example will be described in which the previous workpiece W is loaded from the loading chamber 10 into the processing chamber 20c via the conveying device 41 in the conveying chamber 40.

As shown in FIG. 2, the above-mentioned extraction operation time (TXb) is the time ( Tx1), the time (Tx2) for loading the workpiece W heat-treated in the processing chamber 20c into the transport device 41, and the time (Tx2) for loading the workpiece W heat-treated in the processing chamber 20c into the transport device 41 loaded with the workpiece W heat-treated. The time (Tx3) for moving the heat-treated workpiece W to the position of the extraction chamber 30, the time (Tx4) for charging the heat-treated workpiece W from the transport device 41 into the extraction chamber 30, and the time (Tx4) for moving the heat-treated workpiece W to the position of the extraction chamber 30. The total time (TXb=Tx1+Tx2+Tx3+Tx4+Tx5) is the time required to move the transport device to the position of the charging chamber after loading W (Tx5).

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the above-mentioned charging operation time (TXa) is the time (Tx6) for charging the workpiece W before heat treatment from the charging chamber 10 into the transport device 41 in the transport chamber 40. , the time (Tx7) for moving the transport device 41 loaded with the workpiece W before heat treatment to the position of the processing chamber 20c, and the time (Tx7) for moving the workpiece W before heat treatment from the transport device 41 to the position of the processing chamber 20c. (Tx8) and the time (Tx9) for moving the transport device 41 to the position of the charging chamber 10 after loading the workpiece W before heat treatment into the processing chamber 20c. The total time is (TXa=Tx6+Tx7+Tx8+Tx9).

As described above, the transport cycle time (TX) is the sum of the charging operation time (TXa) and the extraction operation time (TXb), and becomes the transport cycle time (TX = TXa + TXb = Tx1 + Tx2 + Tx3 + Tx4 + Tx5 + Tx6 + Tx7 + Tx8 + Tx9).

Further, in the heat treatment equipment according to the first embodiment, a period from when the heat-treated workpiece W is extracted from the processing chamber 20c to when the workpiece W before being heat-treated is charged into the processing chamber 20c. The replacement operation time (BX) is the time (Tx2) for charging the heat-treated workpiece W in the processing chamber 20c into the transport device 41 in the transport chamber 40, and the time (Tx2) for charging the heat-treated workpiece W into the transporting device 41 in the transport chamber 40. The time (Tx3) for moving the conveyance device 41 to the position of the extraction chamber 30, the time (Tx4) for loading the heat-treated workpiece W from the conveyance device 41 into the extraction chamber 30, and the time (Tx4) for moving the heat-treated workpiece W to the extraction chamber 30. The time (Tx5) for moving the transport device 41 to the position of the charging chamber 10 after charging the workpieces W, and the time (Tx6) for charging the workpiece W before heat treatment from the charging chamber 10 to the transport device 41 ), the time (Tx7) for moving the transport device 41 loaded with the workpiece W before heat treatment to the position of the processing chamber 20c, and the time (Tx7) for moving the workpiece W before heat treatment from the transport device 41 to the processing chamber. The total time (BX=Tx2+Tx3+Tx4+Tx5+Tx6+Tx7+Tx8) is the total time including the time for charging the 20c (Tx8).

In the heat treatment equipment according to the first embodiment, the control device 50 controls the time (Ta, Tb, Tc, Td, Te) for heat treating the workpiece W in each of the processing chambers 20 (20a to 20e). , are adjusted to be a time obtained by subtracting the switching operation time BX from a multiple of the transport cycle time TX. In this way, the heat treatment time (Ta, Tb, Tc, Td, Te) = (Tx1 + Tx2 + Tx3 + Tx4 + Tx5 + Tx6 + Tx7 + Tx8 + Tx9) × n - (Tx2 + Tx3 + Tx4 + Tx5 + Tx6 + Tx7 + Tx8) can be expressed, and the heat treatment time (Ta, Tb, Tc , Td, Te) can be made regular using the transport cycle time TX.

Next, in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the operating state of the transport device 41 and the heat treatment state in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e) are shown with the flow of time as the horizontal axis (row).

Here, in the heat treatment equipment according to the first embodiment, when the workpiece W is heat-treated in each of the processing chambers 20 (20a to 20e), the heat treatment of the workpiece W is completed in one processing chamber 20c as described above. Then, the control device 50 changes the heat treatment completion time (Tc') of the workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chamber 20c and heat-processed to be heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. It is determined whether or not it overlaps with the heat treatment completion time (Ta', Tb', Td', Te') of each workpiece W.

Subsequently, the time that the workpiece W to be heat-treated newly charged into the processing chamber 20c stays in the extraction chamber 30 is different from that of each workpiece W being heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. It is determined whether the time coincides with the time of stay in the extraction chamber 30 of.

Then, the heat treatment completion time (Tc') of the workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated is different from that of each workpiece W being heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. If it is determined that the heat treatment completion times (Ta', Tb', Td', Te') do not overlap, and the time of stay in the extraction chamber 30 of each workpiece W also does not overlap, the time shown in the figure above is determined. As shown in FIG. 2, an extraction operation (Tx1+Tx2+Tx3+Tx4+Tx5) is performed to extract the heat-treated workpiece W from the processing chamber 20c in which the heat treatment of the workpiece W has been completed, and then, as shown in FIG. A charging operation (Tx6+Tx7+Tx8+Tx9) is performed to charge the processed workpiece W into the extracted processing chamber 20c (Tx6+Tx7+Tx8+Tx9), and a series of transport cycle operations (Tx1+Tx2+Tx3+Tx4+Tx5+Tx6+Tx7+Tx8+Tx9) are performed.

Here, in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the time (Tx1) for moving the transport device 41 from the position of the charging chamber 10 to the position of the processing chamber 20c from which the heat-treated workpiece W is extracted is controlled. Time AX, the above switching operation time BX, operation time BX, time for moving the transport device 41 to the position of the charging chamber 10 after loading the workpiece W before heat treatment into the processing chamber 20c (Tx9) is shown as operation time CX.

On the other hand, the heat treatment completion time (Tc') of the workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated is different from that of each workpiece being heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. When the heat treatment completion time (Ta', Tb', Td', Te') of W overlaps, or when the time at which the object to be processed W stays in the extraction chamber 30 is different from that of the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, 20e. For example, as shown in FIG. 4(A), if the time of each workpiece W being heat-treated in the extraction chamber 30 overlaps with the time of stay in the extraction chamber 30, for example, as shown in FIG. If it overlaps with the completion time Ta', as shown in FIG. 2, only the extraction operation (Tx1+Tx2+Tx3+Tx4+Tx5) is performed to extract the heat-treated workpiece W from the processing chamber 20c in which the heat treatment of the workpiece W has been completed. In this state, the transfer device 41 is placed on standby in the loading chamber 10.

Next, as described above, the control device 50 determines the heat treatment completion time (Tc') of the workpiece W to be newly loaded into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated. The extraction chamber of the workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated is determined whether it overlaps with the heat treatment completion time (Ta', Tb', Td', Te') of each workpiece W that has been set. For each transport cycle time (TX), it is determined whether the time of stay in extraction chamber 30 overlaps with the time of stay in extraction chamber 30 of each workpiece W being heat-treated in other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. Judgment is made.

Then, the control device 50 determines the heat treatment completion time (Tc') of the workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated, and the time when the heat treatment is completed in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. If it is determined that the heat treatment completion times (Ta', Tb', Td', Te') of each of the objects W to be processed do not overlap, and the times at which the objects W to be processed stay in the extraction chamber 30 do not overlap, As shown in FIG. 3, a charging operation (Tx6+Tx7+Tx8+Tx9) is performed to charge the workpiece W before being heat-treated into the processing chamber 20c from which the heat-treated workpiece W has been extracted.

Here, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, only an extraction operation (Tx1+Tx2+Tx3+Tx4+Tx5) is performed to extract the heat-treated object W from the processing chamber 20c in which the heat treatment of the object W has been completed as described above. When carrying out, the operation time DX is the time (Tx1) for moving the transport device 41, which is not loaded with the workpiece W to be heat-treated, to the position of the processing chamber 20c where the heat treatment of the workpiece W has been completed, The time (Tx2) for charging the heat-treated workpiece W into the transport device 41 in the processing chamber 20c, and the position of the transport device 41 loaded with the heat-treated workpiece W in the extraction chamber 30. (Tx3), the time (Tx4) for charging the heat-treated workpiece W from the transport device 41 to the extraction chamber 30, and the time (Tx4) for charging the heat-treated workpiece W into the extraction chamber 30. A series of operation times (Tx2+Tx3+Tx4+Tx5) including the time (Tx5) for moving the subsequent transport device to the position of the charging chamber is defined as the operation time EX, and the heat-treated workpiece W is transferred to the extracted processing chamber 20c. , when only the charging operation (Tx6+Tx7+Tx8+Tx9) of charging the workpiece W before heat treatment is performed, the time required to charge the workpiece W before heat treatment from the charging chamber 10 into the transport device 41 in the transport chamber 40. (Tx6), the time (Tx7) for moving the transport device 41 loaded with the workpiece W before heat treatment to the position of the processing chamber 20c, and the time (Tx7) for moving the workpiece W before heat treatment into the transport device 41 loaded with the workpiece W before heat treatment. The operation time FX is a series of operation times (Tx6+Tx7+Tx8) including the time (Tx8) for charging the processing chamber 20c from the device 41, and the processing time after the workpiece W before being heat-treated is charged into the processing chamber 20c. The time (Tx9) for moving the transport device 41 to the position of the charging chamber 10 is defined as the operation time GX, and after the heat-treated workpiece W is extracted in the processing chamber 20c, the workpiece W before being heat-treated is The period until it is charged is shown as the "waiting time."

Although not shown, when the heat treatment of the workpiece W is completed in other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e other than the processing chamber 20c, the same applies to the processing chamber 20c. Similarly, the control device 50 determines that the heat treatment completion time of the workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e, where the heat treatment of the workpiece W has been completed, is different from that of the workpiece W to be heat-treated. Whether or not the heat treatment completion time of each workpiece W being heat-treated in the chambers 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e coincides with the completion time of the heat treatment, and the workpiece newly charged into the processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, 20e to be heat-treated. Determine whether the time at which the object W stays in the extraction chamber 30 overlaps with the time at which the object W stays in the extraction chamber 30, which is being heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, and 20e. However, in the same manner as in the case of the processing chamber 20c described above, the workpiece W is heat-treated in each of the processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e.

Then, as shown in the first embodiment, the time (Ta, Tb, Tc, Td, Te) for which the workpiece W is heat-treated in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e) is controlled by the control device 50. The time is adjusted to be a multiple of the cycle time TX minus the exchange operation time BX, and the workpieces W to be heat-treated from the charging chamber 10 are transferred to each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e) by the transport device 41. When charging and heat-treating, the control device 50 controls the amount of time to be processed in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e) based on the time for which the material to be processed W is heat-treated in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e). If control is performed for each transport cycle time TX so that the times at which the heat treatment of the objects W is completed do not overlap and the times at which the objects W to be processed stay in the extraction chamber 30 do not overlap, each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e) Even when heat-treating workpieces W with different processing times, the heat-treated workpieces W are transported from the processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e) where the heat treatment of the workpieces W has been completed in accordance with the transport cycle time TX. At the same time, the workpiece W before being heat-treated can be taken out from the charging chamber 10 via the transport device 41 to the processing chambers 20 (20a to 20e) at an appropriate timing corresponding to the transport cycle time TX. The control device 50 automatically creates a transfer time chart for efficient heat treatment equipment in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e), The times at which the heat treatments are completed can be controlled so that they do not overlap.

Note that depending on the time and timing when the workpiece W is heat-treated, the transport device 41 may be stopped at the position of the charging chamber 10 for the entire transport cycle time TX.

Further, even if the timing of preparing the workpiece W in the charging chamber 10 is unexpectedly delayed, recovery can be easily considered by adopting the transport cycle time TX.

For example, in the processing chamber 20d of FIG. 4(B), if the workpiece W cannot be prepared in the charging chamber 10 at the time indicated by the triangle mark (▲), the heat treatment is not performed in the processing chamber 20d as shown in FIG. Only the completed workpiece W is extracted, and then the workpiece W prepared in the loading chamber 10 is replaced with Te at a time indicated by Te', and is heat-treated in the processing chamber 20e. Then, in the processing chamber 20d, the object to be processed W is marked with an asterisk (★) by using the first transport cycle time TX in which the object to be processed W is not replaced in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20e. Charge only at the time indicated by .

In this way, even if the preparation of the workpiece W is delayed, as shown in FIG. By shifting the processing chamber 20 to another processing chamber 20, operations can be restored while minimizing the idle time of all the processing chambers 20 (20a to 20e).

In the heat treatment equipment of Embodiment 1, in order to perform the above-mentioned control, equipment and heat treatment conditions, such as transport cycle time (TX), exchange operation time BX (Tx2+Tx3+Tx4+Tx5+Tx6+Tx7+Tx8), heat treatment time of each workpiece W By inputting (Ta, Tb, Tc, Td, Te), residence time in the extraction chamber 30, etc. to the control device 50, an appropriate conveyance time chart is automatically created, and the heat treatment of the workpiece W is completed. It becomes possible to control the times so that they do not overlap, and it becomes possible to easily and efficiently heat-process the objects W to be processed in the processing chambers 20 (20a to 20e) for different processing times.

(Embodiment 2)
In the heat treatment equipment according to the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, there is a charging/extraction chamber 60 into which the workpiece W to be heat-treated is charged, and a charging/extraction chamber 60 into which the heat-treated workpiece W is extracted; A plurality of processing chambers 20 (20a to 20e) for heat-treating W, and a workpiece W before heat treatment in the charging/extraction chamber 60 is charged into the processing chamber 20, and the workpiece W is heat-treated in the processing chamber 20. A transport chamber 40 having a transport device 41 for loading the material W into the charging/extraction chamber 60 is integrally provided.

Here, in the heat treatment equipment according to the second embodiment, as an initial stage, the workpiece W before being heat-treated is transferred from the charging/extraction chamber 60 to the transfer device 41 provided in the transfer chamber 40. The processing chambers 20 (20a to 20e) are sequentially loaded with the workpieces W to be heat-treated before being heat-treated.

In the heat treatment equipment according to the second embodiment, there is a time period during which the workpiece W to be heat treated is charged from the charging/extraction chamber 60 to the processing chamber 20 via the transfer device 41 in the transfer chamber 40. The charging operation time (TYa) is extracted as the time for extracting the heat-treated workpiece W in the processing chamber 20 from the processing chamber 20 to the charging/extraction chamber 60 via the transfer device 41 in the transfer chamber 40. The operation time (TYb), the total time of the above-mentioned charging operation time (TYa) and extraction operation time (TYb) is taken as the transport cycle time (TY), and the heat-treated workpiece W is extracted from the processing chamber 20. The time until the workpiece W before being heat-treated is loaded into the processing chamber 20 is defined as the switching operation time (BY).

Here, in the heat treatment equipment according to the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. The extraction operation time (TYb) to be extracted into the chamber 60 is set such that the workpiece W that has been heat-treated in one processing chamber 20c of the plurality of processing chambers 20 is charged from the processing chamber 20c to the transfer chamber 40 via the transfer device 41. - The case where the extraction is carried out into the extraction chamber 60 will be explained as an example, and the case where the processed material W before being heat-treated is charged and charged into the processing chamber 20 from the extraction chamber 60 via the transfer device 41 in the transfer chamber 40 will be explained. The loading operation time (TYa) will be explained using as an example a case where the workpiece W before being heat-treated is loaded from the charging/extraction chamber 60 to the processing chamber 20c via the conveying device 41 in the conveying chamber 40. .

In the heat treatment equipment according to the second embodiment, the extraction operation time (TYb) is as shown in FIG. A time (Ty1m) for moving the workpiece W to the position of the processing chamber 20c to be extracted, a time (Ty2m) for loading the workpiece W heat-treated in the processing chamber 20c into the transport device 41, The time (Ty3m) for moving the transport device 41 loaded with the heat-treated workpiece W to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60, and the time required to move the heat-treated workpiece W from the transport device 41 to the charging/extraction chamber 60. The total time (Ty1m+Ty2m+Ty3m+Ty4m+Ty5m) is the time for charging the heat-treated workpiece W into the extraction chamber 60 (Ty4m) and the time for taking out the heat-treated workpiece W from the charging/extraction chamber 60 (Ty5m).

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, the charging operation time (TYa) is the time (Ty6m) for charging the workpiece W before heat treatment into the charging/extraction chamber 60, and the charging/extraction chamber 60 (Ty6m). The time (Ty7m) for charging the workpiece W before heat treatment into the transport device 41 in the transport chamber 40 from 60, and the time (Ty7m) for charging the workpiece W before heat treatment into the transport device 41 in the processing chamber 20c. time (Ty8m) to move the workpiece W before heat treatment to the processing chamber 20c from the transport device (Ty9m), and time after charging the workpiece W before heat treatment to the processing chamber 20c. The total time is (Ty6m+Ty7m+Ty8m+Ty9m+Ty10m) including the time (Ty10m) to move the transport device 41 to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60.

As described above, the transport cycle time (TY) is the sum of the charging operation time (TYa) and the extraction operation time (TYb), and becomes the transport cycle time (TY = Ty1m + Ty2m + Ty3m + Ty4m + Ty5m + Ty6m + Ty7m + Ty8m + Ty9m + Ty10m).

In the heat treatment equipment according to the second embodiment, the switching operation time (BY) is the time (Ty2m) for loading the workpiece W that has been heat-treated in the processing chamber 20c into the transport device 41. , the time (Ty3m) for moving the transport device 41 loaded with the heat-treated workpiece W to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60, and the time (Ty3m) for moving the transport device 41 loaded with the heat-treated workpiece W from the transport device 41.・The time (Ty4m) for charging the heat-treated workpiece W into the extraction chamber 60, the time (Ty5m) for taking out the heat-treated workpiece W from the charging/extraction chamber 60, and the time (Ty5m) for charging the workpiece W before heat treatment into the charging/extraction chamber. 60 (Ty6m), the time (Ty7m) to charge the workpiece W before heat treatment from the charging/extraction chamber 60 into the transport device 41 in the transport chamber 40, and the time (Ty7m) during which the workpiece W before heat treatment is charged into the transport device 41 in the transport chamber 40 The time (Ty8m) for moving the transport device 41 loaded with the object W to the position of the processing chamber 20c (Ty8m) and the time (Ty9m) for charging the workpiece W before heat treatment from the transport device to the processing chamber 20c. The total time is (BY=Ty2m+Ty3m+Ty4m+Ty5m+Ty6m+Ty7m+Ty8m+Ty9m).

In the heat treatment equipment according to the second embodiment, the control device 50 controls the time (Ta, Tb, Tc, Td, Te) for heat treating the workpiece W in each of the processing chambers 20 (20a to 20e). , are adjusted to be a time obtained by subtracting the switching operation time BY from a multiple of the transport cycle time TY. In this way, heat treatment time (Ta, Tb, Tc, Td, Te) = (TY = Ty1m + Ty2m + Ty3m + Ty4m + Ty5m + Ty6m + Ty7m + Ty8m + Ty9m + Ty10m) x n - (Ty2m + Ty3m + Ty4m + Ty5m + Ty6m + Ty7m + Ty8m + Ty9m) The heat treatment time (Ta, Tb , Tc, Td, Te) can be made regular using the transport cycle time TY.

Next, in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the operating state of the transport device 41 and the heat treatment state in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e) are shown with the flow of time as the horizontal axis (row).

Here, in the heat treatment equipment according to the second embodiment, when the workpiece W is heat-treated in each of the processing chambers 20 (20a to 20e), the heat treatment of the workpiece W is completed in one processing chamber 20c as described above. Then, the control device 50 changes the heat treatment completion time (Tc') of the workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chamber 20c and heat-processed to be heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. It is determined whether or not it overlaps with the heat treatment completion time (Ta', Tb', Td', Te') of each workpiece W.

Subsequently, the time during which the workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated stays in the charging/extraction chamber 30 is different from each workpiece W being heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. It is determined whether the time coincides with the time when the material to be processed W stays in the charging/extraction chamber 30.

Then, the heat treatment completion time (Tc') of the workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated is different from that of each workpiece W being heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. If it is determined that the heat treatment completion time (Ta', Tb', Td', Te') does not overlap, and the time at which each workpiece W stays in the charging/extraction chamber 30 does not overlap, As shown in FIG. 6, an extraction operation (Ty1m+Ty2m+Ty3m+Ty4m+Ty5m) is performed in which the workpiece W heat-treated in the processing chamber 20c is extracted from the processing chamber 20 to the charging/extraction chamber 60 via the transfer device 41 in the transfer chamber 40. Subsequently, a charging operation (Ty6m+Ty7m+Ty8m+Ty9m+Ty10m) is performed in which the workpiece W before being heat-treated is charged from the charging/extraction chamber 60 to the processing chamber 20 via the transfer device 41 in the transfer chamber 40.

Here, in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the time (Ty1m) for moving the transport device 41 from the position of the charging chamber 10 to the position of the processing chamber 20c where the heat-treated workpiece W is extracted is controlled. The time AY is the switching operation time BY, and the operation time is the time (Ty10m) for moving the conveyance device 41 to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60 after loading the workpiece before heat treatment. Shown as CY.

On the other hand, the heat treatment completion time (Tc') of the workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated is different from that of each workpiece being heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. When the heat treatment completion time (Ta', Tb', Td', Te') of W overlaps, or when the time at which the workpiece W stays in the charging/extraction chamber 30 is different from other processing chambers 20a, 20b, For example, as shown in FIG. 7A, if the time of each workpiece W being heat-treated in the processing chambers 20d and 20e stays in the charging/extraction chamber 30, for example, as shown in FIG. If it overlaps with the heat treatment completion time Ta′ of the workpiece W, perform only the extraction operation (Ty1m+Ty2m+Ty3m+Ty4m+Ty5m) for extracting the heat-treated workpiece W from the processing chamber 20c in which the heat treatment of the workpiece W has been completed, In this state, the transfer device 41 is placed on standby in the charging chamber 10.

Next, as described above, the control device 50 determines the heat treatment completion time (Tc') of the workpiece W to be newly loaded into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated. Whether or not it overlaps with the heat treatment completion time (Ta', Tb', Td', Te') of each workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chamber 20c and subjected to heat treatment. - Check whether the time of stay in the extraction chamber 30 overlaps with the time of stay in the charging/extraction chamber 30 of each workpiece W being heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, 20e. Determination is made for each cycle time (TY).

Then, the control device 50 determines the heat treatment completion time (Tc') of the workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated, and the time when the heat treatment is completed in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. It was determined that the heat treatment completion times (Ta', Tb', Td', Te') of each of the objects W to be processed do not overlap, and the times at which the objects W to be processed stay in the charging/extraction chamber 30 do not overlap. In this case, the above-described loading operation (Ty6m+Ty7m+Ty8m+Ty9m+Ty10m) is performed to charge the workpiece W before heat treatment into the processing chamber 20c from which the heat-treated workpiece W has been extracted.

Here, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, only an extraction operation (Ty1m+Ty2m+Ty3m+Ty4m+Ty5m) is performed to extract the heat-treated object W from the processing chamber 20c in which the heat treatment of the object W has been completed as described above. In this case, the operation time DY is defined as the time (Ty1m) for moving the transport device 41, which is not loaded with the workpiece W to be processed, to the position of the processing chamber 20c where the heat treatment of the workpiece W has been completed. The time (Ty2m) for charging the heat-treated workpiece W into the transport device 41 in the processing chamber 20c, and the time (Ty2m) for charging the heat-treated workpiece W into the transport device 41 as described above. The time (Ty3m) for moving the heat-treated workpiece W to the position of the extraction chamber 60, the time (Ty4m) for charging the heat-treated workpiece W from the transport device 41 to the extraction chamber 60, and the time (Ty4m) for moving the heat-treated workpiece W to the extraction chamber 60. The operation time EY is a series of operation times (Ty2m+Ty3m+Ty4m+Ty5m) including the time for taking out from the charging/extraction chamber 60 (Ty5m), and the heat-treated workpiece W is transferred to the extracted processing chamber 20c before being heat-treated. When only the charging operation of charging the material W (Ty6m+Ty7m+Ty8m+Ty9m+Ty10m) is performed, the time (Ty6m) for charging the material W to be processed into the charging/extraction chamber 60 before heat treatment and the time required for charging the material W from the charging/extraction chamber 60 to the heat treatment The time (Ty7m) for loading the workpiece W to be processed into the transport device 41 in the transport chamber 40 and the position of the transport device 41 loaded with the workpiece W before heat treatment in the processing chamber 20c. The operation time FY is a series of operation times (Ty6m+Ty7m+Ty8m+Ty9m) including the time for moving (Ty8m) and the time for loading the workpiece W before heat treatment from the transport device into the processing chamber 20c (Ty9m). The time (Ty10m) for moving the transport device 41 to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60 after loading the workpiece is defined as the operation time GY, and the heat-treated workpiece W is extracted in the processing chamber 20c. The period from when the workpiece W is heated until the workpiece W to be heat-treated is loaded is shown as a "waiting time".

Although not shown, in other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e other than the processing chamber 20c, when the heat treatment of the object W is completed, the same as in the processing chamber 20c. Similarly, the control device 50 determines that the heat treatment completion time of the workpiece W to be newly loaded into the processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e, where the heat treatment of the workpiece W has been completed, is different from the time when the heat treatment of the workpiece W to be heat-treated is determined by the control device 50. Whether or not the heat treatment completion time of each workpiece W being heat-treated in the chambers 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, and 20e coincides with the completion time of the heat treatment, and whether or not the workpiece W to be heat-treated is newly charged into the processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. The stay time of the material W in the charging/extraction chamber 30 is the same as the time of stay in the charging/extracting chamber 30 of each workpiece W being heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, and 20e. It is determined whether or not they overlap, and the workpiece W is heat-treated in each of the processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e in the same manner as in the processing chamber 20c.

Then, as shown in the second embodiment, the time (Ta, Tb, Tc, Td, Te) for which the workpiece W is heat-treated in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e) is controlled by the control device 50. Adjustment is made so that the time is a multiple of the cycle time TY minus the exchange operation time BY, and the workpieces W to be heat-treated from the charging chamber 10 are transferred to each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e) by the transfer device 41. When charging and heat-treating, the control device 50 controls the amount of time to be processed in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e) based on the time for which the material to be processed W is heat-treated in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e). If control is performed for each transport cycle time TY so that the times at which the heat treatment of the objects W is completed do not overlap and the times at which the objects W to be processed stay in the charging/extraction chamber 30 do not overlap, each processing chamber 20 (20a ~20e) Even when heat-treating the workpieces W with different processing times, the heat-treated workpiece W is transferred from the processing chamber 20 (20a-20e) in which the heat treatment of the workpiece W has been completed in a cycle time. It is possible to take out the workpiece W before heat treatment appropriately at a timing corresponding to TY, and transfer the workpiece W before heat treatment from the charging/extraction chamber 60 to the processing chamber 20 via the transfer device 41 at an appropriate timing corresponding to the transfer cycle time TY. (20a to 20e), and the control device 50 automatically creates a transfer time chart for efficient heat treatment equipment in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e). , it becomes possible to control the times at which the heat treatment of the workpieces W is completed so that they do not overlap.

Note that in the heat treatment equipment of the second embodiment, as well as in the heat treatment equipment of the first embodiment, depending on the time and timing at which the object to be processed W is heat treated, the transport device 41 may be used for the entire transport cycle time TY. The transport cycle time TY may be stopped at the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60, or even if the timing of preparing the workpiece W to the charging/extraction chamber 60 is unexpectedly delayed, the transport cycle time TY is adopted. This makes recovery easier to consider.

(Embodiment 3)
In the heat treatment equipment according to the third embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, a charging/extraction chamber 60 into which the workpiece W to be heat-treated is charged and a charging/extraction chamber 60 into which the heat-treated workpiece W is extracted; A plurality of processing chambers 20 (20a to 20e) heat-treat the workpieces W, and the workpieces W before being heat-treated in the charging/extraction chamber 60 are charged into the processing chamber 20 and are heat-treated in the processing chamber 20. A transfer chamber 40 having a transfer device 41 for loading the processed material W into the charging/extraction chamber 60 and a standby cooling chamber 61 for waiting and cooling the processed material W heat-treated in the processing chamber 20 are integrated. It is set in.

Here, in the heat treatment equipment according to the third embodiment, as an initial stage, the workpiece W before being heat treated is transferred from the charging/extraction chamber 60 to the transfer device 41 provided in the transfer chamber 40. The processing chambers 20 (20a to 20e) are sequentially loaded with the workpieces W to be heat-treated before being heat-treated.

In the heat treatment equipment according to Embodiment 3, the time required to perform the operation of charging the workpiece W before heat treatment from the charging/extraction chamber 60 to the processing chamber 20 via the transport device 41 in the transport chamber 40 During the charging operation time (TYa), the workpiece W that has been heat-treated in the processing chamber 20 is extracted from the processing chamber 20 to the charging/extraction chamber 60 via the standby cooling chamber 61 by the transfer device 41 in the transfer chamber 40. The time during which the process is carried out is the extraction operation time (TYb), the total time of the above-mentioned charging operation time (TYa) and the extraction operation time (TYb) is the transport cycle time (TY), and the heat-treated workpiece W is The time from when the workpiece W is extracted from the processing chamber 20 until the workpiece W before being heat-treated is loaded into the processing chamber 20 is defined as the switching operation time (BY).

Here, in the heat treatment equipment according to the third embodiment, the workpiece W heat-treated in the processing chamber 20 is transferred from the processing chamber 20 to the charging/extraction chamber 60 by the transfer device 41 in the transfer chamber 40 via the standby cooling chamber 61. As shown in FIG. 9, the extraction operation time (TYb) during which the workpiece W heat-treated in one processing chamber 20c of the plurality of processing chambers 20 is transferred from the processing chamber 20c to the transfer chamber 40 is An example will be explained in which the device 41 extracts the material through the standby cooling chamber 61 to the charging/extracting chamber 60, and a transfer device in which the workpiece W before being heat-treated is transferred from the charging/extracting chamber 60 to the transporting chamber 40. 41 into the processing chamber 20, as shown in FIG. The case where the device 41 charges the processing chamber 20c will be described as an example.

In the heat treatment equipment according to the third embodiment, the extraction operation time (TYb) is as shown in FIG. The time (Ty2n) for moving the heat-treated workpiece W from the processing chamber 20c to the position of the processing chamber 20c, and the time (Ty3n) for loading the heat-treated workpiece W into the transport device 41 in the processing chamber 20c. , the time (Ty4n) for moving the heat-treated workpiece W to the position of the standby cooling chamber 61 by the transport device 41, and the time (Ty4n) for moving the heat-treated workpiece W from the transport device 41 to the standby position. The time required to charge the heat-treated workpiece W into the cooling chamber 61 (Ty5n) and the time required to move the transfer device 41 to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60 after loading the heat-treated workpiece W into the standby cooling chamber 61 (Ty6n) ), and the time (TYb1) for moving the transport device 41 to the standby cooling chamber 61 position after loading the workpiece W to be heat-treated into the processing chamber 20c ( Ty10n) and the time (Ty11n) for charging the processed material W cooled in the standby cooling chamber 61 to the transport device 41, and the time (Ty11n) for charging the processed material W cooled in the standby cooling chamber 61 into the charging/extraction chamber 60 by the transport device 41. The time (Ty12n) for moving the cooled workpiece W to the charging/extraction chamber 60 from the transport device 41 (Ty13n), and the charging/extraction time for the cooled workpiece W. The total time (TYb1+TYb2=Ty2n+Ty3n+Ty4n+Ty5n+Ty6n+Ty10n+Ty11n+Ty12n+Ty13n+Ty14n) is the second extraction operation time (TYb2) consisting of the time for taking out the sample from the chamber 60 (Ty14n).

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10, the charging operation time (TYa) is the time (Ty1n) for charging the workpiece W before heat treatment into the charging/extraction chamber 60, and the charging/extraction time (Ty1n). The time (Ty7n) for loading the workpiece W before heat treatment from the extraction chamber 60 into the transport device 41 in the transport chamber 40, and the time (Ty7n) for loading the workpiece W before heat treatment into the transport device 41 loaded with the workpiece W before heat treatment. The total time (Ty1n+Ty7n+Ty8n+Ty9n) is the time for moving the workpiece to the chamber 20c (Ty8n) and the time (Ty9n) for loading the workpiece W before heat treatment from the transport device 41 into the processing chamber 20c. .

The transport cycle time (TY) is the sum of the charging operation time (TYa) and the extraction operation time (TYb) as described above, and becomes the transport cycle time (TY = Ty1n + Ty2n + Ty3n + Ty4n + Ty5n + Ty6n + Ty7n + Ty8n + Ty9n + Ty10n + Ty11n + Ty12n + Ty13n + Ty14n).

In the heat treatment equipment according to the third embodiment, the switching operation time (BY) is the time (Ty3n) for loading the workpiece W that has been heat-treated in the processing chamber 20c into the transport device 41. , the time (Ty4n) for moving the transport device 41 loaded with the heat-treated workpiece W to the position of the standby cooling chamber 61, and the time (Ty4n) for moving the heat-treated workpiece W from the transport device 41 to the position of the standby cooling chamber 61. The time (Ty5n) for charging the heat-treated workpiece W into the standby cooling chamber 61 and the time (Ty5n) for moving the transfer device 41 to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60 after loading the heat-treated workpiece W into the standby cooling chamber 61. Ty6n), the time (Ty7n) for charging the workpiece W before heat treatment from the charging/extraction chamber 60 to the transport device 41 in the transport chamber 40, and the time (Ty7n) when the workpiece W before heat treatment is charged. The sum of the time (Ty8n) for moving the transferred transport device 41 to the position of the processing chamber 20c and the time (Ty9n) for loading the workpiece W before heat treatment from the transport device 41 to the processing chamber 20c. The time becomes (BY=Ty3n+Ty4n+Ty5+Ty6n+Ty7n+Ty8n+Ty9n).

In the heat treatment equipment according to the third embodiment, the control device 50 controls the time (Ta, Tb, Tc, Td, Te) for heat treating the workpiece W in each of the processing chambers 20 (20a to 20e). Accordingly, the time is adjusted to be a multiple of the transport cycle time TY minus the switching operation time BY. In this way, heat treatment time (Ta, Tb, Tc, Td, Te) = (TY = Ty1n + Ty2n + Ty3n + Ty4n + Ty5n + Ty6n + Ty7n + Ty8n + Ty9n + Ty10n + Ty11n + Ty12n + Ty13n + Ty14n) x n - (Ty3n + Ty4n + Ty5 + Ty 6n+Ty7n+Ty8n+Ty9n), and the heat treatment time (Ta, Tb , Tc, Td, Te) can be made regular using the transport cycle time TY.

Next, in FIGS. 11A and 11B, the operating state of the transport device 41 and the heat treatment state in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e) are shown with the flow of time as the horizontal axis (row).

Here, in the heat treatment equipment according to the third embodiment, when heat-treating the workpiece W in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e), for example, when the heat treatment of the workpiece W is completed in one processing chamber 20c, The control device 50 determines the heat treatment completion time (Tc') of the workpiece W to be newly loaded into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated, and the time of completion of the heat treatment (Tc') of each workpiece being heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. It is determined whether or not it overlaps with the heat treatment completion time (Ta', Tb', Td', Te') of the workpiece W.

Subsequently, the time during which the workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated stays in the standby cooling chamber 61 is different from that of each workpiece being heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. It is determined whether the time coincides with the time when W stays in the standby cooling room 61.

Then, the heat treatment completion time (Tc') of the workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated is different from that of each workpiece W being heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. If it is determined that the heat treatment completion time (Ta', Tb', Td', Te') does not overlap, and the time at which each workpiece W stays in the standby cooling chamber 61 also does not overlap, the above-mentioned As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the first extraction operation (TYb1=Ty2n+Ty3n+Ty4n+Ty5n+Ty6n), the charging operation (TYa=Ty1n+Ty7n+Ty8n+Ty9n), and the second extraction operation (TYb2=Ty10n+Ty11n+Ty12n+Ty13n+Ty14n) continue do it like this.

Here, in FIGS. 11(A) and 11(B), the time (Ty1n) for charging the workpiece before heat treatment into the charging/extraction chamber, and the time (Ty1n) for charging the workpiece W before heat treatment into The operation time AY (Ty1n+Ty2n) is the total time including the time (Ty2n) for moving the unloaded transport device 41 to the position of the processing chamber 20c where the heat treatment of the workpiece W has been completed, and the switching operation time BY (= Ty3n+Ty4n+Ty5+Ty6n+Ty7n+Ty8n+Ty9n) is the operation time BY, and the time (Ty10n) for moving the transfer device 41 to the standby cooling chamber 61 position after loading the workpiece W before heat treatment into the processing chamber 20c, and the standby cooling chamber 61 The time (Ty11n) for charging the cooled workpiece W into the transport device 41 (Ty11n), the time (Ty12n) for moving the cooled workpiece W to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60 by the transport device 41, The time (Ty13n) for charging the cooled workpiece W from the transport device 41 into the charging/extraction chamber 60 and the time (Ty14n) for taking out the cooled workpiece W from the charging/extraction chamber 60. The total second extraction operation time (TYb2=Ty10n+Ty11n+Ty12n+Ty13n+Ty14n) is shown as the operation time CY.

On the other hand, the heat treatment completion time (Tc') of the workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated is different from that of each workpiece being heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. When the heat treatment completion time (Ta', Tb', Td', Te') of W overlaps, or when the time at which the object to be processed W stays in the standby cooling chamber 61 overlaps with the time of completion of the heat treatment of W, or when the time at which the object to be processed W stays in the standby cooling chamber 61 is different from that of the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, If the time coincides with the time when each workpiece W being heat-treated in the processing chamber 20e stays in the standby cooling chamber 61, for example, as shown in FIG. If the heat treatment completion time Ta' overlaps with the heat treatment completion time Ta', as shown in FIG. The workpiece W heat-treated in the processing chamber 20c is transferred to the position of the chamber 20c (Ty2n), and the workpiece W heat-treated in the processing chamber 20c is loaded into the transport device 41 (Ty3n). (Ty4n), and the heat-treated workpiece W is loaded from the transport device 41 into the standby cooling chamber 61 (Ty5n). The first extraction operation and the workpiece W cooled in the standby cooling chamber 61 are carried out. is loaded into the transport device 41 (Ty11n), the transport device 41 loaded with the cooled workpiece W is moved to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60 (Ty12n), and the cooled workpiece W is loaded into the transport device 41 (Ty11n). is charged into the charging/extraction chamber 60 from the transport device 41 (Ty13n), and the cooled workpiece W is taken out from the charging/extraction chamber 60 (Ty14n), and a second extraction operation is performed, and in this state, the above-mentioned The conveying device 41 is placed on standby at the position of the charging/extracting chamber 60.

Next, as described above, the control device 50 determines the heat treatment completion time (Tc') of the workpiece W to be newly loaded into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated. The standby cooling of the workpieces W to be newly loaded into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated is determined whether the heat treatment completion time (Ta', Tb', Td', Te') of each workpiece W is Whether or not the time of stay in the chamber 61 overlaps with the time of stay in the standby cooling chamber 61 of each workpiece W being heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, 20e is checked for each transport cycle time. judge.

Then, the control device 50 determines the heat treatment completion time (Tc') of the workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated, and the time when the heat treatment is completed in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. When it is determined that the heat treatment completion times (Ta', Tb', Td', Te') of each of the workpieces W to be processed do not overlap, and the times at which the workpieces W stay in the standby cooling chamber 61 do not overlap. As shown in FIG. 10, the workpiece W before heat treatment is charged into the charging/extraction chamber 60 (Ty1n), and the workpiece W before heat treatment is transferred from the charging/extraction chamber 60 into the When the transport device 41 loaded with the workpiece W before being heat-treated is moved to the position of the processing chamber 20c (Ty8n), the workpiece W before being heat-treated is loaded into the transport device 41 (Ty7n). A charging operation is performed to charge W from the transport device 41 to the processing chamber 20c (Ty9n), and then the transport device 41 is moved from the position of the processing chamber 20c to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60. do.

Here, in moving the transport device 41 from the position of the processing chamber 20c to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60 as described above, the transport device 41 is moved from the position of the processing chamber 20c to the position of the standby cooling chamber 61. In addition to moving the transfer device 41 from the standby cooling chamber 61 to the charging/extraction chamber 60 (Ty6n), the transfer device 41 is directly moved from the processing chamber 20c to the transfer device 41. It is also possible to move it to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60 (Ty16n).

When only the operation of extracting the heat-treated workpiece W from the processing chamber 20c in which the heat treatment of the workpiece W has been completed as described above is performed, in FIGS. 41 from the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60 to the position of the processing chamber 20c from which the heat-treated workpiece W is extracted is defined as the operation time DY, and the workpiece W heat-treated in the processing chamber 20c is is loaded into the transport device 41 (Ty3n), the heat-treated workpiece W is moved by the transport device 41 to the position of the standby cooling chamber 61 (Ty4n), and the heat-treated workpiece W is transferred from the transport device 41 to the standby position. An operation of loading the workpiece W into the cooling chamber 61 (Ty5n), charging the workpiece W cooled in the standby cooling room 61 into the transport device 41 (Ty11n), and transporting the workpiece W loaded with the cooled workpiece W. The device 41 is moved to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60 (Ty12n), and the cooled workpiece W is charged from the transport device 41 to the charging/extraction chamber 60 (Ty13n). The operation time EY is the series of operation times (Ty3n+Ty4n+Ty5n+Ty11n+Ty12n+Ty13n+Ty14n) including the operation (Ty14n) for taking out the material W from the charging/extraction chamber 60, and the processing time for charging the material W before heat treatment into the charging/extraction chamber 60. (Ty1n), the workpiece W before heat treatment is charged from the charging/extraction chamber 60 to the transport device 41 (Ty7n), and the transport device 41 loaded with the workpiece W before heat treatment is loaded. The operation time is defined as a series of operation times (Ty1n+Ty7n+Ty8n+Ty9n) in which the workpiece W is moved to the position of the processing chamber 20c (Ty8n) and the workpiece W before heat treatment is loaded from the transport device 41 into the processing chamber 20c (Ty9n). Let FY be the operation time (Ty10n+Ty6n or Ty16n) for moving the transport device 41 that loaded the workpiece W before heat treatment into the processing chamber 20c to the position of the charging chamber 10, and let the operation time GY be the processing chamber 20c. , the period after the heat-treated workpiece W is extracted until the workpiece W before being heat-treated is loaded is shown as a "waiting time."

Although not shown, when the heat treatment of the workpiece W is completed in other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e other than the processing chamber 20c, the same applies to the processing chamber 20c. Similarly, the control device 50 determines that the heat treatment completion time of the workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e, where the heat treatment of the workpiece W has been completed, is different from that of the workpiece W to be heat-treated. Whether or not the heat treatment completion time of each workpiece W being heat-treated in the chambers 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e coincides with the completion time of the heat treatment, and the workpiece newly charged into the processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, 20e to be heat-treated. Whether or not the stay time of the object W in the standby cooling chamber 61 overlaps with the stay time in the standby cooling chamber 61 of each workpiece W being heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, and 20e. is determined, and the workpiece W is heat-treated in each of the processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e in the same manner as in the processing chamber 20c.

As shown in Embodiment 3, the time (Ta, Tb, Tc, Td, Te) for heat-treating the workpiece W in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e) is controlled by the control device 50. Adjustment is made so that the time is a multiple of the cycle time TY minus the exchange operation time BY, and the workpieces W to be heat-treated from the charging chamber 10 are transferred to each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e) by the transfer device 41. When charging and heat-treating, the control device 50 controls the amount of time to be processed in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e) based on the time for which the material to be processed W is heat-treated in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e). If control is performed for each transport cycle time TY so that the times at which the heat treatment of the objects W is completed do not overlap and the times at which the objects W to be processed stay in the standby cooling chamber 61 do not overlap, each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e ), even when heat-treating the workpieces W for different processing times, the heat-treated workpieces W are transferred from the processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e) where the heat treatment of the workpieces W has been completed at the transport cycle time TY. In addition to being able to take out the workpiece W before being heat-treated appropriately at the corresponding timing, the workpiece W to be processed can be transferred from the charging chamber 10 to the processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e) via the transfer device 41 at an appropriate timing corresponding to the transfer cycle time TY. ), and it is possible to create an efficient transport time chart for the heat treatment equipment in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e). It becomes possible to automatically create a good conveyance time chart for the heat treatment equipment and control the times at which the heat treatment of the objects to be treated W is completed so that they do not overlap.

Note that in the heat treatment equipment of the third embodiment, as well as in the heat treatment equipment of the first embodiment, depending on the time and timing at which the object to be processed W is heat-treated, the transport device 41 may be used for the entire transport cycle time TY. The transport cycle time TY may be stopped at the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60, or even if the timing of preparing the workpiece W to the charging/extraction chamber 60 is unexpectedly delayed, the transport cycle time TY is adopted. This makes recovery easier to consider.

(Embodiment 4)
In the heat treatment equipment according to Embodiment 4, as shown in FIGS. 12 to 14, a charging/extraction chamber 60 into which the workpiece W to be heat-treated is charged, and a charging/extraction chamber 60 into which the heat-treated workpiece W is extracted; A plurality of processing chambers 20 (20a to 20e) heat-treat the workpieces W, and the workpieces W before being heat-treated in the charging/extraction chamber 60 are charged into the processing chamber 20 and are heat-treated in the processing chamber 20. A transfer chamber 40 having a transfer device 41 for loading the processed material W into the charging/extraction chamber 60, and a storage chamber 62 for storing the processed material W before heat treatment are integrally provided.

Here, in the heat treatment equipment according to the fourth embodiment, as an initial stage, the workpiece W before being heat treated is transferred from the charging/extraction chamber 60 to the transfer chamber 40 by the transfer device 41. The processing chambers 20 (20a to 20e) are sequentially loaded with the workpieces W to be processed before being heat-treated.

In the heat treatment equipment according to the fourth embodiment, the workpiece W before being heat treated is loaded into the processing chamber 20 from the charging/extraction chamber 60 by the transfer device 41 in the transfer chamber 40 via the storage chamber 62. The time during which the loading operation is performed is defined as the charging operation time (TYa), and the workpiece W that has been heat-treated in the processing chamber 20 is extracted from the processing chamber 20 to the charging/extraction chamber 60 by the transfer device 41 in the transfer chamber 40. The time during which this is performed is defined as the extraction operation time (TYb), and the total time of the above-mentioned charging operation time (TYa) and extraction operation time (TYb) is defined as the transport cycle time (TY), and the heat-treated workpiece W is processed. The time from when the workpiece W is extracted from the chamber 20 until the workpiece W before being heat-treated is loaded into the processing chamber 20 is defined as the switching operation time (BY).

Here, in the heat treatment equipment according to the fourth embodiment, the above-mentioned extraction operation in which the workpiece W heat-treated in the treatment chamber 20 is extracted from the treatment chamber 20 to the charging/extraction chamber 60 by the conveyance device 41 in the conveyance chamber 40 As shown in FIG. 13, the workpiece W that has been heat-treated in one processing chamber 20c of the plurality of processing chambers 20 is loaded and extracted from the processing chamber 20c by the transfer device 41 in the transfer chamber 40. The case will be explained by taking as an example a case where the workpiece W is extracted into the chamber 60, and the workpiece W before being heat-treated is transferred from the charging/extraction chamber 60 to the processing chamber 20 via the storage chamber 62 by the transfer device 41 in the transfer chamber 40. As shown in FIG. 14, the charging operation time (TYa) for charging is such that the workpiece W before being heat-treated is transferred from the charging/extraction chamber 60 to the storage chamber 62 by the transfer device 41 in the transfer chamber 40. An example will be explained in which the sample is charged into the processing chamber 20c via the process chamber 20c.

In the heat treatment equipment according to the fourth embodiment, the extraction operation time (TYb) is as shown in FIG. The time (Ty6p) for moving the workpiece W to the position of the processing chamber 20c where it is extracted, the time (Ty7p) for loading the workpiece W heat-treated in the processing chamber 20c into the transport device 41, The time (Ty8p) for moving the heat-treated workpiece W to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60 by the transport device 41, and the time (Ty8p) for moving the heat-treated workpiece W from the transport device 41 to the charging/extraction chamber 60. The total time (TYb=Ty6p+Ty7p+Ty8p+Ty9p+Ty15p) is the time (Ty9p) for charging the heat-treated workpiece W from the charging/extraction chamber 60 (Ty15p).

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 14, the charging operation time (TYa) is the time (Ty1p) for charging the workpiece W before heat treatment into the charging/extraction chamber 60, and the charging/extraction time (Ty1p). The time (Ty2p) for loading the workpiece W before heat treatment from the extraction chamber 60 into the transport device 41 in the transport chamber 40, and the storage time of the transport device 41 loaded with the workpiece W before heat treatment as described above. The time (Ty3p) for moving the workpiece W to the position of the chamber 62, the time (Ty4p) for loading the workpiece W before heat treatment into the storage chamber 62 from the transport device 41, and the time (Ty4p) for moving the workpiece W before heat treatment into the storage chamber 62. The first charging operation time (TYa1) consists of the total time (Ty1p+Ty2p+Ty3p+Ty4p+Ty5p) including the time (Ty5p) for moving the transport device 41 loaded into the storage chamber 62 to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60, and the charging/extraction time. The time (Ty10p) for moving the transport device 41 from the position of the extraction chamber 60 to the position of the storage chamber 62, and the time (Ty11p) for loading the workpiece W before heat treatment from the storage room 62 into the transport device 41. and the time (Ty12p) for moving the transport device 41 into which the workpiece W to be heat-treated is inserted into the processing chamber 20c; (Ty13p) and the time (Ty14p) to move the transport device 41 that has loaded the workpiece W before heat treatment into the processing chamber 20c to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60. The total time (TYa=TYa1+TYa2=Ty1p+Ty2p+Ty3p+Ty4p+Ty5p+Ty10p+Ty11p+Ty12p+Ty13p+Ty14p) is the second charging operation time (TYa2) consisting of (Ty10p+Ty11p+Ty12p+Ty13p+Ty14p).

The conveyance cycle time (TY) is the total time of the charging operation time (TYa) and the extraction operation time (TYb) as described above (TY=TYa+TYb=Ty1p+Ty2p+Ty3p+Ty4p+Ty5p+Ty6p+Ty7p+Ty8p+Ty9p+Ty10p+Ty11p+Ty12p+Ty13p+Ty14p+ Ty15p).

In the heat treatment equipment according to the fourth embodiment, the switching operation time (BY) is the time for loading the workpiece W that has been heat treated in the processing chamber 20c into the transport device 41 (Ty7p), and the time for the heat treatment. The time (Ty8p) for moving the heat-treated workpiece W to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60 by the transport device 41, and the time (Ty8p) for moving the heat-treated workpiece W from the transport device 41 to the charging/extraction chamber 60. The time for charging the workpiece W into the chamber 60 (Ty9p), the time for moving the transport device 41 from the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60 to the position of the storage chamber 62 (Ty10p), and the time for loading the workpiece W before heat treatment. The time (Ty11p) for charging the transfer device 41 from the storage chamber 62, the time (Ty12p) for moving the transfer device 41 into which the workpiece W to be heat-treated is inserted to the position of the processing chamber 20c, and the heat treatment. The total time (BY=Ty7p+Ty8p+Ty9p+Ty10p+Ty11p+Ty12p+Ty13p) is the total time including the time (Ty13p) for loading the workpiece W from the transport device 41 into the processing chamber 20c before processing.

In the heat treatment equipment according to the fourth embodiment, the control device 50 controls the time (Ta, Tb, Tc, Td, Te) for heat treating the workpiece W in each of the processing chambers 20 (20a to 20e). Accordingly, the time is adjusted to be a multiple of the transport cycle time TY minus the switching operation time BY. In this way, heat treatment time (Ta, Tb, Tc, Td, Te) = (Ty1p+Ty2p+Ty3p+Ty4p+Ty5p+Ty6p+Ty7p+Ty8p+Ty9p+Ty10p+Ty11p+Ty12p+Ty13p+Ty14p+Ty15p)×n-(Ty7p+Ty8p+Ty9 p+Ty10p+Ty11p+Ty12p+Ty13p), and the heat treatment time (Ta, Tb, Tc , Td, Te) can be made regular using the transport cycle time TY.

Next, in FIGS. 15A and 15B, the operating state of the transport device 41 and the heat treatment state in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e) are shown with the flow of time as the horizontal axis (row).

Here, in the heat treatment equipment according to the fourth embodiment, when heat treating the workpiece W in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e), for example, when the heat treatment of the workpiece W is completed in one processing chamber 20c, The control device 50 determines the heat treatment completion time (Tc') of the workpiece W to be newly loaded into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated, and the time of completion of the heat treatment (Tc') of each workpiece being heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. It is determined whether or not it overlaps with the heat treatment completion time (Ta', Tb', Td', Te') of the workpiece W.

Subsequently, the time during which the workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated stays in the charging/extraction chamber 30 is different from each workpiece W being heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. It is determined whether or not the time coincides with the time when the material to be processed W stays in the charging/extraction chamber 30.

Then, the heat treatment completion time (Tc') of the workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated is different from that of each workpiece W being heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. If it is determined that the heat treatment completion time (Ta', Tb', Td', Te') does not overlap, and the time at which each workpiece W stays in the charging/extraction chamber 30 does not overlap, As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the first charging operation (TYa1=Ty1p+Ty2p+Ty3p+Ty4p+Ty5p), the extraction operation (TYb=Ty6p+Ty7p+Ty8p+Ty9p+Ty15p), and the second charging operation (TYa2=Ty10p+Ty11p+Ty12p+T) y13p+Ty14p) Make sure to continue doing it.

Here, in FIGS. 15A and 15B, the time (Ty1p) for charging the workpiece W before heat treatment into the charging/extraction chamber 60, and the time (Ty1p) for charging the workpiece W before heat treatment into the charging/extraction chamber 60, and The time (Ty2p) for loading the workpiece W to be processed into the transport device 41 in the transport chamber 40 and the position of the transport device 41 loaded with the workpiece W before heat treatment in the storage chamber 62. The time for moving (Ty3p), the time for loading the workpiece W before heat treatment into the storage chamber 62 from the transport device 41 (Ty4p), and the time for loading the workpiece W before heat treatment into the storage chamber 62. The time (Ty5p) for moving the loaded transport device 41 to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60, and the processing chamber 20c for extracting the heat-treated workpiece W from the position of the charging/extracting chamber 60 by the transport device 41. The total time (Ty1p+Ty2p+Ty3p+Ty4p+Ty5p+Ty6p) including the time (Ty6p) for moving the workpiece to the position shown in FIG. 0c The total time of the time (Ty14p) for moving the transport device 41 loaded into the loading/extraction chamber 60 and the time (Ty15p) for taking out the heat-treated workpiece W from the loading/extraction chamber 60. (Ty14p+Ty15p) is shown as the operation time CY.

On the other hand, the heat treatment completion time (Tc') of the workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated is different from that of each workpiece being heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. When the heat treatment completion time (Ta', Tb', Td', Te') of W overlaps, or when the time at which the workpiece W stays in the charging/extraction chamber 30 overlaps with the time when the workpiece W stays in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, For example, as shown in FIG. 15(A), if the time of each workpiece W being heat-treated in 20d and 20e stays in the charging/extraction chamber 30, for example, as shown in FIG. When the heat treatment completion time Ta' of the workpiece W is overlapped with the heat treatment completion time Ta', as shown in FIG. 20c (Ty6p), the workpiece W heat-treated in the processing chamber 20c is loaded into the transport device 41 (Ty7p), and the heat-treated workpiece W is transferred to the transport device 41 by the transport device 41. The heat-treated workpiece W is moved to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60 (Ty8p), and the heat-treated workpiece W is loaded from the transport device 41 into the charging/extraction chamber 60 (Ty9p). An operation for taking out the material from the loading/extracting chamber 60 (Ty15p) is performed, and in this state, the above-mentioned conveying device 41 is made to stand by at the position of the loading/extracting chamber 60.

Next, as described above, the control device 50 determines the heat treatment completion time (Tc') of the workpiece W to be newly loaded into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated. Whether or not it overlaps with the heat treatment completion time (Ta', Tb', Td', Te') of each workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chamber 20c and subjected to heat treatment. - Check whether the time of stay in the extraction chamber 30 overlaps with the time of stay in the charging/extraction chamber 30 of each workpiece W being heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, 20e. Judgment is made for each cycle time.

Then, the control device 50 determines the heat treatment completion time (Tc') of the workpiece W to be newly charged into the processing chamber 20c and heat-treated, and the time when the heat treatment is completed in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. It was determined that the heat treatment completion times (Ta', Tb', Td', Te') of each of the objects W to be processed do not overlap, and the times at which the objects W to be processed stay in the charging/extraction chamber 30 do not overlap. In this case, as shown in FIG. 14, the workpiece W before being heat-treated is charged into the charging/extraction chamber 60 (Ty1p), and the workpiece W before being heat-treated is charged from the charging/extraction chamber 60. The W is charged into the transfer device 41 in the transfer chamber 40 (Ty2p), and the transfer device 41 loaded with the workpiece W to be heat-treated is moved to the storage chamber 62 (Ty3p) and heat-treated. The previous workpiece W to be processed is loaded from the transport device 41 into the storage chamber 62 (Ty4p), and the transport device 41 that has loaded the workpiece W before heat treatment into the storage chamber 62 is transferred to the charging/extraction chamber. 60 position (Ty5p), and the transfer device 41 is moved from the charging/extraction chamber 60 position to the storage chamber 62 position (Ty10p), and the workpiece W before heat treatment is transferred to the storage chamber. 62 into the transport device 41 (Ty11p), and the transport device 41 into which the workpiece W to be heat treated is inserted is moved to the position of the processing chamber 20c (Ty12p), and the workpiece W before heat treatment is loaded into the transport device 41 (Ty11p). An operation is performed to charge W from the transport device 41 to the processing chamber 20c (Ty13p), and then this transport device 41 is moved from the position of the processing chamber 20c to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60 (Ty14p). can do.

In addition, in the case where the workpiece W before being heat-treated is simply charged from the charging/extraction chamber 60 to the processing chamber 20c where the workpiece W is heat-treated, the workpiece W before being heat-treated is After the operation of charging the material into the charging/extraction chamber 60 (Ty1p) and charging the workpiece W before heat treatment from the charging/extraction chamber 60 into the transport device 41 in the transport chamber 40 (Ty2p). , instead of the above operation (Ty3p+Ty4p+Ty5p+Ty10p+Ty11p+Ty12p), as shown by the broken line in FIG. ) operation, and the workpiece W before being heat-treated can be loaded from this transport device 41 into the processing chamber 20c (Ty13p). In this way, the workpiece W before being heat-treated can be The operation of charging the workpiece W from the charging/extracting chamber 60 to the processing chamber 20c for heat treatment can be easily performed in a short time.

Here, when performing only the operation of extracting the heat-treated workpiece W from the processing chamber 20c in which the heat treatment of the workpiece W has been completed as described above, in FIGS. 15A and 15B, as described above, The time (Ty6p) for moving the transport device 41 from the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60 to the position of the processing chamber 20c from which the heat-treated workpiece W is extracted is defined as the operation time DY, and the workpiece W that has been heat-treated in the processing chamber 20c is The processed workpiece W is loaded into the transport device 41 (Ty7p), the heat-treated workpiece W is moved to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60 by the transport device 41 (Ty8p), and the heat treatment is carried out. The processed workpiece W is loaded from the transport device 41 into the charging/extraction chamber 60 (Ty9p), and the heat-treated workpiece W is taken out from the charging/extraction chamber 60 (Ty15p). ) is the operation time EY.

Also, the time (Ty1p) for charging the workpiece W before heat treatment into the charging/extraction chamber 60, the transfer device for transporting the workpiece W before heat treatment from the charging/extraction chamber 60 into the transport chamber 40, 41 (Ty2p), time to move the transport device 41 loaded with the workpiece W before heat treatment to the position of the storage chamber 62 (Ty3p), workpiece W before heat treatment During the time (Ty4p) for charging the workpiece W from the transport device 41 into the storage chamber 62, the transport device 41 that has loaded the workpiece W before heat treatment into the storage chamber 62 is moved to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60. time (Ty5p) to move the transport device 41 from the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60 to the position of the storage chamber 62 (Ty10p), and move the workpiece W before heat treatment from the storage chamber 62 to the transport device 41. (Ty11p), time to move the transport device 41 into which the workpiece W to be heat treated is inserted to the position of the processing chamber 20c (Ty12p), transport the workpiece W before heat treatment. In place of the total time (Ty1p+Ty2p+Ty3p+Ty4p+Ty5p+Ty10p+Ty11p+Ty12p+Ty13p) or the operation of the above (Ty3p+Ty4p+Ty5p+Ty10p+Ty11p+Ty12p), before heat treatment. The transport device 41 loaded with the workpiece W of The total time (Ty1p+Ty2p+Ty20p+Ty13p) when performing the operation (Ty20p) of moving to the position of the processing chamber 20c is defined as the operation time FY, and the conveying device 41 that has loaded the workpiece W before heat treatment into the processing chamber 20c is set as the operation time FY. The time (Ty12p) for moving to the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60 is defined as the operation time GY, and in the processing chamber 20c, after the heat-treated workpiece W is extracted, the workpiece W before heat treatment is loaded. The time until it is entered is shown as "waiting time."

Although not shown, in other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e other than the processing chamber 20c, when the heat treatment of the object W is completed, the same as in the processing chamber 20c. Similarly, the control device 50 determines that the heat treatment completion time of the workpiece W to be newly loaded into the processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e, where the heat treatment of the workpiece W has been completed, is different from the time when the heat treatment of the workpiece W to be heat-treated is determined by the control device 50. Whether or not the heat treatment completion time of each workpiece W being heat-treated in the chambers 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, and 20e coincides with the completion time of the heat treatment, and whether or not the workpiece W to be heat-treated is newly charged into the processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e. The stay time of the material W in the charging/extraction chamber 30 is the same as the time of stay in the charging/extracting chamber 30 of each workpiece W being heat-treated in the other processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, and 20e. It is determined whether or not they overlap, and the workpiece W is heat-treated in each of the processing chambers 20a, 20b, 20d, and 20e in the same manner as in the processing chamber 20c.

As shown in the fourth embodiment, the time (Ta, Tb, Tc, Td, Te) for heat-treating the workpiece W in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e) is controlled by the control device 50. Adjustment is made so that the time is a multiple of the cycle time TY minus the exchange operation time BY, and the workpieces W to be heat-treated from the charging chamber 10 are transferred to each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e) by the transfer device 41. When charging and heat-treating, the control device 50 controls the amount of time to be processed in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e) based on the time for which the material to be processed W is heat-treated in each processing chamber 20 (20a to 20e). If control is performed for each transport cycle time TY so that the times at which the heat treatment of the objects W is completed do not overlap and the times at which the objects W to be processed stay in the charging/extraction chamber 30 do not overlap, each processing chamber 20 (20a ~20e) Even when heat-treating the workpieces W with different processing times, the heat-treated workpiece W is transferred from the processing chamber 20 (20a-20e) in which the heat treatment of the workpiece W has been completed in a cycle time. It is possible to take out the workpiece W before heat treatment appropriately at a timing corresponding to TY, and transfer the workpiece W from the charging chamber 10 to the processing chamber 20 (20a) via the transfer device 41 at an appropriate timing corresponding to the transfer cycle time TY. ~20e) and heat treatment, and it is now possible to create an efficient transport time chart for the heat treatment equipment in each treatment chamber 20 (20a~20e). It becomes possible to automatically create an efficient conveyance time chart for the heat treatment equipment and control the times at which the heat treatment of the objects to be treated W is completed so that they do not overlap.

In addition, in the heat treatment equipment of this Embodiment 4, similarly to the heat treatment equipment of the above-mentioned Embodiment 1, depending on the time and timing at which the workpiece W is heat-treated, the transport device 41 may be used for the entire transport cycle time TY. The transport cycle time TY may be stopped at the position of the charging/extraction chamber 60, or even if the timing of preparing the workpiece W to the charging/extraction chamber 60 is unexpectedly delayed, the transport cycle time TY is adopted. This makes recovery easier to consider.

Further, the transport cycle times TX and TY in the first to fourth embodiments described above may be longer than the time required for a necessary cycle. In particular, when the residence time in the extraction chamber 30, charging extraction chamber 60, or standby cooling chamber 61 is longer than the transport cycle time TX, TY, the transport cycle time TX, TY is Alternatively, it is desirable to extend the stay time in the standby cooling room 61 to about several times (including one time).

10: Charge chamber 20 (20a to 20e): Processing chamber 30: Extraction chamber 40: Transfer chamber 41: Transfer device 50: Control device 60: Extraction chamber 61: Standby cooling chamber 62: Storage chamber BX: Replacement operation time BY: Replacement operation time TX: Transfer cycle time TXa: Charge operation time TXb: Extraction operation time TY: Transfer cycle time TYa: Charge operation time TYb: Extraction operation time Ta: Heat treatment time Tb of the workpiece W in the processing chamber 20a : Heat treatment time Tc of the workpiece W in the process chamber 20b : Heat treatment time Td of the workpiece W in the process chamber 20c : Heat treatment time Te of the workpiece W in the process chamber 20d : Workpiece W in the process chamber 20e Heat treatment time Ta' for the object W: Completion time Tb' of the heat treatment for the object W in the processing chamber 20a: Time Tc' for completion of heat treatment for the object W in the processing chamber 20b: Time Tc' for the completion of heat treatment for the object W in the processing chamber 20c Heat treatment completion time Td': Heat treatment completion time Te' of the workpiece W in the processing chamber 20d: Heat treatment completion time W of the workpiece W in the processing chamber 20e: Workpiece

Claims (9)

At least a charging chamber into which a workpiece to be heat-treated is charged, a plurality of processing chambers through which the workpiece is heat-treated, an extraction chamber into which the workpiece heat-treated in the processing chamber is extracted, and the above-mentioned charging chamber. A transfer chamber that has a transfer device that moves between the processing chamber and the extraction chamber, charges the processed material in the charging chamber into the processing chamber, and charges the processed material heat-treated in the processing chamber into the extraction chamber. In a heat treatment facility that is integrated with The transfer cycle time (TX) is the total time including the extraction operation time (TXb) in which the heated processed material is extracted from the processing chamber to the extraction chamber via the transfer device in the transfer chamber. The time between extracting the processed material and loading the processed material into the processing chamber before heat treatment is defined as the exchange operation time (BX), and the time for heat-treating the processed material in each of the processing chambers is defined as the above-mentioned time period. The time is adjusted to be a multiple of the transport cycle time (TX) minus the switching operation time (BX), and the workpiece before heat treatment is transferred from the charging chamber to the transport device in the transport chamber. When charging the workpieces into the chambers for heat treatment, the control device determines that the times at which the heat treatment of the workpieces is completed in each of the processing chambers do not overlap, based on the time for heat-treating the workpieces in each treatment chamber. , and controlling each transport cycle time so that the time at which the object to be treated stays in the extraction chamber does not overlap with the time at which each object to be treated that is being heat-treated in another treatment chamber stays in the extraction chamber. Heat treatment equipment featuring: The heat treatment equipment according to claim 1, wherein the charging chamber, a plurality of processing chambers, an extraction chamber and a transfer chamber having a transfer device are integrally provided,
The above-mentioned extraction operation time (TXb) is the time (Tx1) for moving the transfer device at the position of the charging chamber to the position of the processing chamber from which the heat-treated workpiece is extracted, and The time (Tx2) for charging the processed material into the transport device, the time (Tx3) for moving the transport device loaded with the heat-treated processing material to the position of the extraction chamber, and The time (Tx4) for charging the processed material from the transport device to the extraction chamber, and the time (Tx4) for moving the transport device to the position of the charging chamber after charging the heat-treated processing material ( Tx5) and the total time (Tx1+Tx2+Tx3+Tx4+Tx5),
The above-mentioned charging operation time (TXa) is equal to the time (Tx6) for charging the workpiece before heat treatment from the charging chamber to the transport device in the transport chamber, and the time (Tx6) when the workpiece before heat treatment is charged. The time (Tx7) for moving the transferred transport device to the position of the processing chamber, the time (Tx8) for loading the workpiece before heat treatment from the transport device into the processing chamber, and the time (Tx8) for moving the workpiece before heat treatment to the processing chamber position. This is the total time (Tx6+Tx7+Tx8+Tx9) including the time (Tx9) for moving the transport device to the position of the charging chamber after loading the processed material,
The transport cycle time TX (=TXa+TXb) is (Tx1+Tx2+Tx3+Tx4+Tx5+Tx6+Tx7+Tx8+Tx9), and the switching operation time (BX) is the time (Tx2) for loading the workpiece heat-treated in the processing chamber into the transport device. , the time (Tx3) for moving the transport device loaded with the heat-treated workpiece to the position of the extraction chamber, and the time (Tx3) for charging the heat-treated workpiece from the transport device to the extraction chamber. time (Tx4), time to move the transfer device to the position of the charging chamber after loading the heat-treated workpiece (Tx5), and transfer the workpiece before heat treatment from the charging chamber. The time (Tx6) for loading the workpiece into the transport device, the time (Tx7) for moving the transport device loaded with the workpiece before heat treatment to the processing chamber position, and the time (Tx7) for loading the workpiece before heat treatment. A heat treatment facility characterized in that the total time is (Tx2+Tx3+Tx4+Tx5+Tx6+Tx7+Tx8) including the time (Tx8) for charging from the transfer device to the processing chamber. In the heat treatment equipment according to claim 1 or 2, when the workpiece to be treated before being heat-treated is charged from the charging chamber into the processing chamber via the transfer device in the transfer chamber and heat-treated, the control described above is performed. If the time of completion of heat treatment of a workpiece to be heat-treated by loading it from the charging chamber into the processing chamber via a transfer device overlaps with the time of completion of heat treatment of each workpiece being heat-treated in another processing chamber. Alternatively, if the time at which the above-mentioned workpiece stays in the extraction chamber overlaps with the time at which each workpiece that is being heat-treated in another treatment chamber stays in the extraction chamber, the workpiece is The workpiece is not loaded into the processing chamber, and the judgment is made again after one transport cycle time. If the time of stay does not overlap with the time of stay in the extraction chamber of each workpiece that is being heat-treated in another processing chamber, the workpiece is transferred from the charging chamber to the aforementioned processing chamber via the transfer chamber. A heat treatment equipment characterized by performing a charging operation. At least a charging/extraction chamber into which the workpiece to be heat-treated is charged and a heat-treated workpiece is extracted, a plurality of processing chambers where the workpiece is heat-treated, and heat treatment in the charging/extraction chamber. In a heat treatment facility that is integrally provided with a transfer chamber having a transfer device that charges the previous processed material into the processing chamber and charges the processed material that has been heat-treated in the processing chamber into the charging/extraction chamber,
The charging operation time (TYa) in which the workpiece before heat treatment is charged from the charging/extraction chamber to the processing chamber via the transfer device in the transfer chamber, and the processing time of the heat-treated workpiece in the processing chamber. The total time including the extraction operation time (TYb) for extracting from the chamber to the extraction chamber via the transfer device in the transfer chamber is defined as the transfer cycle time (TY), and the heat-treated material is extracted from the processing chamber and heat-treated. The time until the previous workpiece is loaded into the processing chamber is defined as the switching operation time (BY),
Adjusting the time for heat treating the workpiece in each of the processing chambers to a time obtained by subtracting the switching operation time (BY) from a multiple of the transport cycle time (TY),
When the workpiece before being heat-treated from the charging/extraction chamber is charged into the processing chamber via the transport device in the transport chamber and heat-treated, the control device determines the time period for heat-treating the workpiece in each processing chamber. Based on this, the times at which the heat treatment of the workpieces is completed in each of the processing chambers do not overlap, and the time at which the workpieces stay in the charging/extraction chamber is different from the time at which the heat treatment of the workpieces is completed in the other processing chambers. The heat treatment equipment is characterized by controlling the transport cycle time so that the time of each workpiece to be processed does not overlap with the time of stay in the extraction chamber. The heat treatment equipment according to claim 4, wherein the charging/extraction chamber, a plurality of processing chambers, and a transfer chamber having a transfer device are integrally provided,
The above-mentioned extraction operation time (TYb) is equal to the time (Ty1m) for moving the transport device at the position of the charging/extraction chamber to the position of the processing chamber from which the heat-treated workpiece is extracted, and The time (Ty2m) for charging the material to be treated into the above-mentioned transport device, the time (Ty3m) for moving the transport device loaded with the heat-treated material to the position of the charging/extraction chamber, and the time for the heat treatment. The total time of the time (Ty4m) for charging the heat-treated workpiece from the transport device into the charging/extraction chamber and the time (Ty5m) for taking out the heat-treated workpiece from the charging/extraction chamber. (Ty1m+Ty2m+Ty3m+Ty4m+Ty5m),
The above-mentioned charging operation time (TYa) is the time for charging the workpiece before heat treatment into the charging/extraction chamber (Ty6m) and the time for charging the workpiece before heat treatment from the charging/extraction chamber. The time (Ty7m) for loading the workpiece into the transport device in the transport chamber, the time (Ty8m) for moving the transport device loaded with the workpiece before heat treatment to the position of the processing chamber, and the time (Ty8m) for loading the workpiece into the transport device before heat treatment. The time (Ty9m) for charging the processed material from the transport device to the processing chamber, and the time for moving the transport device to the position of the charging/extraction chamber after charging the processed material before heat treatment. (Ty10m) and the total time (Ty6m+Ty7m+Ty8m+Ty9m+Ty10m),
The transport cycle time TY (=TYa+TYb) is (Ty1m+Ty2m+Ty3m+Ty4m+Ty5m+Ty6m+Ty7m+Ty8m+Ty9m+Ty10m), and the switching operation time (BY) is the time (Ty2m) for loading the workpiece heat-treated in the processing chamber into the transport device. , the time (Ty3m) for moving the transfer device loaded with the heat-treated workpiece to the position of the charging/extraction chamber, and the time (Ty3m) for moving the transfer device loaded with the heat-treated workpiece to the position of the charging/extraction chamber; The time to charge the extraction chamber (Ty4m), the time to take out the heat-treated workpiece from the charging/extraction chamber (Ty5m), and the time to charge the workpiece before heat treatment into the charging/extraction chamber. (Ty6m), the time (Ty7m) to load the workpiece before heat treatment from the charging/extraction chamber into the transport device, and the time (Ty7m) to charge the workpiece into the transport device before heat treatment. The total time (Ty2m+Ty3m+Ty4m+Ty5m+Ty6m+Ty7m+Ty8m+Ty9m) of the time to move to the position of the processing chamber (Ty8m) and the time to charge the workpiece before heat treatment from the transfer device to the processing chamber (Ty9m). Heat treatment equipment featuring: 5. The heat treatment equipment according to claim 4, in addition to the charging/extraction chamber, a plurality of processing chambers, and a transfer chamber having a transfer device, there is also a standby area in which the workpieces heat-treated in the processing chamber are kept on standby and cooled. The cooling chamber is integrated,
The above-mentioned extraction operation time (TYb) is equal to the time (Ty2n) for moving the conveyance device at the position of the charging/extraction chamber to the position of the processing chamber from which the heat-treated workpiece is extracted, and The time (Ty3n) for loading the workpiece into the transport device, the time (Ty4n) for moving the heat-treated workpiece to the standby cooling chamber position by the transport device, and the time (Ty4n) for loading the workpiece into the transfer device, The time (Ty5n) for charging the material from the transport device into the standby cooling chamber, and the position of the transport device in the charging/extraction chamber after charging the heat-treated workpiece into the standby cooling chamber. A first extraction operation time (TYb1) consisting of a time for moving (Ty6n), and a time for moving the transfer device to the standby cooling room position after loading the workpiece to the processing chamber before heat treatment. (Ty10n) and the time (Ty11n) for charging the cooled workpiece in the standby cooling room to the transport device, and moving the transport device loaded with the cooled workpiece to the position of the charging/extraction chamber. (Ty12n), time to charge the cooled workpiece from the transport device to the charging/extraction chamber (Ty13n), and time to take out the cooled workpiece from the charging/extraction chamber (Ty14n). The total time (TYb=TYb1+TYb2=Ty2n+Ty3n+Ty4n+Ty5n+Ty6n+Ty10n+Ty11n+Ty12n+Ty13n+Ty14n) is the second extraction operation time (TYb2) consisting of
The above-mentioned charging operation time (TYa) is the time for charging the workpiece before heat treatment into the charging/extraction chamber (Ty1n), and the time (Ty1n) for charging the workpiece before heat treatment into the charging/extraction chamber. The time (Ty7n) for loading the workpiece into the transport device in the transport chamber, the time (Ty8n) for moving the transport device loaded with the workpiece before heat treatment to the position of the processing chamber, and the time (Ty8n) for loading the workpiece into the workpiece before heat treatment. The total time (Ty1n+Ty7n+Ty8n+Ty9n) including the time (Ty9n) for charging the processed material from the transport device to the processing chamber,
The transport cycle time TY (=TYa+TYb) is (Ty1n+Ty2n+Ty3n+Ty4n+Ty5n+Ty6n+Ty7n+Ty8n+Ty9n+Ty10n+Ty11+Ty12+Ty13n+Ty14n),
The switching operation time (BY) is the time (Ty3n) for loading the heat-treated workpiece in the processing chamber into the transport device, and the time (Ty3n) for loading the heat-treated workpiece into the transport device. The time (Ty4n) for moving the heat-treated workpiece to the position of the standby cooling chamber, the time (Ty5n) for loading the heat-treated workpiece from the transport device into the standby cooling room, and the loading time for loading the workpiece into the standby cooling room. The time (Ty6n) for moving the conveyance device to the position of the charging/extraction chamber after loading, and the time for loading the workpiece before heat treatment from the charging/extraction chamber into the conveyance device in the aforementioned conveyance chamber. (Ty7n) and the time (Ty8n) for moving the transport device loaded with the workpiece before heat treatment to the processing chamber position, and the time (Ty8n) to move the workpiece before heat treatment from the transport device to the processing chamber. A heat treatment equipment characterized in that the total time (Ty3n+Ty4n+Ty5+Ty6n+Ty7n+Ty8n+Ty9n) is the charging time (Ty9n). In the heat treatment equipment according to claim 4, in addition to the charging/extraction chamber, a plurality of processing chambers, and a transfer chamber having a transfer device, a storage chamber is integrally provided to store the processed material before heat treatment. Becomes tired,
The above-mentioned extraction operation time (TYb) is equal to the time (Ty6p) for moving the transport device at the position of the charging/extraction chamber to the position of the processing chamber from which the heat-treated workpiece is extracted, and The time (Ty7p) for charging the material to be treated into the aforementioned transport device, the time (Ty8p) for moving the transport device loaded with the heat-treated material to the position of the charging/extraction chamber, and the time (Ty8p) for charging the material to be heat-treated The total time (Ty6p+Ty7p+Ty8p+Ty9p+Ty15p) of the time to charge the processed material from the transport device into the charging/extraction chamber (Ty9p) and the time to take out the processed material after heat treatment from the charging/extraction chamber (Ty15p),
The above-mentioned charging operation time (TYa) is the time for charging the workpiece before heat treatment into the charging/extraction chamber (Ty1p), and the time for charging the workpiece before heat treatment from the charging/extraction chamber. The time (Ty2p) for loading the workpiece into the transporting device in the transporting chamber, the time (Ty3p) for moving the transporting device loaded with the workpiece to be heat-treated to the storage room position, and the time before heat-treating. The time for loading the workpiece from the transport device into the storage chamber (Ty4p), and the time for moving the transport device from the storage chamber position to the charging/extraction chamber position (Ty5p) , the time (Ty10p) for moving the transfer device from the position of the charging/extraction chamber to the position of the storage chamber after loading the heat-treated workpiece into the charging/extraction chamber, and Time (Ty11p) for loading the workpieces into the chamber before heat treatment into the transport device, and moving the transport device loaded with the workpieces before heat treatment from the storage room position to the processing chamber position. (Ty12p), the time (Ty13p) for loading the workpiece before heat treatment from the transport device into the processing chamber, and the time (Ty13p) for loading the workpiece before heat treatment from the position of the processing chamber to the transport device loaded with the workpiece before heat treatment. The total time (Ty1p+Ty2p+Ty3p+Ty4p+Ty5p++Ty10p+Ty11p+Ty12p+Ty13p+Ty14p) including the time to move to the position of the charging/extraction chamber (Ty14p),
The transport cycle time TY (=TYa+TYb) is (Ty1p+Ty2p+Ty3p+Ty4p+Ty5p+Ty6p+Ty7p+Ty8p+Ty9p+Ty10p+Ty11+Ty12+Ty13p+Ty14p+Ty15p),
The switching operation time (BY) is the time (Ty7p) for loading the heat-treated workpiece in the processing chamber into the transport device, and the time for loading the transport device loaded with the heat-treated workpiece.・Time to move the heat-treated workpiece to the extraction chamber position (Ty8p), time to charge the heat-treated workpiece from the transport device to the charging/extraction chamber (Ty9p), and charging/extraction time of the heat-treated workpiece The time (Ty10p) for moving the transport device from the charging/extraction chamber position to the storage chamber position after loading the material into the storage chamber, and The time to load the workpiece into the transport device (Ty11p), the time to move the transport device loaded with the workpiece before heat treatment from the storage chamber position to the processing chamber position (Ty12p), and the workpiece before heat treatment A heat treatment facility characterized in that the total time is (Ty7p+Ty8p+Ty9p+Ty10p+Ty11p+Ty12p+Ty13p) including the time (Ty13p) for charging the material into the processing chamber from the transport device. In the heat treatment equipment according to any one of claims 4, 5, and 7, the material to be treated before being heat-treated is charged into the processing chamber from the charging/extraction chamber via the transfer device in the transfer chamber. When performing heat treatment, the control device is configured to determine the completion time of the heat treatment of the workpieces to be heat-treated by charging the workpieces from the charging/extraction chamber to the processing chamber via the conveyance device, and to determine the completion time of each workpiece being heat-treated in other processing chambers. If the time of completion of the heat treatment of the object to be treated overlaps, or if the time at which the object to be processed stays in the charging/extraction chamber is the same as the time at which the object to be processed stays in the charging/extracting chamber, each object being heat-treated in another processing chamber stays in the charging/extracting chamber. If the time overlaps with the time, the workpiece is not charged from the charging/extraction chamber to the processing chamber via the transfer device, and the judgment is made again after one transfer cycle time, while the heat treatment A heat treatment facility characterized in that, if the completion times do not overlap, the workpiece is charged from the charging/extraction chamber to the processing chamber via the transfer chamber. In the heat treatment equipment according to any one of claims 4 and 6, the workpiece to be treated before being heat-treated from the charging/extraction chamber is charged into the processing chamber via the transfer device in the transfer chamber and heat-treated. In this case, the above-mentioned control device determines that the heat treatment completion time of the workpieces to be heat-treated after being charged into the processing chamber from the charging/extraction chamber via the transport device is different from that of each workpiece being heat-treated in other processing chambers. If the time of completion of the heat treatment overlaps with the time of completion of the heat treatment, or if the time of the stay of the workpiece in the standby cooling room overlaps with the time of stay of the workpiece in the standby cooling room of each workpiece being heat-treated in another processing chamber. , the workpiece is not charged into the processing chamber from the charging/extraction chamber via the transfer device, and the determination is made again after one transfer cycle time, but if the heat treatment completion times do not overlap; The heat treatment equipment is characterized in that the workpiece is charged into the processing chamber from the charging/extraction chamber via the transfer chamber.

Images