JPH038949Y2 - - Google Patents

Abstract

1. Continuous furnace comprising a furnace part (15) for heating workpieces, a cooling part (16, 16a) for subsequently cooling down the workpieces, and a conveyor belt which conveys workpieces through the furnace part (15) and the cooling part (16, 16a) to a first delivery station (33), a second delivery station (35, 35a) being provided for removing workpieces from the furnace part (15), characterized in that a switch (30; 50) is provided between furnace part (15) and cooling part (16, 16a), via which switch (30; 50) the workpieces, under the effect of gravitational force, alternatively pass either to the cooling part (16, 16a) having adjoining first delivery station (33) or directly to the second delivery station (35, 35a).

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The invention includes a heating furnace section for heating a workpiece, a cooling section for cooling the workpiece, and a heating furnace section for each workpiece. and a continuous processing furnace comprising a conveyor for conveying within the cooling section.

[Prior Art] According to German Patent Application No. 2601658, a belt conveyor type continuous processing furnace used for heat treating sintered materials has already been proposed. In this continuous processing furnace, the sintered workpiece is conveyed from its charging station by a conveyor belt to a heating furnace section where the sintered workpiece is first treated with the stearate contained therein. The structure is such that it can be passed sequentially through a so-called stearate zone, which is used for vaporizing the sintering process, and then through a so-called sintering zone, where the actual sintering process is carried out. The temperature of the sintered workpiece in this sintering zone is approximately 1100°C. The furnace section of such continuous processing furnaces is usually connected to a cooling section with an elongated cooling zone for reducing the temperature of the sintered workpiece back to room temperature. At the end of the cooling section, the sintered workpieces can be removed from the conveyor belt delivery station. In this case, the entire process until the sintered workpiece reaches the charging station takes place in a protective gas atmosphere.

It is already known to modify such processing furnaces to provide a second removal station at the end of the heating furnace section, which can access the furnace from the side. In order to ensure that the protective gas atmosphere in the furnace remains undisturbed unless interference occurs, this second removal station is provided with a closing flap.

Such a second removal station can directly remove the sintered workpiece which has just left the heating furnace section, which still has an operating temperature of, for example, 1100°C, and, while maintaining this operating temperature, separate it. processing stations, such as press equipment.

The conventional method for this purpose was purely manual, in which the worker first opened the flap of the second discharge station and applied the high temperature with a suitable heat-resistant gripper. The sintered workpieces were removed from the conveyor belt and then either transferred onto other conveying devices or fed directly to another processing station. If such a conventional method is adopted, the sintered workpiece that has not been removed passes through the second removal station and is cooled again until it reaches room temperature in the cooling zone of the cooling section, as described above. It is then either sent to another use or fed back to the furnace section to be reheated to operating temperature.

It is clear that this method of operation for removing the sintered workpiece from the side at the end of the furnace section is cumbersome and requires considerable working power, making automation of the working process impossible. It is.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] Therefore, the problem of the invention is to improve the continuous processing furnace of the type mentioned at the beginning, and to remove the workpiece from the heating furnace section or from the heating furnace while keeping the workpiece at the operating temperature. The aim is to enable extraction from the end of the part without the use of removal tools that must be handled by hand, thereby making the working process regular, almost unhindered, and capable of being automated. .

[Means for solving the problem] According to the measures of the present invention proposed to solve the above problems, a chute is disposed between the heating furnace section and the cooling section, and the chute The workpiece is selectively conveyed via the chute to a cooling station with a first discharge station or to a second discharge station separate therefrom.

[Functions and Effects of the Invention] By taking such measures, the problems of the invention are completely solved. This is because the chute selectively switches over the type of material, so that workpieces such as sintered workpieces can be processed, for example, at the end of the cooling zone of a cooling section connected to a furnace section. This is because it can be fed by gravity either to a first discharge station or to a second discharge station, for example for conveyance to a press or similar device.

This ability to force the workpiece through the chute under the influence of gravity eliminates the need for complex displacement devices, which are extremely difficult to use in areas with high operating temperatures.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, track segments whose chute is oriented in different directions,
In particular, it has a curved section and a straight section which can be selectively connected to the end of the chute.

If such measures are taken, the workpieces are fed directly onto the chute from a conveyor (for example a conveyor belt). In contrast, deflecting the workpiece in one direction or the other provides the advantage of positioning it at the end of the chute.

Therefore, since the movable parts in this case are already located at a certain distance from the high temperature range in the heating furnace region, it is almost impossible for the entire processing furnace to malfunction or stop functioning.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the chute is
Two guide plates are butt-connected to each other in a T-shape, and in one pivoting position the workpiece slides through one of the guide plates towards the first removal station; In a further pivoting position, the chute is pivotably arranged in such a way that the workpiece slides via the other guide plate towards the second removal station.

In this embodiment, the switching device is configured as a chute and has an extremely simple structure, so although it is certainly located quite close to the high temperature part of the furnace, operation can be performed without any problems. It is fully guaranteed that

The foregoing chute is advantageously applied to applications in which the first and second removal stations occupy positions facing each other.

As already mentioned at the beginning, it is particularly effective to use the continuous processing furnace of the present invention when a sintered workpiece is used and the heating furnace section and cooling section are configured to be gas-tight against the protective gas. It is.

Furthermore, in such applications, it is particularly advantageous if the transition from the conveyor end of the heating furnace section to the conveyor start of the cooling section is configured as a gas-tight passage for the protective gas.

If such measures are taken, the chute can be placed in a gas-tight passage with respect to the protective gas, so that the entire deflection process of the chute takes place in the protective gas.

Furthermore, according to an embodiment of the invention, provision is made to arrange the workpieces on the conveyor belt along a line oblique to the direction of their conveyance.

The advantage of this measure is that each workpiece individually approaches the front transition edge located at the end of the conveyor, even when the workpiece density on the conveyor is high. workpieces can be slid down one by one onto a chute, for example.

[Example] Next, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to an example shown in the accompanying drawings. Applications include brazing (brass soldering) and high temperature soldering, bright annealing and hardening operations in controlled atmospheres with continuous treatment processes. In FIGS. 1 and 2, for the sake of clarity, devices for heating, controlling, supplying and discharging protective gas, etc., which themselves belong to well-known technology, are shown. I didn't do anything and omitted it.

As is clear from FIGS. 1 and 2, the belt conveyor type continuous processing furnace 10 according to the present invention has a heating furnace section 15 and a cooling section 16, which are three-dimensionally separated from the heating furnace section 15. cooled area 1
6 extends parallel to and laterally to the furnace section 15.

The furnace section 15 shown in FIG. 1 is constructed in such a way that it exhibits a slight upward slope when viewed in the conveying direction, the upward slope angle 17 being preferably approximately
It is set at 10°.

A sintered workpiece 19 is placed at the starting end of the heating furnace section 15.
The charging station is designated by 18,
At this charging station 18, the sintered workpiece 1 is
9 is mounted on the first conveyor belt 20.
The first conveyor belt 20 reaches the inlet 21 of the furnace section 15 with a slight upward slope angle 17 and from there first a stearate zone 22 and then a sintering zone 23, each in a manner known per se. (Figure 2).

Furthermore, the sintered workpieces 19 placed on this first conveyor belt 20 then reach an end chamber 25 located at the uppermost point in the furnace section 15 .

This sintered workpiece 19 is then transferred to a transport roll 28 forming the end of the first conveyor belt 20.
falls in the direction of arrow 27 onto a chute 26 which extends in a gas-tight passage 29 towards the cooling site 16 .

The spout of this chute 26 is located at a switching device 30, which is constructed as a horizontally displaceable slide in the plane of the drawing of FIG. In the position shown in FIG.
6 opens into the curved section 31 of this switching device 30, so that the sintered workpiece 19
6 onto the second conveyor belt 32. After passing through the cooling zone 24 of the cooling station 16, the sintered workpiece 19 is transferred to the second conveyor belt 3.
2 can be taken out from a first unloading station 33 provided at the end of the 2.

On the other hand, if the switching device 30 is switched by a sliding movement to the left into a position not shown in FIG. 19 is a switching device 30
for example, a second
It slides down into the unloading station 35 of.

We will now describe the mode of operation of the belt conveyor continuous processing furnace 10 shown in FIGS. , a high temperature furnace section 15 having a stearate zone 22 and a sintering zone 23 where the stearate of the sintered workpiece 19 is evaporated. The heating furnace part 15 is
Due to this heating process, it is filled with a hot protective gas, which tends to rise, so that the point of highest temperature is located in the area of the end chamber 25. However, the upper part of this terminal chamber 25 is closed, and the outlet is provided only in the lower part with the chute 26 interposed therebetween.
Hot protective gas cannot escape from the termination chamber 25, as a result of which it is possible to minimize heat losses.

Continuing with the sintered workpiece 19 that has undergone the primary treatment,
That is, when secondary processing is to be performed in the press device 36 while the temperature remains high, the switching device 30 switches to the second
The sintered workpiece 19, which occupies a position not shown in the figures and has reached the switching device 30, slides down directly into the pressing device 36.

However, if, for example, too many sintered workpieces 19 are placed on the first conveyor belt 20 or if a stagnation of the conveyance is caused due to a disturbance occurring in the area of the pressing device 36, , when more sintered workpieces 19 arrive at the press device 36 than can be instantaneously processed, the switching device 3
0 is switched to the position shown in FIG. is cooled to By the way, this surplus sintered workpiece 19
may be used separately or may be resupplied to the heating furnace section 15.

FIG. 3 shows the plane of the first conveyor belt 20 in the area of the transport rollers 28 on a significantly enlarged scale. As is clear from this enlarged plan view, the sintered workpiece 19 as a workpiece is
It is arranged along a line 40 which is inclined at an angle of, for example, 45° to the conveying direction. If such an arrangement is adopted, despite the relatively high material loading density on the first conveyor belt 20, the sintered workpieces 19 can be sequentially loaded onto the chute 26 from the outer edge of the conveyor roll 28. It can be dropped. In other words, as shown in FIG. 3, the sintered workpiece 19a is already about to fall from the edge of the conveyor roll 28, and then the sintered workpieces 19b, 19c, 19d, etc. are caused to fall one after another. .

Therefore, at the outlet of the switching device 30, the sintered workpiece 1
9, 19a, 19b, 19c, 19d... appear one after another, and at that point the switching device 3
It is possible to decide whether to switch 0 or not.

FIG. 4 shows very simply another embodiment of the belt conveyor type continuous processing furnace according to the invention. In this example, 15' and 1
6' indicates a heating furnace part and a cooling part, respectively;
As can be seen, the furnace section 15' extends horizontally above the cooling section 16', and the gas-tight passages 29' are located at the same locations as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. It is located in In this embodiment, the charging station 18' and the unloading station 33' are located one above the other. Furthermore, in this case, as indicated by reference numeral 16a', the cooling section 1
6' may be bent so as to follow different progression lines. In other words, this cooling section 16' does not necessarily have to extend below and parallel to the heating section 15'.

In a further embodiment of the invention, which is shown schematically in FIG. is formed above the channel 29'', whereas the cooling section 16'' extends with an upward slope in the conveying direction, so that the charging station 18'' and the first unloading station 33'' are again the same. It will occupy the height.

In this case, it goes without saying that the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 can be constructed in further different forms.

FIG. 6 shows a variant similar to the device of FIG. 1 with a differently configured switching device 50, partially cut away.

In this embodiment as well, the terminal end of the first conveyor belt 20 formed by the conveyor rolls 28 is disposed diagonally above the second conveyor belt 32a; 32
a is not arranged parallel to and opposite the first conveyor belt 20 as in the embodiments of FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 5, but rather Depending on the particular space conditions, it is configured as a front extension of the first conveyor belt 20, whether in a straight arrangement or in a bent arrangement. .

A switching device 50 is arranged diagonally below the conveyor roll 28, particularly below in the direction towards the second conveyor belt 32a, and has a function as will be explained in detail in the description of FIG. 7 below.

As is clear from FIG. 7, the switching device 50 has a first guide plate 51 that is pivotable about a first shaft 52 that is fixed in position. A second shaft 53 is provided on the first guide plate 51 at a certain distance from the first shaft 52, and a second guide plate 54 is pivotally connected to the second shaft 53. ing. Second guide plate 5
The opposite free end at 4 slides on a base, for example as indicated at 55 in FIG.

In the position of the switching device 50, which is shown in solid lines in FIG.
a and is slid on a first guide plate 51 for deflection guidance. This switching device position, shown in solid lines in FIG. 7, is therefore functionally equivalent to the position of switching device 30 shown in FIG.

However, in this embodiment, when the switching device 50 is switched, it occupies the position indicated by the dashed line, in which position the first guide plate 51
swivels away from the trajectory of motion of the sliding sintered workpiece 19 and occupies the position 51' indicated by the dashed line, so that the sintered workpiece 9 now moves into the open second
reaches above the surface of the guide plate 54. On this second guide plate 54, the sintered workpiece 19
is the transport roll 28 and the second conveyor belt 32a.
and 35a in FIG. 6 leading to an arrow tension press or similar device.
2. Slide towards the second unloading station, indicated by .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of a continuous processing furnace according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the continuous processing furnace according to Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a loading according to the present invention. FIGS. 4 and 5 are plan views showing a greatly enlarged conveyor belt, respectively, and FIGS. 7 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the switching device similar to FIG. 1, partially cut away to clearly show the function of one embodiment of the switching device, and FIG. 7 shows the switching device shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view for clearly explaining the functions of the device. List of codes, 10... Belt conveyor type continuous processing furnace, 15, 15', 15'', 15a... Heating furnace section, 16, 16', 16'', 16a... Cooling section,
16a'... Possible position of cooling part 16', 17
... Uphill angle, 18, 18', 18'' ... Charging station for sintered workpiece, 19, 19a, 19
b, 19c, 19d ~... Sintered workpiece, 20...
First conveyor belt, 21... Inlet of heating furnace section, 22... Stearate zone, 23... Sintering zone, 24... Cooling zone, 25... End chamber,
26... Chute, 27... Arrow indicating the falling direction of the sintered workpiece, 28... Conveyance roll, 29,2
9', 29''... Gas-tight passageway, 30... Switching device, 31... Curved section, 32, 32a... Second conveyor belt, 33, 33', 33''... First discharge station, 34... Straight line section, 35,3
5a...Second unloading station, 36...Press device, 50...Switching device, 51, 51'...First guide plate, 52...First shaft, 53...
...Second shaft, 54...Second guide plate, 5
5...Foundation.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] 1. A heating furnace section for heating the workpiece, a cooling section for cooling the workpiece, and a section for transporting the workpiece from the charging station to the terminal end of the heating furnace section. a first conveyor; a second conveyor for receiving workpieces from an end of the first conveyor and transporting the workpieces to a first discharge station of the cooling section; and a chute connected to the end of the first conveyor. In a continuous processing furnace, a chute is located lower than the end of the first conveyor to guide workpieces falling from the end of the first conveyor by gravity, and the chute is connected to a cooling section. It is connected not only to a second unloading station different from the first unloading station of the aforementioned cooling section, but also to function as a switching device to selectively switch between the cooling section or the second unloading station. A continuous processing furnace characterized by being configured to feed workpieces. 2. The above-mentioned claim for utility model registration, characterized in that the chute is provided with track sections oriented in different directions, in particular a curved section and a straight section that can be selectively connected to the ends of the chute. A continuous processing furnace according to scope 1. 3. The chute has a shape in which two guide plates are butted against each other to form a T-shape, and in one pivot position,
such that the workpiece slides via one guide plate towards the first output station and in another pivoted position the workpiece slides via the other guide plate towards the second output station. The continuous processing furnace according to claim 1, wherein the chute is arranged so as to be able to rotate. 4. The continuous processing furnace according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second unloading station is guided toward the press device. 5. Claims 1 to 5 of the above-mentioned utility model registration claims are characterized in that a sintered workpiece is used as the workpiece, and the heating furnace section and the cooling section are each configured to be gas-tight with respect to a protective gas. 4
The continuous processing furnace according to any one of paragraphs. 6. Claims of the above-mentioned utility model registration, characterized in that the transition region from the end of the first conveyor in the heating furnace section to the beginning of the conveyor in the cooling section is configured as a gas-tight passage for the protective gas. The continuous processing furnace according to item 5. 7. The utility model according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the workpieces are arranged on the first conveyor along a line diagonal to the conveyance direction. continuous processing furnace.