JPH04320791A - Vacuum heat treatment furnace - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a vacuum heat treatment furnace capable of performing continuous vacuum heat treatment on a small-sized heat-treated article. CONSTITUTION:There are installed a supply station 10 communicating with the interior of a main body 1, a heating station 11, a cooling station 12 and take out station 14 on the top of the main body 1 which can be held under a vacuum state in such a manner that they may be four-equally spaced. On the other hand, four vertically movable support members 5 for heat-treated articles are laid out ion a rotary index 2 installed inside the above main body 1 in such a fashion that they may be four equally spaced where the support members are located in each of the stations 10, 11, 12 and 13 when they are in a rising position. Furthermore, there are installed to the lower part of the main body 1 four air cylinders 21 which may be engaged with each support member 5 for the heat treated article in such a fashion that they may be equally speed. Each of the heat treated article support members 5 is capable of rising on each air cylinder under the positioned state on the rotary index 2 stated above.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat treatment furnace, and more particularly to a vacuum heat treatment furnace capable of continuously treating relatively small parts in a vacuum.

0002

[Prior art and its problems] Conventionally, vacuum heat treatment furnaces are of the so-called batch type, in which the material to be heat treated is first heat treated in the heat treatment furnace, then taken out and cooled in a cooling furnace. The heat treatment is performed on the object to be heat treated.

[0003] Therefore, even if parts processing is carried out on a continuous production line, there is a problem that continuity is interrupted during the vacuum heat treatment process, and as a result, it takes a long time to complete the parts. Ta.

[0004] Furthermore, since batch processing type heat treatment furnaces heat treat a large number of parts at once, the heat treatment results differ slightly depending on the position within the batch, and therefore, there is a problem that variations occur from part to part. Was.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum heat treatment furnace which can be incorporated into a continuous treatment process and which can substantially uniformize the results of heat treatment of each object to be heat treated.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a supply station, a heating station, a cooling station, and a take-out station, which are connected to the interior of the main body, on the upper part of the main body that can be maintained in a vacuum state. a rotary index is arranged inside the main body, and the heat-treated material supplied at the supply station is heated at the heating station, cooled at the cooling station, and taken out at the take-out station. This is a vacuum heat treatment furnace characterized in that it is configured such that the

[0007] Furthermore, in the present invention, a supply station, a heating station, a cooling station, and a take-out station that communicate with the inside of the main body are arranged at four equal intervals on the upper part of the main body that can be maintained in a vacuum state; A rotary index provided inside the main body is provided with four equally spaced supporting members for the object to be heat treated, which are movable up and down and located inside each station when in the raised position, and at the bottom of the main body, Four air cylinders capable of engaging with each of the support members for the heat-treated object are provided at equal intervals, and each of the support members for the heat-treated object can be raised by each air cylinder while being positioned by the rotary index. This is a vacuum heat treatment furnace characterized by the following.

Further, in the present invention, the supply station and the take-out station include a base portion penetrating a hole provided in the upper surface of the main body, and a main body portion located above the base portion. The heating station and the cooling station have a main body portion that extends through a hole provided in the upper surface of the main body.

The main bodies of the supply station and the take-out station can be separated from the base by an air cylinder, and when separated, the upper part of the support member for the object to be heat-treated can be opened, and each of the stations The inside of the main body of the station is kept in a vacuum, and an inert gas can be introduced into the main body of each station.

0010

[Operation] By adopting the above-mentioned means, this invention
The heat-treated object placed on the heat-treated object table of the heat-treated object support member at the supply station is sequentially conveyed in vacuum to a heating station, a cooling station, and a take-out station by a rotary index, and is subjected to heat treatment.

[0011] During this conveyance, first, it is brought to a lowered position by an air cylinder, moved to a position below the heating station by the rotary index, and then raised by an air cylinder and placed at the heating station.

[0012] Next, it is lowered to a lower position by an air cylinder, moved below the cooling station by the rotary index, and raised by an air cylinder to be located at the cooling station.

[0013]Finally, it is brought to a lowered position by an air cylinder, moved below the take-out station by the rotary index, and raised by an air cylinder and positioned at the take-out station so that it can be taken out.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Examples of the present invention shown in the drawings will be described below. 1 to 3 show an embodiment of a vacuum heat treatment furnace according to the present invention. This vacuum heat treatment furnace has a rotary index table 2 provided inside a main body 1 that can be maintained in a vacuum. A rotating member (not shown) is provided at the protruding end, so that it can be rotated horizontally inside the main body 1.

The rotary index table 2 is provided with heat-treated object support members 5 arranged equidistantly in the circumferential direction (four equidistantly in this embodiment) via bearings 4 so as to be movable up and down within a predetermined range. , this heat-treated object support member 5 is integrally provided with a heat-treated object table 6 on which the heat-treated object A can be placed, and a lower part of this heat-treated object table 6, and extends through the bearing 4. The support portion 7 has a support portion 7 which has an engaging portion 7a at its lower end.

At the upper part of the main body 1, a supply station 10, a heating station 11, a cooling station 12, and a take-out station 13, each of which is in communication with the main body 1, are arranged at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. There is.

The supply station 10 and the take-out station 13 have a base part 14 inserted through a hole communicating with the inside of the main body 1, and an upper end of the base part 14. The main body portion 15 has a closed cylindrical shape.
is provided so as to be movable up and down by an air cylinder 16.

Therefore, the main bodies 15 of the supply station 10 and the take-out station 13 both move up and down by the operation of the air cylinder 16, and when descending, the base part 1
The inside of the main body part 15 which is in contact with the upper surface of the main body 1 can communicate with the inside of the main body 1.

On the other hand, the heating station 11 and the cooling station 12 are both fixed to the upper surface of the main body 1, and the heating station 11 has a cylindrical main body 15 with a closed upper end. The main body part 15 is fixed with its lower end passing through a hole provided in the upper part of the main body 1. Therefore, heating station 1
1 and the inside of the main body part 15 of the cooling station 12 can communicate with the inside of the main body 1.

Inside the main body 15 of the heating station 11, a heater 17 is provided in the innermost part, and a heat shield plate 18 is provided on the outside thereof.Furthermore, a cooling water pipe 19 is provided outside the main body 15. is wound.

On the other hand, the cooling station 12 has a cylindrical main body 15 with a closed upper end.
5 is fixed with its lower end passing through a hole provided in the upper part of the main body 1. Therefore, the inside of the main body 15 of the cooling station 12 can communicate with the inside of the main body 1.

A cooling fan 20 is wound inside the cooling station 12 at the upper part thereof, and a cooling water pipe 19 is wound around the outside of the main body 15.

Each of the stations 1 at the bottom of the main body 1
Air cylinders 21 are provided at positions corresponding to 0, 11, 12, and 13, respectively.
The actuating part thereof can protrude into the interior of the main body 1, and an engaging part 21a is provided at the tip part, and this engaging part 2
1a can be engaged with an engaging part 7a provided at the lower end of the support part 7 of the support member 5 for the object to be heat treated, and in this engaged state, it cannot be engaged in horizontal movement and in the vertical direction. It is designed to move as a unit when it moves.

The main body 1 can be maintained in a vacuum state by being connected to a vacuum pump, and the inside of the main body 15 of each station 10, 11, 12, 13 is also formed to be evacuated by a vacuum pump. In addition, inert gas can be introduced.

Next, the operation of the above will be explained. Note that in the initial state, each support member 5 for the object to be heat-treated is placed in an upper position by the air cylinder 21, and the object to be heat-treated table 6 covers the inside of the main body 15 of each station 10, 11, 12, 13 of the main body 1. It is in the state shown in FIG. 3, where it is closed from the inside.

Then, the main body 15 of the supply station 10 is moved upward by the air cylinder 16 to open the heat treatment target table 6 of the heat treatment target support member 5, and the heat treatment target is placed on the upper part of the heat treatment target table 6. Place the object A, and then operate the air cylinder 21 again to move the main body 15 to the base 14.
In other words, the inside of the main body portion 15 is in a sealed state.

Further, the interior of the main body 1 is maintained in a vacuum state by a vacuum pump installed in advance, while the interior of the main body portion 15 of the supply station 10 is maintained in a vacuum state by a vacuum pump.

After that, the heat-treated object support member 5 on which the heat-treated object A is placed is moved to the corresponding air cylinder 2.
1 is operated and positioned downward, and the lower surface of the heat-treated object table 6 is held in contact with the upper surface of the bearing 4 attached to the rotary index table 2.

It should be noted that when this air cylinder 21 is operated, all the other air cylinders 21 are also operated at the same time to bring the corresponding heat-treated object support members 5 to the lower position.

[0030] In this state, the rotary index table 2 is operated and rotated by a predetermined angle, that is, 90° in this embodiment. At this time, the engagement between the lower end engaging part 7a of the support part 7 of each heat-treated object support member 5 and the upper end engaging part 21a of the operating part of the air cylinder 21 is released, so that the rotation of the rotary index table 2 is prevented. There is no danger of being hindered.

When the rotation of the rotary index table 2 is completed, the lower end engaging portion 7a of the support portion 7 of each heat-treated object supporting member 5 and the upper end engaging portion 21a of the operating portion of the air cylinder 21 are connected to each other. Since they are in the engaged state, when each air cylinder 21 is actuated, each heat-treated object support member 5 is raised to an upper position, and the heat-treated object table 6 is moved to the next station 10, 11, 12, 13. Main body part 1
5 is closed from the inside of the main body 1.

Therefore, the heat-treated object A placed on the upper surface of the heat-treated object table 6 of the heat-treated object support member 5 at the supply station 10 is located inside the main body 15 of the heating station 11, and A predetermined heat treatment is performed.

When the heat treatment is completed, the rotary index table 2 and the air cylinder 21 are operated in the same manner as described above, and the heat treatment target A is placed on the heat treatment target table 6 of the heat treatment target support member 5 on the upper surface thereof. is placed in the cooling station 12 and subjected to cooling treatment,
Then, it moves to the take-out station 13.

[0034] The heat-treated object A that has reached the take-out station 13 and has been heat-treated is transferred to the take-out station 1.
The main body portion 15 of No. 3 can be taken out by moving with the air cylinder 16.

Therefore, with the above-described configuration, first, the object to be heat treated support member 5 on which the object to be heated A is placed at the supply station 10 is transferred to the heating station 11.
Before being heated at the supply station 10, the workpiece support member 5 is placed on the workpiece table 6 of the workpiece support member 5 located at the supply station 10.
Next, the next heat-treated object A is placed, and the heat-treated object A is sequentially placed on the heat-treated object table 6 of the heat-treated object supporting member 5 located at the supply station 10, and then the heat-treated object A is heat-treated. It can be carried out continuously, and the vacuum heat treatment furnace according to the present invention can be incorporated into a continuous processing line for objects to be heat treated.

[0036] Furthermore, since the heat treatment of the object to be heat treated can be carried out continuously, variations in the results of heat treatment of the object to be heat treated can be reduced and the quality can be made almost constant.

[0037] In the above embodiment, one heating station was used and the entire process was performed in four stages. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and heat treatment at multiple temperatures can be performed depending on the number of heating stations. can be applied.

[0038]

[Effects of the Invention] By having the above-described structure, the present invention can continuously heat-treat the objects to be heat-treated, so that it can be incorporated into a continuous line for the objects to be heat-treated, thereby reducing the processing time of the objects to be heat-treated. can be shortened, thereby increasing the production efficiency of the production line. Furthermore, since the vacuum heat treatment can be performed continuously, the heat treatment results of the heat-treated object can be made almost uniform, and variations in quality can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a vacuum heat treatment furnace according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a partially cut away state of the vacuum heat treatment furnace according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view showing the state of each station of the vacuum heat treatment furnace according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1...Body 2...Rotary index table 3...Axis 4...Bearing 5...Heat-treated object support member 6...Heat-treated object stand 7...Support part 7a, 21a...engaging portion 10... Supply station 11... Heating station 12...Cooling station 13...Removal station 14...Base part 15...Body part 16, 21...Air cylinder 17... Heater 18...Heat shielding plate 19...Cooling water pipe 20...Cooling fan A...Things to be heat treated

Claims (7)

[Claims] [Claim 1] At the top of the main body that can be maintained in a vacuum state,
A supply station, a heating station, a cooling station, and a take-out station that communicate with the inside of the main body are respectively disposed, and a rotary index is disposed inside the main body, and the heat treatment object supplied at the supply station is A vacuum heat treatment furnace characterized in that the furnace is heated at a station, cooled at a cooling station, and then taken out at the takeout station. [Claim 2] At the top of the main body that can be maintained in a vacuum state,
A supply station, a heating station, a cooling station, and a take-out station that communicate with the interior of the main body are arranged at four equal intervals, while a rotary index provided inside the main body is movable up and down and has a position in the raised position. At the time, four support members for the object to be heat-treated are arranged at equal intervals located inside each of the stations, and four air cylinders capable of engaging with the support members for the object to be heat-treated are arranged at the lower part of the main body at equal intervals. A vacuum heat treatment furnace, characterized in that each support member for the object to be heat treated is capable of being raised by each air cylinder while being positioned by the rotary index. 3. The supply station and the take-out station are comprised of a base part that passes through a hole provided on the top surface of the main body, and a main body part located above the base part. The vacuum heat treatment furnace according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The vacuum heat treatment furnace according to claim 1, wherein the heating station and the cooling station each have a main body that extends through a hole provided in the upper surface of the main body. 5. The main body parts of the supply station and the take-out station can be separated from the base by an air cylinder, and when separated, the upper part of the support member for the object to be heat-treated can be opened. 2. The vacuum heat treatment furnace according to 2. 6. The vacuum heat treatment furnace according to claim 1, wherein the interior of the main body of each of the stations is maintained in a vacuum. 7. The vacuum heat treatment furnace according to claim 1, wherein an inert gas can be introduced into the main body of each of the stations.