JPH0587461A - Continuous atmospheric furnace - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve durability and quality of the treatment and multiply the treatment in a continuous atmospheric furnace which is provided with a plurality of furnaces that treat objects to be treated in the atomospheric gas or under specified condition in vacuum and provides various treatments to the object to be treated by using those furnaces. CONSTITUTION:Atmosphere maintaining means 27, 28 that maintain the inside of a transportation chamber 4 provided with a transportation means 12 for an object W to be treated in an atmosphere that prevents the chamber inside from being exposed to the outside air. A plurality of furnaces 5,6, 7 for treating the object to be treated in the atmosphere or in vacuum are arranged in the state that those furnaces are in parallel in the direction of the object W transportation in the transportation chamber 4, and the furnace ports 8 of those furnaces 5, 6, 7 are connected to the transportation chamber l+. A furnace door 10 that partitions airtightly the inside of the furnace and transportation chamber 4 is provided respectively for the furnaces 5, 6, 7, and the objects W in the transportation chambers 4 are loaded to the furnaces 5, 6, 7 and, at the same time, loading and unloading means that draw the objects W in the furnaces 5, 6, 7 into the transportation chamber 4 are provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a continuous atmosphere furnace in which a plurality of furnaces for processing a processed material are provided under a predetermined processing condition in a vacuum, and various processing is performed on the processed material using these furnaces.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an atmospheric furnace, generally, a charging / extracting table arranged in the atmosphere and means for charging / extracting a processed material through the furnace door are provided in front of and behind the furnace. It is known that, in this type, when multiple treatments are sequentially applied to a treatment product using multiple furnaces, the treatment product is transferred from the extraction from one furnace to the charging to the next furnace. There was a constraint that the processed material was exposed to the atmosphere during the process.

Therefore, conventionally, as a continuous atmosphere furnace for performing various treatments on a processed material while preventing the processed material from being exposed to the atmosphere, as shown in FIG. In the above, a furnace in which the inside of the furnace is divided into a plurality of processing chambers 100a to 100d by the intermediate door 102 and the in-furnace transferred processed materials W are sequentially processed under predetermined processing conditions has been put into practical use. There is.

[0004]

However, in the conventional continuous atmosphere furnace as described above, each processing chamber 100a-10
0d is an atmospheric gas species, a vacuum in the furnace,
Although the processing conditions such as temperature and pressure are different, the intermediate door 1
Since the atmospheric leak from each processing chamber 100a to 100d due to the sealing failure of 02 directly extends to the adjacent processing chamber, it is difficult to maintain the processing conditions of each processing chamber 100a to 100d strictly and stably. As a result, there is a problem that the quality is deteriorated.

Further, since the conveying means 101 is installed in the furnace, the durability of the conveying means 101 is greatly reduced due to the strength reduction due to exposure to the high temperature atmosphere in the furnace, and in order to cope with it. There is also a problem that the device cost of the conveying means 101 increases.

In addition, since the tunnel-shaped furnace itself is the processing material transport path, the processing steps in some processing chambers are bypassed, and the processing of the prior order is performed in the situation where the subsequent processing material W exists. There is also a problem that the product W cannot be sent back and the process of the previous process is repeated, and the content of the process as a whole is limited, so that it is not possible to cope with multi-product production.

An object of the present invention is to prevent the above-mentioned problems from occurring by adopting a rational transportation mode in performing various kinds of processing on the processed material by a plurality of furnaces while surely preventing atmospheric exposure of the processed material. There is a point to solve it.

[0008]

The continuous atmosphere furnace according to the present invention is characterized in that it has a transfer chamber provided with a transfer means for the object to be processed, and an atmosphere maintaining means for maintaining the inside of the transfer chamber in an atmosphere for preventing atmospheric exposure. A plurality of furnaces for processing a processed material in an atmosphere gas or in a vacuum are arranged side by side in a line in the transfer direction of the processed material in the transfer chamber, and the furnace ports of the furnaces are connected to the transfer chamber. , A furnace door for airtightly partitioning the inside of the furnace and the chamber of the transfer chamber is provided in each of the furnaces, and while the transferred processed product in the transfer chamber is loaded into the furnace of the furnace, the processed product in the furnace of the furnace The charging / extracting means for extracting the above into the chamber of the transfer chamber is provided, and the operation / effect thereof is as follows.

[0009]

In other words, in the above-mentioned characteristic configuration, in the transfer chamber in which the atmosphere maintaining means maintains the atmosphere exposed to the atmosphere, the processed material is transferred by the transferring means to the furnace corresponding to the required processing among the parallel furnaces, The furnace door of the furnace is opened, and the processed material is charged into the furnace by the charging / extracting means.

Then, the furnace door is closed and the charged material is subjected to a predetermined treatment in the atmosphere gas in the furnace or in a vacuum, and then the furnace door is opened to charge the treated material by the charging / extracting means into the furnace. Extract from inside to transfer chamber and close furnace door again.

Further, in the case of subjecting the processed material to the following other processing, subsequently, the processed material is transferred to the corresponding furnace in the transfer chamber by the transfer means, and the same operation as described above is repeated.

[0012]

That is, the furnace and the furnace are separated from each other by the furnace doors in a double manner and with the atmosphere in the transfer chamber interposed between the furnace doors. Atmosphere leaks from the processing chamber do not directly reach the adjacent processing chamber, so the prescribed processing conditions for each furnace can be maintained more strictly and more stably than before, thus improving quality. Can be achieved.

Further, according to the characteristic configuration of the present invention, since the inside of the furnace and the transfer chamber are separate and the transfer means in the transfer chamber is not exposed to the high temperature atmosphere in the furnace, the transfer means is exposed to the high temperature atmosphere in the furnace. The durability of the transfer means can be greatly improved and the durability of the transfer means can be greatly improved as compared with the above-mentioned conventional configuration in which the transfer means is installed in the furnace, that is, a structure in which the processed material is sequentially transferred to the plurality of partitioned processing chambers in the furnace. Since the required strength against heat can be reduced, the device cost of the transfer means can be reduced.

In addition, a plurality of processing objects can be processed in parallel by a plurality of furnaces, and when unnecessary processing is performed depending on the processing objects, the furnace corresponding to the unnecessary processing is bypassed or duplicate processing is required. Can perform re-charging after returning to the furnace that was once charged, regardless of the order in which the furnaces are installed side-by-side, which makes it possible to diversify the processing contents and provide high adaptability to multi-product production. I arrived.

[0015]

EXAMPLES Next, examples will be described.

1 to 6 show a continuous atmosphere furnace,
Reference numeral 1 is a charging vessible, 2 is an extraction vessible, 3 is a quenching tank, and 4 is a tunnel-shaped transfer chamber having an airtight structure that extends over the charging vessible 1 and the extraction vessible 2.

Reference numeral 5 is a heating furnace, 6 is a holding furnace, and 7 is a temperature lowering furnace. These furnaces 5, 6 and 7 are arranged above the transfer chamber 4 side by side in the transfer direction of the processed material in the transfer chamber 4, and each furnace 5 , 6, 7
The furnace opening 8 provided in the hearth part of the above is connected to the transfer chamber 4.

It should be noted that the heating furnace 5 and the temperature lowering furnace 7 are each provided with a charging / extracting furnace port 8, and the holding furnace 6 is provided with a separate charging / extracting furnace port 8. is there.

Further, in each of the furnaces 5, 6 and 7, N ₂ , H ₂ ,
In-furnace atmosphere such as heater, atmospheric gas inlet / outlet, decompression means, pressurization means, etc. for making the inside of the furnace a predetermined processing condition for the kind of atmosphere gas such as Ar, vacuum inside the furnace, temperature and pressure The holding means 6 is equipped with a maintenance means, and the holding furnace 6 is provided with a transfer device 9 for transferring the processed material W from the charging furnace port 8 side to the extraction furnace port 8 side.

Each of the furnaces 5, 6 and 7 is equipped with a furnace door 10 which closes the furnace mouth 8 to airtightly separate the inside of the furnace and the inside of the transfer chamber 4, and each furnace door 10 is a chain drive type. It is configured to be opened and closed by raising and lowering in the transfer chamber 4 by the raising and lowering device 11.

On the other hand, the transfer chamber 4 is internally provided with a roller-type transfer device 12 for indoor-transferring the processing object W received from the charging vestible 1 into the chamber.
In the configuration 2, the drive system and the operation system are independent for each portion corresponding to each furnace port 8, and the independent portions 12A are continuously connected in series over the entire length in the transfer chamber 4.

Regarding the specific structure of each independent portion 12A of the roller type conveying device 12, the rollers 13 in the horizontal posture, one end of which is projected outside the conveying chamber 4, are arranged in parallel to each other on both sides of the conveying chamber 4. The rollers 13 are arranged side by side in the object conveying direction, and the protruding ends of these rollers 13 are held by bearings 15 attached to the common support frame 14 to support each roller 13 in a cantilevered manner.

The common support frames 14 on both sides of the transfer chamber 4 are freely movable by a cylinder 16 between a position close to the side wall 4a of the transfer chamber 4 and a position spaced outward from the side wall 4a of the transfer chamber 4. By the operation of moving the common support frame 14, a group of rows of rollers 13 on each side of the transfer chamber 4 is moved to a transfer function position where the tip of each roller 13 protrudes toward the center of the transfer chamber 4. And the retreat position retreated toward both side walls.

As for the roller driving structure, a horizontal posture spline shaft 19 which is interlocked with a roller driving motor 17 through a chain transmission mechanism 18 is provided so as to extend over the left and right common support frames 14, and each common The drive sprocket 20 held by the support frame 14 is spline-fitted to the spline shaft 19 so as to allow the above-described movement operation of each common support frame 14, and the left and right common support frames 14 are attached to each roller 13. A passive sprocket 21 is linked to a drive sprocket 20 via a chain 22.

That is, in a state where the roller 13 row groups on both sides of the transport chamber 4 are positioned at the transport function position, the rollers 13 of the roller row groups are driven to rotate in synchronization with each other, so that the tray 23 is passed through. The roller-type transport device 1 conveys the processed material W placed in a state of straddling both roller rows 13 groups.
2 is configured so as to be sequentially delivered to each independent portion 12A, and by arranging the roller 13 row groups on both sides of the transfer chamber 4 at the retreat position, each furnace door 10 is opened and closed. The ascending / descending path of each furnace door 10 in the transfer chamber 4 is ensured.

In the figure, 24 is a guide mechanism for guiding the movement of the common support frame 14, and 25 is a seal member for sealing the penetrating portion of the roller 13 on the side wall 4a of the transfer chamber 4.

On the other hand, each furnace door 10 is connected to the transfer chamber 4 as described above.
By arranging the row of rollers 13 on both sides of each of the rollers in the retreat position to secure the ascending / descending path, the rollers 13 can be lowered below the rollers 13 in the transfer chamber 4, and the upper surface of each furnace door 10 can be lowered. As the furnace door 10 rises from the lowermost position below the roller 13, the part of the tray receives the workpiece W on the roller 13 by projecting upward from between the rollers 13 in the transport function position. A tool 26 is provided.

That is, with the roller 13 row group corresponding to the furnace door 10 to be opened and closed positioned in the retracted position, the lifting device 1
1, the furnace door 10 is operated to descend and open, and the furnace door 10 is made to stand by at the lowest position below the roller 13, and then the processing object W is rolled in a state where the row group of rollers 13 is returned to the transport function position. Another independent part 12 of the automatic transfer device 12
It is conveyed to a position above the furnace door 10 in the standby state in cooperation with A, and then the furnace door 10 is lifted from the lowest position by the lifting device 11 so that the processing object W on the roller 13 is received by the receiving tool 26. The roller 1 in this lifted state.
The three-row group is moved to the retracted position, and then the lifting device 11 continues to be used by the lifting device 11 in a state where the lifting device 11 is also used as a charging / extracting means for loading and unloading the processed product W into the furnace.
To raise the workpiece W into the furnace through the furnace port 8 and close the furnace door 10.

Further, the extraction of the processed material from the inside of the furnace to the inside of the transfer chamber 4 is carried out in the reverse order of the above.

In the above construction, the processed material W is transferred to each furnace 5,
Regarding the operating procedure for processing in Nos. 6 and 7, first, the processed material W
Is charged into the charging vestibile 1 through the charging door 1a, and then the inside of the charging vestibile 1 is exhausted by a vacuum pump, and then a gas such as N ₂ is introduced into the charging vestibile 1, or A gas of about 5 times the vestibile volume is introduced into the charging vestibile 1 to purge the inside of the charging vestibile 1.

After that, the processed material W in the charging vestibile 1 is loaded into the transfer chamber 4 which is maintained in the atmosphere gas space as an atmosphere exposure preventing atmosphere by using the atmosphere gas inlet 27 and the atmosphere gas outlet 28. Receiving via the transfer chamber charging door 29, and selecting one of the furnaces 5, 6 and 7 according to the processing content of the received processed material W, the furnace door 1 of the furnace is selected.
0 is lowered to the lower side of the roller 13 and made to stand by, and the received processed material W is conveyed to the lower side of the charging target furnace by the roller type conveying device 12.

Then, the workpiece W is charged into the charging target furnace by the raising operation of the furnace door 10 as described above by the lifting device 11, and the furnace door 10 is closed to partition the inside of the furnace and the inside of the transfer chamber 4 in an airtight manner. In this state, the in-furnace processed material W is processed under predetermined processing conditions of the respective furnaces 5, 6 and 7 regarding atmospheric gas species, in-furnace vacuumization, temperature, pressure, etc., and after the processing, the charging operation is The workpiece W is extracted from the inside of the furnace onto the roller type transfer device 12 in the transfer chamber 4 by the descending operation of the furnace door 10 by the lifting device 11 in the reverse operation.

The roller 13 is used for extracting the processed product from the furnace.
The furnace door 10 that has been lowered to the lower side of the
The raising / lowering device 11 raises as the operation of inserting the next processed material W into the furnace, or as a simple closing operation without placing the next processed material W.

On the other hand, the processed product W extracted from the inside of the furnace onto the roller type transfer device 12 in the transfer chamber 4 is subjected to a plurality of processes, the other furnaces 5 and 5 are processed in the order according to the processing contents.
6 and 7, or after returning to the original furnace after being treated in another furnace, the lifting device 11 similar to the above
Processing is repeated in a form of repeating charging / extracting by means of, and thereafter, it is received from the transfer chamber extraction door 30 to the extraction vessible 2, and the quenching is performed in the quenching tank 3 according to the processing content, and finally the extraction door 2a. Extract from Vestible 2 via.

Regarding the specific structure of the lifting device 11 which is separately provided for each furnace door 10, the roller type transfer device 12 is used.
The upper support sprocket 31 and the lower support are respectively provided at four positions on the front end side and the rear end side in the ascending / descending path of each furnace door 10 in the conveyance direction of A vertical chain 33 wound around the sprocket 32 is provided, and four peripheral edges of the furnace door 10 are connected to these vertical chains 33.

Further, two linking shafts 34 for interlocking the lower side supporting sprockets 32 located on the same left and right sides with respect to the transfer chamber 4 are provided, and a lifting motor 35 is provided for the speed reducer 36 and the main linking shaft 37. By interlocking with both linking shafts 34, and by vertically driving the vertical motors 33 in synchronism with the lifting motor 35, the furnace doors 10 connected to the vertical chains 33 are lifted and lowered. I am doing it.

The upper side support sprocket 31, the lower side support sprocket 32, and the vertical chain 33 are provided inside the transfer chamber 4 which maintains the atmosphere gas space, and the lifting motor 35 and the speed reducer are provided. 36, main linkage shaft 3
7 are provided outside the transfer chamber 4, and the two connecting shafts 34 are provided.
Each of them has a proper airtight sealing means and penetrates the wall of the transfer chamber 4.

[Other Embodiments] Next, other embodiments will be listed.

The transfer means 12 equipped in the transfer chamber 4 is not limited to the roller type transfer device as in the above-mentioned embodiment, but various types can be applied.

The specific structure of the atmosphere maintaining means, such as the atmosphere gas introduction structure 27 and the atmosphere gas exhaust structure 28 for maintaining the inside of the transfer chamber 4 in the atmosphere to prevent atmospheric exposure, can be variously modified, and the atmosphere to be used can be changed. As the gas species, various kinds of gases can be adopted by taking an inert gas as an example, and in some cases, the inside of the transfer chamber 4 may be evacuated to create an atmosphere for preventing atmospheric exposure.

The contents of the furnaces 5, 6 and 7 arranged in parallel may be any kind of heat treatment, surface treatment or the like.

In the above embodiment, each furnace 5, 6, 7
Were arranged adjacent to the upper side of the transfer chamber 4 side by side in the process object transfer direction, but instead of this, the furnaces 5, 6 and 7 were adjacent to the side and lower parts of the transfer chamber 4 and the process object W was provided. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which they are arranged side by side in the transport direction.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the furnace door 10
An example is shown in which the lifting device 11 for opening and closing is also used as a charging / extracting means for the processed material W in the furnaces 5, 6, 7.
The charging / extracting means of the processed material W to the furnaces 6 and 7 is the furnace door 10
Alternatively, the device configuration may be independent of the opening / closing device.

A roller type transfer device in which the respective furnaces 5, 6 and 7 are adjacent to the side of the transfer chamber 4 and are arranged in parallel in the transfer direction of the workpiece W, and the rollers 13 are arranged as transfer means 12 in the transfer direction. In this configuration, the roller 1 is provided with the workpiece W conveyed to the front of the charging target furnace slightly lifted.
It is also possible to adopt a charging / extracting mode in which the upper part 3 is laterally moved to be charged into the furnace and the processing object W is extracted from the furnace into the transfer chamber 4 in the opposite operation.

The continuous atmosphere furnace according to the present invention can be applied to various heat treatments and surface treatments such as carburizing, non-oxidative quenching, bright annealing, plasma heat treatment and vapor deposition.

It should be noted that reference numerals are added to the claims for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the configurations of the accompanying drawings by the entry.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall vertical sectional view showing a schematic structure.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a side view.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the front view.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view showing a roller driving structure.

5 is a view taken along the line AA in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic enlarged plan view.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 W treated material 4 transfer chamber 5, 6, 7 furnace 8 furnace opening 10 furnace door 11 charging / extracting means 12 transfer means 27, 28 atmosphere maintaining means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An atmosphere maintaining means (27) for providing a transfer chamber (4) provided with a transfer means (12) for a processed material (W) and maintaining the inside of the transfer chamber (4) in an atmosphere for preventing atmospheric exposure,
(28) is provided, and a plurality of furnaces (5), (6), (7) for processing the processed material (W) in an atmosphere gas or in vacuum are provided.
The furnaces (5), (6), and (7) are connected to the transfer chamber (4) by connecting the furnace ports (8) of the furnaces (5), (6), and (7) side by side in a line in the transfer direction of the processed products in the transfer chamber (4). The furnace (5),
Furnace doors (10) for airtightly partitioning the inside of the furnace and the chamber of the transfer chamber (4) are provided in each of (6) and (7), and the transferred processed material (W) in the transfer chamber (4) is transferred to the furnace. (5),
(6), a device for charging the inside of the furnace (5), (6), (7) into the furnace of the transfer chamber (4) while charging into the furnace of (7) A continuous atmosphere furnace provided with an inlet / outlet means (11).