JPH06192749A - Electron beam irradiation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simply and quickly deal with the irradiation of electron beams at the time of moving electron guns by enabling the movement of the electron guns in the width direction of a metallic strip at the time of irradiating the running metallic strip with electron beams of plural electron guns. CONSTITUTION:The metallic strip 3 is run in a vacuum chamber 2 and the electron beams irradiate from 12 electron guns 1A-1L provided at the upper part to improve the characteristic of the metallic strip. By making 12 electron guns 1A-1L being individually movable in the width direction of the metallic strip 3, the movement of the electron guns in the width direction of the metallic strip for changing the number of the electron beams used due to the change to width of the metallic strip 3 can very simply and quickly be executed. Therefore, the using number of 12 electron guns 1A-1L can simply and reasonably be decided based on the change in the width and running speed of the metallic strip 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electron beam irradiation apparatus used for continuously irradiating a metal strip with an electron beam to improve the characteristics of the metal strip.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For improving the characteristics of a metal strip utilizing an electron beam, see, for example, JP-A-63-96218 and 63-96218.
There is a technique disclosed in each publication of 186826. These technologies are
It is characterized in that an electron beam whose focal point is very small with respect to a metal strip is scanned at a specific pitch in the width direction of the strip. Where the beam scanning speed v _K
(m / s) is determined based on the amount of energy input at which the characteristic improving effect of the metal strip is maximized, and the pitch P (m) in the longitudinal direction of the metal strip is also determined for the same reason. Therefore, the maximum area S of the strip that can be irradiated by one electron gun (hereinafter referred to as EB gun) per unit time is S = P × v _K (m ² / s).

On the other hand, when the EB irradiation treatment as described above is industrially carried out, the irradiation area per unit time (m ² / s)
Is determined by product production. Therefore, the product output is 1
When the processing capacity of one EB gun is exceeded, naturally parallel processing by a plurality of EB guns is required. Especially when trying to process wide metal strips at high speed, E
It is necessary to reduce the scanning width shared by one B-gun and increase the number of guns.

In increasing the number of EB guns installed, it is necessary to reduce the volume of the vacuum chamber in order to keep the equipment costs and operating costs low, that is, a large number of EB guns.
It is important that the gun is contained in a limited space, that it is not easily adversely affected by the meandering of the metal strip that is unavoidable in actual operation, and that the required accuracy for EB gun control is within the practical range. In this regard, as a result of various studies, the inventors have devised a multi-row staircase array as shown in FIG. 1 as a multi-row array that meets the above requirements, and in Japanese Patent Application No. 4-312166. Disclosed. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is an EB gun, 2 is a vacuum chamber, and 3 is a metal strip. With the above new arrangement, it is possible to perform electron beam irradiation at a low cost without requiring high-precision special control and with less adverse effect due to meandering of the metal strip.

[0005]

However, when the EB gun 1 is fixed to the vacuum chamber 2 in the EB gun arrangement shown in FIG. 1, it becomes necessary to move the EB gun 1 in the plate width direction. In that case, it is necessary to carry out work such as drilling and filling holes in the vacuum chamber 2 and relocating the EB gun 1 each time. As a result, the electron beam irradiation apparatus must be stopped for a long period of time. Here, it is necessary to move the EB gun in the plate width direction. Changes in the number of guns due to reasons such as speedup of the line. It is possible that the width of the strip to be passed changes.

The present invention advantageously solves the above-mentioned problems. When the EB gun needs to be moved in the plate width direction, it can be moved quickly and easily. It is an object of the present invention to propose an electron beam irradiation device that does not cause a long stoppage of the beam irradiation device.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION That is, the present invention is an electron beam irradiation apparatus for continuously scanning an electron beam in the width direction of a traveling metal strip by a plurality of electron guns, the electron gun comprising: This is an electron beam irradiation apparatus characterized in that it is installed so as to be movable back and forth in the width direction of the metal strip.

[0008]

FIG. 2 schematically shows the movement of the EB gun 1 when the plate width of the metal strip 3 changes. This example
When two EB guns are arranged side by side in the plate width direction and the width of the metal strip 3 changes from L ₁ to L ₂ in this case, place the EB gun 1 at the position X (indicated by a solid line in the figure). It is necessary to shift from the position (shown) to the position Y (broken line) by the distance S.

Further, FIG. 3 schematically shows the movement of the EB guns 1 when the number of EB guns is increased from four to five. In this case, it is necessary to move the EB gun 1 from the position X (solid line) to the position Y (broken line) by the distances S ′ and S ″.

By the way, when the EB gun is fixed to the vacuum chamber during the above movement, not only the movement of the EB gun but also the work such as curing of the vacuum chamber is required. In this respect, according to the present invention, since the EB gun can be shifted in the width direction of the strip, even if the above-described movement is necessary, the chamber curing, the lifting of the gun and the like are performed at all. Can be dealt with accurately without need.

As for the moving mechanism of the EB gun, any of the conventionally known slide mechanisms is suitable.
A method in which the mating surface of the flange portion is provided with a slide allowance 4 is particularly preferable.

[0012]

FIG. 5 shows one embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the maximum irradiation width of the EB is 1150 mm, and in the electron beam irradiation apparatus having 12 EB guns, 8 EB guns are used and 12 EB guns are used. When 8 units are in operation, 1A, 1F, 1G, 1L EB guns are not used, so the strip width shared by one EB gun is about 144 mm.
And are evenly arranged in the plate width direction. When switching from this state to operating 12 units, the strip width shared by one EB gun becomes approximately 96 mm, so 12 EB
If you try to evenly arrange the guns in the width direction, for example, a 1B EB gun would be 72mm toward the strip center while 1H
EB gun needs to be shifted 72mm outward. Even in such a case, the electron beam irradiating device having the shift mechanism of the EB gun according to the present invention could be properly dealt with without any special work.

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the EB gun can be freely shifted in the width direction of the metal strip in the electron beam irradiation apparatus, the EB gun is moved when the plate width is changed or the number of guns is changed. Even in the case where the above is required, it can be dealt with simply and quickly without the need for special construction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the arrangement of EB guns when twelve EB guns are arranged in a two-row staircase pattern.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a shift state of the EB gun according to a change in width of a metal strip.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a shift state of EB guns due to a change in the number of installed EB guns.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a slide mechanism of an EB gun.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a moving procedure of the EB guns when the EB guns are selectively used for operating 8 and 12 in an electron beam irradiation apparatus having 12 EB guns.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 EB gun 2 Vacuum chamber 3 Metal strip 4 Slide allowance

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Okamoto remodeling 1 Mizushima Kawasaki-dori, Kurashiki-shi, Okayama Prefecture (no address) Inside the Mizushima Works, Kawasaki Steel Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Eiji Hina Mizushima Kawasaki-dori, Kurashiki-shi, Okayama 1-chome (without street number) In Kawashima Steel Co., Ltd. Mizushima Works (72) Inventor Hitoshi Aizawa 1-chome (without street number) Mizushima Kawasaki-dori, Kurashiki-shi, Okayama Kawasaki Steel Co., Ltd. Mizushima Works

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electron beam irradiation device for continuously scanning an electron beam in a width direction of a traveling metal strip by a plurality of electron guns, the electron gun being moved forward and backward in the width direction of the metal strip. An electron beam irradiation device characterized by being installed freely.