JPH07112715B2 - Far infrared annealing machine using air shower - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a far-infrared annealing machine using an air shower, which is suitable for producing a high-quality and consistent product by uniformly and uniformly annealing objects such as plastics in a short time. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various products such as plastics, which are thermoformed in a mold, have low strength because they are unstable tissues in which internal molecules are not aligned, and are easily softened and deformed. It has a drawback that it is easy to do. Therefore, there is a problem that it is easily damaged during use. In order to solve this problem, conventionally, an annealing treatment has been performed on an object after thermoforming. By annealing, the molecules of the object are arranged, and a strong and stable tissue is formed.

The annealing treatment is carried out by heating an object for a predetermined time under an appropriate temperature condition.
In the prior art, the electrothermal type heat treatment device 28 shown in FIG. 4 is used. The electrothermal heat treatment apparatus 28 includes a furnace chamber 29 for accommodating the object 13, an outer casing 30 surrounding the same, an electric heater 31 disposed in the outer casing 30, and a fan 3 for blowing air.
It is composed of 2 etc. The air introduced into the outer casing 30 from the air intake port 33 of the outer casing 30 is heated by the electric heater 31 and introduced into the furnace chamber 29 by the fan 32. The heated air introduced into the furnace chamber 29 contacts the object 13, circulates after heating the object 13, and part of the heated air is discharged from the air outlet 34 to the outside of the outer casing 30. However, the electrothermal heat treatment apparatus 28 having the above structure has the following problems. That is, the heating method is conduction heating, and the air is used as a medium to conduct heat to the front and back of the object 13, and heat is conducted from the front and back of the object into the object. Further, an opening / closing door for storing the object 13 in the furnace chamber 29 is indispensable, and when the temperature of the furnace chamber 29 is lowered at the time of opening, it takes a long time to reach a predetermined temperature. Because of this, the processing time is long. Further, the object 13 located near the inlet side of the furnace chamber 29 is well heated, but the object 13 on the outlet side or at the corners is insufficiently heated, resulting in uneven product and reduced productivity.

When an object is irradiated with far infrared rays, the radiant energy of the far infrared rays is converted into heat energy inside the object, and heating is performed with high efficiency. Therefore, the heat treatment is performed about 5 to 20 times faster than that using the conventional electric heater. Conventionally, a heat treatment apparatus using far infrared rays has been adopted, and disclosed in, for example, JP-A-63-193937, JP-A-1-320140, JP-B-2-26664, and JP-B-3-45775. Has been done.
In all of these, the object is heated by far infrared rays and annealed, but a method of applying a solvent to the surface of the object (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-193937) and a method of taping the object (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 1-320140), one using a heat radiation plate (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI No. 2-26664), one using a shielding plate (Jpn. KOKAI 3-45775), and the like.

[0005]

As a heat treatment apparatus using far infrared rays, various characteristics, as shown in the known art,
Although it has advantages, it has the following problems.
First, when the irradiation of far infrared rays is continued, the temperature of the object becomes extremely high, and when the temperature exceeds a certain temperature, the structure of the object is changed and deformed. Moreover, since convection of air does not occur simply by irradiating the object with far infrared light, the object is not uniformly heated, resulting in uneven heat treatment. Further, since some objects contain a solvent, the solvent is vaporized by heating and the inside of the furnace becomes a smog, which hinders irradiation of far infrared rays. In particular, when the object is a plastic product that needs to be annealed, the above-mentioned problems cause the quality of the product to be deteriorated and the processing time becomes long. In the known technology, an object is uniformly heated and a solvent is applied, taping is performed, or a heat radiation plate or a shielding plate is used to remove heat distortion as described above. We cannot solve the problem.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and while irradiating a desired photothermal energy with a far-infrared heater while a product is transferred on a conveyor, air of appropriate temperature is jetted from an air shower to remove an object. The object is to provide a far-infrared anneal machine with an air shower that can uniformly manufacture a high-quality product by performing uniform annealing in a short time by eliminating the problems of overheating and smog and eliminating the adverse effects of overheating and smog. And

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is an annealing machine for irradiating an object with photothermal energy by far infrared rays to perform an annealing process, wherein the object is transferred in a furnace. And a far-infrared heater arranged above and below the object across the conveyor. The air shower has an air ejection pipe having an ejection port at a position facing the object, and an appropriate pressure in the pipe. , A far-infrared annealing machine using an air shower having an air supply means for supplying an appropriate amount of air at an appropriate temperature. Further, it is characterized in that a stable annealing process is carried out by providing a control unit for controlling the pressure, supply amount, air temperature and photothermal energy from the far infrared heater in consideration of the processing temperature of the object.

[0008]

The object is transferred in the furnace by the conveyor without staying in the furnace. Since the air shower and the far-infrared heater are arranged so as to sandwich the object on the conveyor, the object is uniformly heated from above and below, and is influenced by the air blown from the air shower. Further, the air shower functions to generate convection of air in the furnace, uniformize the temperature in the furnace, prevent overheating of an object due to photothermal energy, and maintain an appropriate temperature. Further, smog generated in the furnace is also diffused. The object is uniformly heated to an appropriate temperature without being overheated while being transferred by a conveyor in the furnace, is subjected to a desired annealing treatment, and is discharged to the outside of the furnace. Increased productivity can be obtained because of continuous production by conveyor.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a front view showing the overall structure of the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view showing the detailed structure of the conveyor, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view for explaining the operation of the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, a far infrared annealing machine 1 of the present embodiment comprises an air shower 2 and a far infrared heater 3.
A conveyor chamber 4, a furnace chamber 5 for accommodating them, an outer casing 6 surrounding the furnace chamber 5, a detection sensor, a control unit and the like. A heater 7 for controlling the temperature inside the furnace chamber is also arranged inside the furnace chamber 5.

The air shower 2 comprises a large number of jet pipes 14 arranged in parallel along the moving direction of the conveyor 4, and as described above, the jet pipes 14 are vertically arranged with the object 13 on the conveyor 4 interposed therebetween. To be done. The object 13 may be plastic, glass, metal products, cloth or the like.
The ejection port 1 that opens toward the object 13 side in the ejection pipe 14
5 is opened. Both ends of the ejection pipe 14 are connected to a hollow box member (not shown) and are fixed in the furnace chamber 5.
The hollow box member is a flexible tube (not shown)
Etc., and is connected to the air control unit 8. The air control unit 8 controls the pressure, supply amount, air temperature, etc. of the heated air sent into the ejection pipe 14, and, for example, from an air heating source, a blower motor and their control mechanism units (all not shown). Composed. Known techniques are applied to these. Further, the air control unit 8 is arranged in the furnace chamber 5 for detecting the temperature of the furnace chamber, and the detection signal of the detection sensor 9 for setting the far-infrared characteristic is input to the air control unit 8 for automatic control. .

The far-infrared heaters 3 are also arranged vertically above and below the object 13 on the conveyor 4, and are arranged in parallel along the moving direction of the conveyor 4. Further, the reflection mirror 16 directs the far infrared rays only to the object 13 side. The far infrared heater 3 is connected to the photothermal control unit 10 to control photothermal energy. As the power source, for example, AC, three-phase 200V 50 / 60Hz is used, and the photothermal control unit 10
Is a power control (method SSR), temperature control (method P) based on, for example, a detection signal from the far-infrared characteristic setting detection sensor 9.
ID), temperature adjustment (electronic automatic temperature adjustment), and the like.

The conveyor 4 includes a conveyor belt portion 17 on which an object 13 is mounted and a conveyor drive motor 18
And a chain 18 ′ and the like and a driving wheel 19 and a driven wheel 20 which are connected to the conveyor drive motor 18, and both ends of the driving wheel 19 and the driven wheel 20 are the furnace chamber 5 and the outer casing 6 respectively.
It is arranged in a position exposed from the above, and is arranged in the vicinity of the work discharge means and the work carry-in means (both not shown).
Further, the tension pulleys 21 and 22 are engaged with the conveyor belt portion 17 and hold the tension of the belt. As shown in FIG. 2, the conveyor belt portion 17 in this embodiment is composed of horizontal bars 23 arranged side by side with a gap 24 in between, and both ends of the horizontal bars 23 are fixed to a conveyor driving body 25. The object 13 is mounted on the horizontal bar 23. Therefore, the upper surface of the object 13 communicates with the gap 24.

The furnace chamber 5 is in the form of a sealed box, and has a structure in which only the air intake port 26 and the air discharge port 27 are opened in addition to the opening through which the conveyor 4 can pass. In the furnace chamber 5, as described above, the air shower 2, the far infrared heater 3, the transfer portion of the conveyor 4, the heater 7, the far infrared characteristic setting detection sensor 9 and the room temperature detection sensor 12 are housed. The room temperature detection sensor 12 is connected to the room temperature controller 11 and sends a detection signal. The room temperature controller 11 automatically controls the heater 7 to control the temperature inside the furnace chamber 5.

The outer casing 6 forms the appearance of the annealing machine, and includes a furnace chamber 5, a conveyor 4 and various control units 8 and 1.
0, 11 etc. are all stored. The air intake port 26
The air outlet 27 penetrates the outer casing 6 and communicates with the outside.

Next, the operation and action of this embodiment will be described.
For example, the object 13 (product) made of a plastic material is carried into the conveyor belt portion 17 (FIG. 3) of the conveyor 4 from a work carrying-in means (not shown). The object 13 enters the furnace chamber 5 and moves in the furnace chamber 5 by the conveyor 4 at a constant speed. The inside of the furnace chamber 5 is maintained at an appropriate temperature by a heater controlled by the room temperature controller 11. Far-infrared heater 3 emits an appropriate amount of photothermal energy,
The object 13 is heated from above and below by the heated air having a proper pressure, a proper amount and a proper temperature ejected from the air shower 2 and annealed. The object 13 is discharged from the furnace chamber 5 while the temperature is detected by the work temperature detection sensor 9, discharged to the work unloading means side (not shown), and sent to the next process side.

As shown in FIG. 3, the far-infrared rays from the far-infrared ray heaters 3 arranged above and below are radiated toward the upper and lower surfaces of the object 13 because the opposite side of the object 13 is shielded by the reflection mirror 16. . In addition, the jet of heated air from the air showers 2 arranged above and below the object 1
Since it is facing the 3 side, it is ejected toward the upper and lower surfaces of the object. The object 13 is heated by far infrared rays, absorbs photothermal energy and rises in temperature, but is cooled by the heated air of the air shower 2 and kept at an appropriate temperature. On the other hand, as shown in the figure, the furnace chamber is diffused by the jet of heated air from the air shower 2 and convection occurs. Therefore, far infrared rays are radiated in multiple directions and 100%, and the object 13 is uniformly heated up and down by convection of the heated air. At the same time, the diffused photothermal energy and heated air spread around the upper and lower objects 13 on the conveyor 4 and serve to uniformly heat all the objects 13 on the conveyor 4. Also, the object 1
Even if smog of solvent or the like is generated from 3, it is diffused by the jetted heated air of the air shower 1 and obstruction of photothermal energy due to smog is eliminated. By controlling the pressure, supply amount, temperature and photothermal energy of the heated air by the air control unit 8 and the photothermal control unit 10, the object 13
Is annealed by being heated to a predetermined temperature by the conveyor 4 while passing through the furnace chamber 5. As described above, uniform annealing is performed in a short time, and a high quality product can be obtained.

In the present embodiment, the air shower 2 and the far infrared heater 3 are arranged as shown in FIG. 1, but the number of rows, the number, the shape, etc. are not limited to those shown in the figure. Further, the shape of the conveyor 4, particularly the conveyor belt portion 17, is not limited to that shown in the drawing, and the gap 24
May be formed, for example, a mesh-shaped mesh member.

[0019]

According to the present invention, the following remarkable effects are obtained. 1) By using both the air shower and far infrared rays, 100% of the characteristics of far infrared rays are irradiated, and the entire surface of the object is evenly and uniformly heated. Therefore, a plurality of objects are uniformly processed. 2) The air shower prevents the object from being overheated by far infrared rays, and since the object is kept at an appropriate temperature, the desired annealing treatment can be reliably performed. 3) Since the object is transferred by a conveyor and heated to an appropriate temperature in a constant temperature atmosphere, annealing can be performed in a short time. Therefore, productivity can be improved. 4) Since smog generated from an object such as a plastic material containing a solvent or the like is diffused by the air shower, the obstruction of far infrared ray irradiation by the smog is eliminated, and photothermal energy is efficiently absorbed by the object. 5) Applicable not only to plastic products but also to objects made of other substances, such as glass, metal products, and cloth, by appropriately setting the far infrared rays and air shower capacities.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the overall structure of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view showing the detailed structure of the conveyor of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view for explaining the operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the schematic structure of a conventional electrothermal heat treatment apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Far Infrared Annealing Machine 2 Air Shower 3 Far Infrared Heater 4 Conveyor 5 Furnace Room 6 Outer Casing 7 Heater 8 Air Control Section 9 Far Infrared Characteristic Setting Detection Sensor 10 Photothermal Control Section 11 Room Temperature Control Section 12 Room Temperature Detection Sensor 13 Object 14 Jet Tube 15 Jet Port 16 Reflecting Mirror 17 Conveyor Belt 18 Conveyor Drive Motor 19 Drive Car 20 Driven Car 21 Tension Pulley 22 Tension Pulley 23 Horizontal Bar 24 Gap 25 Conveyor Drive 26 Air Inlet 27 Air Outlet

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An annealing machine for irradiating an object with photothermal energy of far infrared rays to perform an annealing treatment, comprising a conveyor for transferring the object in a furnace, and an air shower arranged above and below the object across the conveyor. And a far-infrared heater, and the air shower has an air ejection pipe having an ejection port at a position facing an object, and an air supply means for supplying air of appropriate pressure, amount and temperature into the pipe. Far infrared anneal machine using air shower. 2. An annealing machine comprising a control unit for setting a processing temperature of an object and controlling pressure, supply amount, air temperature and photothermal energy from a far infrared heater of the air shower. Far infrared annealing machine using an air shower.