JPH08327240A - Heat treating furnace - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To allow the arbitrary selectivity for a work conveying position and the removal of thermal adverse effect on a driving mechanism to be compatible. CONSTITUTION: An intermediate element 7 is reciprocated by a driven element having a grip 3, and a latch 6 is guided to an operating or non-operating position by the intermediate element. When the intermediate element is disposed at the non-operating position, the driven element s energized by the energizing surface 52c of a driver to be able to be conveyed, and the entire driving mechanism 4 can be refused without trouble by retaining a work. When the latch 6 is disposed at the operating position, the grip 3 is guided to the inside of the hook 63 of the latch 6, the grip 3 is towed to be able to deliver the work.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is provided with a driving mechanism which is useful for loading and unloading an object to be processed in a furnace or for opening and closing a door, a lid and the like provided in the furnace. The present invention relates to a heat treatment furnace.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The inside of a heat treatment furnace is divided into a heating chamber, a cooling chamber, a loading / unloading chamber, and the like, and it is necessary to move an object to be processed between these chambers. Further, doors and lids that are selectively opened and closed are provided between these chambers, and these doors and lids also need to be driven from outside the furnace.

Therefore, the conventional heat treatment furnace has a drive mechanism for driving these driven bodies. As a specific structure, in addition to the simplest structure in which a drive shaft such as an actuator provided outside the furnace is directly connected to the driven body, a latch is provided in the furnace corresponding to the stroke start end and end of the driven body. There is known a latch mechanism or the like which is provided with a point for engaging and disengaging the workpiece and which can move the workpiece while it is held by the latch.

[0004]

By the way, the heating chamber is exposed to a very high temperature and a vacuum atmosphere. For this reason, when adopting the former configuration, in order to protect the drive shaft from overheating, it is necessary to flow cooling water inside the drive shaft or to enclose the drive shaft and its peripheral seal part with a heat insulating material. Therefore, there is a drawback that the structure of the furnace is complicated. In addition, protection by water cooling and heat insulation is not effective enough,
There is also a fear that leakage will occur easily due to deterioration of seals.
In addition, this one requires that the door be closed with the drive shaft inserted, and it is necessary to avoid interference between the door and the drive shaft, so the heating chamber cannot be completely closed. Has become one of. On the other hand, in the case of the latter configuration, since the drive mechanism can be retracted from the heating chamber after the object to be processed is inserted into the furnace, it is effective in that no special cooling structure is required. However, since the driven position of the driven body is limited to two points, the stroke start end and the stroke end, the driven body having different shapes cannot be stopped at an arbitrary position, and the application is limited. . In addition, since a point for switching the state of the latch mechanism is set in the heating chamber in this case, the latch mechanism may malfunction when the point is thermally affected.

An object of the present invention is to provide a heat treatment furnace having a drive mechanism that effectively solves these problems.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following configuration.

That is, in the heat treatment furnace according to the present invention, a driving mechanism is selectively engaged with a driven body having a handle so that the driven body can be moved back and forth in the furnace. The drive mechanism is inserted into the furnace so that the drive mechanism can move forward and backward, and the base end is attached to the drive body so that the drive mechanism can rotate between an operating position and a non-operating position. A latch having a hook that is disposed and has a hook that can be engaged when the handle of the driven body comes into contact with the handle, and a latch that is movably disposed in the advancing and retracting direction of the driving body at the forward position. The first contact surface that contacts the driven body is positioned at a position where the latch has advanced a predetermined distance from the engagement point, and the second contact position is set at the position where the latch contacts the reset point set at the inlet of the furnace at the retracted position.
And an abutting surface of the intermediate member, and a guide portion that engages with a part of the latch between the intermediate position and the retracted position to move and hold the latch from the operating position to the non-operating position. And a biasing surface that is set on the driving body or the intermediate body and is positioned at a position where the driven body can be biased at the retracted position of the intermediate body.

[0008]

First, the operation for loading the driven body will be described. In the initial state, the intermediate body of the drive mechanism is set to the forward position. At this time, the latch is in the actuated position because the intermediate body is not engaged with the latch. From this state, the driving body is driven by an actuator or the like outside the furnace to advance toward the driven body set near the entrance of the furnace. Then, the hook portion of the latch first comes into contact with the handle of the driven body, and the handle is passed over and engaged. Next, the first contact surface of the intermediate body contacts the driven body at a position where the latch has advanced by a predetermined distance. As a result, the intermediate body is biased by the driven body and starts to move backward. When the intermediate body reaches the intermediate position and is further retracted toward the retracted position, the intermediate body engages the latch during that time to move the latch from the actuated position to the inoperative position. Then, when the intermediate body reaches the retracted position, the biasing surface comes into contact with the driven body. Then, the driven body is biased by the biasing surface, and the driven body starts to move forward.

When the driven body is conveyed to a predetermined position, the driving body is stopped from moving forward and switched to the backward movement. At this time, since the latch is held in the non-actuated position and does not interfere with the handle, the latch and the intermediate body start to retreat while leaving the driven body in the transport position.

When the latch and the intermediate body reach the vicinity of the inlet of the furnace, the second contact surface of the intermediate body comes into contact with the reset point set near the inlet of the furnace, so that the intermediate body does not retract further and then With the backward movement of the latch, the intermediate body relatively starts moving from the previously held backward position to the forward position. When the intermediate body passes through the intermediate position, it disengages from the latch and the latch returns from the non-actuated position to the actuated position. This state corresponds to the initial state described at the beginning.

Next, the operation of carrying out the driven body will be described. The driving body is driven again by the actuator outside the furnace to advance the latch and the intermediate body toward the driven body. Then, similarly to the above, first, the hook portion of the latch abuts on the handle of the driven body, gets over the handle and engages. Then, this time, the driving body is switched to the backward movement operation from this position. Then, since the hook portion of the latch retracts while engaging with the handle, the driven body starts to be pulled by the latch.
When it is carried out to the vicinity of the entrance of the furnace, the driving body is once stopped from moving backward and moved slightly forward. The handle is released from the latch once the intermediate body is retracted to the intermediate position and the latch once moved from the actuated position to the inoperative position. Finally, by retracting the latch and the intermediate body to a position where the second contact surface of the intermediate body contacts the reset point in the furnace,
The intermediate is reset to the advanced position and the latch is returned from the non-actuated position to the actuated position as described above.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Heating and cooling furnace 1 which is the heat treatment furnace of this embodiment
Is a loading / unloading chamber 1a that also serves as a cooling chamber, as shown in FIG.
And a heating chamber 1b. Then, a part of the driven body 2 housed in the furnace 1 is used as a handle 3, and a driving mechanism 4 is selectively engaged with the handle 3 to drive the driven body 2 forward and backward in the furnace. Is configured as follows.

The driven body 2 comprises an object W to be heat-treated and a tray 2a on which the object W is placed.
The handle 3 is formed rearward at the rear end of the tray 2a.

The drive mechanism 4, as shown in FIGS.
It is composed of a driving body 5, a latch 6, and an intermediate body 7.

The drive body 5 has a base end connected to an output end of a reciprocating air cylinder 8 which is an actuator provided outside the furnace, and a front end which penetrates through the furnace barrel and is inserted into the furnace so that the drive shaft 51 can move forward and backward. And a holder 52 integrally connected to the tip of the drive shaft 51. The holder 52 includes a bottom plate 52a,
The bottom plate 52a has a side plate 52b having a hole 52d projecting from the rear half of the bottom plate 52a, and is a partially upward channel-shaped member. The biasing surface 52c set at the front end of the holder 52 is
It plays a role of urging the end surface of the handle 3 when the intermediate body 7 is in the retracted position described later. Outside the furnace, an appropriate position detecting means for detecting the operating position of the drive shaft 51 is provided, and the air cylinder 8 is directly placed under the proper positioning function based on the detection value of the position detecting means. Alternatively, it can be controlled indirectly.

The latch 6 is composed of a top plate 61 and a side plate 62, and has a downward channel shape having a width dimension capable of being fitted inside the holder 52. The hole 62a provided at the rear end of the side plate 62 and the holder. Hole 52d provided in the side wall 52 of No. 5
The common pin 63 is inserted into and the latch 6 is inserted into the holder 5
It is rotatably pivoted on 2. A hook portion 63 that can be engaged with the handle 3 of the tray 2a is provided at the tip of the latch 6.
And a cam surface 64 engageable with the intermediate body 7. The hook portion 63 is formed by cutting out a part of the front end portion of the side plate 63 of the latch 61. The front surface 63a has an inclined surface extending forward and upward, and the rear surface 63b has an upright surface extending substantially vertically. ing. The cam surface 64 is the latch 6
The first cam portion 64 is formed by cutting out a substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction of the side plate 62 of FIG.
a and a horizontal second cam portion 64b which is continuous behind the cam portion 64a.

The intermediate body 7 has a long hole 71a extending in the longitudinal direction.
And a rear top plate 73 that connects between the rear ends of both side plates 71, and is fitted to the outside of the holder 52. It has a width that can be adjusted, and the central part is opened. Then, the pair of side plates 71 of the intermediate body 7 are positioned outside the side plates 52b of the holder 52, and the front top plate 72 is attached to the holder 52.
Of the side plate 52c, and the rear top plate 73 is positioned at an upper position where it does not interfere with the boulder 5 and the latch 6, and the pin 63 described above is inserted into the long hole 71a provided in the rear portion of the side plate 71, and the outer end It is secured by caulking. That is, the intermediate body 7 can advance and retreat relative to the holder 52 and the latch 6 within a range in which the pin 63 can be moved from one end side to the other end side of the elongated hole 71a.
It should be noted that the intermediate body 7 is at a position retracted by a predetermined distance from the hook portion 63 of the latch 6 at the forward position shown in FIG.
Also, the front end faces 71a, 72a of the front top plate 72 are set so as to come, and these faces 71a, 72a are used as a first contact face for contacting the end face of the handle 3. Further, the rear end faces 71b and 73b of the side plate 71 and the rear top plate 73 are positioned at positions where they can come into contact with the reset point RP (see FIG. 1) set at the inlet of the furnace 1 in the retracted position shown in FIG. And these surfaces 71b, 73b are
Of the contact surface. Further, the latch 6 is provided between the intermediate position shown in phantom in FIG. 3 and the retracted position shown in FIG.
This intermediate body is used as a guide portion that can be engaged with the cam surface 64 of the above and moves and holds the latch 6 from the substantially horizontal operating position shown in FIG. 3 to the non-operating position rotated by a predetermined angle shown in FIG. The rear end surface 72c of the front top plate 72 of No. 7 is used.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. First,
The door of the carry-in / out chamber 1a is opened, the work W is placed on the tray 2a as shown by an imaginary line in FIG. 1 and inserted, and the handle 3 is positioned at the rear portion. At this time, the drive mechanism 4 sets so that the intermediate body 7 is in the forward position (A in FIG. 5). In this position, the guide portion 72c of the intermediate body 7 is located on the cam surface 6 of the latch 6.
Since it does not engage with 4, the latch 6 remains held in the operative position. From this state, the driving body 2 is driven by the air cylinder 8 outside the furnace to advance toward the work W set near the entrance of the furnace. Then, first, the hook portion 63 of the latch 6 contacts the handle 3 of the tray 2a, and the inclined front surface 6
Since the hook portion 63 is moved upward along 3a, the latch 6 pivots a little upward with the pin 63 as a fulcrum, and pivots downward again at a position where the latch 3 is overcome. As a result, the hook 63
Engages the handle 3 as shown in FIG. Next, the handle 3 is brought into contact with an appropriate portion of the first contact surfaces 71a, 72a of the intermediate body 7 which is retracted by a predetermined distance. Intermediate 7
Since there is no particularly large resistance in the moving direction, the intermediate body 7 is biased by the end surface of the handle 3 and starts to move backward. When the intermediate body reaches the intermediate position and is further retracted toward the retracted position, the guide portion 72c of the intermediate body 7 is first moved to the latch 6 during that time.
Engages the first cam surface 64a of the
Engages with the cam surface 64b. Therefore, the latch 6 rotates from the operating position shown in FIG. 3 to the non-operating position shown in FIG. 4 with the pin 63 as a fulcrum, and is held at that position. When the intermediate body 7 reaches the retracted position, the biasing surface 52c set in the holder comes into contact with the end surface of the handle 3. Since this urging surface 52c is integral with the drive shaft 51 and is directly driven by the air cylinder 8, the end surface of the handle 3 is urged by the urging surface 52c, and the tray 2a remains loaded with the work W. Start moving forward.

When the work W is conveyed to the predetermined position (B in FIG. 5), the forward movement of the driving body 2 is stopped and the air cylinder 8 is switched so as to perform the backward movement. At this time, since the latch 6 is held in the non-operating position and does not interfere with the handle 3, the latch 6 and the intermediate body 7 start to retreat while leaving the driven body 2 in the transport position.

When the latch 6 and the intermediate body 7 reach the vicinity of the inlet of the furnace 1 (C in FIG. 5), the reset point RF is set at that position, and the second contact surface 71b of the intermediate body 7 is Since 73b is set so as to come into contact with the reset point RF, the intermediate body 7 does not move backward anymore, and the intermediate body 7 moves forward from the retracted position relatively held until then as the latch 6 retracts. Start moving towards the position. When the intermediate body 7 passes through the intermediate position, the guide portion 72c of the intermediate body 7 is withdrawn from the second cam portion 64b of the latch 6 and also withdrawn from the first cam portion 64a. Is disengaged. Therefore, the latch 6 rotates by its own weight and returns from the non-actuated position to the actuated position. This state corresponds to the initial state described at the beginning.

Next, the operation of carrying out the work 2 will be described. The driving body 4 is driven again by the air cylinder 8 outside the furnace 1 to advance the latch 6 and the intermediate body 7 toward the work W (D in FIG. 5). Then, similarly to the above, first, the hook portion 63 of the latch 6 abuts on the handle 3 of the work W, gets over the handle 3 and is engaged. Then, this time, the driving body 4 is switched to the backward movement operation from this position. Then, the rear surface 63b of the hook portion 63 of the latch 6 retracts while engaging with the handle 3, so that the tray 2a on which the work W is placed is pulled by the latch 6 and begins to retract. When the work W is carried out to the vicinity of the entrance of the furnace 1 (E in FIG. 5), the driving body 4 is once stopped from moving backward and is moved slightly forward (F in FIG. 5). And when the intermediate body 7 retracts to the intermediate position,
The latch 6 is once moved from the operating position to the non-operating position.
This releases the handle 3 from the latch 6. And
Finally, by retracting the latch 6 and the intermediate body 7 to a position (G in FIG. 5) where the second contact surfaces 71b and 73b of the intermediate body 7 contact the reset point RP in the furnace 1, as described above. The intermediate body 7 is reset to the forward position and the latch 6 is returned from the non-actuated position to the actuated position. In the above description, there is a gap between the hook portion 63 of the latch 6 and the first contact surfaces 71a, 72a of the intermediate body 7 for allowing the handle 3 to move freely, so that the latch operation can be performed accurately without malfunction. Be seen.

As described above, the drive mechanism 4 of this embodiment
Can carry the work W placed on the tray 2a into any position. Therefore, the work W can be positioned at an optimum point from the viewpoint of heat treatment,
It is possible to reliably improve the quality of heat treatment. Further, by utilizing such a function, it is possible to appropriately carry in the carrying-in place according to the type of the work W, carry in a plurality of works W into the heating chamber 1b at the same time, and position them. Moreover, since the entire drive mechanism 4 can be evacuated from the heating chamber 1b to the carry-in / out chamber 1a after the loading, it is possible to reliably avoid the thermal influence of the driving mechanism 4, and the driving mechanism 4 can be driven accordingly. It is possible to eliminate the need for a cooling structure or a sealing structure for the mechanism 4.

Thus, the heat treatment furnace 1 according to the present embodiment
Is that both the optionality with respect to the loading position of the work W and the elimination of the thermal adverse effect on the drive mechanism 4 are compatible with each other.
It is possible to obtain a special effect which the conventional drive mechanism does not have.

The specific construction of each part is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. For example, the end surface of the tray 2a may be used as the first contact surface of the intermediate body in addition to the end surface of the handle 3. Further, the latch in the above embodiment may be provided with an urging means such as a winding spring for urging the latch from the non-operating position to the operating position. By doing so, the reliability of operation can be improved easily and effectively. In the case where such a biasing means is provided, it becomes possible to use the entire drive mechanism with the top and bottom turned upside down. That is, although the holder, the intermediate body, and the latch are assembled in this order from the bottom to the top in the above-described embodiment, in the inverted configuration, the latch, the intermediate body, and the holder are arranged in this order from the bottom to the top. Will be installed. Then, the behavior can be made to be exactly the same as in the above-mentioned embodiment. Moreover, under such a usage method, the handle held by the latch is released upward, so that the tray can be easily attached and detached. In addition, this drive mechanism is applied for pulling up a work in a heat treatment furnace or the like in which an oil tank for cooling is provided under the carry-in / out chamber, and for pulling up a door or the like arranged in the furnace as shown in FIG. May be. In this case, the entire drive mechanism may be arranged upright so that the drive body and the intermediate body move forward and backward. Furthermore, although an air cylinder is used as the actuator in the above-described embodiment, an actuator that uses electric power or hydraulic pressure may be used. Furthermore, although the drive body of the above-mentioned embodiment utilizes a drive shaft, it may be implemented in place of a snake chain or the like. Other configurations can be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0026]

Since the heat treatment furnace of the present invention has the structure described above, the driven body can be carried into an arbitrary position by utilizing the relative movement of the latch and the intermediate body with respect to the driven body having the handle. At the same time, all the functional parts can be retracted from the loading position. Therefore, there is an excellent effect that both the optionality with respect to the work carrying-in position and the elimination of the thermal adverse effect on the drive mechanism can be made compatible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic overall sectional view of a heat treatment furnace showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing an outline of a drive mechanism used in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the drive mechanism.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view corresponding to FIG.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the drive mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Furnace 2 ... Driven body 3 ... Handle 4 ... Driving mechanism 5 ... Driving body 6 ... Latch 7 ... Intermediate body 52c ... Energizing surface 63 ... Hook part 71a, 72a ... 1st contact surface 71b, 73b ... 2 abutment surface 72c ... guide part RP ... reset point

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A heat treatment furnace for a driven body having a handle, wherein a driving mechanism is selectively engaged with the handle so that the driven body can be driven back and forth in the furnace. The drive mechanism includes a drive body that is inserted into the furnace so that the drive mechanism can move forward and backward, and a base end is attached to the drive body and is rotatably disposed between an operating position and a non-operating position. When the handle of the driven body comes into contact with the latch, the latch has a hook that can be passed over and engaged with the handle, and the latch is movably arranged in the advancing / retreating direction of the driving body, and the latch has a predetermined distance from the engagement point at the forward movement position. Position the first contact surface that contacts the driven body at the advanced position, position the second contact surface at the position that contacts the reset point set at the furnace inlet at the retracted position, and move from the intermediate position to the retracted position. In between, engaging a portion of the latch to disengage the latch from the operating position. An intermediate body that forms a guide portion that is moved to and held in the operating position, and a biasing surface that is set on the driving body or on the intermediate body and that is positioned at a position where the driven body can be biased in the retracted position of the intermediate body. A heat treatment furnace characterized by comprising: