JPS61136604A - Method and device for producing sintered body - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To economize the energy in the production of a sintered body by preheating the mold prior to a sintering treatment by the radiation heat of the mold after the sintering treatment in a radiation heat exchange chamber of a device for producing the sintered body. CONSTITUTION:The mold 7 which is inserted into a stanbly chamber 27 connected with an inlet and outlet port 25 provided with a door 26 and is to be subjected to the sintering treatment in the device for producing the sintered body consisting of said chamber 27 and a furnace shell 1 is carried into a preheating position 3 of the radiation heat exchange chamger 5 of the shell 1 by a conveyer 36 having a rod 38 and a head 39. The mold is preheated by the radiation heat of the mold 7 after the sintering treatment existing in a cooling position 4. The mold 7 after the preheating is rotated 120 deg. by a turntable 2 and is moved into a sintering treatment chamber 6 where the mold is subjected to a hot press treatment by a heater 16 and a press device 17. The mold 7 after the sintering treatment is rotated 120 deg. by the turntable 2 and is moved to the cooling position 4 of the chamber 5 where the mold is cooled by the heat exchange and thereafter the mold is ejected to the chamber 27 by the conveyer 36.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention is a method of sintering a powder made of ceramic or the like in a vacuum or an atmosphere, or by sintering it by heating and pressurizing it. The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a body and an apparatus therefor.

<Prior art and its problems> Conventionally, as a method for manufacturing a sintered body, for example,
As described in Japanese Patent No. 11959, a method is known in which the mold before sintering treatment is preheated in a preheating device (preheating chamber), and the mold after sintering treatment is cooled in a cooling device (cooling chamber). It is being

Furthermore, in order to carry out such a method, there is also known a sintered body manufacturing apparatus in which a preheating chamber is provided at the front stage of a hot press that performs sintering by heating and pressure, and a cooling device is provided at the rear stage of the hot press. .

In such a conventional sintered body manufacturing apparatus, for example, as shown in FIG. An insertion area for inserting the mold is required before the preheating device, and a recovery area for taking out the cooled mold is required after the cooling device. Therefore, when such a conventional sintered body manufacturing apparatus is put into practical use, a relatively large area including an insertion work area and a recovery work area is required. Moreover, especially when sintering is performed continuously, an insertion worker and a retrieval worker must be placed separately, which increases personnel costs.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a turntable 45 is provided in the furnace shell 44, a preheating chamber 41 and a cooling chamber 43 are arranged on one half of the turntable 45, and a hot There is a sintered body manufacturing apparatus in which a sintering work space of a press 42 is arranged, a mold insertion port 46 is provided on one side of a preheating chamber 41, and a mold recovery port 47 is provided on one side of a cooling chamber 43.

However, in this sintered body manufacturing apparatus, like the conventional sintered body manufacturing apparatus described above, the heat applied to the mold during preheating and sintering processing is not reused and remains in the cooling chamber 4.
It disappears by cooling in the room. Therefore, there is a problem that energy consumption is large. In today's society, where there is a strong demand for energy conservation, this issue must be given particular importance.

<Problem to be solved by the invention> The present invention is a sintered body manufacturing method and apparatus devised under these circumstances, and the problem to be solved is that The heat gained by the mold is reused to preheat the mold for subsequent sintering, thereby saving energy.

Means for Solving the Problems> The method for producing a sintered body according to the present invention takes the following technical measures to solve the above problems.

That is, in a method for manufacturing a sintered body in which a sintered body is manufactured by heating powder to a high temperature, a mold or crucible before sintering treatment and a mold or crucible after sintering treatment are stored in a radiant heat exchange chamber, and this A method has been taken in which the mold or crucible before the sintering process is preheated by radiant heat from the mold or the crucible after the sintering process in a radiant heat exchange chamber.

Furthermore, the sintered body manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention takes the following technical measures to solve the above-mentioned problems.

That is, a preheating position for preheating the mold or crucible prior to the sintering process is provided at the front stage of the sintering process chamber for performing the sintering process, while a preheating position for preheating the mold or crucible after the sintering process is provided at the downstream stage of the sintering process chamber. Alternatively, in a sintered body manufacturing apparatus provided with a cooling position for cooling the crucible, the preheating position and the cooling position are one
installed in each radiant heat exchange chamber.

<Explanation of Examples> Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional plan view of a hot press according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional side view taken along line 1--2 in FIG. This hot press has a vertically cylindrical furnace shell 1. A turntable 2 is installed in the lower part of the furnace shell 1, and a turntable driving device (not shown) is installed in the furnace shell 1 in order to drive the turntable 2 intermittently at a pitch of 120 degrees.
It is installed on the lower side of the . The preheating position 3 and the cooling position 4, which are arranged side by side on the left and right (the upper part of Figure 2, the lower part) in the upper half of the first half (left half in the figure) of the furnace shell 1, are a series of semi-cylindrical parts. It constitutes a radiant heat exchange chamber 5. On the rear side of the radiant heat exchange chamber 5 in the furnace shell 1, a chamber for performing a sintering treatment by heating and pressurizing, that is, a sintering treatment chamber 6 is formed. The lower half of the furnace v11 forms a passage 8 in which the mold 7 placed on the turntable 2 moves as the turntable 2 rotates.

The turntable 2 has three vertically penetrating vertically extending vertically rotating shaft insertion holes 9 formed at 120° pitches at positions 311r at a predetermined distance from the center of rotation. These elevating rotary wheel insertion holes 9 are configured to be sequentially positioned at predetermined positions below the preheating position 3, the sintering chamber 5, or the cooling position 4 by rotating the turntable. On the outside of the front half of the furnace shell 1, each mold 7 located at the preheating position 3 and the cooling position 4 is lowered to the turntable 2 below, and the molds 7 are placed at the cooling position 4 from the lower side of the sintering chamber 6. A jacking device 10 is provided for raising the sintered mold 7 sent to the lower side of the mold to a predetermined height within the cooling position 4. This jacking device 10 includes four side posts 11 arranged separately on the left and right sides of a furnace shell 1, one saddle 12 that is guided up and down by these side posts 11, and drives this saddle 12 up and down. a pair of left and right lifting drive devices 13 for
2 and is vertically and vertically inserted into the vertical rotation shaft insertion hole 9 located below the preheating position 3 and the vertical rotation shaft insertion hole 9 located below the cooling position 4. It consists of two lifting rotation shafts 14 and a rotation drive device 15 that rotates these lifting rotation shafts 14.

A vertically cylindrical heating device 16 for heating the mold 7 from its surroundings is provided at a predetermined position in the sintering chamber 6, and the mold 7 is placed outside the rear half of the furnace shell 1 for sintering. A press device 17 is provided which also serves as a jacking device for raising and lowering the press device 17 between a predetermined position in the chamber 6 and the upper surface of the turntable 2 below it. The press device 17 includes four guide posts 18 arranged on the left and right sides of the furnace shell 1, a crossbar 19 fixed to the upper part of these guide posts 18, and a crossbar 19 located within the heating device 16. A presser foot 20 suspended below this cross bar 19 to hold the mold 7 from above, and each guide post 1 described above.
The slide 21 that is guided up and down by the slide 8 and the lifting drive devices 22 that drive the slide 21 up and down, and the mold 7 are moved up and down between a predetermined position in the sintering chamber 6 and the upper surface of the turntable 2. Along with the above mold 7
It consists of a pressurizing rod 23 for applying pressure in the vertical direction. The pressure rod 23 is fixed to the slide 21 and inserted into the vertical rotation shaft insertion hole 9 below the sintering chamber 6 so as to be movable up and down. A heat insulating member 24 in the form of a covered cylinder is attached to the lower part of the presser bar 20 in order to suppress the diffusion of heat generated by the heating device 16 within a small range.

Incidentally, each lifting rotation shaft 14 of the jacking device 10 and the pressure rod 23 of the press device 17 are pulled down below the turntable 2 while the turntable 2 is being rotated.

The mold 7 before sintering is placed on the front surface of the furnace shell 1.
Mold 7 after being inserted into IQl and sintered
An entrance/exit 25 is opened to take out the gas from the furnace shell 1, and a door 26 is provided which is slidable laterally to open/close this entrance/exit 25.
is provided.

A waiting chamber 27 is formed in the front side of this S26, and at the bottom of this waiting chamber 27, the mold 7 before sintering treatment is inserted from the outside, and the mold 7 after sintering treatment is taken out to the outside. An insertion/extraction chamber 28 is provided. The passage 29 between the waiting chamber 27 and the insertion/extraction chamber 28 is opened and closed by another door 30 provided so as to be slidable laterally. The front surface of the insertion/extraction chamber 28 is open to the outside, and can be opened and closed by another door 31 as necessary.

Note that the door 26 on the rear side of the waiting chamber 27 and the door 30 below it are closed except when the mold 7 is taken in or taken out from the waiting chamber 27.

In order to raise and lower the mold 7 between the insertion/extraction chamber 28 and a predetermined height in the waiting chamber 27, a jacking device 32' consisting of a cylinder is provided below the insertion/extraction chamber 28, and Mold holding devices 33 are provided on both left and right sides of the standby chamber 27 in order to hold the mold 7 at the same time.

This mold holding device 33 has a head 34 that is laterally applied to the mold 7 and a head 34 that is attached to the mold 7 in a waiting chamber 27.
Furthermore, a conveying device 36 is provided to transfer the mold 7 between the waiting chamber 27 and the radiant heat exchange chamber 5 in the furnace shell 1. It will be done. This conveyance device 36 includes the furnace shell 1 and the sintering chamber 6.
A pair of rods 38 penetrating the heat insulating partition wall 37 that partitions the radiant heat exchange chamber 5 and the radiant heat exchange chamber 5 so as to be able to move forward and backward.
The heads 39 are attached to the front end of the furnace shell 1 to hold the mold 7, and the heads 39 are moved forward and backward through the rods 38 between the radiant heat exchange chamber 5 and the standby chamber 27 in front of the furnace shell 1. It consists of one shilling 40 provided on the upper side.

Next, the operation of this sintered body manufacturing apparatus will be explained, along with an explanation of an embodiment of the sintered body manufacturing method according to the present invention.

The first mold 7 to be sintered is inserted into the insertion chamber 28 from the front side by a worker or a suitable mechanical device, lifted into the waiting chamber 27 by the polishing device 32, and held in the mold holding device 33 in the waiting chamber 27. is maintained.

After a predetermined time has elapsed, the mold 7 is sent from the waiting room 27 to the preheating position 3 by the conveyance device 36, and after a further elapse of a predetermined time here, it is transferred onto the turntable 2 by the jacking device 10. Ru. Next, the turntable 2 is rotated 120 degrees, the mold 7 is lifted into the sintering chamber 6 by the pressurizing rod 23 of the press device 17, and is heated by the heating device 16 while being continuously pressurized by the press device 17. The mold 7 that has been sintered in this way is transferred onto the turntable 2 again by lowering the pressure rod 23, and by further rotating the turntable 2 by 120 degrees, the mold 7 is placed under the cooling position 4. be moved to.

This mold is then raised to the cooling position 4 by the jacking device 10 and held in the cooling position 4 for a predetermined period of time. Thereafter, the mold 7 is transported to the waiting room 27 by the transport device 36, where it is held again by the mold holding device 33 for a predetermined period of time, and the mold 7 is held by the jacking device 32.
is lowered into the insertion/extraction chamber 28, and removed from the insertion/extraction chamber 28 by a worker or a suitable mechanical device.

The subsequent mold 7 is inserted into the insertion/extraction chamber 28 while the previous mold 7 is in the waiting chamber 27, and is inserted into the insertion/extraction chamber 28 while the previous mold 7 is in the waiting chamber 27.
Similarly, the waiting chamber 27, the preheating position 3, the sintering chamber 6,
It is returned to the insertion/extraction chamber 28 via the cooling position 4 and the waiting chamber 27.

What should be noted is that while the mold 7 before the sintering process is in the waiting chamber 27 and the preheating position 3, that is, in the radiant heat exchange room 5, it is placed in the same room as the mold 7 after the sintering process so as to face each other. That's true.

At this time, the heat radiated from the mold 7 after the sintering process is radiated to the mold 7 before the sintering process, and the mold 7 before the sintering process is preheated by this heat.

What should be noted further is that each mold 7 in the radiant heat exchange chamber 5 before and after the sintering process is rotated by the rotation drive device 15. In this way, rotating the mold 7 before the sintering process allows the circumferential surface of the mold 7 to receive the heat radiated from the mold 7 after the sintering process on the average, thereby shortening the preheating time. This is advantageous in achieving homogenization of products. Further, rotating the mold 1'7 after the sintering process in this manner is also advantageous in terms of shortening the preheating time and making the product homogeneous.

Of course, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment.

For example, it can also be applied to a method and apparatus for producing a sintered body that does not involve pressurization. In this case, as is well known, a crucible is used instead of the above-mentioned mold, and a jacking device is used instead of the press device 17 to raise and lower the crucible between the turntable 2 and the sintering chamber. provided.

It is also conceivable to provide a forced preheating position between the preheating position 3 and the sintering process position of the sintering process chamber 6, where the mold 7 before the sintering process is heated with a heating device such as an electric heater. In this case, the turntable 2 is driven to rotate at a pitch of 90°, and a preheating position 3, a forced preheating position, a sintering position, and a cooling position 4 are placed on the turntable 2 in order every 90° around the center of rotation. The preheating position 3 and the cooling position 4 may be arranged in one radiant heat exchange chamber 5.

In this case, it is clear that forced preheating can shorten the time required for preheating.

Furthermore, it is also possible to provide the waiting chambers 27 in multiple stages.

<Operations and Effects of the Invention> As explained above, in the method for manufacturing a sintered body according to the present invention, the heat radiated from the mold after sintering, which was conventionally discarded without being reused, is transferred to the sintering process. Since it is used in the previous mold, a large amount of energy can be saved, for example, about 10 to 20%.

In addition, when such heat exchange is performed, the mold can be inserted from the outside and taken out from the outside in the same direction, so the mold insertion work area and the recovery work area can be used simultaneously. This reduces the installation area of the sintered body manufacturing equipment including these sites, and
It is possible to have the worker serve as both the insertion tool and the recovery worker, thereby saving labor costs.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional plan view of a hot press according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional side view taken along line ■-■ in FIG. 1, and FIG.
The figure is a side view schematically showing a conventional example, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional plan view of a conventional pond. 3... Preheating position, 4... Cooling position, 5... Radiant heat exchange chamber, 6... Sintering treatment chamber, 7... Mold, 15
...Rotary drive device, 27...Waiting room.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a sintered body manufacturing method in which a sintered body is manufactured by heating powder to a high temperature, radiant heat exchange is performed between a mold or crucible before sintering treatment and a mold or crucible after sintering treatment. A method for producing a sintered body, the method comprising storing the mold or crucible in a radiant heat exchange chamber and preheating the mold or crucible before sintering using radiant heat from the mold or crucible after sintering. 2. A mold or crucible before sintering treatment and a mold or crucible after sintering treatment are opposed to each other in a radiant heat exchange chamber, and each of them is rotated at a predetermined rotational speed while performing radiant heat exchange. The method for producing a sintered body according to scope 1. 3. A preheating position for preheating the mold or crucible prior to the sintering process is provided at the front stage of the sintering process chamber for performing the sintering process, while a preheating position for preheating the mold or crucible after the sintering process is provided at the rear stage of the sintering process chamber. Alternatively, a sintered body manufacturing apparatus provided with a cooling position for cooling the crucible, characterized in that the preheating position and the cooling position are provided in one radiant heat exchange chamber. 4. A rotary drive device is attached to the radiant heat exchange chamber to individually rotate the mold or crucible before sintering treatment and the mold or crucible after sintering treatment, which are housed in the radiant heat exchange chamber so as to face each other. Claim 3
1. The sintered body manufacturing apparatus described in 2.