US3212765A - Conditioning apparatus with work transfer mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 19, 1965 4. N. IPSEN 3,212,765

CONDITIONING APPARATUS WITH WORK TRANSFER MEGHANISM Filed Oct. 25, 1961 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 m @Jarod lpJeYL. (/a/Muww CATTOWEIY/ Oct. 19, 1965 H. N. IPSEN 3,212,765

CONDITIONING APPARATUS WITH WORK TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed Oct. 25, 1961 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 (mvronuoayf Oct, 19, 1965 H. N. IPSEN 3,212,765

CONDITIONING APPARATUS WITH WORK TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed Oct. 25, 1961 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 60 83 I ql@ oucwoxd GVL IPJe-m y @da W M 9M Oct. 19, 1965 H. N, IPSEN 3,212,765

CONDITIONING APPARATUS WITH WORK TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed OCC. 25, 1961 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 H. N. IPSEN Oct. 19, 1965 CONDITIONING APPARATUS WITH WORK TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed Oct. 25. 1961 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 MVEJMTOV @Marold O/L. lpJe-m mm jmA/M duyqlw Oct. 19, 1965 H. N. IPSEN 3,212,765

CONDITIONING APPARATUS WITH WORK TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed Oct. 25, 1961 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 CATTORNESY/ @et 19, 1965 H. N. IPSEN CONDITIONING APPARATUS WITH WORK TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed OCT.. 25, 1961 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 wond Q1. lpuey H. N. IPSEN Oct. 19, 1965 CONDITIONING APPARATUS ,WITH WORK TRANSFER MECHANISM 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed Oct. 25, 1961 cfrrromwyf Harold CYL. lprfew 7 any, @M4 awww United States Patent 3,212,765 CONDITIONING APPARATUS WITH WORK TRANSFER MECHANISM Harold N. Ipsen, Rockford, Ill., assignor to Ipsen Industries, Inc., Rockford, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Oct. 25, 1961, Ser. No. 147,579 6 Claims. (Cl. 266-5) This invention relates to conditioning apparatus including a plurality of conditioning chambers through which articles to be operated on are moved step by step for the performance of the various operations. More particularly, the invention relates to apparatus of the above type which comprise a plurality of heat treating chambers such as a pre-heat furnace, a high heat furnace and oil, Water and air quenching chambers along with transfer mechanism -for advancing articles to be heat treated successively through the various chambers.

The general object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus of the above character which is constructed and arranged in a novel manner to simplify the apparatus and reduce its cost as compared to prior apparatus of this type while at the same time increasing the flexibility of programming without loss of production capacity.

Another object is to arrange the chambers in a novel manner so that one transfer mechanism, mounted in a position where it is protected from the intense heat of the furnaces, is effective to make all transfers between charnbers.

A further object is to provide an apparatus of the above character in which any combination of chambers may be selected quickly and easily and the articles to be treated advanced through the selected chambers without passing through the remaining unused chambers.

Still another object is to utilize the idle time during the treatment of one article in one chamber to transfer another article between the other chambers.

A further object is to transfer articles between chambers in a protective atmosphere which is maintained, without reconditioning, during the treatment of more than one load.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which FIGURE l is a plan view of a heat treating apparatus embodying the novel features of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View taken along the Iline 2 2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 3 3 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section taken along the line 4 4 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 5 5 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of the transfer mechanism shown in FIG. 5 with the mechanism partially extended.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 7 7 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 8 8 in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken along the line 9 9 in FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken along the line 10 10 in FIG. 7.

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. l0 but showing a different position of the parts.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View taken substantially along the line 12 12 in FIG. 5.

3,212,765 Patented Oct. I9, 1965 lCe FIG. 13 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken along the line 13 13 in FIG. 5.

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary plan view of the parts shown in FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken along the line 15-15 in FIG. 5.

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary plan view of the parts shown in FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 17 17 in FIG. 4.

As shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration, the invention is incorporated in a conditioning apparatus which may be utilized for heat treating metal workpieces carried in baskets 10 that are advanced step by step through a plurality of conditioning chambers in which the successive steps in the heat treating process are performed. In this instance, the apparatus includes a furnace 11 for preheating the cold Workpieces, a high heat furnace 12, and additional chambers 13 and 14 that may be used for appropriate air and liquid quenches for the heated workpieces. Herein, the chamber 14 is equipped to provide a water quench and the chamber 13 oil or air quenches.

Each of the four conditioning chambers is of conventional construction and comprises a wall-ed enclosure formed with an opening 15 in 4one end wall through which the baskets 10 may be loaded into the chamber. To separate the chambers so that the atmosphere therein may be controlled during treatment, the openings 15 are controlled by power-operated doors 17 through 20. These doors are raised and lowered by suitable selectively operable .power actuators 21. Thus, one or more ofthe chambers may be evacuated or otherwise conditioned such as by the introduction of a special protective atmosphere in a manner well known in the art. The furnaces 11 and 12 are heated to the proper temperatures by gas or electric heating units indicated generally at 22.

The quenching chambers 13 and 14 preferably include elevator platforms (not shown) normally held level with the furnace floors or hearths to receive the baskets therefrom upon completion of the heating steps. With a basket on the platform, the latter is lowered into a tank `of quenching liquid mounted in the chamber below the level of the hearths, one or the other of the quenches being selected -according to the desired characteristics of the finished product. Hydraulic actuators 23 (FIG. 1) raise and lower the platforms.

Movement of the baskets between the various chambers is accomplished by a transfer mechanism 24. Conventionally, heat treating apparatus of this type have been arranged with the conditioning chambers disposed in a line and with a conveyor running the length of the apparatus through each chamber in the line, or with separate transfer mechanism disposed between each pair of adjacent chambers so as to be protected from the intense heat developed in the furnaces.

In accordance with the present invention, the apparatus is constructed and arranged in a novel manner to simplify the apparatus and reduce its cost as compared to prior apparatus of this type, while at the same time increasing the flexibility of available programming without loss of production capacity. To achieve these ends, the apparatus includes an enclosed transfer chamber 25 and a transfer table 27 movable back and forth therein along a predetermined path. The four conditioning chambers are spaced apart along this path and each is formed with an opening communicating with the trainsfer chamber so that the table 27 may be moved alternately into alinement with each of the openings 15 and the baskets 10 picked up, transferred and unloaded into another chamber. such an arrangement, a single transfer mechanism 24 may With be mounted on the table and is effective to serve all of the chambers, and all transfers may be made in the controlled atmosphere of the transfer chamber.

In the interest of compactness of the apparatus and simplicity of the mounting of the transfer table, the four conditioning chambers are positioned on the four sides of the transfer chamber with the openings facing toward the center of the chamber 25, and the transfer table 27 is supported in the chamber 25 for rotation through an arc including the various openings 15. The chamber 25 is formed by generally octagonal top and bottom walls 28 and 29 respectively and four side walls 30 through 33 (see FIG. 4) spaced apart around and connecting the top and bottom to dene four lateral openings into the chamber. Each wall of the chamber preferably is formed by spaced parallel plates providing insulating spaces to reduce heat loss from the chamber. Supporting the chamber above iloor level is a frame 34 including upright legs 35 and 37, cross bars 38 (FIGS. 2 and 3) and a brace 39, the bottom wall -or floor 29 of the chamber being held on the cross bars 38 slightly below the level of the openings into the conditioning chambers. Three of the openings into the transfer chamber are-surrounded by necks 40 (FIG. 4) which are sealed against the outer walls o fthe associated conditioning chambers so that transfers through those openings are made without exposing the work to outside atmosphere. The opening communicating with the water quench chamber 14 simply is closed by the sliding door 20.

As shown in FIG. l, at least -one of the chambers is formed with an outer opening through which the baskets are loaded as well as the inner opening 15 communicating with the transfer chamber. Herein, the baskets are loaded onto an exterior roller conveyor 41 and into the oil quench chamber 13 through an outer opening controlled by a power-operated door 42. Accordingly, this chamber serves the dual purposey of loading station and quench station. While the loading chamber also may be used for unloading the baskets, herein baskets are unloaded through an -outer opening 43 (FIG. l) in the Water quench chamber 14 and onto a roller conveyor 44.

In the present instance, the transfer table 27 is mounted to rotate in a horizontal plane by means including a central post 45 in the transfer chamber upstanding from the floor 29 and journaled in bearings 47 (FIG. 5) in the oor. This table comprises a somewhat elongated rectangular frame including parallel channel bars 48 running along opposite sides and connected across the ends by bars 49 and 50. Spanning the undersides of the side bars intermediate the ends of the latter and preferably offset slightly toward one end is a cross channel 51 which is bolted adjacent its midpoint to the post 45.

To facilitate back and forth sliding of the baskets along a rectilinear path, a conveyor 52 is formed at one end of the table. In this instance, this conveyor comprises a plurality of rollers 53 journaled at their opposite ends in parallel upright legs of spaced bars 54 of generally rectangur cross-section (see FIG. 17), the horizontal legs of the bars 54 being supported at one end on posts 55 (FIG. 5) on the cross channel 51 and at the other 'end on the end bar 50. The rollers are positioned to support they baskets at the level of the furnace oors.

Preferably, additional support is provided for the ends of the table to maintain the latter level under the weight of the baskets. This may be accomplished by mounting a plurality of grooved wheels 57 around the frame to roll on an annular track 58 secured to the floor of the transfer chamber under the table 27. Herein, one wheel is mounted on the end of the frame opposite the conveyor 52 and two are mounted at the other end, one on each side channel. Each wheel is rotatably supported between the legs of a U-shaped yoke 59 (FIGS. 3 and 5) opening downwardly from a horizontal arm 60 supported at one end on and projecting outwardly from the frame. The track 58 is formed by a bar of rectangular cross-section bent into a 4 ring and bolted to the floor 29 so that the wheels 57 ride on the upright leg of the bar.

Indexing of the table to position the conveyor 52 alternately in front of the different chambers may be accomplished by means of a geneva mechanism 61 (FIGS. 2 and 7) mounted on the frame 34 supporting the chamber. The illustrative mechanism includes a double-acting cylinder 62 pivotally mounted at one end on a lug 63 (FIG. 7) bolted to a crossbar 38 (see FIGS. 2 and 3.), and a lever 64 fulcrumed intermediate its ends on the leg to turn about a vertical axis. One end of the lever is connected to a piston rod 65 carried by a piston 67 slidable in the cylinder 62 and the other end extends inwardly under Athe chamber 25 and over a circular index plate 68. The latter is concentric with and secured to the lower end of the central post 45 to turn with the transfer table. Angularly spaced around the plate are four radially extending grooves 69 which are formed in blocks 70 fastened to the upper side of the index plate and mounted on the plate in positions correlated with the positions of the openings 15 into the chambers. At the free end of the lever is la downwardly extending roller 71 adapted to ride in the grooves 69. With the roller seated in one of the grooves, turning of the lever through a ninety degree arc indexes the table through a corresponding turn from one chamber to the next.

As shown in FIGS. l0 and ll, the roller 71 is carried by a piston 72 movable up and down in a double-acting cylinder 73 and, therefore, is movable into and out of the plane of the grooves 69. Thus, the table 27 may be indexed in either direction from a given position and any desired number of steps in one Vdirection merely by controlling the position of the roller 71 during the back and forth movement of the lever 64. To connect the lever to the index plate, the piston 72 is moved downwardly into the extended position (FIG. 10) wherein the roller enters one of the grooves, for example, the one on the upper right hand side as viewed in FIG. 7. When the piston 67 is extended by admitting pressure fluid from a suitable source 66 (FIG. 2) to the head end of the cylinder 62, the lever is swung in a clockwise direction and roller moves along the groove to turn the index plate ninety degrees in a counter-clockwise direction, the lever swing-' ing through the position shown in phantom in FIG. 7 and against a bracket 74. If it is desired to index further in the same direction, the roller is retracted (FIG. 1l) by admitting pressure fluid to the rod end of the cylinder and the lever swings back against a second bracket 74a on the left hand side. next radiating groove and the piston is extended to swing the lever to the left and index the table another ninety degrees.

Mechanism is provided to lock 'the transfer table in a selected angular position. Herein, this mechanism comprises a double-acting cylinder 75 (FIGS. 2, 3, 5 and 7) held on a bracket 77 on the frame 34 and a lock pin 78 carried by the cylinder 75 and reciprocable thereby toward and away from the index plate. Stop blocks 79 interposed between the grooves 69 are formed with tapered, radially-opening recesses into which the tapered end of the lock pin 78 fits when the table is aligned with the one of the openings 15. Thus, when 'the table has been indexed into alinement with the desired chamber, the lock pin may be moved into registering recess thereby locking the table in the selected position.

The transfer mechanism 24 for moving baskets 10 into and out of the conditioning chambers preferably is carried by the transfer table and includes a pair of elongated parallel rods 80 disposed on opposite sides of the basket and journ'aled in spaced bearings on the table for both turning and endwise sliding. Spanning Vthe space between the rods is a bar 81 normally positioned adjacent the inner end of the conveyor 52 and slightly above the tops of the rollers 53 to provide an abutment for engaging the baskets and pushing them olf the table as the rods slide Then the roller is engaged in the4 toward one of the chambers. Removal of baskets from the chambers is accomplished by fingers 82 rigid with the outer ends of and projecting radially from the rods. When a basket is being loaded into a chamber, the rods are positioned so that the fingers are held in a vertical position and are out from behind the basket. When a basket is to be removed from a chamber, however, the rods are turned to swing the fingers inwardly and behind the basket so that they engage and withdraw the basket as the rods are retracted.

Preferably, such turning of the fingers 82 is accomplished automatically as an incident to the back and forth movement of the rods 80. For this purpose, cams 83 and 84 (FIGS. 13 through 16) are mounted along each rod on the channel bars 48 and cooperate with follower pins 85 on the rods to turn the latter back and forth. As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, each cam 83 is an elongated member of arcuate cross-section pivotally mounted on a pin 87 journaled in and depending from a horizontal plate 88 overhanging the rod 80 from the side channel 48. A torsion spring 89 urges the pin in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 14 to swing the cam against a flange 90 depending from the free edge of the plate 88. Consequently, the cams 83 are held generally parallel to the paths of the rods.

Along one edge 91, each cam is formed with a helical surface which turns progressively downwardly through a quarter turn. The other edge 92 is vertical and curves away from the pivot toward the free end of the cam. So that the fingers 82 are horizontal when the follower pins 85 are vertical, the latter are secured to the rods adjacent their inner ends and are offset ninety degrees from the fingers. Beginning in the retracted position of the rods (FIG. 14), the follower pins ride along the surface 91 and are turned downwardly to raise the fingers as the rods are extended. Thus, the basket is moved into the chamber by the bar 81 and left in the chamber when the rods are withdrawn.

Turning of the rods to bring the fingers back into position to engage the baskets during the unloading stroke is accomplished by the cams 84 which are disposed alongside the rods and adjacent the outer end of the conveyor. As shown in FIGS. and 16, these cams are bolted to plates 93 on the channel bars 48 and are formed with one helical edge 94 turning upwardly through a quarter turn. When the follower pins pass along the edge 94, they are turned back to the vertical position in which the fingers are disposed behind the basket.

As the rods are extended to unload a chamber, the follower pins, which are horizontal after the previous loading stroke, freely pass the cams 83 and the fingers move to a position beyond the back edge of the basket. During unloading, the rods are moved slightly further than in loading so that the pins engage the cams 84 and the fingers are turned down, the bar 81 engaging the basket and moving it further into the chamber. As the rods are retracted to draw the basket out, the upright pins pass along the edge 92 of the cams 83 and the latter are swung out of the way and then snap back as the pins clear the free ends of the cams. Thus, the fingers are down during indexing of the table and until the beginning of the next loading stroke. At that time, the follower pins ride along the cam surfaces 91 and the fingers are turned up.

Herein, the rods 80 are driven back and forth by power derived from a reversible hydraulic motor 95 (FIGS. 2 and 12) and transmitted to the rods through appropriate gearing and nut and screw elements 97 and 98 respectively. The motor 95 is suspended on a bracket 99 hanging below the index plate 68 and drives a horizontal pulley 100 carrying an endless V-belt 101 running around a second pulley 102 fast on the lower end of a shaft 103. This shaft is journaled in the post 45 to extend upwardly into the transfer chamber through the post and the cross channel 51, and carries at its upper end a bevel gear 104.

The latter drives a meshing gear 105 on a horizontal shaft 107 (FIGS. 4 and 5) extending from the center of the transfer table to the end thereof opposite the conveyor and carrying at its outer end a bevel gear 108 meshing on opposite sides with gears 109 on laterally extending shafts 110 leading to each side of the frame. Through meshing gears 111, the shafts turn the screws 98 which extend along opposite sides of the frame. The nuts 97 are threaded on these screws and move back and forth as the motor 95 is driven in opposite directions. As shown in FIG. 6, each rod is carried by one of the nuts 97 and moves back and forth with the associated nut.

y In operation, a basket is sealed in the oil quench chamber 13, the transfer table is indexed into alinement with that chamber, the door 19 is opened and the motor 95 energized in a direction to extend the rods 80 into the chamber on opposite sides of the basket and turn the fingers down behind the basket. Then the motor is reversed to move the basket into the transfer chamber. With the basket on the transfer table, the latter is indexed to the next chamber, usually the pre-heat furnace 11, where the rods are extended to move the basket off the transfer table and into the furnace. After the rods are retracted, the furnace door 18 is closed to seal the basket in the furnace.

When the pre-heating period is completed, the door 18 is opened and the basket is transferred to the high heat furnace 12 in the manner above described and sealed in the furnace. At this time, the operator may return the transfer table to the loading station 13 and load another basket into the pre-heat furnace, thus using the idle time during heating of one basket to begin the cycle on another. When the basket in the high heat furnace is ready for quenching, the transfer table is indexed to the high heat furnace, unloads the basket and carries it to the .selected quench chamber 13, 14 and loads the basket into that chamber for quenching. The second basket then may be transferred -to the high heat furnace, again utilizing the idle time during the treating of the first load. Further, while the second basket is being heated, the first basket may be transferred to the unloading station 14 and removed from the apparatus. With this arrangement, flexibility of programming is increased because three types of quench and two furnaces are available and any cornbination of these chambers may be selected quickly and easily as if the others were not included in the apparatus. No production time is spent in moving the work through unused chambers.

It will be seen from the foregoing that it is not necessary to break the outer seals while making such transfers between chambers. Consequently, the atmosphere within the transfer chamber may be controlled during all of the transfers and may be conditioned in accordance with the characteristics of the metal being treated, for example, by mounting a gas burner 112 (FIG. 2) in the transfer chamber and supplying it with an excess of fuel to maintain a reducing atmosphere. Since two baskets may be sealed in the apparatus at once and advanced through complete cycles without breaking the outer seal, the time devoted to reconditioning the atmosphere is reduced.

The heat treating apparatus described above may be operated by means of suitable manual control (not shown) for indexing the transfer table selectively to the right or left, activating the actuators 21 to open and close the chamber doors, energizing the motor 95 in opposite directions to operate the transfer mechanism, and controlling the cycles of the various chambers. Such controls are well known in the art and require no further description.

In FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, various position switches are shown which may be used to facilitate operation of the apparatus. A bank of switches LS1 through LS4 may be vertically stacked on a bracket 113 supported on the frame leg 35 adjacent the index plate. To activate these switches, dogs 114 through 117 are suspended at different levels on bars 118 hanging below the index plate and angularly spaced around the plate in positions correlated with the spacing of the chamber openings. The levels of these dogs correspond to the different levels of the stacked switches (see FIG. 9) so that one switch is activated in each of the four lpositions of the transfer table. The signals of these switches may be utilized merely 'to indicate to the operator the position of the table 27 or, if desired, to control the operation of the apparatus at each station through suitable circuits well known in the art.

To limit rotation of the table in one direction to one full revolution, switches LSS and LS6 are mounted on a bar 119 alongside the index plate to be actuated by dogs'l 120 and 121 suspended at diiferent levels below the index. plate. As the table is turning in one direction, dog 120' opens switch LSS to prevent further turning in that direction. In the other direction, the dog 121 opens switch LS6 to stop the indexing mechanism.

Switches LC7 and LSS (see FIGS. 7, 10, and 11) are secured to the brackets 742L and '74 respectively in the path of reciprocation of the roller 71 when the lever 64 is in its inactive positions so that movements of the roller operate the switches. Accordingly, these switches may be used to activate and de-activate the lock pin cylinder 75, initiating the pulling of the lock pin 78 when the roller is lowered preparatory to indexing and extending the pin upon completion of the stroke. The position of the lever may be indicated by switches LS9 and LS10 mounted respectively on the bracket 74a and 74 to be actuated by the lever 64 in its inactive positions.

Switches LS11 and LS12 (FIG. 7) are spaced apart along the path of the lock pin 78 to be alternately activated by the actuator rings 122 and 123 encircling the pin adjacent the end opposite the index plate. In the extended position of the pin, the ring 122 operates switch LS11 to signal that the index plate is locked, and in the retracted position, the ring 123 operates switch LS-12- to signal that the plate is free to turn. These signals preferably activate and de-activate the indexing mechanism.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a heat treating apparatus, the combination of, an enclosed transfer chamber, a plurality of conditioning chambers angularly spaced around said transfer chamber and each having an inner opening communicating with said transfer chamber, one of said chambers having an outer opening for receiving articles to be treated and another having an outer opening for unloading articles after treating, a transfer table disposed in said transfer chamber in a horizontal plane level with said openings, means supporting said table for rotation about a vertical axis through an arc including the openings into each of said chambers, a conveyor on said table for supporting the articles for back and forth movement along a rectilinear path, means for selectively indexing said table to aline said path with each of said inner openings, transfer mechanism on said table for moving the articles back and forth along said path and in and out of the selected one of said chambers, and means for controlling the atmosphere within said chambers, said last mentioned means including selectively operable doors for opening and closing at least said inner openings.

2. Conditioning apparatus including, in combination, an enclosed :transfer chamber, a table disposed within said chamber in a horizontal plane, means supporting said table for rotation about la vertical raxis, a plurality of conditioning chambers spaced around said tnansfer chamber and each having an Iopening communicating with the transfer chamber and level with said table, mean-s for selectively indexing said table into ialinfcrnent with each of said openings, .tnansfer mechanism on said table for moving .articles to be operated on back and forth between lsaid table and the selected one of said chambers, means 4for sea-ling said chambers, :and means for controlling the atmosphere within said chambers.

3. Conditioning yapparatus including, in combination, :an enclosed transfer cham-ber, a table rotatably mounted in said transfer chamber, a plurality of conditioning chamibers spaced anound Isaid transfer chamber and each having an inner opening communicating with fthe transfer chamber, one of said conditioning chambers also having 'an outer opening for receiving San Iarticle to be operated on, selectively operable doors for closing said outer lopening :and at lea-st one of said inner openings, means for selectively indexing said platform into lalineme-nt with each of said inner openings, .transfer mechanism for mov- :ing the artic-le back and tforth be-tween said table and tlhe selected one of said conditioning chambers, and means for controlling the atmosphere 'Within said chambers.

`4. Condition-ing apparatus including, in combination, :an enclosed transfer Achamber having an opening for receiving articles .to be operated on, a table rotatably moun-ted in said transfer chamber, a plurality of conditioning chambers spaced around :said transfer chamber and each having an opening communicating with the transfer chamber, means vfor selectively indexing said table into .alinernent with each of said open-ings, Itransfer mechanism for moving the articles back and forth between said table and the selec-ted one of said conditioning chambers, and means lfor contro-lling the atmosphere wit-hin said chambers.

A5. IConditioning apparat-us inclu-ding, in combina-tion, an enclosed transfer chamber having .an opening for -receiving articles -t-o be operated on, a .transfer .table movable back fand for-th in said trans-fer chamber to carry the articles along a predetermined path, a plurality of conditioning chambers spaced apart along said path and each having an opening communicating with said transfer chamber, means for controlling .the movements of said table to aline the llatter selectively with ea-ch of said openings, transfer mechanism on said table selectively opertable to move fthe articles back and forth relative :to said table and said path and .through the selected one of said openings, and means rfor icontrolling the 'atmosphere Within said chambers.

16. Conditioning apparatus as defined in Iclaim 5 in which said conditioning chambers are spaced around said transfer chamber to open inwardly toward said table, and sai-d table is rotatably mounted in said transfer chamber rfor indexing int-o alinetment with said openings.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,470,285 5 49 Bierwinth 2,19--10 A2,6228 61 12/ 52E Talley.

l2,641,064 6/53 'Foner 16S-120 X l2,681,136 6/54' Ipsen.

`2,853,588 -9/58 Brown 2119-10 2,978,23 7` 4/ `6'1 IFrank.

JOHN F. CAMPBELL, Primary Examiner.

yCHARLES SUKALO, MORRIS O. WOLK, Examiners.

Claims (1)

1. 5. CONDITIONING APPARATUS INCLUDING, IN COMBINATION, AN ENCLOSED TRANSFER CHAMBER HAVING AN OPENING FOR RECEIVING ARTICLES TO BE OPERATED ON, A TRANSFER TABLE MOVABLE ENCLOSED TRANSFER CHAMBER HAVING AN OPENING FOR REARTICLES ALONG A PREDETERMINED PATH, A PLURALITY OF CONDITIONING CHAMBERS SPACED APART ALONG SAID PATH AND EACH HAVING AN OPENING COMMUNICATING WITH SAID TRANSFER CHAMBER, MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE MOVEMENTS OF SAID TABLE TO ALINE THE LATTER SELECTIVELY WITH EACH OF SAID OPENINGS, TRANSFER MECHANISM ON SAID TABLE SELECTIVELY OPERABLE TO MOVE THE ARTICLES BACK AND FORTH RELATIVE TO SAID TABLE AND SAID PATH AND THROUGH THE SELECTIVE TO SAID OPENINGS, AND MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE ATMOSPHERE WITHIN SAID CHAMBERS.

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