Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F27—FURNACES; KILNS; OVENS; RETORTS
  • F27D—DETAILS OR ACCESSORIES OF FURNACES, KILNS, OVENS OR RETORTS, IN SO FAR AS THEY ARE OF KINDS OCCURRING IN MORE THAN ONE KIND OF FURNACE
  • F27D5/00—Supports, screens or the like for the charge within the furnace
  • F27D5/005—Supports specially adapted for holding elongated articles in an upright position, e.g. sparking plugs
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47F—SPECIAL FURNITURE, FITTINGS, OR ACCESSORIES FOR SHOPS, STOREHOUSES, BARS, RESTAURANTS OR THE LIKE; PAYING COUNTERS
  • A47F5/00—Show stands, hangers, or shelves characterised by their constructional features
  • A47F5/08—Show stands, hangers, or shelves characterised by their constructional features secured to the wall, ceiling, or the like; Wall-bracket display devices
  • A47F5/0807—Display panels, grids or rods used for suspending merchandise or cards supporting articles; Movable brackets therefor
  • A47F5/0815—Panel constructions with apertures for article supports, e.g. hooks
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F27—FURNACES; KILNS; OVENS; RETORTS
  • F27D—DETAILS OR ACCESSORIES OF FURNACES, KILNS, OVENS OR RETORTS, IN SO FAR AS THEY ARE OF KINDS OCCURRING IN MORE THAN ONE KIND OF FURNACE
  • F27D3/00—Charging; Discharging; Manipulation of charge
  • F27D3/12—Travelling or movable supports or containers for the charge
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F27—FURNACES; KILNS; OVENS; RETORTS
  • F27D—DETAILS OR ACCESSORIES OF FURNACES, KILNS, OVENS OR RETORTS, IN SO FAR AS THEY ARE OF KINDS OCCURRING IN MORE THAN ONE KIND OF FURNACE
  • F27D5/00—Supports, screens or the like for the charge within the furnace

Definitions

• the invention relates to a loading device, or tool, for supporting parts in a heat treatment oven.
• a particular, but not exclusive, field of application of the invention is that of tools for supporting parts in a cementation furnace.
• thermostructural composite material in place of a metallic material, for producing hearths for heat treatment ovens.
• Several floors can be provided, being spaced from each other by spacers also made of a thermostructural composite material.
• the composite material used is a carbon-carbon composite material (CC) or a ceramic matrix composite material (CMC).
• CC carbon-carbon composite material
• CMC ceramic matrix composite material
• the object of the present invention is to remedy the aforementioned drawbacks of the devices of the prior art and for this purpose proposes a loading device made essentially of thermostructural composite material comprising: a base, a partition rising above the base and comprising , for example, uprights between which cross members, and a plurality of support arms attached to the partition and extending substantially horizontally therefrom to their free ends, the arms being arranged so substantially symmetrical on either side of the partition, so that the parts to be treated can be supported in overhang by said arms.
• thermostructural composite materials such as C-C composites and CMCs are characterized by their dimensional stability and their resistance to bending, the latter authorizing the loading of parts in overhang.
• a te! device can be made light and airy, while providing a large filling capacity. It is therefore easy to handle, offers a large capacity for exchanges with the parts to be treated, in particular during case hardening or quenching operations, and has a high loading efficiency.
• the arms extending substantially symmetrically on both sides of the partition, it is possible to achieve balanced loading.
• pins can be mounted on the support arms to materialize locations of parts to be treated. These can be threaded or hung on the support arms, when they have an internal passage, or can be suspended by leaning on two neighboring arms.
• FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a first embodiment of a loading device according to the invention.
• FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing a part of the elements of the loading device of Figure 1 before their mutual assembly;
• FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a second embodiment of a loading device according to the invention.
• the loading device 10 in FIG. 1 is particularly suitable for supporting annular parts A, such as gearbox gears. Only a few parts A are shown in FIG. 1.
• the device comprises (FIGS. 1 and 2) a support structure formed essentially of a base or sole 12, of a vertical partition 14 supported by the base 12, in the middle part thereof, lateral reinforcing gussets 16, 18 and horizontal support arms 20.
• the central partition 14 comprises lateral uprights 140, 142 between which extend horizontal crosspieces 144.
• the support arms 20 are formed by bars 22 which, in their central part, are supported by the crosspieces 144.
• the bars 22 extend on either side of the partition 14, each forming two opposite arms aligned with the same dimensions. At their end remote from the partition 14, the arms 20 are free.
• the horizontal support arms 20 could be screwed onto the partition 14, on either side of the latter.
• the arms are mounted substantially symmetrically with respect to the median vertical plane of the partition. This means that the arms are substantially the same dimensions and the same number on each side of the partition, but not necessarily exactly aligned in pairs.
• the above elements constituting the support structure are made of a thermostructural composite material.
• the composite materials that can be used are carbon / carbon composite materials (C / C) and ceramic matrix composite materials (CMC).
• the C / C composites are obtained by making a fibrous preform of carbon fibers and densifying the preform by forming a carbon matrix within its porosity.
• the carbon matrix can be obtained by liquid means, that is to say by impregnation of the preform by means of a liquid composition (such as a resin) carbon precursor and heat treatment to transform the precursor into carbon, or by gas, that is to say by chemical vapor infiltration.
• CMCs are obtained by making a fibrous preform of refractory fibers, for example carbon or ceramic fibers, and densification of the preform by forming a ceramic matrix within its porosity.
• the ceramic matrix for example made of silicon carbide (SiC) can be obtained by the liquid route or by chemical vapor infiltration.
• thermostructural composite materials lies in their excellent mechanical properties, in particular their resistance to bending.
• thermostructural composite materials lies in their great dimensional stability, even when they are exposed to strong temperature variations. This makes it possible to keep practically invariable position references for the support arms 20 and therefore to have the precision required for the robotization of the loading and unloading operations.
• the method of supporting the parts A on the arms 20 also makes this robotization easy.
• the embodiment of the loading device with arms 20 extending on each side of the partition 14, substantially symmetrical with respect thereto, also makes it possible to carry out loading and unloading simultaneously and symmetrically on both sides of the partition. This results in significant time savings for carrying out these operations.
• the parts A can be placed on the arms 20 side by side or in predetermined locations, these being for example materialized by notches formed on the arms.
• the uprights 140, 142 have end portions 140a, 142a which engage in corresponding housings 12a, 12b formed in the base 12, while the crosspieces 144 have end parts 144a, 144b which engage in housings, such as 142ç, formed in the uprights 140, 142.
• housings 142ç_ can be provided at regular intervals along the uprights 140, 142 in order to mount the sleepers 144 with an interval determined according to the size of the parts A in the vertical direction.
• the gussets 16, 18 have tenons 16a, 18a along their lower edges which engage in corresponding housings 12ç_, 12d formed in the base 12.
• the uprights 140, 142 are supported on the gussets 16, 18 by recesses 140d, 142d formed along their outer edges.
• Each bar 22 has in its central part a notch 22a which cooperates with a notch 144c formed in a cross member 144 in order to embed the bar on the cross member.
• Each crosspiece has notches 144c distributed over its length in order to mount bars 22 on the same crosspiece with an interval determined according to the size of the parts A in the horizontal direction.
• each upright 140, 142 can be completed by making each upright 140, 142 not in one piece, but in several pieces assembled end to end.
• the uprights 140, 142 and crosspieces 144 of the partition 14 can be produced in a single piece, for example by machining a plate of thermostructural composite material.
• Figure 1 shows that the loading device has a very large filling capacity while having a light and airy structure, recesses can be made in elements of the structure such as the base 12 and the gussets 16, 18. Handling of the complete loading device is therefore easy. In addition, when the heat treatment includes the diffusion of gas in contact with the parts, gas exchanges with the parts are facilitated.
• the loading device of FIG. 3 differs from that of FIG. 1 in that it is more particularly intended for the support of elongated solid parts, such as shafts B which are arranged vertically (in FIG. 3, parts B are shown only on one side of the charging device). In addition, the locations of the parts B are materialized by pins 26 on which the parts rest.
• the construction of the reinforcing structure is identical to that of FIG. 1, with the base 12 supporting the central partition 14 on which the bars 22 are mounted forming the horizontal arms 20 having their free ends.
• the number of crosspieces 144 of the central partition, between the uprights 140, 142, and the spacing between the crosspieces are determined according to the vertical size of the pieces B.
• the mutual spacing between the arms 20 is determined according to the horizontal size of the pieces B. It is in fact noted that each piece B rests by a shoulder on two pins 26 carried by adjacent arms 20 in the same locations on these arms, each piece being inserted for loading into the interval between two arms.
• the pins 26 are distributed along each arm with mutual spacing as a function of the horizontal size of the parts B, in a direction parallel to the arms 20.
• the pins 26 can be made of a thermostructural composite material, for example the same as that of the other elements of the support structure, or of a refractory metallic material.
• the pins 26 may be in the form of studs simply mounted slightly by force on the arms 20, without gluing.
• FIGS. 1 and 3 have shown loading devices each supporting identical parts, it goes without saying that parts of different shapes may be placed on the same loading device.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Furnace Charging Or Discharging (AREA)
• Heat Treatments In General, Especially Conveying And Cooling (AREA)
• Solid-Phase Diffusion Into Metallic Material Surfaces (AREA)

Priority Applications (6)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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ID=9545223

Family Applications (1)

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Cited By (1)

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Citations (8)

Family Cites Families (10)

• 1999
  • 1999-05-05 FR FR9905692A patent/FR2793311B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2000
  • 2000-05-04 CA CA002337145A patent/CA2337145C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-05-04 DE DE60013535T patent/DE60013535T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-05-04 US US09/743,087 patent/US6401941B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-05-04 JP JP2000617373A patent/JP4610089B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-05-04 RU RU2000133343/02A patent/RU2226250C2/ru not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2000-05-04 ES ES00925390T patent/ES2226824T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-05-04 EP EP00925390A patent/EP1099086B1/fr not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-05-04 WO PCT/FR2000/001206 patent/WO2000068626A1/fr not_active Ceased
  • 2000-05-04 AT AT00925390T patent/ATE275718T1/de active
  • 2000-05-04 KR KR1020017000056A patent/KR100650810B1/ko not_active Expired - Fee Related

Patent Citations (8)

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