WO2019138887A1

WO2019138887A1 - Heat treatment furnace

Info

Publication number: WO2019138887A1
Application number: PCT/JP2018/047894
Authority: WO
Inventors: 山田　豊
Original assignee: 日本碍子株式会社; エヌジーケイ・キルンテック株式会社
Priority date: 2018-01-11
Filing date: 2018-12-26
Publication date: 2019-07-18
Also published as: TWI768165B; JP6948408B2; CN111656119A; JPWO2019138887A1; TW201932775A

Abstract

This heat treatment furnace performs a heat treatment on objects to be treated. The heat treatment furnace is provided with: a heat treatment part that is provided with a space for performing a heat treatment on objects to be treated; an outward-conveyance part for conveying the objects out of the heat treatment part; and a plurality of conveyance rollers that are arranged in the heat treatment part and that convey the object. The conveyance rollers can have a plurality of the objects mounted thereon so as to be aligned in a second direction perpendicular to a first direction which is horizontal and is the conveying direction. The outward-conveyance part is configured such that one or two objects mounted on the outer side, among the objects mounted so as to be aligned in the second direction, are conveyed outward with respect to the objects mounted inward of the one or two objects.

Description

Heat treatment furnace

The technology disclosed herein relates to a heat treatment furnace that heat-treats an object to be treated.

The object to be treated may be heat-treated using a heat treatment furnace (e.g., a roller hearthine or the like). The heat treatment furnace of this type includes a plurality of transport rollers, and transports the workpiece by rotating the transport roller in a state where the workpiece is placed on the transport roller. For example, JP-A-2015-64189 discloses an example of a heat treatment furnace.

In the heat treatment furnace of this type, in order to increase the productivity, a plurality of objects to be treated in a direction (hereinafter also referred to as a second direction) perpendicular to the conveyance direction (hereinafter also referred to as a first direction) on the conveyance roller. Are placed side by side, and the plurality of objects to be treated may be simultaneously transported. In such a case, a plurality of objects to be treated are simultaneously carried into the heat treatment furnace in a state of being lined up in the second direction. Then, the plurality of objects to be treated are transported by the transport rollers in the heat treatment furnace and carried out of the heat treatment furnace. Since a plurality of objects to be treated arranged in the second direction are transported using the same transport roller, ideally they should be carried out while being carried in from the heat treatment furnace. However, when an object to be treated is placed on the conveying roller, the weight of the object to be treated may cause deflection of the conveying roller, and the deflection becomes larger as the central portion of the conveying roller is approached. Therefore, the workpiece placed on the outside of the transport roller tends to be inclined toward the inside, and when it is carried out from the heat treatment furnace, the workpiece comes in contact with the workpiece placed on the inside and becomes the workpiece on the inside. Problems can occur that hinder the transport of If the object to be treated disposed outside interferes with the conveyance of the object to be treated disposed inside, the plurality of objects to be treated can not be unloaded from the heat treatment furnace in an aligned state. This problem is remarkable particularly in a heat treatment furnace where the transport distance of the object to be treated is long.

The present specification discloses a technique for preventing a plurality of workpieces placed side by side in a horizontal direction (second direction) perpendicular to the transport direction from coming into contact with each other when being unloaded from the heat treatment furnace. .

The heat treatment furnace disclosed herein heat-treats an object to be treated. The heat treatment furnace includes a heat treatment unit having a space for heat treatment of an object to be treated, an unloading unit for taking out the object to be treated from the heat treatment unit, and a plurality of transport rollers disposed in the heat treatment unit to convey the object to be treated. ing. The transport roller is capable of arranging and placing a plurality of workpieces in a second direction which is horizontal and perpendicular to the first direction which is the transport direction. In the unloading unit, one or two objects to be treated placed outside among the plurality of objects placed side by side in the second direction are placed inside the object to be treated 1 or 2 It is configured to be transported outward with respect to the object to be treated.

In the heat treatment furnace described above, in the unloading portion, the outer processing object (processing object disposed on the end portion side of the transport roller) is disposed on the inside processing object (processing object disposed from the center of the transport roller) Since the material is transported from the heat treatment furnace to the outside, it is possible to prevent the outer workpiece coming out of the heat treatment furnace from coming into contact with the inner workpiece. For this reason, it can avoid that conveyance (advancement) of a to-be-processed object inside is interrupted by the to-be-processed object of an outside, and it becomes easy to collect | recover the to-be-processed object after heat processing. Moreover, since it can avoid that conveyance of the to-be-processed object inside and an outside to-be-processed object contact in a carrying out part, it can avoid that to-be-processed object is damaged.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the heat processing furnace which concerns on an Example, and is a longitudinal cross-sectional view when a heat processing furnace is cut | disconnected by the plane parallel to the conveyance direction of to-be-processed object. Sectional drawing in the II-II line of FIG. The top view which shows schematic structure of a carrying out part. The figure for demonstrating the direction to which a to-be-processed object is conveyed in a heat processing part.

The main features of the embodiment described below are listed. The technical elements described below are technical elements that are independent of each other and exhibit technical usefulness by themselves or various combinations, and are not limited to the combinations described in the claims at the time of filing. Absent.

(Characteristic 1) In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the carry-out unit includes a stopper that aligns the plurality of objects to be processed arranged in the second direction so that the positions in the first direction become the same. May be According to such a configuration, since the objects to be treated can be aligned in the first direction (that is, the transport direction), the objects to be treated can be easily collected.

(Feature 2) In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the carry-out unit may be provided with a conveyance roller for conveying a plurality of objects to be treated carried out from the heat treatment unit. The conveyance roller installed in the unloading unit may be provided with a partial conveyance roller divided into a plurality of pieces in the second direction. Among the divided partial transport rollers, the partial transport rollers installed outside may be arranged such that the object is transported outward. According to such a configuration, it is possible to easily adjust the transport direction of the object to be processed in the unloading unit by dividing the transport rollers of the unloading unit.

(Feature 3) In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the partial transport roller installed outside may have a longer axial length than the partial transport roller installed inside. According to such a configuration, it is possible to prevent an object to be processed conveyed by the partial conveyance roller disposed outside from jumping out of the partial conveyance roller.

Hereinafter, the heat treatment furnace 10 which concerns on an Example is demonstrated. As shown in FIG. 1, the heat treatment furnace 10 includes a heat treatment unit 20, a carry-in unit 34, a carry-out unit 40, and a transfer device 50. The heat treatment furnace 10 heat-treats the processing object 12 while the processing object 12 is transferred in the heat processing unit 20 by the transfer device 50.

As the to-be-processed object 12, the laminated body which laminated | stacked the dielectric material (base material) made from ceramics, and an electrode, the positive electrode material of a lithium ion battery, negative electrode material etc. are mentioned, for example. In the case of heat treating the ceramic laminate using the heat treatment furnace 10, these can be placed on a flat setter and transported in the furnace. Moreover, when heat-processing the positive electrode material and negative electrode material of a lithium ion battery using the heat processing furnace 10, these can be accommodated in a box-shaped mortar and can be conveyed in the inside of a furnace. In the heat treatment furnace 10 of this embodiment, a plurality of setters and pots can be placed and transported in the transport direction on

transport rollers

52, 54, 56a, 56b, 58 (described later). Hereinafter, in the present embodiment, the entire combination of the substance to be heat-treated, the setter on which the substance to be heat-treated is placed, and the mortar housed therein is referred to as "object to be treated 12". In the following description, the direction in which the object 12 is transported (direction perpendicular to the YZ plane in FIG. 1) may be referred to as “transport direction” or “first direction”, and is horizontal and perpendicular to the first direction. A direction (a direction perpendicular to the XZ plane in FIG. 1) may be referred to as a “second direction”.

The heat treatment unit 20 includes a substantially rectangular box-shaped furnace body, and a space 24 surrounded by an outer wall 22 is provided inside the furnace body. An opening 26 is formed in the front end surface (the end surface on the -X side in FIG. 1) of the outer wall 22 and an opening 28 is formed in the rear end surface (the end surface on the + X side in FIG. . The workpiece 12 is transported by the transport device 50 from the opening 26 into the thermal processing unit 20, and transported from the opening 28 to the outside of the thermal processing unit 20. That is, the opening 26 is used as an inlet for the heat treatment unit 20, and the opening 28 is used as an outlet for the heat treatment unit 20.

In the space 24, a plurality of conveyance rollers 52 and a plurality of

heaters

30 and 32 are disposed. The heaters 30 are disposed at equal intervals in the transport direction above the transport roller 52, and the heaters 32 are disposed at equal intervals in the transport direction below the transport roller 52. The interior of the space 24 is heated by the heat generated by the

heaters

30 and 32. In the present embodiment, the

heaters

30, 32 are disposed at equal intervals in the transport direction, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. The heater may be appropriately changed and disposed at a desired position in accordance with, for example, the type of the object to be treated 12 and the conditions of the heat treatment of the heat treatment section 20. Moreover, although the

heaters

30 and 32 are arrange | positioned in the space 24 in a present Example, it is not limited to such a structure. As long as the space 24 can be heated, for example, a gas burner or the like may be installed in the space 24.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the heat treatment section 20, a plurality of objects to be treated 12 are conveyed side by side in the second direction. In the present embodiment, in the heat treatment section 20 (that is, the entire heat treatment furnace 10), the three objects 12 to be treated are aligned and transported in the second direction. For this reason, in the present embodiment, the dimension of the heat treatment unit 20 in the second direction is larger than the dimension in which the objects 12 to be treated are arranged in the second direction, but the dimension of the heat treatment unit 20 in the second direction is There is no particular limitation. The dimension of the heat treatment unit 20 in the second direction may be a size that allows more than three workpieces 12 to be arranged and transported in the second direction. For example, four workpieces 12 may be arranged in the second direction. It may be a size that can be transported, a size that can be transported side by side, or a size that can be transported side by side. Moreover, although the dimension of the conveyance direction of the heat processing part 20 is comparatively large with about 100 m, the dimension of the conveyance direction of the heat processing part 20 is not specifically limited. For example, the dimension of the heat treatment section 20 in the transport direction may be smaller than 100 m, may be 30 m to 100 m, or may be larger than 100 m. In the following description, the center side in the second direction when a plurality of objects 12 are arranged in the second direction is referred to as “inner side”, and the end side (the + Y direction and the center side with respect to the center in the second direction). Sometimes referred to as "outside". In addition, the to-be-processed object 12 is continuously carried in to the heat processing part 20 at predetermined intervals. For this reason, the to-be-processed object 12 will be arrange | positioned along with not only a 2nd direction but a conveyance direction.

The loading unit 34 is located on the upstream side of the heat treatment unit 20 (that is, on the upstream side in the transport direction, and in FIG. 1, in the −X direction of the heat treatment unit 20). The loading unit 34 receives the workpiece 12 conveyed from the outside of the heat treatment furnace 10 and loads the received workpiece 12 into the space 24 of the heat treatment unit 20. The conveyance roller 52 is installed in the loading unit 34, and the workpiece 12 conveyed from the outside of the heat treatment furnace 10 is conveyed by the conveyance roller 52.

The unloading unit 40 is located downstream of the heat treatment unit 20 (that is, downstream of the transport direction, and in FIG. 1 in the + X direction of the heat treatment unit 20). The unloading unit 40 unloads the processing object 12 from the space 24 of the heat processing unit 20 and delivers the unloading processing object 12 to the outside of the heat treatment furnace 10. Conveying

rollers

54, 56a, 56b, 58 are installed in the unloading unit 40, and the workpiece 12 is conveyed out of the space 24 by the conveying

rollers

54, 56a, 56b, 58. The specific configuration of the unloading unit 40 will be described in detail later.

The conveyance device 50 includes a plurality of

conveyance rollers

52, 54, 56a, 56b, 58, a drive device 60, and a control device 62. The transport apparatus 50 transports the workpiece 12 transported to the loading unit 34 from the loading unit 34 into the space 24 of the heat treatment unit 20 through the opening 26. Further, the transfer apparatus 50 transfers the object 12 from the opening 26 to the opening 28 in the space 24. Then, the transfer device 50 transfers the object 12 from the space 24 through the opening 28 to the unloading unit 40. The workpiece 12 is transported from the loading unit 34 to the unloading unit 40 by the

transport rollers

52, 54, 56a, 56b, 58.

The

transport rollers

52, 54, 56a, 56b, 58 are cylindrical and all have substantially the same diameter. The

transport rollers

52, 54, 56a, 56b, 58 are rotatably supported about their axes and rotate by transmitting the driving force of the drive device 60.

A plurality of transport rollers 52 are respectively installed in the carry-in unit 34 and the heat treatment unit 20 (see FIG. 1). As shown in FIG. 2, the axis of the transport roller 52 extends in the second direction, and the dimension in the axial direction of the plurality of transport rollers 52 is larger than the dimension of the heat treatment section 20 in the second direction. Further, the plurality of conveyance rollers 52 are arranged at equal intervals in the conveyance direction at a constant pitch (see FIG. 1). In addition, the conveyance roller 52 installed in the heat processing unit 20 and the conveyance roller 52 installed in the loading unit 34 may be disposed at different pitches.

A plurality of

transport rollers

54, 56a, 56b, 58 are disposed in the unloading unit 40 (see FIG. 3). The axial dimensions of the

transport rollers

54, 56a, 56b, 58 are all smaller than the axial dimensions of the transport roller 52. The configuration of the installation of the

transport rollers

54, 56a, 56b, 58 in the unloading section 40 will be described in detail later.

The driving device 60 (see FIG. 1) is a driving device (for example, a motor) that drives the

conveyance rollers

52, 54, 56a, 56b, 58. The drive device 60 is connected to the

transport rollers

52, 54, 56a, 56b, 58 via a power transmission mechanism. When the driving force of the driving device 60 is transmitted to the conveying

rollers

52, 54, 56a, 56b, 58 via the power transmission mechanism, the conveying

rollers

52, 54, 56a, 56b, 58 are rotated. As a power transmission mechanism, a well-known thing can be used, for example, the mechanism by a sprocket and a chain is used. The driving device 60 drives each of the

transport rollers

52, 54, 56a, 56b, 58 such that the

transport rollers

52, 54, 56a, 56b, 58 rotate at substantially the same speed. The drive device 60 is controlled by the control device 62.

Here, the configuration of the unloading unit 40 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 3, the unloading unit 40 is provided with a first conveyance unit 42 and a second conveyance unit 44. Further, at the unloading portion 40,

transport rollers

54, 56a, 56b, 58 and a stopper 46 are installed. In FIG. 3, among the three objects 12 to be processed placed in parallel in the second direction, the object 12a placed at the center (inner side) in the second direction is the object 12a, and the + Y direction in the second direction The object placed on the side is the object to be treated 12b, and the object placed on the -Y direction side in the second direction is distinguished as the object to be treated 12c. Hereinafter, in the case where it is necessary to distinguish the objects to be processed 12, the alphabets of the last characters are described as in the objects to be processed 12a to 12c, and when it is not necessary to distinguish the objects to be processed It describes as a thing 12.

The first transport unit 42 is located upstream of the second transport unit 44 (in the −X direction in FIG. 3). The first transport unit 42 is connected to the thermal processing unit 20 and receives the workpiece 12 unloaded from the thermal processing unit 20. In the first conveyance unit 42,

conveyance rollers

54, 56a, 56b are installed. The second conveyance unit 44 is located on the downstream side (the + X direction side in FIG. 3) of the first conveyance unit 42. The second transport unit 44 is connected to the first transport unit 42 and receives the workpiece 12 transported by the first transport unit 42. Conveying

rollers

54 and 58 are installed in the second conveying unit 44.

A plurality of conveyance rollers 54 are provided in each of the first conveyance unit 42 and the second conveyance unit 44. That is, a plurality of conveyance rollers 54 are provided in the entire area of the unloading unit 40. The transport roller 54 is disposed substantially at the center in the second direction, and its axis extends parallel to the second direction. Further, the plurality of conveyance rollers 54 are arranged at equal intervals at a constant pitch in the conveyance direction (X direction in FIG. 3). The pitch at which the conveyance roller 54 is disposed, and the pitch at which the conveyance roller 52 disposed in the thermal processing unit 20 and the loading unit 34 are disposed are the same. The pitch at which the transport roller 54 is disposed may be different from the pitch at which the transport roller 52 installed in the heat treatment unit 20 and the loading unit 34 is disposed. As described above, the axial dimension of the transport roller 54 is smaller than the axial dimension of the transport roller 52 (see FIG. 2). When the unloading unit 40 is viewed in the transport direction, all the transport rollers 54 are arranged to substantially coincide. The transport roller 54 receives the workpiece 12 (that is, the workpiece 12a) transported at approximately the center of the transport roller 52 in the loading unit 34 and the thermal processing unit 20 from the thermal processing unit 20, and in the unloading unit 40 the workpiece 12a. Transport

The

conveyance rollers

56a and 56b are disposed in the first conveyance unit 42, and a plurality of

conveyance rollers

56a and 56b are disposed adjacent to both ends (the + Y direction side and -Y direction side in FIG. 3) of the conveyance roller 54 in the second direction. . Specifically, the conveyance roller 56 a is disposed on the + Y direction side of the conveyance roller 54 disposed in the first conveyance unit 42, and the conveyance roller 56 b is disposed in the first conveyance unit 42. It is arranged on the -Y direction side. That is, in the first conveyance unit 42, the

conveyance rollers

56b, 54, and 56a are arranged in the order of the second direction (Y direction).

The transport roller 56 a transports the workpiece 12 (that is, the workpiece 12 b) transported on the outer side (specifically, the + Y direction side) of the transport roller 52 in the loading unit 34 and the thermal processing unit 20. The axis of the conveyance roller 56a is shifted to the upstream side (−X direction side) with respect to the inner end (−Y direction end) with respect to the inner end (−Y direction end). The plurality of transport rollers 56a are all inclined at the same angle with respect to the Y direction. Further, the plurality of transport rollers 56a are arranged in parallel at equal intervals and at equal intervals. Therefore, the workpiece 12b transported by the transport roller 56a is diagonally transported outward (in the + Y direction side) with respect to the transport direction. In addition, since the workpiece 12b is obliquely transported by the transport roller 56a, the transport distance of the workpiece 12b by the transport roller 56a is longer than the transport distance of the workpiece 12a by the transport roller 54. Therefore, the pitch at which the transport roller 56a is disposed is slightly longer than the pitch at which the transport roller 54 is disposed. (The same applies to the conveying roller 56b described later.) The conveying roller 54 is disposed at the pitch at which the conveying roller 56a is disposed instead of making the pitch at which the conveying roller 56a is disposed longer than the pitch at which the conveying roller 54 is disposed. The number of the conveyance rollers 56 a disposed in the first conveyance unit 42 may be larger than the number of the conveyance rollers 54 disposed in the first conveyance unit 42 in the same pitch as the pitch. The axial dimension of the transport roller 56a is smaller than the axial dimension of the transport roller 52 (see FIG. 2) and larger than the axial dimension of the transport roller 54. Although the details will be described later, the workpiece 12b transported by the transport roller 56a may be inclined as compared with the state where the workpiece 12b is placed on the transport roller 52 by the loading unit. Therefore, particularly when the outer circumference of the object 12 is rectangular, when the object 12b is placed obliquely on the conveyance roller 56a, the length of the object 12b contacting one conveyance roller 56a Becomes bigger. By setting the dimension in the axial direction of the transport roller 56a larger than the dimension in the axial direction of the transport roller 54, it is possible to prevent the object 12b from being placed out of the transport roller 56a.

Further, the transport roller 56b transports the workpiece 12 (that is, the workpiece 12c) transported on the outer side (specifically, the -Y direction side) of the transport roller 52 in the loading unit 34 and the thermal processing unit 20. The axis of the conveyance roller 56b is shifted to the upstream side (−X direction side) with respect to the inner end (+ Y direction end) with respect to the inner end (−Y direction end). The plurality of transport rollers 56a are all inclined at the same angle with respect to the Y direction. As apparent from FIG. 3, in the direction in which the

transport rollers

56a and 56b are inclined, one is clockwise in FIG. 3 and the other is counterclockwise. However, the inclination angles (absolute values) of the

transport rollers

56a and 56b are the same. Further, the plurality of conveyance rollers 56b are arranged in parallel at equal intervals and at equal intervals. Therefore, the workpiece 12c transported by the transport roller 56b is diagonally transported outward (in the −Y direction) with respect to the transport direction. Further, the dimension in the axial direction of the transport roller 56b is smaller than the dimension in the axial direction of the transport roller 52 (see FIG. 2) and larger than the dimension in the axial direction of the transport roller 54. For this reason, it can be avoided that the object to be processed 12c is placed out of the transport roller 56b. Thus, in the first transport unit 42, the

workpieces

12b and 12c transported by the

transport rollers

56a and 56b (that is, the

workpieces

12b and 12c placed outside) are transported outward. Therefore, while the first transport unit 42 is transported, the

workpieces

12b and 12c placed outside are transported by the transport roller 54 installed inside (i.e., the inner side). Are respectively separated from the object to be processed 12a) placed thereon, and the intervals between them are enlarged.

The conveyance rollers 58 are provided in the second conveyance unit 44, and a plurality of conveyance rollers 58 are disposed at both ends in the second direction of the conveyance roller 54 (the + Y direction side and the -Y direction side in FIG. 3). The axes of the plurality of transport rollers 58 extend in parallel with the second direction. Further, the plurality of conveyance rollers 58 are arranged at equal intervals at the same pitch as the conveyance rollers 54 in the conveyance direction (the X direction in FIG. 3). Specifically, the conveyance roller 58 is installed on the same axis as the conveyance roller 54. The transport roller 58 transports the objects to be processed 12 b and 12 c transported by the

transport rollers

56 a and 56 b in the first transport unit 42. The axial dimension of the transport roller 58 is smaller than the axial dimension of the transport roller 52 (see FIG. 2) and larger than the axial dimension of the transport roller 54. As described above, the

workpieces

12b and 12c transported by the

transport rollers

56a and 56b in the first transport unit 42 may be transported in an inclined state. By setting the dimension in the axial direction of the conveyance roller 58 to be larger than the dimension in the axial direction of the conveyance roller 54, it is possible to prevent the objects to be processed 12b and 12c from being laid out from the conveyance roller 58. . The

transport rollers

54, 56a, 56b, and 58 are examples of "partial transport rollers".

The stopper 46 is installed in the second transport unit 44. The stopper 46 has a flat plate shape, and is installed perpendicularly to the transport direction. The stopper 46 is disposed at a position overlapping the conveyance roller 54 and the two conveyance rollers 58 when viewed from the conveyance direction (that is, the heat treatment section 20 side), and the three stoppers 46 are collinear in the second direction. Is located in The stopper 46 is movable in the vertical direction, and is movable between a lower end position where the stopper 46 contacts the object 12 and an upper end position where the stopper 46 does not contact the object 12 . When the stopper 46 is positioned at the lower end position, the stopper 46 and the workpiece 12 come into contact with each other, and the further transport of the workpiece 12 is restricted. On the other hand, when the stopper 46 is positioned at the upper end position, the stopper 46 and the workpiece 12 do not come in contact with each other, and the workpiece 12 can be further transported. When the

transport rollers

54, 58, 58 rotate with the stopper 46 positioned at the lower end position, the entire front end face in the transport direction of the workpiece 12 transported through the second transport unit 44 first contacts the stopper 46 It will be transported until you When the

transport rollers

54, 58, 58 further rotate while the workpiece 12 is in contact with the stopper 46, the stopper 46 corrects the inclination of the workpiece 12. Further, rotation of the

transport rollers

54, 58, 58 is continued until all three of the workpieces 12a to 12c placed in the second direction in the loading unit 34 are aligned by the stopper 46. That is, the stopper 46 can match (align) the positions in the transport direction of the workpieces 12a to 12c placed and arranged in the second direction. When the stoppers 46 align the positions of the workpieces 12a to 12c in the transport direction, the stoppers 46 move to the upper end position. By further driving the

conveyance rollers

54, 58, 58 in this state, the objects 12a to 12c can be carried out of the heat treatment furnace 10. In the present embodiment, since all the objects to be processed 12a to 12c arranged and placed in the second direction can be aligned by the stopper 46, a plurality of objects to be processed 12 are simultaneously output from the unloading portion 40 to the outside of the heat treatment furnace 10. It can be made easy to carry out. In the present embodiment, the stopper 46 abuts on the processing object 12 at the lower end position and does not abut on the processing object 12 at the upper end position. However, the stopper 46 is processed at the upper end position It may be configured to abut on the object 12 and not abut on the workpiece 12 at the lower end position. Further, although three stoppers 46 are provided in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, one stopper having a length extending in the entire second direction of the

transport rollers

58, 54, 58 may be provided.

Further, a sensor (not shown) for detecting that the workpieces 12 are aligned by the stopper 46 is installed in the second transport unit 44. For example, an optical sensor can be used as the sensor. In this case, the sensor is disposed below or above the

transport rollers

54, 58, and the front end face of the object 12 is on the surface where the stopper 46 contacts the object 12 (the surface on the -X direction side in FIG. 3). By detecting that the light path is interrupted by the size, it is possible to detect that the workpiece 12 is aligned. The sensor may be any sensor as long as the stopper 46 can detect that the objects 12 are aligned, and the type of sensor is not limited. For example, a pressure sensor may be used as the sensor. The sensor is connected to the controller 62, and a signal from the sensor is input to the controller 62.

Next, the operation of the heat treatment furnace 10 when heat treating the object 12 will be described. In order to heat-treat the processing object 12, first, the

heaters

30, 32 are operated to set the ambient temperature of the space 24 to a set temperature. Then, the workpiece 12 is moved from the outside of the heat treatment furnace 10 onto the transport roller 52 installed in the loading unit 34. At this time, three objects 12 to be processed are placed side by side in the second direction. Next, the drive device 60 is operated to convey the three workpieces 12 aligned in the second direction from the loading unit 34 through the opening 26 into the space 24 of the heat treatment unit 20. The workpiece 12 transported into the space 24 is transported from the opening 26 to the opening 28 in the space 24. Thus, the object 12 is heat treated. Then, the heat-treated objects 12 are conveyed through the opening 28 to the unloading unit 40, and the objects 12 placed side by side in the loading unit 34 are aligned in the transport direction by the stopper 46 in the unloading unit 40. Ru. The aligned workpieces 12 are carried out of the unloading unit 40.

In the carry-in unit 34, the three workpieces 12 are placed on the transport roller 52 in a state of being arranged in the second direction. Then, since the three workpieces 12 are transported by the same transport roller 52, they are transported from the carry-in unit 34 to the thermal processing unit 20 in a state of being aligned in the second direction. However, as shown in FIG. 2, when the workpiece 12 is placed on the transport roller 52, the transport roller 52 is bent by the weight of the workpiece 12. In the present embodiment, since three workpieces 12 are arranged in the second direction, the axial dimension of the transport roller 52 is relatively long, and the central portion (that is, the inner side) of the transport roller 52 faces the outside. The deflection increases. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 4, the workpiece 12 placed on the outer side of the transport roller 52 is inclined to the inside and easily transported. In particular, since the heat treatment furnace 10 of the present embodiment has a relatively long dimension in the conveyance direction of the heat treatment unit 20, the inward inclination of the object 12 placed outside the conveyance roller 52 conveys the heat treatment unit 20. It is easy to get bigger while being done.

The transport of the workpiece 12 by the unloading unit 40 will be described in more detail. As shown in FIG. 3, among the three workpieces 12 transported from the thermal processing unit 20 to the unloading unit 40, the workpiece 12 a placed inside is transported to the unloading unit 40 with almost no inclination. . In the unloading unit 40, the workpiece 12a is transported by the transport roller 54 to the stopper 46, and when the workpiece is slightly inclined, the stopper 46 corrects the inclination.

On the other hand, the

workpieces

12 b and 12 c placed outside may be inclined inward while the thermal processing unit 20 is transported. In the first transport unit 42 of the unloading unit 40, the

transport rollers

56a and 56b disposed outside are installed to be inclined toward the outside, so the

workpieces

12b and 12c are transported toward the outside, respectively. . As a result, the

workpieces

12b and 12c placed outside are separated from the workpiece 12a placed inside, and the distance between them is increased. The

workpieces

12b and 12c are transported through the first transport unit 42 and the second transport unit 44 while being inclined inward. Then, when conveyed to the stopper 46, the front end surfaces of the objects to be processed 12b and 12c contact the stopper 46, whereby the inclination of the objects to be processed 12b and 12c is corrected.

At this time, the timing at which the inclination is corrected by the stopper 46 may be shifted with respect to the three workpieces 12a to 12c. In such a case, the rotation of the

conveyance rollers

54 and 58 for conveying the workpiece 12 whose inclination has been previously corrected may be stopped. For example, when the object 12a is first corrected for inclination by the stopper 46, conveyance is performed from when the inclination of the object 12a is corrected to when the inclinations of the

objects

12b and 12c are corrected. The rotation of the roller 54 is stopped. If the transport roller 54 continues to rotate even after the inclination of the workpiece 12 is corrected by the stopper 46, friction occurs between the workpiece 12a and the transport roller 54, and the transport roller 54 is abraded. Wear of the

transfer rollers

54, 58 by stopping the rotation of the

transfer rollers

54, 58 for transferring the object 12 whose inclination has previously been corrected until the inclination of the other objects 12 is corrected. Can be suppressed.

In the present embodiment, in the first transport unit 42 of the unloading unit 40, the

transport rollers

56a and 56b installed outside are inclined toward the outside and installed. As a result, the

workpieces

12 b and 12 c placed outside are conveyed outward at the unloading unit 40. As described above, when the objects to be treated 12a to 12c are arranged in the second direction, the objects to be treated 12b and 12c placed outside while the heat treatment unit 20 is transported are easily inclined toward the inside. When the

workpieces

12b and 12c placed outside are inclined toward the inside, the transport of the workpiece 12a placed inside may be interrupted by the

workpieces

12b and 12c placed outside. Then, the workpiece 12a placed inside can not reach the stopper 46, and the plurality of workpieces 12a to 12c arranged in the second direction can not be aligned. The heat treatment furnace 10 of the present embodiment is configured such that the

workpieces

12 b and 12 c placed on the outside are transported outward at the unloading unit 40. Therefore, the

workpieces

12b and 12c placed outside can be separated from the workpiece 12a placed inside, and placed inside by the

workpieces

12b and 12c placed outside. It can be avoided that the transportation of the processed object 12a is disturbed.

In the embodiment, the

transport rollers

52, 54, 56a, 56b, 58 all have the same diameter, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the diameter of the conveyance roller installed in the heat treatment unit 20 may be different from that of the conveyance rollers installed in the loading unit 34 and the unloading unit 40, and the diameter of the conveyance roller You may change suitably according to the conditions etc. of heat processing. Further, in the present embodiment, the driving device 60 drives each of the

transport rollers

52, 54, 56a, 56b, 58 so that the

transport rollers

52, 54, 56a, 56b, 58 rotate at substantially the same speed. However, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the heat treatment furnace 10 includes a plurality of driving devices having different driving forces, and the conveyance rollers 52 disposed in the heat treatment unit 20 by the plurality of driving devices are conveyance rollers disposed in the loading portion 34 and the unloading portion 40. It may be configured to rotate at a different speed than 52, 54, 56a, 56b, 58.

Further, in the present embodiment, the axes of the

transport rollers

56a and 56b installed in the first transport unit 42 of the unloading unit 40 are all inclined at the same angle with respect to the Y direction, but the present invention is limited to such a configuration I will not. For example, when viewed in a plan view, a locus connecting center points of the

transport rollers

56a and 56b may be a smooth curve, for example, a spline curve. In such a case, the

transport rollers

56a and 56b are disposed orthogonal to the spline curve. By installing the

transport rollers

56 a and 56 b in this manner, the transport rollers adjacent to each other at the boundary between the heat treatment unit 20 and the first transport unit 42 and at the boundary between the first transport unit 42 and the second transport unit 44 The difference in the angle of the axis between the two can be reduced, and the

workpieces

12b and 12c can be transported smoothly.

Moreover, although the

conveyance rollers

54 and 58 were installed in the 2nd conveyance part 44 of the delivery part 40 in the present Example, it is not limited to such a structure. For example, the conveyance roller 52 may be installed in the second conveyance unit 44. The

workpieces

12 b and 12 c placed outside are transported outward in the first transport unit 42. For this reason, even if the transport rollers in the second transport unit 44 are not divided in the second direction, the dimensions in the transport direction of the unloading unit 40 are small, and therefore, they were placed inside by the object 12 placed outside. It can be avoided that the transport of the object 12 is disturbed.

Further, in the present embodiment, the

transport rollers

54, 56a, 56b, 58 divided in the second direction are provided in the unloading unit 40, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. It is sufficient that the

workpieces

12b and 12c placed outside at the unloading portion 40 are transported toward the outside, for example, transport rollers different in roller diameter are installed in one transport roller. May be Specifically, in the first transport unit 42, a transport roller may be installed in which the roller diameter of the portion for transporting the

workpieces

12b and 12c placed outside is smaller toward the outside. . By using such a roller, the distance for conveying the objects to be processed 12b and 12c is larger at the inside with respect to the outside, and the objects to be processed 12b and 12c are conveyed obliquely at the outside.

Further, in the present embodiment, the three objects to be processed 12a to 12c are arranged side by side in the second direction, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. In the unloading unit 40, it is sufficient that the workpiece 12 placed outside is conveyed outward with respect to the workpiece 12 placed inside, and the workpiece in the second direction More than three workpieces 12 may be placed side by side. For example, in the case where four objects to be processed 12 are placed side by side in the second direction, the two objects to be processed 12 are disposed on the conveyance roller (corresponding to the conveyance roller 54 in FIG. In the second direction, and it is sufficient if the object 12 is placed one by one on the transport rollers (corresponding to the

transport rollers

56a, 56b, and 58 in FIG. 3) installed outside. . Further, when five objects to be processed 12 are placed side by side in the second direction, one object to be processed 12 is placed on the conveyance roller (corresponding to the conveyance roller 54 in FIG. 3) installed at the center. The objects to be processed 12 may be arranged two by two in the second direction on the conveyance rollers (corresponding to the

conveyance rollers

56a, 56b, and 58 in FIG. 3) installed outside. When six objects to be processed 12 are placed side by side in the second direction, the two objects to be processed 12 are arranged in the second direction on the conveyance roller (corresponding to the conveyance roller 54 in FIG. 3) installed at the center. The objects to be processed 12 may be arranged two by two in the second direction on the conveyance rollers (corresponding to the

conveyance rollers

56a, 56b, and 58 in FIG. 3) placed side by side. With such a configuration, it is possible to separate between the 1 or 2 workpiece 12 placed outside and the 1 or 2 workpiece 12 placed inside in the unloading part 40. It can be avoided that the transport of the object 12 placed inside is hindered by the object 12 placed outside.

The specific examples of the technology disclosed in the present specification have been described above in detail, but these are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the claims. The art set forth in the claims includes various variations and modifications of the specific examples illustrated above. The technical elements described in the present specification or the drawings exhibit technical usefulness singly or in various combinations, and are not limited to the combinations described in the claims at the time of filing.

Claims

A heat treatment furnace for heat treating an object to be treated;
A heat treatment section provided with a space for heat treating the object to be treated;
An unloading unit that unloads the object from the heat treatment unit;
And a plurality of transport rollers disposed in the heat treatment section and configured to transport the object to be treated.
The transport roller is capable of arranging and placing a plurality of objects in a second direction which is horizontal and perpendicular to a first direction which is the transport direction.
Among the plurality of objects to be processed placed in the second direction, the unloading portion places one or two of the objects to be processed that are placed outside the object to be processed on the inside of the one or two objects to be processed. A heat treatment furnace configured to be transported outward with respect to a workpiece to be placed.
2. The heat treatment furnace according to claim 1, wherein the carry-out unit includes a stopper that aligns the plurality of objects to be processed placed in line in the second direction such that positions in the first direction are the same. .
At the carry-out unit, conveyance rollers for conveying a plurality of objects to be treated carried out from the heat treatment unit are provided.
The conveyance roller installed in the discharge unit includes a partial conveyance roller divided into a plurality of pieces in the second direction,
The heat treatment furnace according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a partial conveyance roller disposed outside of the divided partial conveyance rollers is disposed such that the object to be treated is conveyed outward.
The heat treatment furnace according to claim 3, wherein the partial transport roller installed outside has a longer axial length than the partial transport roller installed inside.