Salt bath heat treatment furnace

Abstract

A salt bath heat treatment furnace includes a furnace body, a driving motor, a driving module, and a top cover assembly. The furnace body has an accommodation space, which is configured to store and heat a salt solution. The driving motor is disposed on the furnace body and configured to provide a driving force. The driving module is connected to the driving motor and configured to transport the driving force. The top cover assembly is disposed on the furnace body and penetrates into the accommodation space of the furnace body. The top cover assembly includes a rotation top cover and at least a hanging basket. The rotation top cover is connected to the driving module and driven by the driving force to rotate. The hanging basket is hanged under a bottom surface of the rotation top cover and configured to carry a workpiece, such that workpiece is immersed in the salt solution.

Description

Salt bath heat treatment furnace This disclosure relates to a heat treatment apparatus, and more particularly to a salt bath heat treatment furnace. Salt bath heat treatment technology can improve the fatigue life of steel products. Salt bath heat treatment equipment uses molten salt as the heating medium, immersing the workpiece in the salt solution for heating and temperature control. Heating is achieved through electrodes inside the equipment, and the workpiece remains immersed in the molten salt solution, isolated from the atmosphere. This non-oxidative heating prevents oxidation and decarburization on the workpiece surface. Therefore, this technology produces high-quality heat treatment. However, when using commercially available salt bath heat treatment equipment, workpieces placed statically in the high-temperature molten salt furnace are prone to accumulating excessive waste salt and residual liquid, which can cause surface corrosion and reduce production yield. Generally, the furnace can only generate weak disturbances in the molten salt solution through electromagnetic induction. This method has limited effectiveness in improving the problem of excessive waste salt and residual liquid accumulation on workpieces and also increases energy consumption. Furthermore, commercially available salt bath heat treatment equipment suspends workpieces by hooks or straps, immersing them in the molten salt solution for heating. This method limits the number of pieces that can be heat-treated in a single batch, and the suspended workpieces are unstable and may fall. Therefore, one of the purposes of this disclosure is to provide a salt bath heat treatment furnace that can improve the stability and production capacity of salt bath heat treatment. In accordance with the aforementioned objectives of this disclosure, a salt bath heat treatment furnace is proposed, comprising a furnace body, a drive motor, a drive module, and a top cover assembly. The furnace body has a receiving space configured to store and heat a brine solution. The drive motor is mounted on the furnace body and configured to provide driving power. The drive module is connected to the drive motor and configured to deliver the driving power. The top cover assembly is mounted on the furnace body and extends into the receiving space of the furnace body. The top cover assembly includes a rotating top cover and at least one hanging basket. The rotating top cover is connected to the drive module and is rotated by the driving power delivered by the drive module. At least one hanging basket is suspended below the bottom surface of the rotating top cover and configured to load workpieces, immersing the workpieces in the brine solution. According to one embodiment of this disclosure, the transmission module includes a bearing and a transmission gear. The bearing has a first end and a second end opposite to each other, wherein the first end is connected to a transmission motor to transmit the driving power. The transmission gear has a first side surface and a second side surface that are in contact with each other, wherein the first side surface is connected to the second end of the bearing. According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the rotating top cover includes several toothed structures ringed on the bottom surface of the rotating top cover, and these toothed structures mesh with corresponding transmission gears. According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the transmission module includes at least one shim block disposed on the top surface of the furnace body, and the bearing component passes through the shim block. According to one embodiment of this disclosure, the furnace body includes a support platform, and a drive motor is fixed to the support platform. According to one embodiment of this disclosure, the furnace body includes several wheels located under the bottom surface of the furnace body. According to one embodiment of this disclosure, each of the above-described suspended baskets includes several connectors, and the suspended baskets are stacked vertically on top of each other through these connectors. According to one embodiment of this disclosure, each of the above-described suspended baskets has several holes. According to one embodiment of this disclosure, the above-mentioned suspended platform is a square suspended platform. According to one embodiment of this disclosure, the above-mentioned suspended platform is a circular suspended platform. Based on the above, the salt bath heat treatment furnace disclosed herein utilizes a drive motor to rotate the upper cover assembly that loads the workpiece, thereby agitating the salt solution. This reduces the possibility of corrosion damage to the workpiece surface caused by residual waste salt and liquid. Furthermore, the basket of the salt bath heat treatment furnace can load the workpiece, thus solving the problem of unstable workpiece suspension and increasing the number of workpieces that can be processed in a single batch, thereby improving the stability and production capacity of the salt bath heat treatment. The embodiments of this disclosure are discussed in detail below. However, it will be understood that the embodiments provide many applicable concepts that can be implemented in a wide variety of specific situations. The embodiments discussed and disclosed are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. All embodiments of this disclosure disclose a variety of different features, but these features can be implemented individually or in combination as needed. In addition, the terms "first," "second," etc. used in this article do not specifically refer to order or sequence, but are only used to distinguish elements or operations described using the same technical terms. The spatial relationship between the two components described in this disclosure applies not only to the orientation shown in the diagrams, but also to orientations not shown in the diagrams, such as inverted orientations. Furthermore, the terms "connection," "electrical connection," or similar expressions used in this disclosure to refer to the two components are not limited to a direct or electrical connection, but may also include indirect or electrical connections as needed. Please refer to Figures 1 and 2 simultaneously. Figure 1 is a perspective view of a salt bath heat treatment furnace 100 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, and Figure 2 is a perspective view of a salt bath heat treatment furnace 100 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure without the top cover assembly 500. The salt bath heat treatment furnace 100 mainly includes a furnace body 200, a drive motor 300, a drive module 400, and a top cover assembly 500. The furnace body 200 can accommodate a drive motor 300, a drive module 400, and a top cover assembly 500. As shown in Figure 2, the furnace body 200 has a accommodating space 210. For example, the furnace body 200 can be a cylindrical or box-shaped structure with an internal accommodating space 210, on which the drive motor 300, drive module 400, and top cover assembly 500 can be mounted. The accommodating space 210 can store the salt solution required for salt bath heat treatment. The salt solution can be, for example, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, or other salts. The furnace body 200 can heat the salt solution by passing an electric current through metal electrodes. The molten salt solution serves as the heating medium for salt bath heat treatment. As shown in Figure 1, the furnace body 200 has a top surface 202 and a bottom surface 204 opposite to each other, and a side surface 206. The side surface 206 is joined between the top surface 202 and the bottom surface 204. In some embodiments, the furnace body 200 includes a support platform 220 and a plurality of wheels 230. The support platform 220 may, for example, be parallel to the top surface 202 and the bottom surface 204 of the furnace body 200 and is disposed on the side surface 206 of the furnace body 200. In the embodiment of Figure 1, the support platform 220 is coplanar with the top surface 202. That is, the support platform 220 extends from the top surface 202 and is laterally attached to the side surface 206 of the furnace body 200. The support platform 220 can be used to support other devices of the salt bath heat treatment furnace 100. In some embodiments, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the furnace body 200 includes a plurality of wheels 230, for example, four wheels 230. The wheels 230 are located below the bottom surface 204 of the furnace body 200 to increase the ease of movement of the salt bath heat treatment furnace 100. In some embodiments, the furnace body 200 further includes a baffle wall 240. The baffle wall 240 is disposed on the top surface 202 and may be located, for example, on the opposite side of the support platform 220. The baffle wall 240 can serve as a barrier to protect operators. During salt bath heat treatment, when operators remove or place workpieces from the receiving space 210, the salt solution may be spilled due to the movement of the workpieces. If the operator operates behind the baffle wall 240, the baffle wall 240 can act as a barrier to protect the operator from being splashed with salt solution and avoid injuries such as burns or corrosion from the molten salt. A drive motor 300 is mounted on the furnace body 200 and configured to provide driving power to the salt bath heat treatment furnace 100. In the embodiment shown in FIG1, the drive motor 300 is fixed on the support platform 220 and connected to the transmission module 400. The drive motor 300 can be a general continuously rotating motor, such as a brushed DC motor, a brushless DC motor, or an AC motor, etc., which is not limited to this disclosure. The transmission module 400 is connected to the transmission motor 300 and can transmit the driving power generated after the transmission motor 300 starts. In some embodiments, the transmission module 400 includes a bearing member 410 and a transmission gear 420. The bearing member 410 may be a long rod element. The bearing member 410 may be disposed above the top surface 202 of the furnace body 200 and substantially parallel to the top surface 202. The bearing member 410 has a first end 412 and a second end 414 that are opposite to each other. The first end 412 and the second end 414 can be connected to the transmission motor 300 and the transmission gear 420, respectively. The transmission gear 420 has a first side surface 422 and a second side surface 424 that engage with each other. Specifically, the first side surface 422 is the end face of the transmission gear 420, and the second side surface 424 is circumferentially connected to the outer edge of the first side surface 422. The first side surface 422 is connected to the second end 414 of the bearing member 410. The transmission gear 420 includes several toothed structures 426, which are disposed on the second side 424. The bearing 410 transmits the driving power provided by the transmission motor 300 and drives the transmission gear 420 to rotate via the second end 414. In some embodiments, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the transmission module 400 further includes a shim block 430. The shim block 430 is disposed on the top surface 202 of the furnace body 200, and the bearing member 410 is rotatably inserted through the shim block 430. During the transmission of driving power, the shim block 430 can support and fix the bearing member 410, so that the transmission module 400 can transmit driving power more stably. The shim block 430 can be fixed on the top surface 202 of the furnace body 200. The shim block 430 can also be disposed on the top surface 202 in a non-fixed manner, as long as the shim block 430 can stand stably upright on the top surface 202 and the bearing member 410 does not shake or shift during the transmission of driving power, which is not limited in this disclosure. Please refer to Figure 3, which is a perspective view of a cover assembly 500 of a salt bath heat treatment furnace 100 according to a first embodiment of this disclosure. The cover assembly 500 includes a rotating cover 510 and a hanging basket 520. In some embodiments, the rotating cover 510 includes a plurality of toothed structures 512. The rotating cover 510 has a bottom surface 514. The toothed structures 512 may be arranged around the outer edge region of the bottom surface 514 of the rotating cover 510. The toothed structures 512 may mesh with the toothed structures 426 of the transmission gear 420. The hanging basket 520 is suspended below the central region of the bottom surface 514 of the rotating cover 510. For example, the hanging basket 520 may be connected to the bottom surface 514 of the rotating cover 510 by means of welding or locking via a plurality of connecting rods 530. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG3, the basket 520 has several openings 522. The openings 522 may be distributed on the bottom and / or sides of the basket 520. For example, the openings 522 may be distributed throughout the entire basket 520, which is not limited to this disclosure. The openings 522 on the basket 520 can also serve as slots for placing workpieces. Due to the design of the openings 522, when a workpiece is placed on the basket 520, it can be more securely positioned within the basket 520 by being secured in the openings 522, thereby increasing the stability of the workpiece during salt bath heat treatment. The size of the openings 522 can be adjusted according to the size of the workpiece being loaded. For example, the workpiece may be a standard experimental sample, fastener, hand tool, chain, shaft product, etc., and the size of the openings 522 of the basket 520 can correspond to the size of the workpiece, allowing the workpiece to be stably secured in the openings 522. Furthermore, the shape of the opening 522 can be designed according to the manufacturing and salt bath heat treatment requirements, and can be, for example, circular, polygonal, elliptical, etc., which is not limited to this disclosure. In some embodiments, the number of baskets 520 may be more than one. Several baskets 520 may be vertically stacked together via several connectors 540. For example, in the embodiment of FIG3, the baskets 520 are square baskets, and there are three of them. The baskets 520 are stacked and connected to each other via four connectors 540 located at the four corners of each basket 520. This method can increase the number of workpieces processed in a single batch during salt bath heat treatment, thereby increasing the heat treatment capacity. Please refer to Figure 4, which is a perspective view of a top cover assembly 500a of a salt bath heat treatment furnace 100 according to the second embodiment of this disclosure. The top cover assembly 500a also includes a rotating top cover 510 and a hanging basket 520a, and the structure of the top cover assembly 500a is generally the same as that of the top cover assembly 500. The main difference between the top cover assembly 500 and the top cover assembly 500a is that the hanging basket 520a is a circular hanging basket. In other embodiments, the hanging basket 520a may have other shapes, such as non-square polygonal, triangular, or elliptical hanging baskets, etc., which are not limited to this disclosure. Please refer to Figures 1 and 3 simultaneously. When the upper cover assembly 500 is mounted on the furnace body 200, the basket 520 is placed in the accommodating space 210 of the furnace body 200, so that the workpiece loaded in the basket 520 can be immersed in the salt solution in the accommodating space 210. At this time, the toothed structure 512 of the rotating upper cover 510 meshes with the transmission gear 420. When the drive motor 300 is started, it begins to rotate and generate driving power. The driving power is transmitted through the transmission module 400, and then transmitted to the transmission gear 420 through the bearing component 410, causing the transmission gear 420 to rotate. The transmission gear 420 can drive the rotating upper cover 510 to rotate through the meshing of its tooth structure 426 and tooth structure 512, thereby causing the upper cover assembly 500 and the basket 520 suspended below the rotating upper cover 510 to rotate as well. The rotation of the basket 520, which carries the workpiece, can promote the disturbance effect of the brine inside the furnace body 200, making the heating of the workpiece more uniform during the salt bath heat treatment process and achieving a better heat treatment effect. Since the rotational speed of the drive motor 300 can be adjusted and controlled, the mechanical rotation driven by the drive motor 300, compared to existing electromagnetic induction, can achieve a more precise, easier-to-control, and more effective stirring effect in the heat treatment process. During the agitation of the brine, the basket 520 with openings 522 can further enhance the flow of the brine, reduce the adhesion of waste salt and residual liquid to the workpiece surface, and prevent the workpiece surface from being damaged by salt corrosion, thereby maintaining good heat treatment quality. As can be seen from the above embodiments, the advantage of this disclosure is that the salt bath heat treatment furnace disclosed herein can utilize the driving power generated by the rotation of a drive motor to drive the upper cover assembly loaded with workpieces to rotate, thereby agitating the salt solution. This reduces the possibility of corrosion damage to the workpiece surface due to residual waste salt and residual liquid, thereby improving the heat treatment quality of the workpiece. Furthermore, the salt bath heat treatment furnace is equipped with baskets for loading workpieces, which solves the problem of unstable workpiece suspension in existing systems. Moreover, the top cover assembly can accommodate multiple vertically stacked baskets, thereby significantly increasing the number of workpieces that can be processed in a single batch. Therefore, the salt bath heat treatment furnace disclosed herein improves the stability and throughput of salt bath heat treatment through the basket configuration. Although this disclosure has been shown above by way of embodiments, it is not intended to limit this disclosure. Anyone with ordinary knowledge in this art can make various modifications and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. Therefore, the scope of protection of this disclosure shall be determined by the appended claims. 100: Salt bath heat treatment furnace; 200: Furnace body; 202: Top surface; 204: Bottom surface; 206: Side surface; 210: Accommodation space; 220: Supporting platform; 230: Wheels; 240: Retaining wall; 300: Drive motor; 400: Drive module; 410: Bearing component; 412: First end; 414: Second end; 420: Drive gear; 422: First side surface; 424: Second side surface; 426: Toothed structure; 430: Elevating block; 500: Top cover assembly; 500a: Top cover assembly; 510: Rotating top cover; 512: Toothed structure; 514: Bottom surface; 520: Suspended basket; 520a: Suspended basket; 522: Opening; 530: Connecting rod; 540: Connecting component. A better understanding of the nature of this disclosure can be obtained from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that, according to industry standard practice, the features are not drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of the features can be arbitrarily increased or decreased for clarity of discussion. [Figure 1] is a perspective view of a salt bath heat treatment furnace according to one embodiment of this disclosure. [Figure 2] is a perspective view of a salt bath heat treatment furnace according to one embodiment of this disclosure without the top cover assembly. [Figure 3] is a perspective view of a salt bath heat treatment furnace according to a first embodiment of this disclosure with the top cover assembly. [Figure 4] is a perspective view of a salt bath heat treatment furnace according to a second embodiment of this disclosure with the top cover assembly. 100: Salt bath heat treatment furnace 200: Furnace body 202: Top surface 204: Bottom 206: Side view 220: Supporting Platform 230: Wheels 240: Retaining Wall 300: Drive motor 400: Transmission Module 410: Bearing components 412: First end 414: Second end 420: Transmission gear 422: First side view 424: Second side view 426: Tooth-shaped structure 430: Raising Block 500: Top Cover Assembly 510: Rotating top cover 512: Tooth-shaped structure

Claims

1. A salt bath heat treatment furnace includes: a furnace body having a receiving space configured to store and heat a salt solution; a drive motor disposed on the furnace body and configured to provide a driving power; a drive module connected to the drive motor and configured to deliver the driving power; and a top cover assembly mounted on the furnace body and extending into the receiving space of the furnace body, comprising: a rotating top cover connected to the drive module and rotated by the driving power delivered by the drive module; and at least one basket suspended below one bottom surface of the rotating top cover and configured to load at least one workpiece, such that the at least one workpiece is immersed in the salt solution. The salt bath heat treatment furnace as described in claim 1, wherein the transmission module comprises: a bearing member having a first end and a second end opposite to each other, wherein the first end is connected to the transmission motor to transmit the driving power; and a transmission gear having a first side and a second side that are in contact with each other, wherein the first side is connected to the second end of the bearing member. The salt bath heat treatment furnace as described in claim 2, wherein the rotating top cover includes a plurality of toothed structures arranged in a ring on the bottom surface of the rotating top cover, the toothed structures meshing with the transmission gear. The salt bath heat treatment furnace as described in claim 2, wherein the transmission module includes at least one shim block disposed on one of the top surfaces of the furnace body, and the bearing member passes through the at least one shim block. The salt bath heat treatment furnace as described in claim 1, wherein the furnace body includes a support platform and the drive motor is fixed to the support platform. The salt bath heat treatment furnace as described in claim 1, wherein the furnace body includes a plurality of wheels disposed under one of the bottom surfaces of the furnace body. The salt bath heat treatment furnace as described in claim 1, wherein the number of the at least one basket is multiple, each of the baskets includes multiple connectors, and the baskets are stacked vertically on top of each other through the connectors. The salt bath heat treatment furnace as described in claim 1, wherein each of the at least one basket has a plurality of openings. The salt bath heat treatment furnace as described in claim 1, wherein the at least one basket is a square basket. The salt bath heat treatment furnace as described in claim 1, wherein the at least one basket is a circular basket.

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