Hydrogen cylinder plastic liner annealing furnace
By introducing an inner liner placement rack and a chain drive system into the annealing furnace, automated loading and unloading of the plastic inner liner of hydrogen cylinders was achieved, solving the problem of low production efficiency in existing technologies and increasing output.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- SUZHOU JINHENG AODA TECH CO LTD
- Filing Date
- 2026-04-17
- Publication Date
- 2026-07-14
AI Technical Summary
The existing trolley-type roller annealing furnace has low production efficiency in the heat treatment of plastic liners for hydrogen cylinders. The liners can only be loaded and unloaded after the trolley leaves the furnace body, resulting in low output.
Design an annealing furnace for plastic liners of hydrogen cylinders, which adopts an inner liner placement rack structure, including a support roller group and a chain drive system, so that the inner liner can be loaded and unloaded in the furnace without entering or leaving. The automatic movement and flipping of the inner liner is achieved through the cooperation of slide rails and chains.
It improved the production efficiency of plastic liners for hydrogen cylinders, reduced loading and unloading time, and increased output.
Smart Images
Figure CN122379069A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention relates to the field of hydrogen cylinder production equipment, specifically to an annealing furnace for the plastic inner liner of a hydrogen cylinder. Background Technology
[0002] The inner liner of Type IV hydrogen cylinders is made of plastic, typically high-density polyethylene. After blow molding or rotational molding, the plastic liner requires annealing to relieve stress. Existing trolley-type roller annealing furnaces use trolleys. After heat treatment, the furnace door opens, and the trolley leaves the furnace body driven by a drive mechanism. A robotic arm then removes the plastic liners one by one from the trolley's frame. Next, the robotic arm places the plastic liners awaiting heat treatment onto the trolley's frame. The trolley then enters the furnace body driven by the drive mechanism, and finally, the furnace door closes for heat treatment. Because the plastic liners can only be loaded and unloaded after the trolley leaves the furnace body, and because the trolley's movement speed is relatively slow to prevent the liners from falling, production efficiency and output are low. Summary of the Invention
[0003] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an annealing furnace for the plastic inner liner of hydrogen cylinders that can greatly improve production efficiency.
[0004] To solve the above problems, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows: an annealing furnace for plastic liners of hydrogen cylinders, comprising: a furnace body capable of heat treatment, a furnace door provided at the front end of the furnace body, and an inner liner placement rack for supporting and arranging plastic liners within the furnace body. The inner liner placement rack includes: two supports arranged horizontally, several sets of support rollers arranged front-to-back between the two supports, each set of support rollers consisting of two rollers arranged front-to-back and axially facing left and right, the two rollers supporting the plastic liners oriented left and right, and a slide rail provided on each of the two supports, the two slide rails being aligned left and right. The slide rails are arranged in a horizontal, front-to-back direction, consisting of an upper track, a lower track, and a semi-circular track. The front end of the upper track smoothly connects to the upper end of the semi-circular track, and the front end of the lower track smoothly connects to the lower end of the semi-circular track. Each roller is mounted at both ends in a bearing housing via bearings. Rollers are mounted on the upper and lower parts of each bearing housing, and these rollers are rotatably engaged with the upper and lower sides of the slide rail. This allows the bearing housing to move along the slide rail via the rollers, thereby enabling the support roller assembly to move back and forth along the slide rail. (The last sentence appears to be incomplete and possibly refers to a separate section about two supports.) Two shifting chains are installed on each side, aligned horizontally. The drive sprockets of both chains are fixed to the same shaft. When the shifting shaft is driven to rotate, it drives both shifting chains to rotate together. The shifting shaft extends through the furnace wall and out of the furnace body. A shifting motor for driving the shifting shaft is installed on the outside of the furnace body. The two shifting chains are located inside their respective slide rails. The lower parts of the bearing seats at both ends of the two rollers in each support roller group are fixed to the upper parts of their corresponding shifting chains. When the two shifting chains are driven to rotate, they drive each support roller group to move along the slide rail. Each support roller group moves forward along the upper track and arrives at the loading and unloading position at the furnace opening in sequence. After passing the loading and unloading position, the support roller group can rotate 180 degrees along the semi-circular track and move backward to the lower track. Each roller has a self-rotating sprocket on its drive side, and a self-rotating chain is installed on the bracket on the side where the self-rotating sprocket is located. The drive sprocket of the self-rotating chain is coaxially fixed with the self-rotating shaft. The self-rotating shaft passes through the furnace wall and extends out of the furnace body. A self-rotating motor for driving the self-rotating shaft is installed on the outside of the furnace body. When the roller moves to the upper track, the self-rotating sprocket on the roller can mesh with the self-rotating chain, so that the roller can be driven to rotate by the self-rotating chain.
[0005] Furthermore, in the aforementioned annealing furnace with a plastic inner liner for a hydrogen cylinder, a support plate is provided on the bracket to support the upper half of the rotating chain, and an anti-skid plate is also provided on the bracket to block the lower half of the rotating chain from jumping.
[0006] Furthermore, in the aforementioned annealing furnace for plastic liners of hydrogen cylinders, two or three vertically arranged liner racks are provided in the furnace body.
[0007] Furthermore, in the aforementioned annealing furnace for a plastic liner of a hydrogen cylinder, tensioning sprockets for tensioning the transposition chain are respectively provided on two supports.
[0008] Furthermore, in the aforementioned annealing furnace for the plastic liner of a hydrogen cylinder, each roller is provided with a stop block at both ends for positioning the plastic liner.
[0009] The advantages of this invention are: the hydrogen cylinder plastic liner annealing furnace is equipped with an inner liner placement rack, which can complete the loading and unloading of the plastic inner liner with the assistance of a robotic arm without entering or leaving the furnace body, which can greatly save the loading and unloading time of the plastic inner liner and greatly improve production efficiency. Attached Figure Description
[0010] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the annealing furnace for the plastic inner liner of the hydrogen cylinder.
[0011] Figure 2 for Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the inner liner placement rack.
[0012] Figure 3 for Figure 2 A magnified structural diagram of point A in the middle.
[0013] Figure 4 for Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure of BB.
[0014] Figure 5 for Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a structure without a plastic inner liner.
[0015] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of a structure where two inner liner holders are stacked. Detailed Implementation
[0016] The present invention will now be described in further detail with reference to specific embodiments and accompanying drawings.
[0017] like Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 , Figure 4 , Figure 5As shown, the hydrogen cylinder plastic liner annealing furnace includes: a furnace body 24 capable of heat treatment; a furnace door 2 at the front end of the furnace body 24; and an inner liner placement rack 3 for supporting the arranged plastic inner liners 1 within the furnace body 24. The inner liner placement rack 3 includes: two left-right aligned supports 4; four front-back arranged support roller groups 5 between the two supports 4; each support roller group 5 consists of two front-back arranged rollers 6 axially oriented left and right; the two rollers 6 support the left-right oriented plastic inner liners 1; and a slide rail on each of the two supports 4, the two slide rails being left-right aligned. Each slide rail consists of a front-back oriented and horizontally arranged upper track 8 and a front-back track 9. The slide rail consists of a lower track 10 and a semi-circular track 9 arranged horizontally. The front end of the upper track 8 smoothly connects with the upper end of the semi-circular track 9, and the front end of the lower track 10 smoothly connects with the lower end of the semi-circular track 9. Each roller 6 has its two ends mounted in a bearing seat 11 via bearings. Each bearing seat 11 has two rollers 12 mounted on its upper and lower parts. The rollers 12 on the upper and lower parts of the bearing seat 11 are rotatably engaged on the upper and lower sides of the slide rail, allowing the bearing seat 11 to move along the slide rail via the rollers 12, thereby allowing the support roller group 5 to move back and forth along the slide rail. A shifting chain 13 is mounted on each of the two supports 4. The two shifting chains 13 are arranged horizontally and vertically. Their drive sprockets are fixed to the same shaft 14. When the shifting shaft 14 is driven to rotate, it drives both shifting chains 13 to rotate together. The shifting shaft 14 extends through the furnace wall and out of the furnace body 24. A shifting motor 15 is installed on the outside of the furnace body 24 to drive the shifting shaft 14. The two shifting chains 13 are located inside their corresponding slide rails. The lower parts of the bearing seats 11 at both ends of the two rollers 6 in each support roller group 5 are fixed to the upper parts of their corresponding shifting chains 13. When the two shifting chains 13 are driven to rotate, they drive each support roller group 5 to move along the slide rail. Each support roller group 5 moves along the upper track 8 towards… The rollers move forward and backward sequentially to the loading and unloading positions at the furnace opening. After passing the loading and unloading positions, the support roller group 5 can rotate 180 degrees along the semi-circular track 9 and move backward to the lower track 10. Each roller 6 has a self-rotating sprocket 16 on its driving side. A self-rotating chain 17 is installed on the bracket 4 on the side where the self-rotating sprocket 16 is located. The driving sprocket of the self-rotating chain 17 is coaxially fixed with the self-rotating shaft 18. The self-rotating shaft 18 passes through the furnace wall and extends out of the furnace body 24. A self-rotating motor 19 for driving the self-rotating shaft 18 is installed on the outside of the furnace body 24. When the roller 6 moves to the upper track 8, the self-rotating sprocket 16 on the roller 6 can mesh with the self-rotating chain 17, so that the roller 6 can be driven to rotate by the self-rotating chain 17.
[0018] In this embodiment, a support plate 20 is provided on the bracket 4 to support the upper half of the rotating chain 17, and an anti-skid plate 21 is also provided on the bracket 4 to block the lower half of the rotating chain 17 and prevent chain skipping. In this embodiment, only one inner liner rack 3 is provided, but in actual applications, such as... Figure 6 As shown, in order to further increase production, two vertically arranged inner liner racks 3 can be installed in the furnace body 24. If the internal height of the furnace body 24 allows, three vertically arranged inner liner racks 3 can also be installed in the furnace body 24.
[0019] Tensioning sprockets 22 for tensioning the shifting chain 13 are respectively installed on the two supports 4. Stops 23 for positioning the plastic inner liner 1 are respectively installed at both ends of each roller 6.
[0020] After heat treatment, furnace door 2 opens, and the shifting motor 15 rotates forward. Driven by the shifting chain 13, each support roller group 5 carries the heat-treated plastic inner liner 1 forward along the upper track 8. Whenever a support roller group 5 moves to the loading / unloading position at the furnace opening, the shifting motor 15 stops. At this time, the robotic arm outside the annealing furnace reaches into the furnace opening to remove the plastic inner liner 1 from the loading / unloading position. Then, the shifting motor 15 continues to operate, causing the next support roller group 5 to move to the loading / unloading position at the furnace opening. After passing the loading / unloading position, the support roller group 5 rotates 180 degrees along the semi-circular track 9 and moves backward onto the lower track 10. When all the plastic inner liners 1 on the four support roller groups 5 have been removed, the shifting motor 15 rotates in the opposite direction, and each support roller group 5 moves forward along the shifting chain 13. Driven by the machine, the machine moves forward along the lower track 10. Whenever a support roller group 5 moves to the loading and unloading position at the furnace opening, the shifting motor 15 stops working. At this time, the robotic arm outside the annealing furnace will reach into the furnace opening and place a plastic inner liner 1 to be heat-treated on the support roller group 5. Then the shifting motor 15 will continue to work, so that the next support roller group 5 moves to the loading and unloading position at the furnace opening. When a plastic inner liner 1 is placed on each of the four support roller groups 5, the furnace door 2 is closed and the annealing furnace begins heat treatment. During the heat treatment process, the self-rotating motor 19 will continuously drive the self-rotating chain 17 to rotate. Each roller bar 6 will rotate together under the drive of its respective self-rotating sprocket 16. The four plastic inner liners 1 will continue to rotate under the drive of their respective two roller bars 6, so that the plastic inner liners 1 can be heated evenly.
Claims
1. An annealing furnace for a plastic liner of a hydrogen cylinder, comprising: The furnace body, capable of heat treatment, has a furnace door at its front end. Inside the furnace body is an inner liner support frame for arranging plastic inner liners. The inner liner support frame consists of two horizontally aligned supports, with several front-to-back support roller groups between the two supports. Each support roller group comprises two front-to-back rollers oriented axially to the left and right, supporting the plastic inner liners in a left-to-right direction. Each of the two supports has a slide rail, horizontally aligned, consisting of a horizontally aligned upper track and a horizontally aligned lower track. The system consists of a horizontally arranged lower track and a semi-circular track. The front end of the upper track smoothly connects to the upper end of the semi-circular track, and the front end of the lower track smoothly connects to the lower end of the semi-circular track. Each roller is mounted at both ends in a bearing housing via bearings. Rollers are mounted on the upper and lower parts of each bearing housing, and these rollers are rotatably engaged with the upper and lower sides of the slide rail. This allows the bearing housing to move along the slide rail via the rollers, thereby enabling the support roller assembly to move back and forth along the slide rail. A shifting chain is mounted on each of the two supports. The two shifting chains are aligned horizontally. Their drive sprockets are fixed to the same shaft as the shifting shaft. When the shifting shaft is driven to rotate, it drives both shifting chains to rotate together. The shifting shaft extends through the furnace wall and out of the furnace body. A shifting motor for driving the shifting shaft is installed on the outside of the furnace body. The two shifting chains are located inside their corresponding slide rails. The lower parts of the bearing seats at both ends of the two rollers in each support roller group are fixed to the upper parts of their corresponding shifting chains. When the two shifting chains are driven to rotate, they drive each support roller group to move along the slide rail. Each support roller group moves along the upper rail... After moving forward, the rollers can reach the loading and unloading positions at the furnace opening in sequence. After passing the loading and unloading positions, the support roller group can rotate 180 degrees along the semi-circular track and move backward to the lower track. Each roller has a self-rotating sprocket on its driving side, and a self-rotating chain is installed on the bracket on the side where the self-rotating sprocket is located. The driving sprocket of the self-rotating chain is fixed coaxially with the self-rotating shaft. The self-rotating shaft passes through the furnace wall and extends out of the furnace body. A self-rotating motor for driving the self-rotating shaft is installed on the outside of the furnace body. When the roller moves to the upper track, the self-rotating sprocket on the roller can mesh with the self-rotating chain, so that the roller can be driven to rotate by the self-rotating chain.
2. The annealing furnace for a hydrogen cylinder with a plastic inner liner according to claim 1, characterized in that: The support frame is equipped with a support plate that can support the upper half of the self-rotating chain, and the support frame is also equipped with an anti-skid plate that blocks the lower half of the self-rotating chain to prevent chain skipping.
3. An annealing furnace for a hydrogen cylinder with a plastic inner liner according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: Two inner liner racks are arranged vertically inside the furnace body.
4. An annealing furnace for a hydrogen cylinder with a plastic inner liner according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The furnace body has three vertically arranged inner liner racks.
5. An annealing furnace for a hydrogen cylinder with a plastic inner liner according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: Tensioning sprockets for tensioning the transposition chain are installed on the two supports respectively.
6. An annealing furnace for a hydrogen cylinder with a plastic inner liner according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: Each roller has a stop at both ends for positioning the plastic inner liner.