Metallic component heating device

Abstract

To provide a heating device with a conveyor capable of preventing variations in conveyance speed.SOLUTION: A heating device inductively heats a metal member on a conveyor 2 on which a high-frequency heating device 1 is installed. Rollers 4a and 4b are laterally laid at a start edge and an end edge of a conveyor body 3, respectively, and a first endless belt 5 made of glass fiber or aramid fiber is installed between the two rollers, the outgoing side of which is the upper side of the conveyor body 3 and the returning side of which is the lower side, and the upper side is a conveyance path through which the metal member is conveyed and inductively heated. A first rotating roller 6 is installed on the lower side for rotatably driving the belt in contact with the returning side of the first endless belt. The first endless belt is hung around the outer circumference of the first rotating roller, and a second endless belt 7 made of rubber is hung around the first endless belt, and the second endless belt is brought into face contact with the first endless belt so that the first rotating roller is rotatably driven by rotatably driving the second endless belt.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a heating device for a metal member. [Background technology]

[0002] When heating metal components, high-frequency heating (induction heating) can concentrate heating on the surface of the heated object due to the skin effect, and is therefore often used for surface hardening, etc. Furthermore, high-frequency heating causes the heated object itself to generate heat, resulting in a rapid rise in temperature, which means that the heat treatment time can be significantly shortened compared to furnace heating, making it suitable for mass production processes and also used when the entire heated object needs to be heated (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

[0003] Patent Document 1 describes, "An electrostatic coating method for coating the entire surface of a workpiece having an opening, comprising the steps of: a holding step of loosely inserting a holding jig having a rotating shaft into the opening of the workpiece to hold it; a position guiding step of keeping the end of the workpiece in the direction of the rotating shaft loosely inserted in the holding step out of contact with other members; an electrostatic coating step of electrochemically depositing powder to be coated on the workpiece while rotating the loosely inserted holding jig around the rotating shaft of the holding jig; a provisional curing step of heating and melting the powder electrostatically coated on the workpiece by high-frequency induction; and a main curing step of heating and curing the insulating coating after the provisional curing step by irradiating it with far-infrared rays." (Claim 1). It is also shown that the workpiece is transported in sequence by a conveyor 9 to an electrostatic powder coating section 11, a preliminary cure heating section (high frequency heating section) 12, and a main cure heating section (far infrared heating section) 15 (see FIG. 3).

[0004] Furthermore, when the workpiece is heated on a conveyor using a high-frequency (microwave) heating device or the like, it is also known to use heat-resistant fibers such as glass fiber and aramid fiber as the belt (see claim 1, paragraph

[0031] of Patent Document 3, claim 8, paragraph

[0034] of Patent Document 4, and paragraph

[0017] of Patent Document 5).

[0005] Patent Document 4 states, "The belt 18 of the belt conveyor 14 is formed primarily from glass fiber and PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene). The glass fiber and PTFE that form the belt 18 have a high heat resistance of 200°C or more and a low dielectric loss factor, which is a physical property that indicates the degree of microwave absorption. For this reason, the belt 18, which has a high heat resistance, is suitable for use in the microwave irradiation processing device 10 in which microwaves are irradiated by the irradiation unit 20. Moreover, since the belt 18 itself has a low dielectric loss factor, the belt 18 is configured to easily absorb microwaves into the workpiece 100 placed on the belt 18." (Paragraph

[0034] )

[0006] Regarding conveyors, devices are known that combine two belts and rollers that drive the belts to transport workpieces (see Patent Documents 6 and 7).

[0007] Patent document 6 describes a belt conveyor comprising: "an endless, runnable connecting belt; a clamping roller rotatably arranged opposite the connecting belt and having an axial direction that intersects with the running direction of the connecting belt; and an endless, runnable transport belt that is clamped in surface contact between the clamping roller and the connecting belt and runs by a driving force from either the clamping roller or the connecting belt to transport a transported object." (Claim 1).

[0008] It also states that "when the second support shaft 38 is biased downward by the coil spring 45, the second rollers 50, 50 attached to this second support shaft 38 are biased toward the drive roller 25 side, and as a result, the pair of connecting belts 51a, 51b are biased in a direction relatively approaching the drive roller 25 side, and as shown in FIG. 7, the return road surface portion 16b of the conveyor belt 16 is in a state of being sandwiched in surface contact between the pair of connecting belts 51a, 51b and the tubular member 26 of the drive roller 25." (Paragraph

[0038] )

[0009] Patent Document 7 describes a metal detector having a structure in which a conveyor belt for conveying an article passes through an opening of the detection head (2) to detect metal objects inside the article, and the conveyor means is composed of a pair of driven rollers (3) and driven rollers (4), an endless conveyor belt (5) stretched between the driven rollers (3) and (4) for conveying the article, and a driven gear (3a) that is provided at the end of the driven roller (3) and has a smaller diameter than the driven roller, and the drive means is a tension roller (8) provided under the conveyor belt and tensions the conveyor belt, and " (Claim 1) describes a conveyor drive device for a metal detector, characterized in that it is composed of a tension gear (8a) provided at the end of a tension roller (8), a motor (14) provided on a device base as a drive source for driving the conveyor belt, an auxiliary gear (15a) disposed on the device base so as to form a substantially triangular shape between the motor gear (14a) and the tension gear, and a double-tooth timing belt (17) stretched between the motor gear, tension gear, and auxiliary gear, having teeth on both the front and back sides, and externally meshing with the main gear at the expanded portion. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0010] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 2883346 [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 4620486 [Patent Document 3] JP 2011-99190 A [Patent Document 4] JP 2006-59744 A [Patent Document 5] JP 2000-306661 A [Patent Document 6] JP 2001-88926 A [Patent Document 7] Utility Model Registration No. 2607147 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0011] As described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, high-frequency heating (microwave heating) can heat metal members in a short time. However, when heating is performed by moving the members on a conveyor, heat-resistant fibers such as glass fibers and aramid fibers that do not easily absorb high-frequency waves (microwaves) as described in Patent Documents 3 to 5 are usually used for the conveyor belt. However, while these glass fiber and aramid fiber belts have the advantage of not getting caught on things as they move due to their smooth surfaces, there is a problem that slippage between the rollers and the belt can cause variations in the conveyor's transport speed, resulting in uneven heating of metal components. On the other hand, Patent Documents 6 and 7 show conveyors in which a belt other than the conveyor belt and a roller for driving the belt are provided to appropriately transmit the driving force from the drive roller to the conveyor belt and stably transport the workpiece, and tension is applied to the conveyor belt from the belt or roller other than the conveyor belt. However, there is no disclosure of using such a conveyor in a heating device.

[0012] An object of the present invention is to provide a heating device for metal members having a conveyor capable of preventing variation in the conveying speed. [Means for solving the problem]

[0013] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following means. (1) A heating device for metal members, which induction heats metal members on a conveyor 2 on which a high-frequency heating device 1 is installed, said conveyor 2 has rollers 4a, 4b laid across the start and end of a conveyor body 3, respectively, and a first endless belt 5 made of glass fiber or aramid fiber laid between these rollers 4a, 4b, the outgoing side of which is the upper surface side of said conveyor body 3, and the return side of which is the lower surface side of said conveyor body 3, said upper surface side being a conveying path along which said metal members are conveyed and induction heated. a first rotating roller 6 on the underside thereof, which comes into contact with the return side of the first endless belt 5 to drive and rotate the first endless belt 5; the first endless belt 5 is wound around the outer periphery of the first rotating roller 6, and a second endless belt 7 made of rubber is further wound on top of the first endless belt 5; the second endless belt 7 is brought into surface contact with the first endless belt 5, and the second endless belt 7 is driven to rotate, thereby driving the first rotating roller 6 to rotate. (2) In the conveyor 2, a second rotating roller 8a and a third rotating roller 8b are provided on both sides of the first rotating roller 6, and a fourth rotating roller 9 is provided below the first rotating roller 6, and the first endless belt 5 is passed around the outer periphery of the first rotating roller 6, the outer periphery of the second rotating roller 8a, the outer periphery of the fourth rotating roller 9, the outer periphery of the third rotating roller 8b, and the first endless belt 5 in that order, and the second endless belt 7 is driven to rotate by using any one of the rotating rollers as a drive roller. Effect of the Invention

[0014] The present invention can provide a heating device for metal members having a conveyor that prevents variation in the conveying speed, and by using this heating device, a homogeneous metal member can be obtained. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a heating device for a metal member having a conveyor according to one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0016] (metal parts) The metallic member is preferably a steel material. The term "steel material" as used herein includes ordinary steel (carbon steel) and special steel in general, and refers to, for example, carbon steel such as rolled steel for general construction, steel for low temperature use, steel plate material for nuclear reactors, etc., and includes steel materials such as cold-rolled steel, hot-rolled steel, hot-rolled steel plate material for automobile construction, hot-rolled high-tensile steel plate material for automobile processing, etc. Furthermore, the steel material as used herein is not limited to the above steel materials, and includes, for example, all steel materials standardized by the Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS "SS400") and the like.

[0017] (High frequency heating device) A heating device according to one embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as "this embodiment") includes a high-frequency heating device 1 that induction-heats a metal member transported on a conveyor 2, as shown in FIG. The high-frequency heating device 1 is equipped with a coil of an inverted U-shaped conductor formed by connecting one leg end of two inverted U-shaped conductors arranged in parallel and connecting a power source to the other leg end as described in Patent Document 2. By heating a metal member with the leg end of the inverted U-shaped conductor of this induction heating coil straddling the metal member, the metal member can be heated efficiently and rapidly to a deep portion.

[0018] (Conveyor) The conveyor 2 used in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The conveyor 2 has rollers 4a, 4b laid across both ends (start end and end) of the conveyor body 3, and a first endless belt 5 laid between these rollers 4a, 4b to form a conveying path for conveying metal members on the upper surface side of the conveyor body 3. In addition, a high-frequency heating device 1 is installed on the upper surface side of the conveyor body 3 to inductively heat the metal members. In addition, the conveyor 2 has a conveyor body 3, which serves as the machine frame, configured as a roughly long band when viewed in a plane, with the upper side of this conveyor body 3, i.e., the conveying path, being the outgoing side of the first endless belt 5, and the lower side of the conveyor body 3 being the return side of the first endless belt 5.

[0019] A first rotating roller 6 is provided on the underside of the conveyor body 3, which contacts the return side of the first endless belt 5 to drive and rotate the first endless belt 5 (first endless belt), and the first endless belt 5 is wound around the outer periphery of the first rotating roller 6, and a second endless belt 7 is further wound thereon, so that the second endless belt 7 is in surface contact with the first endless belt 5. In this state of surface contact, the second endless belt 7 is driven to rotate, thereby driving the first rotating roller 6 to rotate, thereby driving the first endless belt 5 to rotate.

[0020] In this embodiment, the material of the first endless belt 5 is made of glass fiber or aramid fiber. Since the glass fiber or aramid fiber has a smooth surface, it does not get caught on the first endless belt 5 and the metal member on the first endless belt 5 can be smoothly transported. Induction heating by the high frequency heating device as described above is performed on a metal member in a short time, for example, 20 seconds, so everything depends on the passage time. Therefore, it is important to prevent the first endless belt 5 from getting caught in order to prevent variation in heating time for each metal member.

[0021] In this embodiment, the first endless belt 5 made of glass fiber or aramid fiber is preferably a mesh made of fabric woven with glass fiber or aramid fiber. Made of glass fiber or aramid fiber does not mean a belt made of only glass fiber or aramid fiber, but also includes a belt in which the surface of glass fiber or aramid fiber is coated with a fluororesin (for example, polytetrafluoroethylene: PTFE) or the like. Also, instead of glass fiber alone, a mixture of glass fiber and PTFE or the like, or a mixture of aramid fiber and other fibers may be used. A glass mat (nonwoven fabric) may be used instead of a fabric. Glass fiber and aramid fiber are difficult to absorb high frequency waves and do not generate heat by themselves due to high frequency energy, so they are particularly suitable as materials for the conveyor belts of high frequency heating devices.

[0022] As described above, since glass fiber or aramid fiber has a smooth surface, the first endless belt made of glass fiber or aramid fiber does not get caught at places where it runs and can smoothly transport the metal member on the first endless belt 5, but on the other hand, there is a problem that slippage occurs between the first rotating roller 6 and the first endless belt 5. This problem can be solved in this embodiment as described below.

[0023] In this embodiment, a first endless belt 5 is wound around the outer periphery of a first rotating roller 6, and a second endless belt 7 made of rubber is further wound on top of the first endless belt 5, with the second endless belt 7 being in surface contact with the first endless belt 5. Therefore, the first endless belt 5 made of glass fiber or aramid fiber and having a smooth surface is in surface contact with the second endless belt 7 made of rubber. Since the second endless belt 7 is made of rubber, the coefficient of friction is high. Furthermore, since the first endless belt 5 and the second endless belt 7 are in surface contact with each other, the degree of adhesion between the first endless belt 5 and the second endless belt 7 can be increased, and therefore the degree of adhesion between the first endless belt 5 and the first rotating roller 6 can be increased. Therefore, slippage between the first rotating roller 6 and the first endless belt 5 can be suppressed.

[0024] In the conveyor 2, it is preferable to provide a second rotating roller 8a and a third rotating roller 8b on both sides of the first rotating roller 6, and a fourth rotating roller 9 below the first rotating roller 6, and to pass the first endless belt 5 around the outer periphery of the first rotating roller 6, around the outer periphery of the second rotating roller 8a, the outer periphery of the fourth rotating roller 9, the outer periphery of the third rotating roller 8b, and around the first endless belt 5 in that order, and to use any of the above rotating rollers as a drive roller to rotate the second endless belt 7. With the above-mentioned configuration, tension is applied to the first endless belt 5 in the direction of the first rotating roller 6 by the second endless belt 7, and the degree of adhesion between the first endless belt 5 made of glass fiber or aramid fiber and the outer peripheral surface of the first rotating roller 6 can be further increased.

[0025] Next, a drive mechanism for driving the first rotating roller 6 will be described. As described above, in order to rotate the second endless belt 7, any one of the second rotating roller 8a, the third rotating roller 8b, or the fourth rotating roller 9 may be used as a driving roller. In the following embodiment, however, a case will be described in which the fourth rotating roller is used as the driving roller. In FIG. 1, when the fourth rotating roller 9 is rotated in the direction of the arrow (right-handed (clockwise)), the second endless belt 7 is rotated right-handed (clockwise) due to the frictional force generated between it and the fourth rotating roller 9, and the first rotating roller 6, around whose outer periphery the first endless belt 5 is wound and on which the second endless belt 7 is wound, is rotated left-handed (counterclockwise) due to the frictional force generated by surface contact between the second endless belt 7 and the first endless belt 5.

[0026] The first endless belt 5 is then driven to rotate left (counterclockwise) by the frictional force generated between it and the outer peripheral surface of the first rotating roller 6, and the metal member on the first endless belt 5 is transported from right to left on the page. As described above, it is possible to increase the degree of contact between the first endless belt 5 and the second endless belt 7 made of glass fiber or aramid fiber, and therefore to increase the degree of contact between the first endless belt 5 and the first rotating roller 6. This prevents slippage between the first rotating roller 6 and the first endless belt 5, and allows the driving force from the first rotating roller 6 to be appropriately transmitted to the first endless belt 5. This allows the metal member to be transported stably.

[0027] Next, a drive mechanism for driving the fourth roller 9 will be described. The drive mechanism for driving the fourth rotating roller 9 in this embodiment is similar to the drive mechanism for a conventional rotating roller. Two bearings (not shown) with bearings are provided to support the fourth rotating roller 9, and the fourth rotating roller 9 is horizontally supported between them for free rotation. The fourth rotating roller 9 is formed by inserting a support shaft 9b into the shaft core of a hollow rotating roller body 9a, and both ends of the support shaft 9b are fitted into the bearings, respectively, to support the fourth rotating roller 9 for free rotation. One end of the support shaft of the fourth roller 9 penetrates through the bearing portion and protrudes, and a sprocket 9c is attached and fixed to the protruding portion.

[0028] Meanwhile, a drive motor 10 with a reducer is installed next to the sprocket 9c of the fourth rotating roller 9. The sprocket 10c is provided on the output shaft (not shown) of the reducer, and the sprocket 10c and the sprocket 9c of the fourth rotating roller 9 are connected by an endless chain 11. Therefore, when the drive motor 10 is driven to rotate, the driving force is transmitted to the fourth rotating roller 9 via the sprocket 10c, the chain 11, and the sprocket 9c, driving the fourth rotating roller 9 to rotate at a predetermined rotation speed.

[0029] It is preferable to arrange two driven rollers 12a and 12b in parallel above the first rotating roller 6 with an appropriate interval therebetween. When the first endless belt 5 rotates as described above, the two driven rollers 12a and 12b also rotate in a manner following the rotation of the first endless belt 5. The return side of the first endless belt 5 is wound around the inner sides of the opposing outer circumferences of the two driven rollers 12a and 12b and wound around the outer circumference of the first rotating roller 6, so that the first endless belt 5 is brought into contact with the outer circumference of the first rotating roller 6 with an appropriate pressing force. When adjusting the tension of the first endless belt 5, the pressure applied to the outer circumference of the first rotating roller 6 can be adjusted by narrowing or widening the interval between the two driven rollers 12a and 12b to increase or decrease the degree of retraction of the first endless belt 5.

[0030] The conveyor body 3 configured as described above is provided with legs 13a, 13b, 13c, and 13d at least on both sides near both ends. That is, the conveyor body 3 is supported at a predetermined height by at least four legs 13. As shown in Fig. 1, an additional leg may be provided at the location of the conveyor body 3 where the high-frequency heating device 1 is installed, making it possible to support the conveyor body 3 with six legs. [Industrial Applicability]

[0031] The heating device for metal members of the present invention can be used as a heating device for metal members in various fields that utilize high-frequency heating, and can produce homogeneous products in a short period of time. [Explanation of symbols]

[0032] 1: High frequency heating device 2: Conveyor 3: Conveyor body 4a, 4b: Laura 5: First endless belt 6: First rotating roller 7: Second endless belt 8a: second rotating roller 8b: Third rotating roller 9: 4th rotating roller 9a: Rotating roller body 9b: Support shaft 9c: Sprocket 10: Drive motor 10c: Sprocket 11: Endless chain 12a, 12b: driven rollers 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d: Legs

Claims

1. A heating device for metal members, which induction heats metal members on a conveyor 2 on which a high-frequency heating device 1 is installed, The conveyor 2 has rollers 4a and 4b at the start and end of a conveyor body 3, respectively, and a first endless belt 5 made of glass fiber or aramid fiber is installed between the rollers 4a and 4b. The outgoing side is the upper surface side of the conveyor body 3, The return side is the lower side of the conveyor body 3, the upper surface side is a conveying path along which the metal member is conveyed and induction heated, A heating device for a metal member, comprising: a first rotating roller 6 on the underside thereof, which contacts the return side of the first endless belt 5 to drive and rotate the first endless belt 5; the first endless belt 5 is wound around the outer periphery of the first rotating roller 6; and a second endless belt 7 made of rubber is further wound on top of the first endless belt 5; the second endless belt 7 is brought into surface contact with the first endless belt 5; and the second endless belt 7 is driven to rotate, thereby driving the first rotating roller 6 to rotate.

2. 2. The heating device for metal members according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor 2 has a second rotating roller 8a and a third rotating roller 8b on either side of the first rotating roller 6, and a fourth rotating roller 9 below the first rotating roller 6, and the first endless belt 5 is wound around the outer periphery of the first rotating roller 6, the outer periphery of the second rotating roller 8a, the outer periphery of the fourth rotating roller 9, the outer periphery of the third rotating roller 8b, and the first endless belt 5 in that order, and the second endless belt 7 is driven to rotate by using any one of the rotating rollers as a drive roller.

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