Heating Coil Longitudinal Design for Recessed Workpiece
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heating coils for elongated workpieces with recessed lateral surfaces face challenges in efficiently heating the workpiece at high speeds due to limited coil area, leading to increased power consumption and complex configurations that result in output losses and cooling fluid flow rate issues.
Innovation Solution
A heating coil configuration with a base conductor and a projected conductor arranged to extend in the longitudinal direction, where the projected conductor is narrower and positioned to face recesses, allowing for efficient inductive heating of the workpiece while minimizing power consumption and maintaining a simple coil structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the heating coil is formed using a wider member to increase the area of the portion of the coil that extends across and faces the lateral surface of the elongated workpiece, then the heating speed is improved, but the cross sectional area of the coil increases which requires greater electric power and deteriorates efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the orientation of the heating coil from extending in the widthwise direction (orthogonal to longitudinal direction) to extending in the longitudinal direction of the workpiece. This dimensional reorientation allows the coil to achieve greater effective heating area without increasing cross-sectional area, thus improving heating speed without proportionally increasing power consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating coil is divided into multiple sections along the longitudinal direction, with each section having protrusions that correspond to recesses on the workpiece lateral surface. This segmentation allows the coil to effectively heat the recessed lateral surface through coordinated action of multiple sections, achieving high-speed heating without requiring a single large-area coil that would consume excessive power.
2Productivity
If the number of portions of the coil that extend across the lateral surface of the workpiece is increased, then the heating coverage is improved, but the configuration of the heating coil becomes complex which increases output loss and makes it difficult to maintain cooling fluid flow rate
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of increasing the number of coil portions extending across the lateral surface (widthwise direction), the invention extends the coil portions along the longitudinal direction of the workpiece. This dimensional change provides extended heating coverage while maintaining a simple linear configuration that is easy to cool and has low electrical resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating coil has uniform structure along its longitudinal extension, with each section having protrusions that locally correspond to recesses on the workpiece. This consistent local structure provides comprehensive heating coverage without requiring complex varying configurations, maintaining simplicity while achieving extended coverage.
3Manufacturing precision
If the heating coil is configured to heat the entire lateral surface by extending orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, then the lateral surface heating is achieved, but the area of the coil portion that faces the workpiece is limited which prevents high-speed heating
Solution Approach 1:
The invention reorients the heating coil to extend in the longitudinal direction of the workpiece rather than orthogonal to it. This dimensional change increases the effective facing area of the coil to the workpiece lateral surface, enabling high-speed heating while maintaining uniform lateral surface heating through the coordinated protrusions that correspond to workpiece recesses.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration enables faster heat treatment of the workpiece with reduced power consumption by extending the heating coil's length along the workpiece's longitudinal direction, suppressing electric current loss and simplifying the cooling fluid path, thus efficiently heating the lateral surfaces without excessive heating of adjacent surfaces.
Implementation Method 1
the heating coil is configured to inductively heat an elongated workpiece having a first lateral surface and a second lateral surface adjoining each other along a corner portion
Implementation Method 2
the heating coil includes a base conductor configured to face the first lateral surface, and a projected conductor configured to face the recess
Data Source
AI summary
A heating coil of a heat treatment apparatus is configured to inductively heat an elongated workpiece having a recessed lateral surface. The heating coil includes a base conductor and a projected conductor. A width of the projected conductor is narrower than a width of the base conductor. The projected conductor is arranged to project toward the recess from a position of the base conductor. The base conductor and the projected conductor are arranged to extend in a longitudinal direction of the workpiece. A heat treatment apparatus includes a cooling section and the heating coil. A heat treatment method uses the heating coil described above.