Patent Application
20230003451
The present invention relates to a furnace working system or facility or station or assembly, and more particularly to a high temperature and continuous furnace or working system or station or assembly including a number of units or containers that may be easily manufactured and assembled into the working system, and that include a heat recovering and economizing structure.
Typical heating furnaces or working systems or facilities or stations or assemblies comprise a number of working stations or operating zones that are separated from each other, or disposed or located close to each other for heating, carburizing, heat treating, powder metallurgy, diffusing, quenching, cooling operation, and/or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,503,365 to Kim et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,814,573 to Hiramoto, U.S. Pat. No. 7,029,625 to Shimosato et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,520,746 to Johnston et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,298,475 to Tseng, and U.S. Pat. No. 9,523,136 to Tseng disclose several of the typical furnace product supporting or transporting devices for supporting or transporting the typical high chromium steel materials or plates into and out of the typical steel furnaces and the like.
However, the typical furnace product supporting or transporting devices may comprise a number of working stations or operating zones that may not be easily manufactured, and should be manufactured and assembled into the working system in the factories or working plants, but the working stations or operating zones may not be easily manufactured and then assembled into the working system.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional furnace or working systems or assemblies.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a furnace working system or station or assembly including a number of working sections or zones that may be easily manufactured and assembled into the working system, and that include a heat recovering and economizing structure.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a furnace working system comprising a pre-heating zone being vacuumed, a gas heating zone disposed behind the pre-heating zone and being vacuumed, an electric heating zone being vacuumed, a first cooling zone disposed behind the electric heating zone, a second cooling zone disposed behind the first cooling zone, a conveyer disposed in the pre-heating zone and the gas heating zone and the electric heating zone and the first and the second cooling zones for carrying and transporting a work piece through the pre-heating zone and the gas heating zone and the electric heating zone and the first and the second cooling zones, a pipe coupling the first cooling zone to the gas heating zone for supplying a heat from the first cooling zone to the gas heating zone, and a conduit coupling the second cooling zone to the pre-heating zone for supplying a heat from the second cooling zone to the pre-heating zone and for recovering the heat from the high cooling zone and/or from the low cooling zone and for heat recovering and economizing purposes.
A transition zone is disposed between the gas heating zone and the electric heating zone, and the transition zone is vacuumed. The electric heating zone includes a first heating section and at least one second heating section.
The electric heating zone includes a plurality of heating tubes disposed and engaged in the first and the at least one second heating sections. The heating tubes are disposed beside the conveyer and the work piece for suitably heating the work piece.
Further objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of the detailed description provided hereinbelow, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring to the drawings, and initially to
The furnace working system further comprises a belt or band or roller carrier or conveyer 50 disposed or located or arranged within and through the pre-heating zone 10, the gas heating zone 11, the transition zone 12, the electric heating zone 20 and the high and the low cooling zones 30, 40 for carrying or supporting or transporting or moving the work pieces 90 from the pre-heating zone 10 and the gas heating zone 11 and the transition zone 12 through the electric heating zone 20 and then toward and through the high and the low cooling zones 30, 40. The furnace working system comprises the pre-heating zone 10 and the gas heating zone 11 and the transition zone 12 and the electric heating zone 20 and the high and the low cooling zones 30, 40 that may be easily manufactured separately and then moved to the factories or working plants (not illustrated), and then assembled into the furnace working system. The pre-heating zone 10 and the gas heating zone 11 and the transition zone 12 and the electric heating zone 20 and the high and the low cooling zones 30, 40 may be disposed and arranged in a C or U shape or structure or configuration and the like, as shown in
It is preferable that the pre-heating zone 10 and the gas heating zone 11 and the transition zone 12 and the electric heating zone 20 and the high and the low cooling zones 30, 40 are vacuumed, or at least the pre-heating zone 10 and the gas heating zone 11 and the transition zone 12 and the electric heating zone 20 are vacuumed for maintaining the heat or the temperature of the work pieces 90 and for preventing the work pieces 90 from cooling, and/or for allowing the heat or the temperature of the work pieces 90 to be suitably maintained. The work pieces 90 in the pre-heating zone 10 and the gas heating zone 11 may be heated by gas or the like. The electric heating zone 20 includes one or more (such as four, or a first and at least one second) heating areas or sections 21, 22, 23, 24 disposed and arranged or located close to or beside or adjacent to each other and/or arranged in line with each other, and includes one or more (such as thirty six) heating devices or members or elements or tubes 25, 26 disposed or arranged or engaged in each of the heating sections 21, 22, 23, 24 for work piece heating purposes.
It is preferable that the heating tubes 25, 26 are disposed or arranged in two rows or lines in the heating sections 21, 22, 23, 24 and disposed or arranged beside the conveyer 50 and/or the work pieces 90 (
In operation, as shown in
The work pieces 90 are then transported or moved or sent into the high cooling zone 30 and slightly or gradually lowered or decreased to the required or predetermined temperature (of about 800° C.). It is preferable that the work pieces 90 are stayed or retained in the high cooling zone 30 for about five (5) minutes, and the higher temperature of about 800 to 1250 degrees Celsius in the high or first cooling zone 30 may be selectively supplied or introduced into the gas heating zone 11 for heating the work pieces 90 and for heat preserving or economizing purposes. The work pieces 90 are then transported or moved or sent into the low or second cooling zone 40 and lowered or decreased to the required or predetermined lower temperature (of about 300° C.). It is preferable that the work pieces 90 are stayed or retained in the low or second cooling zone 40 for about five (5) minutes, and the lower temperature of about 300 to 800 degrees Celsius in the low or second cooling zone 40 may be selectively supplied or introduced into the pre-heating zone 10 for heating the work pieces 90 and for heat preserving or economizing purposes.
It is to be noted that the pre-heating zone 10 and the gas heating zone 11 and the transition zone 12 and the electric heating zone 20 and the high and the low cooling zones 30, 40 may be easily and quickly manufactured separately and then moved to the factories or working plants, and then assembled into the furnace working system. The furnace working system including at least the pre-heating zone 10 and the gas heating zone 11 and the transition zone 12 and the electric heating zone 20 are vacuumed for maintaining the heat or the temperature of the work pieces 90 and for preventing the work pieces 90 from cooling, and/or for allowing the heat or the temperature of the work pieces 90 to be suitably maintained. The heat in the high or first cooling zone 30 and in the low or second cooling zone 40 may be selectively supplied or introduced into the gas heating zone 11 and the pre-heating zone 10 for heating the work pieces 90 and for heat preserving or economizing purposes.
Accordingly, the furnace working system in accordance with the present invention includes a number of working sections or zones that may be easily manufactured and assembled into the working system, and that include a heat recovering and economizing structure.
Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example only and that numerous changes in the detailed construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.
