Patent Application
20120200015
The invention relates to a device for heat-treating sheet metal strips, comprising at least one radiant tube unit which has three tubes disposed in a common plane parallel to the sheet metal strip, namely a middle tube that can be connected to a burner and two outer tubes that are connected at both ends to the middle tube by means of tube bends, and a bearing on the side of the radiant tube unit opposite the burner for a bearing journal connected to the two tube bends between the middle tube on the one hand and the two outer tubes on the other hand, the bearing journal engaging in a journal receptacle of the bearing in an axially displaceable manner.
It is known for the heat treatment of sheet metal strips (DE 20 2008 009 065 U1) to provide radiant tube units which are heatable by means of burners and which comprise two outer tubes which originate from a middle tube connected to the burner and are disposed parallel to the middle tube in a common axial plane, so that a respective partial flow of the hot exhaust gases of the burner flowing into the middle tube can be guided in a circuit with the help of the outer tubes which are connected on the end side via tube bends to the middle tube. The sheet metal strip to be treated, which is conveyed parallel to the common axial plane of the tubes of the radiant tube unit with a direction of feed extending transversely to the tube axes, is heated by way of the heat radiation emitted by the tubes of the radiant tube unit. Due to the high temperatures of the radiant tubes, the bearing of the radiant tube unit must be arranged in such a way that at least the thermal expansions of the tubes in the axial direction need to be taken into account. For this purpose, the middle tube between the burner and the outer tubes is axially held in a pivot bearing, while at the opposite ends of the radiant tube unit a usually hollow bearing journal which is welded to the two tube bends connecting the ends of the middle tube with the ends of the outer tubes is supported in an axially displaceable manner in a bearing. As a result of the high treatment temperatures of 750° C. to 900° C. for example, the strength even of high-temperature steel will suffer, leading to the likelihood of caking together of the bearing journal in the bearing. The prevention of the axial journal movement in the bearing leads to deformations of the radiant tubes and consequently to damage which can lead to a standstill of the device.
The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a device of the kind mentioned above for the heat treatment of sheet metal strips in such a way that damage to the radiant tube unit as a result of thermal expansions can be substantially excluded.
This object is achieved by the invention in such a way that an insert forming a sliding layer is provided in the support area of the bearing journal between the journal receptacle of the bearing and the bearing journal.
By providing an insert with a sliding layer between the bearing journal and the journal receptacle of the bearing, caking of the bearing journal in the journal receptacle can be prevented in a simple way, so that the sliding accommodation of the bearing journal in the bearing can be ensured even at high temperatures. The precondition is a sliding layer which has sufficient temperature resistance, as is provided advantageously for example in sliding layers made of a ceramic material. By providing an insert forming the sliding layer in the support area of the bearing journal between the journal receptacle and the journal, simple constructional conditions are obtained because the insert, which is preferably a respectively formed sheet metal part, can simply be coated with a sliding layer as a separate component. Moreover, the sliding layer is subjected to a far from inconsiderable wear and tear as a result of the comparatively high weight loads by the radiant tube unit, so that an exchangeable insert forming the sliding layer would entail special advantages when it is intended to renew the sliding layer. It is merely necessary to remove the insert and to replace the same with a newly coated one or by a new insert.
The subject matter of the invention is shown by way of example in the drawings, wherein:
The illustrated device for the heat treatment of sheet metal strips comprises according to
The radiant tube unit 1 is mounted on both sides of the tubes 2 and 3, so that a substantially even distribution of the weight load is provided on the two lateral bearings. While the bearing which accommodates the extension 5 of the middle tube 2 and is not shown for reasons of clarity of the illustration axially fixes the radiant tube unit 1, the opposite bearing 8 supports the radiant tube unit 1 in an axially displaceable manner. For this purpose, the radiant tube unit 1 carries a usually tubular bearing journal 9 at the end of the middle tube 2 which is opposite of the extension 5, which bearing journal is supported in an axially displaceable manner in a sleeve-like journal receptacle 10. As is shown especially in
In order to ensure that the bearing journal 9 can be supported in a sliding fashion in the journal receptacle 10 even under high temperature loads, the sleeve-like journal receptacle 10 is provided according to
The sliding layer 15 of the insert 16 must therefore be arranged in a respectively temperature-resistant way. A sliding layer 15 made of a ceramic material advantageously fulfils these conditions. The axial relative movement between the bearing journal 9 and the bearing 8 which is required for the compensation of the thermal expansions of the tubes 2, 3 of the radiant tube unit 1 is therefore also ensured under the occurring high loads by the weight of the radiant tube unit 1 and the temperature conditions.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| A 1609/2009 | Oct 2009 | AT | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/AT10/00340 | 9/17/2010 | WO | 00 | 4/18/2012 |
