QUENCHING APPARATUS AND QUENCHING METHOD

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a quenching apparatus and a quenching method used to perform a quenching treatment on a workpiece unloaded from a solution treatment furnace.

Description of the Related Art

The heat treatment of metals which is performed industrially is mainly performed using a furnace. As a type of furnace used in, for example, heat treatment of an aluminum alloy, a furnace of a hot air circulation type is used for the purpose of, by way of example, reducing variations in temperature in the furnace and stabilizing quality, and a multistage hearth rotary furnace is used for the purpose of, by way of example, space saving in a heat treatment facility. Recently, a hot air circulation type multistage hearth rotary furnace having a combination of these characteristics is used for heat treatment of a metal such as an aluminum alloy. Cited Literatures describing embodiments of the heat treatment furnace of this type include, for example, JP-2008-138916 A.

In the case of a heat-treatable alloy metal such as an aluminum alloy, for the purpose of providing uniform products for consumers by bending or pressing, a soft material is molded first, and then is subjected to solution treatment, followed by blast quenching. In other words, a metal such as an aluminum alloy subjected to a solution treatment by a multistage hearth rotary furnace of a hot air circulation type disclosed in JP-2008-138916 A, for example, has been subjected to a quenching work by a subsequent blast quenching.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

However, in the related art disclosed in JP-2008-138916 A, for example, it is difficult to perform blast quenching for a plurality of solution-treated workpieces in a uniform manner for a group of the workpieces, and there is a room for improvement in quenching work based on the blast quenching for obtaining a plurality of workpieces having uniform quality.

In view of such a problem existing in the related art described above, it is an object of the invention to provide a quenching apparatus capable of performing blast quenching for a plurality of solution-treated workpieces in a uniform manner for a group of the workpieces and consequently, capable of achieving a quenching work based on blast quenching which allows the group of the workpieces to have a uniform quality, and a quenching method performed by using the quenching apparatus.

The respective parts will be described below. It should be noted that although reference numerals in the accompanying drawings are attached to parentheses in order to facilitate the understanding of the invention, the invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments.

A quenching apparatus (20) according to an aspect of the invention performs quenching treatment on solution-treated workpieces (W) unloaded from a solution treatment furnace (10) having a plurality of workpiece storage chambers (11) and a plurality of workpiece unloading ports (12) corresponding to the workpiece storage chambers (11), and is provided so as to be movable in accordance with the positions of the workpiece unloading ports (12).

Another quenching apparatus (20) according to another aspect of the invention performs quenching treatment on solution-treated workpieces (W) unloaded from a solution treatment furnace (10) having a plurality of workpiece storage chambers (11) arranged horizontally in an annular shape and stacked in a vertical direction and a plurality of workpiece unloading ports (12) corresponding to the workpiece storage chambers (11), and is provided so as to be movable in accordance with the positions of the workpiece unloading ports (12).

The quenching apparatus (20) according to the other aspect of the invention may include a workpiece storage unit (21) configured to store a workpiece (W) unloaded from the workpiece unloading port (12), and an air-cooling fan (22) configured to air-cool the workpiece (W) stored in the workpiece storage unit (21).

In addition, in the quenching apparatus (20) according to the other aspect of the invention, the workpiece storage unit (21) may be provided with a shutter (24) capable of opening/closing at a position where the workpiece (W) is loaded and unloaded.

Further, the quenching apparatus (20) according to the other embodiment of the invention may include a straightening plate (23) configured to straighten the air flow generated by the air-cooling fan (22).

In addition, in the quenching apparatus (20) according to the other aspect of the invention, the plurality workpiece unloading ports (12) may be provided in the vertical direction of the solution treatment furnace (10), and the quenching apparatus may be provided so as to be movable up and down in accordance with the positions of the workpiece unloading ports (12).

A quenching method according to still another aspect of the invention is characterized in that quenching treatment is performed by using the quenching apparatus (20) described above.

According to the invention, a quenching apparatus capable of performing blast quenching for a plurality of solution-treated workpieces in a uniform manner for a group of the workpieces and consequently, capable of achieving a quenching work based on blast quenching which allows the group of the workpieces to have a uniform quality, and a quenching method performed by using the quenching apparatus are achieved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a configuration example of a quenching apparatus according to a present embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a front view illustrating a configuration example of a quenching apparatus according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing for explaining a quenching method performed by using the quenching apparatus according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing for explaining the quenching method performed by using the quenching apparatus according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing for explaining the quenching method performed by using the quenching apparatus according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a schematic drawing for explaining the quenching method performed by using the quenching apparatus according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a schematic drawing for explaining the quenching method performed by using the quenching apparatus according to the present embodiment; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic drawing for explaining the quenching method performed by using the quenching apparatus according to the present embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments for performing the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the following embodiments are not intended to limit the invention defined by the claims, and that all the combinations of features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution of the invention.

First, the configuration of a quenching apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Here, FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a configuration example of the quenching apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a front view illustrating a configuration example of the quenching apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a drawing illustrating the quenching apparatus according to the present embodiment viewed upward from a lower part in FIG. 1.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, in the present embodiment, two quenching apparatuses 20a and 20b are provided for one solution treatment furnace 10.

Referring to the solution treatment furnace 10 in which the quenching apparatus 20 (20a, 20b) according to the present embodiment is installed, the solution treatment furnace 10 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of workpiece storage chambers 11 arranged horizontally in an annular shape. Further, the plurality of workpiece storage chambers 11 are stacked in the vertical direction, and in the case of the solution treatment furnace 10 of the present embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the number of the workpiece storage chambers 11 arranged horizontally in the annular shape in one tier is sixteen, and the sixteen workpiece storage chambers 11 in one tier are arranged in the vertical direction by six tiers.

The plurality of workpiece unloading ports 12 are formed corresponding to the workpiece storage chambers 11 for each tier. The workpiece storage chambers 11 are arranged in a pattern of 16 chambers×6 tiers, that is, 96 chambers in total. A movable lid 13 for closing and opening each unloading port is disposed for each of the plurality of workpiece unloading ports 12. In other words, as illustrated on the left side in FIG. 1, the movable lid 13 can cover the workpiece unloading port 12 to close the unloading port, or can move away from the workpiece unloading port 12 to open the unloading port as illustrated on the right side in FIG. 1.

In the solution treatment furnace 10 of the present embodiment, the workpiece unloading ports 12 illustrated on the left side in FIG. 1 correspond to the workpiece unloading ports 12 provided on the second, fourth, and sixth tiers, and the workpiece unloading ports 12 illustrated on the right side in FIG. 1 correspond to workpiece unloading ports 12 provided on the first, third, and fifth tiers. In other words, in the solution treatment furnace 10 of the present embodiment, for the sixteen workpiece storage chambers 11 stacked by six tiers in the vertical direction and arranged horizontally in the annular shape, one workpiece unloading port 12 each is provided for each tier, and one movable lid 13 is provided for each of the workpiece unloading port 12 for each tier, and in addition, the workpiece unloading ports 12 are provided alternately in the tiers when viewing the solution treatment furnace 10 in the vertical direction.

Two quenching apparatuses 20a and 20b are installed for the solution treatment furnace 10 described above. In the present embodiment, the quenching apparatus 20b illustrated on the left side in FIG. 1 corresponds to the workpiece unloading ports 12 provided on the first, third, and fifth tiers, and the quenching apparatus 20a illustrated on the right side in FIG. 1 corresponds to workpiece unloading ports 12 provided on the second, fourth, and sixth tiers. In other words, in the present embodiment, the quenching apparatuses 20a and 20b and the workpiece unloading ports 12 are arranged reversely to be opposite to each other in the right and left directions. The reason why such a configuration is employed is that a flow which achieves smoother transfer of the workpieces W from the workpiece unloading ports 12 to the quenching apparatuses 20a and 20b by the multi-joint robot arm 30, which will be described later, is obtained.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the quenching apparatuses 20a and 20b according to the present embodiment are provided with one quenching apparatus 20b for the first, third, and fifth tiers illustrated on the left side in FIG. 2, one quenching apparatus 20a for the second, fourth, and sixth tiers is installed on the right side in FIG. 2, and these two quenching apparatuses 20a, 20b are provided so as to be movable up and down independently in accordance with the positions of the workpiece unloading ports 12. In other words, the quenching apparatus 20b for the first, third, and fifth tiers illustrated on the left side in FIG. 2 can stop at approximately the same heights as the workpiece unloading ports 12 provided on the first, third, and fifth tiers, and the quenching apparatus 20a for the second, fourth, and sixth tiers illustrated on the right side in FIG. 2 can stop at approximately the same heights as the workpiece unloading ports 12 provided on the second, fourth, and sixth tiers. The up and down movement of the quenching apparatuses 20a and 20b in the vertical direction is realized by moving means including a motor 25 and a chain 26.

Further, the quenching apparatuses 20a and 20b according to the present embodiment each have a workpiece storage unit 21 configured to store the workpiece W unloaded from the workpiece unloading port 12 of the solution treatment furnace 10, and an air-cooling fan 22 is disposed at an upper position of the workpiece storage unit 21 to air-cool the workpiece W stored in the workpiece storage unit 21.

In addition, two straightening plates 23 configured to straighten the air flow generated by the air-cooling fan 22 are disposed directly under the air-cooling fan 22, and the workpiece storage unit 21 is provided with a shutter 24 capable of opening and closing at a position where the workpiece W is carried in and unloaded. Since air appropriately straightened for the workpiece W can be supplied, by actions of the air-cooling fan 22, the straightening plates 23 and the shutter 24, into the workpiece storage unit 21 in which the workpiece W carried out from the solution treatment furnace 10 is stored, quenching work based on the blast quenching under the uniform condition is enabled in each workpiece storage unit 21.

The workpieces W can be unloaded and loaded into the workpiece storage chambers 11 of the solution treatment furnace 10 described above and also can be unloaded and loaded into the workpiece storage units 21 of the quenching apparatuses 20a and 20b by a multi-joint robot arm 30 disposed substantially in an intermediate portion between the two quenching apparatuses 20a and 20b. In FIG. 1, for convenience of explanation, a main body portion 31 of the multi-joint robot arm 30 and an arm tip 32 of the multi-joint robot arm 30 are separately depicted, but originally, the main body portion 31 and the arm tip 32 are connected to each other, and the arm tip 32 indicated by the reference numerals 32a to 32d is an example of a position that the arm tip 32 can take.

In other words, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the arm tip 32 of the multi-joint robot arm 30 according to the present embodiment of the invention is configured to be able to take a loading position indicated by a reference numeral 32a for loading the workpieces W, an insertion position indicated by a reference numeral 32b for inserting the workpieces W into the workpiece storage chambers 11, an unloading position indicated by a reference numeral 32c for unloading the workpieces W from the workpiece storage chambers 11, and a carry-out position indicated by a reference numeral 32d for carrying out the workpieces W. Further, the arm tip 32 is configured to be capable of unloading a workpiece W from the workpiece storage chamber 11 at the position indicated by reference numeral 32c and inserting the workpiece W into the workpiece storage unit 21 of the quenching apparatus 20a. In this manner, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to carry out the conveyance of the workpieces W during the quenching work including the solution treatment and the blast quenching of the workpieces W by the single multi-joint robot arm 30.

Thus far, the configuration of the quenching apparatus 20 (20a, 20b) according to the present embodiment has been described. Next, a quenching method performed by using the quenching apparatus 20 (20a, 20b) described above will be described with reference additionally to FIGS. 3 to 8. FIGS. 3 to 8 are schematic drawings for explaining the quenching method performed by using the quenching apparatus according to the present embodiment. For the sake of convenience of explanation, as regards the multi-joint robot arm 30 illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 8, the main body portion 31 of the multi-joint robot arm 30 is omitted, and only the arm tip 32 of the multi-joint robot arm 30 is illustrated.

FIG. 3 shows a situation in which the arm tip 32 of the multi-joint robot arm 30 is about to scoop up and convey the workpiece W at the loading position. At this time, the movable lids 13 of the workpiece unloading ports 12 on the right side in the drawing provided on the first, third, and fifth tiers of the solution treatment furnace 10 are opened, and the workpiece unloading ports 12 of the workpiece storage chambers 11 on the first, third and fifth tiers are opened.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the arm tip 32 of the multi-joint robot arm 30 conveys the workpieces W, and the workpieces W are loaded into the workpiece storage chambers 11 on the first, third, and fifth tiers. Thereafter, the arm tip 32 is retracted from the inside of the workpiece storage chamber 11, the movable lid 13 is closed, and the solution treatment of the workpiece W by the solution treatment furnace 10 is performed.

As in FIG. 4, for the workpiece storage chambers 11 on the second, fourth, and sixth tiers illustrated in FIG. 5, the arm tip 32 of the multi-joint robot arm 30 conveys these workpieces W in the workpiece storage chambers 11 on the second, fourth and sixth tiers. Thereafter, the arm tip 32 is retracted from the inside of the workpiece storage chamber 11, the movable lid 13 is closed, and the solution treatment of the workpiece W by the solution treatment furnace 10 is performed.

Subsequently, the solution-treated workpieces W are carried out from the solution treatment furnace 10 in sequence. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the movable lids 13 which close the workpiece unloading ports 12 of the workpiece storages chambers 11 on the first, third, and fifth tiers are opened, the workpiece unloading ports 12 of the workpiece storage chambers 11 of the first, third, and fifth tiers are opened, and the solution-treated workpieces W in the workpiece storage chamber 11 on the first, third, and fifth tiers are carried out of the furnace by the arm tip 32. Then, the workpieces W carried out from the workpiece storage chambers 11 of the first, third, and fifth tiers are loaded into the workpiece storage unit 21 formed in the quenching apparatus 20b for the first, third, and fifth tiers. At this time, since the quenching apparatus 20b is controlled by a control device (not illustrated) to move to a height corresponding to the tier of the workpiece unloading port 12, which is a destination of the workpiece W, and thus the arm tip 32 of the multi-joint robot arm 30 for transferring the workpiece W can transfer the workpiece W with almost no change in height. Since the quenching apparatus 20b and the workpiece unloading ports 12 are reversely arranged so as to be opposite to each other in the plan view, the transfer of the workpieces W from the workpiece unloading ports 12 to the quenching apparatus 20b is smoothly performed by the multi-joint robot arm 30. In addition, in the quenching apparatus 20b in which the workpiece W is inserted, air appropriately straightened for the workpiece W can be supplied, by actions of the air-cooling fan 22, the straightening plates 23 and the shutter 24 illustrated in FIG. 2, into the workpiece storage unit 21 in which the workpiece W carried out from the solution treatment furnace 10 is stored, which enables quenching work based on the blast quenching under the uniform condition in each workpiece storage unit 21.

On the other hand, for the workpieces W that have been undergone the solution treatment in the workpiece storage chambers 11 in the second, fourth, and sixth tiers illustrated in FIG. 7, the same process as in FIG. 6 can be executed. In other words, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the movable lids 13 which close the workpiece unloading ports 12 of the workpiece storages chambers 11 on the second, fourth, and sixth tiers are opened, the workpiece unloading ports 12 of the workpiece storage chambers 11 of the second, fourth, and sixth tiers are opened, and the solution-treated workpieces W in the workpiece storage chamber 11 on the second, fourth, and sixth tiers are carried out of the furnace by the arm tip 32. Then, the workpieces W carried out from the workpiece storage chambers 11 of the second, fourth, and sixth tiers are loaded into the workpiece storage unit 21 formed in the quenching apparatus 20a for the second, fourth, and sixth tiers. At this time, since the quenching apparatus 20a is controlled by a control device (not illustrated) to move to a height corresponding to the tier of the workpiece unloading port 12, which is a destination of the workpiece W, and thus the arm tip 32 of the multi-joint robot arm 30 for transferring the workpiece W can transfer the workpiece W with almost no change in height. Since the quenching apparatus 20a and the workpiece unloading ports 12 are reversely arranged so as to be opposite to each other in the plan view, the transfer of the workpieces W from the workpiece unloading ports 12 to the quenching apparatus 20a is smoothly performed by the multi-joint robot arm 30. In addition, in the quenching apparatus 20a in which the workpiece W is inserted, air appropriately straightened for the workpiece W can be supplied, by actions of the air-cooling fan 22, the straightening plates 23 and the shutter 24 illustrated in FIG. 2, into the workpiece storage unit 21 in which the workpiece W carried out from the solution treatment furnace 10 is stored, which enables quenching work based on the blast quenching under the uniform condition in each workpiece storage unit 21.

Subsequently, the workpieces W that have undergone the quenching work by blast quenching are carried out from the quenching apparatus 20 (20a, 20b) in sequence. In other words, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the workpiece W that have undergone the quenching work by blast quenching in the workpiece storage unit 21 of the quenching apparatus 20 (20a, 20b), are transferred to the carry-out position, the arm tip 32 of the multi-joint robot arm 30 is retracted from the workpiece W, thereby completing a series of quenching working steps.

By executing the quenching method described above, it is possible to perform blast quenching for all the workpieces W within 10 seconds from unloading of the workpieces W from the solution treatment furnace 10 by the quenching apparatus 20 (20a, 20b), and the blast quenching can be executed under substantially the same conditions for all the workpieces W. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, since no delay occurs in the quenching of the workpieces W and the uniform quenching treatment can be executed, it is also possible to stabilize the quality of the workpiece W.

Although the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described above, the technical scope of the invention is not limited to the ranges described in the above described embodiment. Various modifications or improvements may be made to the above described embodiment.

For example, although the quenching apparatus 20 (20a, 20b) of the embodiment described above performs air-cooled blast quenching, the quenching apparatus according to the embodiment of the invention can be used as a quenching apparatus of water-cooled or oil-cooled type.

Further, although the above solution treatment furnace 10 has a configuration in which the workpiece storage chambers are arranged in an annular shape, the invention is not limited thereto. For example, the invention is applicable to a so-called straight type solution treatment furnace, which is a solution treatment furnace of a type in which workpiece storage chambers (trays), on which the workpieces are placed, are moved linearly by belt conveyors arranged in parallel, and the invention is also applicable to a solution treatment furnace of other types.

For example, although the workpiece storage units 21 of the quenching apparatus 20 (20a, 20b) move to positions in the proximity to the workpiece unloading ports 12 in the embodiment described above, the workpiece storage units 21 may be moved to a fixed distance from all the workpiece unloading ports 12. It is essential to the invention to eliminate the variations in quenching treatment to the workpieces W due to the difference in the workpiece unloading ports 12.

It is obvious from the description of the appended claims that such modifications or improvements may also be included within the scope of the invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

10 solution treatment furnace, 11 workpiece storage chamber, 12 workpiece unloading port, 13 movable lid, 20, 20a, 20b quenching apparatus, 21 workpiece storage unit, 22 air-cooling fan, 23 straightening plate, 24 shutter, 25 motor, 26 chain, 30 multi-joint robot arm, 31 main body portion, 32, 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d arm tip, W workpiece.

QUENCHING APPARATUS AND QUENCHING METHOD

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