Metallurgical apparatus – With control means responsive to sensed condition
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-10
2004-01-06
Kastler, Scott (Department: 1742)
Metallurgical apparatus
With control means responsive to sensed condition
C266S129000, C266S249000, C219S635000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06673304
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for heat-treating a V-type cylinder block by induction heating, wherein the cylinder block is of a diesel engine and the like used under heavy loads and the apparatus is employed to produce, for example, a predetermined mottled pattern of a plurality of quenched layer portions arranged in an inner peripheral surface of each of a plurality of cylinder bores of such cylinder block.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, in an inner peripheral surface of a cylinder bore of a diesel engine and the like used under a heavy load, there is formed a mottled pattern of individually quenched layer portions through a conventional inner surface quenching method. In this connection, the applicant of the present application has already proposed an induction heating coil and an induction quenching method in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. Hei 7-161461 and Hei 7-272845.
However, such conventional quenching method with induction heating is disadvantageous in that: when a center of the cylinder bore deviates from that of the induction heating coil to fail to keep constant a clearance between an inner peripheral surface of the cylinder bore and an outer peripheral surface of the induction heating coil, the induction heating coil fails to evenly heat the inner peripheral portion of the cylinder bore, which makes it impossible to produce a constant pattern of quenched portions of the cylinder bore, so that the quenched portions of the cylinder bore differs from each other also in quenching depth. Consequently, in order to produce the constant pattern of quenched portions of the cylinder bore, it is necessary for the induction heating coil to position its center within a radius of several tens of microns from the center of the cylinder bore when the quenching of the cylinder bore is carried out. However, such positioning operation of the induction heating coil is very cumbersome when an engine's cylinder block is provided with a plurality of the cylinder bores to be quenched. Due to such cumbersomeness, the positioning operation of such a single induction heating coil described above is not suitable for a quenching method for mass production.
Consequently, in order to solve the above problem, the inventors of the present invention have disclosed their previous invention entitled “PRECISION QUENCHING APPARATUS AND METHOD WITH INDUCTION HEATING” (for heat treatment of an in-line type cylinder block) in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 8-225846, which invention was also filed in U.S.A. and already matured into U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,913 on Feb. 15, 2000. This U.S. Patent is incorporated herein by reference.
Incidentally, the precision quenching apparatus for heat treatment of the in-line type cylinder block of the above previous invention (hereinafter referred to as the previous apparatus) employs a single induction heating coil. In heat treating a workpiece (i.e., the in-line type cylinder block), the workpiece travels while having an inner surface of each of its cylinder bores subjected to heat treatment performed by such a single induction heating coil. Due to this, in the case where another type of workpiece such as a V-type cylinder block provided with a first and a second row of cylinder bores is heat-treated using the previous apparatus, it is necessary for the previous apparatus to perform the heat-treating process twice. In other words, the first row and the second row of the cylinder bores of the workpiece (i.e., V-type cylinder block) are subjected to a first and a second heat-treating process, respectively, which makes the previous apparatus complicated in construction and worse in working efficiency due to the necessity of a longer processing time. The above is a problem inherent in the previous apparatus.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for efficiently heat-treating a V-type cylinder block by induction heating necessary to perform a quenching and a tempering operation, wherein the cylinder block is provided with a first and a second row of cylinder bores, both of which rows are simultaneously heat-treated using a plurality of induction heating coils in a condition in which the induction heating coils travel while the cylinder block is held stationarily.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, the above object of the present invention is accomplished by providing:
A heat-treatment apparatus for quenching a V-type cylinder block (W) by induction heating, comprising:
a work table (
11
) on which the cylinder block (W) is fixedly mounted in a reference position thereon, wherein the work table (
11
) is fixedly mounted on a base frame (
10
);
a plurality of induction heating coils (
23
) each for heating an inner surface of each of a plurality of cylinder bores (wn) of the cylinder block (W); and
a transfer table assembly (
13
,
18
,
21
) for supporting the induction heating coils (
23
) in a manner such that each of the heating coils (
23
) is movable in a reciprocating manner in parallel with a longitudinal axis of each of the cylinder bores (Wn) to enter and exit from each of the cylinder bores (Wn) and also movable in a direction in parallel with each of rows of the cylinder bores (Wn) in a reciprocating manner; wherein the transfer table assembly (
13
,
18
,
21
) is movably mounted on each of opposite sides of the base frame (
10
) to sandwich the work table (
11
) therebetween.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, the above object of the present invention is accomplished by providing:
The heat-treatment apparatus for quenching the V-type cylinder block (W) by induction heating as set forth in the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the transfer table assembly (
13
,
18
,
21
) is constructed of:
an X table (
13
) which travels in a direction X in parallel with the rows of the cylinder bores (Wn) along an upper surface of the base frame (
10
);
a Y table (
18
) movably mounted on the X table (
13
), wherein the Y table (
18
) travels in a direction Y perpendicular to the direction X along the upper surface of the base frame (
10
); and
a Z table (
21
) movably mounted on the Y table (
18
), wherein the Z table (
21
) supports the induction heating coils (
23
) to travel in a direction (Z) along an upper inclined surface of the Y table (
18
), wherein the upper inclined surface of the Y table (
18
) extends in parallel with the longitudinal axis of each of the cylinder bores (Wn).
In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, the above object of the present invention is accomplished by providing:
The heat-treatment apparatus for quenching the V-type cylinder block (W) by induction heating as set forth in the second aspect of the present invention, wherein:
the work table (
11
) is provided with a reference member (
36
) for determining a position of each of the cylinder bores (Wn) of the cylinder block (W) in a coordinate system;
the Y table (
18
) is provided with a position determining means (
31
) for determining the coordinates of each of the reference member (
36
) and the cylinder bores (Wn) of the cylinder block (W); and
a control means (
100
) is provided to control in position the transfer table assembly (
13
,
18
,
21
) on the basis of the coordinates of each of the reference member (
36
) and said cylinder bores (Wn) in a manner such that said induction heating coils (
23
) are capable of entering and exiting from said cylinder bores (Wn) of said cylinder block (W).
In accordance with a fourth aspect of the present invention, the above object of the present invention is accomplished by providing:
The heat-treatment apparatus for quenching the V-type cylinder block (W) by induction heating as set forth in the third aspect of the present invention, wherein the position determining means (
31
) is movably mounted on the Y table (
18
) in a manner such that the position determining means (
31
) is movable in parallel with a long
Horita Kazuki
Hosono Akihiko
Ito Daiji
Okumura Shin
Kastler Scott
Neturen Co. Ltd.
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