Heating – Work feeding – agitating – discharging or conveying... – Having closure or seal for work feeder's entrance passage
Patent
1996-10-16
1998-12-01
Bennett, Henry A.
Heating
Work feeding, agitating, discharging or conveying...
Having closure or seal for work feeder's entrance passage
34242, F27D 118, F26B 2520
Patent
active
058428550
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a sealing apparatus for sealing inlets/outlets of continuous heat treatment furnaces which use an atmospheric gas, such as a bright annealing furnace for metal strips, or inlets/outlets of continuous vacuum evaporation facilities for performing vacuum evaporation under reduced pressure, or for sealing inlets/outlets of compartments in such a facility.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Conventionally, in continuous vacuum evaporation facilities or the like, such as a continuous atmospheric heat treatment apparatus disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Publication JP(B2) 42-18893 (1967), or such as a continuous vacuum evaporation plating apparatus for steel strips disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Publication JP(B2) 6-45875 (1994), sealing apparatuses have been used at the inlets/outlets of such facilities or the inlets/outlets of compartments of such facilities. Among such sealing apparatuses, a typical prior art for a continuous atmospheric heat treatment apparatus, in particular, a bright annealing furnace, is shown in FIGS. 13 and 14.
Referring to FIG. 13, a metal strip 2 such as a stainless steel strip, is continuously passed through a vertical bright annealing furnace 1, and the metal strip 2 is annealed in a bright condition. The interior of the bright annealing furnace 1 is maintained in a flammable reducing atmosphere including hydrogen gas, such as a mixture gas essentially consisting of 75% of hydrogen gas and 25% of nitrogen gas or an ammonia dissociated gas, to prevent the metal strip 2 from being oxidized. The metal strip 2 is supplied from a payoff reel or the like provided on the upstream side, and the passing direction of the metal strip 2 is changed by a deflector roll 3. The metal strip 2 is introduced into the bright annealing furnace 1 via a sealing apparatus 4 on the inlet side of the furnace 1. Inside the bright annealing furnace 1, the metal strip 2 is heated and annealed by the down-heat method while the metal strip 2 is lowered. The annealed metal strip 2 is delivered to a deflector roll 6 via a sealing apparatus 5 on the outlet side of the furnace 1, and the passing direction of the metal strip 2 is changed by the deflector roll 6, and the metal strip 2 is taken up.
FIG. 14 shows the structure of the sealing apparatus 5 on the outlet side shown in FIG. 13. The structure of the sealing apparatus 4 on the inlet side is substantially the same as that of the sealing apparatus 5. In the sealing apparatus 5, the base ends of seal pads 7a, 7b are hermetically secured to a furnace wall 8 at both ends of the metal strip 2 in the width direction thereof. A cylinder 9 exerts force so that a pair of seal rolls 10a, 10b push both sides of the metal strip 2. In addition, the seal rolls 10a, 10b are pushed by the seal pads 7a, 7b. The pushing forces are adjusted by pushing force adjustment devices 11a, 11b.
Such sealing apparatuses 4, 5 as shown in FIG. 13 are used to shut off a flammable atmospheric gas in the bright annealing furnace 1 from the outside air. Since it is very difficult to completely shut off the gas while allowing the metal strip 2 to pass through, the atmospheric pressure in the furnace is made higher by 10 to 50 mm H.sub.2 O than the pressure of the outside air in actual practice so as to allow the atmospheric gas to leak gradually to the outside air. In case vapor or oxygen in the outside air enters the bright annealing furnace 1, the metal strip 2 is oxidized in the bright annealing furnace 1. This causes not only the problem of preventing bright annealing but also the danger of a serious disaster, such as a fire or an explosion. In addition, in case the bright annealing furnace 1 is damaged by a fire or the like and after the furnace 1 is repaired, it takes time to restore the dew point of the atmosphere in the furnace. During the time, bright heat treatment must be stopped. In this way, the performance of the sealing apparatus exerts a significant effect on the production activities of the bright annealing furnace
REFERENCES:
patent: 2929614 (1960-03-01), Young et al.
patent: 3291468 (1966-12-01), Albertsen et al.
patent: 4168823 (1979-09-01), Buder et al.
patent: 4184346 (1980-01-01), Sando et al.
patent: 5683651 (1997-11-01), Nakamura
patent: 5685088 (1997-11-01), Nakamura
patent: 5693288 (1997-12-01), Nakamura
Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol. 013, No. 399 (C-632), 5 Sep. 1989 & JP-A-01 142082 (Mitsubishi Heavy Ind. Ltd.; Others: 01), 2 Jun. 1989, *abstract*.
Bennett Henry A.
Nisshin Steel Co. Ltd.
Wilson Gregory A.
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