JP4654131B2 - Surface layer heat treatment equipment, surface layer heating / quenching treatment equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a surface layer heat treatment apparatus for performing a cooling treatment after a heat treatment on a surface layer made of a resin or the like disposed on the outer surface of a cylindrical workpiece, and in particular, an image, a character, etc., such as an electrophotographic method. A technology for amorphizing the surface resin of resin-coated endless belts with high shape accuracy, which is suitable for the production of fixing belts used in fixing devices for fixing toners, especially fixing belts whose surfaces are coated with fluororesin It can be applied to.

  A belt and a roller used in a fixing unit of an image forming apparatus using electrophotography have a configuration in which a flexible base material surface is coated with a thermoplastic resin (Patent Document 1).

  As the material of the thermoplastic resin to be coated here, releasability with respect to toner and continuous durability at a toner fixing temperature (usually 180 to 200 ° C.) are required. Often used is a functional resin. Polytetrafluoroethylene copolymer (PTFE) has been used as the fluororesin, but recently, tetrafluoroethylene-polyethylenefluorovinyl ether copolymer (PFA) has better processability, so PFA is mainly used for fixing. It is used as a material for the release layer.

  Here, in order to obtain sufficient releasability with respect to the toner, the resin surface is required to have a smoothness of roughness Rz: 1 to 3 μm and waviness: about 2 to 4 μm.

  As a method for obtaining such smoothness, the surface temperature of the resin coating is heated to a temperature higher than the softening or melting temperature of the coated resin, and rapidly solidified from the molten state (heating / rapid cooling treatment). There are methods to obtain similar amorphous surfaces.

  Here, when a layer made of a fluororesin is formed, a method is generally used in which an object to be processed is put into a huge oven and fired (batch firing). As a problem at this time, in particular, in the case of this fixing belt, since the silicone rubber layer exists under the release layer as described above, the silicone rubber is thermally damaged.

Even if silicone rubber has improved heat resistance, the heating temperature of 340 to 350 ° C is the limit, and if it receives a temperature history higher than this, its flexibility is impaired, and the function as rubber tends to be reduced. is there. On the other hand, the fluororesin has a melting point of about 310 to 320 ° C., and the surface unevenness of the surface after the melting is smoothed (leveled) to obtain a smooth surface, the temperature of the object to be processed by heat treatment is set to 320 ±. It is necessary to keep uniform in the range of 10 ° C. If this is performed in a general oven (heating furnace), a soaking zone that satisfies the above two temperature conditions can be formed only in the central part of the oven, and other parts, that is, other than the central part in the furnace. Since it becomes a useless space and energy is used to heat the useless space, the heat efficiency is very poor.
JP 2002-361729 A

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a surface layer heat treatment apparatus that can perform heat treatment continuously, has no waste of energy and space, and can be made compact and efficient.

  In addition, the present invention provides a surface layer heating / quenching treatment apparatus equipped with a surface layer heat treatment apparatus that can perform heat treatment continuously, has no waste of energy and space, and can be made compact efficiently. Features.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a surface layer heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention is a surface layer heat treatment apparatus for heat-treating a surface layer on an outer surface of a cylindrical body, as described in claim 1, Holding means for holding the workpiece so that the axis of the cylinder is in a vertical direction; rotation driving means for rotating the holding means so as to rotate the workpiece about the axis of the cylinder; A heat treatment chamber provided with a heating means for heat-treating the layer, and the object to be treated is guided from the outside of the heat treatment chamber to the outside of the heat treatment chamber through the heat treatment chamber inlet, the heat treatment chamber, and the heat treatment chamber outlet sequentially. A workpiece transport path and the workpiece to be processed held by the holding means are moved on the workpiece transport path and carried into the heat treatment chamber, and the workpiece after the heat treatment is heated. Material handling hand to be carried out of the processing chamber In the surface layer a heat treatment apparatus equipped with said heating means, characterized in that an infrared heater provided on both sides of the workpiece conveying path of the heat treatment chamber.

  The surface layer heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention is the surface layer heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the infrared heater is provided in a plurality of heating units in the conveying direction of the workpiece. Each heating unit is divided into a plurality of heating zones each having one linear infrared heater in the height direction, and each heating zone includes a linear infrared heater. However, it is drawn with a single stroke so as to form a plurality of horizontal wiring portions arranged horizontally and a connection wiring portion that connects the end portions of the other horizontal wiring portions vertically adjacent to the end portion of the horizontal wiring portion. The plurality of horizontal wiring portions of each heating unit are arranged at equal intervals.

The surface layer heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention is the surface layer heat treatment apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each of the horizontal wiring portions of the linear infrared heater in the heating unit of the infrared heater is the surface layer heat treatment apparatus according to claim 2. The pitch of the interval is arranged to be shifted by 1/2 pitch from the pitch of each horizontal wiring portion of the linear infrared heater in the heating unit of the infrared heater adjacent to the infrared heater.

  The surface layer heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention is the surface layer heat treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the holding means is provided above and below the object to be processed. It is characterized by comprising two circular plates that support the vicinity of both ends from the inner surface of the object to be processed, and a shaft that fixes the two circular plates.

  The surface layer heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention is the surface layer heat treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the object conveyance means is the object to be treated. The object to be processed is carried on the conveyance path of the object to be processed, and the object to be processed is carried into the heat treatment chamber, and the object to be processed is unloaded from the heat treatment chamber. Means.

  The surface layer heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention is the surface layer heat treatment apparatus according to claim 5, in which the object to be treated transporting means is configured such that the object to be treated in the heat treatment chamber is The present invention is characterized by comprising a workpiece heating chamber transfer means for transferring toward the outlet of the heating chamber.

  In order to solve the above problems, a surface layer heating / quenching apparatus according to the present invention comprises the surface layer heating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6 as described in claim 7, A rapid cooling treatment means is provided on the outside of the heat treatment chamber outlet of the surface layer heat treatment apparatus to perform a rapid cooling treatment on the surface layer heat-treated by the surface layer heat treatment apparatus.

  The surface layer heating / quenching apparatus according to the present invention is the surface layer heating / quenching apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the surface layer heating / quenching apparatus according to the present invention is the same as that in the rapid cooling process in the rapid cooling process means. And a rotation driving means for cooling processing for rotating the processing object at a rotational speed different from the rotation of the processing object in step (a).

  The surface layer heating / quenching treatment apparatus according to the present invention is the surface layer heating / quenching treatment apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the holding means after the quenching treatment is the heating treatment chamber. It has the circulation conveyance path which makes it possible to circulate to the entrance vicinity.

  The surface layer heating / quenching apparatus according to the present invention is the surface layer heating / quenching apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the cooling means heats the coolant. It is characterized by being sprayed onto the processed object after processing.

  The surface layer heating / quenching treatment apparatus according to the present invention is the rotation detecting means for detecting the number of rotations of the object to be processed by the rotation driving means, and the heat treatment temperature measurement for measuring the heating temperature of the heating means. And a cooling rate measuring unit for monitoring the cooling rate of the object to be processed by the cooling unit, and the rotational speed of the object to be processed, the heating temperature of the heating unit, and the cooling rate measured by these means Compared with a predetermined reference range, an abnormality occurrence detection means for detecting an occurrence of an abnormality deviating from the reference range is provided.

  The surface layer heating / quenching apparatus according to the present invention is the surface layer heating / quenching apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 11, wherein the object to be processed is a fixing belt. It is characterized by that.

  According to the surface layer heat treatment apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to perform heat treatment continuously, and the surface layer that can be uniformly and heat-treated without waste of energy and space by infrared heating, and can be made compact efficiently. For example, the heat treatment apparatus can be suitably used for manufacturing a fixing belt in which a surface that has been wasteful of energy and space is coated with a fluororesin.

  Further, according to the surface layer heat treatment apparatus according to claim 2, the temperature rise gradient at the beginning of heating of the workpiece can be adjusted, the heat treatment can be performed without difficulty, and the temperature in the vertical direction can be adjusted. Since the distribution can also be adjusted, normally, a phenomenon in which the temperature of the upper part of the object to be processed becomes high can be suppressed, and uniform heating can be performed.

  Moreover, according to the surface layer heat processing apparatus of Claim 3, the temperature spot in the heat processing of a to-be-processed object is reduced more.

  Further, according to the surface layer heat treatment apparatus of the fourth aspect, the heat capacity of the holding means can be made extremely small, so that the heat efficiency in the heat treatment is good and the rapid cooling treatment is performed in the subsequent process. Can achieve a high rapid cooling effect.

  Further, the surface layer heat treatment apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the workpiece conveying means moves the workpiece to be processed on the workpiece conveyance path and carries the workpiece into the heating chamber. In the heat treatment chamber, the heat treatment chamber is provided with an object unloading means for unloading the object to be processed from the heat treatment chamber. It is possible to quickly carry out the workpiece from the heat treatment chamber without being restricted by the carry-in speed, and to shorten the stay time near the outlet of the heat treatment chamber where the temperature tends to be low. Since the temperature drop during the process is small, a very high rapid cooling effect can be obtained.

  The surface layer heat treatment apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the object to be treated conveyance means conveys the object to be treated in the heat treatment chamber toward the outlet of the heat treatment chamber. Since the means is provided, the object to be processed can be heated at a predetermined heating rate.

  According to the surface layer heating / quenching treatment apparatus of the present invention, heat treatment can be performed continuously, and uniform heat treatment is possible without wasting energy and space by infrared heating, which can be made efficient and compact. It can be set as the surface layer heating and quenching processing apparatus provided with the surface layer heat processing apparatus.

  In addition, according to the surface layer heating / quenching processing apparatus according to claim 8, generation of uneven temperature gradient during cooling by rotating at a higher rotational speed than that in the heat treatment during the rapid cooling process. Since a uniform rapid cooling process can be prevented, the waste of the coolant is eliminated and the rapid cooling process effect can be obtained with certainty. In the heat treatment, the high-speed rotation may be slower than the rapid cooling treatment, and the unnecessary high-speed rotation may waste energy and cause a failure.

  In addition, according to the surface layer heating / quenching treatment apparatus according to claim 9, since the holding means after the quenching treatment is circulated near the entrance of the heating treatment chamber, the working efficiency is high. Surface layer heating and rapid cooling can be performed.

  Further, according to the surface layer heating / quenching treatment apparatus according to claim 10, since the coolant is sprayed onto the object to be treated after the heat treatment, the cooling can be performed much more rapidly than the air cooling treatment. The effect of the cooling process can be reliably obtained.

  Further, according to the surface layer heating / quenching treatment apparatus according to claim 11, inconvenience on the apparatus can be detected, so that a defective product at the time of occurrence of an abnormality is a non-defective product (good heating / quenching treatment was performed). Products) and the reliability of the product is improved.

  Further, the fixing belt processed by the surface layer heating / quenching processing apparatus of the present invention according to the twelfth aspect of the present invention can obtain a surface state with good releasability from toner and good continuous durability at the toner fixing temperature.

In addition, a surface heat treatment apparatus for heat-treating the surface layer on the outer surface of the cylindrical body, and having an infrared heater for heating the surface layer to 320 ° C. ± 10 ° C., wastes energy and space by infrared heating. It is possible to obtain a surface layer heat treatment device that can perform uniform heat treatment, can be made more efficient, and can be made compact, and has been conventionally fixed with a fluororesin-coated surface that has been wasteful of energy and space. The belt can be effectively heated and rapidly cooled without damaging the silicone rubber layer.

  As the workpiece conveying means in the present invention, a belt conveyor, various actuators, and the like can be used. Here, the workpiece conveying means is divided into a plurality of parts, and is constituted by a plurality of belt conveyors and a plurality of actuators, whereby the workpiece to be carried into the heat treatment chamber, and the workpiece to be treated in the heat treatment chamber. It is possible to divide the workpiece into a workpiece heat treatment chamber conveying means for conveying the workpiece toward the outlet of the heat treatment chamber, and a workpiece unloading means for unloading the workpiece subjected to the heat treatment from the heat treatment chamber. It becomes possible to convey the object to be processed at an optimum speed.

  In order to obtain a stable and reliable heat treatment, the heat treatment chamber in the present invention preferably has doors at the inlet and outlet, and is opened when the workpiece is carried in and out, and the other doors are closed. It is desirable. At this time, it is desirable to automatically open and close in conjunction with the workpiece conveying means.

  As a surface layer heating / quenching treatment device comprising a surface layer heat treatment device and a rapid cooling treatment means for performing rapid cooling treatment on the surface layer heat-treated by the surface layer heat treatment device, the rapid cooling treatment means is heated. It is desirable that it is provided on the outside of the processing chamber outlet and adjacent to the heating processing chamber in order to ensure a rapid cooling effect.

  When using a cooling liquid such as water or other refrigerant as a rapid cooling treatment means, it must be isolated from the surroundings by walls, ceilings, doors, etc. as necessary to avoid the effect of splashing around. Is desirable. Further, an exhaust facility such as an exhaust duct may be provided.

  In the present invention, it is necessary to use an infrared heater as a heating means. The infrared heater enables an efficient and compact surface layer heat treatment apparatus with few temperature spots. Such an infrared heater may naturally be a far infrared heater using far infrared rays, and such a case is also included in the present invention. Further, a heater that directly radiates infrared rays when energized, a heater that radiates infrared rays by heating ceramic or the like, or a combination of both may be used.

  Here, the temperature of the surface layer made of the fluororesin can be set to a temperature at which a sufficient heating / rapid cooling treatment effect can be obtained without deteriorating the silicone rubber. An infrared heater that can be heated to ± 10 ° C. is available as a geracon heater from Sakaguchi Electric Heat Company, for example.

When such an infrared heater is used as a heat source, in order to prevent the occurrence of temperature spots, it is necessary to rotate the object to be processed around the cylinder axis in the heat treatment.
The rotation speed is a speed at which temperature spots do not occur, but a relatively low rotation speed of 10 to 60 rpm is usually sufficient.

  As the rotational drive means, direct drive by a motor or the like is possible, but considering the temperature around 330 ° C, a motor is installed outside the heat treatment chamber, and its movement is transmitted to the holding means in the heat treatment chamber by a chain, gear, etc. It is desirable to do so.

  The rotation of the object to be processed is, for example, by cutting a part of the rotating shaft of the holding means, or attaching a fin-like object to the rotating shaft, and using a light source such as a light bulb or a light emitting diode, and an optical sensor By combining them, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of rotation or an abnormality in the number of rotations.

  Below, in the surface layer heating / quenching apparatus having the surface layer heating apparatus of the present invention, it is used as a fixing belt used in a fixing apparatus as a cylindrical object to be processed having a surface layer coated on the outer surface. An example of amorphization of the thermoplastic resin on the surface of the resin-coated endless belt will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 shows a model cross-sectional view of an example 6 of a fixing belt (resin-coated endless belt) to be subjected to heating / rapid cooling processing. FIG. 2 is a front view of the entire surface layer heating / quenching apparatus having the surface layer heating apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the apparatus viewed from above as a model.

  FIG. 4 shows a side view in a state where the mandrel and the pallet are combined. FIG. 5 is a model explanatory diagram for explaining the relationship between the pallet, the guardrail, and the actuator. 6A is a top view of the heat treatment chamber of the surface layer heat treatment apparatus of the above apparatus, FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view of the heat treatment chamber at LL in FIG. 6A, and FIG. It is the figure which looked at two heating units of an infrared heater from the front, and Drawing 7 (b) is a sectional view of the heating unit, and is a model figure showing a thermocouple installation position.

  FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a fixing belt, which is an object to be processed this time. Reference numeral 1 denotes a fixing belt (substance to be fired) substrate, which is made of resin (polyimide in this example) and has an endless belt shape. On top of this, a silicone rubber layer as the elastic layer 2 and a fluororesin layer as the surface layer (release layer) 3 are laminated via the respective primer layers 4 (adhesion improving layers).

  In this example, the substrate 1 has a single-layer structure made of a resin. However, in order to improve the strength, the substrate 1 can also have a multilayer structure made of a metal carrier or a metal and a resin. Here, examples of the resin used for the substrate 1 include polyimide, polyamide, polyamideimide, polyetheretherketone (PEEK), and the like.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a surface layer heating / quenching apparatus having a surface layer heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention includes a heat treatment chamber α and a rapid cooling treatment apparatus β, and two annular members passing through these apparatuses. The guardrail 14 is provided.

  A mandrel, which is a holding means for holding the workpiece (fixing belt intermediate product) 6 so that the axis of the cylinder is in the vertical direction, and the pallet 5 circulate along the guard rail 14. Yes.

  Here, actuators 15 to 20 for conveying the pallet 5 along the guard rail 14 are provided under the guard rail 14.

  Here, in FIG. 4, a mandrel that is a holding means for holding the object to be heated (fixing belt intermediate product) 6 so that the axis of the cylinder is in the vertical direction and the pallet 5 are combined. Indicates the state.

  The mandrel includes two circular plates 7 that support the vicinity of both upper and lower ends of the workpiece 6 from the inner surface of the workpiece, and a shaft 8 that fixes the two circular plates 7. Since the workpiece 6 is held by such a mandrel, the workpiece 6 is held in a state of maintaining a cylindrical shape.

  On the other hand, reference numeral 5 denotes a pallet. The pallet 5 is a sprocket 10 for rotating the rotary shaft 9, a bearing (bearing) 11, and a clutch 12 provided at the lower end of the rotary shaft 9 (the rotation of the rotary shaft 9 is 1). It is composed of a base 13 that supports them.

  The base 13 is transported while maintaining the horizontal state with the side surfaces and the upper and lower sides sandwiched by two guard rails 14 having a “U” shape in cross section (see FIG. 5). The base 13 is provided with an engagement hole 13a, and the engagement pin 13 of the cylinder 34 with a guide of each of the actuators 15 to 20 provided under the guard rail 14 rises from below. The base 13 (and thus the mandrel and the workpiece 6 held by the pallet 5 and the mandrel) is also moved along the guard rail 14 by the operation of the guided cylinder 34 of the actuators 15 to 20 in FIG. It is conveyed in the direction of A to E.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the heat treatment chamber α is provided with infrared heaters 21 facing each other on both sides of the guard rail 14 so that the inside and the outside of the heat treatment chamber α are partitioned by a heat insulating plate 22. Yes. Shutters 23a and 23b are respectively provided at the entrance and the exit of the heat treatment chamber α where the workpiece 6 is carried in and out, so that it can be opened only when the workpiece 6 is carried in and out. The actuator 15 and C16 are controlled in conjunction with each other.

  The infrared heater used here is an infrared heater capable of heating the surface layer of the object to be processed to 320 ° C. ± 10 ° C., and is manufactured by Sakaguchi Electric Heat Company.

  Inside the heat treatment chamber α, an endless chain ZZ that engages with the sprocket 10 of the pallet 5 to rotate the rotating shaft of the pallet 5 (and the workpiece 6 held by the mandrel) is driven by a motor (not shown). .

  In this example, as shown in FIG. 6B, the infrared heater 21 inside the heat treatment chamber α is divided into 16 in the length direction of the guard rail 14 (with respect to the conveyance direction of the workpiece 6). The infrared heating source which is the heating unit 40 is unitized into a plurality of heating units, in this example, 16 heating units 40, and each heating unit 40 is as shown in FIG. In addition, the heating direction is divided into a plurality (six in this example) of heating zones (ceramic fiber heaters) 50 each including one heating wire 51 that radiates linear infrared rays in the height direction.

  Here, the heating wire 51, which is a linear infrared heating source, includes a plurality of horizontally arranged horizontal wiring portions 51a and end portions of other horizontal wiring portions 51a that are adjacent vertically from the end portion of the horizontal wiring portion 51a. Are arranged in a single stroke so as to form a connecting wiring portion 51b that connects the two vertically, and a plurality of horizontal wiring portions 51a of each heating unit 40 are arranged at equal intervals (pitch P in this example). Is constant).

  Further, the pitches of the equally spaced horizontal wiring portions 51a of the linear infrared heating source 51 in the heating unit 40 of the infrared heating source are equal to each horizontal pitch of the linear infrared heating source 51 of the heating unit 40 of the adjacent infrared heating source. The wiring portions 51a are arranged so as to be shifted from the pitch of ½ pitch (P / 2).

  Each heating zone (six in this example) of each heating unit 40 is provided with a thermocouple thermometer (sheath type K thermocouple) 52 for measuring the temperature at the center as shown in FIG. It has been.

  In this example, among the sixteen heating units 40, the first to third three heating units on the inlet side are set at a lower temperature than the other heating units, and the target is introduced into the heat treatment chamber. The temperature rising gradient at the beginning of heating of the processed product 6 can be made gentle. Occurrence of failure due to rapid heating can be prevented.

  Further, the sum of the lengths in the height direction of the six zones of each heating unit is sufficiently longer than the length in the height direction of the workpiece 6, and the zone 50 of each heating unit 40 includes the entire workpiece 6. The temperature is set so as to heat uniformly. Specifically, the lower zone 50 is set to a higher temperature than the upper zone 50.

  In the upper part of the heat treatment chamber α, an exhaust duct 42 for discharging gas generated when the object 6 is heat-treated is provided.

  A rapid cooling processing device β is provided outside the outlet side of the heat treatment chamber α adjacent to the heat treatment chamber α.

  In this example, the rapid cooling processing apparatus β is an apparatus that rapidly cools a coolant, such as water, by spraying and spraying from the nozzle 24 on the heat-treated object 6 carried out of the heat processing chamber α. The coolant is sprayed and evaporated on the object 6 to be processed, and is discharged from the duct 25 provided at the upper part of the rapid cooling apparatus β together with the mist and fine water droplets that have not reached the object 6 to be processed. Here, radiation thermometers 26a and 26b are installed before and after the rapid cooling treatment apparatus β, and the temperature can be measured before and after the rapid cooling treatment.

  Even in this rapid cooling process, the mandrel circular plate 7 has a relatively high temperature. Therefore, the cooling fan 27 for cooling the circular plate 7 has a corner J on the downstream side of the movement of the workpiece 6 of the radiation thermometer 26b. It is installed in the vicinity.

  Next, the operation of the surface layer heating / quenching apparatus will be described.

  The workpiece 6 to which the fluororesin layer 3 is applied is held on a mandrel and set on the pallet 5. The setting is performed in the H zone indicated by the dotted line in FIG.

  The pallet 5 at the waiting place M is conveyed to the corner N and is sent toward the corner I by the actuator 20 in the direction of arrow A. At this time, the pallet 5 pushes the previous pallet 5, which pushes the previous pallet 5, so-called “ball-throw method”, and sequentially sets the mandrel holding the workpiece 6 on the pallet 5 while cornering. Going forward to I.

  When the pallet 5 arrives at the corner I, it is driven in the direction of arrow B by the actuator 15 and is carried into the heat treatment chamber α. At this time, the shutter 23 at the entrance of the heat treatment chamber α is opened and closed in conjunction with the actuator 15.

  The pallet 5 carried into the heat treatment chamber α is taken over from the actuator 15 to the actuator 16 and is conveyed in the heat treatment chamber α.

  As described above, the three heating units at the entrance of the heat treatment chamber α are set at a lower temperature than the heating unit on the downstream side as described above, so that the temperature rising gradient at the beginning of heating of the workpiece 6 is gentle. However, by further controlling the movement (speed) of the pallet 5 by the actuator 16, the workpiece 6 is heated at a more appropriate temperature increase rate.

  The movement within the heat treatment chamber α after the transport range by the actuator 16 is the same “ball-throw method” as described above, and each time a new pallet 5 is carried into the heat treatment chamber α, the pallets 5 in the heat treatment chamber α are sequentially moved. Advance the distance of one pallet. Thus, the pallets are lined up in a row in the firing zone, and the entire pallet in the firing zone is advanced by one pallet by conveying the pallets 5 loaded from the inlet of the heat treatment chamber α by the actuator 16 one after another. It has a structure to do.

  In the heat treatment chamber α, the sprocket 10 of each pallet is engaged with the chain ZZ provided inside, and the workpiece 6 to be heat-treated in the heat treatment chamber α is rotated by a motor (not shown) (10 ˜60 rpm), it is possible to perform heat treatment with less temperature spots.

  The actuator 17 is an actuator for carrying the pallet 5 conveyed near the outlet of the heat treatment chamber α from the outlet of the heat treatment chamber α to the outside of the heat treatment chamber α and conveying it to the corner J through the rapid cooling apparatus β. In addition to the above-described chain ZZ, a motor (not shown) that rotates the rotating shaft 9 of the pallet 5 at a high speed (300 to 700 rpm) is provided. With this mechanism, the rotating shaft 9 of the pallet is rotated at a high speed during the rapid cooling process.

  In this way, by providing the actuator 17 that can quickly carry out the object to be heated 6 inside the heat treatment chamber α from the heat treatment chamber α without being restricted by the conveyance speed inside the heat treatment chamber α, The heated object 6 can be supplied to the rapid cooling apparatus β in a state where there is little temperature drop in the process of carrying out from the heat treatment chamber α, and the residence time near the outlet of the heat treatment chamber can be reduced. Since it can be shortened, a very high rapid cooling treatment effect can be obtained.

  Thus, the heat-treated object 6 is conveyed to the rapid cooling apparatus β while rotating, and the surface temperature of the object 6 is measured by the radiation thermometer (surface thermometer) 26a during the conveyance. Is done.

  In the rapid cooling apparatus β, a coolant such as water is sprayed onto the surface of the object 6 to be processed by the nozzle 24, whereby the surface of the object 6 that is conveyed through the rapid cooling apparatus β is rapidly cooled.

  The pallet on which the workpiece 6 that has been subjected to the rapid cooling process is set is subsequently conveyed to the corner J by the actuator 17, and the surface temperature of the workpiece 6 is measured by the radiation thermometer 26b during this conveyance.

  Also by the rapid cooling process, the circular plate 7 of the mandrel has a considerable residual heat, and is thus cooled to a temperature that is easy to handle by the cooling fan 27 provided in the vicinity of the corner J.

  In addition, although it is conveyed by the actuator 18 from the corner J to the corner K, the to-be-processed object 6 (In this case, the processed goods by which heating and rapid cooling processing were carried out) was hold | maintained from the pallet 5 in the middle of the conveyance. The mandrel is removed. The pallet 5 is conveyed from the corner K to the standby place M in the annular guide rail 14 by the actuator 19 and waits until it is used for the heating / rapid cooling process again.

  Here, predetermined heating / rapid cooling treatment can be performed by the above heating / rapid cooling processing apparatus, for example, heat treatment failure due to disconnection of heating means in the heat treatment chamber or rotation failure in the heat treatment chamber, Alternatively, in the rapid cooling process, a defective product may be generated due to a failure of the rapid cooling process due to a lack of the amount of the coolant.

  In such a case, it is necessary to detect immediately and prevent the defective product from being mixed into the non-defective product and further increase of the defective product.

  Here, a rotation detecting means for detecting the number of rotations of the object to be processed by the rotation driving means, a heat treatment temperature measuring means for measuring the heating temperature of the heating means, and a cooling rate for monitoring the cooling speed of the object to be processed by the cooling means An abnormality occurrence that detects the occurrence of an abnormality that deviates from the reference range by comparing the rotation speed of the object to be processed, the heating temperature of the heating means, and the cooling rate with a predetermined reference range. If it is equipped with detection means and a warning display, notification (alarm), or device stoppage is performed when an abnormality occurs, inconvenience on the device can be detected. It is not mixed with non-defective products (those that have been subjected to a good heating / cooling treatment), improving the reliability of the product and minimizing the occurrence of defective products.

  FIG. 8 shows an abnormality occurrence that detects the occurrence of an abnormality by the output of the rotation detection means, the heat treatment temperature measurement means, and the cooling rate measurement means, and an abnormality occurrence that is notified by the output of the abnormality occurrence detection means. The control block diagram in the heating / rapid cooling processing apparatus provided with the notification means is shown.

  FIG. 9A shows a model circuit diagram relating to control. In the heating / rapid cooling processing apparatus described above, the apparatus control such as actuator operation, control of each heating temperature, opening / closing of the shutter, etc. is also performed by the illustrated MPU, but only matters relating to abnormality detection will be described below.

  Arithmetic circuit CPU, RAM for storing timers and various variables (see FIG. 9B), ROM for storing predetermined temperature range values and various constants (see FIG. 9C), input port (if necessary) An optical sensor 63 is connected to the input port I1 of the MPU having various signal converters I1 to I4 and output ports O1 and O2 (having various signal converters as required). ) Measurement of the change in the amount of light reaching the light source (bulb) 62 to the optical sensor 63 by the notch 61a of the shaft 61 of the pulley 60 that drives the endless chain ZZ by the optical sensor 63, as shown in the partial enlarged view in FIG. It is possible to input a value (see FIG. 9D) into the MPU.

  The input port I2 is connected to a plurality (hereinafter referred to as “N”) thermocouple thermometers 52 of the heat treatment chamber α, and a thermocouple selection signal (an integer from 1 to N (N is a thermocouple) from the output port O1). The number of thermometers 52)) The output is connected to signal selection means (in this example, multiplexer 64) for selecting one output signal from a plurality of thermocouple thermometers 52 and outputting the signal, and input port O1 At the same time, the temperature measured by the thermocouple thermometer 52 selected by the MPU is input into the MPU.

  The input port I3 is an actuator for carrying the pallet 5 conveyed near the outlet of the heat treatment chamber α from the outlet of the heat treatment chamber α to the outside of the heat treatment chamber α and conveying it to the corner J through the rapid cooling apparatus β. The position information of the pallet 5 is input into the MPU.

  The input ports I4 and I5 are connected to the radiation thermometers 26a and 26b, respectively, and the surface temperatures immediately after the heating treatment and the rapid cooling treatment of the workpiece 6 measured by these are input into the MPU.

  When an abnormality occurs, the output port O2 outputs a signal “On” to the liquid crystal display device LCD to notify the occurrence of the abnormality by the display.

  The operation of this MPU will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  Immediately after the start, first, the rotation of the workpiece 6 in the heat treatment chamber is checked. In step S1, the output of the optical sensor 63 input from the import I1 is substituted into the variable v.

  In step S2, the output of the optical sensor 63 input from the import I1 is substituted into the variable v1. In step S3, the variable v and the variable v1 are compared. When the variable v is smaller than the variable v1, the process proceeds to S4. If it is greater than or equal to variable v1, the process returns to step S1 again.

  In step S4, the value of the variable v1 is substituted for the variable v. In step S5, the output of the optical sensor 63 input from the import I1 is substituted for the variable v1. In step S6, the variable v and the variable v1 are compared. When v is less than or equal to the variable v1, the process returns to step S4 again. When the variable v becomes greater than the variable v1, the amount of light reaching the optical sensor 63 is maximized, that is, the shaft 61 of the pulley 60 is notched. It is detected that the state of the part 61a has reached the state shown on the left side of FIG. 9D, and the process proceeds to step S7.

In step S7, the timer t1 is started after being reset. In step S8,
Substituting the value of the variable v1 into the variable v, and in the following steps S9 to S13, the state of the notch 61a of the shaft 61 of the pulley 60 is again shown in FIG. The system waits until the state shown on the left side is reached. When the light quantity becomes maximum again, the process proceeds to step S14, and the value of the timer t1, which is the time taken for one rotation of the shaft 61 of the pulley 60, is substituted into the variable f. In step S15, it is determined whether or not the variable f is between values F1 and F2 previously written in the ROM (the reciprocal of the predetermined number of revolutions). After proceeding to output the signal On to the output port O2, the program is terminated. The LCD receives this signal On and displays that an abnormality has occurred.

  On the other hand, when there is no rotation abnormality, the process proceeds to the temperature check of the heating means in the heat treatment chamber after step S17. That is, in step 17, 1 is assigned (initialized) to variable n, and the value of variable n (initial value is 1) is output to multiplexer 64. The multiplexer sends the temperature measured by the nth connected thermocouple to the input port I2 of the MPU.

  In step S19, the temperature value measured by the nth thermocouple is substituted into a variable x, and whether or not the value is within a predetermined range between the value of Xn1 and the value of Xn2 previously written in the ROM is step. In S20, if the temperature is not within this range, it is determined that a temperature abnormality has occurred, the process proceeds to step S23, the signal On is output to the output port O2, and the program is terminated. The LCD receives this signal On and displays that an abnormality has occurred.

  On the other hand, when x is not within the predetermined range, the process proceeds to step S21 to increment the variable n, and the variable n is examined at step S22. When the number of thermocouple thermometers examined is less than the total number N, the process returns to step S18. When the temperature of the thermocouple thermometer is checked, the process returns to step S1 and steps S1 to S22 are repeated.

  In the above program, when the rapid cooling process is performed on the object to be heated while the steps S1 to S22 are repeatedly performed, this is the input port I3 to which the position signal from the actuator 17 is input. Is always checked, and when the heat-treated object 6 reaches the temperature measurement position of the radiation thermometer 26a, the process proceeds to the interrupt process at the lower right in FIG.

  In step S24, the timer t2 is started after being reset. In step S25, the input value of the input port I4 to which the temperature measured by the surface thermometer 26a is input (the surface temperature of the workpiece 6 immediately before the rapid cooling process) is substituted for the variable ta.

In step S26, the workpiece 6 that has been heat-treated is transported after completing the rapid cooling process, and a position signal from the actuator 17 indicating that the position measured by the radiation thermometer 26b has been reached is input to the input port I3. Until the processed object 6 subjected to the rapid cooling process reaches the position measured by the surface thermometer 26b, the process proceeds to step S27, and the surface treatment temperature of the processed object 6 subjected to the rapid cooling process is set to the variable tb. And the cooling rate in the rapid cooling process is calculated from the temperature information ta and tb and the value of the timer t2 indicating the time required between them, and is substituted into the variable s (step S28). In step S29, the actual cooling rate s is compared with the predetermined cooling rate S stored in the ROM. If the actual cooling rate s is higher than the predetermined cooling rate S, the process proceeds to step S1 and steps S1 to S22 are repeated. .
If the actual cooling rate s is slower than the predetermined cooling rate S, it is determined that the rapid cooling process has failed, the process proceeds to step S30, the signal On is output to the output port O2, and the program is terminated. The LCD receives this signal On and displays that an abnormality has occurred.

  In such a surface layer heating / quenching apparatus, the following matters are understood from the above description.

  That is, the holding means for holding the workpiece 6 to be heat-treated so that the axis of the cylinder is in the vertical direction is constituted by the mandrel and the pallet 5. The rotation driving means for rotating the holding means so as to rotate the workpiece 6 about its cylindrical axis is constituted by an endless chain ZZ and a motor (not shown).

  A workpiece conveyance path that guides the workpiece 6 from the outside of the heat treatment chamber α to the outside of the heat treatment chamber through the heat treatment chamber inlet, the heat treatment chamber, and the heat treatment chamber outlet sequentially is a guide rail 14, A workpiece transfer means for moving the held workpiece 6 on the workpiece conveyance path and carrying it into the heat treatment chamber α, and carrying the workpiece 6 after heat treatment out of the heat treatment chamber α. Consists of actuators 15 and 17.

  Moreover, the workpiece carrying means for moving the workpiece 6 on the workpiece conveyance path and carrying it into the heat treatment chamber α is constituted by the actuator 15, and the heat treated workpiece in the heat treatment chamber α is formed. The workpiece unloading means for unloading 6 from the heat treatment chamber α is constituted by an actuator 17.

  Further, the workpiece heating chamber transfer means for transferring the workpiece 6 in the heating chamber α toward the outlet of the heating chamber α is constituted by an actuator 16.

  Further, during the rapid cooling process in the rapid cooling processing means, the rotation driving means during the cooling process for rotating the workpiece 6 at a rotational speed different from the rotation of the processed object 6 during the heating process is provided in the actuator 17. And a motor (not shown).

  A circulating conveyance path that allows the holding means after the rapid cooling treatment to circulate to the vicinity of the entrance of the heat treatment chamber is constituted by an annular guide rail 14. The rotation detecting means for detecting the number of rotations of the workpiece 6 by the rotation driving means is a pulley 60 of an endless chain ZZ provided in the heat treatment chamber α, its shaft 61 and a notch 61a, a light source 62 and an MPU. Composed.

  The heat treatment temperature measuring means for measuring the heating temperature of the heating means is composed of a thermocouple thermometer 52, a signal selecting means (in this example, a multiplexer), and an MPU, and the cooling rate of the object to be processed by the cooling means is determined. The cooling rate measuring means to be monitored includes the actuator 17, the radiation thermometers 26a and 26b, and the MPU. Further, the abnormality occurrence detecting means for comparing the number of rotations of the object 6 to be processed, the heating temperature of the heating means, and the cooling rate with a predetermined reference range and detecting the occurrence of an abnormality that deviates from these reference ranges is constituted by an MPU.

  Although the above is for displaying the occurrence of an abnormality on the LCD, it may indicate an abnormal part or indicate an abnormal condition (value of rotation speed, temperature, cooling rate), other means, for example, An abnormality may be caused by a red light, a buzzer, or a bell, and these are also included in the present invention.

  The surface layer heat treatment apparatus of the present invention is a heat treatment apparatus that heat-treats the surface layer on the outer surface of a cylindrical body, and holds the object to be heat-treated so that the axis of the cylinder is vertical. A holding means for rotating, a rotation driving means for rotating the holding means so as to rotate the object to be processed around an axis of a cylinder thereof, a heat treatment chamber provided with a heating means for heat-treating the surface layer, the treatment object The object to be processed which is passed through the heat treatment chamber inlet, the heat treatment chamber, and the heat treatment chamber outlet sequentially from the outside of the heat treatment chamber and leads to the outside of the heat treatment chamber, and the object to be treated held by the holding means Surface layer heat treatment provided with a workpiece transport means for moving a workpiece on the workpiece conveyance path and carrying it into the heat treatment chamber and carrying the workpiece after heat treatment out of the heat treatment chamber In the apparatus, the heating means is Infrared heating sources provided on both side surfaces of the workpiece conveyance path in the heat treatment chamber. With this configuration, heat treatment can be performed continuously, and uniform heating without waste of energy and space by infrared heating. It can be a surface layer heat treatment device that can be processed efficiently and can be made compact, and is suitable for the production of a fixing belt that has been coated with a fluororesin on a surface that has been wasteful of energy and space. Can be used.

  Further, in the surface layer heat treatment apparatus, the infrared heat source is unitized into a plurality of heating units with respect to the conveyance direction of the workpiece, and each heating unit has a line with respect to the height direction. Are divided into a plurality of heating zones each having a single infrared heating source, and in each heating zone, a plurality of horizontal wiring portions in which a linear infrared heating source is arranged horizontally and the horizontal wiring A plurality of horizontal wiring portions of each heating unit arranged in a single stroke so as to form a connection wiring portion that connects the end portions of other horizontal wiring portions that are vertically adjacent to each other from the end portion of the heating portion. Are arranged at equal intervals, it is possible to adjust the temperature rise gradient at the beginning of heating of the object to be processed, and it is possible to perform heat treatment without difficulty and also to adjust the temperature distribution in the vertical direction. Because you can By suppressing the phenomenon that the temperature of the top of the article to be treated is high, uniform heating is possible.

  Further, in the above surface layer heat treatment apparatus, the equidistant pitches of the horizontal wiring portions of the linear infrared heating source in the heating unit of the infrared heating source are equal to the linear pitch of the adjacent heating unit of the infrared heating source. Due to the configuration in which the pitch of each horizontal wiring portion of the infrared heating source is shifted by 1/2 pitch, temperature spots in the heat treatment of the workpiece are further reduced.

  Further, in the above surface layer heat treatment apparatus, the holding means fixes the two circular plates that support the vicinity of the upper and lower ends of the object to be processed from the inner surface of the object to be processed, and the two circular plates. Since the heat capacity of the holding means can be made extremely small by the configuration provided with the shaft, the heat efficiency in the heat treatment becomes good, and in the case where the rapid cooling treatment is performed in the subsequent process, a high rapid cooling treatment effect Is obtained.

  Further, in the above surface layer heat treatment apparatus, the workpiece conveying means moves the workpiece on the workpiece conveyance path, and loads the workpiece into the heating treatment chamber and the heating treatment chamber, With a configuration including a workpiece unloading means for unloading the heat-treated workpiece from the heat treatment chamber, when performing a rapid cooling process in a later process, without being restricted by the loading speed into the heat treatment chamber Since the object to be processed can be quickly carried out from the heat treatment chamber, and the stay time near the outlet of the heat treatment chamber can be shortened, the temperature drop during the carry-out process is small. A very high rapid cooling treatment effect can be obtained.

  Further, in the above surface layer heat treatment apparatus, the object to be processed conveyance means includes a substance heat treatment chamber conveyance means for conveying the object to be processed in the heat treatment chamber toward the outlet of the heat treatment chamber. Therefore, it is possible to raise the temperature of the workpiece at a predetermined rate of temperature rise.

  The surface layer heating / quenching apparatus of the present invention includes the above surface layer heating apparatus, and the surface layer heat-treated by the surface layer heating apparatus outside the heating chamber outlet of the surface layer heating apparatus. Equipped with a rapid cooling processing means that performs rapid cooling processing on the other hand, it is possible to perform heat processing continuously, and it is possible to perform uniform heat processing without wasting energy and space by infrared heating, making it efficient and compact Is possible.

  Also, in the above surface layer heating / quenching processing apparatus, during the cooling process in which the workpiece is rotated at a rotational speed different from the rotation of the workpiece during the heating process during the rapid cooling process in the rapid cooling processing means. Since the rotation drive means is provided, the occurrence of uneven temperature gradients during cooling can be prevented, and uniform rapid cooling processing can be performed, so that the waste of coolant is eliminated and the rapid cooling processing effect is reliably obtained. It is done.

  Further, in the surface layer heating / quenching treatment apparatus described above, the surface layer heating / quenching treatment with high work efficiency can be achieved by having a circulation conveyance path that enables the holding means after the quenching treatment to be circulated near the entrance of the heat treatment chamber. Is possible.

  In the above surface layer heating / quenching treatment apparatus, the cooling means injects the cooling liquid onto the object to be processed after the heat treatment, thereby injecting the cooling liquid onto the object to be processed after the heat treatment. Compared to the air cooling process, much faster cooling is possible, and the effect of the rapid cooling process is surely obtained.

  In the surface layer heating / quenching treatment apparatus, the rotation detecting means for detecting the number of rotations of the object to be processed by the rotation driving means, the heat treatment temperature measuring means for measuring the heating temperature of the heating means, and the object to be covered by the cooling means. A cooling rate measuring means for monitoring the cooling rate of the workpiece, and comparing the rotation speed of the workpiece, the heating temperature of the heating means, and the cooling rate measured by these with a predetermined reference range, Since it is possible to detect inconveniences on the equipment by providing an abnormality occurrence detection means that detects the occurrence of an abnormality that falls outside the range, the defective product at the time of abnormality occurrence is a non-defective product (good heating / cooling treatment has been performed) Products) and the reliability of the product is improved.

  The surface layer heat treatment apparatus of the present invention is a surface layer heat treatment apparatus for heat-treating the surface layer on the outer surface of the cylindrical body, and includes an infrared heater for heating the surface layer to 320 ° C. ± 10 ° C. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a surface layer heat treatment apparatus that can perform uniform heat treatment without wasting energy and space, and can be made more efficient and compact. Conventionally, the surface that has been wasteful of energy and space can be obtained. The fixing belt covered with the fluororesin can be effectively heated and rapidly cooled without damaging the silicone rubber layer.

  According to the surface layer heat treatment apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to provide a surface layer heat treatment apparatus that can perform uniform heat treatment without wasting energy and space, and can be made efficient and compact. It can be suitably used as a heating means for rapid cooling treatment.

FIG. 10 is a model cross-sectional view of an example 6 of a fixing belt (resin-coated endless belt) to be subjected to heating / rapid cooling processing. It is a front view of the whole surface layer heating and quenching processing apparatus which has a surface layer heat processing apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is the model figure which looked at the whole surface layer heating and quenching processing apparatus which has a surface layer heating processing apparatus concerning the present invention from the upper part. It is a figure which shows the side surface of the state which combined the mandrel and the pallet. It is model explanatory drawing explaining the relationship between a pallet, a guardrail, and an actuator. (A) Top view of the heat treatment chamber of the surface layer heat treatment apparatus of the above apparatus, (b) A cross-sectional view of the heat treatment chamber at LL in FIG. 6 (a). (A) It is the figure which looked at two heating units of an infrared heating source from the front, (b) is sectional drawing of the heating unit, Comprising: It is a model figure which shows a thermocouple installation position. It is a block diagram regarding control. (A) Model circuit diagram regarding control, (b) Model diagram showing contents of RAM, (c) Model diagram showing contents of ROM, (d) Explanatory diagram of shaft of chain ZZ drive pulley. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of MPU.

Explanation of symbols

1 Belt base 2 Elastic layer (silicone rubber)
3 Surface layer (release layer (fluororesin))
4 Primer (adhesion improvement layer)
5 Palette 6 Workpiece (fixing belt and its intermediate products)
7 circular plate 8 shaft 9 rotating shaft 10 sprocket 11 bearing 12 clutch 13 base 14 guide rail 15-20 actuator 21 infrared heater 22 heat insulating plate 23a, 23b shutter 24 nozzle 25 duct 26a, 26b radiation thermometer 27 cooling fan 34 with guide Cylinder 35 Engagement pin 40 Heating unit 42 Exhaust duct 50 Zone 51 Heating wire 52 Thermocouple thermometer

Claims (12)

A surface layer heat treatment apparatus for heat-treating a surface layer on an outer surface of a cylindrical body,
Holding means for holding an object to be heat-treated so that the axis of the cylinder is vertical;
A rotation driving means for rotating the holding means so as to rotate the object to be processed around an axis of the cylinder;
A heat treatment chamber provided with a heating means for heat-treating the surface layer;
A workpiece transfer path for guiding the workpiece from the outside of the heat treatment chamber to the heat treatment chamber inlet, the heat treatment chamber, and the heat treatment chamber outlet in order, and to the outside of the heat treatment chamber, and
The object to be processed which moves the object to be processed held by the holding means on the object conveyance path and carries it into the heat treatment chamber and also carries the object to be treated after the heat treatment out of the heat treatment chamber. In the surface layer heat treatment apparatus provided with the object conveying means,
The heating means is an infrared heater, and
A surface layer heat treatment apparatus, which is provided on both side surfaces of an object conveyance path in the heat treatment chamber. The infrared heater is unitized into a plurality of heating units in the conveyance direction of the workpiece,
Each heating unit is divided into a plurality of heating zones each having one linear infrared heater in the height direction,
In each heating zone, a linear infrared heater connects a plurality of horizontal wiring portions arranged horizontally and the end portions of other horizontal wiring portions vertically adjacent to the end portions of the horizontal wiring portion. Arranged in a single stroke to form a connection wiring part, and
The surface layer heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of horizontal wiring portions of each heating unit are arranged at equal intervals. The pitch between the horizontal wiring portions of the linear infrared heater in the heating unit of the infrared heater is equal to the pitch of each horizontal wiring portion of the linear infrared heater in the heating unit of the infrared heater adjacent to the infrared heater, The surface layer heat treatment apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the surface layer heat treatment apparatus is arranged with a shift of ½ pitch.   The holding means includes two circular plates that support the vicinity of both upper and lower ends of the workpiece from the inner surface of the workpiece, and a shaft that fixes the two circular plates. The surface layer heat treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The workpiece conveying means is
The workpiece is moved on the workpiece conveyance path, and the workpiece carrying-in means for carrying the workpiece into the heat treatment chamber and the heat-treated workpiece in the heat treatment chamber are carried out of the heat treatment chamber. The surface layer heating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising an object carrying-out means.   The said to-be-processed object conveyance means was provided with the to-be-processed object heat processing chamber conveyance means to convey the said to-be-processed object in the said heat processing chamber toward the said heating process chamber exit. Surface layer heat treatment equipment.   A surface layer heat treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, and a surface layer heat-treated by the surface layer heat treatment apparatus outside the heat treatment chamber outlet of the surface layer heat treatment apparatus. A surface layer heating / quenching treatment apparatus comprising a rapid cooling treatment means for performing a rapid cooling treatment on the surface layer.   A cooling process rotation drive unit is provided that rotates the workpiece at a rotational speed different from the rotation of the workpiece during the heating process during the rapid cooling process in the rapid cooling process unit. The surface layer heating / quenching treatment apparatus according to claim 7.   The surface layer heating / quenching apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, further comprising a circulation conveyance path that allows the holding means after the rapid cooling treatment to be circulated near the entrance of the heat treatment chamber.   The surface layer heating / quenching apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the cooling means sprays a cooling liquid onto an object to be processed after heat treatment. Rotation detecting means for detecting the number of rotations of the object to be processed by the rotation driving means, heat treatment temperature measuring means for measuring the heating temperature of the heating means, and cooling rate for monitoring the cooling speed of the object to be processed by the cooling means And measuring means,
Comparing the rotation speed of the object to be processed, the heating temperature of the heating means, and the cooling rate measured by these with a predetermined reference range, an abnormality occurrence detection means for detecting occurrence of an abnormality out of the reference range is provided. The surface layer heating / quenching treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein   12. The surface layer heating / quenching apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the object to be processed is a fixing belt.

Images