In a heating furnace 10 where elongate workpieces fed into the heating furnace are sequentially transferred on fixed beams by walking beams from an inlet area to an outlet area, concaves to retain the workpieces are formed at least on the walking beams. A concave in the inlet area for heating the workpieces is increased in width in a transfer direction, while a concave in the outlet area where the heated workpieces are wholly heated to a uniform temperature and retained in position is formed in a corrugated configuration. Despite curving of an elongate workpiece being heat treated as transferred by walking beams in a direction crossing a longitudinal direction of the workpiece, this ensures that the curved workpiece is properly transferred and adequately corrected for the curving.

Apparatus (1) for cooling an automobile component (20) by means of a gas, the apparatus comprising a cooling box (11) with a re-closeable opening (12) for receiving an automobile component (20) to be cooled, wherein at least one heat sink (13) is provided inside the cooling box (11) for cooling of the gas, and wherein the apparatus (10) includes at least one infra sound pulsator (2,3) arranged to provide an infra sound into said cooling box (11) to improve heat exchange of the gas both with a cooling surface of the at least one heat sink (13), and with the automobile component (20).

In an alignment stocker having an opening and plural shelf members, metal rings are pushed between the plural shelf members. The meta rings are deformed into an approximately polygonal shape to pass through the opening, in an arranged State of the metal rings, by pressing and holding from insides thereof, and are extracted from the opening. Using a heat treatment jig, which has the same opening as that of the shelf member and enables the metal rings to be mounted parallel to each other in a vertical direction and to be spaced the predetermined interval from each other, the metal rings held from the insides thereof in the arranged state, are inserted from the opening of the heat treatment jig into the heat treatment jig, are mounted in the heat treatment jig by releasing the inside holding, and then are heated and extracted from the shelf members.

A high frequency induction continuous heating method and a high frequency induction continuous heating apparatus are provided, and they can improve a working efficiency of a heating treatment and can also improve an uniformity of the heating treatment for an entirety of a work piece corresponding to multiple types of work pieces. In the high frequency induction continuous heating method in which a work piece (W) placed on a conveyance surface (2a) of a conveyor (2) is conveyed, and the work piece (W) on the conveyance surface (2a) is heated by high frequency induction heating coils (3) which are disposed at both ends of the conveyor (2) in a crosswise direction perpendicular to a conveyance direction (shown by an arrow (D) in the drawing), the work piece (W) is rotated around an axis which is extended so as to be perpendicular to the conveyance surface (2a), at a certain rotation angle () in mid-flow of the conveyance of the work piece (W) to change an orientation of the work piece (W). The high frequency induction continuous heating apparatus (1) uses the above-described method.

A multi-opening oven assembly for simultaneously heating a plurality of blanks, for example aluminum blanks, before forming the heated blanks in a production line is provided. The oven assembly includes vertically aligned shelves to present a plurality of chambers for heating the blanks. A table including an entry side platform and an exit side platform moves vertically along the oven assembly. A rail system extends along the platforms and the shelves to convey the blanks in and out of the chambers. Once one set of heated blanks is removed from a first chamber, the table moves vertically to a second chamber and is ready to receive the next set of heated blanks. A continuous supply of heated blanks is provided for high throughput. The oven assembly is preferably disposed in a press adjacent a forming station of an existing production line and thus, no additional floor space is required.

A heat-treatment method for controlling austenite content in steel during conveying, heating and cooling the steel though a furnace. The method includes heating the steel until reaching a first location, then cooling the steel until reaching a downstream second or third location in the furnace. First, a quality window of the austenite content having minimum/maximum values at the second or third locations is determined. Upstream from the second/third locations, temperature of the steel for the second/third locations is predicted by a heat-transfer equation and/or conveyance speed of the steel through the furnace. The austenite content is then predicted at the second/third locations by metallurgical/data-based modelling using the predicted temperature. The furnace temperature and/or conveyance speed is adjusted when the predicted steel austenite content for the second/third locations is outside the quality window, whereby after the furnace adjustment, the predicted austenite content for the second/third locations falls within the quality window.

A method and apparatus for treating a workpiece such as a mold grid includes moving the workpiece laterally along a conveyor assembly into a furnace for heating in a carbon-rich atmosphere to form a heated workpiece. The heated workpiece is then received from the furnace onto the conveyor assembly in an enclosed vestibule whereupon it is clamped under pressure between an overhead mechanical press and the conveyor assembly to form a clamped assembly. The clamped assembly, including a portion of the conveyor, is then lowered into a quenching bath via an elevator assembly until the heated workpiece is quenched, whereupon the clamped assembly is raised out of the bath and the clamping force released. This clamping during quenching acts to maintain the workpiece in a planar orientation while reducing warpage during the quenching process.

An induction heating method includes a step of supplying a ring-shaped member to a predetermined section serving as a heating target section using an induction coil, and a step of moving the ring-shaped member along a reference axis so as to pass through the predetermined section. The moving step includes controlling contact between the ring-shaped member and a different member by a contact control portion.

A continuous heat treatment system for a high-pressure fluid storage container includes a heat treatment apparatus including a first transfer unit which transfers a high-pressure fluid storage container, in which a high-pressure fluid is stored, in a longitudinal direction through the heat treatment space and a heating unit which heats an interior of the heat treatment space to a predetermined heat treatment temperature atmosphere and a cooling apparatus including a second transfer unit which continuously transfers the high-pressure fluid storage container transferred from the first transfer unit in the longitudinal direction and in which a lifting part is formed in at least a partial section to be vertically moved in a state in which the high-pressure fluid storage container is held, a lifting driving unit which vertically moves the lifting part, and a cooling bath in which a cooling space for accommodating a cooling fluid is formed.

A process for operating a thermal treatment line for the flexible thermal treatment of metal pre-products, a thermal treatment line configured and suitable for carrying out the process, and a casting-rolling mill and a process for operating a casting-rolling mill having a thermal treatment line are disclosed. In comparison with previous thermal treatment lines and processes for operating said thermal treatment lines, the disclosed thermal treatment line allows flexible operation. Emissions and production costs in the process are thereby reduced.