A process for heating articles in a heating system includes passing an article in a carrier through a heating chamber that is at least partially filled with a liquid medium to form a liquid bath. The process further includes heating the article in the carrier by at least partially submerging the article into the liquid bath during heating, the heating being performed, at least in part, using microwave energy. The process further includes one or more of adding fluid into and removing fluid from at least one location in the heating chamber to maintain a temperature profile across the heating chamber. In one implementation, the temperature of the liquid bath at an inlet area of the heating chamber is at least 10 C. cooler than a temperature of the liquid bath at an outlet area of the heating chamber.

A process for heating articles includes sequentially passing loaded carriers in a continuous manner through a first processing section and sequentially passing said plurality of loaded carriers in an incremental manner through a second processing section using an incremental convey segment. The incremental convey segment includes sequential carrier-receiving slots, each carrier-receiving slot configured to receive one of the loaded carriers. The incremental convey segment is further configured to be move incrementally at multiples of discrete intervals corresponding to the carrier-receiving slots. The process further includes sequentially passing the loaded carriers in a continuous manner through a third processing section and heating articles supported by the carriers with microwave energy in at least one of the processing sections, the heating of the articles occurring while the articles are at least partially submerged in a liquid bath and at an pressure greater than atmospheric pressure.

A blank heating device having a heating furnace is provided and includes a plurality of heating members that heat a blank and a support fixture disposed within the heating furnace to support the blank. Further a transporting component is disposed beneath the support fixture and integrally displaces the support fixture and the blank to increase heating density of the blank. Consequently, a divisional heating occurs based on a size of the blank, which is a material for hot stamping, to improve heating density of the blank. Accordingly, marketability of a material is improved and a preheating time and heat loss is minimized. As a result, work convenience is improved and a consumption amount of energy is reduced.

The present invention relates to a device for heat treating an object, in particular a coated substrate, with an in particular gas-tightly sealable housing that encloses a hollow space, wherein the hollow space has a separating wall, by which the hollow space is divided into a process space for accommodating the object and an intermediate space, wherein the separating wall has one or a plurality of openings, which are implemented such that the separating wall acts as a barrier for the diffusion out of the process space into the intermediate space of a gaseous substance generated in the process space by the heat treatment of the object. The housing has at least one housing section coupled to a cooling device for its active cooling, wherein the separating wall is arranged between the object and the coolable housing section. The invention further relates to the use of a separating wall as a diffusion barrier in a device for heat treating an object as well as a corresponding method for heat treating an object.

An apparatus for separating and recovering the components of an alloy, particularly a noble alloy, including a high vacuum chamber housing at least one crucible for the alloy to be separated; at least one heating element arranged, during use, around the crucible; at least one condensation device, which faces, during use, an upper mouth of the crucible. The particularity of the present invention resides in that the condensation device includes at least one cold element and at least one deflector that is adapted to divert the flow of the aeriform substances derived from the melting and evaporation of the alloy toward the cold element. The invention also relates to a process for separating and recovering the components of an alloy, particularly a noble alloy.

An induction furnace for heating a workpiece includes a chamber and an insulation cylinder positioned therein, with the insulation cylinder including a base cover movable between first and second positions, and the first position positioning the workpiece within a heating zone and the second position positioning the workpiece within a cooling zone. A translation system in the furnace includes a first member coupled to the base cover of the insulation cylinder and extending through a wall of the chamber, an actuator coupled to the first member, the actuator configured to translate the first member to move the base cover of the insulation cylinder between the first and second positions, and an expansion member encircling a portion of the first member and configured to hermetically seal an interior volume of the chamber from an environment volume external to the chamber.

A blank heating device having a heating furnace is provided and includes a plurality of heating members that heat a blank and a support fixture disposed within the heating furnace to support the blank. Further a transporting component is disposed beneath the support fixture and integrally displaces the support fixture and the blank to increase heating density of the blank. Consequently, a divisional heating occurs based on a size of the blank, which is a material for hot stamping, to improve heating density of the blank. Accordingly, marketability of a material is improved and a preheating time and heat loss is minimized. As a result, work convenience is improved and a consumption amount of energy is reduced.

A heat treatment apparatus includes a furnace body, a door, and a pipe. The furnace body has therein a processing space where the workpiece is heat-treated, and it is provided with an opening. The door closes the opening of the furnace body. A refrigerant flows through the pipe. The door is provided with a seal material in a region that overlaps a peripheral edge of the opening of the furnace body when the door is closed. The pipe is attached around a region in the furnace body against which the seal material is pressed.