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.

A substrate treating apparatus and a substrate treating system including the same are disclosed, in which the number of heat treatment chambers such as anneal chambers may be varied. The substrate treating apparatus includes a first chamber heat-treating a substrate; and a second chamber treating the substrate in another way different from heat-treatment, wherein the number of the first chambers is varied depending on the number of the second chambers that need heat treatment for the substrate.

A substrate treating apparatus and a substrate treating system including the same are disclosed, in which the number of heat treatment chambers such as anneal chambers may be varied. The substrate treating apparatus includes a first chamber heat-treating a substrate; and a second chamber treating the substrate in another way different from heat-treatment, wherein the number of the first chambers is varied depending on the number of the second chambers that need heat treatment for the substrate.

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.

A continuous, high-temperature preheating plant for preheating flat semi-finished steel products has a conveying line suitable to transfer the flat semi-finished steel products from an inlet to an outlet of the continuous, high-temperature preheating plant, and a plurality of heating devices arranged along the conveying line to heat the semi-finished steel products from an inlet temperature to a predetermined final temperature. The plurality of heating devices has, arranged in sequence between the inlet and the outlet along the conveying line, a first induction furnace, a second induction furnace, and at least one electric resistance radiation furnace. The continuous, high-temperature preheating plant has a cutting apparatus suitable to cut a starting flat semi-finished steel product into a plurality of cut segments having a predetermined length less than a length of the starting flat semi-finished steel product. The cutting apparatus is arranged between the first induction furnace and the second induction furnace.

The present disclosure concerns a system for curing a wet coating of a coated substrate, the system comprising: a curing room having a curing room inlet and a curing room outlet, the curing room being configured to receive the coated substrate being introduced at the curing room inlet thereof along a first displacement axis, the system comprising a conveyor assembly for conveying the coated substrate through the curing room along a second displacement axis transverse to the first displacement axis, wherein the system further comprises a gas catalytic IR system, provided in the curing room, for producing an infrared radiation to partially cure the wet coating while the coated substrate is in the curing room. The disclosure concerns also a corresponding process.