JP2022544168A - Movable tanks for heat exchange liquid baths and installations with such tanks - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a movable tank (1) for a heat exchange liquid bath in which at least one elongated metal article moves in a submerged state. This tank is movably supported on guiding means (9) parallel to the direction of movement (5) and comprises a bottom (2), side walls (3, 4), at least one upstream dam (6) and at least a downstream dam (7), a liquid inlet and a liquid circulation system (12), wherein the heat is The replacement liquid flows directly into the same substrate bath (10) and the liquid circulation system (12) is fixed outside the movable tank so that it is fully movable with the movable tank into the substrate bath. to feed the heat exchange liquid in the substrate tank (10) directly to the liquid inlet.
[Selection drawing] Fig. 2

Description

The present invention relates to a movable tank for a heat exchange liquid bath in which at least one elongated metal article is submerged and moves along a direction of movement. The tank comprises a bottom, a sidewall, an upstream dam, a downstream dam, and a heat exchange liquid inlet, the sidewall being parallel to the direction of movement, the upstream dam and the downstream dam being connected to the configured between side walls and over said at least one upstream dam and at least one said downstream dam, the heat exchange liquid flows directly into the same tank at the bottom of said movable tanks, said at least one upstream dam and Between said at least one said downstream dam, said at least one elongated metal article flows, said movable tank being movably supported on guiding means parallel to said direction of movement (see, for example, utility model CN201459188). ).

The invention also relates to a facility comprising at least one such movable tank and its use.

In the metallurgical field of elongated metal products such as wires, strips, rods and tubes, it is usually necessary to heat or cool these products by immersing them in a liquid bath.

This is especially true in the case of steel wire patenting. It is well known that wires of austenitic structure are quenched on exiting the furnace to obtain a pearlitic structure. A quenching device is fixedly arranged at the outlet of the furnace and the wire is quenched in a cooling bath.

Note that the coolant may be a liquid. Liquid lead, which has been in use for many years, is now often replaced by water or preferably by certain polymer solutions.

After quenching, the changes in crystal structure that occur are exothermic, so cooling or several successive controlled cooling steps are required to reach the proper temperature and obtain a product with the proper microstructure. is necessary.

Therefore, after the wire has been removed from the quenching bath, immersion in a cooling bath whose length can be adjusted according to the diameter of the wire and its desired tensile strength has already been provided (see WO2018/130499). Between these two static, highly schematically disclosed reservoirs, the wire passes through an air space that is repeatedly flexed in an undesirable way.

In utility model CN204676127U, a second tank mounted on wheels is provided after the quenching tank so that it can be arranged at a variable distance from the quenching tank. This installation is very briefly disclosed in this technical document. No coolant is supplied or circulated in the bath, nor is it proposed.

In utility model CN201459188, a movable overflow tank is supplied with coolant from the substrate bath via a complex fixed device installed outside the substrate bath.

In patent application CN102864298 a substrate tank is provided very simply in which a first tank is fixedly mounted and an intermediate tank movably arranged in the substrate tank is fixedly mounted with a second tank. ing. The liquid in the first tank is supplied directly from the substrate bath and flows directly from this tank. The liquid in the second tank is supplied directly from the intermediate tank and flows at least partially into it. No liquid supply to the intermediate tank is described.

The present invention provides a simple and economical overflow tank for a movable heat exchange liquid bath that can handle elongated metal articles moving in a fluid at a location that can be adjusted at any time to precisely change the temperature of the article to another temperature. intended to be provided in an efficient manner. The main object of the present invention is to provide a simple, effective and inexpensive solution for circulating the heat exchange fluid between the substrate tank and the tank which is ready to move. It is also an object of the present invention to easily process a plurality of different elongated metal articles moving in parallel via heat exchange.

To solve the above problems, the present invention provides a movable tank as described in the preamble. The movable tank further includes a liquid circulation system fixedly mounted on the outside thereof and is movable generally into the substrate tank and capable of moving the heat exchange liquid present in the substrate tank. arranged to feed directly into the heat exchange fluid inlet of the tank.

According to the invention, by heat exchange liquid is meant a coolant or heating liquid which exchanges temperature with a moving elongated metal article.

According to the invention, elongated metal products are understood to mean all metal products of small cross-section, in particular wires, strips, rods, tubes and the like.

By fixing the circulation system to the outside of the movable tank and arranging the entire system fully movable inside the tank, the overflow tank becomes autonomous and its position can be positioned above the substrate tank with maximum flexibility. can be adjusted by gender. All elements necessary for the operation of the tank are attached to the tank at any position, and the liquid relationship between the substrate tank and the tank is particularly simplified. Furthermore, the location of the circulation system does not take up the tank space required for the stream of elongated articles to be processed.

According to one embodiment of the invention, a circulation system comprises a propellant, a rotary engine, a propeller and a fluid communication. The propellant body has a lower end that opens into the heat exchange fluid in the substrate tank and an upper end that attaches to the movable tank outside thereof, the rotary engine is positioned at the upper end of the propellant body, and the propeller is attached to the heat exchange fluid. is positioned within the lower end of the propellant body and rotated by the rotary engine so as to propel it upwardly from the substrate bath in which the liquid is immersed, and the fluid communication is between the propellant body and the inlet of the tank for the heat exchange fluid. It is characterized by comprising: The propellant body thus takes the form of a tube fixed transversely to the tank, capable of propelling the heat exchange liquid upward into the tank from the substratum immediately below the tank.

According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the guiding means are rails and the tank comprises rotating or sliding means cooperating with the rails to move the tank on these rails. These may traverse the entire length of the substrate bath and move the tank along its length.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the tank is provided with a handle, for example either on the tank itself or on the circulation system. In this way the position of the tank in the direction of movement can be easily changed by simply pushing/pulling. Alternatively, this movement may be controlled by the engine.

As mentioned above, the tank is an overflow tank with an upstream dam and a downstream dam. According to a particular embodiment of the invention, at least one upstream dam and at least one downstream dam are arranged at an adjustable distance from each other. This allows the length of the tank tub to be adjusted. Not only can the tank be precisely positioned in the path of travel of the elongated metal article, but the duration of heat exchange within the tank can also be adjusted. Such adjustments are important depending on the article to be treated, especially its cross-section.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the tank is divided into compartments separated by longitudinal partitions parallel to the direction of movement, each compartment having said independently movable upstream and/or downstream dam. . It is conceivable that only the downstream dam of the compartment, or only the upstream dam, is movable, or that both are movable at the same time. This arrangement allows wires of different cross-sections to move side-by-side in the same tank at the same time, thus allowing different treatments.

The invention also relates to an installation for heat exchange between moving elongated metal articles and a heat exchange liquid, comprising at least one tank according to the invention.

The installation may comprise a plurality of such tanks supported on the same substratum on the same guiding means in an independently movable manner. These tanks continuously receive the same elongated metal product and are capable of stepwise cooling or heating.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the installation, it comprises a plurality of mutually parallel guiding means, each of which is capable of independently moving at least one of said tanks over the same substrate tank. to support. Depending on the cross-section of the product to be obtained and the simultaneously moving elongated metal product, it should be possible to process at different positions in the movement path, for different durations and optionally at different speeds, which according to this embodiment of the invention It is possible.

Also, the installation further comprises a plurality of successive substrate baths, particularly if the heat exchange fluid needs to be changed during processing, e.g., a bath followed by a bath of polymer solution. At least one of said tanks is independently movably supported on each of these substrate tanks.

Thus, the arrangement of the tank and its succession allows the elongated metal product to move without bending throughout the heat exchange.

The invention also relates to the use of the installation according to the invention for controlled cooling or controlled heating of moving elongated metal articles. In particular, it can be used during the patenting of steel wire to cool or heat the steel wire during step quenching at any precise time and duration during its processing.

Other details and peculiarities of the invention will become apparent from the attached drawing, which shows in a non-limiting manner an example of a tank and installation according to the invention.

1 is a transparent perspective view of a movable tank according to the invention; FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the same tank placed in the substrate tank. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view along III-III in FIG. Figure 4 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a movable tank according to the invention; Figure 5 shows a plan view of a particular embodiment of the installation according to the invention.

In the following description, the elongated metal product will be referred to by the term "wire" for simplicity of language.

As shown in FIGS. 1-3, a tank 1 for a heat exchange liquid bath according to the invention comprises a bottom 2 and two side walls 3 , 4 parallel to the direction 5 of movement of a wire 19 . The wall 3 is also provided with a flange 21 as shown.

An upstream dam 6 is provided at the entrance of the wire into the tank, and in the example shown in the form of a cylinder on which the moving wire or wires rest, a downstream dam 7 is provided remote from the upstream dam 6 and has a cross-section of In the example shown in the form of triangular elements, one or more moving wires are supported thereon. The heat exchange liquid is contained in the tank 1 between the dams, and then flows toward the upstream dam and the downstream dam, as indicated by the arrows in FIG. The tank according to the invention is an overflow tank.

The level of heat exchange liquid 16 in tank 1 is also shown symbolically in FIG. The wire 19 moving between the dams 6, 7 passes into the tank 1 without bending in the immersed state, thereby causing heating between the liquid and the wire over the distance between these upstream and downstream dams. Or heat exchange for cooling takes place.

In the example shown, the tank 1 comprises wheels 8 which are movably supported on guide means parallel to the direction of travel 5 of the wire. Here, the guiding means are formed from rails 9 arranged in the sub-basin 10 of the tank 1 .

Also, the heat exchange fluid that has flowed in from the upstream dam 6 and the downstream dam 7 is directly collected in the substrate tank 10 . It is equipped with a clean flow heat exchanger, not shown, to maintain the liquid in the bath at a constant predetermined temperature.

Also, in the illustrated case, an inlet 11 for supplying the heat exchange liquid to the tank is provided in the side wall 3 of the tank.

A circulation system 12 is fixedly mounted outside the movable tank 1 and is entirely movable into the substrate tank 10 . All elements of the circulation system 12 move with the movable tank when its position on the guide rail 9 is changed. The tank is therefore completely autonomous.

A circulation system 12 supplies the heat exchange liquid from the substrate bath 10 directly to the inlet 11 .

In the example shown, the circulation system 12 comprises a propellant body 13, which includes a lower end opening into the heat exchange liquid of the substrate bath 10 (see FIG. 3 where a level 20 of the heat exchange liquid is symbolically shown). . At its upper end the propellant 13 supports a rotary engine 14 rotating a propeller 15 arranged in the lower end of the propellant 13 . As indicated by the arrows in FIG. The communication part 17 is supplied.

The tank is also provided with at least one handle, indicated at 23 in FIG. 4, which manually moves the tank 1 on the guide rail 9.

In the example shown in FIGS. 1-3, the downstream dam 7 is arranged movably with respect to the upstream dam 6 . The rack 18 extends centrally of the tank 1 to extend the downstream dam 7, for example adjacent to the upstream dam 6 as shown in FIG. 2, or away from the upstream dam 6 as shown in FIGS. Position them further apart and adjustably. This arrangement allows the length of the vessel to be adjusted according to the desired properties to be obtained in the wire or product being processed. Also clearly conceivable are tanks in which the upstream but not the downstream dam is movable, or in which all the dams are movable relative to each other in order to adjust the length of the tank.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, the tank 1 is divided into three longitudinal compartments separated by longitudinal partitions 24 parallel to the direction of travel 5 of the wire. Each section includes an independent downstream dam 7 adjustable on racks 18 . Thus, within the same tank, multiple wires can be moved immersed in the heat exchange liquid over different tank lengths. In the example shown, the wire passing through the compartment shown on the left is immersed in a longer bath length than the wire passing through the other two compartments. It should be noted that each section contains an independent upstream dam and can optionally be aligned with respect to the downstream dam.

In the example of the installation according to the invention shown in FIG. 5, four parallel wires 19 and a web of wires 19 ′ are moved over the substrate bath 10 . Two tanks 1 and 1' according to the present invention are independently movably provided on one substrate tank 10. As shown in FIG. The two tanks are movably guided on guiding means 9 and 9' parallel to each other and parallel to the direction of movement 5. FIG.

The two tanks contain the same elements. The left side contains the references used in FIGS. 1-4 and the right side contains the same references marked with a "prime".

As shown in this exemplary embodiment, tanks 1 and 1' are placed on a guiding means such that wires 19 and 19' are treated by the heat exchange liquid while moving to a location different from tank 10. is moved by Also, the distance between dam 7 and dam 6 in tank 1 is greater than the distance between dam 7' and dam 6' in tank 1'. If wire 19 and wire 19' move at the same speed in both tanks, wire 19 will be processed slower than wire 19' and the processing time in tank 1 will be longer than the processing time in tank 1'. However, the flexibly adjustable relative positions of the tanks and the repositionable distance between the upstream and downstream dams of the two tanks make it possible for wires moving at the same or different speeds. , the same or different processing can be performed for the same or different times.

The equipment offered is very flexible, allowing great variation in the handling of moving wires and is particularly easy to operate, especially in autonomously mobile tanks.

It should be noted that the invention is by no means limited to the embodiments described above and that many modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the claims.

For example, the wire 19 or wire 19' may be treated by a plurality of successive tanks on the same substrate bath 10, these tanks being arranged in succession on the same guiding means and independently movable. can be considered.

It may also be provided that a plurality of substrate baths are in series, over each of which at least one tank according to the invention is movably arranged. Such equipment is advantageous when the wire is treated with different heat exchange fluids.

As can be seen from the above description, it is particularly preferred that the wire to be treated can pass through the tank according to the invention and be able to move therebetween without bending.

Claims (14)

A movable tank (1,1') for a heat exchange liquid tank, comprising:
at least one elongated metal article (19, 19') moves in the immersed state along the direction of movement (5);
comprising a bottom (2), sidewalls (3, 4), an upstream dam (6, 6'), a downstream dam (7, 7') and an inlet (11) for the heat exchange liquid,
said sidewalls (3, 4) are parallel to said direction of movement (5);
The upstream dam (6, 6') and the downstream dam (7, 7') are configured between the sidewalls,
Above said at least one upstream dam (6, 6') and at least one said downstream dam (7, 7'), the heat exchange fluid is in the same Underlying Basin (10) of said movable tanks. flow directly into
said at least one elongated metal article flowing between said at least one upstream dam (6, 6') and at least one said downstream dam (7, 7');
Said movable tank (1,1') comprises:
movably supported on guiding means (9, 9′) parallel to said direction of movement;
Further comprising a liquid circulation system (12, 12'),
The liquid circulation system (12, 12') is
fixedly mounted on the outside of said movable tank (1, 1') so as to be fully movable with said movable tank into said substrate tank;
arranged to supply heat exchange liquid in said substrate bath (10) directly to said heat exchange liquid inlet (11). A movable tank according to claim 1,
The circulation system (12, 12') is
A propellant (13), a rotary engine (14), a propeller (15), and a liquid communication part (17),
said propellant body (13) having a lower end opening into said heat exchange liquid of said substrate tank (10) and an upper end attached to said movable tank outside thereof;
The rotary engine (14) is arranged at the upper end of the propellant (13),
said propeller (15) is positioned within said lower end of said propellant body and rotated by a rotary engine so as to propel upwards from said substrate tank in which said heat exchange fluid is immersed;
The liquid connection (17) is arranged between the propellant (13) and the inlet (11) of the tank for the heat exchange liquid. A movable tank according to claim 1 or claim 2,
said guide means (9, 9') are rails,
Said tank is provided with winding means (8, 8') or sliding means to move said movable tank on these rails. In the movable tank according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
comprising at least one handle (23);
Said handle (23) manually moves said tank on guiding means. In the movable tank according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
wherein said at least one upstream dam (6, 6') and said at least one downstream dam (7, 7') are arranged at an adjustable distance from each other to allow the length of said vessel to be varied. A movable tank according to claim 5,
Divided into compartments separated by longitudinal partitions (24) parallel to the direction of movement (5), each compartment being independently movable said upstream dam (6, 6') and/or said downstream dam ( 7, 7'). In the movable tank according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
wherein said at least one elongated metal article moves within said tank between said at least one upstream dam and said at least one downstream dam without inflection. In the movable tank according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
wherein said at least one elongated metal article is selected from the group consisting of wires, strips, tubes, and metal rods. A facility for exchanging heat between a moving elongated metal article and a heat exchange fluid,
Equipped with at least one movable tank according to any one of claims 1-8. In the equipment according to claim 9,
comprising a plurality of said movable tanks (1, 1');
Said plurality of said movable tanks (1, 1') are independently movably supported on the same guide means and on the same substrate tank (10). In the equipment according to claim 9,
comprising a plurality of parallel guiding means,
The plurality of guide means parallel to each other support at least one of the movable tanks on the same substrate tank so as to be independently movable. In the equipment according to claim 9,
Equipped with multiple continuous base tanks,
wherein at least one of said movable tanks is independently movably supported above said plurality of continuous substrate tanks. In the equipment according to any one of claims 9 to 12,
wherein said at least one elongated metal article moves without inflection within and between each tank along said direction of movement. A method of using equipment, comprising:
The facility is the facility according to any one of claims 9 to 13,
A method of using said equipment for controlled cooling or controlled heating of said moving elongated metal article.

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