Abstract: In a continuous annealing process, the annealing furnace is comprised of two adjacent chambers, one for heating and the other for cooling with a door therebetween. The strip coil to be annealed is brought into the heating chamber, such as by a vehicle on a rail, the heating chamber closed, and the coil heated. After heating, the interconnecting door is opened and the heated coil is moved into the cooling chamber by the vehicle, the cooling chamber is closed and the coil is cooled. Concurrently, the next charge of coil is moved into the heating chamber and heated. Since heat from the previous cycle is still in the heating chamber, the amount of heat required for the next cycle is less and heating efficiency is substantially increased. Also, no movement of other equipment is necessary since only a horizontally movable vehicle is necessary to move the coil from one chamber to the next.

Abstract: In a continuous annealing process, the annealing furnace is comprised of two adjacent chambers, one for heating and the other for cooling with a door therebetween. The strip coil to be annealed is brought into the heating chamber, such as by a vehicle on a rail, the heating chamber closed, and the coil heated. After heating, the interconnecting door is opened and the heat coil is moved into the cooling chamber by the vehicle, the cooling chamber is closed and the coil is cooled. Concurrently, the next charge of coil is moved into the heating chamber and heated. Since heat from the previous cycle is still in the heating chamber, the amount of heat required for the next cycle is less and heating efficiency is substantially increased. Also, no movement of other equipment is necessary since only a horizontally movable vehicle is necessary to move the coil from one chamber to the next.