Abstract: A roller bearing replacement device for replacement or exchange of a roller bearing of a roller hearth furnace includes a housing that can be sealed off against the external atmosphere with a sluice through which it is possible to access to a roller bearing of the roller hearth furnace that is to be demounted from inside the housing while excluding the environmental atmosphere, and at least one roller bearing handling device designed and constructed for demounting and installing roller bearings that is arranged in a moveable manner in the housing and can at least partly be moved out of the housing through the sluice. The sluice has a docking flange and a gas tightness monitoring arrangement, by means of which the gas-tightness of the docking connection on to the roller hearth furnace by the sluice can be monitored.

Abstract: A roller bearing replacement device for replacement or exchange of a roller bearing of a roller hearth furnace includes a housing that can be sealed off from the environment or external atmosphere that has a sluice through which access to the roller bearing of the roller hearth furnace that is to be replaced from the inside of the housing while excluding the external atmosphere is possible, and at least one roller bearing handling device that is designed for demounting and installing roller bearings and is arranged moveably in the housing and which can be at least partly moved out of the housing through the sluice. Roller bearing replacement or exchange is possible without the roller bearing getting tilted or twisted through its movement during demounting or assembly as the case may be in the roller hearth furnace.

Abstract: A roller bearing handling system for replacement or exchange of a roller bearing of a roller hearth furnace includes a base support, a pivot support arranged on the base support, and a first roller bearing handling element arranged or placed on the pivot support and which can lift a roller bearing. The pivot support is arranged on the base support and is able to swivel about a stationary pivot point relative to the base support. A second carrier roller bearing handling element is arranged on the base support for handling a roller bearing and is able to be adjusted between a handling position, in which the second roller bearing handling element can mechanically couple and connect in a form-locking manner with the roller bearing for roller bearing replacement and a release position in which the mechanical coupling and form-locking connection between the roller bearing and the carrier roller bearing handling element is released is released.

Abstract: A roller bearing replacement device with a housing that is sealed off is provided that has a sluice which can be coupled on a roller hearth furnace through which access to a roller bearing of the roller hearth furnace that is to be demounted is possible, and at least one roller bearing handling device which is arranged in a moveable manner inside the housing and can at least partly be moved out of the housing through the sluice. The housing has a cooling chamber designed for cooling of demounted roller bearings in which the at least one roller bearing handling device is constructed so that it can be moved at least between a replacement position and a cooling position.

Abstract: The invention relates to a device for loading and unloading a heat treatment furnace and to a corresponding method. Heat treatment furnaces are normally loaded and unloaded by means of a so-called elevator. During unloading, a removed workpiece is usually lowered by means of the elevator into an oil bath, in which it is then removed from the elevator. Oil is then transferred into the furnace chamber via the oil-covered elevator. Such an application of oil is avoided by means of a device comprising a frame rack having a first and a second level, which are disposed parallel above each other, and are connected to each other by means of a plurality of frame braces, wherein the first and the second levels have a plurality of openings and the frame braces have guide means.

Abstract: In the case of a rotary hearth furnace of annular construction for the heat treatment of workpieces, which has a furnace chamber, an annular rotary hearth, a rotary drive which drives the rotary hearth and a plurality of racks for receiving or supporting workpieces, which are arranged on the annular rotary hearth and are provided with receiving elements, which divide a respective rack into at least two horizontal planes for receiving workpieces, the intention is to provide a solution which makes extremely uniform heating of the workpieces to be heattreated in the furnace chamber possible in a structurally simple and cost-effective manner. This is achieved in that provision is made, at least between two horizontal planes of a respective rack, of at least one additional heating apparatus which heats the workpieces held in the corresponding horizontal planes.

Abstract: The invention relates to a radiant-heating device for heating an industrial furnace using radiated heat. A first burner unit (1) comprises a first burner (2), which heats an air mixture by burning a fuel (6), a first air supplier (60), via which the first burner (2) is supplied with fresh air, and a first elongated radiant-heating pipe (20), which includes a rearward end (20a) connected with the first burner (2) and a forward end (20b) spaced from the rearward end (20a) and in which the hot exhaust gas generated by the first burner (2) flows from the rearward end (20a) to the forward end (20b) of the first radiant-heating pipe (20) and supplies heat energy along this path to the pipe wall of the first radiant-heating pipe (20). A second burner unit (1?) is constructed like the first burner unit (1).

Abstract: A solution should be created in a radiant heating apparatus that economically makes available in a constructively simple manner a simplified and improved possibility of monitoring the radiant heating apparatus. This is achieved with a radiant heating apparatus for a furnace system in which a monitoring apparatus for determining a current pressure is provided in the combustion air line and/or in the combustion gas line immediately in front of the entrance into the housing of the at least one burner which apparatus outputs the currently determined pressure to a burner control. The burner control is designed in such a manner that it compares the currently determined pressure with a predetermined limit value and/or it compares a pressure difference ?p formed from a currently determined pressure and a pressure of a corresponding collector line with a predetermined limit value.

Abstract: The invention relates to a device for loading and unloading a heat treatment furnace and to a corresponding method. Heat treatment furnaces are normally loaded and unloaded by means of a so-called elevator. During unloading, a removed workpiece is usually lowered by means of the elevator into an oil bath, in which it is then removed from the elevator. Oil is then transferred into the furnace chamber via the oil-covered elevator. Such an application of oil is avoided by means of a device comprising a frame rack having a first and a second level, which are disposed parallel above each other, and are connected to each other by means of a plurality of frame braces, wherein the first and the second levels have a plurality of openings and the frame braces have guide means.

Abstract: An installation for the heat-treatment of parts includes a rotary hearth that can be rotated in a timed manner and which has an outer and an inner wall limiting a furnace chamber that is divided up into a heating zone and at least one treatment zone by vertically movable doors. The outer wall in the heating zone is provided with a closable opening for charging or discharging the furnace. The installation further comprises a transport device for transporting the parts into or out of the rotary hearth furnace and a quenching device. In addition, a second closable opening is disposed in the outer wall of the rotary hearth furnace in the last treatment zone. A sluice is disposed adjacent to the second closable opening and a quenching device is designed as a quenching bath and connected to the rotary hearth furnace via the sluice.

Abstract: An apparatus for quenching flat steel products includes a roller conveyor for such flat steel products. The roller conveyor includes upper and lower rollers. At least one nozzle device is arranged above the roller conveyor, and transversely to it, for spraying water onto the flat steel products. At least one suction removal device is arranged above the roller conveyor, and transversely to it, for removing water by suction upstream of an associated upper roller. A method of quenching flat steel products is also provided.

Abstract: A top hat furnace especially adapted for annealing steel sheet metal using a protective gas includes a protective top surrounding the batches of sheet steel metal. A cooling top is arranged above the protective top forming an intermediate space. The cooling top has a cover and a lid. The cover of the cooling top has a plurality of air nozzles so that cooling air impacts the protective top in the form of jets. At least one fan produces a flow of cooling air in the intermediate space. The distance between the air nozzles increases from the bottom of the cover towards it upper end. The distance between the nozzles is from four to twelve times greater than is the diameter of each nozzle. The cooling lid is also provided with a plurality of air nozzles. The distance between the nozzles in the cooling lid is from four to seven times greater than is the diameter of each of these nozzles.

Abstract: A carrying device for supporting a charge in a reheating furnace is disclosed. The carrying device has several tubular supports through which coolant flows, said tubular supports being provided with high-temperature-resistant riders. Each rider has a top section and a bottom section. The bottom section is limited by sides which are inclined towards each other in the direction of the head section and form protruding steps with the latter. Plate-shaped heat insulation elements supported by support cams are inserted in the resulting recesses. The plate-shaped elements, which are not subject to wear from the movement of the riders, cover the sides of the bottom section of the rider and provide heat insulation for the bottom section. Thus the bottom section is protected against wear-promoting overheating and heat is also prevented from passing from the charge to the bottom section. On the contrary, the plate-shaped elements radiate heat to the charge, thus avoiding the formation of cold charge areas.

Abstract: The present invention involves a method and a device for the heat treatment of workpieces, which are heated with radiant heat generated through the combustion of gaseous fuel. Some of the workpieces are subjected to a carburisation atmosphere formed by a heated mixture of hydrocarbon containing gas and carbon dioxide, where the carbon dioxide has been separated from the exhaust gas of the gaseous fuel combustion. Other workpieces may be subjected to a nitrocarburisation atmosphere formed by a mixture of ammonia and the exhaust gas remaining after the carbon dioxide has been separated. By recycling some of the products of the combustion process, the present invention improves the efficiency of the carburisation process while reducing pollutant emissions.

Abstract: Annealing is performed in the annealing chamber (2) of the annealing furnace (1) under a protective gas atmosphere. A partial-stream cleaning device (3) for the protective gas is connected to the annealing chamber. The protective gas can be cooled, the condensate forming from water vapour and rolling oil residues is then separated and/or undesirable gas components are removed by adsorption. Once the cleaning process has been running for so long that the protective gas essentially no longer contains any rolling oil residues, the protective gas may be passed through a hot reaction chamber (4) in which oxygen is removed from it so that the dew point drops and easily oxidised alloying components of the annealing charge are protected against oxidation.

Abstract: Fresh gas is blown into the ring-shaped space between the annealing charge and the hood as an upwardly directed high-speed jet (9) at a velocity of approximately 80 m/s. The gas mixture which forms is evacuated through a gas outlet (10) arranged in the pedestal and diametrically opposite to the gas inlet. At a volume flow rate of about 130 m.sup.3 /s, rinsing takes about 6 minutes.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for annealing metal parts, in particular sheets, in an annealing chamber of an industrial furnace under a protective-gas atmosphere, wherein the annealing comprises a heating phase, a soaking phase and a cooling phase. The annealing chamber is purged during the heating phase with hydrogen or gas rich in hydrogen until the protective gas predominantly contains hydrogen. According to the present invention a purging with an inert gas is performed towards the end of the heating phase to reduce the percentage of hydrogen in the protective gas so that the formation of carbon-containing breakdown products is largely avoided. This prevents the formation of annealing edges during the soaking phase. Towards the end of the soaking phase, a purging with hydrogen or gas rich in hydrogen is performed until the protective gas predominantly contains hydrogen and carbon-containing deposits can be removed.