Oven for carrying out heat treatments of friction elements, in particular brake pads, and associated method

A tunnel oven for the heat treatment of friction elements, said oven comprising:

• a tunnel shaped protective casing extending longitudinally between mutually opposing first and second open ends, delimiting an inlet opening and an outlet opening of the tunnel oven;
• a conveyor device placed within the protective casing and moving between the inlet opening and outlet opening, the conveyor device having a resting surface designed for receiving a plurality of said friction elements to be treated to transport them between the inlet opening and the outlet opening;
• and
• at least one heating device arranged within the protective casing, wherein the heating device comprises:
• a radiating plate made of electrically conductive material arranged such that the radiating plate faces the resting surface, at a fixed and relatively small distance from the resting surface, and
• at least one inductor arranged facing the radiating plate and spaced apart therefrom on the side opposite to the conveyor device, the at least one inductor being designed to heat the radiating plate by means of electromagnetic induction to a preset temperature, the at least one inductor being connected to a power supply of alternating electric current and to a refrigerating liquid supplier for the inductor.