Steel strip continuous annealing apparatus

Abstract

A steel strip continuous annealing apparatus comprising: a steel strip feeder; a heating-soaking zone for heating and soaking the steel strip at a predetermined temperature; a first cooling zone for rapidly cooling the steel strip at a predetermined cooling rate; a second cooling zone for slowly cooling the steel strip or holding same at a predetermined temperature; a third cooling zone for cooling the steel strip to substantially the room temperature; and a steel strip carry-out device; wherein the first cooling zone incorporates therein forcible cooling means, the second cooling zone incorporates therein hot-cold change-over means and said forcible cooling means incorporated in the first cooling zone is provided thereon with self-cooling means; so that steel strips of various grades of steel different in required heat cycle to be applied thereto can be efficiently and stably annealed.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.