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AssigneeKubota Corporation
InventorsHitoshi Kokeguchi, Jiro Yamaguchi, Akinori Sakoda, Mikio Umeda, Tadashi Yamashita, Yoshimasa Katsuki, Mitsuru Murakami, Yasuo Imamura
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An apparatus for heat-treating pipes comprising a furnace chamber for accommodating a plurality of pipes as arranged in parallel, a chain conveyor disposed in the furnace chamber for transporting the pipes in a direction at right angles to the axes of the pipes, and a plurality of stopper means for stopping the pipes intermittently at suitably spaced-apart positions in the path of transport by the chain conveyor and causing each of the pipes to rotate about its own axis in cooperation with the chain conveyor. Since the pipe is intermittently stopped and rotated about its own axis during heat treatment, the pipe is free of thermal deformation to an elliptical shape. Pipes can be heat-treated in succession in a small space, therefore with a very high efficiency. The motion of the chain conveyor is utilized for rotating the pipe without necessitating any additional device for the rotation.
An apparatus for heat-treating pipes comprising a furnace chamber having an inlet and an outlet and capable of accomodating a plurality of pipes arranged in parallel at suitable spacing, a plurality of main chains disposed in the furnace chamber and drivingly movable in a direction at right angles to the axes of the pipes for providing a path of transport of the pipes, a plurality of means for stopping the pipes intermittently at suitably spaced-apart positions in the path of transport to cause them to rotate about their own axes in cooperation with the main chains and for correcting the axial displacement of the pipes, and sensor means provided in corresponding relation to each of the stopping and correcting means for detecting the axial displacement of a corresponding pipe to control the stopping and correcting means so that the pipe is brought to a specified axial position on the path of transport.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.