Continuous carburizing furnace

A continuous carburizing furnace, comprising:

• a furnace including:
• a carburizing zone for performing a carburizing process on a workpiece while the workpiece is conveyed therein along a direction of conveyance;
• and
• a plurality of regions disposed successively in said direction of conveyance in an upstream side from said carburizing zone, said carburizing zone being provided with an intermediate door being opened and closed between said carburizing zone and said upstream side therefrom;
• at least a single lift mechanism for lowering the workpiece in a region other than a region of the most upstream side in said direction of conveyance among said plurality of regions;
• and
• a plurality of pushers for pushing the workpiece at each of said plurality of regions to regions of a downstream side therefrom in said direction of conveyance or to said carburizing zone, said plurality of pushers being disposed so as to push the workpiece at successively lowered levels of height one after another in said direction of conveyance.