Treatment device

A processing system comprising:

• a diffusion processing section which heats an RH diffusion source made of either a metal or alloy of a heavy rare-earth element RH (which is at least one of Dy and Tb) and a sintered R-T-B based magnet body while rotating;
• a sorting section which is adjacent to the diffusion processing section and which selectively sorts the RH diffusion source from the sintered R-T-B based magnet body when the diffusion source and the magnet body come from the diffusion processing section;
• a heat treatment processing section which is adjacent to the sorting section and which conducts a heat treatment process on the sintered R-T-B based magnet body, in which the heavy rare-earth element RH has been diffused by the diffusion processing section and from which the RH diffusion source has been removed, while rotating;
• a tilting mechanism which changes at least the diffusion processing section, the sorting section, and the heat treatment processing section between a tilted position and a level position during a process including diffusion, sorting, and heat treatment steps;
• wherein
• the diffusion processing section:
• includes a first cylindrical inner wall portion which houses the RH diffusion source and the sintered R-T-B based magnet body;
• includes a first spiral baffle arranged on the first cylindrical inner wall portion;
• and
• passes the RH diffusion source and the sintered R-T-B based magnet body to the sorting section while being rotated;
• the sorting section:
• includes a second cylindrical inner wall portion which houses the RH diffusion source and the sintered R-T-B based magnet body and which has holes;
• ejects the RH diffusion source through the holes out of itself while moving the RH diffusion source and the sintered R-T-B based magnet body that have come from the diffusion processing section toward the heat treatment processing section;
• and
• passes the sintered R-T-B based magnet body to the heat treatment processing section while being rotated;
• the heat treatment processing section:
• includes a third cylindrical inner wall portion which houses the sintered R-T-B based magnet body;
• includes a second spiral baffle arranged on the third cylindrical inner wall portion;
• and
• ejects the sintered R-T-B based magnet body through an outlet port while being rotated;
• and
• the first spiral baffle is arranged so that its spiral direction is reverse to that of the second spiral baffle.