Sintering furnace for components consisting of a sintering material, in particular for dental components, and a method for sintering such components

A sintering furnace for dental components, comprising:

• a furnace chamber that includes a movable wall section configured to move between an opened position and a closed position, the wall section includes a seat for the component to be sintered;
• a heating device configured to heat the furnace chamber;
• a memory storing:
• (i) a preset loading sequence that includes steps of:
• opening the wall section of the furnace chamber for a first time,
• holding the wall section of the furnace chamber in the opened position while a component to be sintered is loaded on the seat, and
• closing the wall section of the furnace chamber,
• wherein the furnace chamber is heated by the heating device during the preset loading sequence, and
• (ii) a temperature profile for a sintering process;
• and
• a controller constructed to:
• (i) control a temperature in the furnace chamber,
• (ii) execute the preset loading sequence,
• (iii) control the heating device during the sintering process in accordance with the temperature profile following the preset loading sequence, wherein the sintering process includes steps of:
• heating the furnace chamber, after the loading sequence is completed, to a holding temperature over a first time period based on the temperature profile, and
• maintaining the holding temperature over a second time period, and
• (iv) perform a cooling sequence of:
• opening the wall section of the furnace chamber for a second time to bring a seat of the wall section into a heated first cooling zone for a first cooling period, and
• causing a signal indicating an expiration of the first cooling period and a transition to a second cooling period corresponding to a second cooling zone to be emitted, wherein a temperature in the second cooling zone is lower than a temperature in the first cooling zone.

A method for sintering a dental component, comprising:

• opening a wall section of a furnace chamber for a first time;
• loading the furnace chamber by placing a component to be sintered on a seat of the wall section while the wall section is opened;
• closing the wall section of the furnace chamber;
• heating the furnace chamber to a holding temperature over a first time period;
• maintaining the holding temperature over a second time period;
• opening the wall section of the furnace chamber for a second time to bring the seat of the wall section into a heated first cooling zone for a first cooling period;
• moving the component to a second cooling zone for a second cooling period, wherein a temperature in the second cooling zone is lower than a temperature in the first cooling zone.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a set of computer readable instructions which when executed by a controller for a sintering furnace cause the controller to perform steps of:

• opening a wall section of a furnace chamber for a first time to an opened position;
• holding the wall section of the furnace chamber at the opened position while a component to be sintered is placed on a seat of the wall section;
• closing the wall section of the furnace chamber;
• heating the furnace chamber to a holding temperature over a first time period;
• maintaining the holding temperature over a second time period;
• opening the wall section of the furnace chamber for a second time to bring the seat of the wall section into a heated first cooling zone for a first cooling period;
• causing a signal indicating an expiration of the first cooling period and a transition to a second cooling period corresponding to a second cooling zone to be emitted, wherein a temperature in the second cooling zone is lower than a temperature in the first cooling zone.