IP Library Granted Patent US 9,157,679
Granted Patent B2
US 9,157,679 · App. 14/235,724 · Granted Oct 13, 2015

Flame-resistant heat treatment furnace

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,157,679
App. No.
14/235,724
Granted
Oct 13, 2015
Kind
B2
Abstract

A furnace to flame-resistantly treat a precursor fiber strand by sending hot air to a heat treatment chamber through a hot air blowing nozzle in a direction parallel to a running direction of the strand is provided. The hot air passes through a porous plate and a rectifying member satisfying the following conditions: (1) A/B≧4.0; (2) 0.15≦α≦0.35; (3) 0≦B−d≦20; and (4) 80% or more of the area of one opening of the porous plate when facing surfaces of the porous plate and the rectifying member overlap is included in one opening of the rectifying member, where A is the rectifying member hot air passage distance (mm), B is a horizontal maximum distance (mm) of one opening of the rectifying member, α is a rate of hole area of the porous plate, and d is the porous plate equivalent diameter (mm).

Claims (46)

1. A flame-resistant heat treatment furnace comprising:

a heat treatment chamber that causes hot air to flow in a direction parallel to a running direction of a precursor fiber strand and heats the precursor fiber strand;

a hot air blowing nozzle that changes a flowing direction of the hot air and thereafter introduces the hot air into the heat treatment chamber; and

a hot air suctioning nozzle that is installed at a position away from the hot air blowing nozzle and suctions the hot air,

wherein

the hot air blowing nozzle comprises a porous plate and a rectifying member that satisfy conditions (1) to (4):

(1) A/B≧4.0;

(2) 0.15≦α≦0.35;

(3) 0≦B−d≦20; and

(4) 80% or more of an area of one opening of the porous plate when causing facing surfaces of the porous plate and the rectifying member to overlap is included in one opening of the rectifying member,

where A is a hot air passage distance (mm) of the rectifying member, B is a horizontal maximum distance (mm) of one opening of the rectifying member, α is a rate of hole area of the porous plate, and d is an equivalent diameter (mm) of the porous plate, and

the hot air is sent to the heat treatment chamber through the porous plate and the rectifying member.

2. The flame-resistant heat treatment furnace according to claim 1 ,

wherein the equivalent diameter d (mm) of the porous plate satisfies a condition (5) of 10≦d≦20.

3. The flame-resistant heat treatment furnace according to claim 2 ,

wherein an opening pitch P 1 (mm) of openings of the porous plate and an opening pitch P 2 (mm) of openings of the rectifying member satisfy a condition (6) of 0.995×P 2 ≦P 1 ≦1.005×P 2 .

4. The flame-resistant heat treatment furnace according to claim 2 ,

wherein a distance y (mm) between facing opening surfaces of the porous plate and the rectifying member satisfies a condition (7) of 0≦y≦7.

5. The flame-resistant heat treatment furnace according to claim 2 ,

wherein a cross-sectional shape of the rectifying member in a hot air passage direction is a lattice shape or a honeycomb shape.

6. The flame-resistant heat treatment furnace according to claim 2 ,

wherein the porous plate and the rectifying member are connected to each other by a positioning member.

7. The flame-resistant heat treatment furnace according to claim 2 ,

wherein the porous plate and the rectifying member are detachable from each other.

8. The flame-resistant heat treatment furnace according to claim 2 ,

wherein the hot air blowing nozzle further comprises a direction changing plate that changes a hot air flow direction, and satisfies a condition (8) of (x/L)<0.030 and a condition (9) of (w/L)<0.50,

where x is a distance (mm) between the porous plate at a nozzle tip and the direction changing plate at the nozzle tip, L is an entire length (mm) of the hot air blowing nozzle in a depth direction, and w is an inlet width (mm) of the hot air blowing nozzle.

9. The flame-resistant heat treatment furnace according to claim 2 ,

wherein an installation position of the porous plate is adjustable.

10. The flame-resistant heat treatment furnace according to claim 1 ,

wherein an opening pitch P 1 (mm) of openings of the porous plate and an opening pitch P 2 (mm) of openings of the rectifying member satisfy a condition (6) of 0.995×P 2 ≦P 1 ≦1.005×P 2 .

11. The flame-resistant heat treatment furnace according to claim 1 ,

wherein a distance y (mm) between facing opening surfaces of the porous plate and the rectifying member satisfies a condition (7) of 0≦y≦7.

12. The flame-resistant heat treatment furnace according to claim 1 ,

wherein a cross-sectional shape of the rectifying member in a hot air passage direction is a lattice shape or a honeycomb shape.

13. The flame-resistant heat treatment furnace according to claim 1 ,

wherein the porous plate and the rectifying member are connected to each other by a positioning member.

14. The flame-resistant heat treatment furnace according to claim 1 ,

wherein the porous plate and the rectifying member are detachable from each other.

15. The flame-resistant heat treatment furnace according to claim 1 ,

wherein the hot air blowing nozzle comprises a direction changing plate that changes a hot air flow direction, and satisfies a condition (8) of (x/L)<0.030 and a condition (9) of (w/L)<0.50,

where x is a distance (mm) between the porous plate at a nozzle tip and the direction changing plate at the nozzle tip, L is an entire length (mm) of the hot air blowing nozzle in a depth direction, and w is an inlet width (mm) of the hot air blowing nozzle.

16. The flame-resistant heat treatment furnace according to claim 1 ,

wherein an installation position of the porous plate is adjustable.

17. A method of manufacturing a carbon fiber comprising:

heating the carbon fiber precursor strand in the flame-resistant heat treatment furnace according to claim 1 .

Assignments (2)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Sep 5, 2017
From: MITSUBISHI RAYON CO., LTD.
To: MITSUBISHI CHEMICAL CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 043750/0834 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 7, 2014
From: KAJI, SATOSHI; YAMAMOTO, NOBUYUKI; KAWAMURA, ATSUSHI; TOMOBE, HITOSHI
To: MITSUBISHI RAYON CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 032375/0732 →