Solar Manufacturing recently announced the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has officially issued a patent for the new 20 bar super quench vacuum furnace as Patent number 9,187,799. The official patent is available to the public at USPTO.gov.
One major advantage of the new design is the use of movable radiation baffle doors that prevent heat loss during heat cycles and open wide to avoid pressure drops during cooling cycles. The application of the open doors in combination with the use of a plenum fan arrangement, generous annular space for uniform gas flow, and a low static pressure loss nozzle design provide inert gas quenching capabilities typically achieved only with oil quenching by concentrating the available system horsepower on the task of producing a high nozzle exit velocity. The system also permits excellent cooling at lower pressures. Low pressure cooling is typically sacrificed by undersized fans normally selected for high pressure quench systems. The new system operates in a constant horsepower mode over a large range of quenching pressures.
Commercially, Solar Manufacturing’s first 20 bar high pressure quench vacuum heat treating furnace is located at Solar Atmospheres of Western PA. The furnace has a 36" x 36" x 48" work zone with a 5,000 lbs. load capacity, and the cooling rates are reported to be significantly better than any other high pressure gas quench furnace currently in production.
Solar Manufacturing designs and manufactures all types of vacuum furnaces for heat treating, brazing, carburizing, nitriding and hydriding/de-hydriding and offers replacement hot zones and spare parts for various vacuum furnace brands.
