US 12,410,975 B2
Heat treatment vessel coupler, heat treatment vessel coupling method, and heat treatment method
Kenji Matsuda, Nagoya (JP); Kenji Matsunaga, Nagoya (JP); Yoshihiro Sekikawa, Nagoya (JP); and Kazuhiro Onoda, Nagoya (JP)
Assigned to NORITAKE CO., LIMITED, Nagoya (JP)
Appl. No. 18/028,289
Filed by NORITAKE CO., LIMITED, Nagoya (JP)
PCT Filed Sep. 24, 2021, PCT No. PCT/JP2021/035127
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Mar. 24, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/065438, PCT Pub. Date Mar. 31, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 2020-160234 (JP), filed on Sep. 24, 2020; and application No. 2021-070708 (JP), filed on Apr. 19, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0408198 A1, Dec. 21, 2023
Int. Cl. F27D 3/12 (2006.01); F27B 9/26 (2006.01)
CPC F27B 9/26 (2013.01) [F27D 3/12 (2013.01)] 13 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A heat treatment vessel coupler for coupling together heat treatment vessels adjacent in a horizontal direction, of a plurality of rectangular box-shaped heat treatment vessels each loaded with a material to be treated, conveyed in a conveying direction on a plurality of rotationally driven conveyor rollers arranged in parallel inside a heat treatment furnace, the coupler comprising:
a plate body smaller than each of the heat treatment vessels;
at least a pair of engagement protrusions each projecting from the plate body and engaging with a corresponding one of side walls of the heat treatment vessels; and
a spacer protrusion projecting from the plate body between the at least a pair of engagement protrusions so as to be sandwiched between the heat treatment vessels with which the at least a pair of engagement protrusions engage respectively.