INSTALLATION FOR VACUUM THERMAL AND CHEMICAL-THERMAL TREATMENT OF ARTICLES AND MATERIALS AND METHOD OF VACUUM HARDENING OF METAL ARTICLES Russian patent published in 2024 - IPC F27B5/05 F27B5/08 C21D1/773 C23C14/22 F27D7/06 

FIELD: metallurgy.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to metallurgy, in particular to equipment for thermal and chemical-thermal treatment with heating, holding and controlled rapid cooling in vacuum of parts and tools of small dimensions, and can be used in instrument making, tool industry, as well as in machine building. Installation for vacuum thermal or chemical-thermal treatment of products and materials and hardening of metal products comprises a vacuum cabinet with a vacuum post and a heat chamber located inside the vacuum cabinet, wherein the walls of the heat chamber housing are made in the form of a thin-sheet multilayer enclosure, the inner volume of which is filled with screen-vacuum and/or powder-vacuum heat insulation, heat chamber has hermetically closed loading hatch and hatch for automatic release of excess pressure from the inner volume of the chamber into the volume of the vacuum cabinet, hatch design for automatic release of excess pressure provides for tight separation of the inner volume of the heat chamber, the inner volume of the multilayer enclosure of the heat chamber and the inner volume of the vacuum cabinet from each other when the hatch is closed and combining them into a single volume when it is opened. Heat chamber is equipped with loading table or holder of processed products; loading table/holder is equipped with resistive heater and/or device for ion-plasma treatment of materials. Besides, heat chamber is equipped with device for liquid input for controlled cooling of processed articles and inner surfaces of chamber. In the inner volume of the vacuum cabinet there is a liquid or ice condenser of cooling liquid vapours. Method of vacuum hardening of electroconductive materials includes high-speed cooling of the material simultaneously with cooling of the chamber in which the cooled part is located, the cooling liquid is introduced into the inner volume of the chamber, and the liquid vapours formed during the cooling process are condensed outside the chamber on the cooled surface of the liquid or ice condenser placed in the vacuum cabinet, wherein the cooling liquid is introduced into the chamber in the form of a fine mist, and droplets of the introduced liquid are charged with electric charges of the same sign, the hardened material is grounded or charged with electric charges of the opposite sign, the vapour pressure of the cooling liquid above the cooled material is maintained not higher than 40 kPa.

EFFECT: providing a high cooling rate of the heating furnace together with thermally treated parts located inside the furnace in an oxygen-free atmosphere filling the heating furnace, as well as reduction of total heat losses to environment during long-term high-temperature thermal, chemical-thermal or ion-plasma treatment of metal article preceding the process of rapid cooling.

12 cl, 3 dwg