Patent ID: 7568914
Filing Date: 2009-08-04
Classification: C03B,F27B

Abstract:
1. A heat treatment apparatus comprising: a heating furnace including a tunnel-shaped heating space for heating an object to be heated, the heating space having an inlet port and an outlet port formed at both ends thereof; a transporting unit transporting the object to the outlet port when the object is brought into the heating space through the inlet port; a heating unit heating the object that is being transported; and a gas-flow generation unit comprising a gas introducing unit disposed near the inlet port to introduce a gas into the heating space and a gas discharging unit disposed near the outlet port to discharge the gas from the heating space and thereby forming a gas flow that flows in a transporting direction of the object in the heating space, wherein the heating space has a cross-section orthogonal to the transporting direction of the object, and the cross-section is gradually decreased in area from the inlet port to a predetermined position in the heating space and is gradually increased in area from the predetermined position toward the output port.