Solar Manufacturing, a designer and manufacturer of various types of vacuum heat treating and brazing furnaces, has announced that it has sold vacuum furnaces to Hitachi Metals North Carolina in China Grove, North Carolina.
Solar Manufacturing has supplied vacuum furnaces that are designed for processing rare earth magnet materials and other similar special applications. The company has provided the HFL-4252-6IQ model vacuum furnace to Hitachi Metals. These furnaces contain a specific type of gas flow control and backfill arrangement. Gas reservoir tanks further support this system.
A Flexshield carbon fiber reinforced graphite foil hot face is used as insulation for the furnace. Further, three layers of graphite felt insulation of ½” thickness provide backup to the graphite foil. These insulating items are contained in a support ring made of 304 stainless steel. Each furnace is provided with a Stokes Model 412J/615HR mechanical pump/booster package, which allows it to operate in the 10-3 Torr range.
In order to hasten cycle times, an internal gas cooling system that can operate on positive pressure is also provided. For controlling and monitoring the various functions of the furnace, a SolarVac 5000 PC-based interactive control system has been provided. A Proface industrial operator interface featuring a 15” color touchscreen, along with Wonderware integrated operations software, enables data acquisition, alarm management, recipe storage, and other functions.
The VP of sales at Solar Manufacturing, Pete Reh stated that the company will be providing support to Hitachi Metals and help them establish their production facility for NEOMAX rare earth magnets.
Source: http://www.solarmfg.com/