Lindberg/MPH ships hot stamping furnace to an automotive supplier

Riverside, Mich.-based Lindberg/MPH has shipped an electrically heated hot stamping furnace to an automotive supplier. This multiple-chamber furnace system will be used to preheat steel blanks to be used for hot stamping structural automotive components. The use of multiple independent chambers allows simultaneous preheating of multiple blanks.

The three-chamber batch furnace has a maximum temperature rating of 1,920 degrees F and work chamber dimensions of 102 in. dia. by 102 in. deep by 14 in. high. The furnace features inert gas atmosphere controls on one chamber, which allows the automotive supplier to use a nitrogen gas atmosphere. Each chamber has three zones of heat to control temperature uniformity throughout the workspace. A cooling blower provides airflow among the three chambers, and each chamber has overtemperature protection.

The parallel arm doors actuate quickly to load and unload blanks, which helps minimize heat loss. The refractory lining is constructed from vacuum-formed ceramic fiber modules that heat up quickly and have low heat storage.