JP2000200958A - Apparatus and method for reversing printed wiring board - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus and a method for reversing a printed wiring board which prevents a cover film covering a non-etching part of the printed wiring board from being damaged and resulting in product defectives of the printed wiring boards. SOLUTION: This printed wiring board reversing apparatus 15 disposed through conveyers 18, 19 between two etching takes 11, 12 for etching parts not covered with a chemical-resistive film of a conductive material overlaid on the surface of a printed wiring board 1 comprises upper and lower rollers 32, 33 formed from sponge-like elastic bodies each disposed above and below carried printed wiring board 1, so that their contact top ends are elastically collapsed to contact the printed wiring board 1 and reversing mechanisms 20, 26, 28, 30, which hold the upper and lower rollers and rotate 180 deg. to reverse it by turning over the printed wiring board 1 sandwiched between the upper and lower rollers.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a method for etching a printed wiring board in an etching step of the printed wiring board.
The present invention relates to a device for reversing a printed wiring board and a method for reversing a printed wiring board, which are used for turning over and turning over.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to manufacture a printed wiring board, a conductive material such as copper is coated on a surface of an insulating support plate member serving as a substrate by printing, and then a portion of the conductive material used for conducting current. By forming a chemical-resistant cover film on top of the substrate and performing etching with the part not used for current conduction exposed, the part of the conductive material not used for current conduction is chemically corroded. There is a step of removing by.

Conventionally, as an etching apparatus for performing such an etching process, there has been a horizontal transfer spray type copper etching apparatus as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, for example. The first conventional etching apparatus includes upper and lower transport rollers 22 and 23 for transporting the printed wiring board 1 and upper and lower sprays 24 and 25 for spraying an etching solution onto the upper and lower surfaces of the printed wiring board 1. I have.

The first conventional printed wiring board etching apparatus transports the printed wiring board 1 sandwiched between upper and lower transport rollers 22 and 23 in a horizontal direction.
The etching process is performed by spraying an etching solution such as ferric chloride from the upper and lower sprays 24 and 25 onto the upper and lower surfaces of the printed wiring board 1 thus conveyed.

[0005] However, such a first conventional etching apparatus has a structure shown in FIG.
As shown in (1), a liquid pool 27 in which the etching liquid sprayed from the upper spray 24 is liable to be generated at the center thereof. For this reason, the replacement of the starting liquid and the starting liquid from the upper spray 24 does not progress, and the copper concentration locally increases, and there are places where the etching does not proceed.

On the other hand, on the lower surface of the printed wiring board 1, since the replacement of the first liquid and the second liquid from the lower spray 25 is smoothly performed by gravity, no liquid pool is generated, so that a quick and uniform etching process is performed. Can be performed. For this reason, there is a problem that etching proceeds faster on the lower surface of the printed wiring board 1 than on the upper surface, and the etching speed is different between the upper surface and the lower surface.

In order to solve such a problem of the liquid pool, there has conventionally been an etching apparatus disclosed in, for example, JP-A-4-305994. As shown in FIG. 8, the second conventional etching apparatus includes a printed wiring board between two first and second etching tanks 11 and 12 having the same configuration as that of the first conventional etching apparatus. A reversing device 10 for reversing the upper and lower surfaces is provided.

That is, the reversing device 10 for turning the upper and lower surfaces of the printed wiring board 1 upside down extends radially around the rotatable support shaft 3 orthogonal to the conveying direction of the printed wiring board 1, and a plurality of sets of V It has a reversing arm 5, 6 which is shaped like a letter and holds the printed wiring board 1 in between. The V-shaped reversing arms 5 and 6 hold the printed wiring boards 1 successively conveyed therebetween and rotate 180 ° together with the support shaft 3 to turn each of the printed wiring boards 1 in turn. Can be inverted.

FIG. 9 shows another conventional etching apparatus for solving the above-mentioned problem of liquid pool. As shown in the figure, the third conventional etching apparatus includes a reversing device 50 different from the reversing device 10 provided in the second conventional etching device.

As shown in FIG. 10, the reversing device 50 holds the motor 54 as shown in FIG. 9 while holding the printed wiring board 1 between the upper and lower transport ring rollers 47 and 48.
The printed wiring board 1 is rotated by 180 ° together with the roller support 49 for supporting the upper and lower transport ring rollers 47 and 48 by the rotation of the winding belt 56 and turned upside down.

[0011]

However, in the second conventional etching apparatus shown in FIG. 8, the length of the reversing device 10 is required to be twice as long as the length of the printed wiring board 1. There was a problem that an increase in size was inevitable.

When the reversing arms 5 and 6 start rotating from the horizontal position and turn to a position rotated by about 90 °, that is, to a substantially vertical position, the printed wiring board 1 becomes a V-shaped reversing arm 5. When the printed wiring board 1 collides with the reversing arms 5 and 6, the cover film covering the non-etched portion of the printed wiring board 1 is scratched, and the printed wiring board 1 is damaged. There was a risk of product failure.

Also, due to poor adjustment, the printed wiring board 1 that has been conveyed may not enter the space between the V-shaped reversing arms 5 and 6, and the reversing arms 5 and 6 may rotate without being rotated. When the printed wiring board 1 enters between the reversing arms 5 and 6 forming a V-shape, the printed wiring board 1 generates friction between the reversing arms 5 and 6 and the printed wiring board 1 The cover film covering the non-etched portion of the board 1 may be damaged, and the printed wiring board 1 may be defective in the same manner as described above.

On the other hand, in the third etching apparatus shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the displacement of the printed wiring board 1 and the weight of the printed wiring board 1 due to the centrifugal force during rotation of the printed wiring board 1 and the weight of the printed wiring board 1 are reduced. There is a risk of falling.

As shown in FIG. 10, in a reversing device 50 of the type in which the printed wiring board 1 is sandwiched by utilizing the elasticity of the drive shafts 51 and 52 of the upper and lower conveying ring rollers 47 and 48, the printed wiring board is used. 1 is thick, the contact width of the upper and lower transport ring rollers 47, 48 with the printed wiring board 1 is narrow (the thickness of the rollers is thin), and the upper and lower transport ring rollers 47, 48 have poor elasticity. When the local pressing force F at the sandwiched portion of the printed wiring board 1 by the upper and lower transport ring rollers 47 and 48 becomes excessive, the cover film masking the non-etched portion of the printed wiring board 1 is damaged, and There is a possibility that a product defect occurs in the wiring board 1.

In view of the above problems, the present invention prevents the cover film covering the non-etched portion of the printed wiring board from being damaged, thereby preventing the printed wiring board from being defective and preventing the printed wiring board from being enlarged. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printed wiring board reversing device and a printed wiring board reversing method that can perform the method.

[0017]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a reversing device for a printed wiring board according to the present invention is not covered with a chemical resistant coating of a conductive material coated on the surface of the printed wiring board. In a reversing device for a printed wiring board, which is disposed via a transfer device between each of two etching tanks for etching a portion, a plurality of contact tips are disposed above and below the transferred printed wiring board, respectively, and the contact tips are elastic. A chemical-resistant upper and lower roller formed of a sponge-like elastic body that is in contact with the printed wiring board and is rotated by 180 ° while holding the upper and lower rollers and holding the printed wiring board between the upper and lower rollers. And a reversing mechanism for reversing the inside out.

According to the reversing device for a printed wiring board having such a configuration, the upper and lower rollers elastically crush the contact end portions of the printed wiring board conveyed by the conveying device, so that the upper and lower rollers are vertically moved between the contact end portions. The printed circuit board can be turned upside down by rotating the printed wiring board by 180 ° together with the upper and lower rollers.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 7
FIG. 1 is a diagram referred to for describing a first embodiment of a printed wiring board reversing device and a printed wiring board reversing method according to the present invention.

First and second etching tanks 1 in FIG.
Numerals 1 and 12 are horizontal transfer spray type copper etching apparatuses similar to those shown in FIG. First etching tank 11
A first transport conveyor 18 for transporting the printed wiring board 1 on which the first etching process has been performed to the printed wiring board reversing device 15 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is disposed at the exit side of the first embodiment. Have been. Also, the second etching tank 12
A second transport conveyor 19 for transporting the printed wiring board 1, which has been turned upside down by the printed wiring board reversing device 15, to the second etching tank 12 is arranged at the entrance side of the second wiring board.

The first transport conveyor 18 and the second transport conveyor 19 are formed by a plastic ring roller conveyor having chemical resistance. In addition, when the printed wiring board 1 moves on and off the first transport conveyor 18 and the second transport conveyor 19, friction occurs between the printed wiring boards 1 due to a speed difference between the printed wiring boards 1 and the cover film of the printed wiring board 1 is damaged. Conveyor 1
There is provided an automatic synchronization adjusting device for automatically synchronizing the speeds of the devices 8 and 19 with the preceding and following devices.

Similarly, in order to achieve the purpose of automatically synchronizing the speed, the diameter of the shaft hole of the ring roller is slightly increased with respect to the diameter of the drive shaft of the ring roller of the conveyors 18 and 19, and the printing is performed. If there is a speed difference between the conveyors 18 and 19 and the preceding and following devices at the transition of the getting on and off of the wiring board 1, the ring roller may idle around the drive shaft to synchronize the speed.

As shown in FIG. 2, the printed wiring board reversing device 15 is covered by a housing 17 from the outside. The housing 17 has an inlet 17a and an outlet 17b of the printed wiring board 1 and a cleaning device to be described later. A drain hole 17c from which water is discharged is provided. Further, inside the housing 17, a roller supporting rotating frame 20 as shown in FIG. 3 is rotatably provided with its rotating shaft 42 fitted in a shaft hole 44 of the housing 17.

The housing 1 of the roller supporting rotary frame 20
An elongated hole 20a through which the printed wiring board 1 passes is formed in a plate portion on the side opposite to the entrance 17a and the exit 17b of 7. In addition, the plate portion on the side orthogonal to the plate portion in which the long hole 20a of the roller support rotation frame 20 is formed is provided with a rotation shaft 42 at the center thereof, and the rotation shaft of the upper and lower rollers described below is provided. Roller shaft support hole 20 rotatably fitted
A large number of b are formed at equal intervals in the upper and lower rows over the entire length.

The rotating shafts 4 on both sides of the roller supporting rotating frame 20
2 is provided with a pulley 26 which, as shown in FIG.
Thus, the rotation is driven via the wrapping belt 30. Also, as shown in FIG. 1, inside the roller support rotary frame 20, a number of upper and lower rollers 32, 33 for taking in and holding the printed wiring board 1 are provided with the rotary shafts 36, 37 as described above. It is provided so as to fit in the support hole 20b.

It should be noted that a sprocket may be used in place of the pulley 26 and a chain may be used in place of the wrapping belt 30, or a gear mechanism may be used instead of the wrapping drive coupling mechanism. A drive coupling mechanism may be used. Alternatively, any drive source such as a pneumatic or hydraulic device such as a rotary actuator may be used instead of the drive motor 28.

The above-mentioned roller supporting rotary frame 20, pulley 2
6, the driving motor 28 and the wrapping belt 30 hold the upper and lower rollers 32 and 33 as a whole, and the printed wiring board 1 is sandwiched between the upper and lower rollers 32 and 33, and
A reversing mechanism for turning the printed wiring board 1 upside down by rotating by 80 ° is configured.

As shown in FIG. 4, the upper and lower rollers 32 and 33 are divided into a plurality in the longitudinal direction of the rotating shafts 36 and 37, and are provided so as to face each other vertically. I have. The upper and lower rollers 32 and 33 are formed of an elastic body having a small elastic coefficient such as a sponge, and the front end of the contact with the printed wiring board 1 is elastically crushed as shown in FIG. It is supposed to.

For this purpose, the pitch distance P between the rotating shafts 36 and 37 of the upper and lower rollers 32 and 33 is
33 is set smaller than the diameter D. Since the upper and lower rollers 32 and 33 come into contact with the printed wiring board 1 to which the etching liquid has adhered, they have chemical resistance (acid resistance) so as not to be eroded by the etching liquid.

As shown in FIG. 1, a spray radiating device 38 for radiating a cleaning agent from a spray radiating portion 38a is provided on a ceiling portion of the housing 17 of the reversing device 15 for a printed wiring board. Only the cock 43 is opened and only the hydrochloric acid is sprayed periodically by the spray radiating device 38. Below the roller supporting rotary frame 20 in the housing 17, an inclined plate-shaped cleaning agent receiver 46 is provided, and the cleaning agent collected by the cleaning agent receiver 46 is discharged from the drain hole 17c and drained. Spilled to the road.

Instead of spraying only hydrochloric acid as described above, only cock 45 may be opened to spray water only periodically, or cocks 43 and 45 may be opened at an appropriate opening ratio. Hydrochloric acid (Hcl) and water (H
₂ O) may be periodically is sprayed radiation by mixing in suitable proportions a.

As a result of this cleaning, the etchant sludge carried by the printed wiring board 1 from the first etching tank 11, that is, insoluble matter such as copper chloride generated in the course of copper etching, is applied to the upper and lower rollers 32, 33. The sludge can be washed off so as to prevent the sludge from adhering and damaging the cover film of the printed wiring board 1.

The operation of the printed wiring board reversing device 15 having such a configuration will be described below. The printed wiring board 1 that has been etched by the first etching tank 11 having the structure shown in FIG. 6 is transported by the first transport conveyor 18 to the printed wiring board reversing device 15, and is taken between the upper and lower rollers 32 and 33. Stop in the state of being sandwiched. When the drive motor 28 rotates in this state, the roller support rotating frame 20 rotates 180 ° via the wrapping belt 30 and the pulley 26 and is turned upside down.

Next, when the upper and lower rollers 32 and 33 rotate in the reverse direction, the printed wiring board 1 is removed from the second etching tank 12.
And is transported into the second etching tank 12 by the second transport conveyor 19. Then, the printed wiring board 1 in a state where the printed wiring board 1 at the time of etching in the first etching tank 11 is turned upside down is subjected to the etching process again in the second etching tank 12. For this reason, it is possible to perform the same quick and uniform etching process on each of the upper and lower surfaces of the printed wiring board 1.

As described above, according to the reversing device 15 for a printed wiring board according to the present embodiment, the first conveyor 18
The upper and lower rollers 32, 33 elastically crush the contact end portions of the printed wiring board 1 conveyed between them, and sandwich the printed wiring board 1 therebetween, and the reversing mechanisms 20, 26, 28, 30 form the upper and lower rollers 32, 33. Together with the printed wiring board 1
Rotate ° and flip it upside down.

Therefore, unlike the above-described second and third conventional etching apparatuses, the printed wiring board 1 does not collide, friction, shift, or drop with other members. The cover film covering the non-etched portion of the board 1 is not damaged, so that it is possible to prevent the printed wiring board 1 from being defective.

Further, since the periphery of the printed wiring board reversing device 15 is covered by the housing 17, highly corrosive chemical droplets such as hydrochloric acid splash from both the first and second etching tanks 11 and 12. As a result, the components of the reversing device 15 of the printed wiring board in the housing 17 are not hindered, so that they can be protected from being corroded. Further, by providing the roller support rotary frame 20, the pulley 26, the drive motor 28, the wrapping belt 30, and the like constituting the reversing mechanism in a cover that is liquid-tight with a sealing material or the like, the components are further corroded. Can be protected from

Further, since the upper and lower rollers 32 and 33 are formed of an elastic material having a small elastic coefficient such as a sponge, and the contact tip portion is crushed and can contact the printed wiring board 1 in a wide area, the printed wiring board is formed. 1, the contact pressure per unit area is reduced, and the frictional force generated when the printed wiring board 1 is stopped or accelerated is reduced. For this reason,
As in the above-described third conventional etching apparatus, it is possible to prevent the cover film of the non-etched portion of the printed wiring board 1 from being damaged due to the local pressing force, thereby causing a defective product of the printed wiring board 1. can do.

Further, since the upper and lower rollers 32 and 33 have a small elastic coefficient and a large elastically deformable area, it is possible to widely cope with a change in the thickness of the printed wiring board 1. Therefore, a complicated mechanism such as moving the shafts of the upper and lower rollers 32 and 33 up and down for each thickness of the printed wiring board 1 is not required.

Since the length of the roller supporting rotary frame 20 of the printed wiring board reversing device 15 can be substantially the same as the length of the printed wiring board 1, the reversing device 10 in the second conventional example shown in FIG. Like the printed wiring board 1
It is possible to prevent an increase in the size of the device due to the need for double the length.

Further, since the spray radiation device 38 is provided, a highly corrosive etchant such as hydrochloric acid and sludge thereof from the printed wiring board 1 adhere to each component of the printed wiring board reversing device 15 in the housing 17. In this case, the components can be immediately washed away, and their components can be protected from corrosion. In addition, the cover film of the non-etched portion of the printed wiring board 1 can be prevented from being damaged by sludge.

Further, since the printed circuit board reversing device 15 according to the above embodiment does not require a complicated mechanism, the cost of the device can be reduced, and the work efficiency can be reduced because the number of failures is small. Can be prevented.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been specifically described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and may be variously modified based on the technical idea of the present invention. Can be changed.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The upper and lower rollers elastically crush the contact tip of the printed wiring board conveyed by the transfer device and sandwich the printed tip between the contact tips from above and below. The reversing mechanism rotates the printed wiring board 180 ° together with the upper and lower rollers. It can be turned upside down.

Therefore, it is possible to surely prevent the cover film covering the non-etched portion of the printed wiring board from being damaged and causing a product defect on the printed wiring board. Further, since the length of the roller supporting rotary frame is substantially the same as the length of the printed wiring board, it is possible to prevent the apparatus from being enlarged.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a printed wiring board reversing device 15 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a housing 1 of a printed wiring board reversing device 15;
FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a roller supporting rotary frame 20;

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged perspective view of a pair of upper and lower rollers 32 and 33.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged front view of a pair of upper and lower rollers 32 and 33.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view of an etching apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a view of the etching apparatus in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a front sectional view of a conventional reversing device 10.

FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of another conventional reversing device 50.

10 is a schematic front sectional view of the reversing device 50 in FIG.

[Description of Signs] 1 ... printed wiring board, 3 ... support shaft, 5, 6 ... reversing arm,
10: reversing device, 11: first etching tank, 12: second
Etching tank, 15 ... reversing device for printed wiring board, 17
... Housing, 17a ... Inlet, 17b ... Outlet, 17c ...
Drain hole, 18: first transport conveyor, 19: second transport conveyor, 20: roller support rotating frame, 20a: elongated hole, 2
0b: roller shaft support hole, 24, 25: up and down spray,
26 ... pulley, 27 ... pool, 28 ... drive motor,
30, a winding belt, 32, an upper roller, 33, a lower roller, 36, 37, a rotating shaft, 38, a spray radiating device,
38a: spray radiator, 42: rotary shaft, 44: shaft hole,
43, 45 ... cock, 46 ... cleaner receiver, 47,48 ...
Upper and lower transport ring rollers, 49: roller support, 50
... reversing device, 51, 52 ... drive shaft, 54 ... motor, 56 ... winding belt

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3F081 AA10 AA22 BD15 BE03 BE09 BF11 BF20 BF23 CA04 CA42 CA47 CC12 4K057 WA02 WM02 WM04 WM18 WN01 5E339 BE13 BE16 EE04

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A print disposed via a transfer device between each of two etching tanks for etching a portion of a printed wiring board that is not covered with a chemical resistant coating of a conductive material coated on a surface of a printed wiring board. In the wiring board reversing device, a plurality of sponge-like elastic bodies are arranged above and below the conveyed printed wiring board, and the contact tips are elastically crushed and come into contact with the printed wiring board. And a reversing mechanism for holding the upper and lower rollers and inverting the printed wiring board by turning the printed wiring board by 180 ° while being sandwiched between the upper and lower rollers. . 2. A print disposed via a transfer device between each of two etching tanks for etching a portion of the printed wiring board which is not covered with the chemical resistant coating of a conductive material coated on the surface of the printed wiring board. In the reversing device for a wiring board, a plurality of sponge-like elastic bodies are arranged above and below the conveyed printed wiring board, and the contact tips are elastically crushed and come into contact with the printed wiring board. Using a reversing device for a printed wiring board, comprising: an upper and lower roller having a reversing mechanism for holding the upper and lower rollers and turning the printed wiring board by 180 ° in a state sandwiched by the upper and lower rollers to reverse the inside out. The upper and lower rollers sandwich the printed wiring board conveyed by the conveyance device from above and below between the contact front ends when the contact front ends are crushed elastically. Inversion method of the printed wiring board, characterized in that the reversing mechanism is so as to reverse the printed circuit board inside out by rotating 180 ° with the vertical rollers. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the periphery is covered by a box-shaped housing. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a cleaning device is provided above the reversing mechanism.