JP2001323399A - Plating treatment device and plating treatment method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a plating treatment device and a plating treatment method which are excellent in plating efficiency and do not damage individual works to be plated. SOLUTION: This plating treatment device has a plating tank 201, plural conductive rollers 41 which are disposed in this plating tank 201, constitute cathodes and transport the works W, anodes 202 and 203 which are disposed across the conductive rollers 41 above and below the same within the plating tank 201 and a plating current supply section which supplies plating current to the conductive rollers 41. Further, the device may be provided with roller forward and backward drive means for rotating the conductive rollers 41 forward and backward. Further, this plating treatment method consists in carrying the works W into the plating tank 201 and subjecting the works to plating treatment while moving the works by the conductive rollers 41 and while moving the works W back and forth by the forward and backward rotation of the rollers on the conductive rollers 41 and then the works are took out from the plating tank 201.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plating apparatus and a plating method capable of efficiently plating an object to be treated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to carry out plating treatment on a conductive bulk object, for example, a plate-shaped metal piece, a magnet piece, or the like,
Many of them have polygonal cross-sections, for example hexagons,
A large number of plating solution circulation holes were accommodated in the opened barrel, the barrel was immersed in the plating bath containing the plating solution, and the barrel was rotated while the anode and the anode provided in the plating bath were provided in the barrel. The plating process is performed by supplying a plating current to the cathode. Further, a medium (iron ball) electrically connected to the cathode is usually put into the barrel so that the plating current flows smoothly through a large number of workpieces.

[0003]

However, the conventional plating method has a problem that the plating efficiency is very poor because the objects to be processed are overlapped and accommodated in the barrel. Further, when a medium is used, plating is inevitably performed on the medium placed in the barrel, so that the plating efficiency is further reduced. Further, there is a problem that the workpieces collide with each other in the barrel due to the rotation of the barrel, and the corners are damaged.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a plating apparatus and a plating method which are excellent in plating efficiency and do not cause damage to individual workpieces. This object is achieved by the invention described below.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plating apparatus for plating an object to be processed, comprising: a plating tank having an anode; And a plating processing apparatus comprising: a plurality of conductive rollers configured to transport a workpiece; and a plating current supply unit configured to supply a plating current to the anode and the conductive roller. According to the first plating apparatus, the objects to be processed can be plated while being individually placed and transported on the plurality of conductive rollers, so that the objects to be processed may interfere with each other or collide with each other. Therefore, the plating can be efficiently performed without causing damage to the object to be processed.

[0006] In a preferred embodiment of the first plating apparatus, the plating tank has a loading side wall portion formed with a loading port for loading an object to be processed into a conductive roller in the tank, and the plating tank after plating. An unloading side wall having an unloading port for unloading the processing object from the conductive roller to the outside of the tank is formed. An outflow suppressing means that can pass through and suppresses outflow of the plating solution in the tank can be provided. By providing a carry-in port on the carry-in side wall portion of the plating tank and a carry-out port on the carry-out side wall portion, the object to be processed is carried into the plating tank through the carry-in port and the carry-out port, and the plated object to be treated is Since the object can be carried out of the tank, the object to be treated can be smoothly carried in and out of the plating tank, and productivity can be improved. Moreover, since the outflow suppressing means is provided, it is possible to suppress and prevent a large amount of plating solution from flowing out from the entrance and the exit when carrying in and carrying out the object to be treated, so that the plating solution in the plating tank can be prevented. Can be effectively used, and non-plating due to outflow of the plating solution can be prevented.

[0007] In the first plating apparatus,
As a preferred embodiment, a roller forward / reverse drive unit for rotating the conductive roller forward / reverse can be further provided.
By providing the roller forward / reverse drive means, the conductive roller can be driven to rotate in the forward / reverse direction. As a result, a region where the object is shielded from the anode by the conductive roller can be reciprocated for a desired time by forward and reverse rotation of the conductive roller, and a plating film having a desired film thickness is uniformly formed on the object. can do.
In addition, the plating process can be performed while the workpiece is reciprocated, so that the plating tank can be made compact.

[0008] In the first plating apparatus,
In a preferred embodiment, the anode can be constituted by a lower anode disposed below a conductive roller and an upper anode disposed above. By providing the upper anode and the lower anode, the workpiece placed on the conductive roller in the plating tank can be plated from above and below, and plating films can be quickly formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the workpiece. Can be formed. This is particularly effective when the object to be processed is, for example, a flat or plate-shaped object.

Further, in the first plating apparatus,
As a preferred embodiment, provisional plating members electrically connected to the cathode side of the plating current supply unit can be provided at both end portions of the mounting area of the workpiece formed by the conductive roller. By providing the temporary plating member, it is possible to suppress the plating current from being concentrated on the corner of the workpiece placed on the side end side of the placement area, and to reduce the corner of the workpiece. It is possible to prevent the plating film from being locally thickened easily. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the plating film from becoming uneven due to the placement position of the workpiece.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plating apparatus for plating an object to be processed, comprising: a plating tank having an anode; and a plurality of conductive tanks constituting a cathode and mounting the object to be processed. A workpiece accommodating unit having a reversible roller and a roller forward / reverse drive unit for rotating the conductive roller forward / reverse; a transport unit for detachably transporting the workpiece accommodating unit with respect to the plating tank; A plating apparatus includes an anode and a plating current supply unit that supplies a plating current to the conductive roller. According to the second plating apparatus, the object is placed on the conductive roller and the plating is performed. Therefore, the plating can be efficiently performed without causing damage to the object. Further, since the processing object storage unit having the conductive roller is detachable from the plating tank by the transport means, the processing object can be handled for each processing object storage unit, and handling and operability are improved. Excellent. For example, plating treatments such as pickling and washing with water can be performed for each of the workpiece storage units. Further, since the roller forward / reverse driving means is provided, the area where the object to be processed is shielded from the anode by the conductive roller can be reciprocated for a desired time by forward / reverse rotation of the conductive roller, and a desired film can be formed. A thick plating film can be uniformly formed on the workpiece. Further, since the plating process can be performed while the workpiece is reciprocated, the workpiece housing unit can be made compact.

In a preferred embodiment of the second plating apparatus, the anode includes a lower anode disposed below a conductive roller and an upper anode disposed above the conductive roller. Moving means for moving the upper anode to a position where it does not interfere with the processing object housing unit when the unit is attached to and detached from the plating tank may be further provided. By providing the upper anode and the lower anode, when the processing object storage unit is mounted on the plating tank, it is possible to perform plating on the processing object mounted on the conductive roller from above and below. Plating films can be quickly formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the object. This is particularly effective when the object to be processed is, for example, a flat or plate-shaped object.
Further, by providing the moving means, it is possible to prevent interference between the processing object housing unit and the upper electrode when the processing object housing unit is mounted on the plating tank.

Further, in the second plating apparatus,
As a preferred embodiment, a temporary plating member electrically connected to the cathode side of the plating current supply unit can be provided on a peripheral portion of a mounting area of the workpiece formed by the conductive roller. By providing the temporary plating member, it is possible to suppress the plating current from being concentrated on the corner of the workpiece placed on the peripheral edge side of the placement area, and to prevent the plating current from being concentrated on the corner of the workpiece. It is possible to prevent local thickening of the plating film, which easily occurs. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the plating film from becoming uneven due to the placement position of the workpiece.

In a preferred embodiment of the first and second plating apparatuses, the plating current supply unit includes an upper anode current control unit for controlling a plating current supplied to the upper anode, and a lower anode current control unit. And a lower anode current controller for controlling a plating current supplied to the anode. By providing the upper anode current controller and the lower anode current controller, the current density of the lower anode shielded by the conductive roller can be increased as compared with the upper anode. By increasing the current density of the lower anode compared to that of the upper anode, it is possible to increase the amount of plating adhered to the lower surface of the processing object, which is difficult to adhere to because of the shadow of the conductive roller. The uniformity of the plating films on the upper and lower surfaces can be easily improved.

In a preferred embodiment of the first and second plating apparatuses, the conductive roller may have a roller cover for shielding a lower surface of the conductive roller from the lower electrode. By providing the roller cover, the inevitable formation of a plating film on the surface of the conductive roller by the lower anode can be suppressed. As a result, unevenness of the roller surface due to the formation of the plating film can be suppressed, and uniformity of the outer peripheral surface of the roller can be maintained. For this reason, it is possible to prevent uneven plating caused by uneven contact between the object to be processed and the surface of the conductive roller. Further, the period of replacement of the conductive roller, which is performed when the plating film exceeds the allowable amount, can be extended, and the maintainability can be improved.

In a preferred embodiment of the first and second plating apparatuses, the conductive roller is detachably attached to a drive shaft provided with a drive member, and to the drive shaft. And a mounting roller section for mounting an object to be processed. When the conductive roller is configured such that the drive shaft portion and the mounting roller portion are detachably attached, when a plating film adheres to the mounting roller portion, only the mounting roller portion of the conductive roller is replaced. Thereby, the contact with the object can be improved. Therefore, it is not necessary to replace the entirety of the conductive roller, so that the maintainability is further improved.

In the first and second plating apparatuses, as a preferred embodiment, the electrode material of the upper electrode is formed of a soluble electrode material which is dissolved by plating, and the soluble electrode material is formed at the time of plating. A net member for preventing the electrode material fine powder generated along with the dissolution of the electrode material from falling toward the material to be treated can be provided below the upper electrode. By providing the net member, it is possible to prevent the fine powder of the soluble electrode material generated during the plating process from adhering to the upper surface of the material to be processed. For this reason, the electrode material fine powder does not become a nucleus and the plating film does not grow unevenly,
A high quality plating film having good surface properties can be formed on the surface of the workpiece.

In the first and second plating apparatuses, as a preferred embodiment, the electrode material of the upper electrode can be formed of an insoluble electrode material. In this embodiment, the electrode material does not dissolve during the plating process and the electrode material fine powder generated when a soluble electrode material is used is not generated, so that non-uniform growth of the plating film does not occur and high quality plating is performed. A film can be obtained.

In the first and second plating apparatuses, as a preferred embodiment, a filtration apparatus for filtering a plating solution in a plating tank to remove fine dust mixed therein can be provided. By providing this filtration device, it is possible to remove fine dust such as electrode material fine powder and dust mixed in the plating solution in the plating tank, which are generated with the dissolution of the soluble electrode material. For this reason, it is possible to prevent unevenness of the plating film caused by fine dust adhering to the object to be treated, and to obtain a high quality plating film.

In the first and second plating apparatuses, as a preferred embodiment, a transport guide for preventing contact between workpieces placed adjacent to each other in the axial direction of the conductive roller is provided. Can be. By providing the transport guide, it is possible to reliably prevent the workpieces placed adjacent to each other in the axial direction of the conductive roller from contacting each other. For this reason, it is possible to reliably prevent a plating defect occurring at a contact portion between the workpieces, and to form a high-quality plating film on the workpiece.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plating method for plating an object to be processed, comprising: an anode, a plurality of conductive rollers constituting a cathode and mounting the object to be processed. Prepare a plating tank, carry the workpiece to the plating tank, place the carried workpiece on a plurality of conductive rollers, while moving the workpiece on the conductive roller There is provided a plating method for carrying out plating and carrying out a plated workpiece from the plating tank. According to this plating method, plating can be performed efficiently without causing damage to the object to be processed.

In a preferred embodiment of the plating method, the plating can be carried out by reciprocating the object to be treated on the conductive roller by rotating the conductive roller forward and backward. The plating time can be arbitrarily adjusted by plating while reciprocating the object to be processed on the conductive roller, and a plating film having a desired film thickness can be obtained regardless of the length of the plating tank in the transport direction. It can be easily formed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plating method for plating an object to be processed, comprising: a plating tank having an anode; A workpiece storage unit having a conductive roller is prepared, the workpiece storage unit is mounted on the plating tank, and the conductive roller is rotated forward and reverse to reciprocate the workpiece on the conductive roller. There is provided a plating method for carrying out plating and carrying out the plated object together with the object storage unit from the plating tank. According to this plating method, the plating time can be arbitrarily adjusted without causing damage to the object to be treated, and a plating film having a desired film thickness can be easily formed. Further, since the processing target can be processed in the processing target storage unit unit, the handling property and the operability are excellent.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an overall layout of the plating apparatus according to the first embodiment. First, the entire plating apparatus will be briefly described.
For convenience of description, the moving direction of the carrier 71 is defined as the x-axis direction or the lateral direction, and the direction perpendicular to the moving direction in the horizontal plane including the moving direction of the carrier 71 is defined as the y-axis direction in accordance with the coordinate system shown in FIG. Alternatively, it is called a vertical direction.

The plating apparatus includes a loading station 101, an pickling tank 102, a first washing tank 103, a first ultrasonic washing tank 104, a plating tank 1, a second washing tank 105, a second ultrasonic washing tank 106, Third washing tank 107, drying chamber 108 having a plurality of hot air outlets, unloading station 109
And the plating film removal tanks 110 are arranged in a line in the x-axis direction. The plating tank 1, the pickling tank 102, and the like may be referred to as processing tanks without distinction. A transport rail 70 is erected above these, and a transport carrier 71 is movably provided thereon. The carrier 7
1 is a processing object storage unit 2 in which a processing object is stored.
A lifting arm 72 is provided for suspending the workpiece 1 so as to be able to move up and down, and for attaching and detaching the processing object accommodating unit 21 to and from each of the processing tanks. The loading station 101 and the unloading station 109 are each provided with a mounting table on which the processing object storage unit 21 is mounted.

The processing object storage unit 21 storing the processing object is lifted from the loading station 101 by the transfer carrier 71, and pickled in the pickling tank 102, the first washing tank 103, the first ultrasonic washing tank 104, and the plating tank. 1, second washing tank 105, second ultrasonic washing tank 106, third washing tank 10
7. After being sequentially conveyed and mounted in the drying chamber 108 and subjected to predetermined processing in each section, it is conveyed to the unloading station 109. The main part of the plating apparatus according to the present embodiment includes:
It is composed of the plating tank 1, the object storage unit 21, and the carrier 71. The role of the plating film removal tank 110 will be described later. Further, the processing object storage unit 21 may be mounted on each processing tank or the like, but is not shown in FIG.

A main part of the plating apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG.
And FIG. 3 shows that the object storage unit 21 is a plating tank 1
1 shows a state where the camera is mounted on the camera.

The plating tank 1 comprises an upper anode 2 and a lower anode 3
Are disposed to face each other in the up-down direction, and the lower portion of the processing object storage unit 21 is located therebetween. The lower anode 3 is fixed to the bottom of the plating tank 1 in an insulated state.
The upper anode 2 and the lower anode 3 each include an electrode material storage case having a large number of through holes communicating with the plating solution, and an electrode material stored therein. The electrode material includes a soluble electrode material that dissolves during plating and an insoluble electrode material that does not dissolve. For example, when performing nickel plating, a nickel plate or a nickel chip can be used as the soluble electrode material, and platinum, titanium, iridium, or the like can be used as the insoluble electrode material. On the other hand, the electrode material storage case is formed of an insoluble electrode material such as titanium. When an appropriate insoluble electrode material such as a plate-like material is used as the upper anode 2, an electrode material housing case is not necessarily required.

The plating tank 1 has an upper anode 2
Is formed. As shown in FIG. 4, a moving means 6 for moving the upper electrode 2 between the plating position and the anode evacuation area 5 is provided above the anode evacuation area 5. The moving means 6 is provided with a guide 7 on which an anode support arm 8 is attached.
It is attached movably in the axial direction. An anode mounting member 9 is hung at a front end of the anode support arm 8, and an upper anode 2 is horizontally supported at a lower end thereof. The anode support arm 8 can be moved back and forth in the y-axis direction by driving means (not shown), and can move the upper anode 2 between a plating position facing the lower anode 3 and the anode retreat area 5. And As the driving means, for example, a pneumatic cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, a rack and pinion mechanism, or the like can be used. The guide 7, the anode support arm 8, the driving means and the like constitute the moving means 6.

V-grooves 12 for supporting the processing object accommodating unit 21 are formed at the upper left and right edges in the x-axis direction of the plating tank 1 as shown in FIGS. Each of the support fittings 11A, 11A, 11B, and 11B (for convenience of explanation, the reference numeral 11 is used when these are collectively referred to) is provided insulated from the plating tank 1. The support fitting 11 is formed of a highly conductive metal material such as copper or a copper alloy, and has a pair of support fittings 11A, 11A or 1A.
1B and 11B are arranged in parallel with the x-axis direction at predetermined intervals in the y-axis direction. Then, one support fitting 11
A and 11A are conductively connected to the cathode side of the DC power supply, and the other support fittings 11B and 11B are conductively connected to the anode side of the DC power supply.

As shown in FIG. 5, the object-to-be-processed accommodation unit 21 is connected to a rectangular upper frame portion 22 and a lower frame portion 23 of the same shape via column members 24 provided at four corners. Frame 25 is provided. The lower frame portion 23 includes a pair of lower lateral members 26A and 26B arranged in parallel with the x-axis direction at a predetermined interval in the y-axis direction and the lower lateral member 2.
6A, 26B, and a pair of lower longitudinal members 27, 27 arranged in parallel with the y-axis direction, while the upper frame 22 also has a pair of upper lateral members 2 similarly.
8A, 28B and a pair of upper longitudinal members 29, 29. Further, each of the pair of pillar members 24, 24 erected in the front and rear directions in the y-axis direction has an intermediate longitudinal member 3.
A pair of support shafts 32A and 32B are provided on the intermediate longitudinal members 31 and 31 at predetermined intervals in the y-axis direction and are parallel to the x-axis direction. I have. Also, one (right side in the example in the figure) intermediate longitudinal member 3
1 is provided with a motor installation plate 33. The frame 25 is formed of a hard synthetic resin such as hard vinyl chloride, and the support shafts 32A and 32B are formed of a relatively strong metal material such as stainless steel or brass.

As shown in FIG. 2, the front support shaft 32A is formed by a pair of support metal fittings 11A, 11A provided in front of the upper end of the plating tank 1 and the rear support shaft 32B is formed by the plating tank. 1 is detachably supported by V-grooves 12 of a pair of support fittings 11B, 11B attached to the rear of the upper end. When supported by the V-groove 12, the support brackets 11A, 11A and the support shafts 32A, 11B, 11B and 3
2B becomes electrically conductive. That is, the support bracket and the support shaft also play the role of the electrical connection.

The upper lateral member 2 of the upper frame 22
As shown in FIG. 2, an inverted L-shaped hook member 35 is attached to each of 8A and 28B, and a V-shaped concave portion 37 opened downward is formed on an upper piece 36 extending inward. Is formed.

On the pair of lower lateral members 26A and 26B of the lower frame portion 23 of the frame 25, conductive rollers 41 for mounting the workpiece W are arranged at a certain interval in the x-axis direction. Many rows are provided in parallel with the axial direction. The lower front lateral member 26A is connected to a lower member 38 as shown in FIG.
And an upper member 39 joined thereon in a liquid-tight manner.
The drive shaft portion 42 has a pair of bearings 43, 43 in this shaft hole portion.
It is supported rotatably forward and backward through seal rings 44, 44. On the other hand, a shaft hole is also arranged in the rear lower lateral member 26B, and the other end of the conductive roller 41 is rotatably supported in the shaft hole.

A drive shaft 4 is provided between the bearings 43.
A pair of upper and lower power supply members 45, 45 abutting on 2 are housed. As shown in FIG. 8, the power supply members 45, 45 are combined such that the concave portion 46 having a radius slightly smaller than the shaft diameter of the drive shaft portion 42 and the flat portion are repeatedly coupled, and the flat portions come into contact with each other. Then, a shaft hole is formed inside the concave portions 46, 46. The power supply member 45 is formed of an elastic conductive metal material, for example, a copper alloy spring material.
The power supply members 45, 45 are housed in recesses formed along the length direction (lateral direction) at the center of the boundary surface between the lower member 38 and the upper member 39. The power supply member is 45, 45
Is electrically connected by a lead wire (not shown) to a support shaft 32A which is electrically connected to the cathode side of the plating DC power supply. The lead wire is housed in a concave groove (not shown) formed in the intermediate longitudinal member 31 and the column member 24, and is fixed by an insulating filler (not shown) filled in the concave groove.

As shown in FIG. 6, the conductive roller 41
The drive shaft portion 42 is rotatably supported by the front lower lateral member 26A and is in contact with the power supply member 45, and the mounting roller portion 48 screwed to the rear end of the drive shaft portion 42. ing. A worm wheel 47 made of engineering plastic is attached to the front end of the drive shaft 42, and a synthetic resin sleeve 53 for preventing plating is fitted to the rear end of the drive shaft 42. On the other hand, a sliding sleeve 49 made of a synthetic resin having a low coefficient of friction such as a fluorine resin is provided on the rear side of the placing roller portion 48.
The shaft provided with the sleeve 49 is rotatably held in a shaft hole of the rear lower lateral member 26B. Further, the rear end of the placing roller portion 48 projects outside the lower lateral member 26B, and a flat portion 50 on which a tool such as a spanner is applied is formed on the rear end. Therefore, by holding the flat portion 50 with an appropriate tool and rotating the mounting roller portion 48, the mounting roller portion 48 can be easily removed from the drive shaft portion 42. Also,
Even if the plating film adheres to the mounting roller portion 48, the shaft hole portion is large enough to allow the sliding sleeve 49 to be inserted. Therefore, the mounting roller portion 48 to which the plating film has adhered can be easily removed from the shaft hole portion. Can be.

The conductive roller 41 is formed of a relatively high-strength metal material such as brass or stainless steel, and its drive shaft portion 42 comes into contact with a power supply member 45 that is electrically connected to the cathode side of the plating power supply. Therefore, it functions as a cathode in the plating process. If the conductive roller 41 is too thick, the shadow of the lower anode 3 on the lower surface of the object to be processed becomes large, and the plating efficiency is reduced. On the other hand, if it is too thin, the strength will be insufficient depending on the object to be processed, and it will be easy to deform,
The frictional force with the roller surface is insufficient, and it becomes difficult to move the object to the left or right according to the forward / reverse rotation of the roller. For this reason,
The outer diameter is appropriately set according to the object to be processed, but for a small weight, the outer diameter may be approximately 2 to 10 mm. In addition, while increasing the spacing between the rollers increases the plating efficiency, in order to ensure smooth movement of the workpiece, the total spacing of at least three rollers is set to be the length in the moving direction of the workpiece. In other words, the interval between the rollers is preferably set so that the object to be processed is always placed by at least two conductive rollers 41.

Below the conductive roller 41, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, a roller cover 51 for suppressing the conductive roller 41 from being plated by the lower anode 3 is provided. The roller cover 51 includes a cover holding plate 52 provided inside the lower lateral members 26A and 26B.
Is mounted and held by the U-shaped concave portion. The top of the conductive roller 41 with which the workpiece W is in contact projects from the upper end of the roller cover 51 by about 1 mm.
A slight gap of about 0.5 to 1 mm is formed between the inner surface of the roller 41 and the roller 41. In addition, the shape of the roller cover is free, and is not limited to the U-shape in the illustrated example.

When the conductive roller 41 is used as a cathode and a workpiece W is placed on the cathode and plating is performed, the conductive roller 41 exists between the lower surface of the workpiece W and the lower anode 3. To prevent the formation of a plating film. For this reason, the lower anode 3 is brought closer to the conductive roller 41 side,
Is effective for plating the lower surface of the workpiece W by increasing the plating current density. However, when such a measure is taken, the conductive roller 41 is closer to the lower anode 3 than the workpiece W, so that the plating film easily adheres to the conductive roller 41. For such a problem,
As shown in FIG. 7, by providing the roller cover 51, formation of a plating film on the surface of the conductive roller 41 can be suppressed. Thereby, the flatness of the roller surface can be maintained. In addition, when a plating film exceeding the allowable amount adheres, the conductive roller 41 (placing roller portion 48) needs to be replaced, but the replacement cycle can be extended.

On the other hand, a motor 55 and a control box 56 are provided on the motor mounting plate 33 attached to the right intermediate longitudinal member 31 as shown in FIG. A transmission shaft 59 having bevel gears 58, 58 attached to both ends is rotatably supported on the column member 24 to which the intermediate longitudinal member 31 is connected. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, a bevel gear 60 is attached to the right end of the front lower lateral member 26A, and a worm shaft 61 engaged with the worm wheel 47 of each conductive roller 41 is rotatably supported. I have. The bevel gear 58 on the upper part of the transmission shaft 59 and the bevel gear 57 connected to the output shaft of the motor 55 are engaged, while the bevel gear 58 on the lower part of the conduction shaft 59 is engaged with the bevel gear 60 of the worm shaft 61. . Thus, the rotation of the motor output shaft is transmitted to each conductive roller 41 via the transmission shaft 59 and the worm shaft 61. Note that the motor 55, the control box 56, the transmission shaft 59, the worm shaft 61, the worm wheel 47, and the like correspond to the roller forward / reverse drive means of the present invention.

The control box 56 has a motor control circuit for rotating the motor 55 forward and backward at a predetermined cycle. This control circuit is connected to a support shaft 32A on the cathode side and a support shaft 32B that is electrically connected to the anode side of the DC power supply. Thus, when the workpiece storage unit 21 is mounted on the plating tank 1, the support fittings 11B, 11B and the support shaft 32 are provided.
Power is supplied to the control circuit via B, and the motor 55 is controlled.

On the other hand, the transport carrier 71 shown in FIG. 1 has an elevating arm 72 which can be moved up and down with respect to the main body moving along the transport rail 70. Lifting arm 72
Performs a lifting operation on the main body of the transport carrier 71 by expansion and contraction of a piston rod by a fluid pressure cylinder, winding and rewinding of a wire rope, and the like. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a suspension shaft which can be engaged with a V-shaped recess 37 of a pair of hook members 35 provided on the upper lateral members 28A and 28B is provided at a lower end of the lifting arm 72. 7
4, 74 are provided in a pair at the front and rear in the y-axis direction.

The lifting arm 72 includes a suspension shaft 74,
A lower limit position 74 is located between the upper piece 36 of the hook members 35, 35 and an upper end of the upper frame 22 of the processing object accommodation unit 21, and the hanging shafts 74, 74 are located in the V-shaped recess 3.
The workpiece storage unit 21 that has been lifted in engagement with 7 moves up and down between the upper end of the workpiece storage unit 21 mounted on the plating tank 1 or the like and an upper limit position where no interference occurs. Therefore, when the elevating arm 72 is at the lower limit position, it can move without interfering with the workpiece storage unit 21 mounted on the plating tank 1 or the like, and can move up and down at the mounting position of the workpiece storage unit 21. By raising the arm 72, the processing object storage unit 21 can be lifted. Then, after the elevating arm 72 has been raised to the upper limit position, the main body of the transport carrier 71 is moved to the target position while the workpiece storage unit 21 is suspended, and the elevating arm 72 is moved there.
Is lowered to the lower limit position, the workpiece storage unit 21 can be mounted on a predetermined processing tank installed at the target position. Of course, in order to mount the processing object storage unit 21 in the processing tank, the support shaft 32 is attached to the upper end of the processing tank.
A and 32B need to be provided with support metal fittings that support and support them. Note that the transport carrier corresponds to the transport unit of the present invention.

The plating apparatus is provided with a control device for controlling the entire apparatus. This control device is shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, the main control unit 81 includes a CPU 82, a ROM 83, a RAM 84, and a control interface 85. An operation panel 86 operated by an operator is connected to the main control unit 81. The operator inputs the procedure of the plating process to the main control unit 81 from the operation panel 86, the procedure is stored in the ROM 83, and the CPU 82 outputs a control signal.

The main control section 81 includes an upper anode current control section 91, a lower anode current control section 92, a carrier control section 93, a movement control section 94 for controlling the movement of the upper anode 2, an ultrasonic washing tank 104, An ultrasonic cleaning control unit (not shown) for controlling the ultrasonic cleaning device provided in 106 and a drying control unit (not shown) for controlling a hot air blower for blowing hot air into the drying chamber 108 are connected to each control unit. A control signal is input from main controller 81. On the other hand, a DC power supply 90 for supplying a DC current for plating to the upper anode current controller 91 and the lower anode current controller 92 is provided. The anode side of this DC power supply 90 is also connected to supporting metal fittings 11B, 11B for anode connection, such as the plating tank 1. On the other hand, the cathode side of the DC power supply 90 is connected to the cathode sides of the upper anode current control unit 91 and the lower anode current control unit 92, and further connected to the cathode connection support fittings 11A, 11A such as the plating tank 1. .

Here, the plating processing by the plating apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described. First, the workpiece W is placed on the conductive roller 41 of the workpiece storage unit 21 at an appropriate interval and accommodated. The processing object storage unit 21 in which the processing object W is stored is placed on the loading station 101. The transport carrier 71 lifts the workpiece storage unit 21 and places it in the pickling tank 10.
The object to be treated accommodating unit 21 is mounted on the same tank 102 by lowering the elevating arm 72. After a lapse of a predetermined time, the elevating arm 72 is raised again, and the processing object storage unit 21 is lifted, transported to the first washing tank 103, and mounted. During processing, the conductive roller 41 is rotated forward and reverse to reciprocate the workpiece W in the x-axis direction. Similarly, after the contaminants (contamination) adhered to the first ultrasonic washing tank 104 are ultrasonically cleaned, the transport carrier 71 transports the workpiece storage unit 21 to the plating tank 1 and mounts the same.

When the lifting / lowering arm 72 of the carrier 71 mounts the processing object storage unit 21 on the plating tank 1, the upper anode 2 is retracted to the retreat area 5. After the workpiece storage unit 21 is mounted, the anode support arm 8 moves forward, the upper anode 2 moves to a position facing the lower anode 3, and plating is performed. At this time, the conductive roller 41
Is reciprocated back and forth in the x-axis direction according to the forward / reverse rotation of the conductive roller 41. When the roller cover 51 is attached, the reciprocating movement distance of the workpiece W is preferably at least about the width of the cover.
If the reciprocating movement distance is increased, the conductive roller 41
This is because the number of workpieces W that can be placed on the substrate is reduced. Similarly, when the plating process is performed with the roller cover 51 removed, the diameter is preferably about the diameter of the conductive roller 41. In this embodiment, the control of the movement distance is performed by adjusting a forward / reverse rotation switching timer provided in the motor control circuit. At the time of the plating process, the current density of the upper anode 2 and the lower anode 3 may be controlled so that the thickness of the plating film on the upper surface and the lower surface of the workpiece W is substantially the same.

After a predetermined processing time has elapsed, the anode support arm 8 is retracted, and the upper anode 2 is retracted to the retreat area 5. Then, the lifting / lowering arm 72 is raised to lift the processing object storage unit 21, and the processing object storage unit is sequentially moved to the second washing tank 104, the second ultrasonic washing tank 105, the third washing tank 107, and the drying chamber 108. Transport and mount 21
Predetermined processing is performed in each processing tank and the like. Thereafter, the processing object storage unit 21 is transported and unloaded to the unloading station 109, and the plated processing object is taken out of the processing object storage unit 21.

As the plating process is repeatedly performed, a plating film inevitably adheres to the surface of the conductive roller 41 and grows. When the plating film has a certain thickness or more, in addition to coming into contact with the inner surface of the roller cover 51, irregularities are generated on the roller surface, and the conduction state to the workpieces W is changed. In contrast, uniform plating cannot be performed. Therefore, when the plating film has a certain thickness, the mounting roller portion 48 of the conductive roller 41 is replaced. Since this plating apparatus has a plating film removing tank 110 for dissolving and removing the plating film adhered to the conductive roller 41, the plating film is removed by immersing the plating object removing unit 110 in the same tank 110. You may. This is particularly effective when the conductive roller 41 is not divided.

The present invention is not construed as being limited by the plating apparatus of the first embodiment. For example,
It can be as follows.

In the first embodiment, the lower anode 3 and the upper anode 2 are provided above and below the conductive roller 41 during the plating process. The anode and the lower anode 3 may be used in combination.
By eliminating the upper anode 2 according to the embodiment, the moving means of the upper anode 2 becomes unnecessary.

In the first embodiment, the transport carrier 71 is provided as a means for transporting the workpiece storage unit 21 to each processing unit. However, an overhead crane, an electric hoist, or the like can be used as appropriate.

In the first embodiment, a gear transmission mechanism is used as means for rotating the conductive roller 41. However, a sprocket is mounted instead of the worm wheel 47, and a chain is attached to the sprocket of each conductive roller 41. May be wound, and this may be operated in the forward and reverse directions by a motor.

In the first embodiment, a single DC power supply used as a plating power supply and a motor control power supply is provided, and a pair of support fittings 11A, 11A arranged in the x-axis direction.
And 11B, 11B are connected to the DC power supply side so as to be on the cathode side and the anode side, respectively, but a power supply for motor control may be provided separately. In this case, a pair of conductive pieces that are respectively connected to the anode side and the cathode side of the power supply are provided in the plating tank 1, and when the processing object storage unit 21 is mounted in the plating tank 1, the pair of conductive pieces contact the conductive pieces. Can be provided in the processing object storage unit 21. In this case, an AC power supply may be used as the motor control power supply.

In the first embodiment, the number of processing tanks such as an acid pickling tank and a water washing tank and the number of transport carriers can be appropriately set. For example, a plurality of plating tanks may be used to perform rough plating (semi-bright plating) and finish plating (bright plating). Further, in the plating apparatus, the processing tanks and the like are processed in the unit of the object storage unit 21. However, the pre-process (pickling and washing) and the post-process (washing and drying) of the plating process. May be processed by different processing devices.

Next, a plating apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 10 shows an overall layout of a plating apparatus according to the second embodiment. First
Similarly to the embodiment, for convenience of description, the transport direction of the workpiece W is defined as the x-axis direction or the horizontal direction according to the coordinate system attached to FIG. Direction or vertical direction.

This plating apparatus has a plating tank 201 constituting a main part of the plating apparatus, a washing chamber 291 having a plurality of shower nozzles, an air blow chamber 292 having a plurality of air nozzles, and a plurality of hot air outlets. The drying chamber 293 and the storage boxes 294 for storing the processed workpieces W are arranged in a line along the x-axis direction. For convenience of explanation, the washing chamber 291 and the air blow chamber 29
2. The drying chamber 293 may be referred to as a processing chamber without distinction.

As shown in FIG. 11, the plating apparatus has the plating tank 201 for storing a plating solution. The plating tank 201 is provided with a large number of conductive rollers 41 for transporting the workpiece W. The conductive rollers 41 are arranged side by side at predetermined intervals in the x-axis direction, with the axial direction being the y-axis direction, and are immersed in the plating solution stored in the plating tank 201. 6, a pair of lateral members (26A and 26B in FIG. 5) are arranged at predetermined intervals in the y-axis direction and parallel to the x-axis direction. And a power feeding member (4 in FIG. 6) provided inside a front lateral member (corresponding to 26A in FIG. 6).
5, 45) are electrically connected to the cathode side of the plating power supply. The horizontal member is connected to a vertical member (corresponding to 27 in FIG. 5) at both ends and an intermediate portion. These vertical members do not interfere with the workpiece to be conveyed by the conductive roller 41,
The upper ends thereof are provided below the mounting surface (conveying surface) of the conductive roller 41. The conductive roller 41
Is driven from a conductive roller driving motor (not shown) provided outside the plating tank 201 via an appropriate transmission mechanism. Since the conductive roller 41 has the same configuration as that in the first embodiment, the same reference numerals are given.

Further, in the plating tank 201, an upper anode 202 and a lower anode 203 are attached to and detachable from the plating tank 201 above and below the conductive roller 41, respectively. The upper anode 202 and the lower anode 203 have the same configuration as that of the first embodiment.

The loading side wall 211 on the upstream side in the transport direction of the plating tank 201 has a height such that the flat workpiece W can pass through, and has a loading port substantially the same width as the conductive roller 41. 212 are established. On the other hand, a carry-out port 214 having the same shape is also opened in the carry-out side wall portion 213 on the downstream side in the carrying direction of the plating tank 201. Further, the loading side wall portion 2
When the workpiece W conveyed by the conductive roller 41 passes through the carry-in port 212 and the carry-out port 214, the plating solution in the plating tank 201 is supplied to the carry-in port 212 and the carry-out port 214 at the carry-out side wall 213. Outflow suppressing devices 221 and 222 for preventing the outflow from flowing out are provided.

The outflow control devices 221 and 222 are provided in FIG.
As shown in 1 to 13, a pair of upper and lower liquid drainage rollers 224 and 225 are arranged in parallel so that their outer peripheral surfaces come into contact with each other with the transport surface of the conductive roller 41 as a center, and are formed of a hard synthetic resin plate. Side wall portions 227, 227 of frame body 226
It is supported rotatably. Lower liquid drain roller 22
The fifth roller shaft 231 is provided at one end with a first gear 232 operatively connected to a liquid removal roller driving motor (not shown), and at the other end with a second gear 233. The driven gear 2 having the same number of teeth and the same pitch circle as the second gear 233 is provided at one end of the roller shaft 231 of the upper liquid removing roller 224.
The gear 234 and the second gear 233 mesh with each other. Therefore, when the lower draining roller 225 rotates in the direction (transport direction) for transporting the workpiece W to the downstream side, the upper draining roller 224 rotates at the same speed in the transport direction according to the rotation. . Roller shaft 23 of the draining rollers 224 and 225
The outer peripheral portion 1 is formed of a flexible material that can be elastically deformed along the cross-sectional shape of the workpiece W at the contact portion between the rollers, for example, a foamable synthetic resin such as urethane foam rubber or silicone rubber foam. Flexible layer 236 is formed.

On the other hand, the upper and lower walls 228 and 229 of the frame 226 are provided with the liquid drain rollers 224 and 225, respectively.
Seal member 23 which abuts on the outer peripheral portion of the member to prevent liquid leakage
8,239 are attached. The draining roller 22
A resin sheet (not shown) having a low coefficient of friction, such as fluororesin, is adhered to the inner surfaces of the seal members 238 and 239 and the inner surface of the side wall portion 227 with which the contact portions 4 and 225 abut. Resistance is reduced and wear is prevented.

As shown in FIG. 11, the object W to be treated is placed in the plating tank 201 by the outflow suppressing devices 221 and 2.
There is provided a plating solution circulating supply unit that collects the plating solution that inevitably leaks when passing through the plating tank 22 and circulates and supplies the plating solution to the plating tank 201. The circulating supply means is attached to the carry-in side wall portion 211 and the carry-out side wall portion 213, and temporarily receives the plating solution that has inevitably leaked when the workpiece W passes through the outflow suppressing devices 221 and 222. Auxiliary tanks 216 and 217 for storing in the auxiliary tanks 216 and 217
17 and connected to the auxiliary tanks 216, 217
And a return pump 219 for returning the plating solution stored in the plating tank 201 to the plating tank 201 via a return pipe 218.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
In each of the processing chambers 91 and the like, a carrying-in side wall on the upstream side in the carrying direction and a carrying-out side wall on the downstream side in the carrying direction, a carrying-in port 212 similar to the carrying-in port 212 and the carrying-out port 214 of the plating tank 201,
A carry-out port is opened, and between the carry-in port and the carry-out port of each processing chamber, there are provided a large number of carrying rollers 241 for carrying the workpiece W carried from the carry-in port to the carry-out port side. A transport roller 242 for transporting the object to be processed downstream is also provided between the adjacent plating tank 201 and the washing chamber 291 and the like, and also on the discharge side of the drying chamber 293. These transport rollers 241, 242 are driven by a transport roller drive motor (not shown). A carry-in roller 243 for carrying the workpiece W into the plating tank 201 is provided on the carry-in side of the plating tank 201, and the carry-in roller 243 is driven by a carry-in roller driving motor (not shown).

The plating apparatus is provided with a control device for controlling the entire apparatus. This control device is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, a main control unit 251 having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and a control interface is provided. An operation panel 252 operated by an operator is connected to the main control unit 251.

The main control section 251 includes an upper anode current control section 254, a lower anode current control section 255, a carry-in roller drive motor control section 257, a carry-in side liquid discharge roller drive motor control section 258, and a conductive roller drive section. Motor control unit 2
59, the motor controller 260 for driving the discharge-side liquid removal roller,
Motor controller 261 for transport roller drive, auxiliary tank 216,
Return pump 2 when a predetermined amount of plating solution
19 is provided in the air blow chamber 292, a return pump control section 262 for operating the 19, a cleaning water control section (not shown) for controlling an electromagnetic valve for stopping supply of the cleaning water to the spray nozzle provided in the washing chamber 291. An air control unit (not shown) that controls an electromagnetic valve that stops the supply of air to the air nozzle, and a drying control unit (not shown) that controls a hot air blower that blows hot air into the drying chamber 293 are connected to each control unit. Is a control signal input from the main control unit 251. on the other hand,
DC power supply 270 that supplies DC current for plating to upper anode current controller 254 and lower anode current controller 255
Is provided. The cathode side of the DC power supply 270 is connected to the cathode sides of the upper anode current control unit 254 and the lower anode current control unit 255, and is electrically connected to a power supply member 45 that contacts the drive shaft 42 of the conductive roller 41. Connected.

Hereinafter, a plating process by the plating apparatus according to the second embodiment will be described. First, the carry-in roller 243, the conductive roller 41, and the draining rollers 224, 225 of the carry-out outflow suppressing device 221 are driven to rotate in the carrying direction. Then, as shown in FIG. 11, the workpiece W whose surface has been cleaned by pickling treatment or the like is placed on the carry-in roller 243,
225 is sequentially carried into the conductive roller 41 in the plating tank 201 through the contact portion. When a predetermined amount of the object to be processed W is placed on the conductive roller 41 in the plating tank 201, the liquid drainage rollers 224, 225 and the carry-in roller 24 are placed.
3 is stopped, the loading of the workpiece W into the plating tank 201 is stopped, and the conductive rollers 41 in the plating tank 201 are alternately rotated in the forward and reverse directions. The plating process is performed while reciprocating W back and forth in the transport direction. As in the first embodiment, the reciprocating movement distance of the workpiece W may be at least about the width of the conductive roller 41 when at least a roller cover or a roller cover is not provided. In the plating process, the upper surface of the workpiece W,
It is preferable to control the current density of the upper anode 202 and the lower anode 203 so that the thickness of the plating film on the lower surface is substantially the same.

After the plating, the conductive rollers 41 and the draining rollers 224 and 225 of the outflow-side outflow suppressing device 222
By rotating the transport rollers 241 and 242 in the transport direction,
The plating-treated workpiece is transported from the plating tank 201 to a downstream side such as the washing room 291. At the same time, the liquid removal rollers 224, 225 and the carry-in roller 243 on the carry-in side are rotationally driven, and the untreated workpiece W is again placed in the plating tank 20.
Carry in 1. After a predetermined amount of the unprocessed object W is carried into the plating tank 201, the plating process is performed while the object W is reciprocated back and forth as described above.
On the other hand, a group of workpieces W having been subjected to the plating treatment are sequentially washed with water in the washing chamber 291, then carried into the air blow chamber 292, drained by an air jet, and subsequently dried with hot air in the drying chamber 293. After the storage box 2
It is conveyed to and stored in 94. After the last workpiece W is carried out in each processing chamber, the processing in that processing chamber, for example, the supply of the cleaning water in the washing chamber 291 is stopped. Further, after all of the group of workpieces W carried out of the plating tank 201 is carried out of the drying chamber 293, the conveyance rollers 241 and
The driving of 242 is also stopped.

The present invention is not construed as being limited by the plating apparatus of the second embodiment. For example,
It can be as follows.

In the second embodiment as well, similarly to the modification of the first embodiment, the anode may be attached to the side wall of the plating tank 201, and a chain may be used as the rotation drive transmitting means of the conductive roller 41. Can be used.

In the second embodiment, the plating tank 201
Although the outflow suppressing devices 221 and 222 are provided on the outer surfaces of the carry-in side wall portion 211 and the carry-out side wall portion 213, the devices may be provided on the inner side surfaces of the wall portions 211 and 213. Also,
The outflow suppressing devices 221 and 222 can be omitted.
In this case, it is desirable that the carry-in port 212 and the carry-out port 214 be as small as possible.
2. It is preferable to make the depth to the carry-out port 214 as shallow as possible. In addition, for the auxiliary tanks 216 and 217,
Intake side wall 211 and unloading side wall 213 of plating tank 201
The entire plating bath 201 may be accommodated without being limited to the configuration attached to the plating tank 201.

In the second embodiment, the plating tank 2
01, the conductive roller 41 is rotated forward and backward, and the plating process is performed while reciprocating the group of workpieces W carried into the plating tank 201 back and forth. Without rotating, the carry-in roller 243,
The conductive roller 41 and the transport rollers 241 and 242 are continuously rotated in the transport direction, the workpiece W is continuously loaded from the loading roller 243, and the plating process, the washing process, the air blowing process, and the drying process are continuously performed. You may make it perform it.

In the second embodiment, the transport rollers 241 and 242 are entirely controlled.
The transport roller 241 in each processing chamber and the transport roller 242 on the upstream side of the processing chamber may be controlled as one set. In this case, when all of the group of workpieces W is unloaded from the processing chamber, the driving of the pair of transport rollers 241, 242 on the processing chamber and upstream thereof may be stopped.

Further, as a configuration of the plating apparatus of the second embodiment, the plating tank 20 is used instead of the rinsing chamber 291.
A water washing tank having substantially the same configuration as that of 1 may be used. In this case, there is no need for the conductive roller 41 and the power supply member 45 having the divided structure, and an integral conveyance roller may be provided. Further, the water washing tank or the pickling tank having a similar configuration may be provided upstream of the plating tank 201. Further, the processing (washing and drying) on the downstream side of the plating tank 201 may be performed by another processing apparatus.

Here, in the plating apparatuses of the first and second embodiments, the cause of the reduction in plating quality and an additional configuration for further improving the plating quality will be further described. First, the cause of the decrease will be described.

When the plating process is performed while the workpiece W is placed on the conductive roller 41, fine dust in the plating solution stored in the plating tanks 1 and 201 falls on the upper surface of the workpiece and adheres. I do. Even if the amount of the attached fine dust is very small, the plating film grows with the fine dust as a nucleus, so that the plating film formed on the upper surface of the material to be processed has irregularities due to the fine dust, and the plating film has The surface becomes rough. When such surface roughness occurs, not only the appearance is not good, but also fine dust is captured in the unevenness of the rough portion, and the fine dust may not be sufficiently removed even when the plating material is washed in a later step. When such a plating material is mounted on an electronic device as a component, fine dust remaining on the surface of the plating material becomes a contamination and degrades the performance of the electronic device. As the fine dust, when a soluble electrode material is used as the electrode material of the upper electrode, the electrode material fine powder generated due to the dissolution of the electrode material during the plating process, or mixed into the plating solution from the outside air Dust.
In particular, in the first embodiment, since the workpiece accommodating unit 21 is attached to and detached from the plating tank 1, the upper portion of the plating tank 1 is inevitably released, so that dust from the outside air cannot be avoided.

On the other hand, the state of adhesion of the plating film on the outer peripheral surface of the conductive roller 41 or the lower surface of the workpiece is different. For this reason, when a large number of workpieces W are placed on the conductive roller 41, when the workpiece is transported by the conductive roller 41 or when the workpiece is reciprocated, the workpiece is moved from the transport direction to the roller shaft. There is a case where the workpieces contact each other while being shifted in the direction (lateral direction). In such a case, the plating film at the contact portion becomes thin, or in a severe case, becomes a non-plating state, and the plating quality deteriorates.

Further, the object to be processed placed on the peripheral side of the mounting area of the object to be processed formed by the conductive roller 41 tends to have a thick plating film at the corner on the peripheral side. . That is, as shown in FIG. 20, the lower horizontal members 26A and 26B and the lower vertical members 27,
In the workpiece W placed near 27 (see FIG. 5), the plating current tends to concentrate on the corners E on the side of these members, so that the plating film in this portion becomes particularly thick. For this reason, the formation of the plating film becomes uneven depending on the mounting position of the object to be processed.

Next, an additional configuration for preventing a decrease in plating quality due to the adhesion of fine dust to a workpiece and improving the quality will be described based on the first embodiment.
As one of them, as shown in FIG. 15, a net member 301 is provided so as to cover the lower surface of the upper electrode 2 and prevents the fine powder of the soluble electrode material from falling from the upper anode 2 to the material to be processed. Can be provided. The net member 301 is attached to the electrode material storage case of the upper electrode 2 by an attachment member 302.

The net member 301 allows plated metal ions to pass therethrough, but has a mesh size that can prevent the fall of the electrode material fine powder caused by the dissolution of the soluble electrode material of the upper electrode 2, for example, about several μm or less. , For example, a net, woven cloth, corroded cloth, or the like. The porous material is formed of a synthetic resin having excellent corrosion resistance and heat resistance, for example, a fluorine resin, a general-purpose corrosion-resistant metal material such as stainless steel and a nickel alloy, and an insoluble electrode material such as platinum and titanium. When the porous material is formed of a metal material such as stainless steel which melts during plating, the mounting member 302 is formed of an insulating material such as a synthetic resin.

In the illustrated example, the net member 301 is attached to the mounting member 3.
Although it is arranged below the upper electrode 2 at 02, the net member 301 may be arranged on the bottom surface of the electrode material storage case of the upper electrode 2. In this case, a porous material formed of a synthetic resin or an insoluble electrode material is used as the net member.

When the electrode material of the upper electrode 2 is formed of an insoluble electrode material, for example, platinum, titanium, iridium, etc., fine powder of the electrode material due to dissolution unlike the soluble electrode material is not generated. Is not enough.

In this case, since the plating metal ion concentration in the plating solution fluctuates due to the plating treatment, it is desirable to provide a chemical solution replenishing device for appropriately replenishing the reduced amount of the plating metal ions. As shown in FIG. 15, the chemical solution replenishing device 304 includes a concentration detector 305 for detecting the concentration of a plating metal ion.
And a flow control valve 306 for supplying a chemical solution containing a high concentration of plating metal ions to the plating tank 1 from a chemical solution tank (not shown). The chemical solution replenishing device 304 adjusts the flow rate of the chemical solution flowing through the flow rate adjusting valve 306 by the valve controller so that the concentration detected by the concentration detector 305 becomes constant at the target concentration.

As another additional structure for improving the plating quality, as shown in FIG.
1, or separately, a filtration device 311 for filtering the plating solution in the plating tank 1 can be provided.
The filtration device 311 includes a circulation channel 312 that connects an inflow port opened at the bottom of the plating tank and an outflow port opened at the top of the side surface, and a pump 31 provided in the circulation channel.
3 and a filter 31 provided in the circulation channel 312
5 is provided. The circulation flow path 312 is provided with a heater 314 for heating the plating solution downstream of the pump 313, and the filter 315 is arranged downstream of the heater 314.

The filter 315 removes fine dust mixed in the plating solution in addition to the fine powder of the electrode material. Therefore, the opening of the filter is set to several μm or less, preferably 1 μm or less. The outlet of the circulation flow path 312 is preferably provided so as to be located above the processing object placed on the conductive roller 41 of the processing object storage unit 21. As a result, the clean plating solution from which dust has been removed by the filter 315 flows out from above the object to be treated into the plating tank 1 and stirs the plating solution above the object to be treated. It is possible to further prevent dust from adhering.

The temperature of the plating solution is adjusted to a target temperature set in a temperature controller (not shown) by a temperature signal from a solution temperature detector 318 attached to the plating tank 1.
16 outputs are controlled.

Further, an additional configuration for preventing a decrease in plating quality due to contact with an object to be treated and improving the quality will be described. As an additional configuration, the conductive roller 4
A transfer guide for preventing the object to be moved in the x-axis direction by 1 from moving laterally in the roller axis direction and coming into contact with an adjacent object to be processed is detachably provided on the lower frame portion 23 of the frame 25. This can prevent contact between the objects to be processed and, hence, plating failure due to the contact.

FIGS. 16 and 1 show an example of the transport guide.
FIG. The transport guide 321 is provided with a plurality of support members 322 laid over lower lateral members 26A and 26B of the lower frame portion 23 of the frame 25 of the workpiece storage unit 21.
And lower longitudinal members 27, 27 along the x-axis direction (FIG. 5).
), And a plurality of guide plates 323 attached to the lower surface of the support member 322. At both ends of each of the plurality of support members 322, positioning members 324 and 324 which are engaged with inner surfaces of upper ends of the lower lateral members 26A and 26B are provided.

The lower end of the guide plate 323 is located below the upper end of the conductive roller 41, and an arc-shaped concave portion is provided at the intersection with the conductive roller 41.
A gap smaller than the thickness of the workpiece W is provided between the outer peripheral surface of the conductive roller 41 and the inner peripheral surface of the concave portion. The support member 322 and the positioning member 324 may be formed of a synthetic resin having high strength and corrosion resistance, for example, a hard vinyl chloride resin. The guide plate 323 is preferably formed of a synthetic resin having a low coefficient of friction, for example, a fluorine resin, in addition to the above characteristics.

In the illustrated example, the guide plate 323 has a large number of recesses formed at its lower portion so as to avoid interference with the conductive roller 41. However, the lower end of the guide plate 323 is formed without forming the recess. A guide plate in which a gap smaller than the thickness of the processing object W is formed from the upper end of the guide plate can be used.

FIGS. 18 and 19 show other examples of the transport guide. The transport guide 321A is provided on a lower surface of the support member 322 and a plurality of support members 322 bridged over lower lateral members 26A and 26B of the lower frame portion 23 of the frame 25, and is provided along the x-axis direction. Longitudinal members 27, 27
(See FIG. 5), and a plurality of guide rollers 32 attached to the lower surface of the mounting plate 326 extending between the mounting plates 326.
7 is provided. At both ends of each of the plurality of support members 322, positioning members 324 and 324 in the axial direction of the conductive roller 41 are attached. This transport guide 32
In FIG. 1A, the same members as those of the transport guide 321 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The guide roller 327 is disposed between the conductive rollers 41 and has a center line vertically mounted on the mounting plate 326 and a roller rotation shaft 328 provided rotatably on the roller rotation shaft 328. And a lower end of the roller body 329 is positioned lower than an upper end of the conductive roller 41. The roller rotation shaft 328 is formed of a corrosion-resistant metal such as stainless steel, and the roller body 329 is preferably formed of a synthetic resin having a low friction coefficient, for example, a fluororesin. According to the transport guide 321A, it is possible to prevent the workpieces W adjacent to each other in the axial direction of the conductive roller 41 from contacting each other. In addition, there is an advantage that the plating process is not hindered on the side surface of the workpiece W between the guide rollers 327.

In the illustrated example, the roller body 32 is attached to the mounting plate 326.
9 is provided with a guide roller 327 rotatably provided, but a guide shaft having no roller body 329 is attached to the mounting plate 32.
6 may be attached. In this case, the guide shaft may be formed of a synthetic resin, preferably a fluororesin or the like, which is excellent in corrosion resistance and has a low friction coefficient.

Further, an additional configuration for preventing the plating film from becoming non-uniform due to the mounting position of the workpiece will be described based on the first embodiment. As an additional configuration, as shown in FIG.
A temporary plating member 331 electrically connected to the cathode side of the DC power supply for plating is provided on the inner surfaces of 6A, 26B and the lower longitudinal members 27, 27. This temporary plating member 33
By providing 1, the part of the plating current concentrated on the corner E of the workpiece W placed on the peripheral edge side of the placement area of the conductive roller 41 can escape to the temporary plating member 331 side. Thus, it is possible to prevent the current from being concentrated on the corner portion E of the workpiece W. Thus, the plating film can be made uniform regardless of the placement position of the object.

As a measure for preventing the plating film from becoming non-uniform, a temporary plating member 331 is provided, and the upper anode 2
The upper anode 2 may be formed in a curved shape so that the distance between the upper electrode 2 and the conductive roller 41 is larger at the peripheral portion than at the central portion of the mounting region of the conductive roller 41. Further, the electrode material to be accommodated in the electrode material storage case of the upper anode 2 may be accommodated so as to be smaller in the peripheral portion than in the central portion of the mounting area. However, providing the temporary plating member is simpler than these measures, and is recommended because it can be easily adjusted to the optimal plating state by appropriately replacing the plating member with a different size and shape. You.

In FIG. 20, the transport guide (in the illustrated example, 3
21A) is provided, but is not always necessary.
When a transport guide is provided, the lower lateral members 26A, 26B
A guide roller 327 or a guide plate 323 may be provided between the temporary plating member 331 attached to each of the above and the workpiece W placed adjacent to these members 26A and 26B.

In the plating apparatus of the second embodiment, similarly to the plating apparatus of the first embodiment, as an additional configuration for improving plating quality, as shown in FIG.
A net member 301 can be provided on the upper electrode 202, and a filtration device 311 can be provided on the plating tank 201. Further, transport guides 321 and 321A shown in FIGS. 16 to 19 can be provided. Furthermore, a temporary plating member 331 shown in FIG. 20 can be provided. In this case, the provisional plating member 331 has a restriction that the upper end of the vertical member (corresponding to 27 in FIG. 5) is set below the mounting surface of the conductive roller 41, Both ends,
That is, it may be provided only on the lateral members (corresponding to 26A and 26B in FIG. 5).

[0097]

According to the present invention, an object to be processed is plated while being carried on a conductive roller or while being reciprocated according to the forward and reverse rotation of the roller. There is no risk of damage due to interference between the processed materials, the plating efficiency is good, and the productivity is excellent. Therefore, the present invention is suitably used for plating a relatively small, plate-like or flat electronic component, a mechanical component, or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall layout view of a plating apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a partially cut-away side view of the plating tank in a state where a workpiece storage unit is mounted on the plating tank of the plating apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway front view of the plating tank shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional side view of a plating tank illustrating a moving means of an upper electrode.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the structure of a frame of the processing object storage unit in a diagram.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a part of a conductive roller rotatably attached to a lower frame portion in a cross section.

FIG. 7 is a partial arrow view in the direction of the arrow on line A in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a part of a power supply member that supplies power to a conductive roller.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a control system of the plating apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an overall layout view of a plating apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view of a plating tank of a plating apparatus according to a second embodiment in a transport direction.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the outflow suppressing device.

FIG. 13 is a longitudinal sectional view of a central portion of the outflow suppressing device.

FIG. 14 is a control system block diagram of a plating apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional side view of the plating tank according to the first embodiment, illustrating an upper electrode provided with a net member and a filtering device shown in a block diagram.

FIG. 16 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating an example of a transport guide mounted on a lower frame portion.

FIG. 17 is a partial arrow view in the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a partial cross-sectional view showing another example of the transport guide mounted on the lower frame portion.

FIG. 19 is a partial arrow view in the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view of a lower frame portion provided with a temporary plating member and a transport guide, cut in a y-axis direction.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,201 Plating tank 2,202 Upper anode 3,203 Lower anode 6 Moving means 8 Anode support arm 21 Workpiece accommodation unit 41 Conductive roller 42 Drive shaft 48 Mounting roller 51 Roller cover 55 Motor 71 Transport carrier 72 Lifting arm 91,254 Upper anode current controller 92,255 Lower anode current controller 221,222 Outflow control device 301 Net member 304 Chemical replenishing device 311 Filtration device 321,321A Transport guide 331 Temporary plating member

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) C25D 21/00 C25D 21/00 C 21/10 302 21/10 302 (72) Inventor Tetsuji Hayakawa Mishima, Osaka 2-15-17 Egawa, Korishima-Honcho Sumitomo Special Metals Co., Ltd., Yamazaki Plant

Claims (18)

[Claims] 1. A plating apparatus for plating an object to be processed, comprising: a plating tank provided with an anode; and a plurality of conductive members provided in the plating tank, constituting a cathode and transporting the object. A plating apparatus, comprising: a roller; and a plating current supply unit that supplies a plating current to the anode and the conductive roller. 2. The plating tank has a carry-in side wall formed with a carry-in port for carrying an object to be processed into a conductive roller in the tank, and unloads the object to be processed after plating from the conductive roller out of the tank. The carrying-out side wall is formed with a carrying-out port, and the plating solution in the tank can pass through the carrying-in side wall and the carrying-out side wall through which the workpiece can pass through the carrying-in port and the carrying-out port. 2. The plating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an outflow suppressing means for suppressing outflow. 3. The plating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising roller forward / reverse drive means for rotating the conductive roller forward / reverse. 4. The plating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the anode includes a lower anode disposed below the conductive roller and an upper anode disposed above the conductive roller. 5. A temporary plating member electrically connected to a cathode side of said plating current supply section is provided at both side ends of a mounting area of a workpiece formed by said conductive roller. The plating apparatus described in 1. 6. A plating apparatus for plating an object to be processed, comprising: a plating tank having an anode; a plurality of conductive rollers constituting a cathode and mounting the object to be processed; and the conductive roller An object storage unit having a roller forward / reverse drive unit for rotating the object forward and backward; a transport unit for detachably transporting the object storage unit to and from the plating tank; and plating the anode and the conductive roller. And a plating current supply unit for supplying a current. 7. The anode is composed of a lower anode disposed below a conductive roller and an upper anode disposed above, and the object storage unit is attached to and detached from the plating tank. The plating apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a moving unit configured to move the upper anode to a position where the upper anode does not interfere with the processing object housing unit. 8. A temporary plating member electrically connected to a cathode side of said plating current supply section is provided at a peripheral portion of a mounting area of the workpiece formed by said conductive roller. The plating apparatus described. 9. The plating current supply unit includes an upper anode current control unit that controls a plating current supplied to the upper anode, and a lower anode current control unit that controls a plating current supplied to the lower anode. Item 8. The plating apparatus according to item 4 or 7. 10. The plating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the conductive roller has a roller cover for shielding a lower surface of the conductive roller from the lower electrode. 11. The conductive roller according to claim 1, further comprising: a drive shaft provided with a drive member, and a mounting roller mounted removably on the drive shaft for mounting an object to be processed. Or the plating apparatus according to 6. 12. The electrode material of the upper electrode is formed of a soluble electrode material that is dissolved by plating, and fine electrode material powder generated during the plating process due to dissolution of the soluble electrode material is directed toward the material to be processed. 8. The plating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a net member for preventing the lowering is provided below the upper electrode. 13. The plating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the electrode material of the upper electrode is formed of an insoluble electrode material. 14. The plating process according to claim 1, further comprising a filtration device for filtering a plating solution in the plating tank to remove fine dust mixed therein. apparatus. 15. The plating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a transport guide for preventing contact between workpieces placed adjacent to each other in the axial direction of the conductive roller. 16. A plating method for plating an object to be processed, comprising: providing a plating tank comprising an anode, a cathode, and a plurality of conductive rollers for mounting the object to be processed; The object to be treated is carried into the plating tank, the object to be treated is placed on a plurality of conductive rollers, and the object is plated while moving the object over the conductive roller. A plating treatment method for carrying out an object from the plating tank. 17. The plating method according to claim 16, wherein the plating is performed while rotating and rotating the conductive roller forward and backward to move an object to be processed on the conductive roller. 18. A plating method for plating an object to be processed, comprising: a plating tank having an anode; and a plurality of conductive rollers constituting a cathode and mounting the object to be processed. A storage unit is prepared, the object storage unit is mounted on the plating tank, the conductive roller is rotated forward and reverse, and the object is plated while reciprocally moving the object on the conductive roller. A plating method for carrying out an object from the plating tank together with the object storage unit.