JP2006063434A - Production method for high precision metal fine tube by electroforming process - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a production method for a high precision metal fine tube having high predominance in machining, the method employing an electroforming process by a cathode rotary system in which an organic sulfur compound including a prescribed amount of salt is added to a metal plating bath, the method by which a base material core wire having an extremely excellent outer shape is electroformed, and the base material core wire is pulled out or extruded away. <P>SOLUTION: The production method employs electroforming process by a cathode rotary system. For the fundamental blending of an elecroforming plating bath, to a metal compound component(s) as simple salt, complex salt or amine-based salt as the main component(s), if required, a chloride component(s) and a pH buffer component(s) are composed, and further, an organic sulfur compound component(s) including a prescribed amount of salt is added. The organic sulfur compound including the salt gives the formation of a peelable film causing a release effect on the surface of the base material core wire 5 as the cathode 3 by the application of direct voltage in the electroforming, or applies internal stress of slight compression to an electroformed body to promote its peeling. In this way, regarding the electroformed body obtained by electro-depositing the metals on the base material core wire 5 with the electroforming plating bath while straightly supporting both the edge parts of the base material core wire 5 and rotating the same, the core wire 5 as the base material is pulled out or extruded, thus can be easily removed to produce fine pores. Thus, the high precision metal fine tube can be produced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

The present invention relates to an electroforming method using a metal electroforming plating bath in which a mold release effect is obtained by adding an organic sulfur compound containing a predetermined amount of salt, and relates to a highly accurate method for producing a metal microtube.

High precision micro tube parts are ferrules, mechanical splices that are optical fiber connection parts used for optical communications, connection sleeves that are tubular parts that are not micro holes but require high inner diameter accuracy and connect optical connectors together, In the medical device field, there are products such as injection needles and catheters. In recent years, the demand for optical communication components that require particularly high precision and high quality has been increasing in the market. However, a cylindrical body (microtube) with fine holes has been machined by cutting or grinding, Since the outer diameter, inner diameter, or coaxiality is finished and manufactured with a dimensional accuracy of the order of microns or less, high-precision fine tubes with higher superiority are required for machining, and simple and mass production is possible. There is a need for a method of manufacturing a fine tube.

As a manufacturing method of the fine tube, there are a method of forming by firing at a high temperature using a mold and a method of manufacturing a metal plate by drawing, and in the electroforming method which is also this manufacturing method, a core wire which is a base material Electrodepositing metal on the outer periphery, a method of dissolving the base material core wire in the obtained electroformed body by chemicals or heating, forming a metal film on the surface of the base material core material that is a resin, leaving a metal film, A method of pulling out the base material core material, or by subjecting the surface of the base material core material to mold release in advance and performing metal electrodeposition on the outer periphery of the core wire as the base material, and pulling out the base material core wire in the obtained electroformed body or There is a method of producing a fine tube by removing a base material core wire and producing a through hole by an extrusion method (see Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2, and Patent Document 3).
Patent Publication 4-3111589 Patent Publication 11-193485 International Publication Number WO00 / 31574

Products that are micro tubes have fine holes with excellent inner diameter accuracy that are difficult to machine, and furthermore, as represented by optical ferrules that are optical communication parts, the center of the inner diameter and the center of the outer diameter are High concentricity consistent with high accuracy is also required.

As described above, there are a manufacturing method of firing and molding at a high temperature, a manufacturing method of squeezing a metal plate, or a manufacturing method by electroforming as described above. For the production of communication components, the mainstream method is to process zirconia ceramics molded by firing at a high temperature by machining, but it is difficult because it is hard, and the inner diameter machining of fine holes is difficult. Because it is necessary, there is a problem that it is easy to cause a decrease in yield, and there is a problem that the number of production processes is increased, productivity is reduced, and equipment cost is increased. There was a problem.

As a method for solving such a problem, it is an electroforming method by a cathode rotation method in which an organic sulfur compound containing a predetermined amount of salt is added to a metal plating bath, and straightly supports both ends of the conductive core wire which is a cathode portion, The core wire is rotated around the central axis, and a metal electrode is uniformly deposited to a desired outer diameter to produce an electroformed body. The electroformed body is formed by electroforming plating at the same time as applying a DC voltage to the base material core wire. Since the organic sulfur compound component containing the salt blended in the bath is adsorbed on the outer periphery of the base material core wire to form a release film, the bonding strength between the base material core wire and the electroformed product is reduced. Furthermore, since a slight compressive internal stress is applied to the electroformed metal electrodeposited product, the peeling effect from the base metal core wire is promoted. In other words, due to the synergistic effect of the electrochemically formed film and the physical compressive internal stress of the metal, the base material core wire can be easily removed by pulling or extruding, and fine pores can be formed without requiring inner diameter processing. Further, it is possible to easily manufacture a concentric high-precision fine tube in which the center of the inner diameter coincides with the center of the outer diameter. Moreover, it is also possible to produce a plurality of fine holes as necessary by electroforming using a plurality of base material core wires by the same manufacturing method.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and the object thereof is an electroforming method using a cathode rotation method in which an organic sulfur compound containing a predetermined amount of salt is added to a metal plating bath, and has an extremely excellent outer shape. An object of the present invention is to provide a highly accurate manufacturing method of a fine tube having high superiority in machining by a manufacturing method in which a base material core wire is electroformed and the base material core wire is drawn or removed by extrusion.

Means for Solving the Invention

According to the present invention, a method for producing a metal microtubule by electroforming, wherein the base metal core wire is formed by cathodic rotation electroforming using a metal electroforming plating bath to which an organic sulfur compound containing a predetermined amount of salt is added. There is provided a method for producing a high-precision microtube that is produced by removing or producing the base metal core wire of a metal electrodeposited electroformed body by drawing or extruding it.

The production method of the present invention is a cathode rotation type electroforming method using a metal electroforming plating bath to which an organic sulfur compound containing a predetermined amount of salt is added, and is excellent in roundness and outer diameter surface shape accuracy. Supporting and straightening both ends of the base metal core wire with a constant tension, immersing it in the metal electroforming plating bath, and uniformly metal-depositing the base metal core wire while rotating around the base metal core wire. Can be removed by pulling out one end of the base metal core wire, which is an unelectrodeposited part exposed at both ends, and has excellent roundness and inner surface shape accuracy. A microtubule having a through-hole with a core shape can be manufactured, and a method for manufacturing a metal microtubule is provided.

When the electroformed body is cut by adjusting the length, a thin blade cutter is used to cut the electroformed body to a predetermined size. The method for removing the base metal core wire is a method of removing the base surface at the center of the cut surface after polishing. It can be removed by extruding the core wire with a carbide pin, or by simply pulling out the core wire protruding to the other end by extrusion.

In addition, if an electroformed body is formed by metal electrodeposition using a plurality of conductive core wires, not just one, the plurality of core wires can be pulled out or removed by extrusion as necessary. It is also possible to produce a plurality of inner diameters which are holes.

A metal electroforming plating bath according to the production method of the present invention has a basic composition, and if necessary, a chloride component and a pH buffer component are added to a metal compound component which is a simple salt, complex salt or amine salt as a main component. An organic sulfur compound component containing a fixed amount of salt is added, and the organic sulfur compound component containing the salt is adsorbed on the surface of the base material which is a cathode when a DC voltage is applied, and a release film is formed. Reduces the bonding strength with the electroformed product. Furthermore, since the electroformed product has a slight internal stress of compression, it promotes the peeling effect from the base metal core wire, and it can be easily removed by pulling out or extruding the base material core wire, and through holes can be produced with high accuracy. It is possible to manufacture a metal fine tube.

The organic sulfur compound component containing a salt is composed of one or two or more mixed substances, and an optimum amount that does not cause metal embrittlement is added to the metal electroforming plating bath.

In the manufacturing method of the present invention, the inner diameter of the fine tube is determined by the outer diameter of the core wire, and the inner diameter surface shape accuracy of the fine tube is also determined by the outer diameter surface shape accuracy of the core wire. By using the core wire, it is possible to obtain a metal micro tube with extremely high inner diameter accuracy.

As a material for the base material core material, materials used for piano wires, stainless steel, steel, and special steel obtained by adding various elements to steel are suitable.

The invention's effect

By the method of manufacturing a metal micro tube by the electroforming method of the present invention, the inner diameter dimensional accuracy and inner diameter surface shape are extremely excellent, and the center of the inner diameter and the center of the outer diameter are matched with high precision, and the highly concentric, high precision metal micro I was able to manufacture a tube.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, although embodiment of the manufacturing method of this invention is described, this invention is not limited to this.

First, an apparatus for producing a metal microtube according to the present invention by electroforming is shown in FIG. This will be described with reference to a schematic diagram of a cathode rotating type electroforming apparatus. The apparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes an electroformed bath 15, an electroformed plating bath 1 filled in the tank, an electroformed plating bath heater 14, an anode 2, and a cathode 3. The anode 2 is installed on a base 16 installed at the bottom of the electroformed bath 15. As will be described later, the cathode 3 is provided on a support jig, and the core wire 5 stretched between the upper and lower ends of the support jig is electrically connected. The core wire 5 installed on the support jig rotates about the core wire 5 as the central axis through the gears 12a and 12b by the rotation of the drive motor 11 and the shaft 13 linked to the motor. For circulation and stirring, the electroforming plating bath 1 is pulled up by a pump 17 and sprayed from the spray nozzle 10 on the base 16 through the filter tower 17.

The electroforming plating bath 1 is determined according to the material of the metal to be electroformed around the core wire 5, for example, nickel or its alloy, iron or its alloy, copper or its alloy, cobalt or its alloy, tungsten alloy, Electroforming metals such as fine particle dispersed metals can be used. Nickel sulfamate, nickel chloride, nickel sulfate, ferrous sulfamate, ferrous borofluoride, copper pyrophosphate, cobalt sulfate, copper sulfate, copper borofluoride , Copper silicofluoride, Titanium copper fluoride, Aricanol sulfonate, Cobalt sulfate, Sodium tungstate, etc. A liquid in which fine powders such as silicon, alumina and diamond are dispersed is used. The electroforming plating bath used in this method is composed mainly of nickel sulfamate, which is suitable in terms of ease of electroforming, low stress of electroformed products, chemical stability, ease of welding, etc. Then, electroforming was performed using an electroforming plating bath as shown in Table 1.

The organic sulfur compound containing a salt compounded in the electroforming plating bath 1 is usually used by compounding around 10 CC / L in order to improve the gloss by refining the metal crystal. In this electroforming plating bath, For the purpose of releasing the base material and the electroformed product, it can be compounded in the range of about 12 to 35 CC / L, and the composition of 15 to 20 CC is suitable from the viewpoint of gloss or embrittlement of the electroformed product. .

The electroforming plating bath 1 is filtered using a felt with high filtration accuracy in the electroforming bath, and the temperature is controlled to an appropriate temperature range of about 50 ± 5 ° C. Further, it is sometimes preferable to remove the organic impurities by treating with activated carbon. In addition, a nickel-plated iron corrugated sheet is used as a cathode and carbon is used as an anode, and current is passed at a low current density of about 0.2 A / dm ² to remove metal impurities such as copper from the electroforming plating bath 1 in the bath. Things are desirable.

The anode 2 is selected according to the metal to be electroformed, and is selected from nickel, iron, copper, cobalt, etc., and a plate-like or spherical one can be used as appropriate. When using a spherical electrode, for example, it is placed in a titanium basket and covered with a polyester cloth bag.

Fig. 2 shows the support. Details will be described with reference to the schematic diagram of the support jig. (A) is a side view, (b) is a cross-sectional view of the lower plate 15 viewed from the B-B ′ direction. In the support jig, an upper plate 8 and a lower plate 9 are connected via two support columns 7. The upper plate 8 and the lower plate 9 are made of, for example, polyvinyl chloride resin, polyamide resin, polyacetate resin or polyethylene resin. The post 7 is made of a metal such as stainless steel or titanium, or a plastic. The upper plate 8 and the lower plate 9 are each fixed to the support column 7 with screws. In the center of the upper plate 8, a stainless steel screw as the cathode 3 is provided so as to penetrate the upper plate 8. The stainless steel screw fixes 4 a at one end of the stainless steel spring 4 on the lower surface of the upper plate 8. Similarly, a stainless screw 6 is provided at the center of the lower plate 9 so as to penetrate the lower plate 9 and protrude from the upper surface of the lower plate 9. One end 5 a of the core wire 5 is hooked on the other end 4 b of the stainless steel spring 4, and the other end 5 b is held by the stainless steel screw 6 while stretching the spring 4 by pulling both core wires. By attaching the core wire 5 to the support jig in this way, the core wire is supported in a state of being stretched straight in the vertical direction.

Returning to FIG. 1, the electroforming plating bath is circulated and agitated by injecting, circulating and agitating the electroforming plating solution from the spray nozzle. Agitation by sonication is also effective.

As the core wire 5, an SUS304 core wire having an outer diameter of 0.1 mm and a length of 400 mm is used.

An operation for forming a fine tube by electroforming using the cathode rotary electroforming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be described. After filling the electroplating bath 1 electroforming bath 15, an anode 2 so that the current density of the order 4~20A / dm ^2, and a DC voltage is applied to the cathode 3, to size the core wire 5 the outer peripheral portion Electrodeposit metal.

After completion of electroforming, the support is taken out from the electroforming bath 15 and the core wire on which the electroformed product is formed is removed from the support jig.

An electroformed body 18 having an outer diameter of about 1.3 mm as shown in FIG. 3 is produced by operating the above-described cathode rotating type electroforming apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 3, the obtained electroformed body 18 is formed in a cylindrical shape with the core wire 5a and the core wire 5b exposed at both ends. Since the core wire 5a and the core wire 5b are sandwiched between the coverings, no electrodeposit is formed.

Next, the removal of the core wire 5 in the electroformed body is performed. As shown in FIG. 4, one end of the exposed core wire 5 is pulled out and removed, but can be removed with a pulling force of 18 N or less. The existing metal microtube 19 is manufactured.

In addition, since the metal electrodeposition is performed while rotating the core wire, a uniform metal film is formed on the surface of the core wire, and a highly concentric metal micro tube with the center of the inner diameter and the outer diameter coincided.

Through the above process, it was possible to manufacture a highly accurate metal microtube having an inner diameter dimension and concentricity of the order of micron or less.

  It is the schematic which showed the cathode rotating system electroforming apparatus.   It is the schematic which showed the support jig. (A) Side view (b) B-B 'sectional view   It is the figure which showed the electroformed body.   It is the figure which showed the microtube preparation by core wire removal. (A) Electroformed body from which the core wire is pulled out (b) Metal micro tube with the core wire removed to form fine holes

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electroforming plating bath 2 Anode 3 Cathode 4 Stainless steel spring 4a One end of stainless steel spring 4b The other end of stainless steel spring 5 Base material core wire 5a One end of base material core wire 5b The other end of base material core wire 6 Stainless steel screw 7 Strut 8 Top Plate 9 Lower plate 10 Injection nozzle 11 Drive motor 12a Gear (upper part)
12b Gear (lower part)
13 Shaft 14 Heating heater 15 Electroformed bathtub 16 Base 17 Filtration tower and circulation pump 18 Electroformed body 19 Metal fine tube

Claims (6)

The manufacturing method is an electroforming method by a cathode rotation method, in which an organic sulfur compound containing a predetermined amount of salt is added to a metal electroforming plating bath, and supports both ends of a base metal conductive core wire that is a cathode portion, The core wire is rotated around the central axis, and metal is electrodeposited on the outer periphery to the desired dimensions, and the core wire, which is the base material of the obtained electroformed body, is pulled out or removed by extrusion to produce an inner diameter that is a through hole. A high-precision method for producing fine metal pipes by electroforming, characterized by manufacturing. By the above-described manufacturing method, a plurality of base metal conductive core wires are used, and a plurality of core wires are electrodeposited, and the plurality of core wires are drawn or removed by extrusion, so that a plurality of through holes can be formed as required. The method for producing a metal microtube with high accuracy by electroforming according to claim 1, wherein an inner diameter can be produced. The basic composition of the metal plating bath is an organic sulfur compound containing a chloride component and a pH buffer component as required in addition to a metal compound component which is a simple salt, complex salt or amine salt as a main component, and further containing a predetermined amount of salt. Although the component is added, the organic sulfur compound component containing the salt is a component that forms a release film on the surface of the base material cathode when a DC voltage is applied, or gives compression internal stress to the electroformed product. A method for producing a metal microtube with high accuracy by electroforming according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The method for producing a metal microtube with high accuracy by electroforming according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the organic sulfur compound component containing a salt is added in one or two or more mixed compositions. . The electroforming method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the microtube is a kind selected from the group consisting of aluminum, nickel, iron, copper, cobalt, tungsten, and alloys thereof. A highly accurate method of manufacturing fine metal tubes. A method for producing a highly accurate metal microtube by electroforming, characterized by being produced by the production method according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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