JP2017171995A - Plating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a plating device capable of forming a plating layer as uniform as possible even in a case of a plating-target article having a plurality of surfaces facing different directions.SOLUTION: Provided is a plating device 10 which includes: a plating tank 11 with a plating solution 12 stored therein; a plating-target article 1 soaked in the plating solution 12; and an anode electrode 14 which is soaked in the plating solution 12 and capable of being placed with a space provided from the plating-target article 1. The anode 14 is divided into a plurality of partial anode electrodes 14a, and each of the partial anode electrodes 14a is provided to be able to change its facing direction with respect to surfaces of the plating-target article 1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to a plating apparatus.

  In some plating apparatuses, a product to be plated as an anode electrode and a cathode electrode is immersed in a plating solution, and a current is applied between the anode electrode and the product to be plated to deposit a metal on the surface of the product to be plated.

  In this type of plating apparatus, various means have been proposed in the past in order to uniformly form a plating layer on the surface of the product to be plated.

  For example, the anode electrode is immersed in the plating solution in parallel with the product to be plated, separated from the product to be plated, and energized while gradually moving the distance of the anode electrode away from the product to be plated. Means to do this has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).

  In addition to the anode electrode, a current shielding plate is provided together with an auxiliary cathode electrode arranged so as to have substantially the same potential as the product to be plated, and the auxiliary cathode electrode and the current shielding plate are provided near the surface step at the edge of the product to be plated. A means for relaxing current concentration or current interruption in the vicinity of an edge portion of a product to be plated has been proposed (see Patent Document 2).

JP 11-209889 A JP-A-8-296087

  However, in the former conventional example, when the surface of the product to be plated is uneven, the distance from the anode electrode varies depending on the position of the product to be plated, and thus a uniform plating layer cannot be formed.

  In the latter conventional example, it is possible to cope with the case where there is a surface step at the edge portion of the product to be plated, but a uniform plating layer cannot be formed in other forms of the product to be plated.

  In other words, in the conventional plating apparatus, the surface of the product to be plated is flat or the surface of the product to be plated has a level difference, but the surface to be plated is formed from a plurality of differently oriented surfaces. In a product, a uniform plating layer cannot be formed.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a plating apparatus capable of forming a uniform plating layer as much as possible even for a product to be plated having a plurality of differently oriented surfaces. .

  The present invention includes a plating tank in which a plating solution is placed, a product to be plated that is immersed in the plating solution, and an anode electrode that is immersed in the plating solution and that can be disposed at an interval from the product to be plated. In the plating apparatus, the anode electrode is divided into a plurality of partial anode electrodes, and each of the partial anode electrodes is provided so that the direction of the surface facing the surface of the product to be plated can be varied. This is a characteristic plating apparatus.

  According to the present invention, since the orientation of each partial anode electrode can be changed, the orientation of each partial anode electrode can be arranged opposite to each other in parallel as much as possible with respect to the surface of the product to be plated. And the surface of the object to be plated in different directions can be made as uniform as possible. Therefore, a uniform plating layer can be formed as much as possible even with a product to be plated having a plurality of surfaces in different directions.

1 is a perspective view of a product to be plated, showing an embodiment of the present invention. It is a front view of the state which showed one Embodiment of this invention and attached the to-be-plated goods to the hanger. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a plating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic which showed one Embodiment of this invention and was seen from the upper part of the plating apparatus in which several partial anode electrodes are located in an origin position. It is the schematic which showed one Embodiment of this invention and looked from the upper direction of the plating apparatus in which several anode electrodes are located in a plating position. 1 is a plan view of a drive mechanism for a partial anode electrode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 6 show an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the article to be plated 1 is a vehicle exterior product made of a synthetic resin material. The article to be plated 1 has a long shape, and is formed on inclined surfaces 1a and 1b having different directions on the left and right surfaces with the apex at substantially the center in the orthogonal direction (width direction) in the longitudinal direction. The longitudinal directions of the surfaces 1a and 1b are formed into flat surfaces.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the article to be plated 1 is attached to a hanger 13. In this embodiment, the four articles 1 to be plated are attached to the hanger 13 on both sides thereof.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the plating apparatus 10 includes a plating tank 11 in which a plating solution (electrolytic solution) 12 is placed, a hanger 13 to which the article to be plated 1 is attached, and a plurality of anode electrodes 14. ing. The hanger 13 can be moved horizontally so that it can move to the upper position of the plating tank 11, the work position of the previous process, and the work position of the next process (for example, the plating tank of the next process), and is immersed in the plating solution 12 of the plating tank 11. It can be moved up and down so that it can be lifted and pulled up.

  Each anode electrode 14 is divided into a plurality (four in this embodiment) of partial anode electrodes 14a. The plurality of partial anode electrodes 14 a are supported on the electrode base 16 by the respective support rods 15. The electrode base 16 is provided so as to be movable in the perspective direction (separation / proximity direction) A with respect to the article 1 to be plated attached to the hanger 13.

  The tip of each support rod 15 is supported so as to be rotatable (in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 5) about the rotation shaft 15a of each partial anode 14a. The rotating shaft 15a is provided at the center of the partial anode electrode 14a. Each partial anode electrode 14a can change the direction of the surface facing the article 1 to be plated.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the electrode base 16 is provided with an actuator 17 for each partial anode electrode 14 a and a ball screw 18 that is rotated by each actuator 17 and can change a protruding stroke amount. ing. The tip of each ball screw 18 is supported by each partial anode electrode 14a in a rotational flow state. By changing the stroke amount of the ball screw 18, the direction of the partial anode electrode 14a can be changed.

  Next, the plating process by the plating apparatus 1 will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 4, the plurality of partial anode electrodes 14 a are positioned in an anode origin position sufficiently far from the position of the article to be plated 1 in a state where they are arranged in a line. The hanger 13 is lowered at the hanger immersion position, and the article to be plated 1 attached to the hanger 13 is immersed in the plating solution 12. Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the plurality of partial anode electrodes 14 a are linearly moved to a position close to the product to be plated 1, and then each partial anode electrode 14 a is inclined to each of the opposed inclined surfaces of the product 1 to be plated. The orientations of the surfaces facing the article to be plated 1 are adjusted so as to face each other substantially parallel to 1a and 1b.

  Next, a voltage is applied between the article to be plated 1 and the plurality of partial anode electrodes 14a, and electricity is applied for a predetermined time. Thereby, a metal deposits on the surface (including the inclined surfaces 1a and 1b) of the product 1 to be plated, and a plating layer (not shown) is formed on the surface (including the inclined surfaces 1a and 1b) of the product 1 to be plated. The When energization for a predetermined time is completed, the hanger 13 is pulled up, and the article to be plated 1 is pulled up from the plating tank 11. This completes the plating step.

  As described above, since the orientation of each partial anode electrode 14a can be changed, the orientation of each partial anode electrode 14a is opposed to each inclined surface 1a, 1b in a different direction of the article 1 as parallel as possible. Since it can arrange | position, the distance of each partial anode electrode 14a and each inclined surface 1a, 1b of the different direction of the to-be-plated goods 1 can be made as uniform as possible. Therefore, a uniform plating layer (not shown) can be formed as much as possible in the article to be plated 1 having a plurality of differently oriented surfaces.

  Each partial anode electrode 14a is rotatably provided, and its direction can be changed by rotation so as to face the inclined surfaces 1a and 1b of the surface of the article 1 to be plated in parallel. Therefore, since a rotation mechanism may be applied to the partial anode electrode 14a, the orientation of the partial anode electrode 14a can be changed with a simple structure.

  Each partial anode electrode 14a is provided so that the direction with respect to the surface of the article to be plated 1 can be varied in two dimensions. Therefore, when the surface of the article to be plated 1 has two different directions in two dimensions, it can be arranged substantially in parallel. Each partial anode electrode 14a may be provided so that its orientation relative to the surface of the article to be plated 1 can be varied in three dimensions. If comprised in this way, even when the surface of the to-be-plated goods 1 has a different direction in three dimensions, it can arrange substantially in parallel.

  In this embodiment, since the space | interval with the to-be-plated goods 1 can change uniformly the some partial anode electrode 14a, the some partial anode electrode 14a can be moved with a single drive mechanism. Each partial anode electrode 14a may be provided so as to be individually movable in a direction in which the distance from the article to be plated 1 is varied. If it does in this way, the space | interval with the opposing surface of the to-be-plated goods 1 can be freely adjusted for every partial anode electrode 14a.

  In this embodiment, the anode electrode 14 is divided into four partial anode electrodes 14a, but the number of divisions is not limited. The greater the number of divisions of the anode electrode 14a, the more the surface of the article to be plated 1 can be dealt with in a more complicated manner, and the plating process can be performed with a substantially uniform thickness.

  In this embodiment, the same voltage is applied to the plurality of partial anodes 14a. However, a different voltage may be applied to each partial anode 14a. If comprised in this way, according to the condition of the surface which the to-be-plated goods 1 oppose, etc., finer control is possible for uniform plating thickness formation.

  In this embodiment, since the auxiliary cathode electrode is not used as in the prior art, there is no problem that the composition of the plating solution 12 gradually deteriorates, the management of the plating solution 12 becomes troublesome, and the cost increases. .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Product to be plated 1a, 1b Inclined surface 10 Plating apparatus 11 Plating tank 12 Plating solution 14 Anode electrode 14a Partial anode electrode

Claims (5)

In a plating apparatus comprising: a plating tank in which a plating solution is placed; a product to be plated immersed in the plating solution; and an anode electrode which is immersed in the plating solution and can be arranged at intervals on the product to be plated ,
2. The plating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the anode electrode is divided into a plurality of partial anode electrodes, and each of the partial anode electrodes is provided so that its direction relative to the surface of the article to be plated can be varied. The plating apparatus according to claim 1,
Each said partial anode electrode is provided rotatably, The direction with respect to the surface of the said to-be-plated goods can be each changed by rotation, The plating apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. The plating apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
Each said partial anode electrode is provided with the direction with respect to the surface of the said to-be-plated goods so that variable in two dimensions is possible. The plating apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
Each said partial anode electrode is provided with the direction with respect to the surface of the said to-be-plated goods so that variable in three dimensions is possible. The plating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein
Each of the partial anode electrodes is provided so as to be movable in a direction in which the distance from the article to be plated is variable.

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