JP2020037714A - Anode basket for electroplating - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide the anode basket that can prevent recycled nickel, which has gradually become smaller due to melting, from jumping out of an opening of a mesh part when recycled nickel is put into the anode basket, can always enable uniform storage in the anode basket, and can make a nickel film thickness of a duplicate by nickel plating uniform.SOLUTION: The anode basket of the present invention comprises, as a support member for storing an anode material, a frame plate including a horizontal frame plate, a reinforcing frame plate, and a bottom frame plate, wherein the anode basket has the mesh part on an entire surface inside the frame plate, and is provided with a hanging part for supplying electricity as an anode at an upper part in the frame plate, and the opening of the mesh part has a shape in which a length in a vertical direction is longer than the length in a horizontal direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an anode basket used for electroplating.

  2. Description of the Related Art A method of duplicating a metal plate by electroplating, particularly, nickel plating has been known. Examples of the duplicate include a printed board, a stamper of an optical storage medium, and an intaglio plate surface used for intaglio printing.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the replication method using nickel plating, a nickel plating solution (11) is prepared in a nickel plating tank (10), an anode basket (1 ′) is arranged on the anode side, and an anode basket (1) is placed. The inside of ') is filled with anode material, while on the cathode side, an uneven metal plate (12), which serves as a master of the duplicate, is arranged and energized to produce a nickel-plated duplicate (13). can do.

  Normally, commercially available nickel balls or nickel chips are used as the anode material. However, nickel is a rare mineral, and depending on the situation of the place of origin, it may be difficult to obtain nickel or the cost may increase. Therefore, recycled nickel is used as an anode material other than nickel balls or nickel chips. The nickel balls are also called nickel pellets.

  Recycled nickel refers to the above-described duplicate plate, for example, when producing a stamper or an intaglio plate surface, is temporarily duplicated by nickel plating to a size larger than a predetermined size, and then cut and finished to a predetermined size. Therefore, the cut nickel pieces are used again for nickel plating as an anode material, and thus are called recycled nickel. Therefore, the recycled nickel is a nickel ball or a nickel chip deposited as a duplicate of nickel, and is formed into a thin film piece having a roughly square shape and a size of about 10 mm and a thickness of about 1 mm, and is formed into an anode basket. Stored and used again.

  The anode basket for storing the anode material is designed mainly for storing commercially available nickel balls or nickel chips. 3 shows the structure of a general anode basket (1 '), FIG. 3 (a) is a front view, FIG. 3 (b) is a side view, and FIG. 3 (c) is an enlarged view of a mesh portion (1d'). FIG. 3D is a cross-sectional view (XX ′ view of FIG. 3A).

  As shown in FIG. 3, the anode basket (1 ') is provided as a support member in the horizontal frame plate (1a'), the reinforcing frame plate (1b), the bottom frame plate (1c), and inside the frame plate. A mesh part (1d ') and a hanging part (1e) for supplying electricity as an anode. The charging port (1f) is a charging port for the anode material, and each frame plate, mesh portion, and hanging portion are made of titanium, and thus can be energized at all portions and dissolve the anode material.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3 (c), the mesh portion (1d ′) is rectangular in order to make the strength in the vertical and horizontal directions uniform, and the opening (1g ′) is formed by repeating nickel plating to form an anode material. The nickel ball or nickel chip melts and becomes small, so that it does not fall from the opening (1g ′) of the mesh portion (1d ′), for example, the lateral length (d1) of the opening (1g ′). ') And the length in the vertical direction (d2') are generally about 5 mm.

  By the way, as a conventional technique of the anode basket, titanium is used as a material of the anode basket. However, since titanium is expensive, a method of using a lath material has been disclosed as a method of making it less expensive (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).

  Further, an electroplating apparatus in which a plurality of storage blocks are provided in an anode basket in order to suppress a rapid change in the plating thickness of a duplicate during nickel plating is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 2).

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 55-8622 JP 2009-13433 A

  The problem to be solved by the present invention relates to the structure of an anode basket when recycled nickel is used as the anode material.

  FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view of a nickel ball (a) charged and stored in an anode basket (1 '), as viewed from a horizontal plate frame (1a') direction. FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view after nickel plating is repeated. As shown in FIG. 4 (b), the nickel ball (a) is gradually reduced by melting, and moves to the lower part of the anode basket (a) by its own weight. At this time, in the case of the nickel balls (a), since they are spherical, they are arranged substantially uniformly even if they become smaller. It is to be noted that the diameter of the nickel ball (a) at the time of introduction is generally about 10 mm.

  On the other hand, FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view in which recycled nickel (b) is charged into the anode basket (1 ') and viewed from the horizontal plate frame (1a') direction. In the case of recycled nickel (b), since one piece is a thin film piece having a thickness of about 10 mm and a thickness of about 1 mm, a part of the recycled nickel (b) protrudes from the opening (1g ') and is stored.

  FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view after nickel plating is repeated. As described above, the recycled nickel (b) also gradually decreases due to the dissolution, but the recycled nickel (b) protruding from the opening (1g ') of the mesh portion (1d') decreases while remaining in that state. Therefore, unlike the nickel ball (a), the space does not uniformly fall by its own weight to the lower part, so that a space is created. As a result, there has been a problem that the nickel film thickness of the duplicate by nickel plating tends to be non-uniform.

  FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the opening (1g ') of the mesh portion (1d') and the recycled nickel (b) in the anode basket (1 '). FIG. 6A shows a state in which recycled nickel (b) is stored in the lateral direction with respect to the opening (1g ′), and FIG. 6B shows recycled nickel with respect to the opening (1g ′). (B) is a state stored in the vertical direction. As shown in FIG. 6, the amount of the recycled nickel (b) that jumps out increases when the recycled nickel (b) is stored in the horizontal direction, and tends to remain. On the other hand, when the recycled nickel (b) is stored in the vertical direction with respect to the opening (1g '), the amount of protrusion is small and it is easy to fall, so there is room for improving the vertical and horizontal openings.

  Although not shown, the recycled nickel put into the anode basket is once deposited at the center and dispersed at the four corners, so that there is a problem that the recycled nickel easily jumps out of the four corners of the anode basket.

  By the way, as a conventional technique of the anode basket, Patent Literature 1 relates to a material for the anode basket, and aims at reducing the cost of the anode basket.

  Further, Patent Document 2 controls the thickness of nickel plating by providing a block in the anode basket, but does not aim to use recycled nickel.

  As described above, even if the prior literature is examined, no proposal has been found for an anode basket optimized by using recycled nickel as the nickel-plated anode material, and thus a new idea has been required.

  The anode basket of the present invention is an anode basket used for nickel plating, and includes, as a supporting member for storing an anode material, a frame plate including a horizontal frame plate, a reinforcing frame plate, and a bottom frame plate. It has a mesh portion on the entire surface, and comprises a hanging portion for supplying electricity as an anode at the upper part in the frame plate, the opening of the mesh portion is parallel to the bottom frame plate in the lateral direction of the opening, When the vertical direction is the vertical direction of the opening, the opening is longer in the vertical direction than in the horizontal direction.

  The anode basket of the present invention is characterized in that the horizontal frame plate is curved.

  In the anode basket of the present invention, when recycled nickel is used as the nickel-plated anode material, by uniformly optimizing the opening of the mesh portion, uniform storage in the anode basket is always possible, and nickel plating is used. The nickel film thickness of the duplicate becomes uniform.

  Further, by bending the horizontal frame plate of the anode basket according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the amount of the recycled nickel that jumps out of the opening of the mesh portion.

  In addition, the anode basket of the present invention can use commercially available nickel balls and nickel pellets as the anode material, so that uniform nickel plating can be provided regardless of the shape of the anode material.

It is a schematic diagram of the anode basket of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram of the duplication method by nickel plating. It is a schematic diagram of a conventional anode basket. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a storage state in an anode basket when nickel balls are used. It is a figure showing the storage state in the anode basket at the time of using recycled nickel. It is an enlarged view of the opening of the mesh part in the anode basket, and recycled nickel.

  An embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below, and includes various other embodiments within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims.

  The anode basket of the present invention is suitable for a case where recycled nickel is used as the anode material, and the configuration is shown in FIG. 1 (a) is a front view, FIG. 1 (b) is a side view, FIG. 1 (c) is an enlarged view of a mesh portion, and FIG. 1 (d) is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX 'of FIG. 1 (a). .

  As shown in FIG. 1, the anode basket (1) has a frame member of a horizontal frame plate (1a), a reinforcing frame plate (1b), a bottom frame plate (1c) as a supporting member, and a mesh provided in the frame plate. A part (1d) and a hanging part (1e) for supplying electricity as an anode. The upper part of the anode basket (1) is provided with a charging port (1f) for charging an anode material. Further, since each frame plate, mesh portion and hanging portion are made of titanium, they can be energized at all portions and dissolve the anode material.

  The anode basket (1) of the present invention is based on the premise that recycled nickel is mainly used for the anode material. Therefore, two points of the opening (1g) of the mesh portion (1d) and the horizontal frame plate (1a) are improved. Is planned. First, the first opening (1g) will be described.

  Table 1 shows that, while changing the length (d1) in the horizontal direction and the length (d2) in the vertical direction of the opening (1g), recycled nickel was put into the anode basket (1) and nickel plating was performed several times. After performing, the storage state of the recycled nickel was evaluated. As a criterion, ○ indicates uniformity, Δ indicates non-uniformity, and × indicates non-uniformity.

  As a result of the evaluation, if the horizontal length (d1) of the opening (1 g) is 3 mm or less and the vertical length (d2) is 7 mm or less, even if recycled nickel is used as the anode material, It was found that they could be evenly dispersed in the anode basket.

  However, if the opening (1 g) is too small, the nickel ions hinder the movement to the duplicate plate during nickel plating, and a predetermined size is required. Therefore, the horizontal length (d1) is preferably 2-3 mm, and the vertical length (d2) is preferably 6-7 mm. As described above, the size of the opening (1 g) of the present invention is characterized in that the length is made larger in the vertical direction than in the horizontal direction in consideration of the residual state of the recycled nickel.

  Next, the horizontal frame plate (1a) of the present invention, which is the second feature, will be described. As shown in FIG. 1D, the four corners of the anode basket (1) are curved. As a result, even if the recycled nickel put into the anode basket (1) is once deposited at the center and dispersed at the four corners, the recycled nickel is less likely to fly out and uniform storage is possible.

  Although the anode basket (1) of the present invention is designed for the purpose of using recycled nickel as the anode material, uniform nickel plating is possible without any problem even if a commercially available anode ball or anode tip is used.

1, 1 'Anode basket 1a, 1a' Horizontal frame 1b, 1b 'Reinforcement frame 1c, 1c' Bottom frame 1d, 1d 'Mesh 1e, 1e' Hanger 1f, 1f 'Input port 1g, 1g 'Openings d1, d1' Horizontal length d2, d2 'Vertical length 10 Nickel plating tank 11 Nickel plating solution 12 Metal plate 13 Duplicate plate

Claims (2)

An anode basket used for electroplating,
The anode basket includes a horizontal frame plate, a reinforcing frame plate, and a frame plate including a bottom frame plate as a support member for storing an anode material, and has a mesh portion on the entire surface in the frame plate, It has a hanging part for conducting electricity as an anode at the upper part of the inside,
When the opening of the mesh portion is a horizontal direction of the opening in a direction parallel to the bottom frame plate and a vertical direction of the opening in the vertical direction, the opening is longer in the vertical direction than in the horizontal direction. Anode basket for electroplating characterized by having a longer length.   An anode basket for electroplating, wherein the horizontal frame plate is curved.

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