JP3109548B2 - Electroplating equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electroplating apparatus which is excellent in uniformity of plating film thickness, maintainability and productivity.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a conventional electroplating apparatus comprises an anode 3, a cathode 4, a shielding plate 9 disposed between both electrodes for preventing stray current, and a plating bath provided therein. Consists of two. Further, the electroplating apparatus has a clamp 6 below the cathode 4 for gripping and suspending the workpiece 8 and an air discharge pipe 5 disposed below the workpiece 8. The air discharge pipe 5 is for constantly stirring and circulating the plating solution 7.

[0003] The shielding plate 9 is provided to prevent a stray current from flowing through an unexpected path. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the anode 3 includes a titanium case 32 having a large number of through holes 320, a copper ball and a nickel chip 33 filled therein. An anode bag 31 for preventing foreign matter diffusion is provided around the periphery of the anode bag 31.

[0004] The anode bag 31 is made of cloth and provided to prevent foreign substances generated from the anode 3 from adhering to the surface of the plating object 8. Note that FIG.
Reference numeral 30 in FIG. 10 denotes a terminal unit for sending a direct current to the anode 3.

In forming an electroplating film (not shown, the same applies hereinafter) on the object to be plated 8, a direct current is passed between the anode 3 and the cathode 4.
Yields 1. At this time, various metals such as nickel and copper dissolved in the plating solution 7 precipitate on the surface of the plating object 8,
An electroplating film is formed.

[0006]

However, the above prior art has the following problems. That is, the anode bag 3
Since 1 is made of cloth, it may be difficult to pass the circulating plating solution 7. Therefore, the plating solution 7 around the anode 3
Circulates, and the cation concentration in the plating solution 7 tends to change. As a result, the thickness of the plating film of the plating object 8 becomes non-uniform, and the physical properties of the plating film deteriorate.

As described above, when the circulation of the plating solution 7 around the anode 3 is hindered, foreign substances tend to adhere to the surface of the anode 3. As a result, the shape of the anode 3 changes, or the current line 41
Will change. As a result, the electric capacity of the current line 41 to the plating object 8 becomes unstable, and a uniform plating film thickness cannot be obtained.

On the other hand, in order to check whether foreign matter has adhered to the inner surface of the anode bag 31, it is necessary to remove the anode bag 31 each time.
Also, when replacing the anode 3 with a new one, the anode bag 31 must be similarly removed.

As a result, the efficiency of the plating operation is low, and the maintainability and productivity are deteriorated. The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electroplating apparatus which is excellent in plating film thickness uniformity, maintainability, and productivity.

[0010]

According to the present invention , an electric current is supplied to a cathode.
Lysed by Rukoto, more and anode <br/> over de supplying metal in the plating solution, a cathode and a shielding plate for stray current blocking which is disposed between the electrodes, the plating bath to the inner set of these In the electroplating apparatus, the shielding plate has a current blocking portion on an outer peripheral portion for blocking the stray current, and allows a plating current to pass through the inside of the current blocking portion and separates both electrodes . Foreign matter generated from the anode is removed from the cathode
An electroplating apparatus characterized in that a diaphragm formed of a screen mesh for isolation is provided.

The most remarkable point in the present invention is that the shielding plate has a current blocking portion on the outer peripheral portion for blocking stray current, a plating current is passed inside the current blocking portion, and a gap between both electrodes is provided. Isolate and remove foreign matter from the anode
That is, a diaphragm for isolating from the cathode was provided. As shown in the embodiment, the shielding plate is preferably formed of, for example, a frame, and is preferably detachably provided in the plating bath. This facilitates maintenance work such as inspection, replacement, and cleaning of the shield plate, and improves maintainability and productivity. The shielding plate is made of a non-conductive material such as a fiber reinforced plastic plate (FRP) or a PVC plate (vinyl chloride resin plate).

The current blocking portion is a plating current shielding portion formed on the outer peripheral portion of the shielding plate.
In addition, an opening is provided inside the current blocking portion for disposing a diaphragm through which a plating current passes. A plurality of openings may be provided, and the shape is not particularly limited. As the diaphragm, a screen mesh made of, for example, nylon cloth, silk cloth, or the like is used.

[0013]

[Operation and Effect] In the electroplating apparatus of the present invention,
A shielding plate having a current blocking portion for blocking stray current is provided on the outer peripheral portion. Therefore, no stray current flows between the anode and the cathode. Therefore, the thickness of the plating film on the object to be plated becomes uniform. Further, a diaphragm for passing a plating current is provided inside the current blocking portion. As a result, the diaphragm separates the anode and the cathode from each other, and the plating current for the object to be plated is easily controlled. In addition, the diaphragm is not capable of generating the anode.
For isolating objects (see the prior art section above) from the cathode
It also has the ability. Further, the stray current is blocked by the current blocking portion and passes only through the diaphragm, so that the straightness of the plating current is improved.

As a result, the thickness of the plating film on the object to be plated becomes uniform. On the other hand, by applying electricity between the cathode and
An anode bag is not provided around the anode for dissolving and supplying the metal to the plating solution as in the above-described conventional example. Therefore, circulation of the plating solution around the anode is not hindered. As a result, the concentration of the plating solution around the anode is stabilized, and the thickness of the plating film on the object to be plated becomes uniform.

Further, maintenance work such as inspection, replacement, and cleaning of the anode is facilitated, so that maintainability and productivity are improved. As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an electroplating apparatus excellent in uniformity of plating film thickness, maintainability, and productivity.

[0016]

【Example】

Embodiment 1 An electroplating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG. The electroplating apparatus of this example is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a shield plate 1 for preventing stray current is disposed between the anode 3 and the cathode 4 and a plating bath 2 in which these are disposed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the shielding plate 1 has a current blocking portion 11 for blocking the stray current on the outer peripheral portion, and allows a plating current to pass through the inside of the current blocking portion 11. A diaphragm 12 for isolating the two poles and a holding frame 13 are provided. The shielding plate 1 is made of a frame made of fiber reinforced plastic (FRP). Further, the shielding plate 1 has an opening 110 at the center thereof.
The current blocking portion 11 is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the zero.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the current blocking portion 11 has a detachable concave locking portion 111 below. In addition, the current blocking portion 11 has an upper plate 1 at the upper rear portion.
14 and a lower plate 113 at a lower rear portion. Also,
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the current blocking unit 11
And a large number of mounting holes 116 for mounting the holding frame 13 with locking members such as bolts 14 and nuts 15.

The diaphragm 12 is made of a screen net made of nylon cloth or the like. Also, the diaphragm 12 is shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, a large number of mounting holes 120 are provided on the outer peripheral portion. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the holding frame 13 has an opening 130 at the center thereof.
It is made of a frame made of RP. In addition, a number of mounting holes 131 are provided on the outer peripheral portion.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the plating bath 2 comprises a rectangular parallelepiped FRP container for containing the plating solution 7. As shown in FIG. Further, the plating bath 2 has a cathode 4 in an upper central portion. The plating bath 2 has a pair of anodes 3 on both sides. Further, a plurality of drain holes 22 are provided in the lower corner portion.
The cathode 4 has a clamp 6 at its lower part for gripping and suspending an object 8 to be plated. A plurality of air discharge pipes 5 are provided below the object to be plated 8.

As shown in FIG. 3, a current line 41 flows between the anode 3 and the cathode 4 in the direction of the arrow. Further, a terminal portion 30 for flowing a direct current is connected to the anode 3. On the other hand, the concave locking portion 111 is provided with a locking portion 21 projecting from the bottom of the plating bath 2.
Is detachably engaged. Others are the same as the conventional example.

Next, the function and effect will be described. In the electroplating apparatus of the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4, a current blocking portion 1 for blocking stray current is provided on an outer peripheral portion.
1 is provided. Therefore, no stray current flows between the anode 3 and the cathode 4. Therefore, the thickness of the plating film of the plating object 8 becomes uniform.

Also, inside the current blocking portion 11, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, a diaphragm 12 for passing a plating current is provided. Thus, the diaphragm 12 separates the anode 3 and the cathode 4 from each other, and the plating current for the object 8 to be plated is easily controlled. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the current blocking portion 11 includes an upper plate 114 and a lower plate 11.
3, the plating current 75 passes only through the diaphragm 12. As a result, the thickness of the plating film on the object to be plated becomes uniform.

On the other hand, the anode bag 31 (see FIG. 9) is not provided around the anode 3 as in the conventional example. Therefore, circulation of the plating solution 7 around the anode 3 is not hindered. As a result, various conditions such as the concentration of the plating solution 7 around the anode 3 are stabilized, and the thickness of the plating film on the plating object 8 becomes uniform.

Further, maintenance such as inspection, replacement, cleaning and the like of the anode 3 is facilitated, so that maintainability and productivity are improved. The shielding plate 1 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, it is detachably attached to the plating bath 2 by the concave locking portion 111. Therefore, maintenance work such as replacement and cleaning of the shielding plate 1 becomes easy. Therefore, maintainability and productivity are improved.

Embodiment 2 As shown in FIG. 5, in this embodiment, a shielding plate 1 having concave projections 16 at the top and bottom is used instead of the shielding plate 1 in the first embodiment.
It is what it was. Others are the same as the first embodiment.
As shown in the figure, the concave projecting portion 16 includes a double-walled vertical wall current blocking portion 161 erected vertically in parallel, and a horizontal connecting portion 162 connecting these components horizontally.

These are arranged symmetrically above and below the shielding plate 1. Further, the vertical wall current blocking portion 161 is provided with a diaphragm 12 on an outer portion thereof.
Further, a detachable concave portion 1621 is formed below the concave portion. Therefore, when the plating current 75 flows from the anode 3 to the cathode 4, the stray current is completely blocked by the vertical wall current blocking portion 161 composed of the double wall. Therefore, the plating current passes straight through only the diaphragm 12, and no stray current is generated. In addition, the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

Embodiment 3 In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, three openings 110 are provided in the shielding plate 1 of Embodiment 1 described above. Others are the same as the first embodiment. The opening 110 has a first opening 1101 and a second opening 11 as shown in FIG.
02 and a third opening 1103. In addition, three of them are arranged side by side. Note that a diaphragm 12 (not shown) is provided in these openings in the same manner as in the first embodiment. In this embodiment, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained.

Embodiment 4 As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, this embodiment uses a porous shielding plate 10 instead of the opening 110 of the shielding plate 1 in the first embodiment.
It is what it was. Others are the same as the first embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 7, the porous shielding plate 10 has a hole 103 having the largest diameter in the center, a hole 104 having an intermediate size around the hole 103, and a hole 105 having the smallest diameter in the outer periphery thereof.
And

The porous shielding plate 10 is provided with the hole 1
05 has a wide current blocking portion 11 on the outer periphery thereof.
It consists of an FRP plate. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a diaphragm 12 is provided adjacent to the porous shielding plate 10. Pressing frames 13 and 131 are provided on both sides.

According to this embodiment, the opening area of the porous shielding plate 10 is smaller than that of the opening 110 of the first embodiment. Therefore, the area where the diaphragm 12 is supported by the porous shielding plate 10 increases. As a result, the durability of the diaphragm 12 is further improved as compared with the first embodiment. As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to obtain an electroplating apparatus having the diaphragm 12 and the shielding plate that are more durable than the first embodiment. In addition, the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shield plate of an electroplating apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the electroplating apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the shielding plate according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a front view of an electroplating apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a shielding plate according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a shielding plate according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a shielding plate according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a front view of a conventional electroplating apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a side view of a conventional electroplating apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of an anode in a conventional electroplating apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 11;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,10. . . 10. shielding plate; . . 11. current blocking section; . . 12. diaphragm, . . Presser frame, 2. . . Plating bath, 3. . . Anode, 4. . . Cathode, 41. . . Current line, 7. . . 7. plating solution; . . Plating object,

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] (1) melting is performed by supplying a current to the cathode.
Construed, an anode for supplying metal in the plating solution, a cathode, a shielding plate for stray current blocking which is disposed between the electrodes, in a more composed electroplating apparatus and internally provided plating bath them, the shielding plate Has a current blocking portion on the outer peripheral portion for blocking the stray current, and allows a plating current to pass through the inside of the current blocking portion while isolating the two electrodes from each other.
Screen to isolate foreign matter generated from the cathode
An electroplating apparatus comprising a diaphragm formed of a mesh-like body .