JP4525666B2 - Power feeding mechanism, electrolytic treatment method, electrolytic treatment apparatus, electric wire processing apparatus, and tape electric wire - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a power feeding mechanism in electrolytic treatment for an electric wire in which a conductor is discontinuously covered with an insulating material. The present invention also relates to an electrolytic treatment method and an electrolytic treatment apparatus using the power feeding mechanism, and further relates to an electric wire processing apparatus and a tape electric wire.

  In recent years, with the expansion of demand for OA equipment and the like, the use of electric wires (hereinafter simply referred to as “electric wires”) in which conductors are discontinuously covered with an insulating material, such as tape electric wires, is increasing. Conventionally, conductors used for electric wires have been used with copper wires centered around the copper wire and electrolytically plated with tin-lead alloy and rolled to ensure reliable connection with connectors, etc. However, due to environmental pollution caused by lead, it has been changed to lead-free tin plating.

  However, in this tin plating, another problem arises that whiskers are generated from the plating layer and this causes a short circuit of current. Therefore, gold plating has been studied as an alternative to tin. However, since gold is expensive, it is not preferable in terms of cost to apply an insulating coating after gold plating is applied to a copper wire. Absent. For this reason, an efficient plating method has been studied in which an insulating coating is applied before processing, except for the portions that require plating, and only the necessary portions are plated. Specifically, the following two methods are generally used as methods for feeding power to electric wires such as tape wires.

  In the first method, a power feeding plate arranged so as to sandwich the conductor is provided as a power feeding portion to the conductor. This is a method of feeding power by contacting the part.

  This will be specifically described with reference to FIG. That is, when the sensor 22 detects the conductor exposed portion of the traveling electric wire 1, one of the power supply plates 23 and 24 each composed of two pairs of upper and lower parts sandwiches the electric wire 1 and comes into contact with the conductor exposed portion. . The power feeding plates 23 and 24 can reciprocate in parallel along the traveling direction of the electric wire 1, from the point A to the point B for the power feeding plate 23, and from the point C to the point D for the power feeding plate 24. When the power supply plate 23 or 24 is in contact with the conductor while sandwiching the electric wire 1 at the point A or C, the feed plate 23 or 24 moves a certain distance in the traveling direction as it is, and when the point B or D is reached, the sandwiching is released, Return to point A or C. Further, one of the power supply plates 23 and 24 is controlled so that the electric wire 1 is always sandwiched between them. While the power feeding plates 23 and 24 are in contact with the conductor and moving, a negative charge is sent from the rectifier E to the electric wire 1 and between the electrode plates P having a positive charge in the plating tank M. Electrolysis is caused and the conductor exposed portion is plated, and the plated electric wire 11 is obtained.

The second method is a method of supplying power by winding an electric wire around a power supply drum and bringing a conductor exposed portion into contact with the power supply drum.
This will be specifically described with reference to FIG. That is, the electric wire 1 travels while being tightly wound around the power supply drum 31 by the power supply drum 31 and the pressing rollers 33a and 33b. When the conductor exposed portion of the electric wire 1 comes into contact with the power supply drum 31, the negative charge sent from the rectifier E to the power supply drum is sent to the electric wire 1, and in the plating tank M, the positive electrode plate P has a positive charge. Electrolysis is caused between them, and the conductor exposed portion is subjected to a plating process, whereby the plated electric wire 11 is obtained.

However, these methods have the following problems.
That is, in the first method, it is necessary to provide a plurality of power supply plates composed of a pair of components and to synchronize between the detector and the power supply plate. However, it requires a large capital investment.
In addition, maintenance such as deterioration and update of the power supply plate is complicated.
In addition, there is a limitation on the moving distance (A to B and C to D in FIG. 2) of each power supply plate, and it is difficult to cope with the case where the conductor exposed portions of the electric wire have a wide pitch.
Furthermore, in this method, since the power feeding plate sandwiches the electric wire, the surface of the product may be damaged.

In the second method, if the insulating coating layer is too thick compared to the length of the exposed conductor, the conductor cannot be brought into contact with the power supply drum even if a presser roller is used, and power supply to the conductor becomes impossible. There is a possibility that the plating process cannot be performed.
Also, due to the relationship with the diameter of the power supply drum, when the pitch of the exposed conductor portion of the electric wire is wide, it becomes difficult to cope with it.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the conventional plating method regarding power feeding, and while being a simple mechanism, it can reliably feed power (no contact failure etc.) and can handle a wide pitch. It is an object to provide a simple power feeding mechanism, and an electrolytic treatment method and apparatus using the power feeding mechanism. Furthermore, it is also an object to provide an electric wire processing apparatus and a tape electric wire.

In view of the above problems, the present inventor, as a result of earnest research, the conductor end portion of the electric wire in which the conductor is discontinuously covered with an insulating material and / or the conductor tip portion of the electric wire in the winding portion and By supplying electricity to the electric wire between the electrode to be electrically connected and the electrode in the electrolytic treatment tank, while being a simple mechanism, it is possible to reliably supply power, and when the conductor exposed portion of the electric wire has a wide pitch The present inventors have found that it is possible to cope with it, and have completed the present invention.
Hereinafter, the invention of each claim will be described.

The invention described in claim 1
A power feeding mechanism in an electrolytic process for an electric wire in which a conductor is discontinuously covered with an insulating material, and electrically connected to a conductor end portion of the electric wire in a supply portion and / or a conductor tip portion of the electric wire in a winding portion It is an electric power feeding mechanism which has an electrode and supplies electric power to an electric wire between the electrode in the said electrode and an electrolytic treatment tank.

  In the invention of this claim, since it is a system for supplying power to the electrode electrically connected to the conductor terminal end and / or the conductor tip of the electric wire, a conventional power supply method using a complicated mechanism is not required, and simple. Although it is a simple mechanism, it is possible to reliably supply electric power and to easily cope with a case where the conductor exposed portions of the electric wires have a wide pitch. In addition, since the power is reliably gripped at the end of the conductor, there is no problem such as a poor contact with the conductor, and uneven conduction is not generated, so that only the exposed portion of the conductor can be electrolytically treated. Furthermore, there is no troublesome maintenance such as deterioration update of the power supply plate. In addition, the reliable power supply according to the present invention can prevent the occurrence of so-called pin omission, in which electrolytic treatment is not performed on a part of the plurality of conductors.

  Here, “an electric wire in which a conductor is discontinuously covered with an insulating material” means, for example, one or more conductors (in the case where there are a plurality of conductors, arranged in parallel in the longitudinal direction) on both sides of polyethylene terephthalate. An electric wire that is discontinuously coated and laminated with an insulating resin composition such as, for example, a tape electric wire.

  In addition, the term “non-continuously coated” means that the coating with the insulating resin composition is not performed continuously on the entire conductor, but is performed discontinuously, so that the electric wire is exposed to the conductor. It has shown that it has a part. The conductor exposed portions are usually provided at a constant interval (pitch). However, in the present invention, the conductor exposed portions are not necessarily constant. In addition, the insulation coating surface is generally asymmetric in the upper and lower sides of the electric wire (for example, one surface is a continuous insulation coating surface and the other surface is a non-continuous insulation coating surface). In this case, the insulating coating surfaces may be symmetrical in the upper and lower sides of the electric wire, so that the insulating coated conductor portions and the uncovered conductor portions may appear alternately. Furthermore, the electric wire which has the discontinuous insulation coating surface from which a pattern differs in upper and lower sides may be sufficient.

Invention of Claim 2 is said electric power feeding mechanism, Comprising:
The electric wire is an electric wire having a plurality of conductors, and feeds power only to a part of the conductors selected from the plurality of conductors.

  According to the present invention, power is supplied only to a part of the conductors appropriately selected from among the plurality of conductors constituting the electric wire.

  According to the invention of this claim, multifaceted electrolytic treatment can be performed on a plurality of conductors constituting an electric wire. That is, it is possible to perform a treatment such as applying a gold plating to a certain conductor and applying a tin plating to another conductor. This power supply to some of the conductors is difficult to realize with the prior art, and the invention of this claim broadens the application of products in the post-process.

Invention of Claim 3 is said electric power feeding mechanism, Comprising:
The power supply mechanism is characterized in that the electric wire is a tape electric wire.

According to the present invention, since reliable power feeding can be performed for a plurality of conductors, the stability of the plating process on the conductor exposed portion of the tape electric wire is improved, and the product yield is improved.
Here, the tape electric wire refers to an electric wire formed in a rectangular shape by sandwiching both surfaces of a plurality of conductors arranged in parallel in the longitudinal direction with an insulating covering, and examples thereof include a flexible flat cable (FFC). It is done. In addition, the tape electric wire in the invention of this claim includes not only one tape electric wire but also a long tape-like electric wire obtained by electroplating to obtain a plurality of tape electric wires by cutting to a predetermined size. It is.

Invention of Claim 4 is said electric power feeding mechanism, Comprising:
The power supply mechanism is characterized in that the electrolytic treatment is electrolytic plating treatment or electrolytic degreasing treatment.

As electrolytic treatment of electric wires, not only metal plating treatment of tin, gold and the like, but also degreasing treatment for removing oils and fats adhering to the conductor surface in the previous process is generally performed.
The invention of this claim is preferably applied by electrolytic plating, but is also preferably applied to electrolytic degreasing as an important pre-process.
According to the invention of this claim, since reliable electric power can be supplied to the conductor, the stability of the plating process and the degreasing process is improved.

Invention of Claim 5 is the said electric power feeding mechanism, Comprising:
The power supply mechanism is characterized in that the electrolytic plating process is a gold plating process.

  According to the invention of this claim, since the power can be reliably supplied to the conductor, a uniform and stable gold plating process is possible, and the gold plating process is ensured only at a necessary portion without wasting expensive gold. Can be applied.

Invention of Claim 6 is said electric power feeding mechanism, Comprising:
The electrode is a slip ring electrically connected to a conductor terminal portion of the electric wire wound on a supply reel and / or a conductor tip portion of the electric wire wound on a take-up reel. This is a power feeding mechanism.

The invention of this claim specifies the power feeding mechanism more specifically. The slip ring to which the conductor end is connected rotates together with the supply reel, and the slip ring contacts and rotates with the contact led from the rectifier.
According to the invention of this claim, it is possible to perform reliable power feeding with a simple mechanism.

Invention of Claim 7 is said electric power feeding mechanism, Comprising:
The power supply mechanism is characterized in that the supply reel and / or the take-up reel have heat generation suppressing means.

  The invention of this claim suppresses heat generation due to Joule heat accompanying power feeding to the conductor. In the present invention, since power is supplied from the conductor end of the electric wire, a large Joule heat is generated in the conductor. And the generated heat accumulates in the wound electric wire and is not easily radiated to the outside. Therefore, it is desirable that the power feeding mechanism according to the present invention includes means for suppressing heat generation due to Joule heat.

As an example of heat generation suppression means, select a reel material that easily radiates heat, increase the inner diameter so that heat is not trapped in the reel shape design, increase the heat radiation surface area, etc. It can be devised to reduce the size. In addition, a method of stirring the surrounding air using the rotation of the reel is also preferable.
By the invention of this claim, the temperature rise of the product obtained can be suppressed, and the quality is stabilized.

The invention according to claim 8 is the power feeding mechanism,
The power generation mechanism is characterized in that the heat generation suppressing means is a cooling mechanism.

The invention according to the present invention employs a cooling mechanism such as forced air blowing, exhaust air, or water cooling as the heat generation suppressing means. Depending on the wire specifications and plating specifications, the current value supplied to the conductor varies and the amount of heat generated in the reel also varies.Therefore, there are cases where the heat generation suppression means such as selection of the reel material and shape design are not sufficient. In such a case, it is desirable to provide a more forced cooling mechanism.
By the invention of this claim, the temperature rise of the product obtained can be suppressed efficiently, and the quality is stabilized.

The invention according to claim 9 is:
An electrolytic treatment method for an electric wire in which a conductor is discontinuously covered with an insulating material, wherein an electrode electrically connected to a conductor end portion of the electric wire in a supply portion and / or a conductor tip portion of the electric wire in a winding portion And an electrolytic treatment method in which electricity is supplied to the electric wire between the electrode and the electrode in the electrolytic treatment tank and the electrolytic treatment is performed.

The invention of this claim captures the invention of claim 1 from the aspect of the electrolytic treatment method.
According to the invention of this claim, since it is securely gripped at the end of the conductor and supplied with power, and there is no unevenness in energization, uniform plating or degreasing can be performed.

The invention according to claim 10 is:
An electrolytic treatment apparatus having the power feeding mechanism.

The invention of this claim captures the present invention relating to the power feeding mechanism from the aspect of the electrolytic treatment apparatus.
According to the invention of this claim, a simple power feeding mechanism can be realized, and the processing apparatus can be made inexpensive. In addition, since the end of the conductor is securely gripped and reliable power feeding is possible, there is no problem such as poor contact with the conductor, power feeding during the electrolytic treatment is stable, and plating on the exposed conductor portion is homogenized. Further, it is possible to cope with the case where the conductor exposed portions of the electric wires have a wide pitch.

The invention according to claim 11
It is an electric wire processing apparatus characterized by having the said electrolytic treatment apparatus.

  According to the invention of this claim, it is possible to obtain a high-quality electric wire processed product subjected to reliable plating. Further, the apparatus can be further downsized and can easily cope with an electric wire having a wide conductor exposed portion pitch.

The invention according to claim 12
A tape electric wire obtained by using the electric wire processing apparatus.

  According to the invention of this claim, it is possible to obtain a high-quality tape electric wire in which the plating on the conductor exposed portion is homogenized.

  According to the present invention, a conventional power feeding method using a complicated mechanism is not required, and although it is a simple mechanism, reliable power feeding can be performed and occurrence of pin omission can be prevented. Further, it is possible to easily cope with the case where the conductor exposed portions of the electric wires have a wide pitch.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited to the following embodiment. Various modifications can be made to the following embodiments within the same and equivalent scope as the present invention.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a power feeding mechanism according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, an electrolytic treatment tank M is disposed between the supply unit F and the winding unit W of the electric wire 1. An electrode plate P is disposed in the electrolytic treatment tank M. In addition, the supply part F and the winding part W are comprised with the reel.

  Moreover, in the supply part F of the electric wire 1, the conductor terminal gripper F1 provided near the center and the slip ring S1 are connected and arranged, and the rotating slip ring S1 is connected to the rectifier E on the fixed side contact. It is arranged so as to confront the child. The slip ring S1 rotates integrally with the supply unit F and can perform stable power feeding.

  Similarly, in the winding portion W of the electric wire, the conductor terminal gripper W1 provided near the center thereof and the slip ring S2 are connected and arranged, and the rotating slip ring S2 is fixedly connected to the rectifier E. It arrange | positions so that a side contact may be in contact.

  The electric wire 1 is supplied via a supply roller (not shown), and when the exposed conductor portion of the electric wire 1 fed through the slip ring S1 passes through the electrolytic treatment tank M, the exposed conductor portion and the electrode plate An electric current flows between P and the electrolytic treatment. The electric wire that has undergone the electrolytic treatment is wound up as a product 11 through a feed roller (not shown).

  Normally, power is supplied from the rectifier E to the supply unit F side. However, when the remaining amount of the electric wire in the supply unit F decreases, or when the electric wire is disconnected from the supply unit F and joined with a new electric wire, the power supply from the rectifier E is switched to the winding unit W. Thereby, an electric current flows between the conductor exposed part of the electric wire 1 fed via the slip ring S2 and the electrode plate P, and the electrolytic treatment is continued. After completing the joint with the new electric wire, the power supply from the rectifier E is returned to the supply unit F side again. As described above, by switching the power supply from the rectifier E as necessary, the electrolytic treatment can be continued without stopping the power supply, and the electrolytic treatment can be performed without reducing the productivity.

Hereinafter, the first embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating Example 1 according to the present invention. In FIG. 4, an electrolytic degreasing bath M <b> 1, a gold plating bath M <b> 2, and the like are disposed between the supply unit F and the winding unit W of the electric wire 1. An electrode plate P1 is disposed in the electrolytic degreasing bath M1, and an electrode plate P2 is disposed in the gold plating bath M2. In addition, as the electric wire, a tape electric wire is used.

  Moreover, in the supply part F of the electric wire 1, the conductor terminal gripper F1 provided near the center and the slip ring S are connected and arranged, and the rotating slip ring S is in contact with the stationary contact A1. Are arranged to be. The slip ring S rotates integrally with the supply unit F, and the fixed contact A1 connected to the rectifier E1 and the fixed contact A2 connected to the rectifier E2 are in rotational contact to perform stable power supply. be able to.

  The electric wire 1 is supplied via the supply roller 41 and is first degreased in the electrolytic degreasing tank M1. Specifically, when the conductor exposed portion of the electric wire 1 fed from the rectifier E1 through the fixed contact A1 and the slip ring S passes through the electrolytic degreasing tank M1, the conductor exposed portion and the electrode plate P1 During this time, an electric current flows and electrolytic degreasing is performed.

Next, the electric wire that has been subjected to electrolytic degreasing treatment is sent to the gold plating treatment tank M2 and subjected to gold plating treatment. Specifically, when the conductor exposed portion of the electric wire 1 fed from the rectifier E2 through the fixed contact A2 and the slip ring S passes through the gold plating tank M2, the conductor exposed portion and the electrode plate P2 During this time, a current flows and gold plating is performed.
The electric wire that has been subjected to the gold plating process is wound as the product 11 in the winding portion W via the feed roller 42.

  In FIG. 4, T <b> 1 to T <b> 6 indicate apparatuses and facilities such as a water washing tank, an acid treatment tank, a gold recovery tank, and a draining / drying apparatus, and can be arranged before and after the gold plating treatment tank M <b> 2 as necessary. . The type and number of these devices and equipment, the arrangement order, and the like are appropriately selected, determined, and arranged in accordance with the material of the electric wire 1 and the characteristics of the process. Further, a preliminary plating treatment tank may be disposed in front of the gold plating treatment tank M2.

The tape electric wire used in the present Example 1 is shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, 1a is a conductor exposure part, 1c shows the coating | coated and laminated part by the polyethylene terephthalate resin composition which is an insulating material. Conduction was performed using a tape electric wire having a length (d) of the exposed conductor portion 1a of 10 mm, a pitch (y) between the exposed conductor portions of 100 mm, and a number of conductors of 40 (width of conductor cross section: 0.5 mm, thickness: 35 μm). However, by setting the current value to the electrode plate P1 in the electrolytic degreasing bath M1 to 10 A / dm ² and the current value of the electrode plate P2 in the gold plating bath M2 to 2 A / dm ² , the conductor exposed portion is gold-plated. We were able to obtain a beautifully applied wire.

  The present invention can also be used for manufacturing flexible printed circuits (FPC) and the like.

It is a schematic diagram explaining the electric power feeding mechanism of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the conventional electric power feeding mechanism. It is a schematic diagram which shows another example of the conventional electric power feeding mechanism. It is a schematic diagram explaining one Example of this invention. It is a top view which shows an example of a tape electric wire.

Explanation of symbols

1: Electric wire 1a: Conductor exposed portion 1c: Covering and laminating portion 11: Product (plated electric wire)
22: Sensors 23, 24: Power supply plate 31: Power supply drums A1, A2: Fixed side contacts E, E1, E2: Rectifier F: Supply section F1: Conductor terminal gripper M of supply section: Electrolytic treatment tank M1: Electrolytic degreasing Tank M2: Gold plating tanks P, P1, P2: Electrode plates S, S1, S2: Slip ring W: Winding part W1: Conductor terminal gripper of winding part

Claims (12)

  A power feeding mechanism in an electrolytic process for an electric wire in which a conductor is discontinuously covered with an insulating material, and electrically connected to a conductor end portion of the electric wire in a supply portion and / or a conductor tip portion of the electric wire in a winding portion A power supply mechanism comprising an electrode and supplying electricity to the electric wire between the electrode and the electrode in the electrolytic treatment tank.   The power feeding mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the electric wire is an electric wire having a plurality of conductors, and feeds power only to a part of the conductors selected from the plurality of conductors.   The power feeding mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the electric wire is a tape electric wire.   The power supply mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the electrolytic treatment is an electrolytic plating treatment or an electrolytic degreasing treatment.   The power feeding mechanism according to claim 4, wherein the electrolytic plating process is a gold plating process.   The electrode is a slip ring electrically connected to a conductor terminal portion of the electric wire wound on a supply reel and / or a conductor tip portion of the electric wire wound on a take-up reel. The power feeding mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 5.   The power supply mechanism according to claim 6, wherein the supply reel and / or the take-up reel have heat generation suppression means.   The power feeding mechanism according to claim 7, wherein the heat generation suppressing unit is a cooling mechanism.   An electrolytic treatment method for an electric wire in which a conductor is discontinuously covered with an insulating material, wherein an electrode electrically connected to a conductor end portion of the electric wire in a supply portion and / or a conductor tip portion of the electric wire in a winding portion And an electrolytic treatment method in which electricity is supplied to the electric wire between the electrode and the electrode in the electrolytic treatment tank and the electrolytic treatment is performed.   An electrolytic treatment apparatus comprising the power feeding mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 8.   An electric wire processing apparatus comprising the electrolytic processing apparatus according to claim 10. A tape electric wire obtained by using the electric wire processing apparatus according to claim 11.

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