JP4745854B2 - Plating equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a plating apparatus for performing a plating process by electrolysis or electroless, and in particular, a plating apparatus capable of informing when a barrel is stopped.

  Conventionally, when plating a large number of small parts at the same time, the parts are put in a plating barrel having liquid permeability, the whole barrel is immersed in a plating solution, and plating is performed while rotating the barrel. Examples of small parts include small parts such as various metal fittings, rods, and connectors, and in recent years, extremely small electronic parts such as electronic chips.

  A plating apparatus using a barrel is widely used at present, and is described, for example, in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-092793). This schematic configuration will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the plating apparatus B includes a barrel 50 that contains a material to be plated and rotates, a motor 51 as an example of a drive unit, and a drive transmission unit that transmits the driving force of the motor 51 to the barrel 50. An example gear train 52 and a frame 53 that supports the barrel 50, the motor 51, and the gear train 52 are provided. A large number of small plated materials 57 such as electric parts are accommodated in the barrel 50. A power source (not shown) is connected to the electrode 54 disposed inside the barrel 50 to supply electric power for electroplating. Then, in a state where the barrel 50 is immersed in the plating bath 56 of the plating tank 55 (the motor 51 is not immersed in the plating bath 56), the barrel 50 is rotated while being energized, so that the material 57 is plated. .

The barrel 50, the gear train 52, the frame 53, and the like are formed of resin so that no plating film is formed on the barrel 50, the gear train 52, the frame 53, and the like. Specifically, acrylic, PVC, or polypropylene is preferably used.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-092793

  In the plating apparatus using the barrel 50 as described above, it is necessary to rotate the barrel 50 without delay in order to uniformly form a film on the material 57 to be plated. This is because if the barrel 50 stops, uneven plating may occur or the materials 57 to be plated may be bonded together by a plating film.

  However, in practice, even if the plating apparatus is operating normally while it is new, there may be cases where the barrel 50 is stopped due to an operation failure during use. A stop due to an increase in rotational load due to a failure of the motor 51 or contamination of the drive transmission unit can be detected relatively easily. However, since the drive transmission part is also made of resin, there may be a failure such as wear and deformation of gear teeth, a missing part, and an idle rotation of the motor shaft. At this time, even if the motor 51 is rotating normally, there is a problem that the barrel 50 is not always rotating normally.

  At present, an operator frequently looks into the plating tank 55 during the plating process and visually checks whether the barrel 50 is rotating. However, although the plating bath 56 depends on the type, the color is dark and the visibility is not high. For this reason, it is impossible to determine whether or not the vehicle is rotating without paying some attention, and the work load is large.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides a plating apparatus capable of reducing the work load for maintaining the rotation of the barrel by notifying when the barrel is stopped and configuring only to cope with the notification. It is intended to provide.

  A typical configuration of a plating apparatus according to the present invention is a plating apparatus for performing a plating process by electrolysis or electroless, and includes a barrel that contains a material to be plated and rotates, a drive unit, and a drive unit. A drive transmission means for transmitting a driving force to the barrel; a barrel supporting the barrel, the drive means and the drive transmission means; and a target attached to the barrel and detected when the barrel is in a specific rotational posture. And a detection unit that is attached to the frame and detects the detected unit, and an alarm unit that notifies when the detection unit does not detect the detected unit within a predetermined interval. Features. Thereby, when a barrel stops, this can be detected and alert | reported.

  The detected means is a protrusion provided at an eccentric position of the barrel, and the detection means is a switch and a lever, and the lever can swing when its tip abuts on the protrusion. In this case, the switch may be turned on or off by swinging. It is an example of a to-be-detected means and a detection means, Comprising: It is realizable with a comparatively simple structure.

  The detected means may be a magnetic body provided at an eccentric position of the barrel, and the detecting means may be a magnetic sensor that detects the magnetic body. It is an example of a to-be-detected means and a detecting means, and it is possible to improve durability by reducing operation members.

  The detected means may be a notch or a protrusion provided at an eccentric position of the barrel, and the detecting means may be an optical sensor comprising a light emitting element and a light receiving element. It is an example of a to-be-detected means and a detecting means, and it is possible to improve durability by reducing operation members.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to detect and notify when the barrel stops. Accordingly, the worker only needs to deal with when there is a notification, and does not need to look into the plating bath and check the rotation. Thereby, the work burden for maintaining the rotation of the barrel can be reduced.

{First Example}
A first embodiment of the plating apparatus according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a front view and a left and right side view illustrating the configuration of the plating apparatus according to the first embodiment. The following embodiments are merely examples for facilitating the understanding of the invention, and the present invention is not limited to these, unless otherwise specified in terms of materials, dimensions, and individual configurations.

  A plating apparatus A shown in FIG. 1 is a plating apparatus for performing an electrolytic plating process, and includes a barrel 10 that contains a material to be plated and rotates, a motor 11 as an example of a driving unit, and a driving force of the motor 11. A gear train 12 as an example of drive transmission means for transmitting to the barrel 10, a barrel 10, a motor 11, and a frame 13 that supports the gear train 12 are provided.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the plating apparatus A includes a protrusion 20 as an example of the detected means, a switch 21 as an example of the detecting means, and a lever 22. The protruding portion 20 is attached to the side surface of the side plate 10a of the barrel 10 at a position eccentric from the rotation center. The lever 22 has a rotation shaft 22 a in the middle and is attached to the frame 13, and can swing when the lower end 22 b abuts against the protrusion 20. The upper end 22c of the lever 22 is configured to abut against the switch 21 when the lever 22 rotates and to turn on (or off) the switch 21. That is, when the barrel 10 is in a specific rotational posture, the projection 20 can swing the lever 22 and turn on the switch 21.

  The switch 21 is connected to an alarm timer 23 and a buzzer 24 as examples of alarm means. The operation of the alarm timer 23 can be turned on / off by an alarm switch 25. The alarm timer 23 outputs a sound from the buzzer 24 to notify when the switch 21 is not turned on within a certain interval. The fixed interval can be set to about 10 seconds, for example, when the barrel 10 makes one rotation in 6 seconds (10 rotations / minute). When the switch 21 is turned on within a predetermined interval, the alarm timer 23 resets the timer and counts the predetermined interval again.

  On both sides of the lever 22 in the rotational direction, elastic members 26a and 26b for holding the lever 22 at an initial position (a position where the lever 22 is not swung) are disposed. This is because if the lever 22 can freely swing, the lever 22 may repeatedly move and turn on the switch a plurality of times. Here, the elastic member 26b that regulates the direction in which the protrusion 20 is pressed adjusts the position and the elastic force so that the biasing force is weaker than that of the opposite elastic member 26a. For these reasons, the certainty of the turning operation of the lever 22 is improved. As the elastic members 26a and 26b, those obtained by bending a resin wire as shown in the figure can be suitably used.

  With the above configuration, after the alarm switch 25 is turned on, the switch 21 is periodically turned on and a signal is input to the alarm timer 23 while the barrel 10 is rotating smoothly. However, when the barrel 10 stops, the count of the alarm timer 23 exceeds a certain interval, and an alarm can be issued from the buzzer 24 to notify the user. Therefore, the worker can recognize that the barrel 10 has stopped and can deal with it. Therefore, it is not necessary for the worker to look into the plating bath and confirm the rotation, and the work burden for maintaining the rotation of the barrel can be reduced. It also has the advantage of being able to recognize a barrel stop much more instantly than confirming that it sometimes looks.

  In addition, the present invention can be realized with a relatively simple and inexpensive configuration by using the protrusion as the detected means and the lever and the sensor as the detecting means.

  In this embodiment, the plating apparatus A is a plating apparatus for electroplating, but even if it is a plating apparatus for electroless plating, the present invention is applied and gained if it uses a rotating barrel. be able to.

{Other embodiments}
Another embodiment of the plating apparatus according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the detected means and the detecting means according to another embodiment. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.

  In the first embodiment, the protruding portion is exemplified as the detected unit, and the lever and the sensor are illustrated as the detecting unit. However, other known configurations may be used for the detected means and the detecting means.

  The plating apparatus shown in FIG. 2A uses a magnetic body 30 as the detected means and uses a magnetic sensor 31 that detects the magnetic body 30 as the detecting means. The magnetic body 30 is attached to the side surface of the side plate 10a of the barrel 10 at a position eccentric from the rotation center. For example, a ferrite magnet can be used as the magnetic body. The magnetic sensor 31 is connected to the alarm timer 23. When the barrel 10 is in a specific rotational position, that is, when the magnetic body 30 is in a position facing the magnetic sensor 31, the alarm timer 23 may detect this because the electric resistance value of the magnetic sensor 31 changes. it can. By comprising in this way, durability can be improved by reducing an operation member compared with the structure of the said 1st Example.

  The plating apparatus shown in FIG. 2 (b) includes a projection 32 as a detected means, and includes an optical sensor 33 (photo interrupter) including a light emitting element 33a and a light receiving element 33b as a detecting means. The protrusion 32 is a rib and is provided on the outer edge of the side plate 10 a of the barrel 10. When the barrel 10 is in a specific rotational position, that is, when the protrusion 32 is positioned between the light emitting element 33a and the light receiving element 33b, the protrusion 32 shields light and the output current of the light receiving element 33b changes. The alarm timer 23 can detect this. Note that, instead of blocking the light by the protrusion 32, a specific rotation posture can be similarly detected by providing a notch (not shown) and allowing the light to pass only at a specific position. By comprising in this way, durability can be improved by reducing an operation member compared with the structure of the said 1st Example.

  The present invention can be used as a plating apparatus for performing a plating process by electrolysis or electroless.

It is the front view and left-right side view explaining the structure of the plating apparatus concerning 1st Example. It is a figure explaining the to-be-detected means and detection means which concern on another Example. It is a figure explaining the structure of the conventional plating apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

A, B ... plating apparatus 10 ... barrel 10a ... side plate 11 ... motor 12 ... gear train 13 ... frame 20 ... projection 21 ... switch 22 ... lever 22a ... rotating shaft 22c ... upper end 23 ... alarm timer 24 ... buzzer 25 ... alarm Switch 26a ... Elastic member 26b ... Elastic member 30 ... Magnetic body 31 ... Magnetic sensor 32 ... Projection 33 ... Optical sensor 33a ... Light emitting element 33b ... Light receiving element 50 ... Barrel 51 ... Motor 52 ... Gear train 53 ... Frame body 54 ... Electrode 55 ... plating tank 56 ... plating bath 57 ... material to be plated

Claims (4)

A plating apparatus for performing electrolysis or electroless plating treatment,
A barrel that contains the material to be plated and rotates;
Driving means;
Drive transmission means for transmitting the driving force of the drive means to the barrel;
A frame that supports the barrel, drive means, and drive transmission means;
Detected means attached to the barrel and detected when the barrel is in a specific rotational position;
Detecting means attached to the frame for detecting the detected means;
A plating apparatus comprising: an alarm means for informing when the detecting means does not detect the detected means within a predetermined interval. The detected means is a protrusion provided at an eccentric position of the barrel,
The detection means is a switch and a lever,
The plating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lever is swingable when a tip abuts on the protrusion, and the switch is turned on or off by swinging. The detected means is a magnetic body provided at an eccentric position of the barrel,
The plating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit is a magnetic sensor that detects the magnetic body. The detected means is a notch or a protrusion provided at an eccentric position of the barrel,
2. The plating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the detecting means is an optical sensor comprising a light emitting element and a light receiving element.

Images