JP5760466B2 - Barrel plating equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a plating apparatus, and more specifically, the object to be plated is accommodated in a rotating barrel, and the object to be plated is supplied with power while rotating the barrel while the object to be plated is immersed in a plating solution. The present invention relates to a barrel plating apparatus for plating a plated object.

  For example, when electrolytic plating is performed on an external electrode formed on the surface of a chip-type electronic component, an object to be plated (chip-type electronic component) is placed in a cylindrical container (barrel) that can be supplied with power. Barrel plating in which electrolytic plating is applied to the surface of the external electrode by supplying power while rotating the barrel while the workpiece is immersed in the plating solution. Devices are widely used (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  In the barrel plating apparatus disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above, power is supplied from the side surface of the cylindrical container to the plurality of power supply electrodes accommodated in the cylindrical container. Yes.

  That is, in Patent Document 1, the other ends of the conductive wires connected to the plurality of power feeding electrodes are arranged with a fixed angle shifted, and a plurality of sliding plates that rotate in synchronization with the rotation of the barrel. By connecting to a predetermined one of them and operating each sliding plate in synchronization with the rotation of the barrel, a plurality of feeding electrodes accumulated in a predetermined region inside the barrel (for example, the lower part of the barrel). It is configured such that power can be sequentially supplied only to a power supply electrode located at a predetermined position of the barrel (for example, a lower portion of the barrel) that contacts a workpiece to be rolled in a state (Patent Document 1). 1-5, etc.).

  Moreover, in patent document 2, a half-moon-shaped fixed electrode is installed on the side surface of the cylindrical container, and a conductive brush connected to a plurality of power feeding electrodes arranged in the barrel is provided to rotate the barrel. In addition, among the plurality of power supply electrodes, a plurality of power supply electrodes are provided so that power can be supplied only to a power supply electrode located at a predetermined position (for example, a lower portion of the barrel) of the barrel that contacts the object to be plated. (See FIGS. 3 and 4 of Patent Document 2), and the mechanism for supplying power is hermetically sealed.

  However, in the barrel plating apparatuses of Patent Documents 1 and 2, it is possible to supply power only to a power supply electrode (for example, a power supply electrode located in the lower part of the barrel) out of a plurality of electrodes. However, there is a problem that the configuration for doing so is complicated and maintenance is difficult.

  In addition, when the barrel rotation speed is adjusted to the optimum rotation speed according to the object to be plated, the rolling state of the object to be plated changes due to the rotation of the barrel, and the object to be plated in the rotating barrel changes. Since the position fluctuates, it is necessary to adjust the range of the power feeding electrode to be fed. In that case, in the barrel plating apparatuses of Patent Documents 1 and 2, the power feeding mechanism section is disassembled and set. There is a problem that productivity is low because it is necessary to fix and takes time and effort.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-11268 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-78169

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-described problems, and in a barrel plating apparatus, it is possible to efficiently supply power only to an electrode in contact with an object to be plated without requiring a complicated structure, and maintenance is easy. An object of the present invention is to provide a barrel plating apparatus excellent in productivity.

In order to solve the above problems, the barrel plating apparatus of the present invention is
A cylindrical barrel configured to rotate around an axis in a cylindrical shape, a part of which is formed from a liquid-permeable material that circulates a plating solution, in which an object to be plated is accommodated,
It is cylindrical and is disposed so as to be adjacent to each other through a partition wall in the axial direction of the plating barrel, and rotates around an axis that is concentric with the rotation axis of the plating barrel in synchronization with the plating barrel. A power feeding barrel having a sealed structure that accommodates a conductive medium therein,
A power supply electrode disposed in the power supply barrel;
A partition current-carrying electrode disposed so as to penetrate the partition wall, the media contact electrode portion being in contact with the conductive medium in the power supply barrel, which rolls when the power supply barrel rotates, A partition energizing electrode provided with a plating object contact electrode part that comes into contact with the plating object in the plating barrel, and is electrically connected to the media contact electrode part and rolls when the plating barrel rotates. It is characterized by having .

  In the barrel plating apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that a plurality of the partition energization electrodes are arranged in the peripheral side region of the partition at a predetermined interval in the circumferential direction.

  In the present invention, the power supply barrel has the same diameter as the plating barrel, and rotates about an axis that is concentric with the rotation axis of the plating barrel integrally with the plating barrel. It is preferable that the conductive medium filling volume ratio of the power supply barrel is the same as the plating object filling volume ratio in the plating barrel.

The barrel plating apparatus of the present invention is
(a) a plating barrel that accommodates an object to be plated;
(b) It has a sealing structure that is arranged so as to be adjacent to each other through a partition wall in the axial direction of the plating barrel and that is configured to rotate in synchronization with the plating barrel and accommodates a conductive medium inside. A barrel for feeding,
(c) a power supply electrode disposed on the power supply barrel in such a manner as to conduct with the conductive medium;
(d) A partition energizing electrode disposed so as to penetrate the partition, the medium contact electrode portion contacting the conductive medium in the power supply barrel, and being electrically connected to the media contact electrode portion, and in the plating barrel And a current-carrying electrode in contact with the object to be plated, and a power supply to the object in the plating barrel via the conductive medium in the power supply barrel. Therefore, it is possible to provide a barrel plating apparatus capable of efficiently supplying power only to an electrode in contact with an object to be plated, without requiring a complicated structure as in the conventional barrel plating apparatus described above. Can do.

  In other words, the conductive media in the power supply barrel that rotates in synchronization with the plating barrel is for power supply according to the rotation position of the power supply barrel, similar to the object to be plated whose position changes according to the rotation position of the plating barrel. In order to change the position in the barrel, the position of the object to be plated and the conductive medium is changed in synchronization. Therefore, by passing current through the conductive media and through the partition wall energizing electrode to the object to be plated, it is efficient only for the electrode that contacts the object to be plated with a simple structure without requiring a complicated structure. It is possible to provide a barrel plating apparatus that can supply power well.

In addition, since the power supply barrel has a sealed structure, it prevents electrolytic plating films from being formed on the conductive media, and prevents the materials that make up the conductive media from eluting into the plating solution, regardless of the materials that make up the conductive media. Thus, it becomes possible to stably use for a long time.
In addition, since the barrel for power feeding is a member having a simple structure in which only the conductive media is accommodated, the influence on the overall equipment cost is limited even when a sealed structure is used. Become.

  In order for the conductive media to exhibit the same rolling properties as the object to be plated, for example, the requirements such as the shape, dimensions, specific gravity, etc. of the conductive medium, the conditions of the actual object to be plated, etc. It is more desirable to adjust in consideration.

  In addition, a power feeding mechanism such as a power feeding barrel can be configured using members generally used in an electroplating apparatus. For example, the structure of the power supply mechanism can be further simplified by using the power supply barrel as a power supply barrel by partitioning a part of the plating barrel with a partition wall.

  In addition, when a plurality of partition wall energizing electrodes are arranged in the peripheral side region of the partition wall at a predetermined interval in the circumferential direction, it is possible to more reliably energize the object to be plated for stable plating. It becomes possible to do.

  If the diameter of the power supply barrel is the same as that of the plating barrel, and the conductive media filling volume ratio of the power supply barrel is the same as the plating object filling volume ratio of the plating barrel, the inside of the rotating plating barrel It is possible to reliably match the position of the object to be plated with the position of the conductive media in the rotating power supply barrel, and it is possible to more reliably supply power only to the electrode in contact with the object to be plated. Thus, the present invention can be more effectively realized.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the barrel plating apparatus concerning one Example (Example 1) of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the plating apparatus main body provided with the barrel for plating which comprises the barrel plating apparatus concerning Example 1 of this invention, and the barrel for electric power feeding. It is a figure which shows the principal part structure of the barrel plating apparatus concerning Example 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the partition electricity supply electrode of the barrel plating apparatus concerning Example 1 of this invention. (a) and (b) are the positions of the objects to be plated in the plating barrel and the conductive media in the power supply barrel when electrolytic plating is performed using the barrel plating apparatus according to Example 1 of the present invention. It is a figure explaining the relationship of a position. It is a figure which shows the structure of the barrel plating apparatus for a comparison used in order to evaluate the performance of the barrel plating apparatus concerning Example 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the modification of the barrel plating apparatus concerning Example 1 of this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below to describe the features of the present invention in more detail.

  In the first embodiment, for example, a barrel plating apparatus used for performing electrolytic plating on an external electrode of a chip-type electronic component (object to be plated) such as a multilayer ceramic capacitor having an external electrode will be described as an example.

[Configuration of barrel plating equipment]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a barrel plating apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a plating apparatus main body including a plating barrel and a power supply barrel that constitute the barrel plating apparatus. 3 shows a perspective view of the main part.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the barrel plating apparatus according to the first embodiment includes a plating tank 2 in which a plating solution 1 is accommodated, a plating barrel 10 and a power supply barrel 20 disposed in the plating tank 2. A plating apparatus main body 30 having An anode electrode 3 is disposed in the plating tank 2 so as to be immersed in the plating solution 1.

  The plating barrel 10 is cylindrical and is configured to rotate around an axis, and a part thereof circulates the plating solution, for example, a liquid-permeable material such as a perforated plate having a large number of through holes or a mesh material. 11 is provided with a liquid passing part 12 (see FIG. 2). The plating barrel 10 accommodates an object to be plated (chip-type multilayer ceramic capacitor in this embodiment 1) 13 (see FIG. 5A).

The power supply barrel 20 is cylindrical and is disposed so as to be adjacent to each other via a partition wall 21 in the axial direction of the plating barrel 10, and in synchronization with the plating barrel 10, the rotating shaft of the plating barrel 10. A part of which is configured to rotate about a concentric axis, and a part of the container is formed with a liquid passing material 11 such as a porous plate or a mesh material constituting the liquid passing part 12 of the plating barrel 10 described above. A liquid passing portion 22 formed of the same material is provided, and a conductive medium 23 (see FIG. 5B) is accommodated therein.
In the first embodiment, the power supply barrel 20 has a non-sealing structure, similar to the plating barrel 10 described above.

  In the first embodiment, an iron spherical body is used as the conductive medium 23. There is no particular restriction on the material constituting the conductive medium 23. However, when a power supply barrel having an unsealed structure is used, it is desirable to use a material made of a material that is not likely to elute into the plating solution.

  In addition, the power supply barrel 20 is provided with a power supply electrode (cathode electrode) 28 (see FIG. 1) for supplying a current from the power supply wiring 29 in such a manner as to be electrically connected to the conductive medium 23. The power feeding electrode 28 may be configured not to be directly connected to the conductive medium 23 but to be connected to the conductive medium through a conductive member. The present invention includes a configuration including a power supply electrode that is electrically connected to the conductive medium in such a manner.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the conductive medium 23 in the power supply barrel 20 rolls when the power supply barrel 20 rotates on the partition wall 21 that partitions the plating barrel 10 and the power supply barrel 20. A medium contact electrode part 24 in contact with the metal contact electrode part 24 via the conduction part 26, and the object to be plated 13 in the plating barrel 10 that rolls when the plating barrel 10 rotates. A plurality (12 in this embodiment) of partition wall energizing electrodes 27 each having a contact object electrode part 25 to be plated are arranged in the peripheral side region of the partition wall 21 at a predetermined interval in the circumferential direction. It is installed. The partition energization electrode 27 is disposed in the peripheral region of the partition 21 because the object to be plated 13 accumulated in the lower part of the plating barrel 10 and the conductive medium 23 accumulated in the lower part of the power supply barrel 20 are securely connected. This is for the purpose of conduction.

  In the first embodiment, the media contact electrode portion 24 has a rounded protruding shape that slightly protrudes from the surface of the partition wall 21 to the inside of the power supply barrel 20, and also contacts the object to be plated. The electrode portion 25 has a rounded protruding shape that slightly protrudes from the surface of the partition wall 21 to the inside of the plating barrel 10. However, there are no particular restrictions on the specific shapes of the media contact electrode portion 24 and the plating object contact electrode portion 25 constituting the partition energizing electrode 27, and it is possible to efficiently contact the plating object 13 and the conductive medium 23. Various shapes can be used.

In Example 1, the partition energizing electrode 27 made of titanium was used.
In addition, although what consists of various materials excellent in electroconductivity can be used as the partition electricity supply electrode 27, it is desirable to use what consists of a material which does not have a possibility of eluting into a plating solution.

Further, in the barrel plating apparatus of the first embodiment, the conductive media 23 in the power supply barrel 20 that rotates in synchronization with the plating barrel 10 and the position of the plating to be changed depending on the rotational position of the plating barrel 10. In order for the object 13 to roll in the barrels (the plating barrel 10 and the power supply barrel 20) synchronously,
(a) The diameter of the power supply barrel 20 is the same as that of the plating barrel 10 (in the first embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of the power supply barrel 20 and the dimensions of the cross-sectional portions are the same as those of the plating barrel 10. )
(b) The power supply barrel 20 is configured to rotate around the axis concentric with the rotation axis of the plating barrel 10 in synchronization with the plating barrel 10; and
(c) The conductive media filling volume ratio of the power supply barrel 20 is made to be the same as the plating object filling volume ratio in the plating barrel.

  Since the barrel plating apparatus according to the first embodiment has the above-described configuration, when electrolytic plating is performed on a chip-type electronic component (object to be plated), the plating barrel 10 is, for example, shown in FIG. ), (B), when plating is performed by rotating in the direction indicated by arrow A (counterclockwise direction), the power supply barrel 20 rotates in the same direction in synchronization with the plating barrel 10.

  As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the plating object 13 in the rotating plating barrel 10 and the conductive medium 23 in the rotating power supply barrel 20 are synchronized with each other. 10 and the power supply barrel 20 roll. That is, the workpiece 13 that rolls the plating barrel 10 and the conductive media 23 that rolls within the power supply barrel 20 are electrically connected to each other via the partition wall energizing electrode 27 while rolling at positions corresponding to each other. To do.

  As a result, from the power supply electrode 28, the conductive medium 23 in the power supply barrel 20, the media contact electrode portion 24, the conduction portion 26, and the object to be plated contact electrode portion that constitute the partition current supply electrode 27 disposed on the partition wall 21. Power can be supplied to only the partition wall energizing electrode 27 (the object to be plated contact electrode portion 25) in contact with the object to be plated 13 via 25, and good electrolytic plating can be performed efficiently.

[Evaluation]
In order to evaluate a barrel plating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, a chip type multilayer ceramic capacitor (using a barrel plating apparatus configured as described above and a comparative barrel plating apparatus as shown in FIG. Electroplating was performed in the order of Ni plating and Sn plating on the external electrode (the Ag electrode in this Example 1) of the object to be plated.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, the comparative barrel plating apparatus is configured such that the feeding electrodes 16 a and 16 b are inserted into the inside of the plating barrel 10 from the rotation center of the both end side walls 15 a and 15 b of the plating barrel 10. This is a barrel plating apparatus that has been widely used conventionally and is configured to come into contact with an object to be plated at a position below the plating barrel 10. In FIG. 6, the parts denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 indicate the same or corresponding parts.

And about the multilayer ceramic capacitor (to-be-plated object) which gave Ni plating and Sn plating using the barrel plating apparatus of Example 1 and the barrel plating apparatus of a comparative example, Ni plating film formed in the external electrode The film thickness distribution of the Sn plating film was examined.
Table 1 shows the film thickness distribution of the Ni plating film and the Sn plating film and the power supply voltage in the electrolytic plating process.

  As shown in Table 1, the film thickness distribution of the Ni plating film and the Sn plating film formed by performing electrolytic plating using the barrel plating apparatus according to Example 1 having the requirements of the present invention, and the feeding voltage are as follows: It was confirmed that the level was almost the same as when electrolytic plating was performed using a conventional barrel plating apparatus.

  From this result, it can be seen that according to the present invention, it is possible to perform electrolytic plating with good characteristics with a simple configuration as in the case of using a widely used conventional barrel plating apparatus.

  In the barrel plating apparatus of the first embodiment, the power supply barrel 20 has a non-sealing structure including a liquid passing portion 22 formed of a perforated plate or a mesh material that allows the plating solution to pass therethrough. The barrel can also be a sealed structure. In that case, it is possible to prevent the electroplating film from being formed on the surface of the conductive media and to prevent the conductive material constituting the conductive media from eluting to the plating solution side, thereby performing stable plating for a long period of time. It becomes possible.

  Note that the power supply barrel 20 has a simple structure in which the conductive medium 23 is only accommodated therein, and therefore does not require a particularly complicated configuration even in a sealed structure.

[Modification]
In the first embodiment, the object contact electrode portion 25 constituting the partition energizing electrode 27 is formed on the partition 21 and slightly protrudes from the partition 21 to the inside of the plating barrel 10 of the power supply barrel 20. The case of the structure has been described. For example, as schematically shown in FIG. 7, the object contact electrode portion 25 is disposed on the inner peripheral surface of the plating barrel 10, and the partition wall 21 is disposed. A configuration in which a plurality of strip-like electrode portions 25a extending from the end side toward the other end surface (not shown) facing each other is also possible.

  Further, the object contact electrode portion 25 is connected to a plurality of island-like electrodes (electrodes electrically connected to the partition wall energizing electrode 27) arranged in a matrix in the circumferential direction and a direction orthogonal to the inner circumferential surface of the plating barrel 10. ) (Not shown).

  Further, the media contact electrode portion 24 constituting the partition energizing electrode 27 can also be configured according to the above-described modification of the plating object contact electrode portion 25.

  In addition, about the to-be-plated object contact electrode part 25 and the media contact electrode part 24 which comprise the partition electricity supply electrode 27, it is also possible to set it as another structure.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments in other points as well, and the type of the object to be plated, the specific shape and dimensions of the object to be plated, the type of plating metal, the composition of the plating solution, the plating conditions, etc. However, various applications and modifications can be made within the scope of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Plating liquid 2 Plating tank 3 Anode electrode 10 Plating barrel 11 Liquid passing material 12 Plating barrel liquid passing part 13 Plating object 20 Power feeding barrel 21 Bulkhead 22 Power feeding barrel liquid passing part 23 Conductive media 24 Media contact electrode Reference numeral 25: Plated object contact electrode part 25a: Strip electrode part 26: Conducting part 27: Partition energizing electrode 28: Feeding electrode 29: Feeding wiring 30

Claims (3)

A cylindrical barrel configured to rotate around an axis in a cylindrical shape, a part of which is formed from a liquid-permeable material through which a plating solution is circulated, and which accommodates an object to be plated,
It is cylindrical and is disposed so as to be adjacent to each other through a partition wall in the axial direction of the plating barrel, and rotates around an axis that is concentric with the rotation axis of the plating barrel in synchronization with the plating barrel. A power feeding barrel having a sealed structure that accommodates a conductive medium therein,
A power supply electrode disposed in the power supply barrel;
A partition current-carrying electrode disposed so as to penetrate the partition wall, the media contact electrode portion being in contact with the conductive medium in the power supply barrel, which rolls when the power supply barrel rotates, A partition energizing electrode provided with a plating object contact electrode part that comes into contact with the plating object in the plating barrel, and is electrically connected to the media contact electrode part and rolls when the plating barrel rotates. A barrel plating apparatus comprising: The partition energization electrode, the peripheral side region of the partition wall, circumferentially at predetermined intervals barrel plating apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that a plurality of arranged. The power supply barrel has the same diameter as the plating barrel, and is configured to rotate about an axis that is concentric with a rotation axis of the plating barrel, integrally with the plating barrel, and , conductive media filling volume ratio of the feeding barrel, barrel plating apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein it is the same as the object to be plated packing volume fraction of the plating barrel.

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