JPH01177400A - Plating equipment for automatically controlling plating current - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To always allow proper plating current to be automatically supplied even when an article to be plated which has been fitted to a jig is changed by detecting the required total plating quantity of the above-mentioned article and regulating a plating current controlling mechanism by this detected value in an electroplating device. CONSTITUTION:A plating film is formed on the surface of the article 7 by fitting the article 7 to a jig 6 in a plating tank 1 having an anode 2 utilized as a counter electrode and allowing it to be brought into contact with the cathodic rod 3 of an electric source and infiltrating it into plating liquid contained in the plating tank 1 and energizing to the anode 2. In this case, before the jig 6 is introduced into the plating tank, both the number of the article fitted to the jig and the required plating amount of one piece of the article are detected with a detector 5a and the total plating amounts of all articles to be plated which have been fitted to the jig 6 are transmitted as a signal. The proper value of plating current fed to the jig 6 is calculated therefrom by the arithmetic control part 5b in a controller 5 and proper plating current is supplied to the jig 6 via the cathodic rod 3 from a rectifier 4 by automatically sliding the variable resistance 11 of a current control mechanism 12 to the prescribed position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a plating apparatus that automatically adjusts plating current.

<Conventional technology> Continuous tank type electroplating equipment that attaches the item to be plated to a jig (hook), immerses it in a plating solution tank, and moves it from one end of the tank to the other at a constant speed to plate the desired thickness. Now, attach the same number of the same items to be plated to the jig and move them through the tank one after another.
When - jigs go into the tank, - jigs come out of the tank. During this time, the plating current circulating through the power rectifier, anode, article to be plated, jig, and cathode is kept constant.

When the number of items to be plated changes and the number of attachments to the jig changes,
Adjust the current control mechanism to change the plating current accordingly. As an exception, at the start of plating work, when placing jigs into the tank one by one, at the end of plating work, and when there are fewer jigs in the tank, the plating current is reduced or, as a general rule, the plating current is kept constant. If a worker changes the current too easily, quality control becomes difficult.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> The conventional technique of keeping the plating current constant in principle is suitable for mass production (plating) of small products. This is inconvenient for high-mix, low-volume production, and requires manpower and time to adjust the current after all of the preceding items to be plated have come out of the plating solution tank, and then sequentially introduce the next items to be plated into the tank. ＼ intermediate work was necessary.

The inventor of the present invention aimed to develop a new plating device that can be loaded into a plating solution tank one after another without interruption even if the number of items to be plated changes or the number of jigs attached to the jig changes.

<Means for Solving the Problems> The plating device of the present invention that automatically adjusts the plating current has the following features:
In continuous tank type plating equipment, the products to be plated are attached to a jig, placed in a plating solution tank one after another, and pulled up one after another by advancing a fixed distance within the tank at a constant speed. There is a display section that can display the required plating amount for one plating object or the total required plating amount for the attached plating object at the position of the movable member, or at the same position on each jig, and each jig can adjust the plating current, Or, when the movable member of the display unit reaches a predetermined position, a detection device is provided to detect and transmit the relative position A of the movable member of the display section, and a plating current related device that receives and calculates the transmission and is suitable for the total plating amount. and an arithmetic control unit that calculates the value and adjusts a current control mechanism of a circuit that causes the plating current to flow through the jig.

<Function> The plating apparatus of the present invention has a display section at the same position of each jig for attaching the articles to be plated, and displays the number of articles to be plated attached to the jig, the required plating of - pieces of articles to be plated. The amount of plating or the total amount of plating for all products is now displayed. The display was made so that it could be read not by numbers or codes but by the position of the movable member.

When a different item to be plated is installed after the preceding jig and a number of jigs are installed, and when the previous process is completed and the plating liquid tank is entered, the detection device will display the display of the jig when it reaches the appropriate predetermined position. Detects and transmits the relative position of the movable member of the section. Upon receiving this, the arithmetic control unit calculates the value of the appropriate plating current by inserting the number of items to be plated based on the detection signal, the required plating amount per item, or the total required plating amount for all items into a pre-given mathematical formula. The related value is determined and a command is sent to the current control mechanism of the circuit that causes the plating current to flow to the top of the jig immediately or when the jig enters the plating liquid tank. For example, after returning the drive screw of the control mechanism to the standard position, it is turned by the required number of rotations to match the required plating current.

If the leading jig and the trailing jig with different items to be plated are separated and are not immersed in the plating solution tank at the same time, equipment using a conventional long anode may be used. However, the advance
When the trailing jig is to be advanced without interruption, a current control mechanism is attached to each plating current circuit of each anode divided in the longitudinal direction, as in the device developed by the present inventor Kasaki (Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-47960), and the jig is Adjustments will be made sequentially as the process progresses.

However, if each jig is accompanied by a dedicated movable rectifier, only the dedicated current control mechanism needs to be adjusted.

<Embodiment> Fig. 1 is a plan view schematically showing an embodiment of this invention, and the jig and the plated item are shown separately in Fig. 2.3. Part 1 is a plating solution tank, and Part 2 is an anode divided in the horizontal direction in this example.
3 is a wooden cathode placed on the top of the tank, 4 is a power rectifier,
5 is a control device.

Reference numeral 6 in FIG. 2.3 indicates a fern, on which a plating object 7, which is a printed wiring board in this example, is attached, and a display section 8 having movable members 8a, 8b is provided on the hook 6a on the traveling direction side. Note that 5a indicates a detector provided for each control device 5 as a sensor for detecting the movable members 8a and 8b.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the display unit 8 is configured to move the movable member 8a through the sliding groove 9 depending on the number of items to be plated attached to the jig 6.
It is structured so that it can be moved along the groove, aligned with the scale along the edge of the groove, and fixed with a bell screw on the back. The movable member 8b is fixed in the same manner as 88 at a position where the required amount of plating of one article 7 to be plated, in this case a printed wiring board, is displayed.

The display section 8 may be constructed by using movable members 8a and 8b as plugs, as shown in FIG. It is also possible to make the sliding groove 9 and the hole 10 in FIG. 4.5 ring-shaped, or to make the movable members 8a and 8b pivot like the hands of a clock.

As shown in FIG. 3, the aforementioned detectors 5a are installed near the boundaries between the divided anodes 2 drawn by the chain lines, and when the display section 8 of the moving jig 6 passes under each detector 5a, , while detecting the relative positions of the movable members 8a and 8b, the jig 6
The display section 8 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2.3.4 is preferable because it also detects that the anode 2 has reached the plating area by the anode 2. The control device 5 can freely choose whether to adjust the current in the plating circuit at the same time as the detection or after a certain period of time.

Although the above embodiment deals with printed wiring boards, if other products to be plated are produced in a large variety and in small quantities, only one display part movable member 8a, 8b may be used, and the total plating of - pieces of products to be plated can be performed using only one display part movable member 8a, 8b. The amount may also be displayed.

Prediction or measurement of the amount of plating required for the product to be plated is based on conventional techniques. In the case of printed wiring boards, in addition to actually measuring the wiring length on drawings as in the past, we are developing automatic measurement methods such as optically measuring the amount of reflection by irradiation and aggregating the amount of reflection by scanning.

Returning to the above embodiment, a specific example of the control device 5 will be explained in the sixth embodiment.
This will be explained using figures. The detection device 5a at the right end of the figure detects the relative position of the movable members 8a and 8b of the display section, and when the jig 6 sends a signal indicating the number of items to be plated and the required amount of plating per identical item, this is accepted. The calculation control unit 5b in the control device 5 calculates the appropriate current value or its related value from the given equation below.

Appropriate plating current I = (installation number N) x (-required plating amount per piece W) x constant C Then, the calculation control section 5b immediately or with another detector,
When it is confirmed that the dichroic material has entered the plating area by the anode 2, a command is given to the current control mechanism 12 to change the variable resistance 11.
First, the drive screw (not shown) is returned to the reference position, and then a program is started to turn the screw by the required number of rotations to obtain the required plating current. Of course, the variable resistor 11 may be programmed to be driven only by the difference between the current state and the desired state, without setting it to the reference state. Thereby, the thyristor 13 is adjusted, and an appropriate current flows through the plating circuit surrounding the anode 2), its dedicated rectifier 4, the thyristor 13, the cathode 3, the jig 6, and the article to be plated 7.

In the above embodiment, the inside of the plating solution tank is divided into plating regions for each divided anode, and the plating current is adjusted by each power rectifier and control device according to the jig that enters the region. However, the invention is not limited thereto.

As mentioned above, when each jig enters the plating liquid tank, it connects to a movable rectifier that is waiting and accompanies it to the other end of the tank.When the jig is first stopped for connection, The detection device and control device attached to each rectifier adjust the plating current to flow according to the display on the jig display, and then put it into the bath.
Connect another rectifier to the next jig in the same way and repeat the current adjustment.

Although a small number of embodiments have been described above, the present invention can be varied and applied in a variety of ways, even within the scope of the gist, depending on the implementation conditions and the well-known techniques of designers and field engineers.

<Effects of the invention> This invention enables simultaneous plating of different products to be plated, which was unimaginable with continuous tank type plating equipment such as pusher type or elevator type, and achieves revolutionary high efficiency in high-mix, low-volume production. Ta.

Since the required amount of plating is indicated on the jig rather than on the product to be plated, the display work for the operator is easy when a large number of products are attached to one jig. Since the display unit follows a fixed path, the installation of the detection device is simple and the reading is accurate.

Since the display means depends on the position of the movable member, the detection device can be simple enough to find the related position, and the calculation of the required plating current related value by the arithmetic control unit and the command to the current control mechanism are also elementary control techniques. That's enough.

This invention, which realized the continuous production of a wide variety of small quantity plated products with the simple steps of installing a display section on the jig and adding a detection and control device, presents an inexpensive and effective measure to cope with the increasing diversification of products in the future. This is what I did.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of this invention, Fig. 2 is an elevation view of the main part thereof, Fig. 3 is a side view thereof, Figs. 4.5 are plan views of the second embodiment of the display section, and Fig. 6 The figure also shows a set of split anodes,
This is a block circuit diagram configured for each power rectifier.
3 is an anode, 3 is a cathode, 5a is a detection device, 5b is an arithmetic control section, 6 is a jig, and 8 is a display section of the jig.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a continuous bath type plating equipment, in which the items to be plated are attached to a jig, immersed in a plating solution tank one after another, and pulled up one after another by advancing a certain distance inside the tank at a constant speed, when attaching the items to be plated to the jig, the following steps should be taken: Each jig has a display section at the same position that can display the number and required plating amount for one item to be plated, or the total required plating amount for attached plated items, depending on the position of the movable member, and each jig can adjust the plating current. , or a detection device installed to detect and transmit the relative position of the movable member of the display section when the movable member of the display section reaches a predetermined position; A plating device that automatically adjusts a plating current, comprising: an arithmetic control unit that calculates a value and adjusts a current control mechanism of a circuit that flows the plating current to the jig. (2) In the plating apparatus according to claim (1), the plating current control mechanism automatically adjusts the plating current, which is provided in the plating current circuit of each anode installed separately in the longitudinal direction. Plating equipment.