JPH04371598A - Electroplating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily detect an abnormal hanger and to accurately judge whether a normal plating is deposited on a material to be plated or not by automatically measuring the current value flowing through the hanger holding the material successively one by one. CONSTITUTION:The part intermediate to busbars 9A and 9B is split to a length shorter than the distance between adjacent hangers 2 to form a test busbar 20, and an ammeter 23 for measuring the current flowing through the hanger 2 is provided to the busbar 20. When the hanger 2 holding a material 1 passes through the busbar 20, the current value flowing through each hanger 20 is measured by the ammeter 23.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electroplating apparatus, and more particularly to an electroplating apparatus in which a hanger holding an object to be plated is continuously conveyed by a moving device such as a lever trolley or a chain conveyor system.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, this type of electroplating apparatus is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG.
A large number of hangers 2 are arranged in a loop shape at regular intervals, and each hanger 2 is moved endlessly in the direction of arrow A by a moving device such as a lever trolley or a chain conveyor (not shown). Below the line of movement of the hanger 2, a mounting station 3, an alkaline electrolytic degreasing tank 4, a plating tank 5, a washing tank 6, and a detachment station 7 are arranged in this order. Further, the plating tank 5 is composed of an etching tank 5a adjacent to the alkaline electrolytic degreasing tank 4 and a plating tank 5b.

Bus bars 7 are installed along the alkaline electrolytic degreasing tank 4, the etching tank 5a, and the plating tank 5b, respectively.
, 8, 9 are arranged separately, and power supplies 10, 11, 12 are connected to each bus bar 7, 8, 9, respectively. Further, a power supply brush 2a provided on the hanger 2 is in sliding contact with each bus bar 7, 8, 9, so that an equal current is supplied to each hanger 2 from the power source.

In addition, a plurality of cathodes 13 and 14 are connected to each other in the alkaline electrolytic degreasing tank 4 and the etching tank 5a, and a plurality of anodes 15 are connected to each other in the plating tank 5b. It is provided. An ammeter 16 is interposed in a connection line connecting the power source 12 for the plating tank 5b and the anode 15.

[0005] In the electroplating apparatus constructed as described above, plating work is carried out as follows. That is,
First, the object to be plated 1 mounted on the hanger 2 at the mounting station 3 is transferred in a suspended state to the alkaline electrolytic degreasing tank 4, where a degreasing process is performed using the object to be plated 1 as an anode. Next, the object 1 to be plated is placed in an etching treatment tank 5a.
The object to be plated 1 is transferred to and subjected to an etching process using the object 1 as an anode.

[0006] Then, in the next plating tank 5b,
The plating process is performed while moving in the direction of arrow A using the object to be plated 1 as a cathode until it reaches the washing tank 6. Finally, the object 1 to be plated, which has been washed with water in the washing tank 6, is removed from the hanger 2 at a removal station 7, thereby completing the series of operations.

In the electroplating apparatus configured as described above, it is determined whether or not the plating process is being performed normally on the object 1 to be plated by comparing the current value flowing through the hanger 2 during the plating process with a reference value. It was done by doing. This is done by first measuring the total current value flowing from the power supply 12 for the plating tank 5b using the ammeter 16, and then dividing this total current value by the total number of hangers 2 during the plating process.
This was done by obtaining the value of the current flowing through one hanger 2 and comparing that value with a reference value.

[0008]

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-mentioned prior art, since it is not possible to measure the current value for each hanger 2 as described above, it is possible that the same value of current flows through each hanger 2. For example, if a certain hanger 2 has an abnormality such as a poor conduction, current will not flow to the plated object 1 attached to that hanger 2 and no plating will occur, and at the same time, other normal hangers 2 will have a reference value. Even if an abnormality occurs, such as depositing more than the specified amount of plating on the object to be plated 1 due to the current flowing, if the ammeter 16 shows a normal value, the plating process appears to be normal. I had no choice but to conclude that this was taking place. Therefore, it was not possible to accurately determine whether or not the plating process was performed normally.

An object of the present invention is to automatically measure the individual current flowing through each hanger, to easily discover abnormal hangers, and to determine whether or not normal plating is deposited on the object to be plated. The goal is to be able to make accurate decisions.

0010

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following configuration. That is, the objects to be plated are mounted on a plurality of hangers that move over the plating tank, the power supply brushes provided on the hangers are brought into sliding contact with the busbars arranged along the plating tank, and one power source is supplied to the busbars. In the electroplating apparatus, the current is distributed evenly to each of the hangers, and the bus bar is located at a front or rear position in the moving direction of the hanger, or at a position in the middle of the bus bar, which is shorter than the distance between adjacent hangers. A test busbar is provided and each of the power feeding brushes of the plurality of hangers sequentially slides into contact with each other one by one, and a measuring means is provided for connecting to the test busbar and measuring the current or voltage applied to the test busbar. The structure is characterized by the following.

[0011]

[Function] With this configuration, when the hanger carrying the object to be plated moves and passes the test busbar, this test busbar is shorter than the distance between adjacent hangers, so the test busbar is Only one hanger passes through at a time. At this time, by measuring the current or voltage applied to the test busbar by the measuring means, it is possible to know the current flowing through the hanger. Thereby, it is possible to check whether there is any abnormality in each hanger, and it is possible to accurately judge whether or not normal plating is deposited on each object to be plated.

0012

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Note that in the following figures, the same members as those shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, in the middle of the busbars 9A and 9B provided along the plating tank 5b near the washing tank 6, there is a power supply brush 2a for each hanger 2 which is divided into sections shorter than the distance between adjacent hangers 2. Test bus bar 20 that slides into contact with
is formed. Busbars 9 before and after this test busbar 20
A, 9B are connected by the first connection line 21, and further, the test busbar 20 and the busbar 9B after this busbar 20 are connected.
and are connected by a second connection line 22. And the second
An ammeter 23 as a measuring device is interposed in the connection line 22 of the . The ammeter 23 is connected to the control device 24 and
4 includes a printer 25 and an alarm device 26 such as a lamp and a buzzer.
is connected. Furthermore, 27 is a mounting robot installed at the mounting station 3 for automatically mounting the object 1 to be plated onto the hanger 2, and 28 is a robot installed at the removal station 7 for automatically mounting the object 1 to be plated from the hanger 2. This is a robot for leaving automatically.

In the above configuration, the object to be plated 1 mounted on the hanger 2 by the mounting robot 27 reaches the test bus bar 20 through the same steps as in the conventional example.

Since this bus bar 20 is divided into sections shorter than the distance between adjacent hangers 2, only one hanger 2 can pass through at a time. Therefore, when each hanger 2 passes through this test busbar 20, the anode 15, electrolyte, object to be plated 1, hanger 2, power supply brush 2a, test busbar 20, and second connection in the plating tank 5b are A closed circuit is formed by the wire 22, the rear busbar 9B, and the front busbar 9A, and the value of the current flowing through the hanger 2 can be measured by the ammeter 23. This measurement data is input to the control device 24 and output from the printer 25, and is compared with a reference value, that is, a current value flowing during normal times. If the result of the comparison is abnormal, a command is output from the control device 24 to the removal robot 28 to exclude the object 1 to be plated from the group of normal objects 1 to be plated. Further, an alarm is issued from the alarm device 26. In this way, the current values of all the hangers 2 are automatically measured one by one, further compared with the reference value, and defective items 3 to be plated are automatically excluded.

[0016] In the above embodiment, the test bus bar 20 is connected to the bus bar 9 disposed along the plating tank 5b.
Although it is provided in the middle of A and 9B, it is not limited to this, and the following embodiments may be used.

(1) The bus bars 9A and 9B are made into one bus bar 9 as in the prior art shown in FIG. A test bus bar 20 is placed at the test bus bar 20, and the energization state of the hanger 2 is measured.

(2) The above-mentioned front position or rear position of the bus bar 9 is not limited to the range of the plating treatment tank 5b; for example, in the front position, the bus bar 9 may be located within the range of the alkaline electrolytic degreasing tank 4 or the etching treatment tank 5a. Or, the test busbar 20 is placed at either the front position or the rear position of 8, and the energization state of the hanger 2 is measured. Note that at this time, the direction in which the current is applied to the hanger 2 is naturally opposite to that in the case of the plating bath 5b. At the rear position of the bus bar 9, for example, a test station storing an electrolyte similar to that of the plating tank 5b is provided between the washing tank 6 and the detachment station 7, and the test bus bar is placed here. Measure the energization state.

Furthermore, although the ammeter 23 was used as the measuring means in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this. A reference resistor and a voltmeter are connected in parallel to the connection line 22, and the voltage of the hanger 2 is determined based on the voltage of the voltmeter. The flowing current may also be measured.

[0020]

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above explanation, since the individual currents flowing through each hanger can be automatically measured, abnormal hangers can be easily found.
It is possible to accurately judge whether or not normal plating is deposited on the object to be plated. Therefore, product quality and productivity can be improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the prior art.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Plated object 2 Hanga 2a Power supply brush 5 Plating tank 9, 9A, 9B bus bar 20 Test bus bar 21 First connection line 22 Second connection line 23 Ammeter (measurement means)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The objects to be plated are mounted on a plurality of hangers that move over the plating tank, and the power supply brushes provided on the hangers are brought into sliding contact with busbars arranged along the plating tank, and the In an electroplating apparatus in which a current supplied to a bus bar is distributed equally to each of the hangers, the bus bar is located at a front or rear position in the direction of movement of the hanger, or in the middle of the bus bar, between adjacent hangers. Measurement in which a test bus bar is provided that is shorter than the distance and that each of the power supply brushes of the plurality of hangers slides into sequentially one by one, and is connected to the test bus bar to measure the current or voltage applied to the test bus bar. An electroplating device characterized by comprising means.