JPH07102387A - Mechanism parts and formation of film thereon - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To produce mechanism parts capable of securely operating over a long period by successively laminating an electroless nickel plating substrate and a ceramic layer at least on either contact face of mechanism parts mechanically connected and mutually contacted rotatably and slidingly. CONSTITUTION:A substrate 21 is formed on parts 20 such as a roller and a pawl by electroless Ni-B plating treatment, and its hardness is increased by heat treatment. Next, a ceramic film 22 of TiC or the like is formed on the substrate 21 by a physical deposition method or the like. Thus, the mechanism parts sufficiently withstanding even if being used for a part subjected to high bearing pressure over a long period can be obtd.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mechanical part of an electric device, such as an operating mechanism of a vacuum circuit breaker, which is mechanically coupled to each other and which makes rotary or sliding contact with each other, and a contact surface of the mechanical part. The present invention relates to a method of forming a ceramic coating layer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, an operating mechanism of a vacuum circuit breaker includes parts such as a lever, a claw, a pin, a roller and a rod. Since these parts come into contact with each other or rotate or slide at their connecting portions, lubricating oil is applied to these parts by applying or injecting lubricating oil. However, this method requires maintenance such as lubrication. For this reason, these parts have recently been coated with materials with excellent wear resistance, such as TiC, TiN, and TiCN films (ceramic films) to ensure long-term operational reliability without requiring maintenance. It has been proposed (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-8232). However, such a film (ceramic film) is slightly inferior in terms of corrosion resistance. For example, it has been confirmed that a mechanical spray treated in this way is subjected to a salt spray test, and spotted red rust is generated over the entire surface within a few hours after the test. It is believed that this is due to the fine holes and cracks present in the film. For this reason, it has been proposed to form a base layer by plating nickel or chrome on the coating portion of the mechanical component, and to form the above-mentioned coating thereon (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-73833).

[0003]

However, in the mechanical component thus formed, since the underlayer is formed by a normal nickel plating layer or a chromium plating layer, for example, in the case of nickel plating, the hardness thereof is Hv2.
It is as low as about 00, and there is a problem that the base layer is cracked in a place where the surface pressure of the contact portion is high during long-term use. The cracking of the underlayer causes moisture to penetrate into the portion during long-term use and causes rust.

An object of the present invention is to ensure reliable operation for a long period of time without causing cracks or the like in the underlayer even when used in a place where the surface pressure of the contact portion is high, and thus without causing rust. (EN) Provided is a mechanical component and a method for forming a ceramic coating layer on a contact surface of the mechanical component.

[0005]

According to the present invention, an object of the present invention is to provide at least one contact surface of a mechanical component mechanically coupled to each other, which is in rotary or sliding contact, by electroless nickel plating. A formed underlayer,
This is achieved by including a ceramic coating layer formed on this underlayer. This underlayer is electroless
Those treated by Ni-P plating or electroless Ni-B plating are preferable. At this time, the underlayer is preferably heat-treated under the condition of 600 ° C. or lower, preferably 400 ° C. or lower. Also,
As a method of forming a ceramic coating layer on the contact surface of such a mechanical component, first, electroless Ni is formed on the contact surface of the mechanical component.
-P plating or electroless Ni-B plating is performed to form an underlayer, and then a physical vapor deposition method or a plasma chemical vapor deposition method is performed on the underlayer under heat treatment conditions of 600 ° C or lower, preferably 400 ° C or lower. Form a ceramic coating layer.

[0006]

According to the structure of the present invention, at least one contact surface of the mechanical component is electroless Ni-P plated or electroless Ni-P plated.
-A base layer formed by B plating and a ceramic coating layer formed on the base layer. A film formed by ordinary nickel plating has a hardness of about Hv200, whereas a film formed by electroless nickel plating has a considerably higher hardness, and for example, when processed by Ni-P plating, Hardness is about Hv 400-500,
When treated with Ni-B plating, the Hv is about 700.
Therefore, the hardness of the contact portion of the mechanical component is remarkably improved by such electroless nickel plating treatment, and even if it is used in a portion that receives a high surface pressure for a long period of time, it can sufficiently endure this. Furthermore, when a ceramic coating layer is formed on the thus formed underlayer by a physical vapor deposition method or a plasma chemical vapor deposition method under a heat treatment condition of 600 ° C. or less, the hardness of the surface of the contact portion is Hv9.
It can be increased to about 00 to 1200. Therefore, the mechanical component according to the present invention is remarkably excellent in abrasion resistance and rust prevention.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below based on an embodiment applied to an operating mechanism of a vacuum circuit breaker. FIG. 1 is a side view showing an operating mechanism of such a vacuum circuit breaker. In FIG.
The vacuum valve 1 is connected to the shaft of the roller 8 via an insulating rod 12, a lever 10 and a contact spring 9. The roller 8 is rotatably attached to the latch lever 7,
A freely rotatable roller 13 is attached to the tip of the lever 7. The roller 13 is engaged with the pawl 14 in the closed state of the illustrated vacuum circuit breaker. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the main part of the operation mechanism section, showing a state in which the rod 5 is driven by the excitation of the closing electromagnet to push up the roller 8. As a result, the opening / closing shaft 6 rotates clockwise, and the movable electrode in the vacuum valve is pushed down via the contact spring 9, the lever 10 and the insulating rod 12 to close the fixed electrode. At the same time, the pawl 14 engages with the roller 13 to hold the open state of the vacuum circuit breaker.

As described above, the operating mechanism of the vacuum circuit breaker has a mechanical component that makes a rotating or sliding contact. In particular, the roller 13 and the claw 14 are engaged with each other to maintain the open or closed state of the vacuum circuit breaker. Moreover, since this component receives the force of the contact spring, a large load is applied. By applying the present invention to such a portion to which a high load is applied, the reliability of the operation of the operating mechanism can be obtained for a long period of time.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to such a mechanical component. For example, a base layer 21 is formed on a component 20 such as a roller or a claw by electroless Ni-B plating or electroless Ni-P plating. On top of that, TiC, TiN, TiCN
A ceramic coating 22 such as is formed. In this case, when the underlying layer of the mechanical component is formed by electroless Ni-B plating, the hardness is about Hv700, and further 60
It was possible to raise the temperature to about Hv900 by performing heat treatment at 0 ° C. or lower, preferably near 400 ° C. When treated with electroless Ni-P plating, its hardness is Hv40.
It is about 0 to 500, and further heat treatment results in H
I was able to raise it to about v600-700. It should be noted that the hardness is increased by this heat treatment when the plating is finished.
It is considered that B and P dissolved in Ni combine with Ni by heating to form a compound, but when the temperature is raised to 600 ° C or higher, the compound grows and is rather softened. Therefore, the heat treatment temperature is preferably 600 ° C. or lower, particularly around 400 ° C.

Physical vapor deposition (PVD) and plasma chemical vapor deposition (P-CVD) are particularly suitable for forming a ceramic film of TiC, TiN, TiCN or the like. In this method, the heat treatment temperature may be 600 ° C. or lower, so that the heat treatment of the base layer is performed at the same time when the ceramic film is formed, and the hardness can be increased. In addition,
In the above description, the example in which the present invention is applied to the mechanical parts of the operating mechanism of the vacuum circuit breaker is shown. However, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied not only to such a mechanical component but also to a mechanical component having the same problem as this.

[0011]

According to the present invention, a film formed by normal nickel plating has a hardness of about Hv200, whereas an underlayer formed by electroless Ni-P plating or electroless Ni-B plating. Is much harder than that, for example
When treated with Ni-P plating, the hardness of the film is Hv40
0 to 500, Hv7 when treated with Ni-B plating
The hardness can be increased to about Hv 600 to 700 or 900 by heat-treating the underlayer thus formed at a temperature of 600 ° C. or lower, preferably around 400 ° C.
Even if it is used in a part that receives high surface pressure for a long time, it can withstand this sufficiently and there is no crack in the underlayer,
Therefore, a mechanical component can be obtained in which rusting of that portion is prevented.

In particular, when a ceramic coating layer is formed on the undercoat layer by a physical vapor deposition method or a plasma chemical vapor deposition method under a heat treatment condition of 600 ° C. or less, preferably around 400 ° C., the undercoat layer is formed at the same time as the formation of the coating film. It is more efficient because it can be heat treated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an operating mechanism of a vacuum circuit breaker as an application example of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of a mechanical component to which the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 20 Mechanical parts 21 Underlayer 22 Ceramic film

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Toshio Kobayashi 1-1 Tanabe Nitta, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Fuji Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A mechanical component which is mechanically coupled to each other and makes a rotating or sliding contact with each other, wherein at least one of the contact surfaces is provided with an underlayer formed by electroless nickel plating, and an upper layer of the underlayer. And a ceramic coating layer formed on the. 2. The mechanical component according to claim 1, wherein the underlayer is treated by electroless Ni-P plating. 3. The mechanical component according to claim 1, wherein the underlayer is treated by electroless Ni-B plating. 4. The material according to claim 1, wherein the underlayer has a temperature of 600 ° C. or lower, preferably 4 ° C.
A mechanical component characterized by being heat-treated at a temperature near 00 ° C. 5. A base layer is formed by electroless nickel plating on the contact surfaces of mechanical parts that are mechanically connected to each other and that make rotational or sliding contact with each other, and then 600 ° C. is formed on the base layer.
Hereinafter, preferably, a method for forming a film of a mechanical component, which comprises forming a ceramic film layer by a vapor deposition method at a temperature of about 400 ° C. 6. The method for forming a film for a mechanical component according to claim 5, wherein the electroless nickel plating treatment for forming the underlayer is an electroless Ni-P plating treatment. 7. The method for forming a film of a mechanical component according to claim 5, wherein the electroless nickel plating treatment for forming the underlayer is an electroless Ni-B plating treatment. 8. The method for forming a film of a mechanical component according to claim 5, 6 or 7, wherein the vapor deposition method for forming the ceramic coating layer is a physical vapor deposition method. 9. The method of claim 5, 6 or 7, wherein the vapor deposition method for forming the ceramic coating layer is a plasma chemical vapor deposition method.