JPH07331435A - Plating frame - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the workability for framing crystal pieces in a plating forming an electrode on the surface of a piezoelectric body blackening the surface. CONSTITUTION:The center frame 2 and mask plate 4 of a plating frame consisting of stainless steel, for example, are heated at about 700 deg.C for about 1hr and oxidized to blacken the surfaces of the center frame 2 and mask plate 4 to change the color from that of a piezoelectric body. Consequently, a transparent quartz crystal piece 3 or the translucent piece having a white surface is easily discriminated from the plating frame, the piece 3 is easily inserted into the plating frame and positioned, and the piece 3 is hardly displaced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plating frame used for forming electrodes on the surface of a piezoelectric body, the surface of which is colored black so as to have a different hue from that of the piezoelectric body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in various electronic devices, a piezoelectric vibrator, especially an inexpensive and high-performance quartz vibrator is frequently used as a reference for time, frequency and the like. In such a crystal oscillator, an artificial crystal crystal is cut at a predetermined angle with respect to a crystal axis to be shaped into a plate, and the outer shape is shaped into a round plate or a strip. Then, in order to excite the piezoelectric vibration with the crystal piece which is the piezoelectric body, an excitation electrode is formed on the plate surface, and this excitation electrode is led out to the end of the plate surface via the extraction electrode.

The lead-out end of the lead-out electrode at the end of the crystal piece is sandwiched by a pair of holding members which are planted in the base, and a conductive adhesive is applied to the holding member for electrical conduction and mechanical holding. I try to do it at the same time. Then, a small amount of metal is further vapor-deposited on the electrode of the crystal piece held by the holding member, and the resonance frequency is accurately adjusted by the effect of mass addition, and then the cover is covered with an atmosphere such as nitrogen gas, and the above base It is hermetically sealed.

When forming an exciting electrode, a crystal piece whose plate surface is polished is placed in a vacuum, and silver is used to form the electrode.
A metal such as gold or aluminum is heated to generate a metal vapor, and the metal vapor is attached to the plate surface of the crystal piece for vapor deposition. Note that the size and position of the electrodes formed on the crystal piece have a significant effect on the vibration characteristics. The deposition area is regulated by exposing it to the source.

Further, the relationship between the crystal axis direction of the crystal piece and the electrode lead-out direction, that is, the holding position also affects the vibration characteristics. For example, in the case of an AT-cut crystal resonator, when stress acts along the plate surface direction of the crystal piece, there is a crystal axis direction in which the frequency changes the least. For this reason, even in the case of a round plate-shaped crystal piece, a so-called chord cut is performed by linearly cutting a predetermined crystal axis direction end of the crystal piece so that the direction of the crystal axis can be determined from the outside. ing.

However, in this type of plating frame, for example, a plurality of rectangular metal plates made of stainless steel having a side of about 10 cm are laminated, a crystal piece is sandwiched between them, and a plurality of screws are screwed in the plate thickness direction. It is used by tightening them together. For example, when forming electrodes on a round plate-shaped crystal piece, a metal plate of a plating frame is provided with about tens to 100 through holes having a diameter of about 5 to 7 mm and corresponding to the shape of the crystal piece. is doing.

That is, a through hole that is slightly larger than the outer shape of the crystal piece is formed in the middle frame located in the central portion of the plurality of metal plates. In this case, if the electrodes are formed on the crystal pieces that have been subjected to the chord cut, the shape of the through holes is also adapted to that, and the chord cut positions are aligned in a certain direction. Further, on the mask plates located on both outer sides of the inner frame, a through hole having a size slightly smaller than the outer shape of the crystal piece and having a shape corresponding to the excitation electrode to be formed on the plate surface is formed.
Further, a slit is formed corresponding to the lead electrode extending radially from the through hole. Here, the extending direction of the lead-out electrode in the through holes of the mask plate is provided so as to be a constant direction in all the through holes with respect to the chord cut axial direction.

The crystal pieces arranged in the through holes of the inner frame are sandwiched between the mask plates from both sides, and screws are screwed in the plate thickness direction to integrally hold them. Then, the plating frame is made to face the source of the metal vapor, and the metal vapor is adhered to the plate surface of the crystal piece exposed to the outside so that the electrode is vapor-deposited. The crystal piece whose surface is polished is transparent or semi-transparent with a white surface, while the plating frame made of stainless steel shines white silver under bright illumination. For this reason, the quartz pieces are sandwiched in the plating frame for positioning.In so-called framing work, the color tone of the object is similar, so the work is troublesome and difficult to perform. It was necessary to accurately align the direction of the crystal axis in consideration of the site, and workability had to be reduced.

However, if the crystal piece is not correctly inserted in the predetermined position of the plating frame, the edge of the crystal piece protruding from the through hole where the crystal piece should be placed can be screwed when assembling the plating frame. Parts may be damaged or broken pieces may be sandwiched between the plate surfaces, creating a gap between the metal plate surfaces of the plating frame. There was a problem that it came off and was sandwiched between the inner frame and the mask plate.

[0010]

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to improve the workability of the framing work of the crystal piece in the plating frame in the step of forming the electrode on the crystal piece. It is an object of the present invention to provide a plating frame which can improve the productivity and reduce the cost of the product.

[0011]

The first invention of the present invention is characterized in that the plating frame is colored black, and the second invention is characterized in that the plating frame is colored by being discolored by heat treatment in the first invention. The third invention is characterized in that in the first and second inventions, the plating frame is made of stainless steel.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to an assembly perspective view of a plating frame used for forming electrodes on a round plate-shaped crystal piece shown in FIG. A detailed description will be given with reference. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a plating frame, which is composed of a plurality of, for example, three stainless steel plates cut into a rectangle of a predetermined size. And the middle frame 2 of the central part is the crystal piece 3
Corresponding to the outer shape of the through hole 2a that is slightly larger than that
Has been drilled.

Further, through holes 4a corresponding to the shape of electrodes to be formed on the crystal piece 3 are formed in the mask plate 4 attached to both side plate surfaces of the middle frame 2. The shape of the through hole 4a is a combination of, for example, a circular excitation electrode formed in the central portion of the crystal piece 3 and a slit-shaped lead-out electrode extending from the excitation electrode to the end of the crystal piece 3. In the plating frame 1, several tens to hundreds of the through holes 2a and 4a are formed in the middle frame 2 and the mask plate 4, so that these processes may be performed by etching, press working, or the like. Alternatively, the through holes may be formed by a mechanical method.

Then, screw holes 5 are appropriately formed in the middle frame 2 and the mask plate 4, and screws 6 are screwed to be integrally tightened. The whole of the middle frame 2 and the mask plate 4 of the plating frame 1 is heated to about 700 ° C. for about 1 hour. In this way, the surfaces of the inner frame 2 and the mask plate 4 are oxidized and discolored to black, and the oxide is chemically and physically stable, and does not change at all in the use in a normal vapor deposition operation. Therefore, in the framing work of the crystal piece 3, the plating frame 1 is black, the crystal piece 3 is transparent or semi-transparent with a white surface, and the hues of the both are symmetrically different, so that they can be easily identified and workability is good. Further, the displacement of the crystal piece 3 is unlikely to occur.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the plating frame made of stainless steel is heat-treated to change its color to black. For example, the surface of the plating frame is chemically changed. You may make it paint black with a physically and physically stable paint. Further, although the crystal piece is described as the piezoelectric body in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to such a crystal body, and is also applied to a plating frame used for forming an electrode on a piezoelectric body such as lithium tantalate or lithium niobate. be able to. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the plating frame used to form the electrodes on the round plate-shaped crystal piece has been described, but the same can be applied to the plating frame that forms the electrodes on the rectangular crystal piece that is formed in a rectangular shape. Of course

[0016]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the surface is colored black, so that the workability in framing the piezoelectric body is good and the piezoelectric body is not displaced. It is difficult to provide a plating frame which can improve productivity and reduce cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an assembled perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Plating Frame 2 Middle Frame 2a Through Hole 3 Crystal Piece (Piezoelectric Body) 4 Mask Plate 4a Through Hole

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plating frame used for forming an electrode on the surface of a piezoelectric body, wherein the surface is colored black. 2. The plating frame according to claim 1, wherein the plating frame is colored by being discolored black by heat treatment. 3. The plating frame according to claim 1 or 2, which is made of stainless steel.