JPH0841659A - Etching apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an etching apparatus capable of greatly improving the uniformity of an etching treatment and obtaining high-quality products.

CONSTITUTION: A vibration frame 21 on which a plurality of works W are mounted is freely liftably supported by a cylinder 32 above an etching vessel 11 where an etchant E is stored, by which the works W are submerged in the etchant E together with the vibration frame 21. The works W are vibrated by a vibration motor 24 mounted at this vibration frame 21 by which the works are subjected to the etching treatment.

COPYRIGHT: (C)1996,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an etching apparatus for carrying out an etching process for forming a desired printing pattern or circuit pattern when manufacturing a printing original plate, a printed circuit board or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as the above-mentioned etching apparatus, there has been generally used a device for performing a desired etching treatment by spraying and applying an etching solution in a shower on the object to be treated.

[0003]

According to the application of the etching solution by the shower as described above, it seems that the etching solution is certainly sprayed and uniformly applied to the etching surface of the object to be treated. Strictly speaking, there are the following differences in the applied state. That is, there are a portion where the etching liquid is directly applied and a portion where the etching liquid is applied because the etching liquid flows without directly hitting the etching liquid. Due to such a difference in the coating method, there is an inconvenient aspect in that the progress of etching varies, and in turn, a slight nonuniformity occurs in the etching process, which affects the quality.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an etching apparatus capable of obtaining a high quality product by greatly improving the uniformity of the etching process.

[0005]

The present invention is characterized by the following constitution in order to achieve the above object. That is, an etching apparatus provided on an etching tank in which an etching solution is stored, in which a frame on which an object to be processed such as a printing original plate is mounted, a vibration mechanism for vibrating the frame, and a vibration such as a spring on the frame are used. It is equipped with an elevating mechanism that is connected through the body and that moves an object to be processed into and out of the etching tank.

[0006]

Operation: The object to be processed is mounted on the frame while the frame is raised by the elevating mechanism, and the object is immersed in the etching liquid in the etching tank together with the frame by the elevating mechanism and the vibrating mechanism is operated. At the same time, the object to be processed is vibrated, and the object to be processed is etched in this state. The etching liquid has a uniform contact state with the etching surface of the object to be processed, and a high-quality etching product can be obtained.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference numeral 10 in FIGS. 1 and 2 indicates a processing tank, and reference numeral 20 indicates an etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The processing tank 10 is an etching tank 11
The cleaning bath 12 is formed with the partition wall 13 interposed therebetween, and the etching liquid E and the cleaning liquid C are stored in the baths 11 and 12, respectively.

The etching apparatus 20 is mounted on a frame 40 assembled around the processing tank 10. The gantry 40 has an upper beam 42 and a horizontal beam 43 connected between four legs 41. The upper beam 42 is located above the processing bath 10 in the longitudinal direction thereof, that is, in the direction from the etching bath 11 to the cleaning bath 12. It is extended. In this case, the upper beam 42 also functions as a guide for the etching apparatus 20 to move back and forth between the etching bath 11 and the cleaning bath 12.

Before describing the etching apparatus 20, the object W to be processed in this case will be described. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the object W to be processed has a rectangular shape such as a printing original plate or an original plate of a printed circuit board. It is a plate-like body, and one side or both sides is an etching surface that requires etching treatment. When the object W to be processed is subjected to the etching process, the frame 50 is attached to the edge of one surface for convenience in handling.

Now, the etching apparatus 20 is provided with an object W to be processed.
A plurality of vibration frames 21 are mounted, and an elevating mechanism 23 connected to the vibration frames 21 via a coil spring (vibration body) 30 to move the workpiece W into and out of the etching tank 11 and the cleaning tank 12. And the vibrating frame 2
A vibration motor (vibration mechanism) 24 for vibrating 1 is mainly configured.

The vibrating frame 21 is formed by fixing a plurality of sets (five sets in this case) of suspension frames 27, each of which is a pair of left and right, to the first square frame 26. The suspension frame 27 has a U-shaped cross section as shown in FIG. 4, and in one set of suspension frames 27, 27, the groove portions 27 a are arranged so as to face each other. , Two setscrews 28, which are separated vertically, are screwed in from one side. In order to mount the workpiece W on the vibrating frame 21, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the longitudinal ends of the workpiece W are put into the grooves 27a of the hanging frames 27, 27 of each pair facing each other. Then, the state is fixed by pressing the set screw 28.

A reinforcing member 29 is connected to the center of the first square frame 26, and a vibration motor 24 is fixed on the reinforcing member 29.

The vibrating frame 21 is connected to a lifting mechanism 23 by being suspended by a coil spring 30. The elevating mechanism 23 is passed between the pair of upper beams 42.
It is composed of a bar 31 that can move along the line 2, two cylinders 32 attached to the bar 31, and a second square frame 33 that is moved up and down by the cylinder 32.

The cylinder 32 is of a generally known type such as a hydraulic type or a pneumatic type in which the piston 32b is retracted from the cylinder body 32a, and is arranged at a predetermined distance in the longitudinal direction of the bar 31. In each cylinder 32, a cylinder main body 32a is fixed upright on the bar 31 so that the piston 32b extends downward and appears in the vertical direction. A reinforcing member 34 connected to the center of the second rectangular frame 33 is fixed to the tip of the piston 32b. The second square frame 33 has substantially the same dimensions as the first square frame 26 constituting the vibrating frame 21, and both are arranged vertically with a predetermined interval so that their sides are aligned in parallel. A coil spring 30 is interposed in the.

By synchronously projecting and retracting the piston 32b of the cylinder 32, the workpiece W mounted on the suspension frame 27 is moved up and down. When the piston 32b is extended to the stroke end and the vibrating frame 27 is lowered, the entire workpiece W is immersed in the etching solution E in the etching tank 11 or the cleaning solution C in the cleaning tank 12. When the piston 32b is contracted most and the vibrating frame 21 is raised, the workpiece W rises above the processing tank 10. In this state, if the bar 31 is moved along the upper beam 42, the etching apparatus 20 itself. Is etching tank 1
It is possible to go back and forth between 1 and the washing tank 12. It is preferable that the vibrating frame 21 is detachably attached to the second rectangular frame 33 together with the coil spring 30 because the object W to be processed is easily attached.

Next, the operation of the etching apparatus 20 having the above-mentioned structure and the effects accompanying it will be described. First, the vibration frame 21 is attached to each suspension frame 27. To this end, the vibrating frame 21 is mounted in a state of being removed from the second square frame 33, and after mounting, the vibrating frame 21 is mounted to the second square frame 33 in the raised state. With this, the preparation is completed. After that, the cylinder 330 lowers the vibrating frame 21 to immerse the workpiece W in the etching liquid E in the etching tank 11, and the vibration motor 24 is operated to remove the workpiece W. The vibrating frame 21 is vibrated together. When the vibration motor 24 is operated, the second square frame 33 is in a fixed state, but the coil spring 30 swings so that the vibration frame 21 can vibrate. When the etching process by immersing the object W in the etching solution E and vibrating the object W has passed for a predetermined time, the vibrating frame 21 is pulled up from the etching tank 11 and the bar 31 is moved along the upper beam 42 to remove the object W to be processed. It is located above the washing tank 12.

The workpiece W together with the vibrating frame 21 is submerged in the cleaning liquid E by the elevating mechanism 23, and the vibrating motor 24 is actuated as necessary to vibrate the workpiece W to clean the etching surface. When the washing is completed, raise the workpiece W,
The object W to which the etching process is applied is removed from the hanging frame 27. The etching apparatus 20 is moved above the etching tank 11 along the upper beam 42, and subsequently, the object W to be processed is mounted on the hanging frame 27, and the above etching process is repeated.

According to the etching apparatus 20 of this embodiment,
Since the etching process is performed by immersing the workpiece W in the etching solution E in the etching bath 11 and applying vibration, the contact state of the etching solution E with the etching surface becomes uniform over the entire surface, and The inconvenience of unevenness in progress is eliminated. Therefore, the uniformity of the etching process is significantly improved, and a high quality product can be obtained.

Further, in the case of the conventional means for spraying the etching liquid with a shower, a relatively wide space for spraying the shower with respect to the etching surface is required, but the object W to be processed is etched as in this embodiment. Such a large space is not necessary if it is a means for giving vibration by being buried in the tank 11. Therefore, a large number of objects W to be processed and the mutual intervals are narrowed to some extent, and the etching tank 1
By burying it in No. 1, a large amount of the workpiece W can be etched in a short time, which is very efficient.

Further, since it can move back and forth from the etching tank 11 to the cleaning tank 12 by moving it along the upper beam 42, the next cleaning processing can be continuously performed after the etching processing is completed.

[0021]

As described above, according to the etching apparatus of the present invention, the etching treatment is performed by immersing the object to be processed in the etching tank and applying vibration.
The inconvenience that the etching liquid comes into contact with the object to be processed uniformly and variations in the etching progress is eliminated, and as a result, the uniformity of the etching process is greatly improved and high quality products can be obtained. It has the effect. Further, many objects to be processed can be buried in the etching tank, and a large amount of objects to be processed can be efficiently etched in a short time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view in the direction of arrow P in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view mainly showing a vibrating frame.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line QQ of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which a frame is attached to the object to be processed.

[Explanation of symbols] 11 ... Etching tank, 12 ... Washing tank, 20 ... Etching device, 21 ... Vibration frame, 22 ... Coil spring (vibrating body), 23 ... Lifting mechanism, 24 ... Vibration motor (Vibration mechanism), C ... washing liquid, E ... etching liquid, W
…… The object to be processed.

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kim Yongsei 206-138 Norongdong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, Korea

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An etching apparatus provided on an etching tank in which an etching liquid is stored, comprising a frame on which an object to be processed such as a printing original plate is mounted, a vibration mechanism for vibrating the frame, and a spring on the frame. An etching apparatus including an elevating mechanism that is connected via a vibrating body such as the like and that moves an object to be processed into and out of the etching tank.