JPH0925597A - Barrel plating method and barrel plating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow the efficient and adequate execution of a plating treatment by simple work in the case where plural kinds of plating objects of small lots are subjected to this treatment. SOLUTION: Plural kinds of the plating objects 8 are classified and housed into plural barrels 3 for small lots mounted at one common frame 1 and thereafter, the plural barrels 3 are simultaneously immersed in a plating soln. 40 and are rotated. As a result, plural kinds of the printing objects 8 are simultaneously subjected to the plating treatment.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a barrel plating method and barrel plating apparatus suitable for applications such as nickel plating or solder plating on electrodes of relatively small electronic components such as chip resistors.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the barrel plating method, as shown in FIG. 5, a barrel 3e containing an object to be plated is placed in a plating solution 4
This is a method of performing plating on an object to be plated by rotating it at 0. In such a barrel plating method, it is customary to form the above-mentioned barrel 3e in a large size so that a large number of objects to be plated can be processed in one working step, and for example, 100,000 to 100 pieces.
It is possible to simultaneously plate the electrodes of millions of small electronic components in a single working process.

However, in the above-mentioned method, the large barrel 3e cannot be fully utilized when the plating process is performed on a relatively small lot of electronic parts, for example, in the unit of thousands to tens of thousands. That is, when there are a plurality of types of plating objects for each small lot, if these plurality of types of plating objects are put into the barrel 3e all at once, the plurality of types of plating objects will be mixed and After the processing is completed, it is necessary to perform a complicated sorting operation for classifying the plurality of types of plating objects into the original types. On the other hand, in order to avoid this, only the same type of electronic component should be put into the barrel 3e to perform the plating process. However, in this case, it is necessary to repeat the plating process by the same number as the number of types of electronic components. There is. Therefore, in any case, the production efficiency cannot be improved.

Therefore, the applicant of the present application has previously proposed, for example, the means described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-21996 as a means for solving the above-mentioned difficulties. As shown in FIG. 6 of the present application, the means disclosed in this publication accommodates a ball-shaped barrel 39 made of a non-conductive material in the main barrel 3e. According to this conventional means, while subjecting the plating object 8a in the main barrel 3e to the plating treatment,
The other plating target 8b in the ball-shaped barrel 39 can be plated at the same time. Therefore,
It is possible to process a plurality of types of plating objects at the same time, and it is possible to improve the work efficiency of the plating process.

[0005]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional means, in order to perform the plating treatment of the object 8b to be plated, the object 8b to be plated is housed in the ball-shaped barrel 39, and then the ball-shaped object 8b is formed. It is necessary to further store the barrel 39 in the main barrel 3e. Further, after the plating is completed, similarly, it is necessary to take out the ball-shaped barrel 39 from the main barrel 3e and then take out the object 8b to be plated from the ball-shaped barrel 39. Therefore, such a series of operations is complicated.

Further, in the above-mentioned conventional means, the object 8b to be plated in the ball-shaped barrel 39 is to be the cathode, in the same manner as the principle of plating the object 8a to be plated contained in the main barrel 3e. It needs to be energized. Therefore, conventionally, by providing the electrode 39a on the ball-shaped barrel 39, the main barrel 3 is attached to the electrode 39a.
By contacting the object 8a to be plated in e and other conductive member (metal ball) 80a, the electrode 39a is indirectly conducted to the electrode 38 inserted in the main barrel 3e. There is. However, when the volume of the main barrel 3e is very large and the amount of the plating object 8a therein is small, this plating object 8a
In some cases, it may not be possible to constantly contact the electrode 39a with the above.
With this, the efficiency of the plating process of the object 8b to be plated in the ball-shaped barrel 39 is reduced. As described above, in the above-mentioned conventional means, there is still room for improvement when processing a plurality of types of objects to be plated in a small lot.

The present invention has been devised under such circumstances, and when a plurality of types of objects to be plated in a small lot are plated, the efficiency can be improved by a simple operation. The task is to be able to do well and appropriately.

[0008]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION According to the first aspect of the present invention, after a plurality of types of plating objects are separately stored in a plurality of small lot barrels mounted on a common frame, the plurality of By simultaneously immersing the barrel in the plating solution and rotating the barrel, the plurality of types of objects to be plated are simultaneously plated.

In the present invention, when a plurality of kinds of plating objects of a small lot are subjected to plating treatment, these plating objects are separately stored in a plurality of barrels for a small lot, and the plurality of kinds of plating objects are plated. Objects can be plated at the same time. Therefore, it is not necessary to repeat the plating process by the same number as the number of types of electronic components a plurality of times, and it is possible to complete the process of a plurality of types of objects to be plated by one working process. Further, unlike the case where a plurality of types of objects to be plated are mixed and charged in one barrel, it is possible to eliminate the trouble of selecting the types of objects to be plated after the completion of the plating process. The object to be plated can be easily handled.

Further, according to the present invention, since a plurality of barrels for small lots mounted on a predetermined frame are rotated in the plating solution, unlike the prior art, a ball-shaped barrel containing an object to be plated. It is not necessary to further store the product in the main barrel, and the plating object can be directly put in and taken out from the barrel for a small lot attached to the frame.
Therefore, the plating operation can be facilitated.

Further, as a means for energizing the object to be plated contained in each barrel for a small lot, if an appropriate electrode is arranged in each barrel as in the general barrel plating method. Of course, this allows reliable energization of the object to be plated in each barrel. Therefore, it is possible to reliably and appropriately perform the plating process of the plating target object housed in each barrel.

Further, in the present invention, since a plurality of barrels for small lots are attached to one common frame, for example, each barrel is immersed in a plating solution,
Alternatively, the work of pulling up from the plating solution can be collectively performed by moving the one frame. Therefore, there is no problem that the handling becomes complicated due to the provision of the plurality of barrels. In addition, according to the present invention, as the other equipment such as a plating tank storing the plating solution, the existing equipment can be used as it is, and there is an advantage that the existing equipment can be effectively used.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of barrels for small lots, which are constructed so that the object to be plated can be freely put in and taken out and are attached to one common frame, and the plurality of barrels are provided. It is characterized in that it is provided with a rotating force applying means for rotating each of the plurality of barrels in a state of being immersed in a desired plating solution.

In the present invention, after a plurality of types of plating objects for each small lot are separately stored in a plurality of small-lot barrels attached to one common frame, the plurality of barrels are desired. It is possible to perform plating treatment on the object to be plated in each barrel by simultaneously immersing in the plating solution and rotating each of the barrels by the rotational force applying means. Therefore, the barrel plating method according to the present invention can be appropriately carried out, and the same effects as those obtained by the barrel plating method can be expected.

[0015] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in the barrel plating apparatus according to the present invention, a plurality of shafts having electrodes at their tips are rotatably attached to the frame, and In each shaft, the barrel is rotated in conjunction with the shaft while the electrodes of the shaft are inserted into the barrel through the openings for loading and unloading the object to be plated provided in the barrel. In addition, a mounting means for detachably mounting each of the barrels to the shaft body may be provided.

According to such a structure, by removing the barrel for a small lot from the shaft body, a desired object to be plated can be put into the inside of the barrel through a predetermined opening and accommodated therein. . Then, when the barrel containing the object to be plated in this manner is attached to the shaft body through a predetermined attaching means, the barrel can be rotated in conjunction with the shaft body. Further, when the barrel is attached to the shaft body, the electrode provided on the shaft body can be inserted inside the barrel, and the object to be plated in the barrel can be energized. Therefore, in addition to facilitating the work of taking in and out the object to be plated in the barrel for a small lot, the work of arranging the electrodes in the barrel becomes easier, and the workability of the plating work can be further improved. Further, since the barrel is attached to the shaft body provided with the electrodes and rotated, the whole structure of these is remarkably simplified and the manufacturing cost of the device can be reduced.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an example of a barrel plating apparatus to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.

In FIG. 1, the barrel plating apparatus is
A frame 1, a plurality of shafts 2 attached to the frame 1, a plurality of small-lot barrels 3 mounted and supported on the frame 1 via the plurality of shafts 2, and other devices described later. It is configured to include.

The frame 1 may basically have a structure capable of mounting and supporting the plurality of shaft bodies 2 and the plurality of barrels 3. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, for example, the frame 1 includes two main frames 10 and 10 formed of prismatic pipes and the like as a suitable plate material 1.
They can be configured by joining each other via the element 1. It should be noted that the frame 1 is provided with a suitable hooking means (not shown) for hooking a hook such as a barrel carrier so that the frame 1 can be lifted by an overhead crane type barrel carrier or the like and moved to a desired position. ) Is preferably provided.

Each of the shafts 2 is formed by subjecting the surface of a conductive core material such as brass to a rubber coating process, and the lower end portion of the shaft body 2 is covered with a part of the conductive core material. An electrode 20 is provided which is barely exposed. As shown in FIG. 3, each shaft body 2 is provided so as to penetrate the plate member 11 of the frame 1. The shaft member 2 is provided on the plate member 11 so as to be rotatable around its axis. It is supported. A sprocket gear 5 is fixed to the upper part of each shaft body 2.

1 and 2, the frame 1
A driving force transmission mechanism portion 62 in which a shaft 61 provided with a sprocket gear 60 is arranged so as to project laterally of the frame 1 is provided on the upper end of one end of the frame 1. The drive force transmission mechanism portion 62 converts the rotational force of the shaft 61, which is obtained by engaging the sprocket gear 60 with a chain 70 that is rotatably driven outside the plating tank 4, as shown in FIG.
It is converted into the rotational force of the sprocket gear 63 shown in FIG. A chain 50 is wound around the sprocket gear 63 of the driving force transmission mechanism 62 and each sprocket gear 5 of the plurality of shaft bodies 2 so as to mesh with each other. Therefore, when the sprocket gear 60 meshes with the external chain 70 and rotates, this rotational force is transmitted to the driving force transmission mechanism portion 62, the chain 50, and the sprocket gear 5 of each shaft body 2. Each shaft body 2 is adapted to rotate around its axis.

In the present invention, each of the chains 50 is
Of course, a timing belt, a pulley meshing with the timing belt, or the like may be used instead of the sprocket gear 5, or the like. Further, instead of the driving force transmission mechanism portion 62, for example, a motor may be attached to the frame 1 so that the chain 50 is circulated by the motor. The specific configuration of the rotational force applying means for rotating the plurality of barrels referred to in the present invention can be variously changed in design.

In FIG. 3, terminals 21 are provided at the upper end of each shaft 2. It is possible to set the electrode 20 of each shaft body 2 as a cathode by making an electric wiring connection to this terminal 21.

The small lot barrel 3 is made of non-conductive synthetic resin such as vinyl chloride, and the outer peripheral surface thereof has a small hole 30 for allowing the plating solution to pass through the barrel 3.
Are provided in a porous form. This barrel 3
As shown in FIG. 4, is formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape having an opening 31 formed in the upper portion or in a prismatic shape such as a hexagonal prism. The size is such that it can be stored in units of thousands to tens of thousands, and is set to handle plating processing for small lots.

The barrels 3 are detachably attached to the shaft body 2. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, a collar-shaped holder 25 is externally fitted and fixed to the shaft body 2. This holder 25
It has an engaging concave portion 32 formed on the outer peripheral edge of the opening 31 of the barrel 3 and an engaging convex portion 26 that can be engaged and disengaged. The engaging concave portion 32 and the engaging convex portion 26 are engaged with each other. By combining them, the electrode 20 of the shaft body 2 can be inserted into the barrel 3 and the barrel 3 can be fixed to the holder 25 so as not to rotate relative thereto. Since the barrel 3 is attached to the shaft body 2 in such a manner that the barrel 3 cannot rotate relative to the shaft body 2, the barrel 3 can rotate in conjunction with the shaft body 2.

As a means for detachably attaching the barrel 3 to the shaft body 2, an engaging means different from the above may be adopted, and the barrel 3 is screwed into the holder 25. May be. Further, the shaft body 2 is provided so as to be inclined with respect to the vertical direction so that the stirring efficiency of the internal charging member when rotating the barrel 3 is good.

Next, an example of the barrel plating method according to the present invention using the barrel plating apparatus having the above construction will be described.

First, when a plurality of types of electronic components in small lots are to be plated, these electronic components are sorted and stored in different barrels 3 for each type. That is, for example, the electronic parts 8 (8
A, 8B, 8C), as shown in FIG.
These electronic components 8A, 8B, 8C are housed in different barrels 3 (3A, 3B, 3C). When the number of electronic components 8 of a specific type is large and the electronic components 8 of the specific type cannot be accommodated in one barrel 3,
The electronic components 8 may be dispersed and accommodated in two or three or more barrels 3.

To store the electronic component 8 in each barrel 3, as shown in FIG. 4, after removing the barrel 3 from the boulder 25, the desired electronic component 8 is put in through the opening 31 of the barrel 3. Good. It should be noted that, together with the electronic component 8, a metal ball 9 a having conductivity, which is a so-called dummy, and a non-conductive ceramic ball 9 b are also placed in the barrel 3. The metal ball 9a is
This is for evenly conducting the electric current to the electronic components 8 in the barrel 3. The ceramic ball 9b is
It is for adjusting the plating current conducted to the electronic component 8 and for agitating the electronic component. After the electronic component 8, the metal ball 9a, and the ceramic ball 9b are put into the barrel 3, the barrel 3 may be attached to the holder 25.

Next, after the above setting is completed, the frame 1 is transported and moved,
This frame 1 is placed above a plating tank 4 such as a solder plating tank, and each barrel 3 is dipped in a plating solution 40. Further, at this time, the sprocket gear 60 of the driving force transmission mechanism portion 62 provided on the frame 1 is aligned so as to mesh with the chain 70 that is drivingly traveling outside the plating tank 4. As a result, the chain 50 on the upper surface of the frame 1 can be driven to circulate, all the plurality of barrels 3 attached to each shaft 2 are rotated in the plating solution, and are housed in each barrel 3. The electronic component 8 can be stirred with the metal balls 9a and the ceramic balls 9b.

In the above case, a voltage is applied to the terminal 21 of each shaft 2 with the electrode 20 as a cathode, and the electrode 2
0 and a direct current (not shown) of an anode separately disposed in the plating solution 40 are passed. Since the electrode 20 of the shaft body 2 is arranged directly in the barrel 3, it is possible to cause the electronic component 8 to be reliably energized through the electrode 20. Therefore, on the surface of the metal electrode of each electronic component 8 housed in the plurality of barrels 3, the metal ionized in the plating solution is deposited in the form of a thin film and subjected to an appropriate plating treatment. You can

The above plating process is performed simultaneously in each of the plurality of barrels 3. Therefore, it is possible to simultaneously perform the plating process on a plurality of types of electronic components 8 by a single plating process. Further, since the plurality of types of electronic components 8 are separately stored in the plurality of barrels 3, the plurality of types of electronic components 8 do not mix with each other. Therefore, after the plating process is completed, it is possible to take out the electronic components 8 from each barrel 3 and immediately supply the electronic components 8 to the next step while classifying them.

In the above embodiment, the case where the electrode of the electronic component 8 such as the chip resistor is subjected to the solder plating treatment has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be applied to plating of other metals such as nickel plating, and the object to be plated can be used not only for electronic parts other than chip resistors but also for plating other than electronic parts. It is possible.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, since the plurality of barrels 3 for small lots are attached to the frame 1 via the rotatable shaft body 2 having the electrode 20, the barrel 3 is rotated. The advantage is that the mechanism and the mechanism for disposing the electrode 20 can be very simple, but the present invention is not limited to this. In the present invention, for example, the barrel 3 may be attached to the frame 1 via a suitable bracket having no electrode. Further, if the barrel 3 is detachably attached to the frame 1, it is easy to put the plating target object in and out of the barrel 3, but it is possible to plate the barrel 3 with the barrel 3 fixed to the frame 1. It does not matter if the object can be taken in and out.

In addition, the specific construction of each part of the barrel plating apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various design changes are possible. The specific size and number of barrels for small lots may be appropriately determined in consideration of the amount of the plating target object, the type of the plating target object, and the like.
Similarly, the specific configuration of each work step in the barrel plating method according to the present invention can be changed in various ways.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an example of a barrel plating apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the barrel plating apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts showing an example of a state in which a barrel for a small lot is removed.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing an example of a conventional general barrel plating method.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing another example of the conventional barrel plating method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 frame 2 shaft body 20 electrode 25 holder 3 barrel for small lot 31 opening 4 plating tank 5 sprocket gear 8 plating object 40 plating solution 50 chain 60 sprocket gear 61 shaft 62 driving force transmission mechanism 63 sprocket gear

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of small-lot barrels mounted on one common frame are separately stored with a plurality of types of objects to be plated, and then the plurality of barrels are simultaneously immersed in a plating solution. A barrel plating method, characterized in that the plurality of types of objects to be plated are plated at the same time by rotating. 2. A plurality of barrels for small lots, which are configured to allow the objects to be plated to be taken in and out freely and which are attached to one common frame, and the plurality of barrels are immersed in a desired plating solution. A barrel plating apparatus, comprising: a rotating force applying means for rotating each of the plurality of barrels in a state. 3. A plurality of shafts each having an electrode at an end thereof are rotatably attached to the frame, and each shaft is provided with an object to be plated provided on each barrel. Attachment for detachably attaching each barrel to the shaft so that each barrel rotates in conjunction with the shaft with the electrode of the shaft inserted into the barrel through the opening for taking in and out. A barrel plating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein means are provided.