JPH09316694A - Plating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically control the flow rate of a plating soln. and to provide a plating device capable of obtaining the stable plating quality of a material to be plated. SOLUTION: This plating device 1 is provided with a plating bath 8 for plating a material 10 to be plated, a plating soln. tank 2 for accumulating the plating soln. 3 overflowing the plating bath 8, a transfer line 4 for circulating the plating soln. 3 to the plating bath 8 from the tank 2 and a filter 6 connected to the transfer line 4 and removing the impurities in the plating soln. 3. A variable-capacity motor-driven pump 17 is disposed on the transfer line, a flowmeter 7 for detecting the flow rate of the plating soln. 3 circulated to the bath 8 and outputting the flow rate as an electric signal is furnished, and further a control means 12 is installed to automatically control the revolving speed of the motor 16 for the pump 17 based on the output signal from the flowmeter 12 so that the flow rate of the plating soln. 3 circulated to the plating bath 8 is fixed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plating apparatus, and more particularly to a continuous plating apparatus for long products such as IC lead frames and TAB tapes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A schematic view of a conventional plating apparatus is shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, a conventional plating apparatus 21
Is a plating tank 8 for plating the object 10 to be plated,
The plating solution tank 2 for storing the plating solution 3 overflowing from the plating tank 8 and the plating solution tank 2 to the plating tank 8
And a plating solution transfer system 4 for circulating and transferring the plating solution 3.

The plating solution transfer system 4 includes a pump 5 for transferring the plating solution 3 and a drive motor 16 for driving the pump 5.
A valve 22 for adjusting the flow rate of the plating solution 3 and the plating solution 3
Filter 6 for removing impurities inside and plating solution 3
And a flow meter 7 for measuring the flow rate of

The plating solution 3 circulated and transferred by the plating solution transfer system 4 is connected to the nozzle 9 which is connected to the plating solution transfer system 4.
Is supplied into the plating tank 8 for plating the object 10 to be plated.

The plating solution 3 is repeatedly circulated between the plating tank 8 and the plating solution tank 2 and used repeatedly. However, if the plating apparatus 21 is used for a long time, the plating solution 3
The dendrite precipitated from the plating solution or dust / dust from the outside is mixed in, and the plating state changes.
In order to prevent this, a filter 6 for removing impurities from the plating solution 3 is provided between the pump 5 and the plating tank 8. That is, by using the plating solution 3 in which impurities are filtered by the filter 6, it is possible to always perform plating work with stable quality.

Further, when impurities adhere to the filter 6,
The flow rate of the plating solution 3 passing through the filter 6 is reduced. In order to prevent this, a valve 22 is provided in the plating solution transfer system 4 on the upstream side of the filter 6, and a flow meter 7 is provided in the plating solution transfer system 4 on the downstream side of the filter 6. That is, the operator operates the valve 22 so that the flow rate of the plating solution 3 is always constant while monitoring the flow meter 7.

[0008]

However, in the present situation, the operator must monitor the flow meter 7 and operate the valve 22 so that the flow rate of the plating solution 3 is always constant, which results in poor workability. Not very good. Further, since the operation of the valve 22 is a manual operation by the operator,
A time lag inevitably occurs between the time when the flow rate of the plating solution 3 decreases and the time when the valve 22 is opened.
Will cause a decrease in the flow rate. Further, in order to adjust the flow rate of the plating solution 3 by opening and closing the valve 22, the operator's intuition is large and a skilled operator is required.

Since the flow rate of the plating solution 3 with respect to the object to be plated 10 is one of the important factors that affect the quality of plating, the plating solution 3 is always kept at a constant flow rate in terms of stabilizing the plating quality. Is desirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to solve the above problems, and to provide a plating apparatus that automatically adjusts the flow rate of a plating solution and that has stable plating quality of an object to be plated.

[0011]

In order to solve the above problems, the invention of claim 1 is a plating tank for plating an object to be plated, and a plating solution tank for storing a plating solution overflowing from the plating tank. A plating solution transfer system for circulating and transferring the plating solution from the plating solution tank to the plating tank;
In a plating apparatus equipped with a filter for removing impurities in the plating solution, which is connected to the plating solution transfer system, a variable capacity electric pump is provided in the plating solution transfer system, and the plating solution is circulated and transferred to the plating tank. Is equipped with a flow meter that detects the flow rate of the plating solution and outputs it as an electrical signal.
In addition, a control means is provided for automatically controlling the rotational speed of the drive motor of the variable capacity electric pump in accordance with the output signal from the flow meter so as to keep the flow rate of the plating solution circulated and transferred to the plating tank constant. Is.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the variable capacity electric pump detects the number of revolutions of the drive motor or the control current of the control means, and a detection means for issuing a warning when the value exceeds a predetermined value. The plating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

According to the above construction, the plating solution transfer system for circulating and transferring the plating solution from the plating solution tank to the plating tank,
Provided with a variable capacity electric pump, equipped with a flow meter that detects the flow rate of the plating solution circulated and transferred to the plating tank and outputs it as an electrical signal, and keeps the flow rate of the plating solution circulated and transferred to the plating tank constant. In order to achieve this, the control means for automatically controlling the rotation speed of the drive motor of the variable capacity electric pump by the output signal from the flow meter is provided, so that the plating solution flow rate adjustment work can be performed automatically and the plating quality of the plated object can be improved. A stable plating apparatus can be obtained.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

An outline of the plating apparatus of the present invention is shown in FIG.
The same members as those in FIG. 3 are designated by the same reference numerals.

As shown in FIG. 1, the plating apparatus 1 of the present invention
Is a plating tank 8 for plating the object 10 to be plated, a plating solution tank 2 for storing a plating solution 3 overflowing from the plating tank 8, and a plating solution transfer for circulating and transferring the plating solution 3 from the plating solution tank 2 to the plating tank 8. And system 4.

The plating solution transfer system 4 comprises a variable capacity electric pump 17 for transferring the plating solution 3, a filter 6 for filtering impurities in the plating solution 3, and a flow meter 7 for measuring the flow rate of the plating solution 3. A nozzle 9 is provided at the tip of the plating solution transfer system 4.

The variable capacity electric pump 17 is used for the plating solution 3
And a drive motor 16 for driving the pump 5. An inverter (control means) 12 for controlling the rotation speed of the drive motor 16 is connected to the drive motor 16.

Further, a detection means (not shown) for detecting the rotation speed of the pump 5 or the current value of the inverter 12 is
It is provided so as to be connected to the variable capacity electric pump 17.

An enlarged view of the portion of the plating tank 8 in FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. The same members as those in FIG. 3 are designated by the same reference numerals.

As shown in FIG. 2, a nozzle 9 is provided below the plating tank 8 filled with the plating solution 3 to supply a new plating solution. Further, the object to be plated 10 is provided by running so that a part thereof is immersed in the plating solution 3 in the plating tank 8.

The cathodes 15 and 15 connected to the power source are provided in contact with the object 10 to be plated, and the anode 14 connected to the power source 13 is between the object 10 to be plated and the nozzle 9 in the plating tank 8. It is provided.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be described.

The plating solution 3 in the plating solution tank 2 is passed from the nozzle 9 at the tip of the plating solution transfer system 4 through the filter 6 and the flow meter 7 by the variable capacity electric pump 17 in the plating solution transfer system 4 to the plating tank. Circulate phase to 8.

Next, the object to be plated 10 is plated by applying an electric current between the object to be plated 10 provided in contact with the anode 14 and the cathode 15 shown in FIG. Plating layer 8
The overflow of the plating solution 3 in the inside is recovered, reprocessed, and returned to the plating solution tank 2.

The impurities mixed in the plating solution 3 due to the circulation transfer of the plating solution 3 for a long time are filtered by the filter 6. Further, the circulation transfer of the plating solution 3 for a long time causes a change in the flow rate of the plating solution 3 due to clogging of the filter 6.

The change in the flow rate is measured by the flow meter 7, the flow rate of the plating solution 3 is input as an electric signal to the inverter 12 which is the control means, and this is fed back to the variable capacity electric pump 17. The inverter 12 changes the drive frequency of the drive motor 16 by this electric signal and increases the rotation speed of the drive motor 16. As the rotation speed of the drive motor 16 increases, the discharge amount of the pump 5 increases and the flow rate of the plating solution 3 increases.

That is, since the flow rate of the plating solution 3 circulating through the plating solution transfer system 4 is automatically controlled, the valve is operated and the flow rate of the plating solution 3 circulating through the plating solution transfer system 4 is manually controlled. Compared to when I was in
The time lag is almost eliminated, and the flow rate of the plating solution 3 circulated and transferred through the plating solution transfer system 4 can be always kept constant. As a result, the plating quality of the object to be plated 10 becomes stable.

Further, a detecting means for outputting an alarm when the rotational speed of the pump 5 exceeds a certain rotational speed or the current value of the inverter 12 exceeds a predetermined value is attached to the variable capacity electric pump 17. Therefore, it can be used as a guide for the replacement time of the filter 6.

[0030]

In summary, according to the present invention, the excellent effect that the flow rate of the plating solution can be kept constant is exhibited.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a plating apparatus of the present invention.

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

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a conventional plating apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Plating apparatus 2 Plating solution tank 3 Plating solution 4 Plating solution transfer system 5 Pump 6 Filter 7 Flow meter 8 Plating tank 9 Nozzle 10 Plated object 12 Inverter (control means) 16 Driving motor 17 Variable capacity electric pump

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plating tank for plating an object to be plated, a plating solution tank for storing a plating solution overflowing from the plating tank, and a plating solution transfer for circulating and transferring the plating solution from the plating solution tank to the plating tank. In a plating apparatus equipped with a system and a filter for removing impurities in the plating solution, which is connected to the plating solution transfer system, a variable capacity electric pump is provided in the plating solution transfer system, and to the plating tank. And a flow meter for detecting the flow rate of the plating solution circulated and transferred as an electric signal and outputting the flow rate of the plating solution circulated and transferred to the plating tank. A plating apparatus provided with control means for automatically controlling the number of rotations of a drive motor according to an output signal from the flow meter. 2. The variable capacity electric pump is provided with detection means for detecting the number of revolutions of the drive motor or the control current of the control means, and for issuing a warning when the value exceeds a predetermined value. 1. The plating apparatus according to 1.