JPS5819488A - Plating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a plating device by which plating layers of a uniform or desired thickness can be formed on the surface to be plated by plating the surface to be plated while measuring the thickness of the plating layer applied on said surface with a measuring electrode and controlling the position of a bar- like electrode and applied electric power. CONSTITUTION:In a plating device for applying plating on an electrocast mold 1 having a complicated shape such as recessed cavities, etc. in the plating soln. 22 of a plating cell 2, a bar-like electrode 18 and a measuring electrode 19 can be moved in proximity to or contact with the desired positions on the mold 1 by the operations of a traveling carriage 4 in an X-axis direction, a traveling carriage 12 in a Y-axis direction, a vertically moving device 16 for the electrode and a vertically moving device 17 for the measuring electrode 17. The distance at which the electrode 19 is moved from a reference position until it contacts with the plating surface and the distance from the reference position up to the mold 1 are compared with a numeriacal controller 21, by which the thickness of the plating layer is calculated. The controller 21 controls the position of the electrode 18 and the applied electric power of an electric power source 20 for plating, thereby performing plating.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a plating apparatus that is capable of uniformly plating even surfaces with particularly complex shapes.

Regardless of whether electroplating or chemical plating is used, it is difficult to apply uniform plating to a surface to be plated that has a complex shape and is rich in irregularities. In other words, when plating is applied to such a surface, a thick plating layer develops on the protruding parts, especially on the abdomen that protrudes at an acute angle, but it is difficult to plate the inside of the recesses, grooves, or their corners. The problem arises that almost no marks are attached.

Furthermore, in order to plate a part of the surface to be plated, it is necessary to take complicated and troublesome mass-younging measures, making it impossible to perform efficient partial plating, and there are also size limitations.

The present invention has been made from the viewpoint of ridges, and its purpose is to perform processing while measuring the thickness of the plating layer applied to the surface to be plated during plating processing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a plating apparatus that can apply a plating layer of uniform or desired thickness.

Hereinafter, the details of the present invention will be specifically explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of the plating apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing another embodiment, and FIGS. FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the electrode used in the device shown in FIG. 1 is an electric mold having a three-dimensional concave cavity to be plated, 2 is a plating tank, 3.3 is a rail provided on the wall of the plating tank 2, and 4 is a pair of beams connected in parallel. A vehicle body 5, wheels 6.6, an axle 7,
A bogie running in the X-axis direction consisting of a drive motor 8, chain wheels 9 and 10, chain 11, etc., 12 is a car body 13
, wheels 14, 14, drive motor 15 and others,
A Y-axis moving truck mounted with an electrode lifting device 16 and a measuring electrode lifting device 17 and running in the longitudinal direction on top of the X-axis moving truck 4, 18 is a long rod-shaped body whose side surfaces are insulated as necessary. Electrode 19 is a measurement electrode for measuring the thickness of the plating layer applied to the electromold, 19a is an insulating member covering the surface of the measurement electrode 19, and 20 is a predetermined electrode between the electromold 1 and the electrode 18. A plating power supply circuit 21 supplies a polar DC voltage or a voltage pulse, and a plating power supply circuit 21 controls the biaxial position of the electrode 18 by the lifting devices 16 and 17 and the measurement sea fence operation by the electrode 19 based on the measured amount of the measurement electrode 19. Numerical control device 22 is a plating solution that controls the driving conditions for each plating condition of circuit 20.

The electrode 18 is supported by an electrode lifting device 16 so as to be able to rise and fall freely, and a motor (not shown) built in the device 16 moves the tip of the electrode 18, for example, according to the shape of the plating cavity of the electric mold 1. The vertical movement is controlled so that the opposing gap between the mold 1 and the electric mold 1 is always maintained at a predetermined, preferably small, predetermined gap. Furthermore, the measurement electrode 19 is similarly supported by a measurement electrode lifting device 17 so as to be able to be controlled up and down, and a motor (not shown) built into the device 17 is used to raise and lower the sea fence control according to a set measurement program, etc. It will be done.

The motors 8 and 15 that drive the X-axis direction and the X-axis direction traveling carts 4 and 12 are connected to the electrode 18 and the measurement electrode 1.
Similar to the motor for raising and lowering the stain electrodes 9, a numerical control device 21 controls the sequential scanning and movement speed of the plating and measurement positions of the stain electrodes 18 and 19 on the mold 1.

The ideal form of the platform for moving the electrode is such that the center of the electrode 18 is always aligned with the normal to the surface to be plated.
In addition, the position and posture of the electrode 18 is controlled so that the gap between its tip and the surface to be plated is always maintained equal to the standard inter-electrode distance, and the residence time for each part of the surface to be plated is made uniform. This method involves moving the tip of the electrode 18. (However, the standard inter-electrode distance here is the inter-electrode distance that is considered appropriate when plating a flat surface, for example.) If this inter-electrode distance is large, the plating will be applied macroscopically uniformly, but the In addition to increased loss, there is a problem in that the thickness of the plated layer becomes non-uniform due to the undulations and irregularities of the surface to be plated.

On the other hand, if the distance between the electrodes is made too small, the total length of the electrode path becomes long, which not only makes the numerical control program redundant, but also causes waviness along the electrode path.
An appropriate distance between poles can be determined by the operator himself.

However, in order to carry out such control, not only a complicated and expensive electrode control device is required, but also complicated calculations are required to create a numerical control program, so this method is not practical. No.0 Therefore, in this device, the measuring electrode lifting device 17 is driven until the measuring electrode 19 comes into contact with the plated part of the surface of the electric mold 1 from a predetermined position, and the moving distance is This measured value is compared with the moving distance of the measuring electrode 19 to the same position before plating was applied to the surface of the electromold 1, which serves as a reference value in the numerical control device 21, and according to this comparison value, Motors 8 and 15 move the carts 4 and 12 traveling in the X-axis and Y-axis directions according to a predetermined program, and a motor that moves the electrodes 18 and measurement electrodes 19 up and down, and Since the power supply circuit 20 that supplies a DC voltage or a pulse voltage of polarity is controlled, the surface of the electric mold 1 is plated to a substantially uniform thickness regardless of its shape or the like.

The peripheral wall of the measurement electrode 19 is made of an insulating member 19 made of synthetic resin or the like.
The measurement electrode 19 is not corroded.

Next, FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 will be explained. Figure 2 shows an embodiment of a device that performs plating while irradiating hot rays to the processed part, and the driving method and voltage supply method for the electrodes and measurement electrodes are the same as those shown in Figure 1. In Fig. 3, the same symbols as in Fig. 1 indicate the same components, and in the figure, 18m is a conductive pipe-shaped electrode, and 23a is attached to the tip of the pipe-shaped electrode 18m. 23b is a transparent or semi-transparent convex lens, 23b is a transparent glass, 24 is a heat ray source, and 25 is an electrode holder fixed to the lower end of the heat ray source 24 and supporting a pipe-shaped electrode 18m.

Therefore, a pipe-shaped electrode 18 made of a conductive material
A transparent or semi-transparent convex lens 23a is provided at the tip of m.
is attached, and the pipe-shaped electrode 18a is attached to an electrode holder 25 fixed to the lower end of the hot ray source 24.

As the heat ray source 24, one that emits substantial heat rays, such as laser light, xenon light, or infrared rays, is used. In addition, when the measuring electrode 19 moves from a predetermined position to the light beam from the heat ray source 24 and comes into contact with the plated part of the surface of the electric mold 1 and measures the moving distance, this measured value becomes a numerical value. The control device 21 compares the moving distance of the measuring electrode 19 to the same position before plating on the surface of the electric mold 1, which is a reference value, and determines the strength or weakness according to a predetermined program according to this comparison value. While being controlled, the convex lens 23m provided at the tip of the pipe-shaped 'It pole 18 narrows down the additional point, and irradiates the part of the electrode mold 1 to be plated. Furthermore, unlike the apparatus of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1, in which plating is applied to a certain range of the electrode facing the electrode, the apparatus of this embodiment is irradiated with light beams from the heat ray source 21. Since plating is applied only to the portions where the measurement electrode 19 is moved, the direction of movement of the measurement electrode 19 is always fixed. That is, the measurement electrode 19 is configured to follow and measure after irradiation from the hot ray source 24 is performed and the plating force 5 is applied.

When processing is carried out using the apparatus of this embodiment, the plating solution 22 is kept at room temperature or below, and the voltage of the power supply circuit 20 is set to be around or below the voltage under conventional conditions. The plating speed is very slow, or the plating is hardly progressed at all.

Also, at this time, a hot ray source 2 is placed on the part of electro mold 1 to be plated.
The light beam from 4 passes through the inside of the pipe-shaped electrode 18m, is focused by the convex lens 23, and is irradiated to that part.
2 temperature is about 45 to 60° C., which is the optimum temperature for plating, and therefore, the part concerned is activated, the deposition efficiency is improved, and plating is applied almost selectively only to the part irradiated with the light beam. Also, adjust the convex lens 23m appropriately to the size of the beam spot.

It is also possible to apply plating to a limited area.

The transparent or semi-transparent convex lens 23m attached to the tip of the pipe-shaped electrode 18'a may be made of transparent glass 23b etc. if the shape of the irradiated area is not very complicated and adjustment of the beam spot is not required. Optical elements such as the lens 23a can be changed by preventing the plating liquid from entering into the pipe-shaped electrodes 18m and 18b by using transparent glass at the tip or by supplying pressure gas inside the tube. When the liquid level is shallow and the length of the electrode tip inserted into the liquid is short, the above optical element is installed at an appropriate position in the electrode axis direction to control the concentration and diffusion of the heat rays, and the size of the beam spot. Alternatively, a part or all of the inside of the pipe-shaped electrode may be constructed to serve as a light guide path in which one or more optical fiber glasses are inserted.

Next, FIGS. 5 and 6 will be explained.

! Figure s5 shows an example in which compressed air is used to prevent the plating solution from entering the conductive pipe-shaped electrode with an open tip. Method, voltage supply method, heat ray source control method, etc. 1f
@It is the same as that shown in Figure 2, and the same numbers in Figure 5 as in Figure 2 indicate the same components, and in the figure, 1゛8b and both lights 18b are made of synthetic resin. The insoluble pipe 29 is a metal electrode member attached to the distal end peripheral wall portion of the pipe 18e.

The pipe-shaped electrode 18b is attached to the electrode holder, and the light beam from the hot ray source 24 passes through the pipe-shaped electrode 18b and is applied to the part of the electroform 1 to be plated. shot. However, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the tip of the pipe-shaped electrode 18b is open, so the structure is such that the plating solution 22 does not enter into the pipe-shaped electrode 18b. It has become. That is, a small hole is provided in the side wall of the pipe-shaped electrode 18b for feeding compressed air from the compressor 28 into the pipe-shaped electrode 18b. Then, when the measuring electrode 19 moves from a predetermined position and comes into contact with the nine plated parts of the surface of the electric mold 1 and measures the moving distance, this measured value is set as a reference value in the numerical control device 21. The distance traveled by the measurement electrode 19 to the same position before plating was applied to the surface of the electromold 1 is compared, and the tip of the pipe-shaped electrode 18b is moved according to a predetermined program according to this comparison value. The pressure regulating valve 27 is controlled so that the compressed air is slightly higher than the liquid pressure, and the compressed air is sent into the pipe-shaped electrode 18b.

Therefore, the plating liquid 22 does not invade the inside of the pipe-shaped electrode 18b, so that the light beam from the light source 24 can be directly projected onto the mold 1.

Further, the pipe-shaped electrode is not limited to the conductive pipe-shaped electrode 18b, and a metallic electrode member 2 is attached to the tip peripheral wall of an insoluble pipe 18c made of synthetic resin or the like as shown in FIG.
9 can also be used as an electrode.

Since the present invention is constructed as on paper, when using the apparatus of the present invention, processing is carried out while sequentially measuring the thickness of the plating layer applied to the surface of the electric mold, so even electric molds with complex shapes can be uniformly processed. This makes it possible to form a thick plating layer.

Note that the configuration of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments on paper. That is, for example, in this actual IT, processing was carried out by fixing the basket and moving the money electrode in three axes, but it is also possible to fix the electrode and move the entire plating tank using a cross-slide table. The plating layer may be formed on the electrode mold by moving it in three axial directions. Furthermore, a pipe-shaped electrode may be provided with a large number of optical fibers bundled together to project light from a light source in different directions, and the present invention is free within the scope of its purpose. However, the present invention encompasses all of them. For example, in order to measure the plating thickness by raising and lowering the measuring electrode, in addition to detecting by electrical means that the tip of the electrode 19 comes into direct contact with the plating surface of the electrode mold 1 facing the electrode, The lowering of the electrode is stopped by detecting when a predetermined relatively small close gap is formed at the tip using the resistance, capacitance, voltage, current, transmission and reception of light or ultrasonic waves, etc. of the gap. Modifications can be made, such as lowering a predetermined amount according to a predetermined program and measuring the gap formed at that time using a detector provided at the tip.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of the plating apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing another embodiment, and FIGS. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing still another embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the electrode used in the device shown in FIG. 1・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・Electric type 2...
Plating tank 3 for...
・・・・・・・・・・・・Rail 4・・・・・・・・・・・・
......X-axis direction traveling trolley 5.13...
...Car body 6.14 ...Wheel wheel 7 ...Car shaft 8.1
5... Drive pulse motor 12...
......Y-axis direction traveling trolley 18...
...... Rod-shaped electrodes 18a, 18b... River/conductive pipe-shaped electrode 19...
...Measurement electrode 20...
・Power supply circuit 21・・・・・・・・・・・・Numerical control circuit 22・・・・・・・・・・・・Plating liquid
23m・・・・・・・・・Convex lens 2-3b・
・・・・・・・Transparent glass ・24・・・・
......Heat ray source 25...
・・・・・・Electrode holder 26・・・・・・・・・・・・
... Throttle valve 27...''Pressure regulating valve 28...Compressor 29...・・・・・・Metallic electrode member patent applicant Inoue Japax Laboratory Co., Ltd., Director (7524) Mogami Shotabe No. 3 (Figure 3, Figure 1, Figure 3)

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A plating solution is supplied between the electric mold and the electrode, a predetermined current is applied between the electric mold and the electrode, and processing is performed while irradiating the electric mold part with hot rays as necessary. A plating apparatus for plating, characterized in that it is equipped with a thickness adjustment device comprising the following components a) to c). a) A measuring electrode that moves from a predetermined position to a plated surface applied to the surface of the electrolyte mold, approaches or contacts the plated surface, and measures the amount of movement. b) moving the measuring electrode to a desired position on the metal surface, and moving the measuring electrode from a predetermined reference position toward the electric mold until the measuring electrode is in a predetermined proximity to the i-shape; Or a measurement electrode moving device that moves until it comes into contact. C) Calculate the plating thickness by comparing the moving distance of the measurement electrode from the reference position to the time when it comes close to or comes into contact with the mold and the reference position stored in advance and the quick separation from the mold. A control circuit that controls plating processing based on calculated values.