JPS5824512B2 - Graduation method for metal scales - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention precisely forms scales, numbers, characters, marks (hereinafter collectively referred to simply as scales), etc. on the metal surface of iron, stainless steel, aluminum, etc. for scale measuring machines. The present invention relates to a metal scale processing method.

Conventionally, the method of precisely machining graduations on metal scales involves multiple steps such as pretreatment, plating, photoresist coating, exposure, development, hardening, correction, plating removal, etching of the metal base, and coloring on the surface of the metal base. This is done using a photo-etching method.

However, due to the nature of the photoresist used as a photosensitive film, this method allows for high-precision processing, but on the other hand, it requires a correction process, the original plate is severely worn out, and the amount of photoresist is consumed. There are other problems, such as the fact that the work must be carried out under non-photosensitive conditions, that is, in a dark room.

In order to deal with this problem, a method is known in which a simple scale is formed by applying heavy printing on a metal surface.

However, by simply printing scales in this way, although it is possible to attach coarse scales in units of one's own, it is impossible to form fine scales that are durable and required for, for example, calipers. be.

The present invention solves the above problems, and provides a novel method for producing graduations on metal scales, which uses a combination of printing and plating to obtain fine graduations with excellent durability.

That is, the method of the present invention prints a scale pattern by ink printing on a pretreated scale metal substrate, and
After hardening the printing ink, plating is applied to the non-printing area on the surface of the metal substrate, then the hardened ink is removed, and then the plated film is used as an etching resist for etching treatment, and thus the etching process is performed. A colored film is formed on the scale portion of the surface of the metal substrate.

More specifically, the method of the present invention comprises the following steps: (1) pretreatment, (2) printing, (3) ink hardening,
(4) surface cleaning, (5) plating treatment, (6) ink dura peeling, (7) etching of the peeled part, (8) coloring of the etched part.

In the method of the present invention, after these steps (1) to (8), further (9) painting of the colored scale surface may be performed.

Next, these steps will be explained in detail.

(1) Pretreatment The surface of the metal base is physically, chemically, or electrochemically treated to improve the adhesion of the ink to be printed.

The pretreatment is carried out, for example, by a cleaning method using water, a solvent, an acid, an alkali, or a detergent, a blasting method, an electrolytic degreasing method, or the like.

(2) Printing ink is accurately printed on the surface of the metal substrate at the positions where scales are to be formed.

For this purpose, offset printing, screen printing, or tacho printing, which can print ink to a certain thickness, is used.

In the present invention, "ink" can be printed on a pre-treated metal surface, and can be hardened by drying or curing reaction after printing, and after the hardening process is a surface cleaning process and a plating process. refers to a printing composition made of a substance that is resistant to

This ink may or may not contain a pigment.

As the ink of the present invention, for example, a so-called heat set ink that can be solidified by heating or a so-called cold set ink that can be solidified by cooling is preferable, but other inks can also be used as long as they can be solidified.

Further, as described in (5) below, it is preferable to use an ink with low conductivity due to the plating process.

(3) Dural treatment The ink is dried, heated or cooled to harden it.

When a heat set ink is used as the ink, a durable hard film can be easily obtained by heating and curing.

(4) Surface cleaning The surface of the metal base is cleaned by immersing it in a surface cleaning liquid that does not attack the hardened ink, thereby improving the adhesion of the plating.

This surface cleaning liquid uses water, a solvent, an acid, an alkali, a detergent, etc., selected individually or in combination as appropriate.

If the surface of the metal substrate cannot be sufficiently cleaned by immersion in a cleaning solution, wet honing may be performed.

Further, depending on the plating method (for example, in the case of fluoride chromium plating), the surface cleaning step may be omitted.

(5) Plating treatment Plating is applied to the non-printing areas on the surface of the metal base.

Examples of the plating material include chromium, nickel, and various alloys, but the use of corrosion-resistant chromium is particularly advantageous, for example, in the etching process in the following embodiments.

(6) Ink dura peeling This is done to peel off the ink and apply color to the peeled area.

The ink is removed by immersing the metal scale obtained in step (5) in an appropriate organic solvent, acid, or alkali depending on the ink used, and heating if necessary to dissolve or decompose the ink film. .

(7) Etching of the peeled part Ink The base metal part from which the hard film has been peeled off is further etched, and the resulting groove-shaped etched parts are colored.

Etching can be carried out using a conventional etching solution conventionally used for etching.

(→ Peel off the colored ink dura from the etched area, color the etched metal base,
Forms the graduations of a metal scale.

Coloring can be carried out by forming a conventional coating such as a grayish-black coating by parr force rising, a reddish-brown coating by bonderizing, a pale green coating by iron selenite, or other conventional coatings on the metal substrate.

(9) Coating the colored scale surface In order to prevent wear, damage, or corrosion of the colored scale, a transparent paint such as transparent lacquer may be applied to the colored scale surface.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained based on examples.

Example a) As shown in the figure, the surface of a stainless steel metal base 1 for a scale is subjected to alkaline degreasing and a plastic finish, and is pretreated by washing and drying to improve the adhesion of the ink 2 to the metal base 1. (Figure A).

Next, heat set ink 2 is printed accurately on the surface of the metal base 1 at the positions where the scales are to be added (Figure B).

The printed ink 2 is heated and hardened to form a hard film, and the surface is cleaned by immersing it in a surface cleaning solution consisting of a mixed aqueous solution of potassium permanganate and potassium hydroxide.The cleaned surface is plated with corrosion-resistant chromium 3. (Figure C).

Next, the ink 2 is peeled off by dipping in a sodium hydroxide solution at 100 to 130°C (Figure D), the metal substrate 1 is etched by dipping in an etching liquid (Figure E), and then the etched portion is etched as shown in Figure F. 6
A colored film 4 is formed by parkerizing.

The metal scale of this example has the advantage that the colored film 4 is attached to the etched portion 6, that is, the bottom of the carved groove, so that the scale is protected from damage or wear due to friction or the like.

Furthermore, since the colored film 4 of the metal scale has excellent durability, there is usually no need for finishing coating, but in some cases, a finishing coating 5 such as transparent lacquer may be applied as shown in Figure G.

This improves the durability of the hard layer of the ink 2, and also provides a rust-preventing effect when a plating material that easily rusts is used.

In the above embodiments, stainless steel was used as the metal base material, but depending on the purpose, iron, aluminum, or alloys based on these materials may also be used to achieve satisfactory graduation processing.

According to the metal graduation processing method of the present invention, the following advantages can be obtained compared to the conventional graduation processing method using photoetching.

(1) Omission of the correction process The present invention replaces the conventional three processes of applying a photoresist, exposing, and developing a scale etc. to a metal substrate by using only offset printing, screen printing, or tacho printing. Because the process is integrated, there is no pinhole formation that often occurs in the exposure and development process of conventional methods, and therefore no correction process is required.

Since the correction process is expensive to automate, it is often done manually, and the advantages obtained by omitting the correction process according to the present invention are immeasurable.

(2) Extension of original plate life In conventional methods, photographic original plates, vapor-deposited chromium glass plates, etc. are used as exposure original plates, but these have a limited lifespan because they are easily scratched by friction with the metal base.

However, in the offset printing method of the present invention, the original plate of the scale pattern does not come into direct contact with the metal substrate, so a remarkable effect of extending the life span by an order of magnitude can be obtained.

(3) Savings in ink usage In the conventional photo-etching method, an expensive photoresist film must be applied to the entire surface of the metal substrate.
In the present invention, since ink is printed only on the necessary area to be marked with scales, etc., the amount of ink used is greatly reduced compared to the conventional method.

This advantage becomes significantly greater as production increases.

(4) Improving the working environment Since the present invention does not use photosensitizers, it is possible to work comfortably under illumination, which has great advantages in terms of safety and mental health of the working environment.

(5) Shortening of process In the method of the present invention, the conventional photoresist (photosensitive M)
Since only the two steps of printing and surface cleaning are used instead of the four steps of coating, exposure, development, and correction, the process is much simpler and easier to implement than conventional methods.

(6) Durability of the scale In the present invention, the periphery of the scale made of ink applied by printing is protected by plating, so it is more durable than a scale formed only by printing, and as a result, it is possible to form fine scales. be.

Moreover, in the present invention, if the printing ink is peeled off and, if necessary, further etched, the peeled portion is colored and the scale is formed, thereby further improving the durability of the scale.

Such advantages have been obtained for the first time by the method of the present invention which combines printing and plating.

As explained above, by introducing offset printing technology into the production of metal scales, the present invention simultaneously achieves significant simplification of the production process, extension of the life of the scale pattern original, and savings in ink consumption, thereby achieving industrial advantages. This is a very significant contribution.

Furthermore, the method of the present invention is applicable not only to metal scales but also to
Needless to say, it can be used to add various patterns to metal.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures A to G represent diagrams showing the graduation processing process of the metal scale of the embodiment. 1...Metal base, 2...Ink, 3...Plating,
4... Colored film, 5... Finishing coating, 6... Etched portion.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. After printing a scale pattern by ink printing on the surface of the pretreated metal substrate and hardening the printing ink,
The non-printing areas on the surface of the metal substrate are plated, the hardened ink is removed, the plating film is used as an etching resist, and the scale portions of the etched surface of the metal substrate are etched. A method for processing scales of a measuring machine, characterized by forming a colored film.