TW201712163A - Roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating device for flexible circuit board and copper plating method thereof which comprises a U-shaped tank, a plurality of rollers, a plurality of non-soluble anodes, a plurality of nozzle arrays, a copper ion sensor; a feed port cleaning tank and a discharge port cleaning tank - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating device and a copper plating method thereof. The electrolytic copper plating device comprises an electroplating module, which comprises a U-shaped tank disposed in the electroplating module and having a feed port and a discharge port; a plurality of rollers disposed in the U-shaped tank and used for moving the flexible circuit board; a plurality of non-soluble anodes disposed on the inner wall of the U-shaped tank; a plurality of nozzle arrays disposed on the plurality of non-soluble anodes; and a copper ion sensor disposed in the U-shaped tank and generating a sensed value; a feed port cleaning tank disposed in the feed port of the U-shaped tank and moving the flexible circuit board to the discharge port along the horizontal direction; and a discharge port cleaning tank disposed in discharge port of the U-shaped tank and moving the flexible circuit board out of the discharge port along the horizontal direction.

Description

Roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating device for flexible circuit board and copper plating method thereof

The invention relates to an electrolytic copper plating device and a copper plating method thereof, in particular to a roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating device for a flexible circuit board and a copper plating method thereof.

In the mid-19th century, the economies and industries of the world developed rapidly. In the manufacturing and development of machinery, automobiles, shipbuilding, aircraft and other industries, the demand for various mechanical strength, decoration or other special performance treatment on the surface of the product gradually emerged. Therefore, the British and the Russians independently designed the metal plating method, and with the maturity of the electrochemistry theory, the principle and method of electroplating have gradually been understood and promoted to the whole world. At the end of the 19th century, it was found that after reacting silver nitrate solution with sodium hydroxide, ammonia water and aldehyde-based substances, a thin layer of metallic silver was formed on the inner wall of the glass container to form a mirror surface, ie silver mirror reaction. It has led people to explore ways and techniques for metal coating on non-metallic materials.

By the early 20th century, the development of the petrochemical and plastics industry led to the birth of various types of plastic products. People have developed industry standards for metal plating on plastic materials. For example, the flexible cable used in the field of electronic products and the flexible photovoltaic panel on the display, the metal finger electrode on the metal finger electrode is usually made by electroless plating of copper and other conductive metal, the most traditional flexible The photoelectric plating method adopts vertical plating method, which is low in cost and fast in speed. However, as the required photoelectric plate size becomes larger and larger, the use of vertical plating method is affected by the gravity of the earth, which makes The thickness of the electrode plated on the photovoltaic panel was not uniform. Later, a horizontal plating method was developed, which was transported in a horizontal manner and was not affected by gravity.

However, since the large size has other problems such as uneven surface tension, the electroplating apparatus for maintaining the horizontal plating method requires a high cost, and in addition, it is difficult to ensure that the plating thicknesses on the opposite sides of the photovoltaic panel are the same, and When double-sided coating is required, the coating speed and quality will be difficult to increase.

Therefore, a roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating device for a flexible circuit board is proposed and The coating method adopts a full roll-to-roll transfer method to increase the speed of the flexible circuit board in the double-sided electrolytic copper plating process, and ensures uniform coating thickness and good quality during the process. It is a technical problem that everyone is trying to solve at present.

In view of the above-mentioned shortcomings of the prior art, the main object of the present invention is to provide a roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating apparatus for a flexible circuit board capable of full-roll-to-roll transfer. The speed of the flexible circuit board in the double-sided electrolytic copper plating process is improved, and the coating film can be ensured to have a uniform coating thickness during the process, so as to achieve rapid production and good coating quality.

In order to achieve the foregoing and other objects, the roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating apparatus for a flexible circuit board of the present invention comprises: a plating module comprising: a U-shaped groove disposed in the plating module; And having a feed port and a discharge port; the plurality of rollers are disposed in the U-shaped groove and moving a flexible circuit board; the plurality of non-soluble anodes are disposed on the inner wall of the U-shaped groove; the plurality of nozzles An array is disposed on the plurality of non-soluble anodes; and a copper ion sensor is disposed in the U-shaped groove and generates a sensing value; a feed cleaning groove is disposed in the U-shaped groove a feed port having a first cathode roller and a second cathode roller opposite to a rolling direction of the first cathode roller, wherein the first cathode roller and the second cathode roller are juxtaposed in the feed cleaning tank And moving the flexible circuit board into the inlet port in a horizontal direction, wherein the first cathode roller contacts an upper surface of the flexible circuit board, the second cathode roller contacts a lower surface of the flexible circuit board; Discharge clean tank, a discharge port disposed in the U-shaped groove, and having a third cathode roller and a fourth cathode roller opposite to a rolling direction of the third cathode roller, wherein the third cathode roller is juxtaposed with the fourth cathode roller Provided in the discharge cleaning tank, and the discharge circuit port is horizontally removed from the flexible circuit board, the third cathode roller contacts the upper surface of the flexible circuit board, and the fourth cathode roller contacts the flexible circuit board surface.

Preferably, each of the plurality of non-soluble anodes is a mixed metal oxide (MMO) composed of a surface of a titanium metal core coated with cerium oxide.

Preferably, the roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating device for a flexible circuit board of the present invention comprises a reverse osmosis (RO) pure water device connected to the feed cleaning tank and/or Or the discharge clean tank.

Preferably, the roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating apparatus for a flexible circuit board of the present invention further comprises a copper ion generator connected to the copper ion sensor, and inputting at least one copper according to the sensing value. Ions into the U-shaped groove.

Preferably, the copper ion generator comprises one of a copper oxide decomposition device, a copper carbonate decomposition device, and a copper sulfate decomposition device, and a combination thereof.

Preferably, the flexible circuit board is made of polyimide (PI) and/or polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

Preferably, the roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating device for a flexible circuit board of the present invention comprises at least one servo motor disposed at the inlet and/or the discharge port of the plating film group to Move the flexible board.

Preferably, the U-shaped tank is provided with a copper sulfate solution, and the feed cleaning tank and/or the discharge cleaning tank is provided with deionized water.

Preferably, the bottom of the U-shaped groove is provided with two pumps.

When the roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating apparatus for a flexible circuit board of the present invention is used, the first cathode roller and the second cathode roller of the feed cleaning tank are horizontally moved to move the flexible circuit board To clean the upper surface and the lower surface of the flexible circuit board; then, moving the flexible circuit board from the feed cleaning groove into the inlet of the U-shaped groove, so that the flexible circuit board is vertically downward Moving, and performing a copper plating step on the flexible circuit board by a plurality of nozzle arrays disposed on the plurality of insoluble anodes in the U-shaped groove; after the flexible circuit board enters the U-shaped groove, the flexible circuit is Moving the plate upward in a vertical direction, performing a copper plating step on the flexible circuit board by the plurality of nozzle arrays disposed on the plurality of non-soluble anodes in the U-shaped groove, and the flexible circuit board is formed by the U-shaped groove The discharge port moves into the discharge cleaning tank; finally, the third cathode roller and the fourth cathode roller of the discharge cleaning tank move the flexible circuit board in a horizontal direction to clean the flexible circuit board. Upper surface lower surface.

Since the present invention adopts a hybrid process device combining horizontal and vertical, the multi-nozzle array and the U-shaped groove are designed to minimize the influence of the gravity of the coating while balancing the process speed. Moreover, the uniformity of the thickness of the coating can be achieved. In addition, the polarity of the cathode is matched by a plurality of cathode rollers of the inlet and outlet cleaning tanks, which can simplify and reduce the volume of the plating apparatus; therefore, the invention can achieve rapid production and The purpose of coating quality is good.

In view of the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art, another object of the present invention is to provide a roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating method for a flexible circuit board capable of full-roll-to-roll transfer. The method improves the speed of the flexible circuit board in the double-sided electrolytic copper plating process, and ensures uniform coating thickness of the coating during the process, so as to achieve low cost, fast and environmental protection.

In order to achieve the foregoing and other objects, the roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating method for a flexible circuit board of the present invention comprises the following steps: a feed cleaning step by a first cathode roller through a feed cleaning tank And a second cathode roller moves a flexible circuit board in a horizontal direction to clean the upper surface and the lower surface of the flexible circuit board; and a downward plating step moves the flexible circuit board from the feeding cleaning slot to a U-shaped a flexible circuit board is moved downward in a vertical direction in a receiving port of the slot, and the flexible circuit board is subjected to a copper plating step by a plurality of nozzle arrays disposed on the plurality of non-soluble anodes in the U-shaped groove; An upward plating step of moving the flexible circuit board upward in a vertical direction, and performing a copper plating step on the flexible circuit board by the plurality of nozzle arrays disposed on the plurality of non-soluble anodes in the U-shaped groove, and The flexible circuit board is moved from a discharge port of the U-shaped groove to a discharge cleaning tank; and a discharge cleaning step is performed by a third cathode roller and a fourth cathode of the discharge cleaning tank. The roller moves the flexible circuit board in a horizontal direction to clean the upper surface and the lower surface of the flexible circuit board.

10‧‧‧ plating module

11‧‧‧U-shaped slot

111‧‧‧Inlet

112‧‧‧Outlet

12‧‧‧Roller

120‧‧‧Soft circuit board

13‧‧‧Non-soluble anode

131‧‧‧Anode mesh filter

14‧‧‧Nozzle array

15‧‧‧Copper ion sensor

150‧‧‧Copper ion generator

16‧‧‧

20‧‧‧Incoming clean tank

21‧‧‧First cathode roller

22‧‧‧Second cathode roller

30‧‧‧Output clean tank

31‧‧‧ Third cathode roller

32‧‧‧fourth cathode roller

40‧‧‧Servo motor

50‧‧‧ reverse osmosis pure water device

1 is an embodiment of a roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating apparatus for a flexible circuit board according to the present invention, showing a structural schematic diagram of a plating module of the roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating apparatus; FIG. 2 is based on The embodiment of the roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating apparatus for a flexible circuit board of the present invention shows a schematic view of the use of the plurality of sets of the double-sided electrolytic copper plating apparatus of the roll-to-roll type; FIG. 3 is used according to the present invention. This embodiment of the roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating apparatus for a flexible circuit board shows a schematic top view of the roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating apparatus; and FIG. 4 is a roll-to-roll for a flexible circuit board according to the present invention. The embodiment of the double-sided electrolytic copper plating apparatus shows an external circuit connection diagram of the roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating apparatus; and FIG. 5 is a roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating method for a flexible circuit board according to the present invention. In one embodiment, a schematic diagram of the flow steps of the roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating method is shown.

The embodiments of the present invention are described by way of specific examples, and those skilled in the art can readily appreciate the other advantages and advantages of the present invention. The invention may be embodied or applied in various other specific embodiments, and various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

It is to be understood that the structure, the proportions, the size and the like of the present invention are intended to be used in conjunction with the disclosure of the specification, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The conditions are not technically meaningful, and any modification of the structure, change of the proportional relationship or adjustment of the size should be disclosed in the present invention without affecting the effects and achievable effects of the present invention. The technical content can be covered.

Hereinafter, a roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating apparatus for a flexible circuit board and a copper plating method thereof will be described in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, the roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating apparatus for a flexible circuit board of the present invention comprises: a plating film group 10, a feed cleaning tank 20, and a discharge cleaning tank 30.

The electroplating module 10 includes a U-shaped groove 11, a plurality of rollers 12, a plurality of non-soluble anodes 13, a plurality of nozzle arrays 14, and a copper ion sensor 15. The U-shaped slot 11 is disposed in the plating module 10 and has a receiving port 111 and a discharging port 112 for feeding the material to be plated into the plating module 10, and the discharging port 112 The utility model is used for outputting the plated product outside the electroplating module 10; according to an embodiment of the invention, a copper sulfate solution is disposed in the U-shaped groove 11.

The plurality of rollers 12 are disposed in the U-shaped groove 11 and move a flexible circuit board 120. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the flexible circuit board 120 is polyimide (PI) and/or polyethylene terephthalate. A polyester terephthalate (PET) is formed, and the flexible circuit board 120 is rotated by the plurality of rollers 12. And move in the U-shaped slot.

A plurality of non-soluble anodes 13 are disposed on the inner wall of the U-shaped groove 11; in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, each of the plurality of non-soluble anodes 13 is a mixed metal oxide (MMO) composed of a titanium metal core ( Titanium) is coated with 10 to 12 g/m ² of cerium oxide (IrO ₂ ). In the embodiment of the present invention, each of the plurality of non-soluble anodes 13 includes an anode mask filter 131. It may be composed of at least one titanium metal basket to prevent particulates such as oxides of the non-soluble anode 13 from contaminating the soft circuit board 120 by particles such as oxide generated by the flexible circuit board 120 during plating.

The plurality of nozzle arrays 14 are disposed on the plurality of non-soluble anodes 13 to have the same polarity as the plurality of non-soluble anodes 13. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of nozzle arrays 14 are composed of 200 dome-shaped nozzles, which are soft. While the circuit board 120 is input in the vertical direction when the U-shaped groove 11 and the output U-shaped groove are output, the complex nozzle array 14 performs double-sided copper-containing substance sputtering on the flexible circuit board 120.

The copper ion sensor 15 is disposed in the U-shaped groove 11 for sensing whether the concentration of copper ions in the U-shaped groove 11 falls within a range of normal values, and generates a sensing value; according to an embodiment of the present invention The copper ion generator 150 is connected to the copper ion sensor 15 and the at least one copper ion is input into the U-shaped groove 11 according to the sensed value of the copper ion sensor 15 for The copper ions consumed by the plating solution during the plating are supplemented to stabilize the copper ion concentration in the U-shaped groove 11 to maintain the quality during continuous coating; wherein the copper ion generator 150 may include a copper oxide decomposition device and a copper carbonate decomposition device. One of the copper sulfate decomposition apparatuses and combinations thereof, in the embodiment of the invention, the copper ion generator 150 is a copper oxide (CuO _x ) decomposition apparatus.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the bottom of the U-shaped groove 11 is provided with two pumps 16, and the two pumps 16 are respectively disposed at opposite corners of the bottom of the U-shaped groove 11 to prevent oxides of the plurality of non-soluble anodes 13 during plating. The particles contaminate the flexible circuit board 120.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the feed cleaning tank 20 is disposed at the inlet 111 of the U-shaped groove 11 and has a first cathode roller 21 and a second cathode roller 22 opposite to the rolling direction of the first cathode roller 21. The first cathode roller 21 and the second cathode roller 22 are juxtaposed in the feed cleaning tank 20, and move the flexible circuit board 120 into the inlet port 111 in the horizontal direction, wherein the first cathode roller 21 contacts the flexible circuit. On the upper surface of the board 120, the second cathode roller 22 contacts the lower surface of the flexible circuit board 120 for cleaning the upper and lower surfaces of the unplated flexible circuit board 120, and the flexible circuit board 120 is provided with the first cathode roller 21. The second cathode roller 22 has the same polarity.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the discharge cleaning tank 30 is disposed at the discharge port 112 of the U-shaped groove 11 and has a third cathode roller 31 and a fourth cathode roller 42 opposite to the rolling direction of the third cathode roller 31. Wherein the third cathode roller 31 and the fourth cathode roller 32 are juxtaposed It is placed in the discharge cleaning tank 30, and is removed from the flexible circuit board 120 in the horizontal direction by the discharge port 112, wherein the third cathode roller 31 contacts the upper surface of the flexible circuit board 120, and the fourth cathode roller 32 contacts the flexible circuit board 120. The lower surface is used to clean the upper and lower surfaces of the copper-plated flexible circuit board 120, and the flexible circuit board 120 has the same electrical polarity as the third cathode roller 31 and the fourth cathode roller 32.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, at least one servo motor 40 and a reverse osmosis (RO) pure water device 50 are included, and at least one servo motor 40 is disposed at the inlet port 111 of the plating film group 10 and/or discharged. The port 112 is used to move the flexible circuit board 120; the reverse osmosis pure water device 50 is connected to the feed cleaning tank 20 and/or the discharge cleaning tank 30. In the embodiment of the present invention, the feed cleaning tank 20 and/or The discharge clean tank 30 is provided with deionized water, and the reverse osmosis pure water device 50 is used to continuously supply deionized water to the feed clean tank 20 and/or the discharge clean tank 30 to maintain clean performance and coating quality.

Referring to FIG. 5, when the roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating apparatus for a flexible circuit board of the present invention is used, the following steps are included: a feed cleaning step (S1), which is performed by a feed cleaning tank. The first cathode roller and the second cathode roller move the flexible circuit board in the horizontal direction to clean the upper surface and the lower surface of the flexible circuit board; a downward plating step (S2) moves the flexible circuit board from the feed cleaning slot to The flexible circuit board is moved downward in the vertical direction in the inlet of the U-shaped groove, and the flexible circuit board is subjected to a copper plating step by a plurality of nozzle arrays disposed on the plurality of non-soluble anodes in the U-shaped groove; The electroplating step (S3) moves the flexible circuit board upward in the vertical direction, and the soft circuit board is subjected to a copper plating step by a plurality of nozzle arrays disposed on the plurality of non-soluble anodes in the U-shaped groove, and the flexible circuit board is The discharge port of the U-shaped groove moves into the discharge cleaning tank; and a discharge cleaning step (S4) moves the flexible circuit board horizontally by the third cathode roller and the fourth cathode roller of the discharge cleaning tank. Clean and soft Upper and lower surfaces of the circuit board.

In the actual operation of the present invention, a plurality of sets of equipment can be continuously connected in series for continuous coating operation as required, as shown in FIG.

Since the present invention employs a combination of horizontal and vertical hybrid process equipment, the complex nozzle array 14 and the U-shaped groove 11 are designed to minimize the influence of the gravity of the coating while balancing the process speed. Moreover, the uniformity of the thickness of the coating can be achieved, and the polarity of the cathode is matched by a plurality of cathode rollers of the inlet and outlet cleaning tanks 20, 30, which can simplify and reduce the volume of the plating apparatus; and, the U-shaped groove 11 The second set of 16 and the plural The non-soluble anode 13 includes an anode mesh filter 131 to prevent particles such as oxides of the non-soluble anode 13 from contaminating the flexible circuit board 120 by particles such as oxides generated by the flexible circuit board 120 during plating; therefore, the present invention can attain Rapid production and good coating quality.

Although the embodiments have been described with reference to the embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that Inside. In particular, various changes and modifications can be made in the components and/or arrangements of the subject combination. Alternative uses will be apparent to those skilled in the art, in addition to variations and modifications in the component parts and/or arrangements.

10‧‧‧ plating module

11‧‧‧U-shaped slot

111‧‧‧Inlet

112‧‧‧Outlet

12‧‧‧Roller

120‧‧‧Soft circuit board

13‧‧‧Non-soluble anode

131‧‧‧Anode mesh filter

14‧‧‧Nozzle array

15‧‧‧Copper ion sensor

16‧‧‧

Claims (10)

A roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating device for a flexible circuit board includes: a plating module comprising: a U-shaped groove disposed in the plating module and having an inlet port and a a discharge port; a plurality of rollers disposed in the U-shaped groove and moving a flexible circuit board; a plurality of non-soluble anodes disposed on an inner wall of the U-shaped groove; and a plurality of nozzle arrays disposed on the plural a soluble ion anode; and a copper ion sensor disposed in the U-shaped groove and generating a sensing value; a feed cleaning tank disposed at the inlet of the U-shaped groove and having a first a cathode roller and a second cathode roller opposite to a rolling direction of the first cathode roller, wherein the first cathode roller and the second cathode roller are juxtaposed in the feed cleaning groove and move in a horizontal direction a flexible circuit board into the inlet port, wherein the first cathode roller contacts an upper surface of the flexible circuit board, the second cathode roller contacts a lower surface of the flexible circuit board; and a discharge cleaning groove is disposed on the The discharge port of the U-shaped groove, and a third cathode roller and a fourth cathode roller opposite to the rolling direction of the third cathode roller, wherein the third cathode roller and the fourth cathode roller are juxtaposed in the discharge cleaning tank, and the The material port moves out of the flexible circuit board in a horizontal direction, the third cathode roller contacts an upper surface of the flexible circuit board, and the fourth cathode roller contacts a lower surface of the flexible circuit board. The roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating apparatus for a flexible circuit board according to the invention of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of non-soluble anodes is a mixed metal oxide (MMO), which is A titanium metal core is coated with a cerium oxide surface. The roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating device for a flexible circuit board according to claim 1, further comprising a reverse osmosis (RO) pure water device connected to the feed cleaning tank and / or the discharge clean tank. The roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating apparatus for a flexible circuit board according to claim 1, further comprising a copper ion generator connected to the copper ion sensor, and according to the sensing Enter at least one copper ion into the U-shaped groove. The roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating apparatus for a flexible circuit board according to the fourth aspect of the invention, wherein the copper ion generator comprises a copper oxide decomposition device, a copper carbonate decomposition device, and a copper sulfate decomposition. One of the devices and a combination thereof. The roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating apparatus for a flexible circuit board according to the first aspect of the invention, wherein the flexible circuit board is polyimide (PI) and/or polyterephthalic acid. It is composed of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating apparatus for a flexible circuit board according to claim 1, further comprising at least one servo motor disposed at the inlet of the plating film group and/or the outlet Feed port to move the flexible circuit board. The roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating device for a flexible circuit board according to the first aspect of the invention, wherein the U-shaped groove is provided with a copper sulfate solution, the feed cleaning tank and/or the discharge material. The clean tank is provided with deionized water. The roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating apparatus for a flexible circuit board according to the first aspect of the invention, wherein the bottom of the U-shaped groove is provided with two pumps. A roll-to-roll double-sided electrolytic copper plating method for a flexible circuit board comprises the following steps: a feed cleaning step is performed by a first cathode roller and a second cathode roller of a feed cleaning tank Moving a flexible circuit board to clean the upper surface and the lower surface of the flexible circuit board; a downward plating step of moving the flexible circuit board from the feed cleaning tank to an inlet of a U-shaped groove Moving the flexible circuit board downward in a vertical direction, and plating the flexible circuit board by a plurality of nozzle arrays disposed on the plurality of non-soluble anodes in the U-shaped groove; An upward plating step of moving the flexible circuit board upward in a vertical direction, and performing a copper plating step on the flexible circuit board by the plurality of nozzle arrays disposed on the plurality of non-soluble anodes in the U-shaped groove, and The flexible circuit board is moved from a discharge port of the U-shaped groove to a discharge cleaning tank; and a discharge cleaning step is performed by a third cathode roller and a fourth cathode roller of the discharge cleaning tank. The flexible circuit board is moved in a horizontal direction to clean the upper surface and the lower surface of the flexible circuit board.