WO2012011727A2

WO2012011727A2 - Electroplating apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2012011727A2
Application number: PCT/KR2011/005321
Authority: WO
Inventors: 김윤용
Original assignee: 주식회사 케이엠더블유
Priority date: 2010-07-20
Filing date: 2011-07-20
Publication date: 2012-01-26
Also published as: CN103025922A; WO2012011727A3; KR20120008891A; CN103025922B; KR101693217B1

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electroplating apparatus comprising: a plating vessel for accommodating an electrolyte containing ions of the metal to be plated; an electrolyte spraying part for receiving the electrolyte and spraying same onto a predetermined area of the object to be plated using at least one spray nozzle; and a circulation pump for sucking the electrolyte in the plating vessel and supplying same to the electrolyte spraying part at a predetermined pressure, so that the electrolyte can be sprayed from the electrolyte spraying part.

Description

Electroplating device

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electroplating apparatus, and more particularly to an electroplating apparatus suitable for plating a conductive metal film on a plated body of magnesium or magnesium alloy material.

In general, the electroplating apparatus connects the plated body to the cathode (-), connects the metal plate (plating body) of the material to be plated to the anode (+), and the plated body and the metal plate to the ion of the metal to be plated. It has a structure in which plating is performed on the to-be-plated body by energizing it in the contained electrolyte solution and causing desired metal ions to adhere to the surface of the to-be-plated body. This electroplating method is a kind of wet plating method.

Currently, electroplating technology is used for plating of almost all kinds of pure metals and alloys, including iron, cast iron, stainless steel, aluminum, copper, nickel, and plating materials of various kinds of metals including gold and silver copper. It has reached the level where it can be plated, and various plating techniques are applied and developed in consideration of the material of each plated body and the plated body, stable adhesion of the plated layer, work efficiency, cost and purpose of using the product. Is being studied.

On the other hand, in order to meet the demands of miniaturization and light weight of various electric and electronic devices, researches are being made to form basic bodies of devices with lighter materials. As a basic body material of electric and electronic devices, aluminum is widely used in terms of weight, strength, processability, and cost. In general, electrical and electronic devices often have an electrical function such that the body itself acts as a grounding terminal, and such an aluminum-based body is usually plated with copper or silver to satisfy these electrical characteristics.

Recently, attempts have been made to form the body of electrical and electronic devices in addition to the aluminum-based material of magnesium-based material. Magnesium-based materials may be 40% lighter than aluminum-based materials, and may have very satisfactory properties in terms of strength, processability, and cost, and thus may be highly useful compared to aluminum materials.

However, magnesium has a very fast chemical reaction and very high corrosion resistance compared to aluminum because of its properties. Accordingly, during the plating operation of copper or silver on the magnesium body, corrosion occurs, and even after the plating is completed, the corrosion portion continuously spreads to infiltrate the plating layer. This corrosion is caused by the contact of the material with the solution and the air during the plating process with the minute gaps remaining on the surface, even if the plating body such as simmering and jinating is performed on the magnesium body. I guess.

Accordingly, there has been a continuous technical research from the past to solve the problem of the above-mentioned corrosion during the plating of the magnesium plated material, and to ensure a stable adhesion of the plating layer, but the above problems have been The situation is not achieving remarkable results.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an electroplating apparatus for increasing the work efficiency.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electroplating apparatus for allowing a good plating to be carried out on a plated body of magnesium or magnesium alloy material.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an electroplating apparatus comprising: a plating bath containing an electrolyte containing ions of a metal to be plated; An electrolyte injection unit receiving the electrolyte and spraying the electrolyte through at least one injection nozzle on a predetermined portion of the plated body; And a circulation pump for sucking the electrolyte in the plating bath and supplying the electrolyte to the electrolyte spraying unit at a predetermined pressure so that the electrolyte is sprayed from the electrolyte spraying unit.

Preferably, the plated body is made of magnesium or magnesium alloy, and the electrolyte injection unit injects the electrolyte solution to the plated body through the auxiliary anode body.

As described above, since the electroplating apparatus according to the present invention performs the plating operation at a very high speed as compared to the prior art, it is possible to increase the work efficiency, in particular in the high-speed plating operation during the plating of the plated material of the magnesium-based material Since the plated layer is formed before the corrosion reaction occurs on the surface of the plated body, it is possible to achieve a good plating even on the plated body of the magnesium material.

1 is a schematic overall configuration diagram of an electroplating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a detailed separated perspective view showing an electrolyte injection part and an auxiliary anode body, and a plated body, which are main parts of the present invention in FIG. 1;

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B 'of FIG.

4 is a plan view illustrating an internal stopper structure of an injection nozzle of an electrolyte injection part corresponding to part A of FIG. 3;

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following figures, the same reference numerals are added to the same components as much as possible.

As shown in FIG. 1, the electroplating apparatus of the present invention accommodates an electrolytic solution containing a metal, for example, copper or silver, to be plated onto a plated body 1 of magnesium material (or magnesium alloy material). The plating bath 10 is basically provided. At this time, in accordance with the characteristics of the present invention is supplied with an electrolyte solution of the plating tank 1, the electrolyte injection unit 20 for injecting the electrolyte solution through a plurality of injection nozzles (22 in Fig. 2) to the main plating site of the plated body (1) ) Is provided. In addition, the circulation pump 40 for supplying the electrolyte solution to the electrolyte injection unit 20 is provided, the circulation pump 40 sucks the electrolyte in the plating bath 1 and supplies it to the electrolyte injection unit 20 at a predetermined pressure. By the pressure supplied with the electrolyte solution from the circulation pump 40, the electrolyte solution is injected from the electrolyte injection unit 20 at an appropriate flow rate.

The circulation pump 40 may be installed to directly suck the electrolyte in the plating bath 1, but as shown in FIG. 1, the filter 50 and the auxiliary filter 50 are installed in a path for sucking the electrolyte from the circulation pump 40. It may have a structure to suck the electrolyte indirectly through the tank 60. The filter 50 removes impurities in the electrolyte solution, and the auxiliary tank 60 serves to receive the electrolyte solution in order to maintain the electrolyte level of the plating bath 10 appropriately. The plating bath 10, the filter 50, the auxiliary tank 60, the circulation pump 40, and the electrolyte injection unit 20 supply pipes 80-1, 80-2, 80-3, and 80 to supply the electrolyte solution. -4) are interconnected.

The to-be-plated body 1 may be mounted on the auxiliary anode body 30 to be described later, which is installed above the electrolyte injection unit 20, and the electrolyte injection unit 20 may be mounted on the shelf 72. . The shelf 72 for mounting the electrolyte injection unit 20 may be connected to the shanghai sending unit 70 and the sliding arm 74 which is installed on the upper side of the plating bath in the upper side of the plating bath 10, the shanghai sending unit ( 70 moves the sliding arm 74 upward or downward to move the shelf 72 and the electrolyte injection part 20 to the upper portion of the plating bath 10, that is, to the outside of the electrolyte, or to be immersed in the electrolyte. So that it is moved. Accordingly, the operator places the to-be-plated body 1 to be plated on the electrolytic solution injection unit 20 (and the auxiliary anode body 30), or the plated body 1 to which the plating is completed is the electrolytic solution injection unit 20 ( And easily detachable on the auxiliary cathode body 30). The shelf 72 conveying structure of the shanghai conveying unit 70 may employ a well-known drive motor and gear structure, or may employ a hydraulic piston structure. In addition, when the plated body (1) is seated on the electrolyte injection portion 20 or the auxiliary positive electrode 30, a separate clamp structure (not shown) for holding the plated body (1) to increase the fixing force or Alternatively, a screw structure coupling structure (not shown) may be further employed to couple the plated body 1 to the electrolytic solution injection portion 20 or the auxiliary positive electrode 30.

On the other hand, when the plated body 1 having the concave inner space or the receiving portion is plated using the electroplating apparatus having such a structure, in order to ensure good plating is also performed on the inner space or the receiving portion of the plated body 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the auxiliary cathode body 30 is used. The auxiliary cathode body 30 may be installed adjacent to the inner surface while having a shape corresponding to the inner shape of the to-be-plated body 1 of the cathode (−).

When considering the electrical characteristics, the auxiliary anode body 30 may form the auxiliary anode body made of platinum or other metallic material. However, the auxiliary anode body 30 generally has a concave portion of the plated body for each corresponding plated body. Since it must be designed and manufactured separately to fit, in consideration of processability, weight, cost, etc., in the embodiment of the present invention, the auxiliary cathode body 30 is formed of a graphite material. Particularly, in the present invention, in order to enable the electrolyte solution injected from the electrolyte injection unit 20 to be smoothly sprayed onto the surface of the plated body 1 even when passing through the auxiliary cathode body 30, the electrolyte solution is supplied to the auxiliary cathode body 30. A water supply port 32 in FIG. 2 in the form of a through hole should be formed at a position corresponding to the injection nozzle 22 of FIG. 2. In addition, the auxiliary anode body 30 should be formed with a drain hole (34 in FIG. 2) to smoothly discharge the injected electrolyte from the concave portion of the plated body 1 to the outside. It is more suitable as the auxiliary anode body 30. In this case, the auxiliary cathode body 30 may be formed of a graphite material as a whole, or may be formed of a graphite coated structure by nano coating on a basic model such as a plastic material.

The metal plating apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention having the above-described structure can be configured, in the case of plating the plated body 1 using such a metal plating apparatus, plating such as desmuting and jinating treatment in advance The plated body 1 on which the pretreatment work has been performed is mounted on the electrolytic solution spraying unit 20 or on the auxiliary positive electrode body 30 when the auxiliary positive electrode body 30 is employed. Is connected to the negative electrode (-), the positive electrode (+) is connected to the electrolyte injection unit 20 and / or the auxiliary positive electrode 30, the electrolyte is driven by the circulation pump 60, the electrolyte injection unit 20 And sprayed to the plated body 1 at an appropriate pressure and an appropriate flow rate and flow rate through the auxiliary anode body 30. At this time, the injection pressure of the electrolyte in the electrolyte injection unit 20 and the appropriate flow rate and flow rate related thereto are the thickness of the plating layer, the material of the plated body, the material to be plated, whether the auxiliary positive electrode 20 is used, the auxiliary positive electrode 20 ) May vary depending on the shape and conditions of use, and may be set to an optimal state by experiment.

In such a plating method using the metal plating apparatus of the present invention, the electrolytic solution is sprayed onto the plating portion of the plated body 10 at a predetermined flow rate, so that the plating operation can be completed at a very high speed as compared with the conventional plating method. For example, when copper plating is performed on a plated body made of aluminum or magnesium, and the plating layer is formed to have a thickness of 5 to 15 μm, about 150 minutes may be conventionally used, whereas the metal plating apparatus of the present invention is used. It can be as long as three to five minutes.

As such, the electroplating apparatus according to the present invention can perform the plating operation at a very high speed compared to the conventional, it is possible to increase the work efficiency. In addition, it is possible to perform a good plating of a plated body of a magnesium (or magnesium alloy) material, which has not been solved conventionally. That is, in the case of performing the plating of the magnesium plated body using the electroplating apparatus according to the present invention, a plating layer may be formed on the surface of the magnesium plated body at a very high speed by a high speed plating operation. It has been found that corrosion reactions can be prevented from occurring on the surface of the magnesium-plated object. The plating method of the magnesium plated body according to the present invention is to solve the problem of plating of magnesium material by performing a strict smitting or zincating on the surface of the conventional plated body or by performing another separate surface treatment. The approach is completely different from the methods, and no additional process is required, so it can be seen that the method is very efficient.

FIG. 2 is a detailed perspective view of the electrolyte injection unit 20 and the auxiliary anode body 30 and the plated body 1, which are the main parts of the present invention, shown in FIG. 1 for the convenience of description. Is shown. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the portion B-B 'of FIG. 2, in which the parts are coupled to each other, and in particular, in FIG. 3, an advancing direction of the electrolyte is indicated by an arrow. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the structures of the electrolyte injection part 20 and the auxiliary anode body 30 will be described in more detail. The plated body 1 has, for example, six compartment accommodation portions formed therein. It is shown that the appearance and structure of the auxiliary cathode body 30 and the electrolyte injection unit 20 are formed according to the shape of the receiving portion of the plated body 1.

The plurality of injection nozzles 22 of the electrolyte injection unit 20 are formed in a tubular shape, and the auxiliary anode body 30 has a water supply port 32 formed in a through hole shape at a position corresponding to each injection nozzle 22. ) Is formed. The electrolyte solution injected from the electrolyte injection unit 20 is sprayed onto the inner surface of the plated body 1 through the water supply port 32 of the auxiliary cathode body 30. In addition, the auxiliary cathode body 30 has a plurality of drain holes in the form of through-holes appropriately formed between the plurality of water supply ports 32 so as to smoothly discharge the injected electrolyte from the receiving portion of the plated body 1 to the outside ( 34).

In this structure, a plurality of water supply ports 32 of the auxiliary anode bodies 30 corresponding to the respective injection nozzles 22 of the electrolyte injection unit 20 are fitted in the auxiliary anode body on the electrolyte injection unit 20. 30 can be mounted. In this case, of course, a coupling structure such as a screw structure may be employed to fix the electrolyte injection unit 20 and the auxiliary positive electrode 30 to be fixed.

A suitable holding portion outside the auxiliary anode body 30 is provided with a plurality of holding structures made of rubber material (which may be configured to have an end portion fitted into a predetermined portion of the corresponding plated body). 1) may be allowed to be seated on the auxiliary positive electrode 30 through this. At this time, the electrolytic solution injected into the receiving portion of the plated body (1) is not only a plurality of drainage holes 34 of the auxiliary cathode body 30, but also of the mounting portion of the auxiliary cathode body 30 and the plated body (1). It can also be discharged into side gaps.

On the other hand, in the structure as described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the electrolytic solution spraying portion 20 is uniform with each injection nozzle 22 so that a plating layer having a uniform thickness is formed in each receiving portion of the plated body 1. A structure for injecting the electrolyte at a pressure may be further employed. Such a structure is shown for example in FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating a stopper structure that may be provided for each of the plurality of injection nozzles 22 on the inner upper surface of the electrolyte injection unit 20 corresponding to part A in FIG. 3. In FIG. 4, reference numerals 22-1, 22-2 and 22-3 indicate the injection holes of the respective injection nozzles, and reference numerals 26-1, 26-2 and 26-3 denote the stopper for adjusting the opening and closing degree of each injection hole. The closer the injection nozzle is to the position where the electrolyte is provided in the circulation pump 40, the more the electrolyte is injected at a higher pressure, so that the hole of the injection nozzle at the corresponding position is adjusted to be closed more by a stopper. In FIG. 4, for example, the reference numeral 26-1 stopper is most closed, and the reference numeral 26-3 stopper is shown to be opened more than the reference numbers 26-1 and 26-2 stoppers.

In the case of adopting the structure as shown in FIG. 4, the upper plate 20-1 of the electrolyte injection unit 20, that is, the upper plate 20-1 on which the injection nozzles 22 are installed, has a lower portion by screwing or the like similarly to the cover structure. It may be configured to be detachable from the main body. In this structure, the operator may combine the upper plate with the lower body again after adjusting the opening and closing degree of the stoppers 26-1, 26-2, and 26-3 in the separated upper plate 20-1. Of course, in this case, the opening and closing adjustment of the plugs 26-1, 26-2, and 26-3 may be configured to be automatically operated by an automatic driving device (not shown) which is additionally installed.

Meanwhile, the plurality of injection nozzles 22 may be inserted into a plurality of holes 22-1, 22-2, 22-3, etc. formed in the upper plate 20-1, or attached by screwing or welding. Can be configured.

As described above, the configuration and operation of the electroplating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention can be made. Meanwhile, in the above description of the present invention, specific embodiments have been described, but various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Can be.

For example, in the description according to an embodiment of the present invention, the shanghai sending unit 70, the filter 50, the auxiliary tank 60, etc. are shown, but in other embodiments of the present invention, some of these components Or it may not provide all.

In addition, in the above description, the metal to be plated (1) has been described as being a metal material, in particular magnesium or magnesium alloy material, in addition, the plated body (1) may be a conductive plastic material, in which case the electroplating of the present invention Of course, the device may be employed.

In the above description, the plating operation is performed by submerging the plated body 1 in the electrolyte during the plating operation, but in addition, plating is required only on the inner concave portion or the receiving portion of the plated body 1. In this case, the plating operation may be performed in a state in which the plated body 1 is exposed from the outside (upper part) of the electrolyte solution. In this case, the part to be plated 1 may further include a packing structure made of a rubber material as a whole to be seated on the auxiliary cathode body 30, and may be implemented in a form in which an inner concave portion or a receiving part of the plated body 1 is sealed. have. In this case, the size of the plating bath can be reduced, and in this case, it may be more useful when the material to be plated, such as silver, is expensive.

In addition, a vortex device for vortexing the electrolyte in the plating bath 1 may be further provided. Such a vortex device may have a structure that generates vortices by blowing air into the plating bath or by repetitive movement of mechanical shapes.

In addition, the above description has been described as having a circulation pump 40 for circulating the electrolyte solution of the plating bath 10 to supply the electrolyte solution to the electrolyte injection unit 20, in the present invention, plating in a very fast time compared to the prior art Since the operation can be completed and the amount of the electrolyte supplied while performing the entire plating operation can be very small, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the structure of the plating bath 10 is not circulated. It is also possible to employ a structure including an electrolyte accommodating tank and a pump for pumping the electrolytic solution from the electrolytic solution accommodating tank and providing it to the electrolyte ejection unit 20.

Claims

In the electroplating apparatus,

A plating bath containing an electrolyte containing ions of the metal to be plated;

An electrolyte injection unit receiving the electrolyte and spraying the electrolyte through at least one injection nozzle on a predetermined portion of the plated body;

And a circulation pump which sucks the electrolyte in the plating tank and supplies the electrolyte to the electrolyte spray unit at a predetermined pressure so that the electrolyte is sprayed from the electrolyte spray unit.
The method of claim 1,

A filter installed in each of the passages for sucking the electrolyte from the circulation pump and removing impurities from the electrolyte; Electroplating apparatus characterized in that it further comprises an auxiliary tank for receiving an electrolyte solution to maintain the electrolyte level of the plating bath.
The method of claim 1,

A shelf on which the electrolyte injection unit is mounted;

An electroplating apparatus is connected to the shelf and the sliding arm, further comprising a shanghai sending unit for moving the sliding arm up or down.
The method according to claim 1, wherein

An auxiliary hole having a shape corresponding to the inner shape of the plated body and installed adjacent to the inner surface of the plated body, wherein a water supply port in the form of a through hole is formed at a position corresponding to each of the injection nozzles of the electrolyte injection part. It is further provided with a positive electrode,

The auxiliary anode body is mounted on the electrolyte injection portion, the plated body is electroplating apparatus, characterized in that seated on the auxiliary cathode body.
The electroplating apparatus of claim 4, wherein the auxiliary anode body is formed of graphite material.
The electroplating apparatus of claim 4, wherein at least one through hole for discharging the injected electrolyte is formed in the auxiliary cathode body.
The electroplating apparatus of claim 4, wherein the plated body is made of magnesium or magnesium alloy.
The electroplating apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a stopper for controlling the opening and closing degree of the corresponding injection hole for each injection nozzle of the electrolyte injection part.
In the electroplating apparatus,

A plating bath containing an electrolyte containing ions of the metal to be plated;

An electrolyte injection unit receiving the electrolyte solution and spraying the electrolyte solution through at least one injection nozzle on a predetermined portion of a plated body of magnesium or magnesium alloy material;

And a circulation pump which sucks the electrolyte in the plating tank and supplies the electrolyte to the electrolyte spray unit at a predetermined pressure so that the electrolyte is sprayed from the electrolyte spray unit.
The method of claim 9,

A filter installed in each of the passages for sucking the electrolyte from the circulation pump and removing impurities from the electrolyte; Electroplating apparatus characterized in that it further comprises an auxiliary tank for receiving an electrolyte solution to maintain the electrolyte level of the plating bath.
The method of claim 9,

A shelf on which the electrolyte injection unit is mounted;

An electroplating apparatus is connected to the shelf and the sliding arm, further comprising a shanghai sending unit for moving the sliding arm up or down.
The method according to claim 9, wherein

It is formed of a graphite material, has a shape corresponding to the inner shape of the plated body, and is installed adjacent to the inner surface of the plated body, in the form of a through hole at a position corresponding to the respective injection nozzles of the electrolyte injection portion Further provided with an auxiliary anode body is formed water supply port,

The auxiliary anode body is mounted on the electrolyte injection portion, the plated body is electroplating apparatus, characterized in that seated on the auxiliary cathode body.
The electroplating apparatus of claim 12, wherein the auxiliary cathode is formed with a drain hole in the form of at least one through hole for discharging the injected electrolyte.
The electroplating apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a stopper for controlling the opening and closing degree of the corresponding injection hole for each injection nozzle of the electrolyte injection part.