JPS6059998B2 - plating device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a plating apparatus, and particularly to a plating apparatus that sprays a plating solution from above to below.

Plating equipment that utilizes a mask body with openings that expose sections of the material to be plated and injects plating liquid into the openings has recently attracted attention, and is particularly popular as equipment for plating gold, silver, and other precious metals. is bathed in

In addition, in this kind of plating equipment, the plating solution is usually sprayed upward from the bottom because it is easy to recover the sprayed plating solution and it also ensures that the liquid drains from the opening of the mask body. When there is a demand for automation of the entire plating equipment including pre-treatment and post-treatment processes, important parts of the plating equipment such as the nozzle, pressing means, and the part on which the material to be plated is placed have to be replaced by the rack-based transport mechanism. etc., it is better not to position them below the material to be plated.

Therefore, the present invention proposes a plating apparatus in which the main parts of the plating apparatus are located above the material to be plated, and the plating liquid is sprayed from the top to the bottom, contrary to the prior art.
Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a plating apparatus that solves the problem of residual plating solution that inevitably occurs in the opening of the mask means by forcibly removing it by jetting air.

That is, the present invention specifically relates to a plating box that is equipped with a nozzle inside which sprays a plating solution from above to below, and is provided with a mask means having an opening in the direction in which the plating solution is sprayed. At least one side of the cradle on which the material to be plated is placed horizontally should be placed close to the other side.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a plating apparatus characterized in that the plating box is arranged so as to be releasable, and the plating box is combined with an air nozzle for forcibly removing the remaining plating solution from the opening of the mask means. .

Details will be explained below based on the drawings.

This plating equipment can be roughly divided into plating box 1, pedestal 2
, a plating solution supply path 3, a plating solution recovery path 4, and an air supply path 5. At least one of the plating box 1 and the pedestal 2 can be brought into close contact with or separated from the other. In the specific example shown in FIG. 1, the entire plating box 1 can be pressed and restored downward, that is, toward the pedestal 2, by a pressure cylinder (not shown). A nozzle 6 with an anode for spraying the plating solution A from above to below is provided inside the plating box 1 which is in a sealed state. The entire nozzle 6 may be formed as an anode, or the anode may be attached to a part of the nozzle 6. Furthermore, this nozzle 6 may be combined and integrated with an air nozzle (Fig. 1).
Alternatively, an air nozzle 7 may be separately provided in combination inside this nozzle 6a (FIG. 2). These air nozzles forcibly remove the remaining plating solution from the opening of the mask means, which will be described later, and are a major feature of the present invention. A part of the plating solution supply path 3 leading to the nozzle 6 can be shared with a part of the air supply path, and the shared portion can be switched for use via the solenoid valves 8 and 9 (Fig. 1).
. Incidentally, when the air nozzle 7 is provided separately, the plating solution supply path 3a and the air supply path 5a are provided separately (FIG. 2). A mask means with an opening is provided below the plating box 1, that is, in the plating solution injection direction.

In the illustrated example, this mask means is shown separated into the bottom of the plating box and the mask body fixed to the lower surface thereof, but it is not necessarily necessary to separate them, and in some cases, they may be integrated. Of course, that's a good thing. A liquid injection opening 11 is formed in the bottom part 10 of the plating box, and a liquid recovery path 4 is provided to connect the bottom part 10 and the plating liquid tank 12.

The liquid injection opening 11 has an inclined surface whose diameter decreases at the bottom,
A means for preventing backflow of splashed plating liquid is formed on the upper edge 13 thereof. In the specific example of FIGS. 1 and 3, the protrusion 14 is shown as a backflow prevention means, and in the specific example of FIG. 1
The portion 3b is made to protrude and serves as the above-mentioned reverse entry prevention means. Furthermore, it is also possible to combine the means 14 and 13b for preventing the splashed plating liquid from coming back in with a means for guiding and dropping the spattered liquid upward to a location other than the liquid injection opening, and in FIG. The lower surface of the shielding plate 15 provided with the nozzle 6b for both plating liquid injection and air injection is an inclined surface 16, and the lowermost end 17 is positioned above the part other than the liquid injection opening 11a. The mask body 18 has an opening 19 communicating with the plating solution spray opening 11 and is fixed to the lower surface of the bottom 10 of the plating box.

This opening 19 exposes a desired plating target portion of the material 20 to be plated, and therefore, the mask body 18 comes into close contact with and separates from the material 20 to be plated by pressing and restoring the plating box 1 and/or the pedestal 2. I am made to do so. In the enlarged view of FIG. 3, 18a is a mask body, 19a is an opening thereof, and 20a is a material to be plated. On the upper surface of the pedestal 2 are a mask body 18 for placing the material to be plated 20 and the pedestal 2.
When holding the material to be plated under pressure, the material to be plated 2
Backside mask body 2 that doubles as a cushioning material to prevent damage to 0
1 is provided, and the pedestal 2 may be made movable by a pressure cylinder B (not shown), or only the plating box 1 may be movable and the pedestal 2 may be fixed.

The plating solution tank 12 is designed to exhaust air, which is injected from an air nozzle and flows in through the plating solution recovery path 4, through appropriate means; The connection is made so that the recovery channel 4 itself is expandable and retractable, or when the recovery channel 4 is in the form of a vibrator, its lower end is movable to receive it.

Next, the action will be explained.

The material to be plated 20 is placed horizontally on the back side mask body 21 which also serves as a cushioning material of the pedestal 2, and the plating box 1 is lowered to bring the mask body 18 into close contact with the material to be plated 20. Next, the plating solution A is pumped through the plating solution supply path 3 and sprayed downward from the anode nozzle 6. After the predetermined electrolytic plating process, operate the solenoid valves 8 and 9 to open the air supply path 5.
Air is fed under pressure and is also injected from the nozzle 6. Then, the opening 19 of the mask body and the bottom part 1 of the plating box
The plating solution remaining in the plating solution injection opening 11 of No. 0 is blown off by air jet and forcibly removed from there. The removed plating solution then returns to the plating solution tank 12 via the recovery path 4, and the air is also appropriately discharged from the same tank 12. When the above-mentioned air injection is performed, the remaining plating solution is blown away and reaches the bottom portions 10 and 10b beyond the backflow prevention means [protrusion 14 or upper edge 13b], so that it does not enter the plating solution injection opening 11 or the opening 19. There is no reverse entry. Furthermore, the plating solution that has been scattered upward and attached to the lower surface of the shielding plate 15 where the nozzle is located, for example, is guided by the inclined surface 16 to a location other than the upper part of the plating solution injection opening 11a and the opening 19a, so that it is not applied to both openings. There is no dripping (Figure 3). Of course, if the air is jetted from the nozzle 6b at a high pressure and for a desired period of time, the reflected flow of air will strongly act on the lower surface of the shielding plate 15, so that the scattered plating solution will not adhere to the lower surface, or even if it does, it will not adhere to the lower surface. , it is thought that there are many cases where the debris is blown away and directly enters the recovery path 4. Furthermore, if the diameter of the plating solution nozzle 6a that also serves as an anode is large, an air nozzle 7 is provided inside (Fig. 2), so that the air pumped from the air supply path 5a is transferred from the small-diameter air nozzle 7. The remaining plating solution is completely scattered as in the case above. In this way, when there is no remaining plating solution, the mask body 18 is separated from the material to be plated 20 and the plated material which has been plated is taken out from there. As explained above, according to the present invention, the main part of the plating apparatus is positioned above the exposed material to be plated, and the desired part to be plated is divided by the mask means, and the plating solution is sprayed from above to below. Because it performs strain plating, compared to conventional plating equipment in which the main parts are located below and the plating solution is sprayed upward, it is easier to meet the demands for automation of the entire plating equipment and space can be used effectively. Furthermore, the remaining plating solution in the opening of the mask means, which is the most problematic issue with downward spraying, is caused by a nozzle that is used for both plating solution and air spraying, or even if it is not used for both, it is
゛Since the plating solution is forcibly removed from the remaining area by the air jetted from the air nozzle located at the same position, there is a risk that the plating solution may seep or leak onto the plated material that is separated from the mask means. Nor.

Furthermore, the remaining plating solution once scattered through the opening of the mask means by air injection, specifically the opening of the mask body or the plating solution injection opening at the bottom, is sprayed onto the backflow prevention means and the inclined lower surface of the upper shielding plate. Since the remaining plating solution does not return to its original place, the remaining plating solution can be completely drained, and a good plating process with a smooth finish at the boundary between the plated and non-plated areas can be expected. The amount of drag out can be completely eliminated.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of the main parts of the plating apparatus according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a partially enlarged sectional view showing a modification of the plating liquid injection nozzle and the air injection nozzle, and Fig. 3 is a means for preventing backflow of scattered plating liquid, etc. FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the bottom of the shielding plate and the plating box showing a modified example of the reverse entry prevention means. In the figure, 1... plating box, 2...
cradle, 3... plating liquid supply path, 4... plating liquid recovery path, 5... air supply path, 6... anode nozzle, 10, 10b... ... Bottom of plating box, 11, 11a ... Plating liquid injection opening, 14 ... Protrusion, 15 ... Shielding plate, 1
6... Slanted lower surface, 18, 18-a...
Mask body, 19, 19a... Opening, 20, 2
0a... Material to be plated.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. For a plating box that is equipped with a nozzle inside which sprays a plating solution from above to below and is provided with a mask means with an opening in the direction in which the plating solution is sprayed, a plating box is provided on the lower surface side of the mask means. The pedestal on which the material to be plated is placed horizontally is
At least one side of the plating box is arranged so as to be close to or separate from the other, and the plating box is combined with an air nozzle for forcibly removing residual plating solution from the opening of the mask means. Device. 2. The plating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a backflow prevention means is provided at the bottom of the plating box to prevent the forcibly removed scattered plating liquid from backflowing into the opening of the mask means. 3 The above nozzle is integrated with an air nozzle, and a part of the plating liquid supply path leading to this nozzle is shared with a part of the air supply path, and the supply of plating liquid and air is switched via a solenoid valve. 2. The plating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plating apparatus performs the following steps. 4. The plating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle is additionally provided with an air nozzle for forcibly removing residual plating solution from the opening of the mask means.