JPH0456119B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention is a plating device for electroplating plate-shaped objects (workpieces) such as printed circuit board materials, which uniformizes the current density on the surface of the workpiece. It relates to a screen device for.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, this type of screen device is equipped with a frame-shaped screen plate, and an anode and a material to be treated are arranged in a plating treatment tank. By doing so, the current flows from the anode to the object to be treated through the opening inside the screen plate, and the screen plate can regulate the current flowing toward the edge of the object.
This prevents the current density from increasing at the edge of the object to be processed. Therefore, the current density over the entire object to be treated is made uniform, and the thickness of the plating can be made uniform.

It is necessary to match the dimensions of the object to be processed with the opening dimensions of the screen plate, but with the conventional structure,
It is not possible to change the dimensions of the screen plate. For this reason, in the conventional structure, when processing small-sized objects, a dummy plate is attached to the side of the object and plating is also applied to the surface of the dummy plate, thereby concentrating the plating on the edges of the object itself. This is prevented.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, according to the above-mentioned conventional work, there is a problem in that the cost increases due to the use of dummy plates. There is also the problem that work efficiency decreases due to attaching and detaching the dummy plate, and the problem of wasting electric power, plating metal, etc. by applying plating to the dummy plate as well.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention aims to solve the above problems by abolishing the conventional dummy plate, and is configured as follows.

That is, in the present invention, a plate-shaped object to be treated is placed opposite to an anode in a plating treatment tank, and a frame-shaped screen mechanism is placed in a position with its inner opening facing the object to be treated. A movable screen plate is provided between the screen mechanism and extends along the side edge of the object to be processed, the movable screen plate is connected to a drive mechanism, and the movable screen plate is moved by the drive mechanism. A feature of the present invention is that the width of shielding the object to be treated from the anode is varied in the width direction of the object to be treated perpendicular to the side edge.

(Function) According to the above configuration, when the type of material to be processed changes and a narrow material is to be processed, the drive mechanism moves the screen plate to reduce the effective opening width of the screen mechanism (width of the opening) to correspond to the width of the object to be processed. This prevents the current density from increasing at the edges of the workpiece even in narrow workpieces, and provides plating with a uniform thickness over the entire surface of the workpiece.

When the width of the object to be processed becomes wider, the drive mechanism moves the screen plate to widen the effective opening width of the screen mechanism in accordance with the width of the object to be processed. As a result, the plating thickness is made uniform over the entire object to be processed.

(Example) In FIG. 1, which is a schematic perspective view, a flat plate-shaped object to be processed P is suspended by a carrier bar 1, and in this state, it is placed in a posture perpendicular to a processing tank 2 and perpendicular to a side wall 3 of the processing tank 2. It is pickled in The carrier bar 1 extends horizontally and at right angles to the side wall 3, and is supported at both ends by the upper edge of the side wall 3. Processing tank 2
Inside, anodes 5 (only one side shown) are provided on both sides of the workpiece P in a posture facing the surface of the workpiece P, and a screen mechanism 6 is provided between the anode 5 and the workpiece P. The anode 5 is installed at approximately the same height and width (length in the direction parallel to the carrier bar 1) as the object to be treated P.

The screen mechanism 6 includes a frame-shaped fixed screen plate 7
and a pair of straight strip-shaped movable screen plates 8.
It is equipped with The fixed screen plate 7 extends in a rectangular shape along the edge of the object to be processed P, and its upper part is supported by a support frame (not shown) at or near the upper edge of the side walls 3 via a frame (not shown) or the like. ing. Opening 10 inside fixed screen plate 7
The dimensions of are set somewhat smaller than the dimensions of the largest workpiece P among the various workpieces P to be processed by the illustrated apparatus.

The movable screen plate 8 is arranged vertically near both sides of the fixed screen plate 7, and its surface is parallel to the surface of the object P to be processed. The upper end of each movable screen plate 8 is fixed to a holder 12. Each holder 12 is located outside (the other holder 12
The end (on the opposite side) is connected to a drive mechanism 13 such as a motor with a speed reduction mechanism. The drive mechanism 13 is configured to move the holder 12 in the width direction of the opening 10 (in a direction parallel to the upper edge 15 of the object to be processed P), as indicated by an arrow R.

The workpiece P attached to the carrier bar 1 is transported above the processing tank 2 by a transport device (not shown), and is lowered from above to the position shown in the drawing. A width measuring device 16 is provided in the processing material transport path above the processing tank 2 (or in an appropriate work stage upstream thereof). The width measuring device 16 is a device for measuring the width M of the workpiece P using, for example, an optical sensor 17, and based on the measured value,
As described later, it is configured to control the drive mechanism 13.

Next, the operation of the illustrated device will be explained. In the state shown in FIG. 1, both movable screen plates 8 are in a position that partially overlaps the sides of the opening 10, and the effective opening width W of the opening 10, that is, the width W of the opening through which current can actually flow, is This corresponds to the spacing between the screen plates 8. This effective opening width W is the width M of the processing object P.
It is set to be somewhat narrower than the width M in correspondence with the width M. By setting the width W in this way, the current flowing from the anode 5 to the processing object P through the opening 10 is not concentrated on the side edge 20 of the processing object P, and the processing object P
The screen mechanism 6 controls the current so that the current density is uniform over the entire surface of the screen. Therefore, plating with a uniform thickness is formed on the entire surface of the object P.

Next, when the type of workpiece P changes and the workpiece P with a narrow width M is to be processed, the drive mechanism 13 moves the movable screen plates 8 in the direction of approaching each other,
The effective opening width W of the opening 10 is narrowed to the width M of the processed object P.
correspond to As a result, the current density is made uniform over the entire object P even in the object P having a narrow width M.
The plating has a uniform thickness over the entire surface.

When the width M of the workpiece P becomes wider, the holder 12 is moved by the drive mechanism 13 to widen the effective opening width W in accordance with the width M of the workpiece P. As a result, the plating thickness is made uniform over the entire object P.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the present invention, the effective opening width W of the opening 10 is changed according to the width M of the processed material P by the movement of the movable screen plate 8. Even on a workpiece P having a width M, plating with a uniform thickness can be formed without arranging a dummy plate alongside the workpiece P. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the conventional problems of increased cost, decreased work efficiency, and waste of electric power, plated metal, etc. due to dummy plates.

(Another embodiment) In FIG. 2, which is a schematic plan view, each holder 1
2, for example, three movable screen plates 21, 2.
2 and 23 are placed side by side in an overlapping state. The movable screen plate 21 is fixed to the holder 12, and has engaging portions 24 and 25 in the form of bent projections protruding toward the movable screen plate 22 at both edges. The movable screen plate 22 has engaging portions 2 on both edges.
6,27. The arrow S indicates the closing direction of the movable screen plates 21 to 23, that is, the effective opening width W.
This is the direction in which the movable screen plates 21 to 23 move so that . In this closing direction S,
An engaging portion 26 at the front of the movable screen plate 22 protrudes toward the movable screen plate 21 and the movable screen plate 23, and is adapted to engage with the engaging portions 24 and 25. The rear engaging portion 27 projects toward the movable screen plate 23 side. The movable screen plate 23 is provided with an engaging portion 28 at its front edge in the closing direction S. The engaging portion 28 protrudes toward the movable screen plate 22 and is adapted to engage with the engaging portion 26.

According to the above configuration, when the holder 12 moves in the closing direction S from the state in which the movable screen plates 21 to 23 overlap as shown in the figure, first only the movable screen plate 21 moves in the same direction. When the movable screen plate 21 further moves in the closing direction S, the engaging portion 25
engages with the engaging portion 26, and the movable screen plate 22 also moves in the closing direction S. Furthermore, movable screen plate 2
1 moves, the engaging portion 27 of the movable screen plate 22 engages with the engaging portion 28, and the movable screen plate 2
3 also moves in the same direction. When the movable screen plate 21 moves in the opposite direction from the state where it has moved to the maximum in the closing direction S, the engaging parts 24, 26 and the engaging parts 26,
28 are engaged one after another, and the movable screen plates 21 to 2
3 returns to the state shown.

As is clear from the above description, in the structure shown in FIG. 2, the amount of change in the effective opening width W can be set to a large value.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, which is a schematic plan view, one
movable screen plates 30 are provided. Each movable screen plate 30 has an outer side edge fixed to a support shaft 31, and the support shaft 31 is driven by a drive mechanism 32 such as a belt or a motor.

In this structure, when the movable screen plate 30 is in a position parallel to the fixed screen plate 7, the effective opening width W is the narrowest, and from that parallel position, the support shaft 31
When the movable screen plate 30 rotates around , the effective opening width W increases.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an embodiment, FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of another embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of still another embodiment. 2... Plating treatment tank, 5... Anode, 6... Screen mechanism, 8... Movable screen plate, 10... Opening, 13... Drive mechanism, 20...
...Side edge of the processed object, P...processed object.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plate-shaped object to be treated is placed facing the anode in a plating treatment tank, and a frame-shaped screen mechanism is placed between the anode and the object with its inner opening facing the object. , the screen mechanism is provided with a movable screen plate extending along the side edge of the material to be treated, the movable screen plate is connected to a drive mechanism, and the movable screen plate is moved by the drive mechanism, so that the movable screen plate is attached to the anode. 1. An automatic screen device for a plating apparatus, characterized in that a width for shielding a workpiece is changed in a width direction of the workpiece perpendicular to the side edge.