JPH07252696A - Plating equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] With respect to a plating apparatus, it is an object to easily attach the auxiliary anode to a hanger of an object to be plated and to enable wiring to the auxiliary anode. [Structure] Carrier 18 movable along a predetermined path
And a hanger 22 detachably supported by the carrier.
And an auxiliary anode 2 supported by the hanger via an insulator.
6 and first and second conductive rails 2 arranged substantially parallel to each other along at least part of the path of the carrier.
8,30, first and second conducting means provided on the carrier and respectively connected to the first and second conducting rails, and one of the first and second conducting means connected to the hanger And a second connecting means for connecting the other of the first and second conductive means to the auxiliary anode.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer type automatic plating apparatus having a hanger provided with an auxiliary anode.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electroplating apparatus generally used in a plating process utilizes ionization of an electrolyte substance (anode) to attract positively charged metal ions to a cathode, thereby We are plating. Therefore, a plate is arranged as an anode in the plating tank, and the object to be plated is connected to the negative electrode of the power source.

When the object to be plated has the shape of a hollow box, the anode plate is usually placed outside the box by immersing it in a plating solution. The required supply of metal ions to the inside of the box is very small, and the plating inside the box is likely to be defective. In order to solve this, an auxiliary anode is provided inside the box (for example, JP-A-59-43).
899, JP-A-61-96099 and JP-A-62-136594).

[0004]

When the auxiliary anode is provided inside the object to be plated, the auxiliary anode may be fixedly arranged in the plating tank in a plating apparatus in which the object to be plated does not move. However, in the transfer-type automatic plating apparatus, the object to be plated moves from one tank to the next tank. Therefore, when the auxiliary anode is provided, it is necessary to move the auxiliary anode together with the object to be plated.

Therefore, it is necessary to connect the hanger of the object to be plated to the negative pole of the power source and the moving auxiliary anode to the positive pole of the power source. Since such wiring is troublesome, conventionally, an auxiliary anode was not provided in a transfer-type automatic plating apparatus. Further, the object to be plated is taken out from the plating tank together with the hanger when the plating is completed, but the auxiliary anode may be an obstacle at this time.

An object of the present invention is to provide a plating apparatus in which an auxiliary anode can be easily attached to a hanger of an object to be plated and wiring to the auxiliary anode is possible.

[0007]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION A plating apparatus according to the present invention includes a carrier 18 movable along a predetermined path, a hanger 22 detachably supported by the carrier, and a hanger 22 supported by the hanger via an insulator. Auxiliary anode 26 and first and second conductive rails 28, 30 arranged substantially parallel to each other along at least a portion of the path of the carrier.
And first and second conducting means 32 provided on the carrier and respectively connected to the first and second conducting rails,
34, first connecting means 30 for connecting one of the first and second conductive means to the hanger, and second connection for connecting the other of the first and second conductive means to the auxiliary anode. Means 4
2 is provided.

[0008]

In the above structure, the auxiliary anode is supported by the hanger, and when the hanger is attached to or detached from the carrier, it does not interfere with the hanger and is attached and detached together with the hanger. The first and second conductive means provided on the carrier are respectively provided with first and second conductive means provided on the path of the carrier.
Of the conductive rail and is connected to the hanger and the auxiliary anode through the first and second connecting means. The hanger is connected to the negative pole of the power supply and the auxiliary anode is connected to the positive pole of the power supply. The plating bath is further provided with an anode. The first and second connecting means are disconnected or connected to the hanger and the auxiliary anode, respectively, when the hanger is attached to and detached from the carrier. Therefore, the wiring can be achieved with a relatively simple structure and an automatic plating apparatus can be realized.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a carrier type automatic plating apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The plating apparatus 10 includes a plurality of baths 12 arranged in an annular shape. The tank 12a is the object to be plated 24
The tank 12b is a tank into which the plated object 24 that has been plated is taken out. Plated object 24
Is conveyed through each tank 12 in a counterclockwise direction as indicated by an arrow A in FIG. For example,
The tank to the right of the tank 12a is an electrolytic degreasing tank, the electrolytic tank is next to the electrolytic pickling tank, the next tank is the strike tank, and the plating tank is next. There are multiple plating tanks.

The plating apparatus 10 includes a circulation means 14 for conveying the object 24 to be plated as shown by an arrow A in FIG. The circulation means 14 is provided with an elevator 16 corresponding to the pitch of the tank 12. A carrier 18 is attached to the elevator 16. The elevator 16 is arranged vertically, whereas the carrier 18 extends horizontally. The elevator 16 moves the carrier 18 vertically, as indicated by the arrow B in FIG. Therefore, the object to be plated 24 is immersed in a certain bath 12, rises from the bath 12 when the treatment is completed, moves to the next bath 12 and is immersed in the bath 12. All the objects 24 to be plated are advanced one tank 12 at a time. The circulation means 14 and the elevator 16 can be constituted by a suitable known means, for example, a mechanism including a chain or the like.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, hook 20 is secured to carrier 18. The hook 20 includes a horizontally extending top portion and a pair of leg portions 20a extending downward from both ends of the top portion.
The lower end portion of the legged portion 20a is a hook portion folded back in a hook shape. The hanger 22 is hung on the hook portion at the lower end of the hook 20. 2 and 3, only the top of the hanger 22 is shown, and in FIGS. 4 and 5, the hanger 22 is generally shown.

The hanger 22 has a roof shape,
It has a horizontally extending top portion, an inclined portion 22a that extends from both ends of the top portion so as to incline to both sides, and a support portion 22b that connects the lower end portions of the inclined portions 22a. As shown in FIG. 4, the object to be plated 24 is appropriately attached to the support portion 22b of the hanger 22. The auxiliary anode 26 is fixed to the hanger 22.

As shown in FIGS. 1-3, the first and second conductive rails 28, 30 are defined by arrows A on the carrier 18.
Are arranged substantially parallel to each other between the columns of tanks 12 and the circulation means 14 along the path indicated by. The first conductive rail 28 is connected to the negative pole of the power supply, and the second conductive rail 30 is connected to the positive pole of the power supply. The first and second conductive rails 28 and 30 do not have to be provided for all the tanks 12, and may be provided only for the tank 12 that performs electrolysis.

Below the horizontally extending carrier 18, first and second conductive plates 32 and 34 are respectively supported in parallel with the carrier 18 via insulators 33, and screws 36 are provided.
It is fixed to the carrier 18 by. A carbon brush 38 is attached to one end of the first conductive plate 32 via a spring piece 32a.
Slidably contacts the first conductive rail 28. Similarly, a carbon brush 40 is attached to one end of the second conductive plate 34 via a spring piece 34a, and the carbon brush 40 slidably contacts the second conductive rail 30.

The other end of the first conductive plate 32 is the hook 2
0, and the other end of the second conductive plate 34 is connected to the connecting member 42. As shown in FIG. 3, the hook 2
0 and the connecting member 42 are respectively supported on the carrier 18 by screws 43 via an insulator 41. Therefore, the hanger 22 is connected to the negative pole of the power supply via the hook 20, the first conductive plate 32, and the first conductive rail 28.

The connecting member 42 has a vertically upward seat portion 42a at the lower end portion of a vertically extending leg portion, and a spring member 44 formed by bending a spring plate material on the seat portion 42a.
Is installed. The auxiliary anode 26 is a member that is arranged generally vertically, and has a contact portion 26a that extends horizontally in the upper end portion. The auxiliary anode 26 is fixed to the hanger 22 with a screw 46 via an insulator 45.

As shown in FIG. 6, the insulator 45 is located between the auxiliary anode 26 and the head of the screw 46, as well as the auxiliary anode 26.
An insulating sleeve 48 surrounding the shaft of the screw 46 is inserted into the through hole of the auxiliary anode 26 between the hanger 22 and the hanger 22. Therefore, the auxiliary anode 26 is electrically insulated from the hanger 22. And FIG. 2 and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, when the hanger 22 is suspended on the hook 20, the contact portion 26a of the auxiliary anode 26 is connected to the connecting member 4
The upper spring member 44 is mounted on and comes into contact with the upper spring member 44. Therefore, the auxiliary anode 26 is connected to the positive pole of the power source through the spring member 44, the connecting member 42, the second conductive plate 34, and the second conductive rail 30.

As shown in FIG. 4, a tank 12 for carrying out electrolysis
Is provided with an anode plate 48. The object 24 to be plated is connected to the negative pole of the power source, and the auxiliary anode 26 is connected to the positive pole of the power source. Thus, electroplating is performed between the anode plate 48 and the auxiliary anode 26 and the negative object 24 to be plated. Further, since the auxiliary anode 26 is only in contact with the spring member 44, the plated object 2 that has been plated
When the hanger 22 is taken out to take out 4, the auxiliary anode 26 is taken out together with the hanger 22. When the hanger 22 is attached to the hook 20 to load a new object 24 to be plated, the contact portion 26 a of the auxiliary anode 26 contacts the spring member 44 on the connecting member 42.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A transfer-type automatic plating apparatus incorporating an auxiliary anode can be obtained, and a plated product with excellent quality can be obtained. In addition, when the hanger and the auxiliary anode are removed from the carrier together with the auxiliary anode, the first and second connecting means automatically disconnect the hanger and the auxiliary anode from the first and second conductive means, respectively. The plated product can be handled like a conventional plating apparatus without an auxiliary anode. The first connecting means comprises a hook supported by the carrier and capable of suspending the hanger.
In the structure in which the connecting means comprises the connecting member supported by the carrier and the spring member attached to the connecting member and capable of contacting the auxiliary anode, the automatic disconnection can be reliably achieved, and It is possible to easily and surely connect power to the hanger supporting the object to be plated and the auxiliary anode.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a partial schematic view of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a hanger.

6 is a sectional view of a portion of the auxiliary anode of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12 ... Tank 14 ... Circulation device 16 ... Elevator 18 ... Carrier 20 ... Hook 22 ... Hanger 26 ... Auxiliary anode 28, 30 ... Conductive rail 32, 34 ... Conductive plate 42 ... Connecting member 44 ... Spring member

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A carrier (18) movable along a predetermined path, a hanger (22) detachably supported by the carrier, and an auxiliary anode (26) supported by the hanger via an insulator. A first and a second conductive rail (28, 30) arranged substantially parallel to each other along at least a part of the path of the carrier, and a first and a second conductive rail provided on the carrier and respectively. First connected
And second conducting means (32, 34) and the first and second conducting means.
First connecting means (20) for connecting one of the conducting means to the hanger, and second connecting means (42) for connecting the other of the first and second conducting means to the auxiliary anode. Plating equipment. 2. The first and second connecting means automatically disconnects the hanger and auxiliary anode, respectively, from the first and second conducting means when the hanger is removed from the carrier with the auxiliary anode. The plating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plating apparatus is configured as described above. 3. The hook (2), wherein the first connecting means is supported by the carrier and can suspend the hanger.
0), said second connecting means being attached to said connecting member and a connecting member (42) carried by said carrier,
The plating apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a spring member (44) capable of contacting the auxiliary anode.