Cathode finishing machine and thickness measuring instrument used therefor

Abstract

To suppress poor measurement caused by the sticking of foreign matter onto a detection face of a thickness measuring instrument for measuring the thickness of a cathode starting sheet so as to finish a cathode with satisfactory precision in a mass-producible way.SOLUTION: A cathode starting sheet 2 is conveyed along a horizontal conveyance passage 7 in which the front and back faces of the starting sheet 2 face up and down, a thickness measuring instrument 4 is provided on the way of the conveyance passage 7, and internal stress removal means 5 for removing the internal stress of the starting sheet 2 and grooving means 6 for grooving the starting sheet 2 in accordance with thickness information of the starting sheet 2 are equipped. The thickness measuring instrument 4 comprises: detection means 10 having detectors 11 which are arranged symmetrically above and below the conveyance passage 7 sandwiched, for detecting a distance to the surface of the starting sheet by an upper detector 11a and for detecting a distance to the back face of the starting sheet 2 by a lower detector 11b; thickness calculation means 12 for calculating the thickness of the starting sheet 2 based on detection information from the detection means 10; and air blowing means 13 for blowing air with respect to a detection face of the lower detector 11b to remove foreign matter fallen onto the detection face.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a cathode finisher that finishes cathode seed plates used in electrolytic refining in the non-ferrous metals field, and in particular to a cathode finisher and a thickness measuring device used therein that enable mass production of cathodes with high precision by improving measurement defects of a thickness measuring device that measures the thickness of the cathode seed plate. [Background technology]

[0002] In metal electrolysis, such as electrolytic refining or electrowinning of metals, mother plates (crude metal plates) that serve as anodes and cathodes are alternately arranged and supplied to an electrolytic cell for electrolysis. For example, in the case of copper electrolytic refining, cathodes and refined blister copper cast anodes are alternately supplied to the electrolytic cell and electricity is passed through. As the electrolysis proceeds, copper dissolves from the anodes, and this dissolved copper is electrodeposited on the cathode to produce the product, electrolytic copper.

[0003] The power used in such metal electrolysis is greatly affected by the distance between the anode and the cathode, that is, the gap between the anode and the cathode. For example, if the gap between the anode and the cathode is narrowed, the electrical resistance of the electrolyte can be reduced, and the power used in metal electrolysis can be reduced. However, if the gap between the anode and the cathode is narrowed too much, the metal electrodeposited on the cathode may come into contact with the anode as the electrodeposition progresses, and if such contact (short circuit) occurs, current will flow directly from the anode to the cathode, wasting power. On the other hand, if the gap between the anode and the cathode is widened, the contact between the anode and the cathode can be avoided, but the electrical resistance of the electrolyte will increase and a large amount of power will be required. Therefore, it is desirable to narrow the gap between the anode and the cathode as much as possible without causing a short circuit. In addition, in the above-mentioned metal electrolysis, a plurality of anodes and a plurality of cathodes are arranged alternately, but if there is variation in the spacing between the anodes and cathodes, there will be variation in the current flowing between the anodes and cathodes in the electrolytic cell. This will result in variation in the state of the metal electrodeposited on the cathode, and may also result in variation in the quality of the product. Therefore, it is necessary to make the spacing between the anodes and cathodes uniform. Therefore, the cathode seed plate supplied to the electrolytic cell is required to have a uniform shape (flatness, etc.).

[0004] The cathode seed plate used in metal electrolysis is generally a thin plate that is peeled off from a mother plate such as a stainless steel plate after metal is electrolytically deposited on the mother plate by a method such as electrolytic refining. However, the seed plate made of a thin plate produced by electrolytic deposition is prone to distortion due to electrodeposition or when peeled off from the mother plate. In addition, since the seed plate is thin, it is very prone to bending during transportation and handling. As described above, it is difficult to maintain the shape of the seed plate, such as its flatness, in a cathode finisher, so various corrections such as internal stress relief and groove formation are performed when finishing the cathode seed plate.

[0005] For example, Patent Documents 1 to 3 disclose techniques for adjusting the shape (flatness, etc.) of a starting plate in a cathode in a cathode finisher. Patent Document 1 discloses a method for straightening distortion of an electrolytic starter plate, in which a bent or twisted starter plate for electrolysis is primarily straightened using a roller leveler with a work roller diameter of 50 mm or less and 15 or more work rollers, then a grooved roller with a ring-shaped flange on the outer periphery forms a striking streak, and then a straightening roller with an annular groove on the outer periphery performs secondary straightening. Patent Document 2 discloses a method for producing electrolytic copper by performing electrolysis using a blister copper anode as an anode and a pure copper seed plate as a cathode and electrodepositing copper onto the cathode, in which a seed plate for producing electrolytic copper is disclosed in which rows of convex portions and rows of concave portions formed in parallel to each other on the surface are arranged with the phases of the convex portions and concave portions in adjacent rows shifted in the vertical direction, and further in which approximately diamond-shaped portions formed by adjacent convex portions and concave portions in adjacent rows protrude in directions opposite each other to form concave-convex shapes, and a forming roller for forming this seed plate and a method for producing electrolytic copper using this seed plate are also disclosed. Patent Document 3 discloses a method for forming an electric nickel cathode, in which the clearance of the forming rollers and the number and positions of the processing grooves are optimized to correct the starting plate when forming an electric nickel cathode using a forming device having multiple pairs of upper and lower forming rollers, each pair being a flanged roller with multiple ring-shaped flanges on its outer circumferential surface, and arranged facing each other at a distance from one another. By adjusting the shape of the cathode base plate in this manner, it is possible to reduce distortion of the produced cathode.

[0006] In addition, in conventional cathode finishers, a thickness measuring device for measuring the thickness of the seed plate is provided in the middle of the transport path along which the seed plate is transported. By adjusting the clearance (gap) between a pair of forming rollers such as upper and lower groove rollers based on the thickness information of the seed plate measured by this thickness measuring device, it is possible to give each seed plate an optimal deformation amount. Here, as the thickness measuring instrument, an optical displacement meter (e.g., a laser displacement meter) is used, which includes an emission unit that emits detection light to detect the surface position of the seed plate to be measured, and a light receiving unit that receives the reflected detection light reflected by the surface of the seed plate to be measured, and a pair of upper and lower optical displacement meters are arranged to sandwich the transport path of the seed plate from above and below. In this example, the transport path of the seed plate is designed to transport the seed plate in a horizontal position so that the front and back surfaces of the seed plate face the vertical direction, so that when the seed plate passes through the thickness measuring instrument, the pair of optical displacement meters acquires position information of the front and back surfaces of the seed plate, and it is possible to calculate thickness information of the seed plate based on this position information. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] JP-A-8-176880 (Example, FIG. 4) [Patent Document 2] JP 2001-192879 A (Embodiment of the invention, FIG. 6) [Patent Document 3] JP 2004-360050 A (Embodiment of the invention, FIG. 1) Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] In the above-mentioned cathode finisher, the surface of the seed plate may contain copper particles attached to the surface of the seed plate or scraps formed on the periphery of the seed plate (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as foreign matter). Therefore, if such foreign matter falls from the seed plate and lands on the light emitting part or light receiving part of the optical displacement meter located below the conveying path, the detection light may be blocked, which may cause difficulty in measuring the thickness of the seed plate. In cases where it is difficult to measure the thickness of the seed plate in this way, it is difficult to suppress the cathode distortion within a specified range because the optimal deformation amount according to the thickness cannot be given to each seed plate in the straightening process using a pair of forming rollers such as upper and lower groove rollers. Note that the cathode distortion referred to here refers to the maximum thickness dimension δ of the front and back surfaces of the seed plate when viewed from the edge in the vertical or horizontal direction with respect to the cathode in a state in which the seed plate is suspended from a support rod via a hanging handle, as will be described later (see Figures 9(b) and (c)).

[0009] Furthermore, there was a mixture of cathode groups in which most of the cathodes had cathode distortion within the specified range as a result of normal seed plate thickness measurement, and cathode groups in which most of the cathodes had cathode distortion outside the specified range as a result of not being able to measure the seed plate thickness, resulting in an extremely large variation in cathode distortion across the entire cathode group produced in one day. To avoid such inconveniences, it was necessary to periodically clean the equipment to remove foreign objects such as copper particles and scraps that had fallen from the seed plate. However, in order to perform such cleaning, the equipment must be stopped temporarily, and during this time, the seed plate straightening process is not performed, resulting in a corresponding reduction in cathode production. However, supplying cathodes to the electrolytic cell when the cathode distortion is highly variable can cause unnecessary power consumption in the seed plate electrolysis process and short circuits to occur, as well as cause variations in the state of the metal electrodeposited on the cathode and variations in the quality of the product. Therefore, the operator had to manually re-straighten the cathodes with large cathode distortion, which was a double effort.

[0010] The technical problem that the present invention aims to solve is to provide a cathode finishing machine and a thickness measuring instrument used therein that suppress measurement errors caused by foreign matter adhering to the detection surface of a thickness measuring instrument that measures the thickness of a cathode base plate, and that finishes cathodes with high precision so that they can be mass-produced. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] A first technical feature of the present invention is a conveying means for conveying a cathode seed plate along a horizontal conveying path in which the front and back surfaces of the seed plate face up and down; a thickness measuring device provided in the middle of the conveying path for measuring the thickness of the seed plate in a non-contact manner; an internal stress relieving means provided downstream of the thickness measuring device in the conveying direction of the seed plate, for clamping and conveying the seed plate and removing internal stress of the seed plate; and an internal stress relieving means provided downstream of the internal stress relieving means in the conveying direction of the seed plate, for clamping and conveying the seed plate and removing internal stress of the seed plate according to the thickness of the seed plate measured by the thickness measuring device. the thickness measuring instrument has detectors arranged symmetrically above and below the conveying path, an upper detector located on the upper side detects the distance between the front surface of the seed plate and a lower detector located on the lower side detects the distance between the rear surface of the seed plate, a thickness calculating means calculates the thickness of the seed plate based on detection information from the detecting means, and an air blowing means blows air against the detection surface of the lower detector to remove any foreign matter that has fallen onto the detection surface.

[0012] A second technical feature of the present invention is a cathode finisher having the first technical feature, characterized in that the detection means uses a detector consisting of an optical displacement meter. A third technical feature of the present invention is a cathode finisher having the first technical feature, characterized in that the air blowing means has an air piping extending in a direction intersecting the transport direction of the seed plate, an air supply source with a variable supply pressure is connected to this air piping, and a blowing nozzle is provided branching off and extending toward the detection surface of the lower detector. A fourth technical feature of the present invention is a cathode finisher having the third technical feature, characterized in that the air blowing means blows onto the detection surface the amount of compressed air required to remove the foreign matter, taking into account the size and weight of the foreign matter. A fifth technical feature of the present invention is a cathode finisher having the fourth technical feature, characterized in that, when the foreign matter is copper particles or copper chips, the nozzle has an outlet diameter set to 0.5 to 1.5 mm, and the distance between the outlet and the detection surface is set to 10 to 20 mm. A sixth technical feature of the present invention is a cathode finisher having the fourth technical feature, characterized in that when the foreign matter is copper particles or copper chips, the spray nozzle sprays compressed air at 0.5 to 1.0 MPa.

[0013] A seventh technical feature of the present invention is a method for manufacturing a cathode seed plate, comprising: a conveying means for conveying the seed plate along a horizontal conveying path in which the front and back surfaces of the seed plate of the cathode face up and down; a thickness measuring device provided in the middle of the conveying path and for measuring the thickness of the seed plate in a non-contact manner; an internal stress relieving means provided downstream of the thickness measuring device in the conveying direction of the seed plate, for clamping and conveying the seed plate and removing internal stress of the seed plate; and a groove forming means provided downstream of the internal stress relieving means in the conveying direction of the seed plate, for clamping and conveying the seed plate and performing groove forming on the seed plate according to the thickness of the seed plate measured by the thickness measuring device. a groove forming means for forming a groove on the surface of the seed plate and a groove forming means for forming a groove on the surface of the seed plate, the groove forming means having detectors arranged symmetrically above and below the conveying path, a detection means for detecting the distance between the surface of the seed plate and a lower detector for detecting the distance between the back surface of the seed plate and a thickness calculation means for calculating the thickness of the seed plate based on detection information from the detection means, and an air blowing means for blowing air against the detection surface of the lower detector to remove any foreign matter that has fallen onto the detection surface. Effect of the Invention

[0014] According to a first technical feature of the present invention, it is possible to suppress measurement errors caused by foreign matter adhering to the detection surface of a thickness measuring instrument that measures the thickness of a cathode base plate, and to produce cathodes with high precision that can be mass-produced. According to a second technical feature of the present invention, a thickness measuring device can be easily constructed by utilizing an existing optical displacement meter as a detector. According to the third technical feature of the present invention, the air blowing means can be easily added to the thickness measuring instrument, compared to a case not having this configuration. According to a fourth technical feature of the present invention, it is possible to easily construct air blowing means capable of efficiently removing foreign matter that has fallen onto the detection surface of the lower detector. According to the fifth technical feature of the present invention, by devising an arrangement of the spray nozzle, it is possible to maintain good performance in removing foreign matter consisting of copper particles or copper chips that have fallen onto the detection surface of the lower detector, compared to a case in which this configuration is not provided. According to the sixth technical feature of the present invention, by optimizing the pressure of the compressed air sprayed from the spray nozzle, it is possible to maintain good performance in removing foreign matter consisting of copper particles or copper chips that have fallen onto the detection surface of the lower detector, compared to a case in which this configuration is not provided. According to a seventh technical feature of the present invention, it is possible to easily construct a cathode finishing machine that suppresses measurement errors caused by foreign matter adhering to the detection surface of a thickness measuring device that measures the thickness of a cathode base plate, and finishes cathodes with high precision so that they can be mass-produced. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] FIG. 1A is an explanatory diagram showing an overview of an embodiment of a cathode finisher to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 1B is an explanatory diagram showing a main part of a thickness measuring device shown in FIG. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the overall configuration of a cathode finisher according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1A is an oblique view showing the main parts of a thickness measuring device used in embodiment 1, FIG. 1B is an explanatory diagram showing details of the thickness measuring device shown in FIG. 1A, and FIG. 1C is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of an air nozzle. [Figure 4] FIG. 4A is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of an upper optical sensor, and FIG. 4B is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of a light receiving element. [Diagram 5]FIG. 2(a) is an explanatory diagram showing the overall configuration of a leveller used in the first embodiment, and FIG. 2(b) is an explanatory diagram showing the operation principle thereof. [Figure 6] 5(a) is a view taken along the arrow VI in FIG. 5(a), and FIG. 5(b) is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of a lower unit of a leveller. [Figure 7] 1A is an explanatory diagram showing the main parts of a groove forming unit used in embodiment 1, FIG. 1B is an arrow view seen from the direction B in FIG. 1A, and FIG. 1C is an explanatory diagram showing the main parts of a groove forming roller. [Figure 8] 7(a) is a view seen from the direction of arrow VIII in FIG. 7(a), and FIG. 7(b) is a plan view illustrating a grooved starting plate formed by the groove forming unit. [Figure 9] 1A is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of a cathode produced by a cathode finisher, FIG. 1B is a view seen from the direction of an arrow B in FIG. 1A, and FIG. 1C is a view seen from the direction of an arrow C in FIG. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a main part of a thickness measuring device used in Comparative Example 1. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THEINVENTION

[0016] Overview of the embodiment FIG. 1(a) is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of an embodiment of a cathode finisher to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, the cathode finisher 1 includes a conveying means 3 for conveying the seed plate 2 along a horizontal conveying path 7 along which the front and back surfaces of the cathode seed plate 2 face up and down, a thickness measuring device 4 provided midway along the conveying path 7 for non-contact measurement of the thickness of the seed plate 2, an internal stress removing means 5 provided downstream of the thickness measuring device 4 in the conveying direction of the seed plate 2 for clamping and conveying the seed plate 2 and removing internal stress of the seed plate 2, and a grooving means provided downstream of the internal stress removing means 5 in the conveying direction of the seed plate 2 for clamping and conveying the seed plate 2 and applying grooving processing to the seed plate 2 in accordance with the thickness of the seed plate 2 measured by the thickness measuring device 4. 1(b), the thickness measuring device 4 has detectors 11 (specifically, 11a, 11b) arranged symmetrically above and below the conveying path 7, and includes detection means 10 which detects the distance between the front surface of the seed plate 2 with the upper detector 11a located on the upper side and detects the distance between the rear surface of the seed plate 2 with the lower detector 11b located on the lower side, thickness calculation means 12 which calculates the thickness of the seed plate 2 based on the detection information from the detection means 10, and air blowing means 13 which blows air against the detection surface of the lower detector 11b to remove foreign matter w that has fallen onto the detection surface.

[0017] In such technical means, the cathode finisher 1 is not limited to the components shown in Fig. 1(a), and may of course include other elements necessary for finishing, such as a seed plate supplying means for supplying the seed plate 2 to the conveying means 3, and a hanger forming means for forming the seed plate that has passed through the groove forming means 6 into a cathode with a hanger so that it can be used in an electrolytic cell. In addition, the cathode finisher 1 may have a function for cutting the seed plate 2 and measuring the cathode distortion. The transport means 3 may be appropriately selected from a pair of transport rollers, a roller conveyor, a transport belt, etc., so long as it transports the starting plate 2. In the cathode finisher 1 shown in Fig. 1(a), a roller conveyor-type transport member 3a is used. Furthermore, in this example, the conveying means 3 only needs to include an area for conveying the seed plate 2 along the horizontal conveying path 7 in which the front and back surfaces of the seed plate 2 face up and down, and it is not necessary for the entire conveying path 7 to be a horizontal path. In this example, the thickness measuring device 4, the internal stress relieving means 5, and the grooving means 6 are provided on the horizontal conveying path 7.

[0018] 1(b) in this example broadly includes devices that measure the thickness of the seed plate 2 in a non-contact manner. However, since it is difficult to directly measure the thickness of the seed plate 2 in a non-contact manner, this example employs a method in which detectors 11 are arranged symmetrically above and below the seed plate 2 transported along the horizontal transport path 7, the upper detector 11a and the lower detector 11b detect the positions of the front and back surfaces of the seed plate 2, and the thickness calculation means 12 calculates the thickness of the seed plate 2 based on the relative positional relationship between the upper detector 11a and the lower detector 11b and the positions of the front and back surfaces of the seed plate 2. Furthermore, in this example, the lower detector 11b is disposed below the horizontal transport path 7 with its detection surface facing upward, which makes it easy for foreign matter w such as metal particles and scraps of the seed plate 2 to fall onto the detection surface of the lower detector 11b. Here, if the foreign matter w falls and accumulates on the detection surface of the lower detector 11b, the foreign matter w acts to block part of the outgoing light emitted from the detection surface of the lower detector 11b and the incoming light incident on the detection surface, and there is a concern that the light blocking effect of the foreign matter w will interfere with the detection of the back surface position of the seed plate 2 by the lower detector 11b. In this example, in consideration of such a situation, the thickness measuring instrument 4 is provided with an air blowing means 13 that blows air onto the detection surface of the lower detector 11b. When air from the air blowing means 13 is blown onto the detection surface of the lower detector 11b, the foreign matter w on the detection surface is removed, and the light blocking effect of the foreign matter w on the detection surface is eliminated. This prevents any hindrance to the detection of the back surface position of the seed plate 2 by the lower detector 11b, and suppresses cases in which the thickness measuring instrument 4 fails to measure the thickness of the seed plate 2.

[0019] The internal stress relief means 5 may be appropriately selected as long as it clamps and transports the seed plate 2 and relieves the internal stress of the seed plate 2. Specifically, if the seed plate 2 has a large warp or unevenness, there is a risk that the cathode distortion will be outside the specified range. Therefore, in order to reduce these deformations, the internal stress relief means 5 may perform a process to relieve the internal stress associated with the deformation of the seed plate 2. Furthermore, the seed plate 2 that has passed through the internal stress relief means 5 is corrected to a flat shape with small cathode distortion, but this seed plate 2 has weak surface rigidity, and when it is hung from a hanger and used as a cathode, the surface of the cathode tends to become unstable. In other words, the internal stress relief means 5 at the previous stage alone does not sufficiently ensure the verticality of the suspended cathode, so additional correction is necessary. In addition, when electrolysis progresses and copper, for example, is electrodeposited on the front and back of the cathode and a thickness is created, stress is generated due to the difference in the thickness of the electrodeposition on the front and back, and it is necessary to suppress deformation against this stress. For this reason, in this example, a grooving means 6 is employed to form a plurality of grooves (concave grooves, convex grooves) extending along the transport direction of the seed plate at appropriate intervals, thereby maintaining the flatness of the seed plate and increasing the surface rigidity. In particular, in this example, the grooving means 6 selects grooving processing conditions based on thickness information measured by the thickness measuring device 4 for each seed plate 2, and therefore measurement defects by the thickness measuring device 4 are suppressed, which means that grooving processing for the seed plate 2 is appropriately performed according to the thickness of the seed plate 2, and accordingly, a cathode with small cathode distortion and good accuracy is produced.

[0020] Next, a representative or preferred embodiment of the cathodic finisher 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. First, a representative embodiment of the thickness measuring device 4 is one in which the detection means 10 uses a detector 11 made of an optical displacement meter. A representative embodiment of the air blowing means 13 includes an embodiment in which, as shown in FIG. 1(b), the air blowing means 13 has an air pipe 13a extending in a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the seed plate 2, an air supply source 13b whose supply pressure can be changed is connected to the air pipe 13a, and a blowing nozzle 13c extending toward the detection surface of the lower detector 11b is branched. Here, when a plurality of lower detectors 11b are provided in a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the seed plate 2, a plurality of blowing nozzles 13c may be branched toward the detection surfaces of the plurality of lower detectors 11b. The compressed air from the blowing nozzle 13c may be constantly blown or periodically blown, or the dirt on the detection surface of the lower detector 11b may be detected by a dirt detector (not shown) and the compressed air may be blown when the detection surface becomes dirty by the dirt detector.

[0021] Furthermore, a preferred embodiment of the air blowing means 13 is one in which compressed air necessary to remove the foreign object w is blown onto the detection surface in consideration of the size and weight of the foreign object w. In this case, if the blowing pressure of the compressed air is set too high, the foreign object w on the detection surface may fly too far and pollute the surrounding environment of the cathode finisher 1. Therefore, it is preferable to select a blowing pressure that allows the trajectory of the removed foreign object w on the detection surface to be predicted, and to install a recovery means 15 in advance near the falling trajectory of the removed foreign object w to recover the removed foreign object w. Furthermore, when the foreign matter w is copper particles or copper chips such as scraps, it has been empirically found that the copper particles are 2 mm to 5 mm in size and 0.3 g to 5 g in weight, and the copper chips are 2 mm to 5 mm in width, 2 mm to 5 mm in thickness, 5 mm to 100 mm in length, and 3 g to 25 g in weight. In view of this, a preferred embodiment of the blow nozzle 13c is one in which the aperture of the blow outlet is set to 0.5 to 1.5 mm and the distance between the blow outlet and the detection surface is set to 10 to 20 mm, or one in which compressed air of 0.5 to 1.0 MPa is blown.

[0022] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail based on the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. First embodiment -Overall configuration of cathode finishing machine- FIG. 2 shows the overall configuration of the cathode finisher according to the first embodiment. In the figure, a cathodic finisher 1 is installed near a pallet conveyor 21 that transports pallets 20 containing seed plates 2 obtained from a seed plate electrolysis process (not shown). In this example, the cathode finishing machine 1 is equipped with a seed plate transfer device 22 that transfers the seed plate 2, a roller conveyor 23 that transports the transferred seed plate 2, an infeed roller 24 that feeds the seed plate 2, a surface smoothing unit 25 that smoothes the surface of the seed plate 2, an infeed roller 26 that feeds the seed plate, a thickness measuring instrument 4 that measures the thickness of the seed plate 2, a leveller 50 as an internal stress relief means that removes internal stress from the seed plate 2, a groove forming unit 80 as a grooving means that applies grooving processing to the seed plate 2 that has passed through the leveller 50, and a cathode forming unit (not shown) that forms the seed plate 2 that has passed through the groove forming unit 80 into a hanging cathode S that can be used in an electrolytic cell not shown.

[0023] In this example, the pallet conveyor 21 is a conveyor that loads the cathode seed plates 2 that have been bent or twisted on the pallet 20 and transports them to a predetermined position. The method for forming the seed plates 2 of predetermined dimensions is not particularly limited as long as it can produce a seed plate that is smooth and has few burrs. In this example, the seed plate 2 is a metal plate having, for example, a vertical width of about 1000 to 1150 mm, a horizontal width of about 1000 to 1150 mm, and a thickness of about 0.6 to 1.0 mm. When used to produce electrolytic copper, electrolytic copper with a purity of 99.99% is used for the seed plate 2. Here, the seed plate electrolysis process means, for example, a process for obtaining an electrolytic copper seed plate with a purity of 99.99% in the case of producing electrolytic copper. This seed plate electrolysis process is carried out in a state where an anode (positive electrode) made of crude copper with a purity of about 98% and a mother plate (negative electrode) made of stainless steel or titanium are alternately supplied to an electrolytic cell filled with an electrolytic solution. In this state, while supplying the electrolytic solution to the electrolytic cell, for example, a current density of 250 A / m 2If a current is supplied between the two electrodes so that the purity of the electrolytic copper seed plate is about 99.99%, an electrolytic copper seed plate with a purity of 99.99% can be obtained. The electrolyte used in this seed plate electrolysis process is not particularly limited, but a sulfuric acid solution of copper to which glue, avitone, etc. have been added is preferable.

[0024] In this example, the seed plate transfer device 22 adsorbs the seed plates 2 in the pallet 20 of the pallet conveyor 21 one by one using a vacuum adsorption platform 22c that is mounted on a moving platform 22b that moves laterally on a stand 22a using a fluid pressure horizontal cylinder and is movable up and down using a fluid pressure vertical cylinder, and transfers them to a roller conveyor 23. Furthermore, the roller conveyor 23 is a conveyor that transports the seed plates 2 transferred by the vacuum transfer device 22 to the straightening process, and is disposed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the pallet conveyor 21, so as to transport the seed plates 2 along the horizontal transport path 7 in which the front and back surfaces of the seed plates 2 face up and down. Furthermore, the surface smoothing unit 25 has a pair of smoothing rollers 25a, 25b that crush granular protrusions or burrs produced on the surface of the seed plate 2 during electrolysis to smooth the surface, and is structured so that the pair of smoothing rollers 25a, 25b are arranged above and below at a predetermined distance.

[0025] Further, the thickness measuring device 4 measures the thickness of the seed plate 2 in a non-contact manner before the step of correcting the shape of the seed plate 2 by the leveller 50 and the groove forming unit 80 is reached. Furthermore, the leveller 50 has a number of work rollers 51, 52 arranged in a staggered pattern above and below to clamp and transport the seed plate 2. As the seed plate 2 passes between the work rollers 51, 52, deformation due to warping and unevenness of the seed plate 2 is reduced and internal stress associated with the deformation is removed. Furthermore, the groove forming unit 80 has a pair of upper and lower groove forming rollers 81-83 in multiple stages (three stages in this example), and the seed plate 2 passes through these groove forming rollers 81-83 to form a plurality of grooves along the transport direction of the seed plate 2. In this example, the groove forming process (grooving) by the groove forming rollers 81-83 is performed by selecting groove forming process conditions based on thickness information of the seed plate 2 measured by the thickness measuring device 4.

[0026] As shown in FIG. 9(a), the cathode forming unit attaches a ring-shaped hanger 101 to one edge of the base plate 2 whose shape has been corrected by passing through the leveler 50 and the groove forming unit 80, and inserts a plate-shaped support rod 102 that functions as an electrode through this hanger 101 to form a cathode S that can be used in an electrolytic cell.

[0027] -Thickness measuring equipment- In this example, as shown in Figures 3(a) and (b), the thickness measuring device 4 has optical sensors 30 as detectors that are arranged symmetrically above and below the horizontal conveying path 7 as the detection means 10 shown in Figure 1(b), and the upper optical sensor 30a located on the upper side detects the distance between the front surface of the seed plate 2, and the lower optical sensor 30b located on the lower side detects the distance between the back surface of the seed plate 2. In this example, a plurality of optical sensors 30 (30a, 30b) are provided (in this example, three locations: at the center, left and right in the width direction) at intervals in the width direction intersecting the conveying direction of the starter plate 2. Also, the optical sensors 30 (30a, 30b) are arranged to have detection surfaces at a position a predetermined distance (for example, 80 mm±15 mm in this example) away from the center line L of the conveying path 7, taking into consideration optical characteristics such as focal length.

[0028] <Example of optical sensor configuration> In this example, the upper and lower optical sensors 30 have the same configuration, so the upper optical sensor 30a will be taken as an example for explanation. Here, the optical sensor 30 (in this example, the upper optical sensor 30a) includes, as shown in, for example, Figure 4(a), an emitter 31 that emits detection light D, and a light receiver 35 that receives reflected detection light R that is the detection light D reflected on the surface of the seed plate 2 to be measured that is transported on the conveying line (corresponding to the center line L of the conveying path 7). In the figure, the light emitting unit 31 is mainly composed of a light source 32 and a light projecting lens 33, and the light receiving unit 35 is mainly composed of a light receiving element 36 and a light receiving lens 37. By arranging these as shown in Figure 4(a), it is possible to measure the distance to the surface of the starting plate 2 being transported on the transport line by the principle of triangulation.

[0029] That is, when the distance between the center of the light-projecting lens 33 and the center of the light-receiving lens 37, which are the same distance h1 from the surface of the seed plate 2 to be measured, is Q, the distance between the center of the light-receiving lens 37 and the light-receiving surface of the light-receiving element 36 is F, and the distance from the point where a perpendicular line drawn from the center of the light-receiving lens 37 to the light-receiving surface of the light-receiving element 36 intersects with the light-receiving surface to the position where the reflected detection light R is incident on the light-receiving surface, the distance h1 can be calculated from the following formula 1. [Formula 1] h1=(F / X)·Q

[0030] Of the four variables in the above formula 1, Q and F are values ​​determined by the structure of the optical sensor 30, so the distance h1 can be uniquely determined from the distance X. A specific method for calculating the distance X will be described later. Since the light receiving element 36 outputs an output value according to the incident position of the reflected detection light, as shown in Fig. 3(b), a control element such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) mounted on the control device 40 calculates the output value output from the light receiving element 36 according to a predetermined algorithm, thereby calculating the distance h1 (referred to as the upper separation distance) to the surface of the seed plate 2 being transported on the transport line. Similarly, the lower optical sensor 30b can calculate the distance h2 between the detection surface of the sensor and the rear surface of the starting plate 2 (referred to as the lower separation distance).

[0031] <How to calculate distance X> In this example, the light receiving unit 35 constituting the optical sensor 30 is composed of a light receiving element 36 consisting of, for example, a PSD (Position Sensitive Detector), and a light receiving lens 37 that focuses reflected detection light R, which is a laser light that is emitted as detection light D from the light source 32 of the optical sensor 30 and is reflected by the surface of the surface plate 2 and then returns to the optical sensor 30, on the light receiving element 36 as spot light. Here, an interference filter that passes only light of a specific wavelength may be attached to the light receiving unit 35. For example, by attaching an interference filter that passes only light of the wavelength adopted for the detection light D, it is possible to effectively suppress the incidence of light other than the spot light. In FIG. 4(a), reference numeral 34 denotes a drive circuit that drives the light source 32, and reference numerals 38 and 39 denote amplifiers that are connected to the light receiving element 36 and amplify the current difference (Ix1-Ix2) that changes according to the distance X.

[0032] The above PSD has a structure in which a pair of output electrodes for signal extraction are provided at both ends of a uniform resistive layer formed on one or both sides of a high-resistive semiconductor substrate. As a result, when reflected detection light R is incident as a spot light on the surface of the resistive layer, an electric charge proportional to the amount of light is generated at the incident position. The generated electric charge reaches the resistive layer as a photocurrent, is divided inversely proportional to the distance to each of the pair of output electrodes, and is extracted from the output electrodes. For example, if the PSD has the structure shown in Figure 4(b) (PIN type photodiode), the output current I X1 ,I X2 The relationship shown in the following formulas 2 and 3 holds between the spot light incident position X and the light amount L1. Based on formula 4 which can be derived from these two formulas, the spot light incident position X A This allows the calculation of X in Equation 1. Here, I X1 is the output current of the output electrode X1, I X2 is the output current of the output electrode X2, and I0 is the total photocurrent (I X1 +I X2 ), L X is the length of the light receiving surface, X A PSD 1 and 2 respectively represent the distance from the electrical center position to the incident position. [Formula 2] I X1 =((L X / 2-X A ) / L X )×I0 [Formula 3] I X2 =((L X / 2+X A ) / L X )×I0 [Equation 4] (I X2 -I X1 ) / (I X1 +I X2 )=2×X A / L X

[0033] <Method of calculating seed plate thickness> Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3(b), if the separation distance G between the optical sensors 30 (referred to as the sensor separation distance) is stored in the CPU of the control device 40, the thickness t of the seed plate can be calculated from the following equation 5 using this stored sensor separation distance G and the upper separation distance h1 and the lower separation distance h2 calculated based on equations 1 and 4. [Formula 5] t=G-(h1+h2)

[0034] <Air blowing mechanism> Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the seed plate 2 passes through the thickness measuring instrument 4, there is a concern that foreign matter w (copper particles and copper chips remaining on the periphery of the seed plate 2 in this example) attached to the front and back surfaces of the seed plate 2 will fall and accumulate on the detection surface of the lower optical sensor 30b. In this case, the detection accuracy of the lower optical sensor 30b will be poor, so it is necessary to clean the detection surface of the lower optical sensor 30b to remove the accumulated foreign matter w, but the equipment of the cathode finisher 1 must be temporarily stopped in order to clean the foreign matter w. In addition, if the detection accuracy of the lower optical sensor 30b is left poor, the thickness measurement value of the seed plate 2 by the thickness measuring instrument 4 will be inaccurate, so that, as described later, the groove forming unit 80, which corrects the shape of the seed plate 2 according to the thickness of the seed plate 2, will not be properly performed on the seed plate 2, which may lead to manual re-correction of the cathode by an operator. For this reason, in this example, the lower optical sensor 30b is equipped with an air blowing mechanism 41 that blows compressed air onto the detection surface through which the detection light of the light emitting unit 31 and the light receiving unit 35 passes, as shown in Figures 3(a) and (b). By providing such an air blowing mechanism 41, even if a foreign object w falls onto the detection surface of the lower optical sensor 30b, the foreign object w can be prevented from accumulating on the detection surface. This eliminates the need to stop the equipment to clean the foreign object w, and also eliminates the need for manual re-correction by an operator.

[0035] In this example, the air blowing mechanism 41 has an air duct 42 as an air pipe arranged in a lower region of the lower optical sensor 30b parallel to the back surface of the seed plate 2 and extending in a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the seed plate 2. The air duct 42 is configured in a cylindrical shape with one end open and the other end closed, and an air compressor 43, for example, as an air supply source is connected to the opening of one end of the air duct 42, and the supply pressure of the compressed air can be variably selected by the air compressor 43. Furthermore, the air duct 42 is provided with through holes at locations corresponding to the lower optical sensors 30b, and air nozzles 44 (specifically 44a to 44c) are connected in communication with each through hole as a blowing nozzle. Each air nozzle 44 is arranged corresponding to the lower optical sensors 30b, and has a straight nozzle portion 45 extending in a substantially vertical direction from the air duct 42 and a curved nozzle portion 46 curved in a 1 / 4 arc shape from the tip of the straight nozzle portion 45, and the curved nozzle portion 46 blows compressed air toward the detection surface H of the lower optical sensor 30b. Here, the blowing direction of the compressed air from the air nozzle 44 to the detection surface H of the lower optical sensor 30b may be appropriately selected, but in this example, it is selected to be in the direction along the detection surface H of the lower optical sensor 30b toward the direction opposite to the conveying direction of the seed plate 2.

[0036] In this example, if the pressure of the compressed air sprayed from the air nozzle 44 is set to a level sufficient to remove and drop the foreign object 14 that has fallen onto the detection surface, even if compressed air is sprayed from the air nozzle 44 onto a foreign object w that has fallen onto the detection surface H of the lower optical sensor 30b, the foreign object on the detection surface H will not scatter far away and become suspended in the air, but will instead fall downward along a predetermined falling trajectory. For this reason, in this embodiment, a collection container 47 capable of collecting the foreign matter w that has been removed from the detection surface H and fallen is provided below the lower optical sensor 30b.

[0037] <Preferred embodiment of air blowing mechanism> (1) Compressed air blowing pressure In this embodiment, the blowing pressure of the compressed air is preferably 0.5 to 1.0 MPa. If the pressure is lower than 0.5 MPa, the copper particles and the scraps of the seed plate 2 cannot be blown away by the compressed air because there is not enough wind power to blow them away, while if the pressure is higher than 1.0 MPa, the copper particles will fly into the air with great force and scatter around. Therefore, it is desirable for the compressed air pressure to be 0.5 MPa to 1.0 MPa.

[0038] (2) Frequency of compressed air spray The more frequently the compressed air is blown, the better. However, since it is not possible to specify the frequency at which copper particles or chips land on the detection surface H of the lower optical sensor 30b, it is preferable to blow the compressed air constantly to make the copper particles or chips always absent from the detection surface H. However, it may be blown at a high frequency at regular intervals. Alternatively, a mechanism may be provided to monitor the thickness measurement results for each sheet, and to operate an automatic valve provided in the air duct 42 to blow compressed air whenever a measurement failure occurs. The type of compressed air may be any type, such as instrumentation compressed air or compressed air from a compressor that has separated moisture and oil, as long as it can remove copper particles and chips of the seed plate 2 with the flow of compressed air. In addition, it is preferable to use compressed air that has passed through a cleaning device such as a filter so that dust, oil, and other contaminants do not adhere to the detection surface H when the compressed air is blown.

[0039] (3) Air nozzle diameter and layout As shown in FIG. 3(c), the aperture of the air nozzle 44 is preferably 0.5 to 1.5 mm, and the distance e between the detection surface H of the lower optical sensor 30b and the tip of the air nozzle 44 is preferably 10 to 20 mm. Here, if the aperture is smaller than 0.5 mm, the blow amount decreases due to the resistance of the air nozzle 44, and if it is 20 mm or more away from the detection surface H, the blowing force of the compressed air is dispersed, so some of the heavy copper particles cannot be removed by blowing, while if the aperture is larger than 1.5 mm and the distance e from the detection surface H is closer than 10 mm, the copper powder scatters with force and scatters around. Also, if it is closer than 10 mm, the spray angle of the compressed air discharged from the tip of the air nozzle 44 is narrow, and the entire detection surface H cannot be cleaned. Therefore, the tip shape of the air nozzle 44 for compressed air may be flat, but it is desirable to install it at a position 10 to 20 mm away from the detection surface H of the lower optical sensor 30b with an aperture of 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm.

[0040] (4) Compressed air spray direction from air nozzle 3(c), the shape of the air nozzle 44 may be such that the curved nozzle portion 46 is curved in a substantially U-shape and compressed air is blown obliquely from above onto the detection surface H. In this case, compared to the case where the air nozzle 44 shown in solid lines in FIG. 3(c) is used, the compressed air is blown obliquely downward, so that the foreign matter 14 removed from the detection surface H tends to fall in the direction of gravity, which is preferable in that it makes it easier to collect the foreign matter 14 into the collection container 47.

[0041] -Leveller- 5 and 6, the leveler 50 includes a plurality of work rollers 51, 52 that directly contact the seed plate 2 and clamp and straighten the seed plate 2. The plurality of work rollers 51, 52 are vertically arranged in a staggered pattern and have roller bodies that extend continuously with a dimension longer than at least the width dimension of the seed plate 2 that intersects with the conveying direction. The transport speed of the seed plate 1 in the leveller 50 is not particularly limited. It may be set each time according to the desired processing amount (i.e., the amount of cathodes to be produced). The transport speed of the seed plate 2 in the leveller 50 is set in the range of 25 to 35 m / min, for example.

[0042] The seed plate 2 is fed between the upper and lower work rollers 51, 52 so that its up-down direction coincides with the direction in which the seed plate 2 is transported by the multiple work rollers 51, 52. The seed plate 2 fed between the upper and lower work rollers 51, 52 is repeatedly bent in the plate thickness direction by the multiple work rollers 51, 52 while moving between the upper and lower work rollers 51, 52, so that warping and unevenness of the seed plate 2 in the transport direction can be reduced. In other words, when a cathode is formed using the seed plate 2, warping and unevenness in the up-down direction can be reduced.

[0043] In this example, the leveller 50 includes backup rollers 53, 54 provided on the side of the work rollers 51, 52 opposite to the base plate 2, that is, on the side opposite to the side where the work rollers 51, 52 contact the base plate 1. Here, if it is the upper work roller 51, the backup roller 53 is provided above it, and if it is the lower work roller 52, the backup roller 54 is provided below it. In this example, the lower backup roller 54 is a component of a backup roller assembly 60. Specifically, the backup roller assembly 60 is a unit that adjusts the amount of roller pressing by the work rollers 51, 52, and includes a plurality of backup rollers 54, a support member 62, and a height adjustment mechanism 63. In addition, the roller depression amount refers to the distance W between the first contact surface A1 formed by connecting the points where each work roller 51 on the upper stage contacts the seed plate 2, and the second contact surface A2 formed by connecting the points where each work roller 52 on the lower stage contacts the seed plate 2 (see Figure 5 (b)).

[0044] In this example, the support member 62 is a member whose cross section in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the seed plate 1 in the leveller 50 is formed in a concave shape, and has a rectangular bottom plate 62a, a pair of side plates 62b along the transport direction of the seed plate 2, and a pair of end walls 64d in a direction intersecting the transport direction of the seed plate 2. The backup roller 61 is rotatably supported at both ends by the pair of side plates 62b of the support member 62. The height adjustment mechanism 63 has a function of raising and lowering the support member 62, and the roller pressing amount W can be adjusted by adjusting the height of the support member 62 with the height adjustment mechanism 63. Specifically, the lower surface of the support member 62 is an inclined surface, specifically, an inclined surface inclined downward from right to left in FIG. 5(a), and the height adjustment mechanism 63 is provided with a wedge-shaped moving member 63a arranged between the upper surface of the base 64 of the leveler 50 and the inclined surface of the support member 62. A screw hole 63h is formed in the moving member 63a parallel to the conveying direction of the seed plate 1 in the leveler 50, and a male screw formed at the tip of the screw shaft 63b is screwed into the screw hole 63h. The base end of the screw shaft 63b is rotatably held by a holding member 63c erected on the base 64. Therefore, if the screw shaft 63b is rotated by rotating a handle (not shown) to rotate the screw shaft 63b, the moving member 63a can be moved along the conveying direction of the seed plate 1. Then, by moving the moving member 63a in a direction approaching the inclined surface of the support member 62 (i.e., leftward in FIG. 5(a)), the support member 62 can be raised. Conversely, by moving the moving member 63a in a direction away from the inclined surface of the support member 62, the support member 62 can be lowered. In other words, by rotating the screw shaft 63b, the roller pressing amount W can be adjusted. The configuration of the height adjustment mechanism 63 is not limited to the above-mentioned configuration as long as it can adjust the roller pressing amount W by raising and lowering the support member 62.

[0045] <About roller pressure> In this example, the roller pressing amount W is not particularly limited, but it is preferable to adjust it so that the roller pressing amount W is larger on the entrance side of the carrying-in direction of the seed plate 2 and smaller on the exit side. The case where the first contact surface A1 and the second contact surface A2 coincide is taken as the reference, that is, the distance W=0. Then, when the second contact surface A2 is located below the first contact surface A1, the distance W is defined as a positive amount, and when the second contact surface A2 is located above the first contact surface A1, the distance W is defined as a negative amount. In other words, by adjusting this distance W, it is possible to effectively remove the internal stress of the seed plate 2. For example, when the reference plate thickness of the seed plate 2 is in the range of 0.5 to 1.0 mm, the roller pressing amount W can be set in the range of -2.0 to 0.0 mm on the entrance side and 0.5 to 1.5 mm on the exit side.

[0046] In this example, the support member 62 has a space 62s with a concave cross section, and there is a concern that, when the seed plate 2 passes through the leveller 50, foreign matter (copper particles, copper chips, etc.) peeled off from the surface of the seed plate 2 may fall into the support member 62. For this reason, it is preferable to provide a foreign matter removal mechanism 70 for discharging the foreign matter that has fallen into the support member 62 out of the leveller 50. 5(a) and 6(b), the foreign matter removal mechanism 70 has a nozzle 71 at an end of the support member 62, for example, at the end of the support member 62 on the discharge side in the transport direction of the starting plate 2, and this nozzle 71 is installed in a state where its nozzle is directed toward the space 62s of the support member 62 through an opening 62h in the end wall 62d. The nozzle 71 is connected to a compressed air supply device (not shown) via an air duct 72. By supplying compressed air from this compressed air supply device to the nozzle 71, it is possible to make the nozzle 71 blow compressed air continuously or intermittently into the space 62s. Furthermore, a recovery chute 75 is provided at the end of the support member 62 on the insertion side in the transport direction of the seed plate 2, and communicates with the space 62s of the support member 62 through an opening 62h in the end wall 62d of the support member 62. Therefore, foreign matter that has fallen into the support member 62 is discharged to the recovery chute 75 side by compressed air, and can be recovered in the recovery chute 75. It is possible to use a compressed air supply device (not shown) in common with the air compressor 43 of the air blowing mechanism 41 of the thickness measuring device 4. In this example, as shown in Fig. 6(b), the opening 62h is exemplified as being partially opened in the end wall 62d, but this is not limited thereto, and the end wall 62d may be entirely opened.

[0047] -Groove forming unit- In this example, as shown in Fig. 7(a), the groove forming unit 80 forms a plurality of grooves g in the seed plate 2 from which internal stress has been removed by undergoing shape correction by the leveller 50. Specifically, while the seed plate 2 is being transported, a plurality of grooves g parallel to the transport direction of the seed plate 2 are formed in the seed plate 2. This groove forming unit 80 includes a plurality of stages (three stages in this example) of groove forming rollers 81-83. Each of these groove forming rollers 81-83 is composed of an upper and lower pair of groove forming rollers 81a-83a, 81b-83b. The transport speed of the groove forming rollers 81 to 83 for transporting the starting plate 2 is not particularly limited and may be set appropriately depending on the amount of cathodes to be produced, for example, at 25 to 35 m / min.

[0048] <Example of groove forming roller configuration> In this example, as shown in Figs. 7(a) to (c), the front-stage groove forming roller 81 has three ring-shaped flanges 85 at predetermined intervals in the central region of the roller body 84 of a pair of upper and lower groove forming rollers 81a and 81b, and a clearance CL selected according to the thickness of the starting plate 2 is secured between each flange 85. In this example, the groove forming rollers 81a and 81b have a crest flange 85u having a mountain-shaped convex portion 88 over the entire circumferential surface of one of the flanges 85, and a valley flange 85d having a valley-shaped concave portion 89 over the entire circumferential surface of the remaining flange 85. In this example, the middle flange 85 of the upper groove forming roller 81a is configured as a crest flange 85u. The flanges 85 on both sides of the crest flange 85 are configured as valley flanges 85d. In contrast, the lower grooving roller 81b is configured in the opposite manner to the upper grooving roller 81a, in that the central flange 85 is configured as a valley flange 85d, and the flanges 85 on both sides thereof are configured as crest flanges 85u.

[0049] 7(a)-(c), the middle groove forming roller 82 is provided with a total of four ring-shaped flanges 86, two on each side in the outer region adjacent to the central region of the roller body 84 of the pair of upper and lower groove forming rollers 82a, 82b, and any of the four flanges 86 is formed as a crest flange 86u having a mountain-shaped convex portion 88 over the entire circumferential surface, and the remaining flanges 86 are formed as a valley flange 86d having a valley-shaped concave portion 89 over the entire circumferential surface. In this example, the upper groove forming roller 82a has two flanges 86 located toward the axial center configured as crest flanges 86u, and the two flanges 86 located outside thereof configured as valley flanges 86d. The lower groove forming roller 82b is provided with the crest flange 86u or the valley flange 86d so as to have the opposite positional relationship to the upper groove forming roller 82a.

[0050] 7(a)-(c), the rear groove forming roller 83 has four ring-shaped flanges 87, two on each side of the roller body 84 of the pair of upper and lower groove forming rollers 83a and 83b, in the axial end region, and one of the four flanges 87 is a crest flange 87u having a mountain-shaped convex portion 88 over the entire circumferential surface, and the remaining flanges 87 are a valley flange 87d having a valley-shaped concave portion 89 over the entire circumferential surface. In this example, the upper groove forming roller 83a has two flanges 87 located toward the axial center as crest flanges 87u, and the two flanges 87 located outside of them as valley flanges 87d. The lower groove forming roller 83b has crest flanges 87u or valley flanges 87d in a positional relationship opposite to that of the upper groove forming roller 83a.

[0051] In this example, the flange portions 85, 86 of the front and middle groove forming rollers 81, 82 have crest flange portions 85u, 86u and valley flange portions 85d, 86d arranged alternately with approximately the same dimensional spacing, and the flange portions 85, 86 of the rear groove forming roller 83 have crest flange portions 87u and valley flange portions 87d arranged alternately with a narrower dimensional spacing than the front and middle groove forming rollers 81, 82. For this reason, as shown in Fig. 8(b), when the seed plate 2 passes between the front, middle and rear groove forming rollers 81-83, grooves g recessed toward the valley flange portions 85d-87d are formed in the seed plate 2 at the clearance CL portions sandwiched between the flange portions 85-87 when the seed plate 2 passes between the paired groove forming rollers 81a-83a and 81b-83b. That is, the seed plate 2 is alternately formed with concave grooves g1 recessed as viewed from the front surface side of the seed plate 2 as shown by solid lines in Fig. 8 and convex grooves g2 recessed as viewed from the back surface side of the seed plate 2 and protruding as viewed from the front surface side of the seed plate 2 as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 8. In this example, the layout of the flanges 85-87 of the groove forming rollers 81-83 and the combination of the recesses 88 and the protrusions 89 may be appropriately selected according to the groove pattern required for the base plate 2.

[0052] <Gap adjustment mechanism> In this example, the groove forming unit 80 is equipped with a gap adjustment mechanism 90 that adjusts the gap (clearance CL) between the flange portions 85-87 of a pair of upper and lower groove forming rollers 81a-83a, 81b-83b that constitute the groove forming rollers 81-83, as shown in Figures 7(c) and 8(a). In this example, the gap adjustment mechanism 90 may be provided individually for each of the groove forming rollers 81 to 83. In this case, it is possible to individually select the clearance CL required for each of the groove forming rollers 81 to 83. However, if the clearance CL required for each of the groove forming rollers 81 to 83 is the same, the gap adjustment mechanism 90 may be provided commonly for each of the groove forming rollers 81 to 83. For example, in FIG. 8(a), the gap adjustment mechanism 90 is shown taking the groove forming roller 81 as an example, but similar gap adjustment mechanisms 90 are also provided for the other groove forming rollers 82, 83 individually or in common.

[0053] In this example, the groove forming roller 81 (82, 83) is made up of a pair of upper and lower groove forming rolls 81a, 81b (82a, 82b, 83a, 73b), both ends of which are rotatably supported by bearings 97, 98, respectively. Taking the groove forming roller 81 (grooving rollers 81a, 81b) as an example, the gap adjustment mechanism 90 adjusts the distance between bearings 97, 98 of the groove forming roller 81 (grooving rollers 81a, 81b). Here, the gap adjustment mechanism 90 is composed of a cylinder mechanism, a screw mechanism, or a cam mechanism rotated by a drive motor, and adjusts the distance between the bearings 97, 98 of both the grooved rollers 81a, 81b. In this case, the bearings 97, 98 of the pair of grooved rollers 81a, 81b may be moved relatively, or only the bearings 97, 98 of one of the pair of grooved rollers 81a, 81b may be moved. Also, the distance between the bearings 97 on one end side of the pair of grooved rollers 81a, 81b may be adjusted, and the bearing 98 on the other end side may be moved via an interlocking mechanism (drive transmission mechanism or link mechanism) that interlocks with the movement of the bearing 97.

[0054] According to this example, the gap adjustment mechanism 90 adjusts the distance between the bearings 97, 98 of the groove forming rollers 81-83, so that the paired groove rollers 81a, 81b (82a, 82b, 83a, 83b) held by the bearings 97, 98 move appropriately, and the distance between the paired groove rollers 81a, 81b (82a, 82b, 83a, 83b), i.e., the clearance CL, is adjusted.

[0055] Further, the gap adjustment mechanism 90 is input with a reference thickness of the seed plate 2 to be grooved. When the cathode S (see FIG. 9(a)) is produced using the seed plate 2 with the reference thickness, the gap adjustment mechanism 90 adjusts the clearance CL so that the clearance CL becomes the reference clearance. The reference clearance here means the clearance CL that allows a groove to be formed with an appropriate force in the seed plate 2 with the reference thickness. For example, when the reference thickness of the seed plate 2 is in the range of 0.5 to 1.0 mm, the reference clearance is usually set in the range of 1.3 to 2.0 mm. The clearance CL is further adjusted based on the measurement value by the thickness measuring instrument 4. In this way, setting the reference clearance to a value corresponding to a base plate 2 of a reference plate thickness and adjusting the clearance CL based on the measurement value taken by the thickness measuring device 4 has the advantage that it is less affected by plate thickness variations at the time of setting than setting it to a value corresponding to various base plates 2, and that a more reliable clearance can be obtained. It is preferable to use a standard thickness of the seed plate 2 determined based on the refining conditions of the seed plate 2 as the reference thickness of the seed plate 2. For example, when refining a cathode seed plate 2 used for refining electrolytic copper by electrolytic refining, the reference thickness of the seed plate 2 can be any value within the range of 0.5 to 1.0 mm.

[0056] -Cathode forming unit- In this embodiment, the cathode finisher 1 corrects the shape of the seed plate 2 through a leveller 50 and a groove forming unit 80, and then forms a cathode S using the corrected seed plate 2 in a cathode forming unit (not shown). The cathode forming unit includes a hanger forming portion and a support rod mounting portion. The hanger forming unit attaches the hanger 101 to the base plate 2 in which the groove g has been formed by the groove forming unit. Specifically, the hanger 101 is formed by caulking both ends of a strip-shaped plate to both sides of the edge of the base plate 2 so that it forms a ring. For example, when attaching a pair of hangers 101, they are attached approximately symmetrically in an area without the groove g, as shown in FIG. 8(a). The support rod attachment portion is for attaching a support rod 102 as an electric decoration to the hanging handle 101. Specifically, the support rod 102 may be inserted into the hanging handle 101 (for example, a pair of hanging handles 101) that are in a ring shape.

[0057] -Cathode manufacturing example- The cathode S produced by the above-mentioned cathode finisher 1 will now be outlined. In this example, the cathode S is, as shown in FIG. 9(a), a base plate 2 suspended from a support rod 102 via a hanger 101. The seed plate 2 of the cathode S has a plurality of grooves g (g1, g2) extending in the up-down direction (corresponding to the vertical direction when the cathode S is hung). The grooves g are formed by a groove forming unit 80. By forming the grooves g, the unevenness of the seed plate 2 in the up-down direction of the cathode S is reduced, and the cathode distortion can be suppressed. Therefore, by using such a cathode S, the power consumption in the seed plate electrolysis process can be suppressed and short circuits are less likely to occur. This can improve the production efficiency of electrolytic refining. Moreover, since uniform electrodeposition is easily performed, the quality of the cathode (product) after electrodeposition can be easily maintained at a good level. The cathode distortion refers to the maximum thickness dimension δ of the front and back surfaces of the seed plate 23 when the seed plate 23 is viewed from the edge in the vertical or horizontal direction as shown in Figs. 9(b) and 9(c). EXAMPLES

[0058] Example 1 In Example 1, a cathode was produced in a cathode finisher having a structure shown in Fig. 2. The cathode finisher used had an air blowing mechanism 41 shown in Fig. 3 as a thickness measuring device 4. The starting plate 2 to be supplied to the cathode finisher 1 was prepared by the following method. An anode (positive pole) made of crude copper with a purity of about 98% and a stainless steel mother plate (cathode) were fed into the electrolyte of an electrolytic cell, and after passing electricity through it for 24 hours, the copper electrodeposited on the mother plate was peeled off to produce a starting plate. The copper electrolyte used had a copper concentration of 47±2g / l, a sulfuric acid concentration of 180±20g / l, glue 100±10g / ton of electrodeposited copper, Avithon 10±5g / ton of electrodeposited copper, and thiourea 110±10g / ton of electrodeposited copper. The current density of the current flowing between the anode and cathode was 250A / m 2 The amount of the electrolyte solution supplied to the electrolytic cell was adjusted to 25 L / min. The prepared seed plates were all made of electrolytic copper with a purity of 99.99%, and had a flat plate shape with dimensions of 1000 mm length × 1000 mm width × 0.6 to 1.0 mm thickness.

[0059] The produced seed plate 2 was loaded into the cathode finisher 1 to produce a cathode. The operating conditions of the cathode finisher were such that in shape correction by the leveler 50, the roller pressing amount was −0.6 mm on the inlet side and +0.8 mm on the outlet side, the reference clearance of the groove forming rollers 81 to 83 of the groove forming unit 80 was 1.3 mm, and the reference thickness was 0.8 mm. The cathode hanger was a strip cut from the prepared starting plate, measuring 300 mm long x 100 mm wide x 0.6 to 1.0 mm thick. As the thickness measuring device 4, a pair of optical sensors 30 consisting of upper and lower sensors was used, and an upper optical sensor 31a and a lower optical sensor 30b were installed in positions symmetrical in the vertical direction with respect to the conveying line of the seed plate 2, in front of the leveller 50, and the distance between each sensor and the conveying line was adjusted to be 80 mm. In this case, the effective detection range of the pair of optical sensors 30 that can detect the distance to the surface of the seed plate 2 is a range of 80±15 mm based on the conveying line. In addition, if the distortion of the seed plate 2 passing through the thickness measuring device 4 exceeds the detection range, or if a foreign object blocks the emitting part 31 and the receiving part 35 of the lower optical sensor 30b, it is treated as a measurement failure, and the number of seed plates 2 with the measurement failure is counted. In addition, the diameter of the compressed air outlet at the tip of the air nozzle 44 of the air blowing mechanism 41 was set to 1.0 mm, the distance between the outlet and the emission section 31 and the light receiving section 35 was set to approximately 15 mm, an air compressor 43 was used as the air supply source, and the air supply pressure was set to 0.7 MPa.

[0060] Comparative Example 1 Comparative Example 1 was carried out in the same manner as in Example 1, except that a thickness measuring device 4' was used in which the air blowing mechanism 41 was not used, as shown in FIG.

[0061] In the following, in Example 1 and Comparative Example 1, test operations were carried out for one day each under the respective conditions. In Example 1, the operation of continuously blowing compressed air from the air nozzle 44 to remove foreign matter from the detection surface of the lower optical sensor 30b was continued for one day. Then, the cathode distortion was compared between the cathodes produced by the cathode finisher of Example 1 and the cathodes produced by the cathode finisher of Comparative Example 1. Furthermore, in each of the Example and Comparative Example, the accumulation state of foreign matter on the detection surface (emitting part and light receiving part) of the lower optical sensor was observed at the end of the day.

[0062] <Result> The results are shown in Table 1 below.

[0063] [Table 1]

[0064] Here, the cathode strain was measured by passing a support rod (24 x 42 x 1394 mm) through the base plate to which the hangers were attached, and holding the support rod to hang the cathode. The cathode strain is the value of δ shown in Figures 9(b) and (c). The cathode strain was measured using the measuring device disclosed in JP-A-7-190744. Then, for each of the examples and comparative examples, the average value of the cathode strain of the cathodes produced on that day was calculated, and this was taken as the average cathode strain. Furthermore, the variation in the cathode strain was calculated, and this was taken as the standard deviation of the cathode strain.

[0065] As shown in Table 1 below, the number of seed plates counted as measurement failures in Example 1 was 16, whereas in Comparative Example 1, the number increased sharply to 1,480. In Comparative Example 1, when the accumulation of foreign matter on the detection surface of the lower optical sensor was confirmed after the operation was completed, it was confirmed that foreign matter had accumulated to cover the emission part and the light receiving part, and that the accumulated foreign matter was blocking the detection light and the reflected detection light. On the other hand, no accumulation of foreign matter was observed in Example 1. From this, it was confirmed that measurement failures caused by the detection light and the reflected detection light being blocked by foreign matter occurred several tens of times more frequently than measurement failures caused by excessive distortion of the seed plate passing through the thickness measuring instrument.

[0066] Moreover, in Comparative Example 1, 1480 seed plates had measurement failures. In the seed plates with measurement failures, the thickness information of the seed plate was not provided to the grooving unit, so in Comparative Example 1, it was difficult to optimize the clearance CL in the grooving process by the groove forming unit, and both the average cathode strain and the standard deviation of the cathode strain were worse than those in Example 1. Furthermore, in Example 1, no cathodes required re-straightening, whereas in Comparative Example 1, many cathodes had large enough cathode distortion that they required re-straightening, making it necessary to assign dedicated personnel to perform the re-straightening. In this way, it was confirmed that it is necessary to periodically remove foreign matter accumulated on the detection surface of the lower optical sensor.

[0067] Now, in Comparative Example 1, since it does not have the air blowing mechanism (foreign matter removal mechanism) of the present application, it is necessary to stop the cathode finisher and perform cleaning. If the cathode finisher is stopped, it is not possible to supply the necessary cathode to the electrolytic cell, so it is necessary to stop electrolysis (electrolysis power outage) during the stop time. In Comparative Example 1, the time during which electrolysis was stopped due to foreign matter cleaning (electrolysis power outage time) was 1.3 h / day. On the other hand, in Example 1, such electrolysis power outage time did not occur. The production loss due to this electrolysis power outage was about 4 t / day. In other words, it was shown that by using the cathode finishing machine equipped with the thickness measuring device of Example 1, it is possible to substantially increase production by about 4 t / day.

[0068] Here, assuming an annual increase in production, it was estimated that by using the cathode finisher equipped with the thickness measuring device of Example 1, an increase in production of approximately 1054 t / year is practically possible. In this way, the cathode finisher of Example 1 can prevent foreign matter from accumulating on the detection surface even if the foreign matter falls on the detection surface of the optical sensor by devising a thickness measuring device that measures the thickness of the seed plate. That is, the cathode finisher of Example 1 can suppress measurement failures caused by foreign matter adhering to the detection surface of the thickness measuring device that measures the thickness of the cathode seed plate. This not only reduces the amount of electricity consumed in the seed plate electrolysis process, but also makes short circuits less likely to occur. Moreover, because uniform electrodeposition is easier to achieve, it is easier to maintain the quality of the cathode (product) after electrodeposition. Furthermore, it allows for mass production of high-precision cathodes, eliminating the need to stop equipment to clean off foreign matter or for workers to manually straighten the cathode. It has been shown that the effect is so great that it effectively makes it possible to increase production by approximately 1,054 tons per year. In this way, the cathode finisher of Example 1 can suppress measurement errors caused by foreign matter adhering to the detection surface of the thickness measuring device that measures the thickness of the cathode seed plate, and can finish cathodes with high precision so that they can be mass-produced, thereby improving the production efficiency of electrolytic refining. [Industrial Applicability]

[0069] The cathode finisher of the present invention is effective in significantly suppressing distortion of cathodes used in electrolytic refining processes for non-ferrous metals and the like, without complicating the overall device configuration, by using an ingenious thickness measuring device. [Explanation of symbols]

[0070] 1. Cathode Finisher 2 types board 3. Means of transportation 3a Transport member 4. Thickness measuring equipment 5. Internal stress relief measures 6 Grooving means 7. Transport Route 10. Detection Methods 11 Detector 11a Upper detector 11b Lower detector 12 Thickness calculation method 13 Air blowing means 13a Air piping 13b Air supply source 13c Spray nozzle 14 Foreign object 15 Recovery Methods 20 palettes 21 Pallet conveyor 22 Seed plate transfer device 22 22a Mount 22b Mobile platform 22c Vacuum suction stand 23 Roller Conveyor 24 Feed roller 25 Flat surface smoothing unit 25a, 25b Smooth roller 26 Feed roller 30 Optical Sensor 30a Upper optical sensor 30b Lower optical sensor 31 Radiation section 32 light source 33 Projection lens 35 Light receiving part 36 Photodetector 37 Receiving lens 40 Control device 41 Air blowing mechanism 42 Air Duct 43 Air Compressor 44 Air nozzle 45 Straight nozzle section 46 Curved nozzle part 50 Leveller 51,52 Work roller 53,54 Backup roller 60 Backup roller assembly 62 Support member 62a bottom plate 62b side plate 62d End wall 62h opening 62s space part 63 Height adjustment mechanism 63a Moving member 63b Screw shaft 63c Retaining member 63h screw hole 64 Foundation 70 Foreign object removal mechanism 71 Nozzle 72 Air Duct 75 Recovery Shot 80 Groove forming unit 81~83 Grooved roller 81a, 81b Grooving roller 82a, 82b Grooving roller 83a, 83b Grooving roller 85~87 flange 85u~87u Yamatsubabe 85d~87d Tanitsuba 88 Convex 89 Recess 90 Spacing adjustment mechanism 97,98 Bearings 101 Hanging Hand 102 Support rod S cathode

Claims

1. A conveying means for conveying the cathode seed plate along a horizontal conveying path in which the front and back surfaces of the cathode seed plate face up and down; a thickness measuring device provided in the middle of the conveying path and configured to measure the thickness of the starting plate in a non-contact manner; an internal stress relief means provided downstream of the thickness measuring device in a conveying direction of the seed plate, for clamping and conveying the seed plate to remove internal stress of the seed plate; a groove forming means that is provided downstream of the internal stress relieving means in a conveying direction of the seed plate, the groove forming means clamping and conveying the seed plate, and grooves the seed plate in accordance with the thickness of the seed plate measured by the thickness measuring device; Equipped with The thickness measuring device has detectors arranged symmetrically above and below the conveying path, and an upper detector located on the upper side detects the distance between the front surface of the seed plate and a lower detector located on the lower side detects the distance between the rear surface of the seed plate; a thickness calculation means for calculating a thickness of the seed sheet based on detection information from the detection means; and an air blowing means for blowing air against the detection surface of the lower detector to remove foreign matter that has fallen onto the detection surface.

2. 2. The cathodic finisher of claim 1, 2. A cathode finisher comprising: a detecting means for detecting a position of the cathode;

3. 2. The cathodic finisher of claim 1, The air blowing means has an air piping extending in a direction intersecting the conveying direction of the seed plate, an air supply source capable of varying supply pressure is connected to the air piping, and a blowing nozzle is provided branching off and extending toward the detection surface of the lower detector.

4. 4. The cathodic finisher of claim 3, The air blowing means blows onto the detection surface an amount of compressed air required to remove the foreign matter, taking into account the size and weight of the foreign matter.

5. 5. The cathodic finisher of claim 4, A cathode finisher characterized in that, when the foreign matter is copper particles or copper chips, the aperture of the spray nozzle is set to 0.5 to 1.5 mm, and the distance between the spray nozzle and the detection surface is set to 10 to 20 mm.

6. 5. The cathodic finisher of claim 4, A cathode finisher characterized in that, when the foreign matter is copper particles or copper chips, the spray nozzle sprays compressed air at a pressure of 0.5 to 1.0 MPa.

7. A conveying means for conveying the cathode seed plate along a horizontal conveying path in which the front and back surfaces of the cathode seed plate face up and down; a thickness measuring device provided in the middle of the conveying path and configured to measure the thickness of the starting plate in a non-contact manner; an internal stress relief means provided downstream of the thickness measuring device in a conveying direction of the seed plate, for clamping and conveying the seed plate to remove internal stress of the seed plate; a groove forming means that is provided downstream of the internal stress relieving means in a conveying direction of the seed plate, the groove forming means clamping and conveying the seed plate, and grooves the seed plate in accordance with the thickness of the seed plate measured by the thickness measuring device; The thickness measuring device for use in a cathodic finisher comprising: a detection means having detectors arranged symmetrically above and below the conveying path, the detection means detecting the distance between the front surface of the seed plate and the lower surface of the seed plate and the lower detector detecting the distance between the rear surface of the seed plate and the upper detector detecting the distance between the rear ... a thickness calculation means for calculating a thickness of the seed sheet based on detection information from the detection means; and an air blowing means for blowing air against the detection surface of the lower detector to remove any foreign matter that has fallen onto the detection surface.

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