Cathodic Conduction Mechanism and Electroplating System

Abstract

The present invention relates to a cathode conductive mechanism and an electroplating system, the cathode conductive mechanism includes a first conductive belt, a first conductive belt assembly, a second conductive belt and a second conductive belt assembly, the first conductive belt assembly includes a first belt roller and a second belt roller, the first conductive belt is wound around the outside of the first belt roller and the second belt roller, the second conductive belt assembly includes a third belt roller and a fourth belt roller, the second conductive belt is wound around the outside of the third belt roller and the fourth belt roller. The lower conductive belt in the present invention does not need to penetrate the bottom of the electroplating tank, which avoids liquid leakage, and the upper conductive belt and the lower conductive belt only need to be driven by two belt rollers, respectively, which greatly reduces the cost.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of thin film electroplating, and more particularly to a cathodic conduction mechanism and electroplating system. [Background technology]

[0002] Electroplating is a process that uses the principle of electrolysis to plate a thin layer of metal or alloy onto a metal surface, and uses electrolysis to deposit a metal film on the surface of a metal or other material, preventing the metal from oxidizing (e.g. rusting) and improving wear resistance, electrical conductivity, reflectivity, and aesthetics. With the development of modern industrial technology, the demand for surface coating of thin film substrates is increasing, and it is widely used in fields such as high-performance automotive films, flat panel displays for plasma TVs, touch screens, solar cells, flexible printed circuits (FPCs), and chip-on-films (COFs).

[0003] At present, in the conductive thin film manufacturing apparatus, for example, in the patent with publication number CN114182328A and title of Cathode Edge Conduction Mechanism and Cathode Conduction Module of Horizontal Electroplating Equipment, a conductive belt is used to conduct electricity to the edge of the thin film instead of the traditional conductive roller, but the conductive belt of the conductive thin film manufacturing apparatus is short in length, and the following current shortcomings cannot be solved: Since the two pulleys of the lower conductive belt need to be at the bottom of the electroplating tank, the lower conductive belt needs to pass through the bottom of the tank body where the upper conductive belt is located, so that liquid leakage from the tank body where the upper conductive belt is located is likely to occur downward; and, in addition, the lower conductive belt and the upper conductive belt need to be driven by four conductive pulleys respectively, which leads to cost waste. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In view of the above-mentioned shortcomings and deficiencies of the prior art, the present invention provides a cathode conducting mechanism and an electroplating system that solves the technical problem that in the prior art, the lower conductive belt passes through the bottom of the electroplating tank, causing liquid leakage from the bottom of the electroplating tank. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In order to achieve the above objectives, the main technical solutions used in the present invention are as follows:

[0006] In one aspect, the present invention provides a cathode conductive mechanism, the cathode conductive mechanism including a first conductive belt, a first conductive belt assembly, a second conductive belt, and a second conductive belt assembly, the first conductive belt assembly including a first belt roller and a second belt roller, the first conductive belt being wound around the outside of the first belt roller and the second belt roller, the second conductive belt assembly including a third belt roller and a fourth belt roller, the second conductive belt being wound around the outside of the third belt roller and the fourth belt roller, the first belt roller and the third belt roller being in rolling contact above and below, and the second belt roller and the fourth belt roller being in rolling contact.

[0007] Alternatively, the width of the second conductive belt is larger than the width of the first conductive belt, and a conductive brush is provided on a portion of the second conductive belt that protrudes beyond the first conductive belt, or the width of the first conductive belt is larger than the width of the second conductive belt, and a conductive brush is provided on a portion of the first conductive belt that protrudes beyond the second conductive belt.

[0008] Optionally, a copper bus bar is connected to the conductive brush.

[0009] Optionally, the first conductive belt assembly further includes a plurality of upper pinch rollers located between the first belt roller and the second belt roller and having a mounting height lower than a mounting height of the first belt roller and the second belt roller.

[0010] Optionally, the second conductive belt assembly further includes a plurality of lower pinch rollers located between the third belt roller and the fourth belt roller and having a mounting height greater than a mounting height of the third belt roller and the fourth belt roller.

[0011] Optionally, an upper auxiliary electrode tank is installed above the first conductive belt assembly, and openings are installed on both sides of the upper auxiliary electrode tank through which the first conductive belt passes. An upper copper etching mechanism is installed in the upper auxiliary electrode tank to remove copper plating particles on the surface of the conductive layer of the first conductive belt.

[0012] Optionally, a lower auxiliary electrode tank is installed below the second conductive belt assembly, and openings are installed on both sides of the lower auxiliary electrode tank through which the second conductive belt passes. An upper copper etching mechanism is installed in the lower auxiliary electrode tank to remove copper plating particles on the surface of the conductive layer of the second conductive belt.

[0013] In another aspect, the present invention provides an electroplating system, comprising: an electroplating tank; a cathode conductive mechanism installed in the electroplating tank with mirror symmetry, the cathode conductive mechanism being located on both sides in a direction of arrangement of a thin film, and a plurality of upper and lower electroplating anodes installed in the electroplating tank, the upper and lower electroplating anodes being installed between the cathode conductive mechanisms on both sides of the electroplating tank.

[0014] Optionally, a thickening segment is further installed at a front end of the coating segment of the electroplating tank for thickening the plating layer on an edge of the thin film.

[0015] Optionally, a preliminary plating tank is provided at the front end of the electroplating tank, and a conductive roller, a passing roller and an anode plate are provided in the preliminary plating tank. Effect of the Invention

[0016] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows:

[0017] According to the cathode conductive mechanism and electroplating system of the present invention, the cathode conductive mechanism includes a first conductive belt, a first conductive belt assembly, a second conductive belt, and a second conductive belt assembly, the first conductive belt assembly includes a first belt roller and a second belt roller, the first conductive belt is wound around the outside of the first belt roller and the second belt roller, the second conductive belt assembly includes a third belt roller and a fourth belt roller, the second conductive belt is wound around the outside of the third belt roller and the fourth belt roller. The second conductive belt of the present invention does not need to pass through the bottom of the electroplating tank, which avoids liquid leakage, and the first conductive belt and the second conductive belt only need to be driven by two belt rollers, respectively, which greatly reduces costs. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the overall structure of a cathode conductive mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a side view of a cathode conducting mechanism in an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a structural schematic diagram of a cathode conduction mechanism with a tension wheel in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a structural schematic diagram of a cathode conduction mechanism with an auxiliary electrode tank in an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] 1 is a top view of the overall structure of an electroplating system according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a thickening tank in an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] In order to better understand the above technical solution, the exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings. Although the exemplary embodiments of the present invention are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present invention can be realized in various forms without being limited to the embodiments described herein. On the contrary, these embodiments are provided to more clearly and fully understand the present invention and fully convey the scope of the present invention to those skilled in the art.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 1, a specific embodiment of the present invention provides a cathode conductive mechanism, and the cathode conductive mechanism 10 includes a first conductive belt 11, a first conductive belt assembly 12, a second conductive belt 13, and a second conductive belt assembly 14, the first conductive belt assembly 12 includes a first belt roller 121 and a second belt roller 122, the first conductive belt 11 is wound around the outside of the first belt roller 121 and the second belt roller 122, the second conductive belt assembly 14 includes a third belt roller 141 and a fourth belt roller 142, the second conductive belt 13 is wound around the outside of the third belt roller 141 and the fourth belt roller 142, the first belt roller 121 and the third belt roller 141 are in rolling contact with each other up and down, and the second belt roller 122 and the fourth belt roller 142 are in rolling contact with each other. The second conductive belt 13 of the present invention does not need to pass through the bottom of the electroplating tank, which prevents liquid leakage from the bottom of the electroplating tank, and the first conductive belt 11 and the second conductive belt 13 only need to be driven by two belt rollers each, which greatly reduces costs.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 2, in some embodiments, the width of the second conductive belt 13 is larger than the width of the first conductive belt 11, and the conductive brush 15 is provided on the portion of the second conductive belt 13 that protrudes beyond the first conductive belt 11, or the width of the first conductive belt 11 is larger than the width of the second conductive belt 13, and the conductive brush 15 is provided on the portion of the first conductive belt 11 that protrudes beyond the second conductive belt 13. That is, in the present embodiment, the widths of the first conductive belt 11 and the second conductive belt 13 are different, and the conductive brush 15 is provided on the missing portion of the narrower conductive belt.

[0022] Specifically, the conductive mechanism in the prior art is structurally limited, and the length of the conductive belt is short, so that the current only stays on the conductive belt for a very short time and is transmitted to the roller that drives the belt, and the current does not damage the conductive belt because the resistance of the conductive belt itself is small and heat generation is small. However, the conductive belt is too short to meet the coating demand, so multiple conductive members need to be laid in the electroplating tank to meet the coating demand. In view of the above circumstances, the width of the first conductive belt 11 of the cathode conductive mechanism 10 according to the present application is smaller than the width of the second conductive belt 13, and therefore the conductive brush 15 is installed on the part of the second conductive belt 13 that protrudes beyond the first conductive belt 11, and the length of the first conductive belt 11 and the second conductive belt 13 increases (for example, the length may increase from the original 3 meters to the current 50 meters). As a result, the amount of charge accumulated in the first conductive belt 11 and the second conductive belt 13 increases as the current travels from one end of the first conductive belt 11 to the other end of the second conductive belt 13, and since the thickness of the first conductive belt 11 and the second conductive belt 13 is constant, the resistance increases and the current that needs to pass also increases tenfold, resulting in the first conductive belt 11 and the second conductive belt 13 generating heat and increasing the voltage of the power supply. In this case, the first conductive belt 11 and the second conductive belt 13 require a larger current capacity. Therefore, in this embodiment, the conductive brush 15 comes into contact with the second conductive belt 13, thereby diverting current from the second conductive belt 13, reducing the current in the first conductive belt 11 and the second conductive belt 13, and avoiding damage to the first conductive belt 11 and the second conductive belt 13.

[0023] In some embodiments, since the number of conductive brushes 15 is very large, a copper bus bar 151 is connected to the conductive brushes 15. In the embodiment of the present invention, the copper bus bar 151 is provided to bundle the wires of all the conductive brushes 15 together, making the overall wiring easier.

[0024] 3, in some embodiments, the first conductive belt assembly 12 further includes a plurality of upper pinch rollers 123, which are located between the first belt roller 121 and the second belt roller 122, and have a mounting height lower than that of the first belt roller 121 and the second belt roller 122. In the embodiments of the present invention, compared to a device having a conventional conductive belt structure, the mounting seat of the upper pinch roller 123 of the present application is lifted and lowered by a lift cylinder, so that the first conductive belt assembly 12 and the second conductive belt assembly 14 can be moved apart and close to each other simply by driving the upper pinch roller 123 up and down by the lift cylinder, and therefore, the first conductive belt assembly 12 and the second conductive belt assembly 14 of the present application are both fixedly mounted and can share the same driving motor.

[0025] 3, in some embodiments, the second conductive belt assembly 14 further includes a plurality of lower pinch rollers 143, which are located between the third belt roller 141 and the fourth belt roller 142 and have a mounting height higher than the mounting heights of the third belt roller 141 and the fourth belt roller 142. The second conductive belt 13 is tensioned by the plurality of lower pinch rollers 143, thereby preventing adverse effects on the conductive quality caused by the vibration of the second conductive belt 13. The tension portion of the second conductive belt 13 of the present application performs mechanical tension using the plurality of lower pinch rollers 143, eliminating the need for a separate tension cylinder, simplifying the tension mechanism and reducing costs.

[0026] Specifically, the part that needs to be lifted is changed to the upper pinch roller 123, and a separate lift control is not required. This application not only reduces the number of belt rollers, but also simplifies the belt roller drive mechanism, lift mechanism, and tension mechanism, thereby reducing costs. FIG. 4 is a structural schematic diagram of a cathode conductive mechanism with an auxiliary electrode tank in an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, in some embodiments, an upper auxiliary electrode tank 16 is installed above the first conductive belt assembly 12, openings for the first conductive belt 11 to pass through are installed on both sides of the upper auxiliary electrode tank 16, and an upper copper corrosion mechanism for removing copper plating particles on the conductive layer surface of the first conductive belt 11 is installed in the upper auxiliary electrode tank 16. A lower auxiliary electrode tank 17 is installed below the second conductive belt assembly 14, openings for the second conductive belt 13 to pass through are installed on both sides of the lower auxiliary electrode tank 17, and an upper copper corrosion mechanism for removing copper plating particles on the conductive layer surface of the second conductive belt 13 is installed in the lower auxiliary electrode tank 17.

[0027] Specifically, the lengths of the first conductive belt 11 and the second conductive belt 13 are increased, that is, the distance between the first belt roller 121 and the second belt roller 122 and the distance between the third belt roller 141 and the fourth belt roller 142 are increased, so that sufficient mounting space can be provided for the upper auxiliary electrode tank 16 and the lower auxiliary electrode tank 17.

[0028] 5, in another aspect, a specific embodiment of the present invention further provides an electroplating system, which includes an electroplating tank 20 and a cathode conducting mechanism 10 installed in the electroplating tank 20 with mirror symmetry, the cathode conducting mechanism 10 being located on both sides of the arrangement direction of the thin film 30, and a plurality of upper and lower electroplating anodes 21 are installed in the electroplating tank 20, and the upper and lower electroplating anodes 21 are installed between the cathode conducting mechanisms 10 on both sides of the electroplating tank 20. Specifically, during the electroplating process, a plating solution is installed in the electroplating tank 20, and the cathode conducting mechanisms 10 are installed on the edges of the electroplating tank 20 on both sides of the arrangement direction of the thin film 30, respectively, the cathode conducting mechanisms 10 clamp the edges of the thin film 30 to conduct electricity to the thin film 30, and the upper and lower electroplating anodes 21 supply anode power, and the electroplating circuit formed by the thin film 30, the upper and lower electroplating anodes 21 and the plating solution performs electroplating on the thin film 30.

[0029] In some embodiments, a thickened segment may be further installed at the inlet end of the electroplating tank 20, and the thickened segment may have the same structure as the coating segment, but the mounting spacing between the cathode conductive mechanisms 10 of the thickened segment is slightly larger than that of the latter, i.e., the portion of the thickened segment that clamps the thin film 30 of the cathode conductive mechanism 10 is closer to the edge than the portion of the coating segment that clamps the thin film 30 of the cathode conductive mechanism 10, so that the thickness of the plating layer of the thin film 30 is increased in the portion where the edges of the two do not overlap, which is advantageous to improving the conductivity of the coating segment.

[0030] According to the electroplating system of the embodiment of the present invention, the entire structure of the cathode conducting mechanism 10 is inside the electroplating tank 20, so that the second conductive belt 13 does not need to pass through the bottom of the electroplating tank 20, which avoids liquid leakage; and the electroplating system requires fewer cathode conducting mechanisms 10, so that only one cathode conducting mechanism 10 is required on each side of the electroplating tank 20 to meet the coating demand, thereby greatly reducing costs.

[0031] 6, in some embodiments, a pre-plating tank 40 is installed at the front end of the electroplating tank 20, and a conductive roller 41, a passing roller 42 and an anode plate 43 are installed in the pre-plating tank 40. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the pre-plating tank 40 adds a metal layer of a predetermined thickness to the thin film 30, thereby improving the quality of the subsequent coating.

[0032] The beneficial effects of the embodiments of the present invention are as follows:

[0033] The second conductive belt 13 of the present invention does not need to pass through the bottom of the electroplating tank, thereby avoiding liquid leakage, and the first conductive belt 11 and the second conductive belt 13 each only need to be driven by two belt rollers, thereby greatly reducing costs.

[0034] In this embodiment, the conductive brush 15 comes into contact with the second conductive belt 13, thereby diverting current from the second conductive belt 13, reducing the current in the first conductive belt 11 and the second conductive belt 13, and preventing damage to the first conductive belt 11 and the second conductive belt 13.

[0035] In the embodiment of the present invention, the copper bus bar 151 is provided to bundle the wires of all the conductive brushes 15 together, making it possible to make the overall wiring easier.

[0036] In the embodiment of the present invention, the lengths of the first conductive belt 11 and the second conductive belt 13 are increased, that is, the distance between the first belt roller 121 and the second belt roller 122 and the distance between the third belt roller 141 and the fourth belt roller 142 are increased, so that sufficient mounting space can be provided for the upper auxiliary electrode tank 16 and the lower auxiliary electrode tank 17.

[0037] According to the electroplating system of the embodiment of the present invention, the entire structure of the cathode conducting mechanism 10 is inside the electroplating tank 20, so that the second conductive belt 13 does not need to pass through the bottom of the electroplating tank 20, which avoids liquid leakage; and the electroplating system requires fewer cathode conducting mechanisms 10, so that only one cathode conducting mechanism 10 is required on each side of the electroplating tank 20 to meet the coating demand, thereby greatly reducing costs.

[0038] In the present description, as will be appreciated, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood to indicate or imply a relative importance or number of the technical features being indicated. Thus, a feature qualified with "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of said features. In the present description, unless expressly limited otherwise, "plurality" means two or more.

[0039] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "attached", "coupled", "connected", "fixed" and the like should be understood in a broad sense, for example, may be fixed connection, detachable connection, or integration, may be mechanical connection, electrical connection, direct connection, indirect connection through an intermediate medium, internal communication between two elements, or an interactive relationship between two elements. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention according to the specific situation.

[0040] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, a first feature being "above" or "below" a second feature may mean that the first feature and the second feature are in direct contact with each other, or that the first feature and the second feature are in indirect contact with each other via an intermediate medium. Furthermore, a first feature being "above," "above," and "on the upper side" of a second feature may mean that the first feature is directly above or diagonally above the second feature, or simply that the horizontal height of the first feature is higher than that of the second feature. A first feature being "below," "below," and "on the lower side" of a second feature may mean that the first feature is directly below or diagonally below the second feature, or simply that the horizontal height of the first feature is lower than that of the second feature.

[0041] In the description of this specification, the description of the terms "one embodiment", "several embodiments", "examples", "examples", "specific examples" or "several examples" refers to the inclusion of specific features, structures, materials or properties described with reference to the embodiment or example in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, exemplary expressions of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, specific features, structures, materials or properties described can be appropriately combined in any one or more embodiments or examples. In addition, a person skilled in the art can combine different embodiments or examples and features of different embodiments or examples described in this specification, unless they are mutually inconsistent.

[0042] Although the present invention has been shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that the above embodiments are illustrative and not limiting, and that those skilled in the art may make modifications, changes, substitutions and variations to the above embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0043] 10. Cathode Conduction Mechanism 11 First conductive belt 12 First conductive belt assembly 121 First belt roller 122 Second belt roller 123 Upper pinch roller 13 Second conductive belt 14 Second conductive belt assembly 141 3rd belt roller 142 4th belt roller 143 Lower pinch roller 15 Conductive Brush 151 Copper busbar 16 Upper auxiliary electrode tank 17 Lower auxiliary electrode tank 20 Electroplating tank 21 Electroplating anode 30 Thin Film 40 Pre-plating tank 41 Conductive roller 42 Passing roller 43 Anode plate

Claims

1. A cathode conductive mechanism, the cathode conductive mechanism (10) comprising: A first conductive belt (11), a first conductive belt assembly (12), a second conductive belt (13), and a second conductive belt assembly (14), The first conductive belt assembly (12) includes a first belt roller (121) and a second belt roller (122), and the first conductive belt (11) is wound around the outside of the first belt roller (121) and the second belt roller (122); the second conductive belt assembly (14) includes a third belt roller (141) and a fourth belt roller (142), the second conductive belt (13) is wound around the outside of the third belt roller (141) and the fourth belt roller (142); the first belt roller (121) and the third belt roller (141) are in contact with each other vertically via the first conductive belt (11), and the second belt roller (122) and the fourth belt roller (142) are in contact with each other via the first conductive belt (11), The width of the second conductive belt (13) is greater than the width of the first conductive belt (11), and a conductive brush (15) is provided on a portion of the second conductive belt (13) that protrudes beyond the first conductive belt (11), or A cathode conductive mechanism characterized in that the width of the first conductive belt (11) is greater than the width of the second conductive belt (13), and a conductive brush (15) is provided on a portion of the first conductive belt (11) that protrudes beyond the second conductive belt (13).

2. 2. The cathode conduction mechanism according to claim 1, wherein a copper bus bar (151) is connected to the conductive brush (15).

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