Plating Equipment Diaphragm Air Bubble Discharge
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Solution Overview
Problem
The use of insoluble anodes in jet type plating equipment is limited due to inefficient air bubble discharge and solution mixing issues, which hinder the realization of productivity gains and additive reduction benefits.
Innovation Solution
A plating equipment design featuring a diaphragm with a silicon ring fixed to its outer peripheral end and through-hole edge, an annular flow passage for solution ejection, and a flow controller to manage solution supply and air bubble discharge, preventing solution mixing and reducing pressure loss.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If a diaphragm is arranged in the plating tank to separate the object to be plated and the insoluble anode, then solution mixing is prevented and additive consumption is reduced, but air bubbles generated from the insoluble anode cannot be efficiently discharged
Solution Approach 1:
A gas discharge port is provided in the diaphragm to serve as an intermediary pathway for air bubbles. This allows bubbles generated at the anode to be discharged through the diaphragm structure itself, resolving the contradiction between maintaining solution separation (to reduce additive consumption) and enabling bubble discharge (to remove harmful factors).
Solution Approach 2:
The diaphragm is designed as a flexible thin film structure with integrated gas discharge functionality. This thin film allows selective permeability - preventing solution mixing while permitting gas passage through dedicated discharge ports, thereby simultaneously achieving additive conservation and bubble removal.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If the solution supply flow rate to the lower anolyte chamber is increased to discharge air bubbles, then bubble discharge efficiency is improved, but pressure loss increases and solution mixing occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The plating tank is segmented into an upper catholyte chamber and a lower anolyte chamber by the diaphragm. This segmentation allows independent solution supply and pressure control for each chamber, enabling bubble discharge in the lower chamber without increasing overall system pressure or causing solution mixing between chambers.
Solution Approach 2:
The diaphragm with integrated gas discharge ports acts as an intermediary structure that facilitates bubble removal from the lower chamber without requiring high flow rates. Bubbles are discharged through the diaphragm ports while the diaphragm itself prevents solution mixing, allowing efficient bubble discharge at low pressure.
3Loss of substance
If different types of solutions are separately supplied to the upper catholyte chamber and the lower anolyte chamber, then additive consumption is reduced, but it becomes difficult to prevent solution mixing
Solution Approach 1:
The diaphragm serves as a reliable intermediary barrier between the upper and lower chambers. It physically separates the two solution types while incorporating gas discharge ports that allow bubble passage. This structure ensures solution separation reliability while enabling the independent supply of different solutions with different additive compositions.
Solution Approach 2:
The diaphragm thin film provides a reliable separation barrier that is impermeable to solutions but permeable to gases through designated discharge ports. This selective permeability ensures that different solutions can be supplied to each chamber without mixing, while still allowing bubble discharge functionality.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design efficiently discharges air bubbles and separates solutions, enhancing the utilization of insoluble anodes by reducing additive consumption and maintaining diaphragm integrity, thereby improving productivity and plating process efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a diaphragm for to separate the object to be plated and the insoluble anode from each other
Implementation Method 2
a solution supply piping that supplies a plating solution toward the object to be plated
Implementation Method 3
gas generation due to electrolysis of water in plating
Implementation Method 4
an annular flow passage including a solution ejection hole in an upper part thereof is provided in an outer circumference of the solution supply piping, a lower anolyte chamber solution is supplied from the solution ejection hole
Implementation Method 5
a silicon ring be firmly fixed to each of the outer peripheral end of the diaphragm and a hole edge of a through-hole of the diaphragm
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a plating process that enables merits of an insoluble anode to be sufficiently enjoyed in a jet type plating equipment. Also provided is a plating equipment having a plating tank including an opening part; a solution supply piping; an insoluble anode; and an diaphragm, an diaphragm outer peripheral end being fixed to a plating tank inner wall, a through-hole being provided in an diaphragm center, a hole peripheral end of the through-hole being fixed to the solution supply piping, the diaphragm being arranged so as to be inclined upward in an outer circumferential direction from the solution supply piping. A silicon ring is firmly fixed to each of the outer peripheral end of the diaphragm and a hole edge of the through-hole of the diaphragm. The solution supply piping supplies the plating solution to an upper catholyte chamber in the plating tank, the upper catholyte chamber being formed by the diaphragm and the placed object to be plated. An annular flow passage including a solution ejection hole in an upper part thereof is provided in an outer circumference of the solution supply piping, and a lower anolyte chamber solution is supplied from the solution ejection hole to a lower anolyte chamber in the plating tank, the lower anolyte chamber being formed below the diaphragm, whereby a flow that moves from around the through-hole of the diaphragm toward the outer circumferential direction of the diaphragm is formed in the lower piping isolation chamber solution.