JPH0513983A - Elastic conductive member and manufacture thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a method of manufacturing an elastic conductive member which is large in degree of freedom of shape, lightweight, long in service life, and hardly yields to permanent set in fatigue and where a metal layer formed on its surface is hardly separated off. CONSTITUTION:In an elastic conductive spring member, the surface of a resin layer 8 where carbon fibers 10 are provided inside it intersecting each other is rendered rugged by etching, and a conductive metal layer 9 of copper or nickel or the like is formed on the roughened surface of the layer 8 concerned through plating.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electromagnetic wave shield (EM
The present invention relates to an elastic conductive member used for I shield), antistatic measures, grounding, etc.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, EMI shields, electrostatic countermeasures,
A metal spring member made of phosphor bronze, beryllium copper, or the like having a good elastic recovery rate is used as a conductive component used for grounding or the like. Further, in recent years, a new material in which a metal surface is plated on a plastic has been proposed.

[0003]

However, although the above-mentioned metal spring material can be easily formed into a simple shape,
The complicated shape has a problem that it is difficult to manufacture. Further, this metal spring material is usually a member having a thin wall thickness, but when the used area is large, its weight cannot be ignored, which has been an obstacle to reducing the weight of the device to which the spring material is attached. . Further, when used for a long period of time, there is a problem in that the spring is settled.

On the other hand, the above-mentioned plastic whose surface is simply metal-plated has the advantages that it is lightweight and has a high degree of freedom in the shape to be manufactured, and that a complicated shape can be easily manufactured. The layer (metal layer) is easily peeled off, and the characteristic creep of the plastic tends to cause fatigue, so that there is a problem in practical use.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, has a large degree of freedom in shape, is lightweight, and does not easily peel the metal layer on the surface. It is an object to provide a manufacturing method thereof.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 is directed to a resin layer in which carbon fibers are arranged, and a conductive metal layer formed on the surface of the resin layer. An elastic conductive member is characterized by including:

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the resin layer in which the carbon fibers are arranged is a prepreg material impregnated with a thermosetting resin using the carbon fibers as a reinforcing material. The main point is the conductive member.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the surface of the resin layer in which the carbon fibers are arranged is etched to form irregularities, and then the surface of the resin layer having irregularities is subjected to a plating treatment to obtain a conductive property. A gist of the present invention is a method for manufacturing an elastic conductive member, characterized in that a metal layer having a property is formed on the surface.

Here, the elastic conductive member is, for example, a spring material used for the purpose of electromagnetic wave shielding, antistatic measures, earthing and the like. Specifically, this spring material is used, for example, as a finger strip in an opening / closing part or a door part of a computer device, a communication device, a measuring device, a shield room, or the like.

As the resin layer, for example, thermosetting resin such as epoxy resin, unsaturated polyester resin or phenol resin, or thermoplastic resin such as polyamide or polyolefin can be considered. Further, the carbon fiber contained in the resin layer is preferably in the range of 1 to 20 μm,
When the carbon fibers are arranged in the longitudinal and lateral directions and laminated and used, it is desirable in terms of strength, elasticity, directionality and the like.

As the metal layer, nickel, copper, tin, silver,
Gold or the like can be used, and particularly in the case of a substance that is easily oxidized, such as copper, it is preferable to stack nickel or tin on it. Further, the thickness of the metal layer is preferably in the range of 0.5 to 20 μm in terms of conductivity and prevention of peeling.

As the plating treatment, a wet method (electroless plating, electroplating) or a dry method (vacuum evaporation, sputtering) can be adopted. Among them, electroless plating such as electroless nickel plating or a plating layer is used. When thickening, a combination of electroless plating and electrolytic plating is suitable.

Further, it is preferable that the resin layer is dipped in a solution containing a palladium compound or a tin compound before the plating treatment to carry out the activation treatment, because the plating treatment is well performed.

[0014]

According to the invention of claim 1, since the carbon fiber is arranged inside the resin layer, the elastic property of the composite comprising the resin layer and the carbon fiber is very good.
In particular, when the resin layer containing carbon fibers is a prepreg material impregnated with a thermosetting resin using carbon fibers as a reinforcing material, the durability of the elastic conductive member is further improved.

Further, according to the invention of claim 3, since the surface of the resin layer in which the carbon fibers are arranged is etched, a large number of irregularities are formed on the surface of the resin layer. That is,
When the etching of the present invention is performed, since carbon fibers are present inside, the etching extends to the periphery of the carbon fibers, and the voids created by etching have a remarkably complicated shape as compared with the case of plastic.

Therefore, after that, by plating the uneven surface of the resin layer, the conductive metal layer enters the concave portion of the resin layer surface and firmly adheres to it.
An unexpected anchoring effect is generated to make the metal layer difficult to peel off, thereby producing an elastic conductive member having excellent durability.

[0017]

EXAMPLES Next, a spring member which is an elastic conductive member and a method of manufacturing the same according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the spring material 1 of this embodiment has a shape in which two parallel flat plates 2 and 3 are connected by a plurality of semicircular curved plate materials 5. The spring member 1 functions by bending in the vertical direction.

Further, the flat plates 2 and 3 constituting the spring member 1
The thickness of the plate material 5 is about 0.2 mm, and both the flat plates 2 and 3 and the plate material 5 have a carbon fiber layer 7 arranged in the center and a periphery of the carbon fiber layer 7 as shown in FIG. Filling resin layer 8
And a metal layer 9 formed on one surface of the resin layer 8.

The carbon fiber layer 7 is formed by laminating carbon fibers 10 having a diameter in the range of 1 to 20 μm (for example, 7 μm) so as to intersect each other in the longitudinal direction and the transverse direction substantially at right angles. The resin layer 8 is formed by impregnating a carbon fiber 10 with a thermosetting resin such as epoxy resin around the carbon fiber 10. The resin layer 8 has a recess 12 formed on the upper portion of the resin layer 8 by an etching process described later. Are formed in a large number to form a surface having complicated irregularities.

Further, the metal layer 9 is a composite layer of metal having a thickness of about 4 μm formed on the surface of the resin layer 8 having the above-mentioned unevenness, and a nickel plating layer 9a having a thickness of about 0.1 μm and a thickness of about 10 μm. The copper plating layer 9b has a thickness of about 3.5 μm and the nickel plating layer 9c has a thickness of about 0.3 μm. Then, the lower portion of the metal layer 9 enters and is fixed in the recess 12 on the surface of the resin layer 8.

Next, a method of manufacturing the spring material 1 of the above embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, the diameter is 7 μm
3 of carbon fibers 10 are arranged orthogonally to each other and impregnated with an epoxy resin as shown in FIG.
To form. Then, this prepreg 15 is molded into a finger shape as shown in FIG.
Heat at 150 ° C. for 20 minutes to cure.

Next, the hardened prepreg 15 is degreased, and then 70 to 75 using a chromic acid / sulfuric acid mixture.
The surface of the prepreg 15 is etched at 10 ° C. for 10 minutes. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3B, a large number of recesses 12 are formed on the surface of the prepreg 15. That is, the unevenness of the surface of the resin layer 8 is formed. When only one surface is etched during this etching, it is preferable that the other surface is coated to prevent etching.

Further, the surface of the etched prepreg 15 is immersed in a solution containing a palladium compound or a tin compound to activate the surface. Next, using an electroless plating solution containing a nickel compound, for example, the resin layer 8 is immersed in a plating bath, and the electroless plating solution is attached to the uneven surface of the resin layer 8 for about 5 minutes. Plate. As a result, a nickel plating layer 9a having a thickness of 0.1 μm is formed.

Then, by normal electrolytic plating, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (C), a copper plating layer 9b having a thickness of 3.5 μm and a nickel plating layer 9c having a thickness of 0.3 μm are formed to complete the spring material 1 provided with the metal layer 9. next,
An experimental example in which the performance of the spring material 1 of this example manufactured in this way is confirmed will be described.

(Experimental example) As an experimental example, the spring material 1 of the present embodiment and the same shape as that of nylon (nylon 6)
Manufactured with the spring material of Comparative Example in which the body of 6) is plated,
As shown in FIG. 4, the curved plate material was pressed from above, and the state of plating and the fatigue of the spring at that time were observed.
The results are shown in Table 1 below.

[0026]

[Table 1]

As is clear from Table 1, the spring material 1 of the present embodiment shows no cracks in the plated portion in the experiment of less than 1000 times, and the fatigue of the spring material 1 in 2000 was also low. , Is extremely durable. On the other hand, the comparative example is not suitable because cracks are generated in 300 times of experiments and it begins to set, which is poor in durability.

As described above, in the spring material 1 of this embodiment, the carbon fiber 10 is covered with the resin layer 8 to form a composite, and the composite is etched. In other words, since the composite has the carbon fibers 10, a complex shape having irregularities can be formed by etching. Therefore, when the metal layer 9 is formed on the surface, an unexpected anchor effect is exhibited.
As a result, the spring material of the present embodiment is characterized in that the metal layer 9 is difficult to peel off even when used for a long period of time, and since it contains the carbon fiber 10 having excellent elastic properties, it has excellent spring recovery. Moreover, there is an advantage that settling does not easily occur.

Moreover, Since it is not a conventional spring material made of beryllium copper, it is extremely safe during manufacturing and use. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can of course be implemented in various modes without departing from the scope of the present invention.

For example, the number of carbon fiber layers to be laminated is not limited, and the laminated state is not limited to the case where they are orthogonal to each other. Further, the metal layer is also a conductive metal and may be plated or the like, and is not limited to copper or nickel.

[0031]

According to the invention of claim 1, since the metal layer is formed on the surface of the resin layer in which the carbon fibers are arranged, the carbon fibers having conductivity and excellent elasticity are compounded. Therefore, the elastic conductive member has high durability. In particular, when a prepreg material using a thermosetting resin is adopted, the durability of the elastic conductive member is further improved.

Further, according to the invention of claim 3, since the surface of the resin layer is etched, unevenness of a complicated shape is formed on the surface, and the metal layer enters into the unevenness of the composite by the subsequent plating treatment and is firmly formed. In close contact. As a result, the metal layer does not easily peel off, and an elastic conductive member having excellent durability is manufactured.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a spring member according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a spring material of the embodiment in a broken manner.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a method of manufacturing a spring material.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an experimental method of a spring material.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Spring material 7 ... Carbon fiber layer
8 ... Resin layer 9 ... Metal layer 10 ... Carbon fiber
15 ... Prepreg

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A resin layer in which carbon fibers are arranged,
A conductive metal layer formed on the surface of the resin layer;
An elastic conductive member comprising: 2. The elastic conductive member according to claim 1, wherein the resin layer in which the carbon fibers are arranged is a prepreg material impregnated with a thermosetting resin using the carbon fibers as a reinforcing material. 3. A metal layer having electrical conductivity by etching the surface of a resin layer in which carbon fibers are arranged to form irregularities, and then plating the surface of the irregular resin layer. A method for manufacturing an elastic conductive member, characterized in that: