JPH052609Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a basket-type anode chamber, and particularly to a basket-type anode chamber for electroplating that stores a granular or pellet-like metal body and uses it as an anode.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a basket-type anode chamber for electroplating, which is preferably suitable for chloride-based molten salt electroplating, and which stores a granular or pellet-like metal body and is used as an anode.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, a method is known in which a basket-type anode chamber is used for plating in an aqueous solution plating bath, and a metal pellet or the like is used as an anode. The surface of the casing constituting the anode chamber facing the cathode is porous and forms an electrolyte flow path and a current flow path. In aqueous plating baths, in many cases,
This housing is formed using a metal that easily becomes passivated, such as Ti. In that case, the housing is galvanically protected as long as the pellets are soluble.

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing an example of the structure of a accumulating tank using a conventional basket-type anode chamber.
FIG. 2 is a partial explanatory diagram of the structure of the basket-type anode chamber.

Steel materials to be plated 10 (hereinafter represented by steel plates)
is continuously charged into a plating tank 14 containing an aqueous solution plating bath or a molten salt plating bath 12, while a basket-shaped anode chamber 16 is disposed facing the surface of a steel plate serving as a cathode. In the illustrated example, a total of two pairs of basket-shaped anode chambers 16 are provided to perform double-sided plating on a steel plate. The steel plate 10 is connected to the negative electrode of a power source 20 via a conductor roll 18. On the other hand, the pellet metal body 22 stored in the basket-type anode chamber 16 is connected to the positive electrode of a power source 20.

In the illustrated example, the pellet metal body 22 is connected to the housing 2.
4 and immersed in the plating bath 12, or the steel plate 1 constituting the cathode with the housing 24.
An electrolytic solution is filled between 0 and 0. In any case, the cathode facing surface of the housing 24 forming the anode chamber is constituted by a porous panel 26'. This is to form an electrolyte flow path and a current flow path.

This porous panel 26' is made of pellet metal body 22.
It is made of a structural material that has the strength to withstand the pressure generated by its own weight, etc., but at the same time, it is made of a metal that becomes passivated because it is electrochemically polarized during electrolytic plating. There are many known metals that passivate in aqueous solutions, such as Al and Ti. Also,
Since the pellet metal body 22 is reduced in diameter by melting, it is further held by a screen 28 attached to the inside to prevent it from leaking or falling from the porous panel on the outside. See Figure 2. Instead of this porous panel 26, a punched metal or the like, which is a thin metal plate with many small holes that are easily passivated in an aqueous solution, may be used.

Conventionally, there are examples of structures in which a porous panel on the outer surface is made of a metal such as Ti, and a screen is also made of a metal such as Ti, but in a molten salt electrolytic plating bath, such a structure is not possible because Ti is anodically dissolved. It cannot be used.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 57-161085 discloses an example of the structure of an anode chamber as a single-sided plating device in which the surface facing the cathode is made of mesh material. However, there is no suggestion as to the material, and rather, the device disclosed in this publication is a vertical type that maintains a constant distance between poles, instead of the conventional horizontal type, and also makes the flow of electrolyte uniform. It is intended that

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) One object of the present invention is to provide a basket-type anode chamber for electroplating that can withstand long-term continuous operation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a basket-type anode chamber suitable for chloride-based molten salt electrolytic plating.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a basket-type anode chamber suitable for chloride-based molten salt electrolytic plating for Al or Al alloy-based plating.

(Means for solving the problem) Corrosion and electrochemical dissolution behavior of various materials are significantly different between aqueous solutions and chloride-based molten salts. In other words, many metals are electrochemically active in chloride-based molten salts, and except for a very small number of metals, they do not become passivated, and the metals for structural members that are generally applied industrially are small. Melts due to overvoltage. Therefore, the casing of the anode chamber is made of a conventionally known metal for structural members.
In particular, it is impossible to construct a portion facing the cathode.

A possible solution would be to construct such a part using an insulating material such as ceramic, but ceramic is generally fragile and has problems in terms of strength.

Here, the present inventors constructed the part of the anode chamber facing the cathode as described above with an insulating panel made of a material such as ceramic supported by a rigid metal support column, thereby achieving sufficient strength. After learning that things are composed, he completed this invention. Since the above-mentioned rigid support is shielded from the cathode by an insulating panel, there is no need to worry about melting, and it can be used chemically stably.

Here, the gist of the present invention is that it consists of a casing that houses a granular or pellet-like metal body used as an anode, and the surface of the casing that faces the cathode has a rigid pillar and a porous ceramic body. an insulating panel, the porous insulating panel has a through hole for the support, and the porous insulating panel is supported by passing the support through the through hole, and the porous insulating panel is for electroplating. It is a basket type anode chamber.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the porous insulating panel has a mesh reinforcing material embedded therein.
Impact resistance is increased.

Further, although the porous insulating panel is provided with a large number of holes, if the mesh-like reinforcing material is exposed in the holes, there is no particular need to arrange a so-called screen member. The porous insulating panel and the screen member can be integrally constructed.

Note that the net-like reinforcing material may be a mesh material made of molybdenum or tungsten. If necessary, they may be constructed from a mesh material such as glass cloth.

(Function) Next, to further explain the present invention in detail with reference to the drawings, FIG. 3 shows the casing 24 of the basket-type anode chamber according to the present invention with the pellet-like metal body and the porous insulating panel removed. A schematic perspective view and FIG. 4 are schematic front views showing how the porous insulating panel elements 30 are sequentially fitted to form the porous insulating panel 26 as a whole. Note that the same members as in FIGS. 1 and 2 are indicated by the same symbols.

In the figure, a plurality of rigid supports, generally metal supports 32, are erected on the surface of the casing 24 facing the cathode. The other surfaces are made of metal or ceramic as appropriate. When performing Al-based plating by molten salt electrolytic plating, the inner wall other than the surface facing the cathode is electrolytically protected by a pellet metal body (not shown), so if the metal is nobler than Al, ,
It may be made of that metal. The upper surface 34 is opened for the purpose of charging anode metal or feeding power.

According to the present invention, the porous insulating panel 26 made of ceramic or heat-resistant resin is divided into several panel elements 30 each having an elongated through-hole 31 into which a rigid column 32 is inserted. The porous insulating panel 26 is constructed as a whole by stacking them. However, this panel alone cannot normally support the surface pressure of the pellet-shaped metal inside, so it is attached to a rigid support. If necessary, a screen member (not shown) is bonded to the back surface of these porous insulating panels 26 to prevent the pellet-shaped metal body housed inside from leaking or falling.
The porous insulating panel 26 includes a number of openings 36 that serve as passageways for electrolytic current and electrolyte flow.

In the illustrated example, the rigid support columns 32 extend vertically, but in a modified example, they may extend horizontally, and the porous insulating panel element 30 may be mounted laterally.

FIG. 5 shows a cross section of a porous insulating panel 26 used in the present invention, in which a plurality of openings 36 are provided, and a plurality of through holes 31 into which rigid struts 32 are fitted in the vertical direction are provided. It is provided. This is because if there is only one vertical through hole 31 for each panel element, rotational force will be applied.

FIG. 6 shows an example of an insulating panel 26 in which a beam 40 extending in a direction perpendicular to the rigid support column 32 is provided.
FIG. For convenience, only the two upper and lower insulating panel elements 30 are shown, and the openings 36 and the like are also omitted. This is because if the surface pressure of the inner pellet-like metal is very large, it cannot be supported by the rigid struts 32 alone. The end of the beam 40 is appropriately fixed to the inner wall of the side surface of the housing 24 by bolting or the like.

FIG. 7 explains another aspect of the present invention, and is a partial plan view showing a corner portion of the housing 24 in partial cross section. In the illustrated example, the surface of the housing side plate facing the cathode is shielded from the cathode by a porous insulating panel 26 to prevent corrosion. An insulating panel element 46 is applied from the outside, whereby the sides of the housing 24 are shielded from the cathode and protected against corrosion. Note that since the outer surface of the housing is far from the cathode, significant corrosion will not occur even if bare metal is used, but a simple ceramic coating or the like will provide further protection.

FIG. 8 shows a porous insulating panel element 30 of the present invention.
This exemplifies yet another aspect of the invention, in which a reinforcing screen material 4 is provided inside the insulating panel element 30.
8 is embedded, which is exposed in the opening 36 of each porous insulating panel element 30 and visible from the outside. Figure 9 shows A- in Figure 8.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A'. In the figure, code 31
The through holes shown by are provided through each insulating panel element 30. Note that each of these insulating panel elements 30 is assembled to constitute the above-mentioned porous insulating panel 26 as a whole.

In the case of FIGS. 8 and 9, the mesh reinforcement 48
is provided across the front surface of the panel, and the portion of this reinforcing material 48 that extends over the portion corresponding to the opening 36 of the panel is visible as exposed in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a modified example of FIGS. This mesh reinforcement 48 cannot be observed.

The present invention has been described above along with its specific examples, but in order to continuously operate, for example, molten salt Al-based plating using the basket-type anode chamber according to the present invention, it is necessary to As the body dissolves, it settles down, but as it does so,
The pellet-shaped metal body may be added and thrown in from the upper part of the housing through an appropriate feeding opening.

In particular, as a preferred embodiment of the present invention, rigid supports are used.
They are constructed of Ni or Ni-based alloys, while the mesh reinforcement is comprised of tungsten or molybdenum, and the porous insulation panel body is comprised of ceramic insulators. By using columns made of Ni or Ni-based alloys, porous insulating panels have significantly improved strength and impact resistance, while embedding mesh metal reinforcement in porous insulating panels The material itself will also have higher strength and toughness.

It is sufficient for a person skilled in the art to appropriately select the thickness of the porous panel, the dimensions and distribution of the openings, as well as the mesh of the screen of the reinforcing material, depending on the type of plating intended, the required strength, etc. There are no restrictions whatsoever.

Although the present invention shows particularly remarkable effects in molten salt electroplating, it is obvious that it can also be applied to aqueous solution electroplating.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are schematic explanatory diagrams showing an example of a conventional basket-type anode chamber; FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing the housing used in the present invention with the porous insulating panel removed; FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing the installation of the porous insulating panel element of the basket-type anode chamber according to the present invention; FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the porous insulating panel element utilized in the present invention; FIGS. 6 and 7 Each figure is a partial explanatory diagram of a porous insulating panel. 8 is a schematic side view showing still another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line A-A' in FIG. 8; and FIG. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing yet another embodiment of the one shown in FIGS. 24... Housing, 26... Porous insulation panel, 3
0... Panel element, 31... Through hole, 32... Metal support, 36... Opening.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) Consists of a casing that houses a granular or pellet-like metal body used as an anode, and the surface of the casing facing the cathode has a rigid column and a porous insulator made of ceramics. A basket for electroplating, comprising a panel, the porous insulating panel having a through hole for the support, and supporting the porous insulating panel by passing the support through the through hole. Type anode chamber. (2) The basket-type anode chamber for electroplating according to claim 1, wherein a net-like reinforcing material is embedded in the porous insulating panel. (3) The basket-type anode chamber for electroplating according to claim 2, wherein the mesh-like reinforcing material is exposed in a large number of holes provided in the porous insulating panel. (4) The basket-type anode chamber for electroplating according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the reinforcing material is a mesh material made of molybdenum or tungsten.