Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention relates to a method of effecting
a series of processes in connection with electrolytic
process, for example, electroplating process in simple
and rapid manner with small type means, and more partic-
ularly, to an apparatus for carrying out such a series ofprocesses.
Heretofore, to effect a series of processes of
materials as wires, which are electroplating and other
chemical processes in connection therewith, for example,
degreasing, pickling or water rinsing or washing processes,
it has been required to employ great bulky apparatuses
which may occupy large spaces in factories. Accordingly,
it has been attempted in the art to effect plating process
and other processes in connection therewith with smaller
plants as much as possible. However, such smaller plants
might treat only small amounts of materials per unit hour.
Alternatively, it has been suggested to treat simultaneously
a number of materials in parallel in order to overcome the
low efficiency of the small plant. Such an alternative
apparatus, however, is unsatisfactory because it requires
a complicated transferring mechanism for the materials,
as well as several sets of a series of plating plants in
rows, which will considerably increase the cost of
equipment.
~5 Moreover, in the prior art plating apparatus,
rollers have been used to bend a material for immersing
it into a treating liquid, so that the material is subjected
to a great force resulting from the action of the rollers
which will give rise to deformation and breakage of the
material and limitation of feeding speed of the material to
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obstruct the speedup of the treatment. Apparatuses intended
to avoid these disadvantages require transferring mechanisms
of higher accuracy and are apt to be more bulky and expensive.
If the rollers are made smaller in diameter, there is a
tendency of the rollers to severely act on the material to
give a permanently residual deformation therein and if the
straightening of such a deformed material is diffucult,
sufficiently large rollers in diameter must be used to avoid
the residual deformation, which in turn require a series of
bulky apparatuses.
Furthermore, in the prior art it is inherently
difficult to effect sufficient water washing or pickling, so
that the treated material is often short of uniformity in
quality. It also requires a great amount of water for
washing which will increase the cost for treating the
drainage of the water. Since the treating liquid is generally
contained in a top opened bath which includes noxious or
powerful material for the treatment, this noxious liquid
will evaporate and splash in a workroom, so that the en-
vironment in the room becomes a dangerous condition forworkmen.
A primary object of the invention is, therefore,
to provide a novel method and an apparatus for effecting
a series of processes in connection with electrolytic process,
which overcome all the disadvantages of the prior art above
described.
In one aspect, the invention provides an elec-
trolytic treating method comprising steps of feeding an
elongated piece of conductive material in succession
through a series of units for electroly~ic processes
and other processes in connection therewith, said units
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~ ng provided with through passages for said material and pas-
sages for treatinB liquids and the units for said electrolytic
processes bcing furtller provided with electrodes for causing
electric current to flow through said treating liquid between
said material and electrodes; causing treating liquids to flow
through said respective passages for said treating liquids of
said units; restricting the flow to a plurality of discrete
small volume straight line paths transverse the direction of
travel of said material and in a direction perpendicular thereto
and causing electric current to flow between said material
and electrodes in the direction of travel of said material
while the treating liquids flow trahsvcrse the same thereby
continuous1y effecting said series of processes on said material.
In another aspect, the invention provides
: an electrolytic treating apparatus for effecting in
succession electrolytic processcs and other processes in
: connection therewith, said apparatus comprising a series of
treating units respectively for said electrolytic processes
and other processes in connection with treatment of an elongated
piece of conducti~e material9 said treating units being arranged
in row in the order of the processes, said treating units, each
consisting of identical first and second unit halves seated
one upon the other, said unit halves comprising first means
defining a through passage for feeding said material and
second means defining at least one insulating passage for
flowing a treating liquid onto surfaces of said material
transferred through said through passage, said insulating
- passage being formed as a plura]ity of d:igcrete chambers disposed
relativt- to said throllgl~ l-assagc to direct treating fluids
in a straight line path transverse the flowing material and
perpcndicular to thc dircction of travel thereof, and said units
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~.~r said electrolytic l-rocesscs bcing furtllcr provided with
electrodes for causing electric current to flow between the
electrodes and the material.
The above and other related objects and features
of the invention will be apparent from the following
description of an embodiment thereof illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 is a diagrammatical illustration showing
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a series of processes according to the invention;
Fig. 2a is a perspective view of units piled upon
the other for treating a plurality of materials simultaneously
according to the invention;
Fig. 2b is a perspective view of a unit for
treating a plurality of materials simultaneously;
Fig. 3a is a side elevation of an apparatus
according to the invention showing the inside thereof
through its casing;
Fig. 3b is a plan view after removal of a casing
of the apparatus shown in Fig. 3a;
Fig. 3c is a front elevation of the apparatus
as viewed in arrow 3c;
Fig. 4a is a front elevation of a supply pipe for
a treating liquid used in the apparatus as shown in
Fig. 3a;
Fig. 4b is a sectional view of the supply pipe as
shown in Fig. 4a;
Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line
V-V in Fig. 3a after removal of the treatment unit;
Fig. 6a is an exploded perspective view of the
unit secured to a holder used in the apparatus according
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to the invention;
Fig. 6b is a front elevation of the unit in
Fig. 6a;
Fig. 6c is a sectional view taken along line 6C-6C
in Fig. 6a;
;~ Figs. 7a, 7b and 7c shows respective unit halves
; of the other embodiments of the invention,
Fig. 8a is a perspective view of a fitting for the
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unit halves according to the invention;
Fig. 8b is a side elevation of the fitting shown
in Fig. 8a equipped with the holder;
Fig. 9 is an explanatory view showing an arrangement
of a material which cannot be bent in the treatment unit
according to the invention; and
Fig. 10 shows an exemplary arrangement for supplying
the treating liquid to the treating unit according to the
invention.
Referring first to Fig. 1 which illustrates a
preferred embodiment of the invention, there is shown
a series of various treating units (A) according to a
series processes such as alkali degreasing process ~B),
electrolytic degreasing process (C), a water washing process
(D), a pickling process (E)z a water washing process (F),
a plating process (G) and a water washing process (H),
through which units a material (I) such as an elongated
strip or hoop material to be treated is fed from a delivery
unit (J) to a take-up unit (K) located at upstream and
l~ 20 downstream ends of the processes such that the material is
subjected to a series of treatments with treating liquids
each passing through passages (Al) in each treating unit (A)
for the purpose of plating the material. The units for
pickling, water washing and degreasing processes are provided
with the passages ~Al) for pickling solution or rinsings
respecti~ely, while the units for plating and electrolytic
' degreasing processes are further provided with electrodes
(AZ) for causing electric current to flow to the material
through the treating liquid. All the units are substantially
essentially the same in construction with the exception
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that the units for electrolytic processes have the electrodes.
According to the invention a material to be
treated is transferred in the flowing treating liquids in
this manner to effect a series of the treatments without
using rollers as in the prior art for bending the material
for immersing it into a treatment bath such as a plating
bath. According to the invention, therefore, the apparatus
for effecting these series of processes can be made in a ~:
relatively small one and there is no risk of any deforma-
tion and breakage of the material in spite of a considerably
high speed feeding of the material. Furthermore, according
to the invention, the treatment of the material can be
~` effected at high speed with relatively small amounts oftreating liquids by increasing the flowing sp:eed of the
: 15 liquids. Particularly this makes it easy to drain the
, water used in the water washing process. In addition,
the apparatus according to the invention performs simulta-
, neously a treatment of a plurality of materials in parallel
.~ by ~the use of a series of units each having a plurality
of treating units for each process or each capable of
.
passing a plurality of materials through one treating unit
as shown in Figs. 2a and 2b. Since a material is fed
. without bending it according to the invention, a material
whi:ch could not be bent.can be subjected to the series of
"~
;~ ! 25 t.reatments. The treating units according to the invention
j.~ are so compact in construction that they can be enclosed or
~ se~ale~ by a casing or cover ~L) thereby completely eli~inat-
. .
ing~an unsanitary condition in the prior art resulting from
an .evaporation of noxious gases from the treating liquid.
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Figs. 3-8 show preferred embodiments of the
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apparatus for treating elongated materials according to the
invention. In Figs. 3a-3c, a casing l for a treating unit
consists of a bottom casing half lA and a cover or an upper
casing half lB hinged therewith and formed with a rectangular
slit lB' for feeding the material into the treating unit. A
stopper lC controls the extremely opened position of the
cover or upper casing half lB. As shown in Figs. 3a-3c, the
apparatus comprises a base 2 fixed to the underside of the
bottom casing half lA~ a U-shaped unit fitting 3 fixed onto
the base 2, whose lower arm is longer than the upper arm,
which is wider than the length of the unit in the direction -
feeding the material and providing at the free end of the
lower arm with a hook portion 3A of the unit supported by a
holder which will be explained later. A treating liquid
supply pipe 4 is supplied with the liquid through a hose 6
and a joint 7 fixed to the fittings 3. The supply pipe 4 is
formed with a rectangular injection opening 4A for the
treating liquid as shown in Fig. 4a and a mating surface 4B
in contact with an injection opening 16C of a holder 16
later described through a packing 5 having an injection
opening the same in shape as the opening 16C. A hood 8
having substantially the same width as the fitting 3 is
pivotally connected to the upper portion of the fitting 3 by
means of hinges for introducing the liquid exhausted from
passages into the bottom of the bottom casing lA when the
hood is in a closed position covering the treating unit.
Wipers 9A and 9B are located at inlet and outlet for the
material to be treated (Fig. 3a) for wiping away the residual
liquid on the material after a pretreatment and a treatment
to prevent the liquid from entering a next process and from
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flowing out of the casing. The wipers are made of flexible
plates such as rubber plates and mounted within fixtures 8A
and 3~ at the ends of upper and lower sides of the hood 8
and fitting 3 so as to be in contact with each other with
their ends as shown in Fig. 5. A stopper 10 serves to
suppress the hood 8 when the cover lB is closed. An exhaust-
ing pipe 11 is connected to a hose llA for exhausting the
liquid from a lower open end 8B of the hood 8 flowing down
the oblique bottom of the bottom casing lA to return the
liquid into for example a reservoir for a plating liquid.
The casing 1 including the above assembly is located on an
oblique base 12 with the oblique bottom so that the treating
unit is substantially hori~ontal. A numeral 13 denotes a
treating unit made of an electrically insulating material
supported by the holder 16~ which is illustrated in detail
in Figs. 6a, 6b and 6c.
Referring to Figs. 6a, 6b and 6c, the treating
unit 13 is divided into two parts, that is, first and second
unit halves 14 and 15 to facilitate passing the material
through the unit and formed with passages 14A and lSA for
the treating liquid and with flat cut portions 14B and 15B
to form a through passage for feeding and transferring
a flat material, for example, a hoop material. In case of a
; unit for plating or electrolytic degreasing process, there
is provided with electrodes 14C and 15C for example as shown
in Fig. 7a ~only the electrodes provided in the second Ullit
are shown). In case of partial plating process, there is
further provided with insulating shields 14D and 15D as
shown in Figs. 7b and 7c for partially plating only desired
portions of the material to be plated. The shields are
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adapted to be in close contact with the surfaces of the
material to be treated for preventing electric curren~ from
flowing from the electrodes onto portions of the material
not to be plated and further preventing the plating liquid
from flowing onto the portions of the material not to be
plated. It is to be understood that the treating units for
water washing, pickling and degreasing processes are provided
with the passages 14A and 15A for the treating liquids and
the flat cut portions 14B and 15B without the electrodes 14C
and 15C.
In this manner according to the invention the
material to be treated is continuously fed through a
.series of the treating units at the through passages con- ;.
sisting of flat .cut portions -14B, 15B while the treating
li~uid is caused to pass through each of the units at the
passages 14A and 15A in a direction substantially at right
angle to that of the mate.rial and electric current is caused
to flow between the material and the electrodes 14C and 15C
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.1~ in the units for plating and electrolytic degreasing processes.
.20 Referring back to Figs. 6a, 6b and 6c, the holder
: . 16 consists of an upper fixing plate 16A to which is fixed
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the first unit half 14 through an insulating plate 17A by :
means of setscrews and an L-shaped lower fixing plate 16B
~ formed with an injection opening 16C for treating liquid, to
f 25 which is fixed the second unit half 15 by means of setscrews
~: .
; through~an insulating.plate 17B and a packing 18 having an ~.
opening:the same in shape as the injection opening 16C for
the treating liquid. The insulating plates 17A and 17B may ~.
~ .be dispense~ with, as :the case may be. The upper and lower
.~ 30 : fixing plates 16A and 16B of the holder 16 are provided at
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their four corners with positioning protrusions and holes
l9A and l9B ~Fig. 6c), and when the protrusions lsA are
inserted into the holes 19B after the first and second unit
halves 14 and 15 have been attached to the upper and lower
fixing plates 16A and 16B, respectively, the first and
second unit halves are precisely in registry with each other
to form the passages 14A, 15B for treating liquid and the
through passage 14B, 15B for feeding the material to be
treated. The lower fixing plate 16B is mounted on the
fitting 3 in a manner such that a central ridge 3C of the
fitting 3 is receîved in an elongated recess 16D ~Fig. 6b)
formed in the underside of the lower fixing plate 16B in the
same direction as the passages 14B. The holder 16 with the
unit 13 is thus held in place between the supply pipe 4 and
the hook portion 3A as shown in Fig. 8b. When the apparatus
has thus been assembled, the injection opening 16C formed in
~ the vertical plate of the L-shaped lower fixing plate 16B is
;~ in registry with the openings of the packing 5 and the -~
supply pipe 4.
According to the invention, the treating units
having the electrodes for plating and degreasing process
and the treating units without any electrode for rinsing,
., .
p~ickling or alkali degreasing process are in series arranged
at a constant level as shown in Fig. 1 so as to be able to
pass a material ~I) to be treated through the thus arranged
units. With the apparatus thus assembled, the treating
liquid is forced from a tank (not shown) to the passages
14A, 15A th~ough the hose 6, the joint 7, the supply pipe 4
and the openings 4A, 16C and returned to the tank through
the hood 8, the oblique bottom of the bottom casing lA and
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the exhaust pipe 11. The required amounts of treating
liquids are circulated through the respective treating units
in this manner and the material (I) to be treated is trans-
ferred from the delivery unit ~J) to the take up unit ~K),
while voltage is applied between the material (I) and the
electrodes in the plating and electrolytic degreasing units,
one terminal of a power source being connected through
roller electrodes ~N) to the material and the other terminal
of the power source being connected to the electrodes of the
plating and electrolytic degreasing units. In this manner
; the material can be subjected to a series of the processes
in connection with the plating process.
It has been described in the above description
that after the material has been embraced in respective
;' 15 units each dividable into the first and second unit halves,
this assembly is mounted onto the fitting. However, after
6'~ the second unit half secured to a fixing plate has beenmounted onto a fitting, the material to be treated and the
first unit half secured to a fixing plate may be applied to
the second unit half. As shown in Fig. 9, the first unit
half 14 may be raised by the use of a pneumatic cylinder AC
or the like, and after the material to be treated has been
-~ arranged on the second unit half 15, the first unit half 14
may be lowered onto the second unit half 15.
Fig. 10 shows an advantageous means for supplying
the treating liquid to tlle treating unit 13 which is for
plating or electrolytic decreasing process. The unit 13
consists of the first and second unit halves 14, 15 provided
with the passages 14A, 15A for *he treating liquid and the
electrodes 14C, 15C and has the casing 1 consisting of the
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bottom casing half lA and the cover or upper casing half lB.
A positive terminal of a power source ~S) is connected to
the electrodes 14C, 15C, while a negative terminal of the
power source (S) is connected through roller electrodes (N)
to a material (I) to be treated. The treating liquid is
forced by a pump 20 from a tank 23 to the passages 14A, 15A
through a suction pipe 22, a filter 21 and a supply pipe 4
and is returned to the tank 23 through an exhausting pipe 11
having a bypass pipe 24. The bypass pipe 24 includes an
: 10 adjustable valve 25 of which opening is adjustable to
regulate the flow of the treating liquid flowing through the
passages 14A, 15A in the unit 13. The numeral 26 denotes a
switch adapted to be opened when the cover lB of the casing
is opened for the purpose of charging the material or an
insp.ection of the unit. The opening of the switch 26 makes
a relay 27 cut off a power source 29 for the pump 20 to stop
the supply of the treating liquid. As an alternative, the
power source S for the electrodes` may be turned off simul-
taneously when the power source 29 is cut off by the relay
27. The switch 26 may be used as lock means for the cover
: of the casing, which is so controlled by a manually operated
switch 28 that .the cover is never opened when the pump 20 is
opera*ing. If the treating unit for water washing process
is provided with electrodes, it will be possible to effectively
remo.ve residual liquids for pickling and plating adhering to
the material with gases evolved from the material when
: electrolyzing.
It can be:seen from the above description that
according to the invention, plating, chemical, water washing
proces.ses and the like can be :effected at a high speed with
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relatively small amounts of treating liquids in a relatively
small and compact apparatus without any risk of deformation
and breakage of the material to be treated. The treating
units are so compact in construction that it can easily be
S enclosed or sealed by a casing which makes it possible to
use a small type ventilator to exhaust gases and steams
evolved from the treating liquids for maintaining a workshop
: in a good sanitary condition.
It is understood by those skilled in the art that . -
the foregoing description is a preferred embodiment:of the
disclosed apparatus and that various changes and modifica-
tions may be made in the invention without departing from
the spirit and scope thereof.
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