CN103774201A - Hanger and electroplating system with same - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a hanger (10) for releasably holding a printed circuit board (PCB) (28) for plating, wherein the PCB (28) has a top edge (30), a bottom edge (32) and two side edges opposite each other and perpendicular to the top edge (30), the hanger (10) including a plurality of conductive top clamps (22) for releasably retaining the top edge (30) of the PCB (28) , and electrically insulating side clamps (24, 26) for releasably retaining side edges of the PCB (28).

Description

Hanger and electroplating system having such a hanger

technical field

The present invention relates to a hanger, in particular a hanger for holding substrates for electroplating, an electroplating system having such a hanger and a method for loading and unloading substrates to and from such a hanger. substrate method.

Background technique

In conventional vertical in-line plating systems, the substrate to be plated, such as a printed circuit board [PCB], is carried by a hanger with the major surface of the PCB facing sideways. The top edge of the PCB is releasably gripped from above by the hanger's many clamps. In addition to bonding the PCB to the hanger, the jig is also conductive so as to form part of the circuit used to plate the PCB.

Various arrangements have been devised to improve the stability of the PCB during handling in and through the plating machine. In one such conventional arrangement, conductive clamps are also provided for releasably clamping the lower edge of the PCB. However, it is difficult to adjust this arrangement to suit PCBs of different sizes. Furthermore, the plating distribution performance of this arrangement is poor.

Another known arrangement is to provide conductive clips to releasably grip a pair of vertical side edges of the PCB. This arrangement is expensive and also difficult to adapt to different sized PCBs. Furthermore, this arrangement requires manual operation. Furthermore, there is a large drag out rate.

If, as in some conventional arrangements, frames are used in a vertically continuous plating system, there will be a strong edge effect, causing more metal (such as copper) to be plated along the vertical edges of the PCB to the vertical edges of the PCB. on the edge. To alleviate this problem, vertical edge plating shields made of electrically insulating material are attached to the frame to control the thickness of copper plated onto the vertical edges of the PCB along the vertical edges. Existing vertical edge plating shields must be provided with many holes to optimize the thickness of copper plated on the vertical edges of the PCB. In the absence of such holes on the vertical edge plating shield, too thin a layer of copper will be plated on the vertical edges of the PCB. However, conventional systems with vertical edge plating shields still suffer from large delays (i.e. high consumption of plating solution) and difficulty in fine-tuning the plating distribution performance due to the impossibility of adjusting the hole pattern on the shield to cater for different plating requirements .

Contents of the invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a hanger, an electroplating system having such a hanger and a method of loading and unloading substrates to and from such a hanger such that at least one of the aforementioned disadvantages is alleviated Or at least provide useful alternatives for industry and the public.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a hanger for releasably holding a substrate for electroplating, the substrate having a first edge, a second edge and a third edge, wherein the second edge and the third edge Opposite each other, the hanger includes at least one first retainer for releasably retaining the first edge of the substrate, at least one first retainer for releasably retaining the second edge of the substrate. Two holders and at least one third holder for releasably holding said third edge of said substrate, wherein said first holder is electrically conductive, and wherein said second holder and said first The three retainers are electrically insulated.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided an electroplating system comprising at least one hanger for releasably holding a substrate for electroplating, said substrate having a first edge, a second edge and a third edge, wherein The second and third edges are opposite each other, the hanger includes at least one first retainer for releasably retaining the first edge of the substrate, a releasable retainer for releasably retaining the substrate At least one second holder of the second edge and at least one third holder for releasably holding the third edge of the substrate, wherein the first holder is electrically conductive, and wherein the The second holder and the third holder are electrically isolated.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of loading and unloading a substrate from a hanger, the base plate having a top edge and two opposing side edges, and the hanger having at least Having a first holder, a second holder and a third holder, the method comprising: (a) disposing the base plate substantially directly below the hanger in a substantially horizontal orientation of the top edge, (b) moving the base plate substantially vertically upward into the hanger, (c) the first retainer of the hanger releasably retains the top edge of the base plate, (d ) each of said second and third retainers of said hanger releasably retains a respective one of said side edges of said substrate, and (e) unloading said substrate from said hanger .

Description of drawings

A hanger, an electroplating system having the hanger, and loading and unloading of substrates to and from the hanger according to embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings. The method of the substrate, wherein:

Figure 1 is a top front perspective view of a hanger according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a bottom front perspective view of the hanger of Figure 1;

Fig. 3 is the front view of the hanger of Fig. 1;

Figure 4 is a side view of the hanger of Figure 1;

5 is a front perspective view of the hanger holding a printed circuit board (PCB) of FIG. 1;

Figure 6 is a partial side view of the hanger of Figure 1 with the top retainer shown in a closed position;

Figure 7 is a partial perspective view of the hanger of Figure 6, with the top retainer holding the top edge of the PCB;

Figure 8 is a partial side view of the hanger of Figure 1 with the top retainer shown in an open position;

9 is a partial perspective view of the hanger of FIG. 8 with the top retainer out of engagement with the top edge of the PCB;

10 to 14 illustrate the operation steps of the electroplating system comprising the hanger of FIG. 1, by which the PCB is loaded to the hanger;

Figure 15 shows the PCB loading/unloading module of the electroplating system of the present invention;

16 to 20 illustrate the steps of loading and unloading a PCB to and from a hanger by the PCB loading/unloading module of FIG. 15; and

FIG. 21 is an enlarged view of the hanger of FIG. 1 .

Detailed ways

A hanger according to an embodiment of the invention is shown diagrammatically in FIGS. 1-4 and is generally designated 10 . The hanger 10 has a body in the form of a substantially rectangular frame 12 consisting of four elongated substantially rectangular rods (i.e. a top rod 14, an opposing bottom rod 16 and two opposing side rods) connected together. 18, 20) formed. When the hanger 10 is installed in the plating machine, the top bar 14 and the bottom bar 16 are horizontal and the two side bars 18, 20 are vertical. The top bar 14 may be made of an electrically conductive material, while the bottom bar 16 and the two side bars 18, 20 are made of an electrically insulating material.

Engaged with and depending from the top rod 14 are four top clamps 22 . These top fixtures 22 are electrically conductive (eg, made of a conductive material) and form part of an electrical circuit for plating a substrate, such as a printed circuit board [PCB], which is held by the top fixtures 22 while mounted by means of the hanger 10. In the electroplating system of the present invention.

Each of the side bars 18 , 20 engages a respective elongate electrically insulating side clamp 24 , 26 . The side clamps 24, 26 may be made of an electrically insulating material. The side clamp 24 is considered to be in the closed state when the side clamp 24 is in the state shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 in which a major surface of the side clamp 24 facing the side bar 18 is in contact with the side bar 18 . Similarly, the side clamp 26 is considered to be in the closed position when the side clamp 26 is in the state shown in FIGS. 1-4 in which the major surface of the side clamp 26 facing the side bar 20 is in contact with the side bar 20 .

The side clamps 24 , 26 are movable in translation relative to the respective side bars 18 , 20 . In particular, the side clamps 24, 26 are movable away from the respective side bars 18, 20 from the positions shown in FIGS. The position of the side bars 18,20. When the side clamps 24, 26 are so spaced apart from the respective side bars 18, 20, the side clamps 24, 26 are considered to be in their respective open states. The clamps 24, 26 are spring biased towards their respective closed positions.

Figure 5 shows a PCB 28 (substrate to be plated) releasably held by the hanger 10 by the top clamp 22 and side clamps 24, 26, both in their closed state. PCB 28 has four edges, namely a top edge 30, an opposing bottom edge 32, and two opposing side edges. The top edge 30 and the bottom edge 32 are perpendicular to the two side edges. When the PCB 28 is releasably retained by the hanger 10 , the top edge 30 is releasably retained by the top clamp 22 and the side edges are releasably retained by the respective side clamps 24 , 26 . When the hanger 10 holding the PCB 28 is installed in the electroplating system of the present invention, the top edge 30 and the bottom edge 32 of the PCB 28 are horizontal and the two opposing side edges of the PCB 28 are vertical.

The top clamp 22 of the hanger 10 is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 to releasably hold the PCB 28 by clamping the top edge 30 of the PCB 28 . It can be seen that each top clamp 22 has two clamping fingers 34 , 36 connected by a spring 38 and pivotable relative to each other about a pin 40 . With this arrangement, each top clamp 22 is movable between a closed position in which the lower ends 34a of the clamping fingers 34 and a lower end 36a of the clamping device member 36 contact each other, and an open position in which the lower ends 34a of the clamping fingers 34 contact each other, and an open position in which In this state, the lower ends 34a, 36a of the clamping fingers 34, 36 are spaced apart from each other. Each top clamp 22 is biased by a corresponding spring 38 to the closed condition.

The electroplating system to which the hanger 10 is mounted is provided with a first pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder 42 , a second pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder 44 and a third pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder 46 . The first cylinder 42 can move from the position shown in FIG. 6 toward the top clamp 22 of the hanger 10 (in the direction indicated by arrow A in FIG. 8 ) and to the position shown in FIG. 8 to act on the clamping fingers. 36 so that the clamping fingers 36 pivot relative to the corresponding clamping fingers 34 to move the top clamp 22 from the closed position to the open position, as shown in FIG. 9 . When the top clamp 22 is in the open state, the PCB 28 can be removed from the top clamp 22 or inserted between the clamping fingers 34 , 36 of the top clamp 22 to be releasably retained by the top clamp 22 .

The second cylinder 44 is movable from the position shown in FIG. 6 toward the hanger 10 (in the direction indicated by arrow B in FIG. 8 ) and to the position shown in FIG. 8 , where it is supported by the second cylinder 44 and can The plate 48 moving simultaneously with the second cylinder 44 contacts and acts on the side bars 18 , 20 of the frame 12 but not on the side clamps 24 , 26 . This plate 48 is used to hold the frame 12 stationary during movement of the side clamps 24, 26 to be discussed below.

The third cylinder 46 can move from the position shown in FIG. 6 toward the hanger 10 (in the direction indicated by arrow C in FIG. 8 ) and to the position shown in FIG. 8 , where it is supported by the third cylinder 46 and can A plate 49 moving simultaneously with the third cylinder 46 contacts and acts on a number of protrusions 50 fixed in the side clamps 24 , 26 .

With the above arrangement, when it is desired to move the side clamps 24, 26 from the closed position shown in FIG. 6 to the open position shown in FIG. 8, the second cylinder 44 moves the plate 48 to the position shown in FIG. Used as a support for the frame 12. Then, the third cylinder 46 moves the plate 49 to the position shown in FIG. The support of the plate 48 on the frame 12 translates away from the frame 12 (the frame is held stationary by the plate 48 during movement of the side clamps 24, 26). The side clamps 24, 26 are thus simultaneously moved into the open state.

To allow the side clamps 24 , 26 to return to their respective closed positions, the third cylinder 46 moves away from the hanger 10 in the direction indicated by arrow B, thus releasing the force on the protrusion 50 . The side clamps 24 , 26 then translate back to the position shown in FIG. 6 under the action of a number of springs 62 (see FIG. 21 ), while the frame 12 remains stationary by the plate 48 . It can thus be seen that when the side clamps 24, 26 are in the open position, the PCB 28 can be removed or inserted into the space between the side clamps 24, 26 and the corresponding side bars 18, 20; and when the side clamps 24, 26 are in the closed position , the PCB 28 can be releasably held between the side clamps 24, 26 and the corresponding side bars 18, 20.

Figures 10 to 14 schematically illustrate the steps by which a PCB 28 may be loaded onto a hanger 10 mounted in an electroplating system. As shown in FIG. 10 , the PCB 28 is first held by the substrate carrier 52 and arranged directly below the hanger 10 and in an orientation where the top edge 30 of the PCB 28 is horizontal and directly facing the hanger 10 . The top clamp 22 and side clamps 24, 26 are shown in their respective closed states in FIG. 10 .

Referring to FIG. 11 , the first cylinder 42 moves toward the hanger 10 to open the top clamp 22 . The second cylinder 44 also moves toward the hanger 10 to force the plate 48 into contact with and provide support for the frame 12 . Then, the PCB 28 moves vertically upward toward the hanger 10 from below in the direction indicated by the arrow D. As shown in FIG.

During the movement of the substrate holder 52 with the PCB 28 towards the hanger 10, the third cylinder 46 moves the plate 49 to act on the protrusion 50 fixed to the side clamps 24, 26 so that the side clamps 24, 26 move in the direction indicated by the arrow C And moves away from the frame 12 in translation against the support of the plate 48 on the frame 12 . The side clamps 24, 26 are thus moved to their open state.

When the side clamps 24, 26 are in their open state, the PCB 28 is moved further vertically up and into the hanger 10 so that the side edges of the PCB 28 travel through the gap between the side clamps 24, 26 and the side bars 18, 20, respectively. Space until the top edge 30 of the PCB 28 is in the space between the lower ends 24a, 36a of the clamping fingers 34, 36 of the top clamp 22, as shown in FIG.

As shown in Figure 13, the first cylinder 42 then moves away from the hanger 10 to release the force acting on the top clamp 22, so as to allow the top clamp 22 to return to their closed state under the biasing force of the spring 38, so as to The top edge 30 of the PCB 28 is retained in a releasable manner. The third cylinder 46 also moves away from the hanger 10 to disengage the plate 49 from the protrusion 50 to allow the side clamps 24, 26 to return to the closed state under the biasing force of the spring 62 (see FIG. way to keep the side edges of the PCB 28.

As shown in FIG. 14 , after the side clamps 24 , 26 return to their closed state, the second cylinder 44 moves away from the hanger 10 to disengage the plate 48 from the frame 12 . Thus, PCB 28 is held by hanger 10 in a releasable manner. The substrate carrier 52 then releases engagement with the PCB 28 and is then moved vertically downward (in the direction indicated by arrow E) away from the hanger 10 thus loaded with the PCB 28 to allow the hanger 10 (with the loaded PCB 28) to move through the electroplating system For electroplating and other treatment processes.

To unload the PCB 28 from the hanger 10 , the substrate carrier 52 is moved up into the hanger 10 to re-engage the PCB 28 . The top clamp 22 and side clamps 24 , 26 are then moved to their respective open positions (in the manner described above) to release the hold on the top edge 30 and the hold on the side edges of the PCB 28 . The substrate carrier 52 is then moved vertically downwards away from the hanger 10 and the top clamp 22 and side clamps 24, 26 are then allowed to return to their closed state.

FIGS. 15 and 16 show an electroplating system according to the invention with a PCB loading/unloading module 54 for loading and unloading PCBs 28 onto and from hangers 10 . As shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 , the PCB 28 is initially disposed on the support 56 in a horizontal orientation (ie, the major surfaces of the PCB 28 face upward and downward). The PCB 28 is then engaged with the substrate carrier 52 and picked up by the substrate carrier 52 and moved away from the support 56 as shown in FIG. 17 .

Substrate carrier 52 (together with PCB 28 ) is then rotated 90° so that PCB 28 is in a vertical orientation with its top edge 30 facing vertically upward, as shown in FIG. 18 . The substrate carrier 52 is then moved through the position in FIG. 19 to the position shown in FIG. 20 to arrange the PCB 28 vertically below the hanger 10 for loading into the hanger 10 from below in the manner described above. After plating and other processing, and after unloading the PCB 28 from the hanger 10 back to the substrate carrier 52, the substrate carrier 52 moves through the position shown in FIG. 20, then to the position shown in FIG. 19, and then to the position shown in Figure 18. Substrate carrier 52 (together with PCB 28 ) is then rotated 90° in the opposite direction to return PCB 28 to a vertical orientation. PCB 28 is then lowered onto support 56 in a horizontal orientation.

It can be seen that the above arrangement facilitates the automatic loading and unloading of the PCB 28 onto and from the hanger 10 .

As shown in FIG. 1 and more clearly shown in FIG. 21 , a respective shielding plate 58 , 60 is joined to each side clamp 24 , 26 , the shielding plate being composed of an electrically insulating material. The shield plates 58, 60 are elongate and substantially rectangular, and have substantially the same length as the respective side clips 24, 26 to which they are joined. The shielding plates 58, 60 are parallel to the side clamps 24, 26 and are spaced apart from the respective side clamps 24, 26 by a distance a of no more than 15mm, although this distance a can be adjusted manually. Once the distance a is adjusted, it will not change until the second time it is adjusted. The shield plates 58 , 60 are respectively engaged with the side clamps 24 , 26 and the shield plates 58 , 60 are movable simultaneously with the side clamps 24 , 26 . The shielding plates 58, 60 are away from the respective side clamps 24, 26 and the width b of the shielding and overlapping PCB 28 is from 20mm to 40mm.

The engagement, placement and positioning of the shield plates 58, 60 relative to the side clamps 24, 26 effectively helps control the plating distribution on the PCB 28, and field fine-tuning is possible and relatively easy. The procrastination rate can also be reduced by this arrangement.

It should be understood that the above shows only examples where the present invention can be carried out, and that various modifications and/or changes can be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It should also be understood that various features of the invention which are, for brevity, described herein in the context of a single embodiment, can also be provided separately or in any suitable subcombination.

Claims (23)

1. A hanger for releasably holding a substrate for electroplating, said substrate having a first edge, a second edge and a third edge, wherein said second edge and third edge are opposite each other, said hanger include: at least one first retainer for releasably retaining said first edge of said substrate, at least one second retainer for releasably retaining said second edge of said substrate, and at least one third retainer for releasably retaining said third edge of said substrate, wherein the first holder is conductive, and Wherein the second holder and the third holder are electrically insulated. 2. The hanger of claim 1, wherein the first retainer is switchable between a closed state for holding the base plate and an open state in which the base plate can be removed from the first retainer to move between. 3. The hanger of claim 2, wherein the first retainer is biased towards the closed condition. 4. The hanger of claim 1, wherein the second retainer is switchable between a closed state for holding the base plate and an open state in which the base plate can be removed from the second retainer and wherein the third holder is movable between a closed state for holding the substrate and an open state in which the substrate can be removed from the third holder. 5. The hanger of claim 4, wherein the second retainer and the third retainer are biased towards respective closed positions. 6. The hanger of claim 1, further comprising a first shield member engaged with the second retainer for simultaneous movement. 7. A hanger according to claim 6, wherein the first shielding member is spaced apart from the second retainer by a distance of at most 15 mm. 8. The hanger of claim 7, wherein the distance by which the first shielding member is spaced apart from the second retainer is adjustable. 9. The hanger according to claim 6, wherein the first shielding member is adapted to shield the substrate with a width of substantially 20mm to substantially 40mm. 10. The hanger of claim 6, further comprising a second shield member engaged with the third retainer for simultaneous movement. 11. An electroplating system comprising at least one hanger according to claim 1. 12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the first holder of the hanger is capable of being in a closed state for holding the substrate and the substrate is removable from the first holder. and wherein the system further includes first moving means for moving the first retainer from the closed state to the open state. 13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the second holder of the hanger is movable in a closed state for holding the substrate and the substrate is removable from the second holder. movable between an open state, and wherein the third holder of the hanger is movable between a closed state for holding the substrate and an open state in which the substrate can be removed from the third holder , and wherein the system further comprises second moving means for moving the second retainer from a closed state of the second retainer to an open state of the second retainer. 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the second moving means is adapted to move the third retainer from a closed state of the third retainer to an open state of the third retainer. 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the second moving means is adapted to simultaneously move the second retainer and the third retainer from a respective closed state to a respective open state. 16. The system of claim 11, wherein the second holder is movable between a closed state for holding the substrate and an open state for removing the substrate from the second holder , and the third holder is movable between a closed state for holding the substrate and an open state in which the substrate can be removed from the third holder, the system further comprising: a body with the first retainer, the second retainer and the third retainer engaged with the body, and maintaining means for maintaining said body substantially stationary during movement of said second retainer and said third retainer between respective closed and open states. 17. The system of claim 16, wherein the second retainer is movable in translation relative to the body to move between a closed state and an open state of the second retainer. 18. The system of claim 11 , further comprising means for loading the substrate onto the hanger from below the hanger and/or loading the substrate from the hanger from under the hanger. means for unloading the substrate. 19. The system of claim 18, wherein the means for loading and/or unloading are adapted to engage with the substrate to rotate the substrate by at least substantially 90°. 20. A method of loading and unloading a substrate onto and from a hanger, the base plate having a top edge and two opposing side edges, and the hanger having at least a first retainer, A second holder and a third holder, the method comprising: (a) disposing said base plate substantially directly below said hanger in a substantially horizontal orientation of said top edge, (b) moving the base plate substantially vertically upward into the hanger, (c) said first retainer of said hanger releasably retains said top edge of said base plate, (d) each of said second and third retainers of said hanger releasably retains a respective one of said side edges of said base plate, and (e) unloading the base plate from the hanger. 21. The method of claim 20, wherein said step (e) comprises: (f) said second and third retainers of said hanger release said side edges of said base plate, (g) said first retainer releases said top edge of said substrate, (h) moving the base plate substantially vertically downward from the hanger. 22. The method according to claim 20, wherein the method further comprises, prior to said step (a), the step (i) of rotating said substrate in a first direction by at least substantially 90°. 23. A method according to claim 22, wherein, after said step (h), the method further comprises the step (j) of rotating said substrate by at least substantially 90° in a second direction, said second direction Opposite to the first direction.

Images