Back to results
US 7,744,732 B2Granted
Continuous plating system and method with mask registration
AssigneeLeviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.
InventorDarrell W. Zielke
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A continuous plating system with mask registration is disclosed herein that uses drums and rollers with protruding pins which engage with guide holes in a masking belt and a lead frame. Through engagement with the pins the masking belt is keyed to the lead frame as the lead frame passes through a plating solution tank.
Claims30
A plating system for plating a portion of each of a plurality of serially arranged parts of a lead frame with a plating solution, the system comprising:
- a tank for containing the plating solution;
- a first masking belt having a first plurality of guide holes;
- a second masking belt having a second plurality of guide holes;
- a drive wheel comprising a periphery, the drive wheel being rotatable relative to the tank to position a first portion of the periphery outside the plating solution in the tank, and a second portion of the periphery inside the plating solution in the tank;
- a first plurality of pins positioned along the periphery of the drive wheel to sequentially engage with the first plurality of guide holes of the first masking belt;
- a second plurality of pins laterally spaced apart from the first plurality of pins, the second plurality of pins being positioned along the periphery of the drive wheel to sequentially engage with the second plurality of guide holes of the second masking belt, the first and second masking belts being sized such that when the first plurality of guide holes of the first masking belt are engaged by the first plurality of pins and the second plurality of guide holes of the second masking belt are engaged by the second plurality of pins, a longitudinally extending opening is defined between the first and second masking belts along the second portion of the periphery of the drive wheel, the periphery of the drive wheel comprising a groove configured to receive the lead frame and register the portion of different serially arranged parts of the lead frame with the longitudinally extending opening defined between the first and second masking belts for subsequent passage of the engaged first masking belt, the engaged second masking belt, and the lead frame into the plating solution in the tank to sequentially pass the serially arranged parts through the plating solution in the tank;
- and
- a plurality of tracking rollers, each tracking roller having a periphery and a plurality of pins positioned along the periphery to sequentially engage with the first plurality of guide holes of the first masking belt to maintain alignment of the first masking belt and the second plurality of guide holes of the second masking belt to maintain alignment of the second masking belt.
5 more elements
A plating system for plating a portion of each of a plurality of serially arranged parts of a lead frame with a plating solution, the system comprising:
- a tank configured to contain the plating solution;
- a first masking belt having a first plurality of guide holes;
- a second masking belt having a second plurality of guide holes;
- and
- a rotatable wheel positioned partially out of the plating solution within the tank and partially in the plating solution within the tank when the plating solution is contained inside the tank, the wheel comprising a periphery, a first groove extending around the periphery, a first plurality of pins positioned along the periphery to sequentially engage with the first plurality of guide holes of the first masking belt, and a second plurality of pins positioned along the periphery to sequentially engage with the second plurality of guide holes of the second masking belt, the first and second masking belts being laterally spaced apart from one another to define a longitudinally extending opening therebetween, the lead frame being positioned inside the first groove extending around the periphery of the wheel under the first and second masking belts, to sequentially register the portion of different serially arranged parts of the lead frame with the longitudinally extending opening for subsequent sequential passage of the serially arranged parts through the plating solution within the tank.
2 more elements
A plating system for plating a portion of each of a plurality of serially arranged parts of a lead frame with a plating solution, the system comprising:
- a tank configured to contain the plating solution;
- a pair of laterally spaced apart masking belts defining a longitudinally oriented opening therebetween, each of the pair of masking belts comprising a plurality of guide holes;
- a rotatable wheel positioned partially out of the plating solution within the tank and partially in the plating solution within the tank when the tank contains the plating solution, and having a plurality of pins positioned along a periphery of the wheel to sequentially engage with the plurality of guide holes of each of the pair of masking belts, with the lead frame positioned in a groove of the wheel between the periphery of the wheel and the pair of masking belts, to sequentially register the opening defined between the pair of masking belts with the portion of different serially arranged parts of the lead frame for subsequent sequential passage of the serially arranged parts through the plating solution within the tank;
- a plurality of tracking rollers each having a plurality of pins positioned along a periphery of the tracking roller to sequentially engage with the plurality of guide holes of each of the pair of masking belts;
- and
- a sealing belt positioned between the lead frame and the wheel to cover a portion of a side of the lead frame toward the wheel when the portion of the lead frame is positioned in the groove of the wheel.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.