Partial Plating Method, a Laser Plating Device, and a Plated Material

Abstract

A partial plating method capable of applying fine hard gold plating, a laser plating device capable of applying partial plating to a minute region with high positional precision, and a plated member. The partial plating method comprising plating a region to be plated by projecting a laser beam having a wavelength of 330 nm or more and 450 nm or less. A laser plating device 10 comprises a plating tank 12 , a laser oscillator 14 for emitting a laser beam, a conveying device 16 for conveying a member to be plated 80 , a photoelectronic sensor 18 for detecting the position of a positioning hole 82 of the member to be plated 80 , and a galvanometer scanner 20 having a galvanometer mirror 22 capable of scanning the laser beam. The plated member is applied with fine spot plating by the laser plating device 10.

1 . A laser plating device comprising:
 plating solution contact means for bringing a region to be plated of a member to be plated defining a positioning hole for positioning of the region to be plated of the member to be plated into contact with a plating solution;   laser oscillation means for emitting a laser beam which is projected onto the region to be plated of the member to be plated which is in contact with the plating solution so that a plating metal is deposited on the member to be plated;   conveying means of the member to be plated for conveying the member to be plated so that the member to be plated passes through the plating solution contact means;   position detecting means for detecting that the positioning hole of the member to be plated being conveyed by the conveying means of the member to be plated is placed in a predetermined position; and   laser beam scanning means, including a movable mirror which is arranged on an optical path of the laser beam and is capable of scanning the laser beam, for having the laser beam scan and follow the same region to be plated of the member to be plated being conveyed in the plating solution and returning the laser beam to a position where the scanning and the following are started when the position detecting means detects that the positioning hole is placed in the predetermined position.   
     
     
         2 . The laser plating device according to  claim 1 , where the position detecting means is one of a photoelectronic sensor and an image processing device. 
     
     
         3 . The laser plating device according to  claim 1 , wherein the position detecting means comprises rotating means having an engage portion which engages the positioning hole of the member to be plated, and a rotary encoder attached to the rotating means. 
     
     
         4 . The laser plating device according to  claim 1 , wherein synchronization between the detection by the position detecting means that the positioning hole is placed in the predetermined position and the returning of the laser beam to the position where the scanning and the following are started is performed by electronic control. 
     
     
         5 . A laser plating device comprising:
 plating solution contact means for bringing a member to be plated into contact with a plating solution;   intermittent conveying means of the member to be plated for performing intermittent conveyance of the member to be plated by repeating conveyance and halt of the member to be plated in order to pass the member to be plated through the plating solution contact means;   laser oscillation means for emitting a laser beam which is projected onto the member to be plated which is in contact with the plating solution during the halt so that a plating metal is deposited on the member to be plated; and   positioning means, including an ascent/descent pin which moves in ascent/descent motion and a shaft thereof is fixed to a position having a fixed positional relation with a projection position of the laser beam emitted by the laser oscillation means, for performing positioning of the laser beam projection position by the laser oscillation means onto the member to be plated.   
     
     
         6 . The laser plating device according to  claim 5 , wherein the intermittent conveyance of the member to be plated by the intermittent conveying means of the member to be plated and the ascent/descent motion of the ascent/descent pin by the positioning means are synchronized by a mechanical connection such as a cam. 
     
     
         7 . The laser plating device according to  claim 5 , wherein the intermittent conveyance of the member to be plated by the intermittent conveying means of the member to be plated and the ascent/descent motion of the ascent/descent pin by the positioning means are synchronized by electronic control. 
     
     
         8 . The laser plating device according to  claim 5 , wherein the member to be plated defines a positioning hole preformed in the member to be plated for positioning of a region to be plated, the ascent/descent pin is a pilot pin having a tapered tip, and the pilot pin is threaded through the positioning hole. 
     
     
         9 . The laser plating device according to  claim 5 , wherein the member to be plated defines a hole and the ascent/descent pin has a tip shape capable of perforating the member to be plated, and perforates and is threaded through the hole in the member to be plated. 
     
     
         10 . A plated member comprising a region to be plated on which a partial plating is formed by bringing the region to be plated into contact with a plating solution and projecting a laser beam having a wavelength of 330 nm or more and 450 nm or less onto the region to be plated so that a plating metal is deposited on the region irradiated with the laser beam. 
     
     
         11 . The plated member according to  claim 10 , wherein the region on which the partial plating is formed defines a contact portion of a connecting terminal. 
     
     
         12 . A plated member on which one or more partial platings are formed by the laser plating device according to  claim 1 .