Electroplating Tools

A tool for electroplating is a portion of the surface of each of a plurality of holes, and a second plate having a plurality of retaining elements. As like on a drawing each of the holes is configured to receive a piece that is to be electroplated, and to mask a portion of the surface and expose another portion of the surface of the piece. The first and the second plates are held together, and a mechanism is provided for shifting one of the plates with respect to the other between a first orientation in which the retaining elements are disengaged from pieces received in the holes and a second orientation in which the retaining elements are engaged with pieces received in the holes. This arrangement allows the pieces to be quickly and easily retained for an electroplating operation and released after the electroplating operation.

Its sometimes desirable to electroplate selected surfaces of a small component or part (e.g. valve component). This may be desirable in order to provide a functional and/or esthetic plating on the selected surfaces.

There are several electroplating problems associated with economically electroplating surfaces of a multiplicity of small parts simultaneously. A problem that must be considered during design of an electroplating tool for holding a large number of small parts during an electroplating process is how to provide good electrical contact with each of the parts without having to carefully align or attach electrical contacts individually to each of the parts. Another problem that must be considered is how to firmly hold each of the parts on the tool during the electroplating process. There is also some difficulty associated with achieving uniform plating thickness for a large number of parts held on a single electroplating tool. Specifically, there is a tendency for heavier plating to occur on surface exposed to higher current densities.

It would be desirable to provide an electroplating tool that is capable of quickly locking each of a large number of individual parts on the tool in a simple operation. It would also be desirable to provide a tool that is capable of establishing a good electrical connection with each of the parts in a simple operation. Features that allow modification of the local current density would also be desirable to achieve more uniform plating thickness for each and among all parts.

• Electroplating Home Industry
• Hard Chrome Uses
  

Electroplating Home Industry

More knowledge about Electroplating on:

• Electroplating of Other Metals
• Electroplating of Alloy
• Electroplating Operation and Control
• Electroplating Condition
• Electroplating Problem

Electroplating industry also been done in home industry, they do for many job with a limited knowledge of electroplating. Usually they do the process by just their experience, they even don't know what kind of chemical use, what the properties of every chemicals, what the dangerous of the chemical, and what should do to treat those chemical safe for them and for environment.

They often make a process like what their boss done before. If their boss never use waste treatment, they also will do the same. If there are banned by government because of their process is dangerous to their environment they then just don't understand why it should be banned. If their work in a group like on the home industry group that do the process with the wrong way then the effect to the environment will fatal. This problem often happen on developing country that the entrepreneurship still don't support by knowledge.

Problem on Hard Chrome Plating

Pollution problem on electroplating process become general problem encountered by electroplating industry. The other problem of electroplating process is especially for hard chrome electroplating. The problem showed that the high surface tension was greatest up to 22 dynes/cm.

By adding some surfactant solution to electroplating baths this tension can yield considerable lower surface tension. This using of surfactant can make a pollution problem on their fluid waste. As it turned out, the tensiometer yielded considerably lower surface tension readings, which in turn has allowed the facility to substantially reduce the frequent additions of surfactant solution to the baths. Overall usage is down approximately 80%, which translated to a savings of close to $1000 per year in operating costs. The company owner’s anxiety level has also dropped substantially as he now feels more confident that they are complying with the regulation.

Those problem can source not just from the bath but sometime also from the instrument or electroplating equipment that easily broken because of corrode. By using of good tensionmenter on the bath will can operate electroplating in accurate procedure. In addition, maintaining higher concentrations of the surfactant due to inaccurate surface tension readings could, in some cases, result in pitting problems with the chrome finish if the facility is doing thicker hard chrome plating.