Patent Application
20070193884
The present invention relates to a method for producing a composite copper wire that electroplates an aluminum wire into a copper plating aluminum wire and coats a copper layer on the copper plating aluminum wire, so as to reduce costs and enhance the electric conductivity of the composite copper wire.
As the electronic industry is developed rapidly and constantly, the functions of electronic products or the electronic component related technologies are advanced, and the signal transmission and power supply between electronic components primarily use copper wires as a medium. As to the skin effect, the current is unevenly distributed in a cross section of a conductor. In other words, the closer to the surface, the denser is the current distribution; and the closer to the center of the cross section, the less is the current distribution. This phenomenon is particularly significant in a high frequency circuit. From the description above, it is obvious that the copper material at the center of the copper wire is not fully utilized. If a low-price aluminum wire is used to substitute the copper wire at the middle layer, then the cost of the copper wire will be lowered and the electric conductivity of the copper material can be fully utilized.
Several years ago, Texas Instrument Inc. had produced a copper clad aluminum wire, but such product was not appreciated by users and the market, because of the following reasons. For the copper clad aluminum wire, a 10%˜30% copper layer is coated onto an aluminum wire, and the surface of the aluminum wire is exposed to the air to produce an aluminum oxide film which has an adverse effect to the electric conductivity of the copper clad aluminum wire. Furthermore, the costs of the manufacturing equipments and the manufacture of the copper clad aluminum wire are too high, and thus cable and wire manufacturers are unwilling to use copper clad aluminum wires, and it is the main reason why the copper clad aluminum wire cannot replace the copper wire.
In view of the shortcomings of the prior art electric wire that incurs a high copper consumption and a high cost, the inventor of the present invention based on years of experience in the related industry to conduct extensive researches and developments, and finally invented a method for producing a composite copper wire that electroplates an aluminum wire into a copper plating aluminum wire and coats a copper layer on the copper plating aluminum wire, so as to reduce costs and enhance the electric conductivity of the composite copper wire.
Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a method for producing a composite copper wire that electroplates an aluminum wire into a copper plating aluminum wire and coats a copper layer on the copper plating aluminum wire, so as to reduce costs and enhance the electric conductivity of the composite copper wire.
To achieve the foregoing objective of the present invention, the invention uses a method for producing a composite copper wire comprising the steps of: passing an aluminum wire through an electroplating device and cutting off an oxidized film on the surface of the aluminum wire in deoxidized water by a rotary knife; plating a copper coat on the aluminum wire by sequentially passing through a tank containing a copper phosphate solution and a tank containing a copper sulfate solution to produce a copper plating aluminum wire; preparing a casting furnace comprising a primary furnace and a plurality of secondary furnaces extended from the primary furnace and passing the aluminum wire vertically through the secondary furnaces, such that the copper solutions are attached on the copper plating aluminum wire according to a predetermined thickness to produce a composite copper wire. The aluminum wire is plated and coated with a copper layer for reducing costs and enhancing the electric conductivity of the composite copper wire.
To make it easier for our examiner to understand the objective of the invention, its structure, innovative features, and performance, we use a preferred embodiment together with the attached drawings for the detailed description of the invention.
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 7 for the schematic view of an aluminum wire, the side view of an electroplating device, the schematic view of a copper plating aluminum wire, the side view of a casting, the side view of a secondary furnace, the perspective view of a portion of a secondary furnace, and the schematic view of a composite copper wire of the present invention respectively, a method for producing a composite copper wire comprises the following steps:
(Step 1): Pass an aluminum wire (as shown in
(Step 2): Prepare a casting furnace 4 comprising a primary furnace 41 and a plurality of secondary furnaces 42 extended from the primary furnace 41, and the primary furnace 41 includes a material feeding inlet 411 for feeding a copper sheet and a plurality of connecting pipes 412 extended from a side of the primary furnace 41 for passing the copper solution, and each connecting pipe 412 at its free end includes a secondary furnace 42 (as shown in
Therefore, the aluminum wire 3 is passed vertically through the secondary furnaces 42, and the copper plating aluminum wire 3 is vertically passed through the cooler 423 and the graphite mold 424, and then the gate 4121 in the connecting pipe 412 is opened. The primary furnace 41 of the casting furnace 4 will send the copper solution to each secondary furnace 42, such that the solution with a copper substance 51 will pass through the opening 4241 of the graphite mold 424 and will attach on the copper plating aluminum wire 3 according to a predetermined thickness, and finally will form a composite copper wire 5 (as shown in
In summation of the description above, the oxidized film on the surface of the aluminum wire is cut off by a rotary knife, and the aluminum wire is plated with a copper coat to produce a copper plating aluminum wire, and the copper plating aluminum wire is coated with a copper layer. The invention reduces costs and enhances the electric conductivity of the composite copper wire, and herein enhances the performance than the conventional structure and further complies with the patent application requirements. While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.
