Patent Application
20220178044
The present disclosure relates to a plating apparatus and a plating method thereof. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a cleaning module of the plating apparatus and a cleaning method for cleaning a sealing element of the plating apparatus.
Plating is a process in which a certain metal surface is plated with a thin layer of other metal or alloy using electrolysis principle. Since the introduction of plating technology, it has been widely used in different industrial fields. Starting from the early aesthetic-oriented decorative application, such as producing decorative and protective surface layers on mechanical products, the plating technology has gradually developed to be applied in high-tech industry at present, such as the chip package process. Plating technology has become an indispensable technology in the semiconductor microelectronic industry.
In general, the conventional plating technology typically provides a plating tank which accommodates a plating solution. In the plating process, a substrate to be plated is used as a cathode, and plated metal or other insoluble material is used as an anode; the cathode and the anode are placed in the plating tank; and direct current voltage is supplied between the two electrodes; and a surface of the substrate to be plated is reduced to form a coating due to the electrode reaction.
The present disclosure provides a plating apparatus and an operation method thereof. The plating apparatus has a simple structure and convenient operation, which helps shortening the operation time of the substrate mounting process, improves the production efficiency of semiconductor package, and is particularly suitable for panel level semiconductor package:
A brief summary of the present disclosure is presented below to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the present disclosure. The content of the present disclosure is not an extensive overview of the present disclosure and is not intended to identify key or critical elements of the present disclosure or the scope of the present disclosure. The following content of the present disclosure reveals some concepts of the present disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to the specific embodiments provided below.
The present disclosure proposes plating apparatus for performing plating treatment on a substrate, comprising: a tank body comprising at least one side wall, the at least one side wall being provided with an opening extending from the inside to the outside of the tank body, the tank body being configured to accommodate a plating solution; and a fixing device configured to fix the substrate at the opening of the side wall.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the fixing device is disposed at the outside of the tank body, so that the fixing device could be operated easily from the outside of the tank body.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a substrate mounting plate fixed on an outer side of the side wall, wherein the substrate mounting plate is provided with a hole and a substrate mounting area arranged around the hole; and a position of the hole of the substrate mounting plate corresponds to a position of the opening of the side wall.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the fixing device is disposed on the substrate mounting plate.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the fixing device comprises two or more clamping pieces arranged on a periphery of the hole of the substrate mounting plate.
Thus, the fixing device can be constructed in a convenient and lightweight manner, and the substrate is fixed on the substrate mounting plate in a fluid seal manner.
At least one part of the clamping piece can move between an extended position and a retracted position at the retracted position of the clamping plate, the substrate can pass through the space above the substrate mounting area without hindrance, thereby allowing convenient operation of placing the substrate on the substrate mounting plate or removing the substrate from the substrate mounting plate.
According to an advantageous embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least one clamping piece comprises a plurality of clamping pieces; and the plurality of clamping pieces are arranged on a periphery of the hole of the substrate mounting plate.
According to a further advantageous embodiment of the present disclosure, the fixing device comprises a first driving mechanism and a second driving mechanism; the first driving mechanism is configured to drive at least a part of the clamping piece along a first direction, so that the at least a part of the clamping piece moves from the side of the substrate mounting area away from the hole to the substrate mounting area, the first direction is parallel to the substrate mounting plate and directed from the side of the substrate mounting area away from the hole to the substrate mounting area; and the second driving mechanism is configured to drive at least a part of the clamping piece along a second direction perpendicular to the substrate mounting plate, so that the at least a part of the clamping piece applies pressure towards the substrate mounting area.
The first driving mechanisms and the second driving mechanism of the plurality of clamping pieces can be connected to a control module, and the control module can respond to an instruction of the operator and simultaneously operate the plurality of clamping pieces. This automated implementation significantly reduces the fixed operation time and reduces the production cost. In addition, the fixing operation by the driving mechanisms is highly reproducible and uniform compared to the manual operation, thereby ensuring the reliability of the fixing operation and the sealing of substrate mounting.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the clamping piece comprises a supporting plate and a clamping plate, the supporting plate comprises a receiving slot; the clamping plate is inserted into the receiving slot and capable of sliding in the receiving slot along the first direction; the first driving mechanism is configured to drive the clamping plate along the first direction, so that the clamping plate extends out of the receiving slot and moves from the side of the substrate mounting area away from the hole to the substrate mounting area; and the second driving mechanism is configured to drive the clamping plate in the second direction, so that the clamping plate applies pressure towards the substrate mounting area.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the clamping piece comprises a connecting plate disposed on the supporting plate and fixed to the first driving mechanism, the connecting plate comprises a cam slot extending in a direction between the first direction and the third direction to form an angle greater than 0° and less than 90° with the first direction, and a protrusion is fixed on the clamping plate and passes through the supporting plate to cooperate with the cam slot; and wherein the first driving mechanism is configured to drive the connecting plate along a third direction which is parallel to the substrate mounting plate and perpendicular to the first direction, so that the protrusion moves in the cam slot along an extension direction of the cam slot, and the clamping plate slides in the receiving slot of the supporting plate along the first direction.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the fixing device further comprises a pivotal shaft connected to a middle part of the supporting plate; the second driving mechanism is configured to drive an end portion of the supporting plate away from the hole in the first direction to move away from the substrate mounting plate along the second direction, so that the supporting plate rotates about the pivotal shaft, an end portion of the supporting plate close to the hole in the first direction moves towards the substrate mounting plate along the second direction, and the clamping plate applies the pressure towards the substrate mounting area.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the clamping plate comprises a cantilever element and a clamping end, the cantilever element is configured to be inserted into the receiving slot of the supporting plate; and the clamping end extends from an end of the cantilever element towards the substrate mounting plate and is configured to apply the pressure towards the substrate mounting plate; and in a case that the supporting plate is parallel to the substrate mounting plate, a first distance between the pivotal shaft and the second driving mechanism measured in the first direction is greater than a second distance between the pivotal shaft and the clamping plate measured in the first direction.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the first distance is twice the second distance.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a guide rail extending along the third direction is disposed on the supporting plate and configured to guide the connecting plate to move on the supporting plate along the third direction.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the tank body comprises a plurality of side walls; and the opening is disposed on at least two of the plurality of side walls. Thus, plating treatment on a plurality of substrates to be plated can be performed simultaneously, thereby obtaining several-times the efficiency of plating treatment.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the plating apparatus further comprises a substrate stopper which is configured to move from the outside of the opening to a middle part of the opening.
The substrate stopper can comprise a supporting stand connected to the substrate mounting plate and an arm roughly parallel to the substrate mounting plate. The arm can rotate between an idle position outside of the opening and a stop position above the opening in the plane parallel to the substrate mounting plat. Before plating treatment, the arm can be disposed at the idle position. In this case, the stop portion is disposed on the outer side of the opening of the side wall, so as to mount and fix the substrate on the substrate mounting plate. During plating treatment, the arm can be rotated to the stop position. In this case, the stop portion is disposed in the middle part of the opening of the side wall and stops on the outer side of the substrate to prevent the deformation of the substrate under the pressure of the plating solution in the tank body.
According to an advantageous embodiment of the present disclosure, the plating apparatus further comprises a plating solution drive device disposed in the tank body and facing the opening, and the plating solution drive device is configured to drive the plating solution to flow towards the opening.
Thus, the plating solution near the substrate can be rapidly replenished; the parameters such as temperature, concentration, pH and the like of the plating solution in the vicinity of the substrate remains constant; and the chemical composition of the plating solution uniformly dispersed. Therefore, the coating deposited on the substrate can be formed in uniform thickness to improve the yield of plating treatment and reduce the production cost.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the plating solution drive device is mounted on the side wall provided with the opening. Due to this configuration, the movement process of the plating solution drive device can be implemented in a more stable manner, and the distance from the plating solution drive device to the substrate to be plated can be accurately controlled.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a distance between the plating solution drive device and the side wall provided with the opening is in a range from 2 mm to 4 mm. The placement of the plating solution drive device close to the side wall provided with the opening allows obtaining a coating with more uniform thickness.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the plating solution drive device comprises a plurality of blades arranged and configured to move in a plane parallel to the side wall provided with the opening.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the plating solution drive device comprises a plurality of nozzles arranged in an array and configured to move in a plane parallel to the side wall provided with the opening, and the plurality of nozzles are further configured to spray the plating solution towards the side wall provided with the opening.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a distance between adjacent nozzles is in a range from 1 mm to 5 mm; and the nozzle has a bore diameter in a range from 0:5 mm to 1 mm.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the plating apparatus further comprises at least one sealing element disposed in at least one of the following areas: an area of the substrate mounting plate around the hole or an area of the side wall, provided with the opening, around the opening.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a position at which the clamping end applies the pressure towards the substrate mounting plate at least partially overlaps with a position of the sealing element in the direction perpendicular to the substrate mounting plate. Thus, the sealing effect of the sealing element may be improved due to the pressure applied to the sealing element, thereby preventing the leakage of the plating solution in the plating process.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the clamping plate comprises a plurality of clamping ends, and positions at which the plurality of clamping ends apply pressure towards the substrate mounting plate are at least partially overlapped with the position of the sealing element in the direction perpendicular to the substrate mounting plate. Thus, the sealing effect of the sealing element may be further improved.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the substrate mounting area is provided with electrical contacts configured to be electrically connected with the substrate.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the electrical contacts are distributed on two opposite sides or four sides of the hole of the substrate mounting plate.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a number of the electrical contacts distributed on each side of the hole is four or more.
According to an advantageous embodiment of the present disclosure, the plating apparatus further comprises a resistance measuring device electrically connected to the electrical contacts of the substrate mounting area.
After the substrate is mounted on the substrate mounting plate by utilization of the fixing device, the resistance measuring device may be utilized to measure the contact resistance between the substrate and the electrical contact, so as to determine whether the connection status between the substrate and the electrical contact is good. For instance, the resistance measuring device is electrically connected to four electrical contacts disposed on one side. Thus, the resistance measuring device may measure the contact resistance between the substrate and the electrical contacts by utilization of the four-point method.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the plating apparatus further comprises an anode disposed in the tank body.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the plating apparatus further comprises a power supply device respectively electrically connected with the anode and the electrical contacts.
According to various embodiments, the plating apparatus further comprises a cleaning module for cleaning the sealing element. The cleaning module may comprise a plate assembly coupled to the plating apparatus; and a roller assembly coupled to the plate assembly for cleaning the sealing element at a working location, wherein the roller assembly is configured to supply a fresh tape to the sealing element and configured to receive a contaminated tape from the sealing element, wherein the fresh tape is turned into the contaminated tape after cleaning the sealing element.
According to various embodiments, the roller assembly comprises a feeder roller configured to supply the fresh tape to the sealing element and a receiver roller configured to receive the contaminated tape from the sealing element.
According to various embodiments, the roller assembly further comprises a tension roller either before or after the sealing element for creating an internal tension to the fresh tape or the contaminated tape moving in the roller assembly.
According to various embodiments, the roller assembly further comprises a first idle roller after the feeder roller for directing the fresh tape from the feeder roller to the sealing element and a second idle roller after the sealing element for directing the contaminated tape from the sealing element to the receiver roller.
According to various embodiments, the plate assembly comprises two side plates and a base plate connecting the two side plates, wherein the feeder roller and the receiver roller of the roller assembly are configured to be rotatably coupled to the two side plates of the plate assembly.
According to various embodiments, the cleaning module further comprises a handling assembly for moving the roller assembly towards a working location where the roller assembly cleans the sealing element and for moving the roller assembly away from the working location after cleaning the sealing element.
According to various embodiments, the handling assembly comprises a first guiding rail extending in a first direction substantially parallel with an edge of the opening of the side wall and a handle movably coupled to the first guiding rail for moving the roller assembly along the first guiding rail in the first direction. The term “substantially” means the first direction shall be parallel sufficiently with the edge of the opening such that the movement of the roller assembly can be precisely controlled in the first direction.
According to various embodiments, the handling mechanism further comprises a second guiding rail extending in a second direction substantially perpendicular to a plane of the substrate mounting plate coupled to the side wall, and the handle is movably coupled to the second guiding rail for moving the roller assembly along the second guiding rail in the second direction. The term “substantially” means the second direction shall be perpendicular sufficiently with the plane of the substrate mounting plate such that the movement of the roller assembly can be precisely controlled in the second direction. Therefore, the handler can bring the roller assembly to every portion of the sealing element at or adjacent to the edge of the opening by precisely controlling the movement of the roller assembly in the first direction and the second direction.
According to various embodiments, the cleaning module further comprises a first linear actuator and a second linear actuator for driving the roller assembly to move along the first guiding rail and the second guiding rail, respectively.
According to various embodiments, the cleaning module further comprises a holding station for holding the roller assembly at a waiting location away from the working location, and the holding station comprises a securing mechanism for removably securing the roller assembly at the holding station.
According to various embodiments, the securing mechanism comprises a cylinder coupled to the plating apparatus and a locker coupled to the cylinder for removably locking the roller assembly at the holding station, wherein the locker is activated by the cylinder to lock the roller assembly.
The present disclosure further proposes an operation method of the abovementioned plating apparatus, comprising: placing the substrate on the outer side of the side wall and at the position of the opening, and operating the fixing device to fix the substrate; and performing plating treatment on the substrate.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, placing the substrate on an outer side of the side wall and at a position of the opening, and operating the fixing device to fix the substrate; and performing plating treatment on the substrate.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, placing the substrate on the opening of the side wall and operating the fixing device to fix the substrate comprises: measuring by the resistance measuring device a contact resistance between the substrate and the electrical contacts, and determining a connection status of the substrate and the electrical contacts.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, performing plating treatment on the substrate comprises: injecting the plating solution into the tank body, so that the plating solution contact with at least a part of the substrate; and performing plating treatment on the substrate by applying cathode voltage to the substrate through the electrical contacts and applying anode voltage to the anode.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, performing plating treatment on the substrate comprises: driving the plating solution to flow towards the substrate by using the plating drive device.
According to various embodiments, the present disclosure further provides a cleaning method for cleaning the sealing element of the plating apparatus with a cleaning module according to any one or a combination of embodiments of the abovementioned cleaning module after the operation method of the plating apparatus, comprising: positioning the roller assembly of the cleaning module at the working location; cleaning the sealing element with the fresh tape provided from the roller assembly; and positioning the roller assembly away from the working location.
According to various embodiments, the step of providing the fresh tape of the cleaning method further comprises: supplying the fresh tape from the feeder roller of the roller assembly; directing the fresh tape to the sealing element by the first idle roller of the roller assembly; directing the contaminated tape to the receiver roller after the sealing element by the second idle roller of the roller assembly; and receiving the contaminated tape into the receiver roller of the roller assembly.
According to various embodiments, the step of providing the fresh tape of the cleaning method further comprises: creating a first internal tension to the fresh tape by a first tension roller located after the feeder roller and before the sealing element; and creating a second internal tension to the contaminated tape with a second tension roller located after the sealing element and before the receiver roller.
According to various embodiments, the step of positioning the roller assembly of the cleaning module at the working location of the cleaning method comprises: moving the roller assembly from the waiting location to the working location along the first guiding rail and the second guiding rail, wherein the first guiding rail is substantially perpendicular to the second guiding rail.
Inner side surface 213; Outer side surface 214; Front Surface 215; Rear Surface 216; Inner End Portion 217; Outer End Portion 218; Clamping Plate 22; Cantilever Element 23; Protrusion 23p; Clamping End 24; Angle α; Angle β; First Driving Mechanism 71; Second Driving Mechanism 72; Support Member 26; Connecting Plate 27; Cam Slot 27c; Guide Rail 28; Pivotal shaft 29; Pivotal axis P; Supporting Point P1; Longitudinal Axis of Cylinder Q; Extension Axis of Clamping End R; Substrate 3; First Substrate 3a; Second Substrate 3b; Anode 4; Power Supply Device 5; Substrate Mounting Plate 6; Hole 65; Substrate Mounting Area 6A; Sides of Hole 65a, 65b, 65c, 65d; Electrical Contact 66; Substrate stopper 61; Supporting Stand 62; Arm 63; Stop Portion 63a; Seal Ring 64; Plating solution Drive Device 8; Connecting Frame 81; Blade 82; Slide Bar 83; Duct 84; Holder 85; Cleaning Module 90; Waiting Location 902; Working Location 904; Roller Assembly 92; Feeder roller 922; Feeder roller Axis 923; Receiver roller 924; Receiver roller Axis 925; Fresh Tape 926; Contaminated Tape 928; Tension Roller 930; First Tension Roller 9302; Second Tension Roller 9304; First Idle Roller 932; First Idle Roller 9322; Second Idle Roller 9324; Plate assembly 94; First Side Plate 942; First Receiving Holes 9422, 9424; Second Side Plate 944; Second Receiving Holes 9442, 9444; Base Plate 946; Connecting Bar 948; Cushion 96; Front Surface 962; Rear Surface 964; Handling Assembly 98; First Guiding Rail 982; First Guiding Rail Members 9822, 9824; First Linear Actuator 983; Handle 984; Second Guiding Rail 986; Second Guiding Rail Members 9862, 9864; Second Linear Actuator 987; Gripper 988; Holding station 99; Securing Mechanism 992; Support Plate 994; Cylinder 996; Telescoping End 9962; Locker 998; locker Cavity 9986.
The accompanying drawings are referred to in the following description of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The accompanying drawings form one part of the present disclosure. Various exemplary devices, systems, and environments in which various aspects of the present disclosure may be practiced are shown by way of illustration.
In the description of the disclosure, the orientation or positional relationship indicated by “horizontal”, “vertical”, “upper”, “lower”, “top”, “bottom”, “left”, “right”, “front”, “rear” and the like is based on the orientation or positional relationship as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, or the orientation or positional relationship that is conventionally placed when the device set in the present disclosure is used, or the orientation or positional relationship that is conventionally understood by those skilled in the art, is merely for ease of description of the present disclosure and simplified description, which does not indicate or imply that the device or component referred to must have a particular orientation and is constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and thus is not to be construed as a limitation to the present disclosure.
In some plating techniques, a substrate to be plated is placed horizontally in a plating tank with a surface to be plated facing downward, and a plating solution is spurted from below towards the surface to be plated. This method is generally called spurting method, and has obvious defect that bubbles may be easily accumulated on the surface to be plated in the plating process and are difficult to be removed and may adversely affect the plating quality.
In other plating techniques, the plating solution is injected from a lower part of the plating tank and filled into a tank body, and the substrate to be plated is placed vertically in the plating tank and immersed into the plating solution. This method may be referred to as dipping method. In this case, although the bubbles may be easily removed to form a plating surface with high quality, overcoming the disadvantages of the spray method to some extent, however, it is necessary to provide a holding device for the substrate in order to vertically fix the substrate to be plated in the plating tank. Such a holding device is generally complicated in structure, inconvenient to be operated, and difficult to firmly fax the substrate.
The plating tank in the present disclosure can have the following advantages:
1. As the substrate is fixed on the opening of the side wall along the vertical direction, bubbles generated in the plating process can rise to an upper surface of the plating solution due to buoyancy, and no bubble will be accumulated on the surface to be plated, thereby avoiding adversely affecting the quality of the coating.
2. As the substrate is directly mounted on the outer side of the side wall of the tank body, compared with the case that the substrate is vertically fixed inside the plating tank, a substrate holding device with complex structure can be omitted, thereby simplifying the structure of the plating apparatus. In addition, the assembly and disassembly operations of the substrate can also be carried out in a simpler and faster way from the outside of the tank body.
3. Since the structure of the plating apparatus and the mounting operation of the substrate are greatly simplified, the plating tank in the present disclosure is particularly suitable for processing a large substrate, e.g., a substrate with a size of 600 mm, and thus is particularly suitable for large-sized panel level semiconductor package.
As illustrated in
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, at least one of the side walls S of the tank body 1 is provided with an opening 15 for communicating the inside and the outside of the tank body 1 (e.g., extending from the inside to the outside of the tank body). The opening 15 can have a shape basically consistent with that of an area to be processed of the substrate 3, for instance, a roughly rectangular shape.
In some examples, at least two of the side walls S of the tank body 1 are provided with the opening 15 for communicating the inside and the outside of the tank body 1. In various embodiments of the present disclosure, the opening 15 for communicating the inside and the outside of the tank body 1 is formed on two opposite side walls S of the tank body 1, for instance, on the front wall 11 and the rear wall 12 as illustrated in
The inside of the tank body 1 can further comprise partition walls. The partition walls and the side walls S of the tank body 1 define a plurality of separate plating tank parts in the tank body 1. Each plating tank part can correspond to one of the at least two side walls S provided with the openings 15. In the embodiment as illustrated in
In some examples, the opening is disposed on more than two side walls of the tank body, and one or more openings can be disposed on each of the side walls. Discrete plating tank parts can be divided inside the tank body according to the number of the openings to simultaneously perform plating treatment on more substrates to be plated, thereby improving the efficiency of plating treatment by several times.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
In some examples, the fixation between the substrate mounting plate 6 and the side wall S can be a detachable connection through one or more fasteners (for example, screws or bolts). In some examples, the fixation between the substrate mounting plate 6 and the side wall S can be almost permanent connection (e.g., welded joint or adhesive).
The substrate mounting plate 6 is provided with a substrate mounting area 6A (as illustrated by a dotted box part in
One or more electrical contacts 66 are disposed in the substrate mounting area 6A of the substrate mounting plate 6 and configured to be electrically connected with the substrate to be plated 3. The electrical contacts 66 are electrically connected to the cathode of the power supply device 5 (
The electrical contacts 66 can be arranged along one or more sides of the hole 65 of the substrate mounting plate 6. In the embodiment as illustrated in
In some examples, the plating apparatus can further comprise a resistance measuring device (not illustrated) electrically connected to the above electrical contact 66. After the substrate 3 is mounted on the substrate mounting plate 6 by means of the fixing device 2, the resistance measuring device can be used to measure the contact resistance between the substrate 3 and the electrical contacts 66, so as to determine whether the connection status between the substrate 3 and the electrical contacts 66 is in good condition. For instance, the resistance measuring device is electrically connected to four electrical contacts 66 disposed on one side. Thus, the resistance measuring device can measure the contact resistance between the substrate 3 and the electrical contacts 66 by utilization of the four-point method. Traditional plating apparatuses cannot easily, measure the contact resistance for detecting any abnormalities in electrical connections during the plating treatment, which would cause defects or even failures to the plating, such as an uneven plating thickness. In contrast, the plating apparatus of the present invention provides a simple, convenient, and reliable way of measuring the contact resistance between the substrate 3 and the electrical contacts 66 during the plating treatment. In particular, the contact resistance can be measured in a real-time manner during operation of the plating apparatus for consistently, monitoring the plating treatment of the substrate 3. If the contact resistance increases abnormally, from a pre-determined value, the plating apparatus can be suspended or stopped from the operation to check the electrical connections between the power supply device 5 and the substrate 3. In this way, the area to be processed on the substrate 3 can be plated under precise control and an even plating thickness can be obtained accordingly.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, as illustrated in
In other embodiments, the fixing device 2 can also be set in a way different from that of the embodiment as illustrated in
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the fixing device 2 comprise at least one clamping piece. In some examples, the fixing device 2 can comprise a plurality of clamping pieces. As illustrated in
An exemplary structure of the clamping piece 20 in various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, as illustrated in
The supporting plate 21 is a plate member extending along the length direction, the width direction, and the thickness direction. The length direction is parallel to the side of the hole 65 of the substrate mounting plate 6 close to the supporting plate 21. The width direction is perpendicular to the side of the hole 65 of the substrate mounting plate 6 close to the supporting plate 21.
As illustrated in
For the convenience of description, the geometric characteristics of the supporting plate 21 are defined as follows.
As illustrated in
The supporting plate 21 comprises a receiving slot 21s (as illustrated in
As illustrated in
The operation process of the fixing device 2 is as follows: in the case that the plating apparatus does not operate, the supporting plate 21 is at the inclination position and the clamping plate 22 is at the retraction position. The operator can place the substrate to be plated 3 on the substrate mounting area 6A of the substrate mounting plate 6. After the substrate is placed, the operator can move the clamping plate 22 disposed in the receiving slot 21s of the supporting plate 21 from the retraction position to the extension position, so that the clamping end 24 of the clamping plate 22 can move to the position above the substrate mounting area 6A. The operator can then move the supporting plate 21 from the inclination position to the parallel position, so that the clamping end 24 of the clamping plate 22 can move towards the substrate mounting area 6A and apply a pressure to the substrate 3, and the substrate 3 is therefore fastened on the substrate mounting plate 6 in the substrate mounting area 6A.
In a variant example not illustrated of the present disclosure, the clamping piece 20 can be a plate member in which a pressing portion is fixed at one end, and can move in the x-axis direction and the z-axis direction integrally under the guidance of, for example, a guide rail. In the process of mounting the substrate 3, the clamping piece 20 can move along a guide rail extending along the x-axis direction towards the center of the hole 65 at first, so that the pressing portion can be disposed above the substrate mounting area 6A. Different from the pivotal motion around the y axis of the supporting plate 21 in the above embodiment, in this embodiment, the clamping piece 20 can integrally perform a linear movement towards the substrate mounting plate 6 along a guide rail 28 (refer to
As for the design of the clamping piece 20, the principle followed by the present disclosure is that at least one part of the clamping piece 20 can move in the x-axis direction and the z-axis direction. Firstly, at least one part of the clamping piece 20 can move in the x-axis direction between one side of the substrate mounting area 6A away from the hole 65 (corresponding to the above retracted position) and the substrate mounting area 6A (corresponding to the above extended position), so as to leave an operation space for the placement and removal of the substrate 3 above the substrate mounting area 6A. Secondly, at least one part (for instance, the clamping end 24) of the clamping piece 20 can move in the z-axis direction, so as to press against the substrate 3 disposed on the substrate mounting plate 6 and apply a pressure to the substrate, or release the pressure and leave from the substrate 3. Under the guidance of this principle, other structural designs, and movement modes of the clamping piece 20 can be envisioned by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of protection of the present disclosure.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, the fixing device 2 further comprises driving mechanisms which are configured to drive the motion of the clamping piece 20.
In some examples, the fixing device 2 comprises a first driving mechanism 71 and a second driving mechanism 72. The first driving mechanism 71 is configured to drive at least one part of the clamping piece 20 along the x-axis direction, so that the at least one part of the clamping piece 20 can move from one side of the substrate mounting area 6A away from the hole 65 to the substrate mounting area 6A. The second driving mechanism 72 is configured to drive at least one part of the clamping piece 20 along the z-axis direction, so that the at least one part of the clamping piece 20 can apply a pressure towards the substrate mounting area 6A.
It should be noted that “the first driving mechanism 71 drives at least one part of the clamping piece 20 along the x-axis direction” is not limited to the case where the movement trajectory of the at least one part of the clamping piece 20 is along the x-axis direction. The at least one part of the clamping piece 20 can also move along a direction that is at an angle to the x-axis direction driven by the first driving mechanism 71. For instance, in a state where the clamping piece 20 is at, for example, the inclination position as illustrated in
The driving mechanism can be any of a variety of linear drive units known to those skilled in the art, e.g., an electric motor, a cylinder, or a ball screw. The first driving mechanisms 71 and the second driving mechanism 72 of the plurality of clamping pieces 20 can be connected to a control module, and the control module can simultaneously operate the plurality of clamping pieces 20 in response to an instruction of the operator. This automated implementation significantly reduces the fixed operation time and reduces the production cost. In addition, the fixing operation by the driving mechanisms is highly reproducible and uniform compared to manual operation, thereby ensuring the reliability of the fixing operation and the sealing effect of substrate mounting.
The fixing device 2 can comprise two support members 26 respectively disposed at the front surface 215 and the rear surface 216 of the supporting plate 21. The first driving mechanism 71 is configured such that the cylinder barrel thereof is fixed at one of the support members 26 and the longitudinal axis of the cylinder barrel extends along the y-axis direction, so that the piston rod of the first driving mechanism 71 can perform linear reciprocating motion along the y-axis direction.
Apart from the supporting plate 21 and the clamping plate 22, the clamping piece 20 further comprises a connecting plate 27 which is disposed on the lower surface 212 of the supporting plate 21 and fixedly connected to an end portion of the piston rod of the first driving mechanism 71. The guide rail 28 extending along the y-axis direction can also be disposed on the lower surface 212 of the supporting plate 21. Thus, the linear motion along the y-axis direction of the connecting plate 27 can be guided along the guide rail 28.
The connecting plate comprises at least one cam slot 27c. The cam slot 27c is of an elongated shape, for instance, an oblong shape, and an extension axis thereof is between the x axis and the y axis and forms an angle of larger than 0° and smaller than 90° with the x axis (
As illustrated in
In the case that the connecting plate 27 performs linear motion along the y axis driven by the first driving mechanism 71, the connecting plate 27 drives the protrusion 23p to move in the cam slot 27c along the extension axis of the cam slot 27c, so that the clamping plate 22 can slide in the receiving slot 21s of the supporting plate 21 along the x-axis direction and thus move between the extension position and the retraction position.
As illustrated in
Returning to
In the case that the outer end portion 218 of the supporting plate 21 performs linear motion along the z axis driven by the second driving mechanism 72, the supporting plate 21 can rotate about the pivotal shaft 29, so that the supporting plate 21 can move between the parallel position and the inclination position.
In the embodiment as illustrated in
Thus, the force applied by the second driving mechanism 72 can be amplified through the lever principle, so that the fixing of the substrate 3 at the clamping end 24 of the clamping plate 22 can be more stable, thereby enhancing the sealing effect and preventing the leakage of the plating solution during the plating process.
In some examples, the first distance L1 is twice the second distance L2.
In some examples, the pivotal shaft 29 of the supporting plate 21 can be arranged in a manner different from that of the above embodiment. For instance, the pivotal shaft 29 can be disposed on the outer end portion 218 of the supporting plate 21 in the width direction, and the end portion of the piston rod of the second driving mechanism 72 is connected to the middle part of the supporting plate 21 in the width direction.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, as illustrated in
Before plating treatment, the substrate stopper 61 can be disposed at the idle position (as illustrated in
In some examples, as illustrated in
In various embodiments of the present disclosure, as illustrated in
As illustrated in the partial schematic diagram
In order to further improve the sealing effect, as illustrated in
It should be noted that although the sealing element is in the form of the seal ring 64 in
The plating apparatus further comprises a plating solution drive device 8 disposed in the tank body 1. As illustrated in
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, as illustrated in
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, as illustrated in
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the plating solution drive device 8 can comprise both a plurality of blades 82 and a plurality of ducts 84 provided with nozzles. In this configuration, the movement of the blades 82 and the spraying action of the nozzles can produce a collaborative effect to better drive the flow of the plating solution with a view to form a uniform coating.
In some examples, the distance between adjacent nozzles is in a range from 1 mm to 5 mm, e.g., 1.5 mm. The bore diameter of the nozzle is in a range from 0.5 mm to 1 mm, e.g., 0.8 mm.
In order to obtain a coating with more uniform thickness, the plating solution drive device 8 can be arranged as close as possible to the side wall S provided with the opening 15. For instance, the distance between the plating solution drive device 8 and the side wall can be in a range from 2 mm to 4 mm.
In some examples, the plating solution drive device 8 can be mounted to the side wall S provided with the opening 15. In the embodiment as illustrated in
The sealing element (such as the seal ring 64) described in
To prevent the plating solution L from contaminating the sealing element around the hole 65, the plating apparatus may further include a cleaning module 901 for cleaning the sealing element. In particular, the cleaning module 90 would not hinder mounting the substrate 3 to the substrate mounting plate 6 of the plating apparatus. In some examples, the cleaning module 90 may be removably coupled to the plating apparatus such that the cleaning module 90 can be coupled to the plating apparatus after removing the substrate 3 from the substrate mounting plate 6 and decoupled from the substrate mounting plate 6 after cleaning the sealing element. In some examples, the cleaning module 90 is movably coupled to the plating apparatus such that the cleaning module 90 can be moved towards the sealing element after removing the substrate 3 from the substrate mounting plate 6 and moved away from the sealing element after cleaning the sealing element.
The fresh tape 926 may be made of any materials which can absorb the plating solution L around the sealing element. In some examples, the fresh tape 926 comprises non-water proof fabrics, such as non-woven wipes which can efficiently absorb the plating solution L The non-woven wipes may include a composite material of viscoses, polyesters, cotton, nylon, microtibers and pulps. For example, the non-woven wipes may be made of woodpulp and polyester. Accordingly, the non-woven wipes have a soft nature and thus would not make damage to the sealing element during the cleaning. The non-woven wipe may further include spunlaced non-woven wipes or needle-punched non-woven wipes according to the chemical nature of the plating solution L.
In some examples, the roller assembly 92 may include one or more tension rollers 930 for creating an internal tension to the fresh tape 926 and/or the contaminated tape 928 for facilitating movement of the fresh tape 926 and/or the contaminated tape 928 in the roller assembly 92. As shown in
In some examples, the roller assembly 92 may include one or more idle rollers 932 for directing the movement of the fresh tape 926 and/or the contaminated tape 928 in the roller assembly 92. As shown in
The plate assembly 94 may have a first side plate 942 and a second side plate 944 at two opposed sides of the roller assembly 92 for rotatably fix the feeder roller axis 923 and the receiver roller axis 925 such that the feeder roller 922 and the receiver roller 924 can rotate around the feeder roller axis 923 and the receiver roller axis 925 to supply the fresh tape 926 and receive the contaminated tape 928, respectively. The plate assembly 94 may include a base plate 946 connecting the first side plate 942 and the second side plate 944 for enclosing the roller assembly 92 at a rear side. The plate assembly 94 may also include a connecting bar 948 connecting the first side plate 942 and the second side plate 944 at a front side opposed to the base plate 946 at the rear side. The connecting bar 948 is located between the feeder roller 922 and the receiver roller 924 for not blocking or interfering rotation of the feeder roller 922 and the receiver roller 924.
In some examples, the cleaning module 90 may include a cushion 96 attached to the base plate 946 and opposed to the roller assembly 92. The cushion 96 has a front surface 962 (shown in
The cushion 96 may be in a sheet configuration and made of soft materials for mitigating the pressure applied between the fresh tape 926 and the contaminated tape 928 against the sealing element accommodated in the substrate mounting plate 6. In some examples, the soft materials may include silicone rubbers composed of silicone polymers which typically contains silicon together with carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Other similar soft materials may also be used, such as silicone foams or rubber sponges.
The cleaning module 90 may include a holding station 99 configured to hold the roller assembly 92 at the waiting location 902 when the substrate 3 is mounted onto the substrate mounting plate 6 for the plating treatment; and then configured to release the roller assembly 92 for cleaning the sealing element when the substrate 3 is removed after the plating treatment. As shown in
Accordingly, the cleaning module 90 may include a handling assembly 98 for moving the roller assembly 92 from the holding station 99 at the waiting location 902 towards a working location 904 (shown in the dashed square in
The roller assembly 92 may have either a larger profile or a smaller profile in relation to the sealing element. For example, if the roller assembly 92 has both a length and a width larger than the sealing element in the X-direction and the Y-direction, the roller assembly 92 can clean the sealing element without movement. If the sealing element cannot be completely covered by the roller assembly 92 by the length or the width of the roller assembly 92, the roller assembly 92 needs to move in the X-direction or the Y-direction during the cleaning in order to clean all parts of the sealing element.
As shown in
Alternatively, the roller assembly 92 and the handle 984 may be accurately installed at the working location 904 after the substrate 3 is removed from the substrate mounting plate 6 before cleaning the sealing element and then removed from the working location 904 after cleaning the sealing element. Therefore, it is not necessary to define the waiting location 902; accordingly, the holding station 99 and the handling assembly 98 are not needed to move the roller assembly 92 to the working location 904 for the cleaning module 90.
In some examples, the securing mechanism 992 includes a cylinder 996 coupled to the support plate 994 and a locker 998 coupled to the cylinder 996 for securing the roller assembly 92. The locker 998 may have two protrusions 9982, 9984; while the each of the first side plate 942 and the second side plate 944 may have two receiving holes (i.e., first receiving holes 9422, 9424 for the first side plate 942 and second receiving holes 9442, 9444 for the second side plate 944) accordingly for receiving the two protrusions 9982, 9984. Since the protrusions 9982, 9984 can be inserted and removed from the two receiving holes 9422, 9424 of the first side plate 942 and the two receiving holes 9442, 9444 of the second side plate 944 respectively, the holding station 99 can secure and release the roller assembly 92 repetitively. The locker 998 may be activated by the cylinder 996 to lock the roller assembly 92. For example, the cylinder 996 may have a telescoping end 9962 which can extend outside and push the locker 998 towards the side plates 942, 944 of the plate assembly 94 after getting in contact with the locker 998. The locker 998 may have a locker cavity 9986 corresponding to the telescoping end 9962. Accordingly, the telescoping end 9962 extends outside, then arrives at the locker cavity 9986, and finally pushes the locker 998 to move towards the side plates 942, 944 until the two protrusions 9982, 9984 are inserted into the two first receiving holes 9422, 9424 of the first side plate 942, respectively.
Similarly, if the width of the roller assembly 92 is smaller than the sealing element, the roller assembly 92 can clean only a portion of the sealing element in the Y-direction each time; and the roller assembly 92 needs to move for several times in the Y-direction to clean all portions of the sealing element. In some examples, the two grippers 988 may be movable along the handle 984 in order to move the roller assembly 92 in the Y-direction. Alternatively, the two first guiding rail members 9822, 9824 may be movable in the Y-direction in order to move the roller assembly 92 in the Y-direction if the grippers 988 are fixed at the handle 984.
In
The operation method of the plating apparatus will be described below and is used for performing plating treatment on the substrate to be plated 3.
Firstly, placing the substrate 3 on the outer side of the side wall and at the position of the opening, and operating the fixing device 20 to fix the substrate 3.
In some examples, the plating apparatus comprises a substrate mounting plate 6 fixed to the outer side of the side wall, the substrate mounting plate 6 comprises a hole 65 and a substrate mounting area 6A arranged around the hole 65, and the position of the hole 65 corresponds to the position of the opening. In this case, the step of operating the fixing device 20 to fix the substrate 3 further comprises: operating the fixing device 20 to fix the substrate 3 to the substrate mounting plate 6.
In some examples, the substrate mounting area 6A is provided with electrical contacts 66 configured to be electrically connected with the substrate 3, and the plating apparatus further comprises a resistance measuring device electrically connected to the electrical contacts 66. In this case, the step of operating the fixing device 20 to fix the substrate 3 further comprises: using the resistance measuring device to measure the contact resistance between the substrate 3 and the electrical contacts 66, and determining the connection status of the substrate 3 and the electrical contacts 66.
Secondly, performing plating treatment on the substrate 3.
In some examples, performing plating treatment on the substrate 3 can comprise: injecting the plating solution into the tank body 1, so that the plating solution can contact at least a part of the substrate 3, and applying a cathode voltage to the substrate 3 through the electrical contacts 66, applying an anode voltage to the anode of the plating apparatus, and then performing plating treatment on the substrate 3.
In some examples, the plating apparatus comprises a plating solution drive device 8 being disposed in the tank body 1 and facing the opening, and the plating solution drive device 8 is configured to drive the plating solution to flow towards the opening. In this case, the step of performing plating treatment on the substrate 3 can comprise: using the plating solution drive device 8 to drive the plating solution to flow towards the substrate 3.
S1: placing the substrate 3 on the outer side of the side wall S and at the position of the opening 15; and
S2: operating the fixing device 2 to fix the substrate 3 on the substrate mounting plate 6.
For instance, the first driving mechanism 71 is operated at first so that the clamping plate 22 can move from the retraction position to the extension position and the clamping end 24 of the clamping plate 22 can move to the position above the substrate mounting area 6A, and then the second driving mechanism 72 is operated so that the supporting plate 21 can rotate from the inclination position to the parallel position and the clamping end 24 of the clamping plate 22 can apply a pressure to the substrate 3 in the substrate mounting area 6A.
S3: utilizing the resistance measuring device to detect the connection status between the substrate 3 and the substrate mounting plate 6.
S4: turning on a plating solution pumping device 8 to inject the plating solution L into the tank body 1 and allow the plating solution L to contact at least a part of the substrate 3.
S5: turning on the power supply device 5 to apply a voltage between the substrate to be plated 3 and the anode 4.
S6: turning on the plating solution drive device 8 to perform a reciprocating motion in the plane parallel to the substrate 3, and drive the plating solution L to flow towards the surface to be plated of the substrate 3.
S7: performing the plating process and timing the plating process.
S8: turning off the power supply device 5.
S9: turning off the plating solution pumping device, and stopping injecting the plating solution into the tank body 1.
S10: turning off the plating solution drive device 8.
S11: discharging the plating solution from the tank body 1.
S12: operating the fixing device 2 to unfix the substrate 3 from the substrate mounting area 6A and detach the substrate 3 from the substrate mounting plate 6.
S13: positioning the roller assembly 92 to the working location 904. If the roller assembly 92 is held by the holding station 99 at the waiting location 902, a pre-step is needed before S13 to lease the roller assembly 92 from the holding station 99. Alternatively, if the roller assembly 92 is placed apart from the cleaning module 90, another pre-step is needed before S13 for accurately installing the roller assembly 92 to the cleaning module 90 at the working location 904.
S14: supplying the fresh tape 926 from the feeder roller 922.
S15: creating the internal tension to the fresh tape 926 by the first tension roller 9302.
S16: directing the fresh tape 926 to the sealing element accommodated in the substrate mounting plate 6 by the first idle roller 9322.
S17: cleaning the sealing element with the fresh tape 926; and the fresh tape 926 is turned into the contaminated tape 928 accordingly.
S18: creating the internal tension to the contaminated tape 928 by the second tension roller 9304.
S19: directing the contaminated tape 928 to the receiver roller 924 by the second idle roller 9324.
S20: receiving the contaminated tape 928 into the receiver roller 924.
S21: positioning the roller assembly 92 away from the working location 904. If the cleaning module 90 includes the holding station 99 at the waiting location 902, the roller assembly 92 is moved to the waiting location 902. If the cleaning module 90 does not include the holding station 99, the roller assembly 92 is removed from the cleaning module 90.
Further features of the present disclosure may be found in the claims, the drawings, and the description of the drawings. The features and combinations of features mentioned above in the description and the features and combinations of features which are further illustrated in the drawings and/or independently illustrated in the drawings are not only used for the respectively indicated combinations, but also for other combinations or for individual use, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The details of the present disclosure, which are not explicitly illustrated and explained in the drawings but are presented from the detailed description of the features through independent feature combinations are thus comprised and disclosed, Therefore, details and combinations of features that do not have all of the features of the originally formed independent claims should also be considered as disclosed.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10201902611P | Mar 2019 | SG | national |
| 201910391509.6 | May 2019 | CN | national |
This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/656,863 entitled “PLATING APPARATUS AND OPERATION METHOD THEREOF”, filed on Oct. 18, 2019, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,261,535 on Mar. 1, 2022, which claims the benefits of Singapore Patent Application No. 10201902611P, filed on Mar. 22, 2019 and Chinese Patent Application No. 201910391509.6, filed on May 10, 2019, the entire disclosure of which are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 16656863 | Oct 2019 | US |
| Child | 17681516 | US |
