Plating Device for Improving Plating Quality and Preventing Gloss Deterioration of Objects to Be Plated

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0067068, filed on May 23, 2024 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The present invention relates to a plating device for improving plating quality and preventing gloss deterioration of an object to be plated within a vertical continuous plating bath or a general dip-type plating bath. More particularly, the prevent invention relates to a plating device for improving plating quality and preventing gloss deterioration of an object to be plated (hereinafter referred also to as a ‘to-be-plated object’), which can inject pressure through an e-duct while moving the to-be-plated object in the x-axis and y-axis directions of a vertical continuous plating bath or a general dip-type plating bath, where copper (Cu), gold (Au), nickel (Ni) or the like is electroplated on the to-be-plated object within in the plating bath, and also moving the e-duct in the x-axis direction of the plating bath, so that the influence of the e-duct can be evenly applied to objects to be plated, which have different aspect ratios and thicknesses, as well as the flow of metal ions around the to-be-plated object can be controlled by a shield installed at a position beyond the size of the to-be-plated object within the plating bath to prevent gloss deterioration caused by excessive plating at the edge of the to-be-plated object, thus resulting in improvements in both plating quality and manufacturing yield, as well as an increase in space utilization to allow for the installation of multiple plating lines, thereby ensuring advantageous application of the plating device to both multi-variety, small-batch production and mass production.

In general, interconnection between PCB layers requires perforating the layers at corresponding positions and performing plating on the layers. In this case, since the wall surfaces of the perforated holes exist as insulators, electroless plating is first performed on the layers to make the hole wall surfaces electrically conductive, followed by electroplating to increase the thickness of the metal film on the hole walls.

Examples of electroplating devices include a general plating device and a vertical continuous plating device. Each of the platting devices has its advantages and disadvantages.

First, since the general plating device includes a plating bath with a volume considerably smaller than that of the vertical continuous plating device, an installation space does not need to be large, leading to increased space utilization. Thus, multiple plating devices can be installed, allowing products with different plating conditions to be plated simultaneously, thereby increasing production volume. In addition, the general plating device has the advantage of using a relatively small amount of a chemical agent for make-up is used due to the small volume of the plating bath. Moreover, since the installation of multiple plating devices allows for individual bath make-up, the risk of delivery delays caused by the make-up process is relatively low.

On the other hand, the general plating device has a disadvantage in that since only a partial area of a substrate is affected by the e-duct, the plating quality, such as plating gloss or brightness, uniformity of hole plating, and the like, is lower than that of the vertical continuous plating device. As used herein, the term “the e-duct” refers to a component that injects chemicals into the plating bath under pressure in order to remove air adhered to the substrate and maximize the hole plating.

The conventional vertical continuous plating device has characteristics opposite to the advantage and the disadvantage of the general plating device. In other words, the conventional vertical continuous plating device, in which all the areas of the substrate are affected by the e-duct during the injection of chemicals, is superior to the general plating device, in which only a partial area of the substrate is affected by the e-duct during the injection of chemicals, in terms of the plating quality, such plating gloss or brightness, uniformity of hole plating, and the like. However, the conventional vertical continuous plating device has disadvantages, including an increase in required installation area, a decrease in production volume, a reduction in profitability due to excessive use of the chemical agent for make-up, and potential delivery delays.

are schematic diagrams illustrating a conventional general plating device, a conventional vertical continuous plating device, and an e-duct affecting area (i.e., a bright area) after plating.illustrates a state in which a substrateis gripped in a plating bathas well as bright areas appearing within the substrateafter plating in the general plating device.illustrates a illustrates a state in which substratesare gripped in the plating bathas well as a bright area appearing within the substrateafter plating in the conventional vertical continuous plating device. As shown in, the conventional vertical continuous plating device has the advantage of uniformly affecting all areas of the substrates, thereby improving gloss or brightness of plating and ensuring uniformity of the plating in holes, compared to the general plating device.

However, as shown in, this conventional vertical continuous plating device entails problems in that since the linear arrangement of the substrateswithin the plating bathleads to an extended plating line compared to the general plating device, a considerable amount of space is required for substrate installation, resulting in significantly low space utilization, as well as the reduced number of the substrates that can be manufactured leads to a decrease in the manufacturing yield. In addition, the conventional vertical continuous plating device also involves a drawback in that for multi-variety, small-batch production enterprises, the varied plating conditions for each product type makes it impossible to perform simultaneous plating processes, causing potential delays in delivery dates.

Further, the conventional vertical continuous plating device has a significant disadvantage in terms of profitability due to the injection of a considerable amount of chemical agent for make-up. Additionally, in the case of the chemical agent for make-up, an additional make-up may be performed for only the amount of chemical agent consumed during the plating process but the chemical agent itself has an expiration date, which necessitates a periodic entire make-up process.

In this context, Korean Patent No. 10-2539090 (titled “Vertical Continuous Electro-Plating Device Capable of Adjusting The Arrangement Angle and Moving Distance of The Object To Be Plated”, hereinafter referred to as ‘Patent Document 1’), which was devised by the applicant, discloses that substrates, to-be-plated objectswithin a plating bath, are arranged in an oblique and angularly adjustable manner as shown into increase the workload of the to-be-plated objects within the plating bathand maximize the e-duct effect so that the manufacturing yield can be increased and the plating quality can be improved. Moreover, Patent Document 1 also discloses that the to-be-plated objects are moved forward and backward in a gradually advancing manner to extend the overall movement distance so that the size of the plating bath can be reduced, which allows for the installation of multiple plating lines, thereby ensuring advantageous application of the plating device to multi-variety and small-batch production processes.

However, the vertical continuous electroplating device according to Patent Document 1 has an e-duct effect higher than that of the aforementioned existing plating device, but the to-be-plated objects are gradually moved only forward and backward along the longitudinal direction of the plating bath (see the arrow direction in), and thus in the case (a) of the to-be-plated objects having a smaller thickness, the separation distance between the to-be-plated objects and the e-ductors becomes greater than that in the case (b) of the to-be-plated objects having a larger thickness as shown in, resulting in a relative decrease in the e-duct effect. For example, since the thickness of printed circuit boards (PCBs) varies from 0.4 to 8.5 mm or more for each product, a difference in plating quality may occur due to a variation in the thickness of the PCBs. In other words, since the PCBs are gradually moved only forward and backward along the longitudinal direction of the plating bath (see the arrow direction in) in a state where they are positioned at the central portion of the plating bath, the hole surface, which is the central portion of the PCB thickness, may receive the least e-duct effect. The central hole area, which is the most vulnerable portion of the PCB thickness in achieving plating gloss and uniformity of hole plating, should receive more e-duct effect. However, a drawback arises in that this task cannot be achieved with the current equipment.

In the meantime, in an attempt to solve the problem with Patent Document 1, Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0017277 (entitled “Vertical Continuous Plating Device Enabling Control of Plating Deviation Based on Thickness Difference of To-Be-Plated Objects”), which was devised and previously filed by the applicant of the present invention. This patent document discloses that substrates, i.e., to-be-plated objectswithin a plating bathare arranged in a displaceable manner so as to be moveable in both the longitudinal direction (i.e., left/right direction on the drawing sheet) and the width direction (i.e., forward/rearward direction on the drawing sheet) of the plating bath as shown in, so that the influence of the e-duct can be evenly applied to even to-be-plated objects having different thicknesses to increase the workload of the to-be-plated objects within the plating bath and maximize the e-duct effect, resulting in improvements in both manufacturing yield and plating quality, and a reduction in the size of the plating bath to enable the installation of multiple plating lines through the reduced size of the plating bath, thereby ensuring advantageous application of the plating device to multi-variety, small-batch production.

However, the above-described technology can be applied only to the vertical continuous plating device, and has a limitation of use, which makes it difficult to be applied to the general plating device. Therefore, there is a need for the development of a technology that can increase the workload of the to-be-plated objects within the plating bath and maximize the e-duct effect, resulting in improvements in both manufacturing yield and plating quality for the purpose of application of the technology to the general plating device.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the aforementioned problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a plating device for improving plating quality and preventing gloss deterioration of an object to be plated, which can inject pressure through an e-duct while moving a to-be-plated object in the left/right (i.e., direction; x-axis), forward/rearward (i.e., transverse direction; y-axis), and upward/downward (i.e., vertical direction; z-axis) directions of a vertical continuous plating bath or a general dip-type plating bath, where copper (Cu), gold (Au), nickel (Ni) or the like is electroplated on the to-be-plated object within the plating bath, using an e-duct in which nozzles with different injection apertures and injection intensities are alternatively arranged with each other, so that the influence of the e-duct can be evenly applied to all the objects to be plated, which have different aspect ratios and thicknesses, as well as the flow of metal ions moving around the to-be-plated object can be controlled by a variable shield installed at a position beyond the size of the to-be-plated object so as to be adjustable in size depending on the size of the to-be-plated object within the plating bath to prevent gloss deterioration caused by excessive plating at the edge of the to-be-plated object, thus resulting in improvements in both plating quality and manufacturing yield, as well as an increase in space utilization to allow for the installation of multiple plating lines, thereby ensuring advantageous application of the plating device to both multi-variety, small-batch production and mass production.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a plating device for improving plating quality and preventing gloss deterioration of an object to be plated, wherein the plating device includes: a plating bath configured to allow a plating solution to be filled therein; an e-duct configured to be supported at its upper end by an e-duct support and mounted on the inner sidewalls of the plating bath so as to be movable horizontally, the e-duct being connected to a circulation pump that sucks in and discharges the plating solution in the plating bath through a connection tube so as to inject the plating solution discharged from the circulation pump into the plating bath under high pressure; a substrate mounting bar disposed at the upper portion of the plating bath so as to be movable in the left/right and forward/rearward directions of the plating bath, and configured to grip an object to be plated to allow the object to be moved and electrically conducted in the left/right and forward/rearward directions within the plating bath; a mounting bar moving unit disposed on an upper portion of the substrate mounting bar, and configured to independently move the substrate mounting bar in the left/right and forward/rearward directions of the plating bath so as to adjust the position of the to-be-plated object within the plating bath or the separation distance between the e-duct and the to-be-plated object.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the plating device, may further include a shield disposed in front of the e-duct so as to be spaced apart from the e-duct inwardly from the inner sidewalls of the plating bath in such a manner as to be positioned beyond the size of the to-be-plated object, the shield being configured to block the migration of metal irons caused by the e-duct at the position beyond the size of the to-be-plated object to prevent excessive plating at the edge of the to-be-plated object.

The plating device for improving plating quality and preventing gloss deterioration of an object to be plated according to the present invention as constructed above has the following advantageous effects.

Pressure can be injected while moving a to-be-plated object in the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis direction of the vertical continuous plating bath or the general dip-type plating bath, where copper (Cu), gold (Au), nickel (Ni) or the like is electroplated on the to-be-plated object within the plating bath, using an e-duct in which nozzles having different injection apertures and injection intensities are alternatively arranged with each other and which is moved in the left/right direction, so that the influence of the e-duct can be evenly applied to all the objects to be plated, which have different aspect ratios and thicknesses to maximize the e-duct effect, as well as the flow of metal ions moving around the to-be-plated object can be controlled by a variable shield to prevent gloss deterioration caused by excessive plating at the edge of the to-be-plated object, thus resulting in improvements in both plating quality and manufacturing yield, as well as an increase in space utilization to allow for the installation of multiple plating lines, thereby ensuring advantageous application of the plating device to both multi-variety, small-batch production and mass production.

Hereinafter, the configuration, operation and effect of a plating device for improving plating quality and preventing gloss deterioration of an object to be plated according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing.

The terms or words used in the specification and the claims of the present invention should not be construed as being typical or dictionary meanings, but should be construed as meanings and concepts conforming to the technical spirit of the present invention on the basis of the principle that an inventor can properly define the concepts of the terms in order to describe his or her invention in the best way. Therefore, embodiments described herein and configurations illustrated in the drawings are merely the most preferred embodiments of the present invention. Thus, it should be understood that various equivalents or modifications which may replace the embodiments could exist at a time point of the application of the present invention.

is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a plating device for improving plating quality and preventing gloss deterioration of an object to be plated according to present invention,schematically illustrate a perspective view, a top plan view, and detailed views of the main elements of the present invention,is a detailed view illustrating a nozzle structure of the e-duct of, andis a detailed view illustrating a shield of.

As shown inand, the plating device for improving plating quality and preventing gloss deterioration of an object to be plated according to the present invention may include a plating bath, an e-duct, a substrate mounting bar, and a mounting bar moving unit. The plating device according to the present invention may further include a shieldin order to implement another embodiment. Each of the embodiments of the present invention may be implemented by being applied to the plating device in which the plating batchis mounted with the e-ductfor particularly circulating a plating solution, removing air adhered to the to-be-plated object that is a substrate, and maximizing plating in holes.

The plating bathis a tank that allows a plating solution to be filled therein. The plating bathis either a general dip-type plating bath or a vertical continuous plating bath, where copper (Cu), gold (Au), or nickel (Ni) is electroplated on a single or plural to-be-plated object. In addition, the plating bathincludes a phosphorus copper pocketmounted on the left and right outer sidewalls thereof and having phosphorus copperfilled therein to function as a source in copper (Cu) plating. This plating bath may be filled with a plating solution containing sulfuric acid, copper sulfate, chloride ions, a brightener, a wetting agent, or the like added thereto. In addition, an electrode for electrical conduction that can be used herein may include an anode made of phosphorus copper or an insoluble anode made of iridium. It is, of course, noted that in the case of gold (Au) or nickel (Ni) plating, a pocket or an electrode functioning as each source may also be used, and a plating solution appropriate for the gold (Au) or nickel (Ni) plating may be filled in the plating bath.

The e-ductis arranged in such a manner as to be equidistantly spaced apart from one another, while it is oriented perpendicular to an upper portion of the plating bathand extends vertically downward from an e-duct supportwith a rectangular frame shape mounted at the upper portion of the plating bath. In other words, the e-ductis mounted on the front and back inner sidewalls of the plating bathto inject the plating solution into the plating bathunder high pressure. In this case, the e-ductis mounted on the front/back or left/right inner sidewalls of the plating bathso as to be opposed to each other in order to improve the ability capable of removing air adhered to the to-be-plated objector the ability capable of stirring, filtering and circulating the plating solution as show in.

For the purpose of the high-pressure injection of the plating solution by the e-duct, as shown, a circulation pumpis mounted at one side of a lower portion of the plating bathso as to suck in and discharge the plating solution in the plating bath, and a connection tubeis connected to the circulation pumpand connected at its distal end to the e-ductto allow the e-ductto inject the plating solution into the plating bathunder high pressure.

In the plating device of the present invention, particularly the e-ductis installed to be horizontally movable within the plating bathin order to increase the plating effect in the holes of the to-be-plated objectby the stirring, filtering and circulation of the plating solution in the plating bath. To this end, the e-ductis supported by the e-duct supportmounted at the upper portion of the plating bathso as to be horizontally movable in a first x-axis direction (i.e., the left/right direction) of the plating bath, and is arranged to extend vertically downward from the e-ductso that a nozzle installation part of the e-ductis submerged in the plating solution within the plating bath, as shown in. Herein, the e-duct supportis supported at its left and right ends by a horizontal supportat the left and right sides of a base frameof a mounting bar moving unitwhich will be described later. The e-duct supportincludes a first motorand a first cam, which are installed at one side thereof, to provide a power necessary for the horizontal movement thereof in the first x-axis direction, and a plurality of first cylindersinterposed between the e-duct supportand the horizontal supportto reciprocate in the first x-axis direction. Thus, the e-duct supportis horizontally moved in the first x-axis direction (i.e., the left/right direction) of the plating bathby the rotational movement of the first motor, the linear movement of the first cam, and the reciprocating movement of the first cylinder. As used herein, the term ‘first x-axis’ is defined as representing an x-axis at a different height from that of a second x-axis, which will be described later, while being oriented in the left/right direction of the plating bath. Hereinafter, the x-axis direction, the y-axis direction, and the z-axis direction will be defined as the left/right direction (or longitudinal direction), the forward/rearward direction (or transverse direction), and the upward/downward direction (or vertical direction) of the plating bath, respectively.

In addition, for the purpose of horizontal movement of the e-duct, the connection tubeis preferably made of a flexible material that does not affect chemicals used for plating copper (Cu), gold (Au), or nickel (Ni), while being flexible enough to be easily bent or curved to allow for the smooth horizontal movement of the e-duct support.

Herein, particularly, the e-ductincludes a first nozzleand a second nozzle, which are different in the diameter of the injection hole and the intensity of the injection pressure. The first nozzleand the second nozzleare configured such that two or more types of nozzles, different in the diameter of the injection hole and the intensity of the injection pressure are alternatively arranged adjacent to each other, as shown in. Thus, the injection pressure of the e-ducts, with different injection speeds or intensities for each large or small hole of the to-be-plated objects with different aspect ratios and thicknesses, is evenly applied across all of the to-be-plated objects. In this case, each of the nozzles that can be used for the e-ductof the present invention preferably has an injection hole inner diameter of 0.5 to 3.0 mm

The substrate mounting bar, on which one or more clampsare installed to fixedly hold a substrate, allows the clampsto grip the to-be-plated object. Further, the substrate mounting bar, with the to-be-plated object gripped thereby, is moved to the upper portion of the plating bathby a separate mounting bar carrier in another process so as to be seated on a V-saddle, or is separated from the plating bathand moved to another process. The substrate mounting baris supported at both ends by the V-saddleand is moved in the left/right (i.e., second x-axis) and forward/rearward (i.e., y-axis) directions of the plating bathat the upper portion of the plating bathby the mounting bar moving unit. Accordingly, the to-be-plated objectwithin the plating bathalso moves together with the substrate mounting barin the same direction as the movement direction of the substrate mounting barand is then electrically conducted. As used herein, the term ‘second x-axis’ is defined as representing another x-axis that is parallel with the first x-axis at a different height from the first x-axis, while being oriented in the same left/right direction (i.e., x-axis) of the first x-axis in the plating bath.

The mounting bar moving unit, as shown in, includes a base frame, an upper support, left/right a y-axis moving support, left/right a y-axis driving cylinder, a y-axis moving bar, an x-axis moving bar, and left/right a V-saddle assembly. Thus, the mounting bar moving unit, independently moves the substrate mounting barin the left/right (i.e., second x-axis) and forward/rearward (i.e., y-axis) directions of the plating bath, respectively, so as to adjust the position of the to-be-plated objectwithin the plating bathor the separation distance between the e-ductand the to-be-plated object.

The base frame, as shown in, includes a plurality of vertical supportsrespectively installed on the left and right sides of both the front and rear of the outer periphery of the plating bath so as to be opposed to each other on the left and right sides to vertically support the plating bath, and a plurality of horizontal supportsthat horizontally interconnect the respective vertical supports in the forward/rearward and left/right directions thereof. The base framefunctions to support the mounting bar moving unitas a whole.

The upper supportis installed to extend vertically upward from the top surfaces of the left and right horizontal supportsof the base frameand is opposed to each other on the left and right sides at a position retracted from the front by a predetermined distance.

The y-axis moving supportis respectively installed on the left and right sides to horizontally interconnect the intermediate portions of the left and right upper supports.

The y-axis driving cylinderis respectively installed underneath the left and right y-axis moving supportsalong the longitudinal direction of the y-axis moving supportand is connected to a second motorand a second camso as to be operated in cooperation with the y-axis moving supportby the rotational movement of the second motorand the linear movement of the second cam, allowing the y-axis driving cylinderand the y-axis moving supportto reciprocate simultaneously in the forward/rearward direction (i.e., y-axis) of the plating bath. The y-axis driving cylinderis respectively installed on the left and right sides thereof.

The y-axis moving baris horizontally disposed above the plating bath and is vertically fixed at both ends to the left and right y-axis driving cylindersto allow the y-axis movingto be horizontally moved in the forward/rearward direction (i.e., y-axis) of the plating bath by the simultaneous reciprocating movement of the left and right y-axis driving cylinders.

The x-axis moving baris coupled to the underside of the y-axis moving barby means of a third motor, a third cam, and an x-axis driving cylinderso that the x-axis moving barcan be horizontally moved in the forward/rearward direction (i.e., y-axis) of the plating bath together with the y-axis moving bar, and further can reciprocate along the second x-axis (i.e., an x-axis positioned at a different height from the first x-axis, while being oriented in the left/right direction of the plating bath) in cooperation with the y-axis moving barthrough the linear movement of the third cam, which is caused by the rotational movement of the third motor, and the reciprocating movement of the x-axis driving cylinder, as shown in.

The V-saddle assemblyis respectively detachably attached or mounted to the left and right ends of the x-axis moving bar, and supports the substrate mounting barat the left and right ends of the x-axis moving barso as to be movable along the second x-axis of the plating bathat a position higher than that of the e-duct support. The V-saddle assemblyis respectively installed on the left and right sides thereof.

The mounting bar moving unitmay further include a z-axis moving bar, as shown in, although it is not shown in.

The z-axis moving bar, as shown in, is coupled to the top of the y-axis moving barby means of a fourth motor, a fourth cam, and a z-axis driving cylinderin a state of being supported at both ends by the upper supportsso as to be liftable orthogonally to the upper supportsso that the z-axis moving barcan reciprocate in the upward/downward direction (i.e., z-axis) of the plating bath in cooperation with the y-axis moving barthrough the rotational movement of the fourth motor, the linear movement of the fourth cam, and the reciprocating movement of the z-axis driving cylinder. Thus, the z-axis moving barallows the y-axis moving bar, the x-axis moving barand the substrate mounting barto reciprocate together in the upward/downward direction (i.e., z-axis) of the plating bath. Herein, the fourth motorand the fourth cammay be securely fixed, for example, to a ceiling or the like using an auxiliary support. In this case, the mounting bar moving unitmay move the substrate mounting barin the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis directions above the plating bath.

Therefore, the mounting bar moving unitmoves the substrate mounting barin the left/right (i.e., x-axis), forward/rearward direction (i.e., y-axis), and upward/downward (i.e., z-axis) direction, or along the XY, YZ, and XZ planes of the plating bath depending on the size or thickness of the to-be-plated objectto adjust the position of the to-be-plated objectwithin the plating bathor the separation distance between the e-ductand the to-be-plated objectso that the influence of the e-duct can be evenly applied to all the objects to be plated within the plating bath, thereby reducing the plating deviation among the to-be-plated objects.

The first to fourth motors,,, andof the mounting bar moving unitmay be configured to allow a reducer to be additionally installed or removed so that the respective moving bars can move at a speed within the range of 0 to 500 mm/sec during the left/right, forward/rearward, or upward/downward movement thereof. The mounting bar moving unitmay further include a motor control unit that receives a user-inputted value for the size or thickness of the to-be-plated object, and in response thereto, outputs a driving signal to the respective motors to move the substrate mounting baralong the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis directions or along the XY, YZ, and XZ planes.

As described above, the plating device of the present invention allows the substrate mounting barto be moved above the plating bathin the upward/downward (i.e., vertical), left/right (i.e., longitudinal), and forward/rearward (i.e., transverse) directions of the plating bath, or along the XY, YZ, and XZ planes to adjust the position of the to-be-plated objectwithin the plating bathor the separation distance between the e-ductand the to-be-plated object, thereby improving the e-duct effect. Furthermore, the substrate mounting baris moved together with the e-duct in the left/right direction (i.e., the longitudinal direction) of the plating bath, thereby maximizing the e-duct effect.

The shieldis disposed in front of the e-ductso as to be spaced apart from the e-ductinwardly from the inner sidewalls of the plating bathin such a manner as to be positioned beyond the size of the to-be-plated object. The shield is configured to block the migration of metal irons caused by the e-ductat the position beyond the size of the to-be-plated object, thereby preventing excessive plating at the edge of the to-be-plated object. The shieldis fixedly supported by the shield plate mounting barso as to be horizontally movable along the x-axis of the plating bathby a shield plate mounting barwith a rectangular frame shape, which is mounted at both ends on the V-saddle assembly. As shown in, the shieldis respectively disposed on both the front and rear sides of the substrate mounting barto block the flow of the plating solution high-pressure injected from the e-ductrespectively mounted on the front and rear inner sidewalls of the plating bath.

The shieldmay consist of a plurality of shield plateandas shown in. In addition, the shieldincludes a plurality of fastening members () that fastens the plurality of shield platesandto the shield plate mounting barwith a rectangular frame shape in a horizontally movable manner. Further, the shieldmay be disposed in pairs on both the left and right sides within the plating bath, and/or disposed in pairs on both the front and rear sides of the substrate mounting barwithin the plating bathso as to be opposed to each other.

Particularly, as shown, the shield plate mounting barof the shieldincludes a slot-shaped shield plate engaging holeformed in the longitudinal direction of the body thereof to allow the plurality of shield platesandto be engaged thereto and to be horizontally moved therein. Each of the shield platesandincludes a slot-shaped fastening member through-holehorizontally formed at an upper end thereof. Accordingly, the shield platesandmay be successively assembled in common by the plurality of fastening membersthrough the fastening member through-holeand the shield plate engaging hole. Thus, the shieldmay be configured as a foldable type structure in which the plurality of shield platesandcan be folded (see the right side of.) or unfolded (see the left side of.) to adjust their width or size depending on the size of the to-be-plated object, thereby enabling the overall area or size of the shield to be adjusted.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to Comparative Examples and Examples.

It will be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art that these Comparative Examples and Examples are for illustrative purposes only and are not to be construed to limit the scope of the present invention. Thus, the substantial scope of the present invention will be defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.