61 and the variable anode mask 62. The bottom plate 633 has an opening 636 for liquid drainage as shown in FIG. 6. The opening 636 is provided as one slit extended in a front-back direction in this drawing. The opening 636 may, however, be formed in any shape, and a plurality of the openings 636 may be provided. Providing the opening 636 reduces the amount of the plating solution left on the drawer unit 630 when the drawer unit 630 is drawn out of the plating tank 10 and suppresses the plating solution from being accumulated on the drawer unit 630.

The front plate 632 is attached to a front edge of the bottom plate 633 to configure part of the side wall of the plating tank 10. The front plate 632 is attached to the front edge of the bottom plate 633 by a fastening member, such as a bolt. The front plate 632 may be formed integrally with the bottom plate 633. When the drawer unit 630 is inserted from the opening 10A in the side wall of the plating tank 10 into inside of the plating tank 10 to be placed inside of the plating tank 10, the front plate 632 closes the opening 10A to form part of the side wall of the plating tank 10. FIG. 8 illustrates the state that the drawer unit 630 is placed and fixed inside of the plating tank 10.

The front plate 632 of the drawer unit 630 may be fixed to the side wall of the plating tank 10 by, for example, any fastening member, such as a bolt or a screw. A seal 632A is provided in a rear face (inner face) of the front plate 632 or in part of an outer face of the side wall of the plating tank 10 that is opposed to the inner face of the front plate 632, to seal between the front plate 632 and the side wall of the plating tank 10 and prevent a leakage of the plating solution. This seal 632A is provided in, for example, in a ring shape around an outer peripheral portion of the inner face of the front plate 632 as shown in FIG. 10.

A handle 634 is provided on a front face (an outer face) of the front plate 632 to be held by an operator when the drawer unit 630 is drawn into and out of the plating tank 10. The handle 634 may be attached to the front plate 632 by fastening of, for example, a bolt, a screw or the like. The handle 634 may be formed integrally with the front plate 632. An insulating cover 635 is mounted to the approximate center of the front plate 632 to cover the bus bar 611 (shown in FIG. 6) that is pierced through the front plate 632 to be exposed.

The anode 61 is a plate-like electrode and has, for example, a disk shape. As shown in FIG. 9, the anode 61 has a projection 612 provided at the center of a reverse surface thereof to serve as a power feed point. The anode 61 is placed on a base 633A provided on the bottom plate 633. For example, a recess corresponding to the outer shape of the anode 61 is provided on an upper face of the base 633A, and the anode 61 is fit in this recess to be fixed. The base 633A is made of an electrical insulating material. The base 633A has a hole 633B that is provided at a position corresponding to the projection 612 of the anode 61. The projection 612 of the anode 61 passes through the hole 633B, and a leading end of the projection 612 is mechanically and electrically connected with the bus bar 611.

The bus bar 611 has one end (inner side end, rear side end) that is electrically and mechanically connected with the projection 612 of the anode 61 and the other end side that is pierced through the front plate 632 to be exposed on an outer face side of the front plate 632. A cable for power feeding is fixed to the other end (outer side end, front side end) of the bus bar 611 by a fastening member 613, such as a bolt or a screw. The cable for power feeding receives a supply of electric power from a power source (not shown). A seal 632B is provided between the front plate 632 and the bus bar 611 to prevent a leakage of the plating solution. The seal 632B is fixed by a seal fixation member 637. As shown in FIG. 8, the insulating cover 635 is mounted around the outer side end of the bus bar 611 on the front plate 632 to prevent the operator from touching a high voltage part. The insulating cover 635 is attached to the front plate 632 by fastening of, for example, a bolt, a screw or the like. As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 8, the insulating cover 635 that covers an exposed portion of the bus bar 611 from the front plate 632 is placed on a slightly lower side of the approximate center in a width direction of the front face of the front plate 632.

The variable anode mask 62 has a structure similar to that of the aperture mechanism of the camera and is configured to move the plurality of blades 621, such as expand and contract the opening size of the opening 62A of the variable anode mask 62. As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 9, the variable anode mask 62 includes a cam disk 623 placed away from a face of the anode 61 by a predetermined distance to surround the outer circumference of the anode 61 on the base 633A, a blade retainer 622 placed above the cam disk 623, and the plurality of blades 621 placed between the cam disk 623 and the blade retainer 622.

As shown in FIG. 9, the cam disk 623 is a ring-shaped member and is placed on the base 633A. The cam disk 623 is placed to be rotatable on the base 633A. For example, the cam disk 623 is fit in a recess provided on an upper face of the base 633A to be supported in a rotatable manner. As shown in FIG. 7, the cam disk 623 is provided with a hole 623A which a pin 628 for fixing the drive shaft 624 is engaged with and fixed in, and with a long hole 623B which a pin (not shown) provided on a lower face of each blade 621 is engaged with. The cam disk 623 is rotated on the base 633A by backward and forward motions of the drive shaft 624, such as to rotate the plurality of blades 621 and adjust the opening size of the opening 62A of the variable anode mask 62 (shown in FIG. 5).

As shown in FIG. 5, the blade retainer 622 is a ring-shaped member and has an outer diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the cam disk 623. As shown in FIG. 9, the blade retainer 622 is placed above the plurality of blades 621. The blade retainer 622 is fixed to the base 633A to be not rotatable. A plurality of pins (not shown) are provided on a lower face of the blade retainer 622. Each pin is engaged with a circular hole (not shown) provided on an upper face of each blade 621 such as to allow each blade 621 to rotate around the pin. Each blade 621 is rotated by the rotation of the cam disk 623 such as to rotate around the pin of the blade retainer 622. According to a modification, the blade retainer 622 may be provided with circular holes, and each blade 621 may be provided with a pin.

The plurality of blades 621 have a structure similar to that of the blades of the aperture mechanism of the camera and are placed around the opening 62A of the variable anode mask 62. The plurality of blades 621 are mounted to the cam disk 623 and the blade retainer 622 to be movable such as to expand and contract the opening size of the opening 62A of the variable anode mask 62.

The drive shaft 624 is fixed to the cam disk 623 by the pin 628 on a rear end (inner side end) of the drive shaft 624 as shown in FIG. 7. In this example, the pin 628 is engaged with the hole 623A provided in the cam disk 623 and with a hole 624A provided in a rear end of the drive shaft 624, so that the drive shaft 624 is connected with the cam disk 623. As shown in FIG. 5, when an output shaft 651 of an actuator 650 moves back and forth in a front-back direction, the drive shaft 624 moves in a direction identical with and parallel to the moving direction of the output shaft 651 of the actuator 650 via joints 661, 662 and 663, so as to rotate the cam disk 623.

As shown in FIG. 7, the drive shaft 624 passes through a bearing 625 in a cylindrical shape that is attached to be pierced through the front plate 632, and penetrates between the outer face and the inner face of the front plate 632. In more detail, the drive shaft 624 is placed to penetrate through the bearing 625 and seals 626 and seal fixation members 627 that are provided on respective end faces of the bearing 625. The seals 626 serve to seal between the bearing 625 and the drive shaft 624, such as to prevent a leakage of the plating solution from between the bearing 625 and the drive shaft 624 to outside. In this example, the seals 626 are placed inside of ring-shaped grooves provided in the respective end faces of the bearing 625 and are pressed and fixed by the seal fixation members. 627. For example, Omniseals having a resin provided around a ring-shaped metal core member may be employed for the seals 626. Employing the Omniseals lowers the sliding resistance against the drive shaft 624 and enables the drive shaft 624 to be smoothly moved forward and backward. The seals 626 may, however, be O-rings or any other seals according to the specification of the apparatus. The seal fixation members 627 are fixed to the respective end faces of the bearing 625 by, for example, fastening members, such as bolts or screws.

The drive shaft 624 configured to drive the variable anode mask 62 is driven by the actuator 650 fixed on the plating tank 10-side as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. The plating tank 10 is omitted from the illustration of FIG. 5, in order to show the mechanical connection between the actuator 650 and the drive shaft 624 in an easy-to-understand manner. As shown in FIG. 4, the actuator 650 is fixed to a side wall face that is adjacent to the side wall face of the plating tank 10 provided with the opening 10A. The actuator 650 is attached to the outer face of the side wall of the plating tank 10, for example, by using a bracket 655 (shown in FIG. 5).

In this example, the actuator 650 is provided with a motor in an upper portion thereof and the output shaft 651 in a lower portion thereof and is configured to convert the rotation of the motor into the linear reciprocating motion of the output shaft 651. The actuator may be a fluid (for example, air or hydraulic)-driven type, an electromagnetic-driven type, such as a solenoid-driven type, or any other type of the actuator. The output shaft 651 of the actuator 650 is moved back and forth in the front-back direction by the power of a fluid or the like (by the rotation of the motor according to the embodiment).

A first joint 661 is coupled with a front end (outer side end) of the drive shaft 624 of the variable anode mask 62, whereas a second joint 662 is coupled with a leading end of the output shaft 651 of the actuator 650. As shown in FIG. 5, the first joint 661 and the second joint 662 are coupled with each other in a detachable manner by any fastening member 663, such as a bolt or a screw, so that the power is transmitted from the actuator 650 to the drive shaft 624. According to the embodiment, the drive shaft 624 of the variable anode mask 62 and the output shaft 651 of the actuator 650 are placed parallel to each other. When the output shaft 651 of the actuator 650 is moved back and forth in the front-back direction, the drive shaft 624 of the variable anode mask 62 is moved in a direction identical with and parallel to the moving direction of the output shaft 651 of the actuator 650.

According to the embodiment, the second joint 662 is provided with a guide element configured to vertically guide an end portion of the first joint 661. The guide element stops rotation of the first joint 661 and enables the first joint 661 in a stable posture to be attached to the second joint 662. The first joint 661 may be a plate-like or rod-like member and may be provided integrally with the front end of the drive shaft 624 or may be coupled with the front end of the drive shaft 624 by any fastening member, such as a bolt or a screw. The second joint 662 may be a plate-like or rod-like member and may be provided integrally with the leading end of the output shaft 651 or may be coupled with the leading end of the output shaft 651 by any fastening member, such as a bolt or a screw.

In the case where the output shaft 651 of the actuator 650 and the drive shaft 624 of the variable anode mask 62 are placed at different heights, one or both of the first joint 661 and the second joint 662 may be provided with a crank as shown in FIG. 11. For example, a crank may be provided to make the height of a drive shaft 624-side end and a second joint 662-side end of the first joint 661 different from each other. In another example, a crank may be provided to make the height of an output shaft 651-side end and a first joint 661-side end of the second joint 662 different from each other. The height of a location of the second joint 662 to be fixed to the output shaft 651 may be made different from the height of a location of the second joint 662 to be fixed to the first joint 661.

The following describes a method of manufacturing the plating module 400 described above or more specifically a process of mounting the drawer unit 630 to the plating tank 10. The process of mounting the drawer unit 630 to the plating tank 10 includes at least processes given below:

- (a) a process of providing the plating tank 10 prior to mounting of the drawer unit 630;
- (b) a process of inserting the drawer unit 630, which at least the anode 61, the variable anode mask 62 and the drive shaft 624 configured to drive the variable anode mask 62 are mounted to, from the opening 10A in the side wall of the plating tank 10 into inside of the plating tank 10, so as to place the drawer unit 630 inside of the plating tank 10;
- (c) a process of mounting the actuator 650 to the outer face of the side wall of the plating tank 10; and
- (d) a process of mounting the front end of the drive shaft 624 of the drawer unit 630 to the leading end of the output shaft 651 of the actuator 650 via the joints 661, 662 and 663.

Either of the process (c) and the process (d) may be performed first.

In the drawer unit 630 placed in the plating tank 10, driving the actuator 650 moves the drive shaft 624 of the drawer unit 630 in the front-back direction, rotates the cam disk 623, and rotates the plurality of blades 621, so as to adjust the opening size of the opening 62A of the variable anode mask 62.

For the purpose of maintenance of the anode 61 and/or the variable anode mask 62, the drawer unit 630 is demounted from the plating tank 10 by a procedure described below. The procedure first releases the joint between the drive shaft 624 of the drawer unit 630 and the output shaft 651 of the actuator 650. More specifically, the procedure detaches the fastening member 663 that is used to fasten the first joint 661 and the second joint 662. The procedure also detaches the fastening member, such as a bolt or a screw, that is used to fix the front plate 632 of the drawer unit 630 to the side wall of the plating tank 10. Either of the release of the joint and the detachment of the fastening member of the front plate may be performed first. The procedure then draws out of and demounts the drawer unit 630 from the plating tank 10. This configuration enables the anode 61 and/or the variable anode mask 62 to be demounted from the plating tank 10 for the purpose of maintenance, without detachment of the components in the plating tank 10 above the anode 61 and/or the variable anode mask 62. The maintenance includes, for example, inspection, cleaning, replacement of parts, and adjustment of the anode, the variable anode mask and other components (for example, the bus bar).

The embodiment described above has the following functions and advantageous effects:

(1) The configuration of the above embodiment enables the drawer unit 630 configured by integrating the anode 61 and the variable anode mask 62 with each other, to be drawn out of the plating tank 10, so as to facilitate maintenance and/or replacement of the anode and the variable anode mask. The drawer is configured by the front plate and the bottom plate. This simple configuration assures the height where the anode and the variable anode mask are to be drawn in and drawn out.

(2) The configuration of the above embodiment enables the drive shaft 624 of the variable anode mask 62 and the output shaft 651 of the actuator 650 to be attached to and detached from each other via the joints, outside of the plating tank 10. This configuration accordingly enables the drawer unit 630 to be readily mounted to and to be readily demounted from the plating tank 10.

(3) According to the above embodiment, the drive shaft 624 of the variable anode mask 62 is placed parallel to the output shaft 651 of the actuator 650 and is moved in the identical direction. The power transmission mechanism is thus readily configured by simply coupling the drive shaft 624 of the variable anode mask 62 with the output shaft 651 of the actuator 650 via the joints or the like.

At least the following aspects are provided from the above description of the embodiment.

[1] According to one aspect, there is provided an apparatus for plating, comprising: a plating tank configured to store a plating solution therein; a substrate holder configured to hold a substrate in such a state that a plating surface of the substrate faces down; and a drawer unit mounted to the plating tank to be freely drawable in a horizontal direction and provided with an anode that is placed to be opposed to the substrate in the plating tank and with a variable anode mask that includes an opening which the anode is exposed from and that is configured to adjust an opening size of the opening.

The configuration of this aspect enables the drawer unit configured by integrating the anode and the variable anode mask with each other, to be drawn out of the plating tank. This configuration accordingly facilitates maintenance and/or replacement of the anode and the variable anode mask.

[2] According to one aspect, the apparatus for plating may further comprise an actuator placed on a plating tank side and provided with an output shaft to be freely movable forward and backward, wherein the variable anode mask may comprise an opening adjustment member configured to adjust the opening size of the opening, and the drawer unit may further comprise a drive shaft configured to move the opening adjustment member of the variable anode mask, wherein the drive shaft of the drawer unit may be connected with the output shaft of the actuator in a detachable manner, outside of the plating tank, and power of the actuator may be transmitted to the drive shaft of the drawer unit. The opening adjustment member may comprise, for example, a plurality of blades operated by a structure similar to an aperture mechanism of a camera.

The configuration of this aspect enables the drive shaft of the variable anode mask to be detached from the output shaft of the actuator, outside of the plating tank and thereby enables the drawer unit configured by integrating the anode and the variable anode mask with each other, to be readily drawn out of the plating tank. Furthermore, in the case of mounting the drawer unit to the plating tank, this configuration enables the drive shaft of the drawer unit to be attached to the output shaft of the actuator, outside of the plating tank, and thereby enables the drawer unit configured by integrating the anode and the variable anode mask with each other, to be readily mounted to the plating tank.

[3] According to one aspect, the drive shaft of the drawer unit may be connected with the output shaft of the actuator via a joint in a detachable manner.

The configuration of this aspect releases the joint and detaches the drive shaft of the variable anode mask from the output shaft of the actuator, outside of the plating tank. This configuration accordingly enables the drawer unit configured by integrating the anode and the variable anode mask with each other, to be readily drawn out of the plating tank. This configuration also enables the drive shaft of the variable anode mask to be attached to the output shaft of the actuator via the joint, outside of the plating tank.