APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUS ELECTROLYTIC TREATMENT OF METAL STRIP AND SEALING STRUCTURE FOR ELECTROLYTIC CELL THEREFORE

Abstract: An electrolytic treatment apparatus has a seal structure for establishing liquid-tight seal at an end of electolyte path (9). The seal structure comprises a seal roll (6) resiliently biased toward a rotary drum (3) periphery and thus establishing sealing contact with a surface of the metal strip (2). The seal roll (6) may be cooperative with an elastically deformable sealing member for establishing complete liquid-tight seal.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for electrolytic surface treatment of a metal strip, for performing electrogalvanizing, electroleadplating, electrogilding, chemical conversion treatment, electrolytic pickling or degreasing and so forth. More specifically, the invention relates to a seal structure for an electrolytic cell in the electrolytic surface treatment apparatus is disposed, which establishes a liquid proof seal for preventing leakage of the electrolyte or electrolytic solution from the electrolytic cell. Further particularly, the invention relates to a seal structure for radial and counter flow type electrolytic treatment apparatus. Description of the Background Art Radial and counter flow type electrolytic treatment apparatus have been disclosed in the United States Patent 4,500,400, issued on February 19, 1985 to Akira Komoda et al. and in the United States Patent 4,623,744, issued on December 30, 1986 to Shinjiro Murakami et al, both have been assigned to the common assignee to the present invention. Such counter flow type electrolytic treatment apparatus, particularly electroplating apparatus have proved advantageous because of their capability of forming excellent plating layer. On the other hand, in order to establish a counter flow of electrolyte or electrolytic solution in a direction opposite the feed direction of the metal strip, substantial pressure should be applied to the electrolyte or electrolytic solution. This pressure in the electrolyte tends to cause leakage of the electrolyte from the electrolytic cell. When leakage of electrolyte occurs, the electrolyte tends to come in contact with the backside surface of the metal strip which should not be treated thereby, resulting in partial corrosion or oxidation. In order to seal the electrolytic cell, the Japanese Patent First (unexamined) Publication (Tokkai) Showa 60-215800 , published on October 29, 1985 and which has also been assigned to the common assignee to the present invention, discloses a seal structure for the electrolytic cell. The disclosed seal structure is successful in preventing leakage of the electrolyte or electrolytic solution. However, on the other hand, a seal segment has to be resiliently depressed onto the metal strip surface for establishing a satisfactorily liquid-tight seal, this tends to cause scratchs on the metal strip and/or the plated layer when dust or so forth adheres on the surface. On the other hand, the Japanese Patent Second (examined) Publication (Tokko) Showa 49-2264 discloses a electrolytic plating apparatus employing a rotary drum serving as supply electrode. In this device, an electrode formed on the rotary drum has to be sealed from the electrolyte so as not to be plated and to maintain electrically conductive contact with the metal strip. For this porpose, an electrode in a form of narrow circumferentially extending strip, is formed at about the axial center of the rotary drum. A rubber or other elastically deformable material seal layer is formed on both sides of the electrode for constantly contacting with the metal strip in a liquid-tight fashion for establishing plating protective seal for the electrode on the rotary drum. In this construction, when the metal strip is wrapped onto the rotary drum, the elastic seal layer tends to become deformed with the result that a step forms between the edge of the electrode. Scratches tend to be formed on the metal strip due to presence of the step between the elastic seal layer and the electrode. From JP-A-54 110 142 an electrolytic treatment apparatus is known comprising a rotary drum contacting a moving metal strip which is electrolytically treated. Air spouting nozzles are provided which are disposed near the openings of the electrolytic cell in order to prevent a leakage of the electrolyte. The electrolyte is discharged in the middle of the electrolytic cell and is drained near the inlet and outlet openings of the electrolytic cell. It is the object of the invention to provide a secure operating apparatus for electrolytic treatment of a metal strip which have good leakage properties wherein scratching the metal strip is prevented. In accordance with the invention, this object is solved by the features as claimed in the characterizing part of claim 1. The inventive electrolytic treatment apparatus comprises discharge means having a discharge axis which intersects a surface of a metal strip contacting a rotary drum periphery at a point wherein a tangential plane defined at said point is at an angle with regard to said discharge axis, said angle being smaller than or equal to 45°. A seal roll, a seal lip member as well as means of inhibiting a back flow of electrolyte provide good leakage properties. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will be understood more fully from the detailed description given herebelow and from the accompanying drawings of the preferred embodiment of the invention, which, however, should not be taken to limit the invention to the specific embodiment but are for explanation and understanding only. In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a sectional view of the preferred embodiment of an electrolytic treatment apparatus according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the preferred embodiment of the electrolytic treatment apparatus of Fig. 1 ; Fig. 3 is an enlarged section of the major part of the preferred embodiment of the electrolytic treatment apparatus, showing the seal structure of the end of a electrolyte path; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of a seal roll to be employed in the preferred embodiment of the electrolytic treatment apparatus of Figs. 1 through 3 . Fig. 5 is a graph showing variation of electrolyte leak rate (%) in relation to electrolyte discharge nozzle angle (°); and Fig. 6 is a graph showing variation of electrolyte leak rate (%) in relation to strip speed (m/min). DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, particularly to Figs. 1 through 3 , the preferred embodiment of an electrolytic treatment apparatus 1 , according to the invention, has a rotary drum 3 . A metal strip 2 is wrapped on the periphery of the rotary drum 3 and continuously fed in a direction shown by arrows in Figs. 1 and 3 . Opposing the surface of the metal strip 2 to be treated, an electrode support 4 with an anode 5 is arranged. Between the rotary drum 3 and the electrode support 4 , an elongated and substantially arc-shaped electrolyte or electrolitic solution path 9 is defined. An electrolyte discharge nozzle 7 and drain 8 of the electrolyte are formed of opposite ends of the electrolyte path 9 . The electrolyte discharge nozzle 7 is prodived in the vicinity of the upstream end of the electrolyte path 9 which is the downstream side in terms of the feed direction of the metal strip 2 . On the other hand, the drain 8 is formed at the downstream end which is the upstream in terms of the metal strip feed direction. With this layout of the discharge nozzle 7 and the drain 8 , counter flow of the electrolyte for flowing in a direction opposite to the feed direction of the metal strip 2 , can be established. Discharge pressure of the electrolyte is so selected as to control the flow velocity of the electrolyte in the electrolyte path 9 for obtaining sufficiently high density of electric current. The flow velocity of the electrolyte and current density effective for high efficiency plating has been discussed in the aforementioned United States Patent 4,500,400 . The disclosure of the United States Patent 4,500,400 is herein incorporated by reference for the sake of disclosure. Both ends 10 of the electrolyte path 9 are closed by a sealing structure, which will be discussed in detail herebelow, so as to prevent leakage of the electrolyte. The seal structure at the outlet side end 10 of the electrolyte path 9 is particularly important, since the electrolyte is introduced into the electrolytic cell against the quickly moving surface of the metal strip, and therefore tends to be carried off by the metal strip through the outlet side end. Electrolyte thus carried tends to contact the back side of the metal strip which may cause corrosion or oxidation thereof. This tendency increases with increase of the feed speed of the metal strip. The amount of the electrolyte leaking from the outlet side end 10 is also variable depending upon the discharge angle of the electrolyte through the discharge nozzle 7 . That is, the amount of leakage tends to increase as the discharge angle ϑ relative to a tangent plane defined at the point where the discharge axis intersects the surface of the metal strip increases. The relationship between the discharge angle ϑ and the amount of electrolyte leakage is shown in Fig. 3 . As will be seen from Fig. 3 , the preferred discharge angle ϑ is smaller than or equal to 45°. By appropriately selecting the discharge angle, the amount of the electrolyte leakage can be significantly reduced. However, even by carefully selecting the discharge angle of the electrolyte, leakage of electrolyte cannot be prevented completely. In order to prevent electrolyte from leaking, it is required to provide a seal structure which can effectively seal the ends 10 of the electrolyte path 9 , by establishing liquid tight seal with the metal strip 2 . The preferred embodiment of the seal structure, according to the invention, includes a seal roll 6 , a seal lip 12 and a labyrinth seal block 11 . The seal roll 6 is associated with an actuation unit 16 which is designed to drive the seal roll toward and away from the surface of the metal strip 2 for establishing and releasing sealing contact therebetween. As shown in Fig. 4 , the seal roll 6 in the preferred embodiment, comprises a non-conductive elastically deformable roll body 61 . The roll body 61 may have an elastically deformable surface layer which is made of rubber, for example. The seal roll 6 also has an electrode section 62 extending circumferentially on the roll body 61 . In the preferred construction, the electrode section 62 is located at the middle of the roll body 61 so that elastic portion of the roll body at either side of the electrode support the strip. Preferably, the outer circumferential surface of the electrode section 62 is flush with the outer periphery of the roll body. With this construction, the electrode section 62 comes into contact with the back side of the metal strip 2 when sealing contact between the metal strip and the seal roll is established. The practical construction of the seal roll 6 , which also serves as the power supply medium, has been disclosed in the Japanese Patent First Publication (Tokkai) Showa 62-99495 . The disclosure of this Japanese Patent First Publication will be herein incorporated by reference for the sake of disclosure. In addition, the actuator 16 for driving the seal roll 6 toward and away from the metal strip surface may comprise a hydraulic or pnuematic cylinder such as that illustrated in the Japanese Patent First Publication (Tokkai) Showa 60-215800 . Disclosure of this Japanese Patent First Publication is herein incorporated by reference for the sake of disclosure. As will be appreciated, the electrode section 62 is connected to an electric power source to receive therefrom electric power. During electrolytic operation, such as electroplating, electric power is supplied to the metal strip 2 via the seal roll 6 . In this case, the length of the flow path of electric current in the metal strip becomes minimum to minimize power loss and heating of in the metal strip. The seal lip 12 is made of electrically insulative and elastically deformable material. The material for forming the seal slip 12 may, for example, be selected among rubbers, synthetic resins and so forth which have sufficient elasticity for establishing a liquid-tight seal. In addition, since the free end of the seal lip 12 constantly in contact with the metal strip continuously fed, it is preferable that the material of the seal lip 12 have appripriately high wear-resistance. In view of this, the preferred material for forming the seal lip 12 is chloroprene rubber. The material for forming the seal lip 12 has been disclosed in the Japanese Utility Model First Publication (Jikkai) Showa 61-155372 . The disclosure of this Japanese Utility Model Publication is herein incorporated by reference for the sake of disclosure. As will be seen from Fig. 3 , the seal lip 12 has a base section 121 rigidly fixed on the top end plane of the labyrinth seal block 11 , and a seal lip section 122 extending from the base section. The free end portion of the seal lip section 122 is cooperative with the seal roll 6 to be depressed onto the surface thereof when the seal roll 6 is placed in the position establishing the seal contact with the metal strip for sealing. In order to seal the electrolyte path 9 at the axial end portions of the rotary drum 3 , seal blocks 14 are provided. As will be appreciated, the seal blocks 14 are made of an elastic material, such as rubber, synthetic resin and so forth. A preferable material for forming the seal block 14 is chloroprene rubber which has high wear-resistance. The seal block 14 sealingly contacts both end surfaces of the rotary drum 3 for establishing a liquid-tight seal. Since the seal block 14 must maintain sealing contact with the rotary drum 3 while it rotates, wear-resistance thereof being an important factor in selecting the material thereof. The practical construction of the seal block 14 is also disclosed in the afore-mentioned Utility Model First Publication. The seal blocks 14 are rigidly fixed onto the inner periphery of side walls 41 which extend vertically the ends of the electrode support 4 . In order to electrically insulate the side wall 41 from the rotary drum 3 , the seal block 14 must be made of the electrically insulative material. The labyrinth seal block 11 employed in the shown embodiment, has a corrugated surface 111 opposing the metal strip 2 and expose to the electrolyte in the electrolyte path 9 in the vicinity of the outlet side end 10 . The corrugated surface 111 comprises a plurality of longitudinally extending grooves 112 separated by a plurality of laterally extending projections 113 . The corrugations of the surface 111 serve to provide flow resistance against the electrolyte flow therethrough. The seal roll 6 , the seal lip 12 and the metal strip 2 define a static pressure chamber 13 in the vicinity of the strip outlet side 10 of the electrolyte path 9 . Due to the presence of the static pressure chamber 13 , a desirable relationship between the pressures in the electrolyte at various points can be established. The electrolyte pressure at respective points a, b, c and d in Fig. 3 can be illustrated by the following formula: a > b > c > d > Atmospheric pressure The relationship of the pressures at various points in the electrolyte path 9 assures prevention of electrolyte leakage even when the metal strip is fed at a high speed. Furthermore, the pressure relationship makes it possible to effectively cause electrolyte flow from the discharge nozzle 7 to the drain 8 . Though the shown embodiment employs a labyrinth seal block for decreasing the flow velocity of the electrolyte, it is not essential to use labyrinth seal specifically any appropriate structural elements which may provide resistance against flow of the electrolyte may be employed. For example, a brush-like element, a partitioned flow path or so forth, may serve as flow resistant element in leu of the labyrinth seal. In order to confirm the effect of the preferred embodiment of the seal structure for the electrolytic cell, according to the present invention, experiments were conducted. For use in experiments, three cells were provided. No. 1 cell was constructed according to the preferred embodiment set forth above. No. 2 cell was constructed without the labyrinth seal of the preferred embodiment, and the seal structure thereof comprised only seal roll and the seal lip. No. 3 cell was constructed without any seal at the ends of the electrolyte path at all. Samples of No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 were identical in construction except for the respective seal structures thereof. The dimensions of the cells and the electrolyte and metal strip flow rates were as follows: Electrolyte Path Length: 1.5m Distance between Metal Strip and Anode: 10 mm Strip Width: 900 mm Strip Thickness: 0.9 mm Rotary Drum Axial Length: 1,200 mm Rotary Drum Diameter: 2,000 mm Discharge Nozzle Angle ϑ ϑ ≦ 75° Strip Feed Speed: 100 m/min Electrolyte Flow Velocity: 1 m/sec Utilizing the aforementioned three cells, electrolyte leakage rate versus the total discharged amount of electrolyte were measured at various discharge nozzle angles. The result of measurement with respect to each of No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 cells is shown in Fig. 5 . As seen from Fig. 5 , when the discharge nozzle angle ϑ is smaller than or equal to 45°, the electrolyte leakage rate becomes substantially smaller. Therefore, the discharge nozzle angle is preferably smaller than or equal to 45° in the preferred embodiment of the electrolytic treatment apparatus. Another experiments were also performed for determining the electrolyte leakage rate in relation to the strip feed speed. For this, the strip feed speed was varied within a range of 50 m/min to 300 m/min. In this experiments, the electrolyte flow velocity was set at 2 m/s. The results of this experiment are shown in Fig. 6 . As will be seen from Fig. 6 . In the No. 1 and No. 2 cells, electrolyte leakage rates were substantially smaller than that in the No. 3 cell. This confirms the effect of the preferred embodiment of the seal structure. Additionally, utilizing the No. 2 cell electroleadplating was performed by supplying electric power through the electrode section 62 of the seal roll 6 . Power supplied was 2,000A per 100 mm of strip width. The quality of the leadplating layer formed on the strip was excellent. The thickness of the plating metal on the electrode section 62 was measured, and determined to be about 0.05 µm which is small enough to assure that the electrode section may be used for a long period of time without significant degradation of performance thereof. Therefore, the invention fulfills all of the objects and advantages sought therefor.

Claims: An electrolytic treatment apparatus comprising: a rotary drum (3) having an outer periphery contacting a moving metal strip (2); means for defining an electrolytic cell proximate said outer periphery of said rotary drum (3) and facing said outer periphery thereof, through which said metal strip (2) is fed, said electrolytic cell defining an inlet opening (10) through which said metal strip (2) is fed into said cell and an outlet opening (10) through which said metal strip (2) is fed out of said cell; means (7) for discharging a flow of electrolyte through said electrolytic cell at a predetermined pressure; means (6,6,11,12,13) for sealing said inlet and outlet openings (10,10) of said electrolytic cell CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said electrolyte discharging means (7) being oriented so as to establish a counter flow of electrolyte in a direction opposite the feed direction of said metal strip (2), said discharge means (7) further having a discharge axis which intersects a surface of said metal strip (2) contacting said rotary drum periphery at a point wherein a tangential plane, defined at said point, is at an angle with regard to said discharge axis, said angle being smaller than or equal to 45°; and said sealing means (6,6,11,12,13) comprises a seal roll (6) opposing said metal strip surface, said seal roll (6) carrying an electrode section (62) biased against said metal strip (2) for establishing sealing contact surface, a seal lip member (12;13) to sealingly contact with said seal roll surface for establishing liquid tight sealing with said seal roll (6), and means (11) for inhibiting a backflow of said electrolyte in said feed direction of the metal strip disposed between said discharging means (7) and said seal roll (6). An electrolytic treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said discharge means (7) is spaced from and proximate to said outlet opening (10) of said electrolytic cell. An electrolytic treatment apparatus as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein said electrolytic cell is in an arc-shaped configuration. An electrolytic treatment apparatus as set forth in one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said seal roll (6) comprises an elastic roll body (61) and an electrically conductive section (62) connected to an electric power source, said electrically conductive section (62) having a surface for contact with a surface of said metal strip (2) for supplying electric power therethrough. An electrolytic treatment apparatus as set forth in one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said seal roll (6) and said seal lip (12) are arranged so as to define a static pressure chamber, proximate the outlet opening (10) of said electrolytic cell. An electrolytic treatment apparatus as set forth in one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said means (11) for inhibiting a backflow of said electrolyte comprises a labyrinth seal (11) having an uneven surface exposed to the electrolytic cell.

Inventors: MURAKAMI, SHINJIRO C/O KAWASAKI STEEL CORP.
Applicants: KAWASAKI STEEL CORPORATION
Application year: 1988
Main classification: C25D7
IPC codes: C25D7, C25D5