Patent ID: 7678243

Claim:
A continuous plating system comprising: first and second vertically oriented, spaced anodes that define a plating area; first and second vertically oriented upper shields positioned in the plating area to define an elongated upper channel; first and second vertically oriented lower shields positioned in the plating area to define an elongated lower channel, wherein the first and second lower shields are positioned relative to the first and second upper shields to define a gap between the first upper and first lower shields and a gap between the second upper and second lower shields; a part clamp configured to move one or more parts through the plating area, the part clamp being positioned relative to the plating area such that an upper portion of a part to be plated is positioned in the upper channel, a lower portion of the part is positioned in the lower channel and a height of the gaps is less than a height of the one or more parts; and a plating solution horizontal sparger comprising a series of inlets positioned below the plating area and oriented to direct plating solution flowing through the inlets directly into one and towards another of the upper and lower channels.