The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 11, 1988
Filed:
Jul. 27, 1987
Tommy L Hardy, Beaverton, OR (US);
Lab Systems, Inc., Vancouver, WA (US);
Abstract
In an electrolytic method for removing metal from solution, a 'plating' voltage applied to the electrodes is reduced to a lower, 'standby' value if the current drawn by the solution falls below a threshold value. This 'standby' voltage, however, is periodically restored to its higher, 'plating' value for brief intervals so that the current at the higher voltage can periodically be sampled. If it is found that the current drawn by the solution at the higher voltage is once again above the threshold value (indicating that new metal has been added to the solution), the electrode voltage is kept at the higher level until the solution is again depleted of metal to the point that the current drops below the threshold. If, during the brief sampling interval, the current is still below the threshold, the electrode voltage is returned to its lower, 'standby' value and another current sample is taken at the next interval. The electroplating power supply desirably provides a well regulated output voltage that is variable over a range of low voltages despite its use of simple conventional regulator circuits which are unable, by themselves, to provide output voltages in this range.