Foldable panel arrangement for plating barrel

Abstract

A barrel for chemically treating parts having a panel system for retaining said parts within said barrel while permitting passage of a bath solution into said barrel. The panel system comprises a plurality of side panels formed from a continuous sheet of material with integral hinges connecting said panels. The hinges comprises a notch having a center, and first and second sides with thickness greater than said center and a material fused to and filling in the notch. The side panels comprise a base and a plurality of perforated sections on the base, with each perforated section containing a plurality of openings in the base for passage of the solution. A plurality of ribs extends outwardly from one surface of the base, wherein the ribs separate each of the perforated sections from an adjacent perforated section. The ribs are comprised of individual rib segments, with each rib segment separating one perforated section from an adjacent perforated section. Each of the rib segments intersect at a point with at least one other rib segment between adjacent perforated sections. At each of the intersection points, at least one rib segment terminates with other rib segments, the terminating rib segment being non-colinearly oriented with respect to other intersecting ribs to provide bracing for another intersecting rib segment. Preferably, three of the rib segments intersect at the intersection point between adjacent perforated panel sections. The perforated panel sections may be rectilinear, circular or hexagonal in shape.