1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coil device as an antenna, for example.
2. Description of the Related Art
To protect a coil device used for antennas from impact including vibration, it is considered to house a bobbin with a coil portion in an outer case and seal around the coil device with a potting resin or so. The entire periphery of the bobbin is preferably sealed with resin in the outer case. Thus, as shown in Patent Document 1, a convex portion is arranged on an outer periphery of the bobbin to be sealed with resin and abuts against an inner wall of the outer case, and a space between the bobbin and the outer case is arranged so that a sealing resin reaches the space, for example.
Since the bobbin is constituted by a hard epoxy resin, however, the convex portion arranged on the outer periphery of the bobbin and the inner wall of the outer case are in contact, and impact resistance characteristics may be deteriorated. High-level impact resistance characteristics are required particularly for coil devices used in auto industry or so, and sufficient impact resistance characteristics are hard to be obtained by a conventional coil device structure.
The present invention has been achieved under such circumstances. It is an object of the invention to provide a coil device excellent in impact resistance characteristics.
To achieve the above object, the coil device according to the present invention is a coil device including:
a core member extending in a longitudinal direction;
a bobbin with a hollow space housing the core member;
a coil portion with a wire wound around an outer peripheral wall of the bobbin;
an outer case with a housing concave portion configured to house the bobbin housing the core member and having the coil portion on the outer peripheral wall; and
a potting resin filled in the housing concave portion and surrounding the bobbin with the coil portion,
wherein an easily deformable member is arrange between the outer peripheral wall of the bobbin and a bottom wall of the housing concave portion, and is capable of being deformed before deformations of the bobbin and the outer case when the outer case receives an impact.
In the coil device of the present invention, the bobbin touches the bottom hole of the outer case via the easily deformable member that is deformed more easily than the bobbin itself. When the outer case receives an impact, the easily deformable member is easily deformed elastically or plastically (may be broken), and the impact transmitted to the outer case is weakened and transmitted to the bobbin. The potting resin is filled in a space between the bobbin and the outer case. The potting resin has a sufficiently low longitudinal elasticity, and can thus effectively absorb the impact applied to the outer case in cooperation with the easily deformable member.
In the coil device of the present invention, impact resistance is thus improved compared with a conventional coil device where a convex portion (having approximately the same deformation strength as that of the bobbin) formed on the bobbin touches the bottom wall of the outer case. That is, it is possible to reduce an impact (by a drop test) applied to the core member arranged inside the bobbin. Thus, the present invention can effectively prevent a situation where the core member is broken.
The easily deformable member may be formed integrally with the bobbin or the outer case, and may be the easily deformable member may be an oblique plate leg or an oblique linear leg that is formed integrally with a part of the bobbin or the outer case, for example. Since the easily deformable member is formed integrally with the bobbin or the outer case, there is no need to separately prepare an easily deformable member, and this contributes to reduction of the number of components.
The outer peripheral wall constituting the hollow space may be provided with an opening portion communicating inside and outside of the bobbin. With the opening portion, the potting resin reaches inside of the bobbin via the opening portion, impact resistance characteristics are improved, and it is possible to further effectively prevent the breakage of the core member or so. The opening portion may be provided with the easily deformable member of the oblique plate leg, the oblique linear leg, or the like. When a plate member or a linear member is formed integrally from an opening edge of the opening portion and protrudes obliquely toward the bottom surface of the bobbin at a predetermined angle, the plate member or the linear member is easily deformed and can favorably function as the easily deformable member.
The bobbin may be provided with a pressing portion protruding from one of inner surfaces of the outer peripheral wall toward the hollow space, and the pressing portion may press the core member against the other inner surface of the outer peripheral wall. With this configuration, the core member is positioned against the bobbin with the coil portion, a positional displacement of the core member against the coil portion is prevented, and the characteristic deviation as antenna coil can be prevented.
The bobbin may be provided with a first pressing portion protruding from one of inner surfaces of the outer peripheral wall toward the hollow space, the bobbin may be provided with a second pressing portion protruding from the other inner surface of the outer peripheral wall toward the hollow space, and the first pressing portion and the second pressing portion may sandwich the core member so that the core member is positioned in the hollow space of the bobbin.
Even in this configuration, the core member is positioned against the bobbin with the coil portion, a positional displacement of the core member against the coil portion is prevented, and the characteristic deviation as coil can be prevented. In addition, in this configuration, a space between the core member and the bobbin is formed on both sides of the core member, the potting resin reaches the spaces, and impact resistance characteristics are further improved.
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments shown in the figures.
A coil device 2 according to First Embodiment of the present invention shown in
The core member 4 has any size, and has a length in X-axis direction of 30 to 120 mm, a width in the Y-axis direction of 5 to 20 mm, and a thickness in the Z-axis direction of 1 to 10 mm, for example. In the present embodiment, the core member 4 is constituted by the single core member extending in the X-axis direction, but may be constituted by a plurality of core members simply arranged and divided in the X-axis direction in the bobbin 20, or may be constituted by joining these core members using an adhesive.
For example, the core member 4 may be constituted by a magnetic body, such as ferrite, metal magnetic body, permalloy, and pressed powder, or by a nonmagnetic body, such as alumina and ceramic. The core member 4 is preferably constituted by a magnetic body material whose relative permeability μ is preferably 1000 or more, more preferably 3000 or more, and particularly preferably 5000 or more. The core member 4 normally has a longitudinal elasticity of 100000 to 160000 MPa.
The core member 4 is configured to be inserted into a hollow space 22 in the X-axis direction formed inside the bobbin 20. The hollow space 22 of the bobbin 20 has a shape surrounding the core member 4, and as shown in
The single (or multiple) wire 10 is spirally wound around the outer peripheral wall 24 of the bobbin 20 in the X-axis direction so as to form the coil portion 12. The wire 10 may be any wire, such as resin coated wire and twisted wire. The wire 10 has any diameter, but preferably has 50 to 500 μm.
Both ends of the wire 10 forming the coil portion 12 are connected to various kinds of electronic components arranged in a component case housed in an electronic component housing portion 70 shown in
As shown in
In the present embodiment, as shown in
Incidentally, the pressing piece 28 may have a width in the Y-axis direction equal to a width in the Y-axis direction of the opening portion 26. Even in this case, the pressing piece 28 protrudes downward in the Z-axis direction from the inner surface of the outer peripheral wall 24, and slits are formed on both sides in the Y-axis direction of the pressing piece 28. The slits function as openings for communicating inside and outside of the outer peripheral wall 24, but the pressing pieces 28 do not need to be formed by corresponding to the opening portions 26, and may be formed in a part of the outer peripheral wall 24 where no opening portion 26 is formed.
In the present embodiment, as shown in
For example, the bobbin 20 is formed by injection molding, and is constituted by a synthetic resin of PBT, PET, nylon, LCP, PPS, phenol, or the like. The bobbin 20 has a longitudinal elasticity of 1000 to 20000 MPa.
The outer case 40 has the housing concave portion 42 configured to house the bobbin 20 housing the core member 4 and having the coil portion 12 around the outer peripheral wall 24. The top in the Z-axis direction of the housing concave portion 42 is open, and the housing concave portion 42 is large enough to house the bobbin 20 surrounded by the potting resin 60. That is, the housing concave portion 42 has a depth D0 in the Z-axis direction (see
For example, the outer case 40 is formed by injection molding, and is constituted by a synthetic resin of PBT, PET, nylon, LCP, PPS, phenol, or the like. The outer case 40 has a longitudinal elasticity of 8000 to 10000 MPa, which is the same as or different from a longitudinal elasticity of the bobbin 20.
The potting resin 60 filled in the housing concave portion 42 of the outer case 40 is composed of a silicone resin, a urethane resin, an epoxy resin, or the like, that is still soft after the filling, and preferably has a longitudinal elasticity of 0.1 to 100 MPa. The potting resin 60 is filled around a periphery of the bobbin 20 with the coil portion 12, and is also filled in a space between the bobbin 20 and the core member 4 and in a space between the bobbin 20 and the inner wall surface of the outer case 40. The potting resin 60 is injected from the upper opening of the housing concave portion 42 of the outer case 40.
In the present embodiment, a plurality of oblique plate legs (easily deformable members) 50 is formed integrally with the bobbin 20 at both ends in the X-axis direction of a bottom outer surface 21 of the bobbin 20. In the present embodiment, two oblique plate legs 50 are formed at a predetermined interval in the Y-axis direction on both ends of the bobbin 20 in the X-axis direction (four oblique plate legs 50 are formed in total). As shown in
The predetermined angle θ is preferably 60 to 30 degrees, and more preferably 45 to 20 degrees. When the predetermined angle θ is too large, the oblique plate legs 50 tend to become hard to be deformed particularly even if an impact in the Z-axis direction is applied to the outer case 40. When the predetermined angle θ is too small, a space between the bottom outer surface 21 of the bobbin 20 and a bottom inner surface 41 of the outer case 40 tends to become small.
The oblique plate legs 50 touch the bottom inner surface 41 of the outer case 40 in the outer case 40 before the potting resin 60 is injected or while the potting resin 60 is being injected, and leave a space between the bottom surface of the bobbin 20 and the bottom inner surface 41 of the outer case 40 so that the potting resin 60 reaches the space easily.
The oblique plate leg 50 has a plate surface that is a parallel plate to the X-axis and the Z-axis in the present embodiment, but has any plate surface and may have a plate surface crossing the bottom outer surface 21 of the bobbin 20 at a predetermined angle θ. The oblique plate leg 50 does not necessarily have a linear plate shape, and may have a plate shape of curved surface. The oblique plate leg 50 may be formed in the opening portion 26. When the plate leg 50 is formed integrally from the opening edge of the opening portion 26 and protrudes obliquely toward the bottom surface of the bobbin 20 at a predetermined angle θ, the plate leg 50 is easily deformed and can favorably function as the easily deformable member.
As shown in
In the illustrated example, the oblique plate legs 50 are inclined toward the middle part of the bobbin 20 in the X-axis direction at a predetermined angle θ, but in contrast, may be inclined toward outside of the bobbin 20 in the X-axis direction at a predetermined angle θ.
The coil device 2 of the present embodiment shown in
On the other hand, as shown in
According to an experiment, it turned out that the coil device 2 of the present embodiment has an impact resistance improved three times or more than that of the coil device 2D of the comparative example shown in
Since the oblique plate legs 50 are formed integrally with the bobbin 20 in the present embodiment, there is no need to separately prepare an easily deformable member, and this contributes to reduction of the number of components.
In the present embodiment, the opening portion 26 communicating inside and outside of the bobbin 20 is formed in the outer peripheral wall 24 constituting the hollow space 22. This enables the potting resin 60 to reach inside the bobbin 20, and it is thus possible to improve impact resistance characteristics and further effectively prevent the breakage of the core member 4 or so.
In the present embodiment, since the bobbin 20 is equipped with the pressing pieces 28, the core member 4 is positioned against the bobbin 20 with the coil portion 12, a positional displacement of the core member 4 against the coil portion 12 is prevented, and the characteristic deviation as antenna coil can be prevented.
As shown in
The present embodiment is the same as First Embodiment except that oblique linear legs 50a as easily deformable members are arranged on both ends of a bobbin 20a in the X-axis direction. A tip of the oblique linear leg 50a is provided with an abutting member 52a and is in surface contact with a bottom inner surface of the outer case 40. The oblique linear leg 50a can be deformed more easily than the oblique plate leg 50.
As shown in
In the present embodiment, a bobbin 20b is provided with pressing pieces 28 (first pressing portions) protruding from a top surface in the Z-axis direction of the outer peripheral wall 24 constituting the bobbin 20b toward the hollow space 22, and is also provided with pressing pieces 28 (second pressing portions) protruding from a bottom surface in the Z-axis direction of the outer peripheral wall 24 toward the hollow space 22. In the present embodiment, the core member 4 is positioned in the hollow space 22 of the bobbin 20b by being sandwiched between the pressing members 28 located above and below in the Z-axis direction.
The embodiment shown in
Even in this configuration, the core member 4 is positioned against the bobbin 20b with the coil portion 12, a positional displacement of the core member 4 against the coil portion 12 is prevented, and the characteristic deviation as antenna coil can be prevented. In addition, in this configuration, a space between the core member 4 and the bobbin 20b is formed on both sides of the core member 4 in the Z-axis direction, the potting resin 60 reaches the spaces, and impact resistance characteristics are further improved.
As shown in
The present embodiment is the same as Second Embodiment except that oblique linear legs 50b as easily deformable members are not formed on a bobbin 20c but are formed integrally on a bottom inner surface 41 of the outer case 40 with inclination of a predetermined angle θ. Tips of the oblique linear legs 50b are provided with abutting members 52b and are in surface contact with a bottom outer surface 21 of the bobbin 20.
Incidentally, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but may be variously changed within the scope of the present invention.
For example, the above-mentioned embodiments exemplify the pressing piece 28 of arc shape as the pressing portion, but the pressing portion formed on the bobbin is not limited to the pressing piece of arc shape. The pressing portion may have a shape other than the arc shape, and may have any shape with a structure where the core member 4 can be pressed from at least one of inner surfaces of the hollow space of the bobbin toward the separating direction by spring force.
The component case housed in the electronic component housing portion 70 may be formed integrally with the bobbin. The bottom part of the component case in the Z-axis direction may be provided with a leg in contact with the bottom inner surface of the outer case 40 (easily deformable member may be employed). The oblique plate leg 50 and the oblique linear legs 50a and 50b are not necessarily arranged near the component case housed in the electronic component housing portion 70. It is possible to have a space between the bottom surface of the bobbin 40 in the Z-axis direction and the bottom inner surface of the outer case 40 and reach a potting resin to the space only by forming the single oblique plate leg 50 or the single oblique linear leg 50 on the end portion of the bobbin 20 located opposite to the electronic component housing portion 70 along the X-axis direction.
In the present invention, the shape of the easily deformable member is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. For example, the pressing piece 28 of arc shape in the above-mentioned embodiments may be formed as easily deformable member on the bottom outer surface 21 of the bobbin 20 or the bottom inner surface 41 of the outer case 40. The easily deformable member is not necessarily formed integrally with the bobbin 20 or the outer case 40, and may be formed separately.
The above-mentioned embodiments have the easily deformable member constituted by using various measures for the shape of the plate piece or the linear piece (inclining, bending etc.), but a bobbin 20 or an outer case 40 having a small strength (buckling strength, bending strength, compressive strength etc.) may be employed as easily deformable member.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2016-048633 | Mar 2016 | JP | national |