The disclosed and claimed concept relates generally to electronic equipment and, more particularly, to a current transformer apparatus that is electrically connectable with and mountable to a circuit board such as a printed circuit board.
Numerous types of electronic equipment are known in the relevant art. One type of electronic component is a current transformer which includes a length of wire that is wound into a coil to form a winding. The wire typically is relatively thin, and the ends of the wire are typically soldered to pins that are mounted on a circuit board. While such current transformers have been generally effective for their intended purposes, they have not been without limitation.
The soldered connections between the end of the wire and the pins that are mounted to the circuit board have been difficult to make due to the thinness of the wire and the difficulty in handling the wire, and for other reasons. Also, the soldered connections between the ends of the wire and the pins that are mounted to the circuit board have been subject to breakage during movement of the current transformer and circuit board from one location to another and during installation. Improvements thus would be desirable.
Accordingly, an improved current transformer apparatus is configured to enable it to be electrically connected with and physically mounted to a circuit board. The current transformer apparatus includes a support upon which a coil is situated and upon which a plurality of approximately U-shaped electrical connectors are also situated. The electrical connectors each include an electrical contact that is biased toward a reaction structure, and in the depicted exemplary embodiment the electrical contact and the reaction structure are both a part of the electrical connector. A circuit board is received between the electrical contact and the reaction structure, and the bias between the electrical contact and the reaction structure mounts current transformer apparatus to the circuit board and provides an electrical connection therebetween.
An aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept is to provide an improved current transformer apparatus that is easily mountable on and removable from a circuit board.
Another aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept is to provide such an improved current transformer apparatus that avoids the need to provide soldered electrical connections between the ends of the wire of an electrical winding and pins that have been mounted to a circuit board.
Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept is to provide an improved current transformer apparatus that is structured to be electrically connected with and to be mounted to a circuit board. The current transformer apparatus can be generally stated as including a coil apparatus comprising a wire that is wound into a coil, a support, the coil apparatus being situated on the support, a connection apparatus that can be generally stated as including a plurality of electrical contacts and a number of reaction structures situated on the support, the plurality of electrical contacts can be generally stated as including a pair of electrical contacts, an electrical contact of the pair of electrical contacts having an electrical connection with the wire, another electrical contact of the pair of electrical contacts having another electrical connection with the wire, at least one of the at least first reaction structure and the plurality of electrical contacts being biased generally toward the other of the at least first reaction structure and the plurality of electrical contacts and being structured to engage the circuit board between the plurality of electrical contacts and the at least first reaction structure to mount the current transformer apparatus to the circuit board.
A further understanding of the disclosed and claimed concept can be gained from the following Description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the specification.
An improved current transformer apparatus 4 in accordance with a first embodiment of the disclosed and claimed concept is depicted generally in
The current transformer apparatus 4 is advantageously configured to enable it to be mounted onto a circuit board 16, i.e., physically and directly situated on the circuit board 16 such as is depicted in
The coil apparatus 6 includes a pair of coils 22A and 22B that each include a length of wire 24A and 24B, respectively, each having a pair of opposite ends 38. The wires 24A and 24B are each wound in an approximately cylindrical shape to form the windings that can be said to make up the coils 22A and 22B.
The support 10 can be said to include a housing 28 that includes an approximately annular wall 30 that surrounds a pair of sockets 32A and 32B within which the coils 22A and 22B, respectively, are received. The housing 28 further includes a base 34 that is situated on the wall 30. The wall 30 has a pair of openings 36A and 36B formed therein adjacent the base 34 through which the ends 38 of the wires 24A and 24B extend for connection with the connection apparatus 12. The exemplary openings 36A and 36B are in the form of elongated slots but can be of other shapes without departing from the spirit of the present concept.
As can be understood from
The platform 40 includes a base wall 48 that is situated opposite the covering wall 42. The platform further includes a pair of lateral abutments 52A and 52B that are approximately L-shaped and which have a portion that extends along the ends of the base wall 48 and another portion that extends along the wall 30. The platform 40 further includes a frontal abutment 54 that extends between the lateral abutments 52A and 52B along the edge of the base wall 48 that is opposite the wall 30. Furthermore, the platform 40 includes a plurality of dividers 58 that each include a first portion 60 that extends along the base wall 48, a second portion 62 that extends along the wall 30, and a third portion 64 that protrudes from the wall 30 and which extends approximately parallel the corresponding first portion 60. The platform 40 further includes a pair of additional lateral abutments 68A and 68B that protrude from the wall 30 and which extend parallel with the third portions 64. Further, the platform 40 includes an additional frontal abutment 70 that extends along the free ends of the third portions 64 and the free ends of the additional lateral abutments 68A and 68B opposite the wall 30. In the depicted exemplary embodiment, the wall 30 and the platform 40 are co-formed as a single piece unit, such as by molding and the like, from an electrically insulative material such as a polymeric material or other appropriate material. As such, the various components of the platform 40 mentioned above are affixed to one another and are co-formed together as a single component.
As can thus be seen in
As is thus shown in
Since the electrical connectors 82 are formed of a conductive material, it can be understood that the solid leg 86, the perforated leg 88, and the junction 94 are all electrically conductive. However, the solid leg 86 and the perforated leg 88 in a free state are separated from one another by a distance that is less than the thickness of the circuit board 16, and when the circuit board 16 is received in the slot 46 and between the solid leg 86 and the perforated leg 88, the solid leg 86 and the perforated leg 88 are elastically deflected away from one another and are thus biased toward one another via their connection with one another at the junction 94.
From a mechanical standpoint, it can be understood that the solid leg 86 and the perforated leg 88 each apply a compressive load toward the circuit board 16 when the circuit board 16 is received therebetween. As such, at least one of the solid leg 86 and the perforated leg 88 can be said to form an electrical contact 96 that is electrically connected with the circuit board 16 by becoming electrically connected with one of the pads 18 when the circuit board 16 is received in the slot 46 and is compressively engaged between the solid leg 86 and the perforated leg 88. It is noted that in the depicted exemplary embodiment the electrical contact 96 is at least a portion of the perforated leg 88. In a similar fashion, the electrical connectors 82 can each be said to include a reaction structure 98 that opposes the bias of the electrical contact 96 and which, in the depicted exemplary embodiment, is at least a portion of the solid leg 86. It is noted that, depending upon the configuration of the electrical connectors 82, the platform 40 or the base wall 48 can be said to additionally or alternatively form a part of the reaction structure 98 that opposes the bias of the electrical contact 96. This principle can be understood if the system employed alternative electrical connectors that did not additionally include the solid leg 86 and rather included electrical contacts that were spring biased or otherwise biased in a direction toward the base wall 48. In such a situation, the base wall 48 and other structures of the platform 40 would serve as the reaction structure that is situated to oppose the bias by the aforementioned alternative electrical contacts. In the depicted exemplary embodiment, however, the electrical connectors 82 are generally U-shaped and each include both the electrical contact 96 and the reaction structure 98.
As can be understood from
By securing the electrical connectors 82 on the base 34, the electrical connectors 82 are generally immovable with respect to the support 10 apart from elastic deformation of the solid leg 86 or the perforated leg 88 or both when the circuit board 16 is received between the solid leg 86 and the perforated leg 88 and is removed therefrom. Such advantageous retention of the electrical connectors 82 on the base 34 correspondingly resists movement of the pins 90 with respect to the wires 24A and 24B, which helps to maintain the integrity of the soldered connection between the pins 90 and the ends 38. Movement of the pins 90 is further resisted by the reception of the pins 90 in the notches 74 and the reception of the latches 76 in the seats 80, which serves to clamp the pins 90 against the wall 30.
As such, the current transformer apparatus 4 can be repeatedly received on the circuit board 16, thereby mounting the current transformer apparatus 4 to the circuit board 16 and providing an electrical connection therebetween, and removed from the circuit board 16 without a meaningful risk of damaging the electrical connection between the ends 38 and the pins 90. The current transformer apparatus 4 thus advantageously can be easily mounted to the circuit board 16 and electrically connected therewith simply by slidingly receiving the circuit board 16 in the slot 46 to thereby electrically connect together the pads 18 with the electrical connectors 82 and thus with the ends of the wires 24A and 24B that form the coils 22A and 22B. The improved current transformer apparatus 4 is thus simple to manufacture and simple to install and remove as needed and is mechanically and electrically reliable. Other advantages will be apparent.
An improved current transformer apparatus 104 in accordance with a second embodiment of the disclosed and claimed concept is depicted generally in
The current transformer apparatus 104 is receivable on a circuit board in the same way in which the current transformer apparatus 4 is receivable on the circuit board 16. If desired, a pair of the current transformer apparatuses 104 can be mounted to the circuit board 16 and electrically connected with the pads 18 inasmuch as a pair of the current transformer apparatuses 104 can be substituted for and are substantially equivalent to the current transformer apparatus 4. The current transformer apparatus 104 can also be used individually.
It thus can be seen that the current transformer apparatus 104 is similar to the current transformer apparatus 4 except that is includes only a single coil 122 and is suitable for applications that require only a single coil. The current transformer apparatus 104 is also suitable for other applications in which a plurality of the current transformer apparatuses 104 can be used in conjunction with one another. Other advantages will be apparent.
While specific embodiments of the disclosed concept have been described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternatives to those details could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, the particular arrangements disclosed are meant to be illustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of the disclosed concept which is to be given the full breadth of the claims appended and any and all equivalents thereof.
This application is a continuation application of and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/083,478, filed Mar. 29, 2016, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20200395169 A1 | Dec 2020 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 15083478 | Mar 2016 | US |
Child | 17009180 | US |