Patent Application
20050006131
The present application claims priority from Japanese application serial No. 2003-194711, filed on Jul. 10, 2003, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference into this application.
The present invention relates to a new electromagnetic insulation wires or cables for counter-measures of EMC (Electromagnetic compatibility), a method of manufacturing the electromagnetic insulation wire and an apparatus for manufacturing the same.
Japanese Patent Laid-open 2000-251545 discloses electric wires for EMC counter-measures, wherein Japanese Patent laid-open Hei 11-40979 and Hei 11-40981 disclose a soft magnetic material powder is bonded with an organic binder to form a tape or cylinder.
In the EMC counter-measure technology disclosed in Japanese Laid-open 2000-251545, a tape or foil of the soft magnetic material is wound to form a magnetic tube, which is then covered with a flexible coat. The flexibility of the wire depends on the distance between the magnetic tubes. Thus, it is hard to obtain wires with high flexibility, and the productivity of the winding process is quite low. Further, steps between the windings are formed by magnetic tubes on the surface of the wire so that the handling of the wire is not good.
In technologies disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Hei 11-40979 and Hei 11-40981, the counter-measure parts are not directly formed on the conductors, which are not easy to handle. Further, it is difficult to increase a wiring density in the above prior art.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an electromagnetic insulation wire, which can effectively reduce electromagnetic noise induced in the conductor and have a high flexibility, a method of manufacturing the same, and an apparatus for manufacturing the same.
The present invention provides an electromagnetic insulation wire, which has an electromagnetic insulation coat of a composite material comprising a magnetic powder and a matrix resin, wherein the particles of the magnetic powder are oriented in such a manner that a magnetic anisotropy in terms of magnetic permeability in the circumferential direction of a conductor is larger than that in the lengthwise direction of the conductor. The present invention also provides a method of manufacturing the electromagnetic insulation wire and an apparatus for manufacturing the electromagnetic insulation wire.
In the specification, the terms “electromagnetic insulation wire” are used to mean a wire or cable having a electromagnetic insulation coat having magnetic anisotropy in the circumferential direction and in the axial direction of the wire.
In this specification, the explanation will be made by reference to wires as a representative. Although the wire of the present invention is defined as insulated wires for lowering electromagnetic radiation wave, the “electromagnetic insulation wire” is used for simplification of the specification and claims. That is, the word “wire” is used to cover the cable. The wire or cable is used to mean that signals are transferred through the conductor.
The coat of the present invention is substantially free from irregularity of magnetic property both in the lengthwise and circumferential directions of the wire, since the coat is continuously formed on the conductor under substantially constant magnetic conditions.
An aspect ratio of at least part of the particles of the magnetic powder is more than 1, and the particles in the lengthwise direction thereof are arranged in the circumferential direction of the conductor Preferably, the aspect ratio is within a range of from 2 to 10.
The particles of the magnetic powder in the produced coat of the wire are arranged in the circumferential direction as shown in
According to the present invention, it is possible to manufacture a wire of indefinite length or very long wire with a constant magnetic property over the entire length.
The present invention also provides a method of manufacturing an electromagnetic insulation wire, which comprises forming the coat of a composite material comprising magnetic powder of soft magnetic material and a binder resin on a conductor, while applying a magnetic field to the conductor and the composite material. At least part of the particles of the magnetic powder is arranged along the direction of the magnetic lines of force of the magnetic field. The composite material comprising the magnetic powder and the resin and the conductor are continuously supplied to the entrance of a die which is heated. A magnetic field generation means, which is disposed near the exit of the die applies the magnetic field to the composite material and the conductor, while forming the coat on the conductor.
The present invention further provides an apparatus for manufacturing an electromagnetic insulation wire, which comprises a heated die for withdrawing or extruding a conductor with an insulating coat and a magnetic field generation means disposed near the exit of the die.
At least an exit side of the die is preferably made of a non-magnetic material, such as tungsten, ceramics. Means for applying the magnetic field is a permanent magnet or an electromagnet. Preferable permanent magnet material is Sm—Co sintered alloys. The permanent magnets should have a Curie point as high as 100° C. or more.
A yoke made of a soft magnetic material is preferably disposed around the periphery of the exit of the die. The yoke is in contact with the permanent magnet or electromagnet to constitute a magnetic circuit.
In order to apply the magnetic field to the extruded or withdrawn wire during manufacturing it, the die may be sandwiched by a pair of the permanent magnets or electromagnets. The yokes are so disposed as to sandwich the wire thereby to make a magnetic circuit through a magnetic gap. The permanent magnets, electromagnets or yokes have different lengths in the radial direction of the conductor so that the lengthwise direction of the particles of the magnetic powder is arranged in the circumferential direction of the conductor.
It is preferable to dispose a heater or heaters around the periphery of the die and to form an introduction port such that the insulating material is supplied to the whole circumference of the conductor.
As magnetic powders, soft magnetic materials are used. Examples are γ-Fe2O3, Fe3O4, Fe, Co, Ni, Fe—Co, Fe—Co—Ni, Fe—Si—Al, etc. The powders are used singly or in combination.
As resin materials, thermoplastic resins are preferably used. Examples are polyolefin, polyvinyl chloride, chlorinated polyethylene, chlorinated butyl rubber, thermoplastic elastomer, other ethylene copolymers such as ethylene-ethyl acetate copolymer, ethylene-ethylacrylate copolymer and ethylene propylene rubber, etc. The resin materials are used singly or in combination.
One or more of the resin materials is mixed with the magnetic powder before introducing them into the die. In forming the insulating coat on the surface of the conductor, the mixture or composite material is heated to melt or soften it so that the particles of the powder can easily move to be oriented along the magnetic field applied in the magnetic field of a predetermined strength. As a result, easy magnetization axis or anisotropic rectangularity of the particles of the magnetic powder is aligned along the magnetic lines of force on the magnetic field.
The strength of the magnetic field for orienting the particles of the magnetic powder is determined by kinds of magnetic materials used, viscosity of the resin when heated by the heater, volume rate of the magnetic powder in the composite material, coating speeds, etc. The magnetic powder is prepared by an atomizing method, followed by rolling the powder to flatten it, or by dropping molten metal on a surface of a rotating roll to make foil, followed by cutting the foil into pieces. Thus, particles of the powder have an aspect ratio more than one. The word “powder” in this specification includes not only typical powder, but various small pieces irrespective of their shapes, rods, flakes, tapes, ribbons, etc.
Powder, chips, or the like of the resins are acceptable. In case of chips, the resin is mixed with the magnetic powder by a loader.
The composite material comprising the magnetic powder and the resin is filled in the cavity of the die for extrusion or drawing under heating. Since a pressure is imparted to the composite material wherein the resin is melted by heating, it is not sufficient to impart magnetic anisotropy to the particles in the composite material by magnetic field. However, at the exit side of the die where the thickness of the coat on the conductor is small, magnetic anisotropy in the direction of the applied magnetic field is relatively easily imparted to the particles of the magnetic powder by concentrating magnetic lines of force in the vicinity of the exit. In general, a thickness of about 0.1 to 1 mm is preferable for the coat, while it may change in accordance with the concentration of the magnetic powder, kinds of magnetic powder, etc. A preferable concentration of the magnetic powder is 10 to 50% by volume of the composite material (magnetic powder+resin matrix).
The magnetic field should have a vector in the circumferential direction of the conductor. The field can be generated by forming a magnetic field by disposing a permanent magnet in the soft magnetic material.
The former magnetic circuit controls the magnetic field by flowing current through the coil. In the former case, a power source for exciting the coil is necessary. On the other hand, in the latter case, since the rare earth magnets having a large elegy product are used as a source of the magnetic field, no power source for excitation of the coil is necessary.
Since the die is heated to a temperature above 100° C., permanent magnets having a high Curie point and a small temperature coefficient of energy product such as NdFeB alloys, Sm—Co alloys are preferable. The magnetic circuits are so formed that a magnetic gap is formed near the exit of the die so as to minimize the cross sectional area of the magnetic material near the exit of the die. As a result, the magnetic field can be concentrated in a small sectional area, thereby generating strong magnetic field.
The resin material in the composite material is melted by the heater disposed around the outer periphery of the die. In forming the coat on the conductor, the magnetic field of strength more than 1 kOe is generated around the conductor to impart magnetic anisotropy to the magnetic powder.
As having discussed above, the present invention provides the electromagnetic insulation wire having the magnetic coat with no steps on the wire. The coat comprises the soft magnetic material and the resin material. In forming the composite material around the conductor, the outside magnetic field is imparted to the wire to form an anisotropic material.
When the permeability in the circumferential direction of the composite material is increased, noise of the conductor is effectively reduced even by a small amount of magnetic powder than an isotropic composite material. The wire is excellent in flexibility; the wire can be used as cables, signal wires, etc of personal computers, electronic appliances, etc, which have good EMC countermeasure effect.
The permanent magnets 1, 9 are made of a sintered NdFeB alloy or sintered SmCo alloy to sandwich the exit side of the die 2. Heater 28 is so disposed around the cavity 3 to heat the composite material in the cavity to 150 to 200° C., thereby to melt the resin material therein. The conductor 4 is introduced into the cavity 3 from a reel (not shown) through an aperture of a pressure member 15, and the composite material is introduced from the introduction port 10 so that the composite material in the cavity 3 is pressurized with a high pressure. The wire 14 is extruded by means of an extruding machine 34 into the cavity to the exit of the die 2, while forming the coat 26 on the conductor 4.
The permanent magnets 1, 9 may be substituted with an electromagnet to constitute the magnetic circuit. In this case, it is possible to control the magnetic strength of the magnetic field around the exit side of the die 2. An increase in current in the electromagnet increases the strength of the magnetic field around the exit side of the die 2, thereby to increase a circumferential vector of the magnetic field around the conductor 4. The increase in the circumferential vector strengthens the anisotropy of the coat 26. Whether the anisotropy is imparted to the coat 26 is confirmed by determining the magnetic characteristics of the coat 26 on the conductor 4.
In this embodiment, a composite material comprising 30 volume % of magnetic powder of a magnetic alloy consisting of Fe-11% by weight of Si-3 to 8% by weight of Al and 70 volume % of chlorinated polyethylene was introduced into the cavity 3 heated by the heater 28. The particles of the magnetic powder have an aspect ratio of 2 to 10. In the cavity 3, and the introduction port has an annular form in its cross sectional view. The conductor 4 is extruded into or withdrawn from the die 2, while continuously forming the coat 26 thereon. After the insulating coat wire 14 is formed, it is cooled. In the apparatus shown in
The composite material 26 coated on the conductor 4 is cooled until the magnetic particles are fixed in the coat. Cooling is carried out by a suitable cooling device (not shown) or by a natural cooling.
The magnetic characteristics such as orientation dependency on magnetization curve of the resulted coat 26 are measured by a torque meter or a Karr-effect meter. The evaluation of the magnetic anisotropy of the coat is made by comparison between magnetic characteristics in the circumferential direction and the axial direction (lengthwise direction of the wire). Further, a disk sample is prepared from the wire to measure torque curve, thereby to evaluate magnetic anisotropy energy.
In this embodiment, it has been confirmed by alternating magnetic measurement that the coat 26 has a higher permeability in the circumferential direction than in the axial direction of the wire as an increase in the strength of the magnetic field.
Further, in this embodiment, the particles of the magnetic powder are oriented in the circumferential direction of the conductor 4. Therefore, the flexibility of the wire is excellent in the lengthwise direction of the wire as a whole.
The upper magnet and the upper yoke are connected by means of magnetic lines 22 of force, and the lower magnet and lower yoke are connected by means of magnetic lines 22 of force. As a result, the particles 21 of the magnetic powder are oriented in the circumferential direction of the conductor 4. The exit side 23 of the die 2 is made of non-magnetic material except for the yokes.
The coat 26 is formed on the surface of the conductor 4. Since the specific permeability of the coat 26 is higher than that of the non-magnetic member 23, the magnetic lines of force transmit the coat. As a result, the magnetic field is applied in the circumferential direction of the coat, thereby to impart magnetic anisotropy to the magnetic powder particles and the lengthwise direction of the particles is oriented in the circumferential direction.
In this embodiment, particles of soft magnetic material such as Fe—Si magnetic powder had an aspect ratio of 3 or more. A composite material comprising the powder and chlorinated polyethylene and the powder was mixed and the mixture was introduced into the cavity 3 of the heated die 2 through an introduction port 10. The conductor 4 was extruded into or withdrawn from the die 2 to continuously form the coat 26 thereon. The wire 14 is withdrawn by means of a machine 36 from the exit side of the die 2.
The anisotropy is increased by alignment of easy magnetization axis of the particles of the magnetic powder in the magnetic field. If the magnetic field is applied between the upper and lower yokes at the ends of the die 2, the particles of the magnetic powder rotate along the magnetic lines of force 22 so that the particles are oriented in a definite direction.
The rotation of the particles of the magnetic powder depends on viscosity of the melted resin in the cavity, temperature of the die, magnetic strength of the magnetic field, a particle size of the powder, etc. The direction of the magnetic field depends on a contour of the yokes, a thickness of the coat.
Further, since the lengthwise direction of the particles is aligned with the circumferential direction of the conductor 4, the resulting wire has excellent flexibility as a whole.
In this embodiment, particles of magnetic powder of Fe—B powder having an aspect ratio of 3 were used. The powder was mixed with low-density polyethylene. The mixture was introduced into the cavity through the introduction port of the apparatus shown in
In this embodiment, a permanent magnet of sintered Sm2Co17 alloy was used as the magnet 1, 9 shown in
As having discussed above, the dependency of permeability ratio on direction is caused by imparting anisotropy of easy magnetization to the particles of the magnetic powder in the anisotropic magnetic field. Further, in this embodiment, the lengthwise direction of the particles is oriented in the circumferential direction of the conductor 4; therefore, the wire has excellent flexibility in the lengthwise direction thereof.
In this embodiment, magnetic powder of Fe—B powder was used wherein an aspect ratio of the particles is 3, and a particle size is 3 to 50 μm. As same as embodiment 3, the magnetic powder and ethylene-octene copolymer were mixed, and then the mixture was introduced into the cavity 3 through the introduction port in the die 2 heated to about 150° C. of the apparatus shown in
The permeability ratio decreases with the increase in the volume of the magnetic powder. This is because the strength of the magnetic field is weak, and therefore, the rotation of the particles of the magnetic powder was difficult.
In this embodiment, the lengthwise direction of the particles of the magnetic powder is oriented along the circumferential direction, and the resulting wire has excellent flexibility in the axial direction of the wire.
There are gaps 32 between the upper yoke 12 or lower yoke 13 and the wire so that the yokes 12, 13 do not touch the wire 16. The composite material introduced into the cavity 3 of the die 2 is pressurized by a pressure device 15 to extrude it. The diameter of the wire is determined by the diameter of the die at the exit side, while forming the coat 26 on the conductor 16. The permanent magnet 11 is preferably made of Sm2Co17 sintered alloys because the alloy has a high Curie point.
As shown in
The magnetic powder made of Fe—B powder had an aspect ratio of 3, and a particle size of 3 to 50 μm was used. The powder was mixed with chlorinated polyethylene; then the mixture was introduced into the cavity of the die heated to about 150° C. through the introduction port 10. The composite material and the conductor 16 were extruded from the exit of the die to form a wire having a coat 26 on the conductor 16, while applying the magnetic field to the wire. The strength of the magnetic field is at most 10 kOe.
When the apparatus shown in
The orientation direction of the particles was confirmed by an X-ray diffraction method, observation of phase structure using a SEM (a scanning electron microscope) or by a magnetic characteristic evaluation. The magnetic characteristic evaluation method includes a measurement of torque curve, permeability, and magnetization curve. Further, in this embodiment, the wire excellent in flexibility in the lengthwise direction or axial direction of the conductor was obtained.
The embodiments of the present invention provide magnetic insulation wires that can reduce high frequency noise induced by electromagnetic wave, and a method of manufacturing the wires and an apparatus for manufacturing the same.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-194711 | Jul 2003 | JP | national |
