This U.S. national stage patent application claims priority to international patent application no. PCT/EP2019/063805, filed May 28, 2019, which claims priority to German patent application DE 10 2018 112 975.0, filed on May 30, 2018, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
This disclosure relates to an inductive component and a method for its production.
During production of inductive components comprising annular cores and thick wire coils, a high degree of mechanical stress is exerted on the annular core by the coil tension that arises during winding. In order to achieve a close-fitted application of the wires, the wire has to be pulled tightly when it is drawn through the annular core. The forces arising from this are generally absorbed by the edges of the annular core. Therefore, either the annular core itself or the housing surrounding it must be durable enough to prevent the annular core from being damaged or otherwise functionally compromised. Due to the fact that, in numerous areas of use, annular cores are required to have as little volume as possible and be highly permeable, the core material must be protected from applied forces that could affect the magnetostriction. Accordingly, the housing or other enclosure should be self-supporting in order to be able to absorb the forces arising during the winding without deformation and without passing the forces on to the annular core.
Problems arise, however, when annular cores with thicker wires and standard housings are to be wound, for example, for use with stronger currents. In the case of commonplace annular core housings made of plastic that generally have a wall thickness of 1-2 mm, the winding options that standard winding techniques afford do not extend beyond a wire diameter of 2-3 mm, when copper wire is used. In order to be able to use wires of greater strength, housings made of much more durable plastic materials may be deployed or multi-conductor cables, such as high-frequency cables, may be used for coil. More durable housings can stand up to higher tension forces, but they also tend to increase production costs and the housing volume. Multi-conductor cables may improve the distribution of tension force, but they also come with some disadvantages such as, for example, impaired behavior at high frequencies caused by the higher capacities between the windings, as well as increased costs for the wire cables and connection accessories.
For the above reasons, there is a need for inductive components that employ sensitive magnetic materials while still being compatible with the presently available plastic housings and their given stability, as well as for a manufacturing method for producing such annular cores.
An inductive component is disclosed comprising a ring-shaped core made of soft magnetic material and which has a cross-section, as well as a coil that surrounds the core and that is composed of two electrically conductive sections. Each of the sections has the basic shape of a U with two limbs, of which the first limb is longer than the second limb, the first limb is curved, and the end of the first limb projects away from a plane defined by the basic U shape. The sections are fitted, next to each other, on the core such that each of the basic U shape of each section surrounds the cross-section of the core on three sides. The first limb of a section is mechanically and electrically connected to the second limb of the other section.
In addition, a method for manufacturing an inductive component is disclosed, by means of which two electrically conductive sections are fitted, next to each other, onto a ring-shaped core made of soft magnetic material and with a specific cross-section, forming a coil and such that the basic U shape of each section surrounds the cross-section of the core on three sides. Each of the sections has the basic shape of a U with two limbs, of which the first limb is longer than the second limb, the first limb is curved, and the end of the first limb projects away from a plane defined by the basic U shape. The first limb of a section is mechanically and electrically connected to the second limb of the other section.
Various embodiments will now be described in detail with reference to the embodiments illustrated in the figures. Similar or identical elements are designated with the same reference signs.
As envisaged, one or more windings are assembled using curved conductor sections. These windings are fitted onto or over a ring-shaped, soft magnetic core, which generally hereinafter will be more concisely referred to as “annular core” or simply “core”, and are then electrically and mechanically connected to each other to form a coil using suitable connection means. The conductor sections can be formed, for example, as basically U-shaped or UI-shaped brackets, wherein the type of conductor sections employed, as well as the manner of their employment, depends in each individual case on the three-dimensional structure and number of connection points. Thus the disclosed connection technology can be implemented at a low cost when, for example, only a very limited number of connection points are provided for and when these connection points lie on the outer periphery of the annular core. If the objective is to have as few connection points as possible in each coil or, more precisely, exactly one connection point per winding, then this objective can be achieved, for example, by employing the U-shaped bracket with a curvature formed after fitting. This bending step, however, is usually carried out over the edge of the annular core and would generally be expected to subject the annular core to excessively high tension forces. In order to avoid this, a specially formed conductor bracket is deployed which, after being fitted on the annular core, is brought, if needed, into the position of a winding by means of an essentially tension-free rotation. The annular core may comprise, for example, amorphous or nanocrystalline material and is shaped either in the form of a tape, for example, or consists entirely thereof. The band may have a permeability, for example, of between 200 and 150000.
The option of using as few differently formed wire brackets as possible, meaning keeping the number of different bracket forms to a minimum, brings significant economic savings. The means of connection used is also of great significance, however, as single insufficiently stable connection is enough to render an entire coil unreliable and can result in the malfunctioning or failure of the entire component. Every connection comprises a combination of mechanical functionality—the stable and secure positioning of the conductors—as well as electrical functionality—establishing and maintaining a permanent low-ohmic electrical contact. The goal here is to provide an electrical connection in which the mechanical and electrical functionalities can be regulated, for the most part independently of each other. This goal is achieved, for example, by inserting the correspondingly formed ends of adjacent brackets into each other, which already suffices to establish a certain mechanical connection without the need, for example, of subsequent soldering or welding. For example, a number N of brackets inserted into each other, each of which forms one winding, are assembled to form one continuous coil consisting of N number of windings.
In
The fitting of the brackets can be carried out as follows; first the end segment of the limb 104 is completely inserted into the inner opening of the annular core 300 in the direction of the height h of the annular core 300, during which the segment of the bracket 100 that connects the limbs extends in the radial direction of the annular core 300. The bracket is then tilted around the longitudinal axis of this segment and is arranged inclined towards the width b of the annular core 300.
By adding further brackets and bending the brackets—as explained above with reference to
In accordance with the further embodiment shown in
In all of the previously described embodiments, as well as in all conceivable alternative embodiments, the electrical connection of the bracket ends, for example, of the bracket end parts 101 and 101′ shown in
Comparative measurements have been carried out on various types of common-mode interference suppression chokes, the results of which can be viewed in
Due to the increasingly high current loads being used in filter applications, coils with ever thicker wires that prevent the inductive element from overheating are coming into ever greater demand. Cores can no longer be hand-wound using a crochet hook, as it has usually been carried out in many applications, with wires that have a diameter above 3 mm, as the winding forces required exceed the capabilities of the operator. Furthermore, as the number of windings increases, so too does the hardness of the copper. Commonly used plastic troughs are no longer capable of absorbing these increasing mechanical forces and, as a result, the core may be exposed to the risk of deformation. Until now, the standard solution for this has been to provide the windings with numerous parallel strands. This, however, drastically increases the winding capacitance (Cw) and the resonant frequency shifts to the lower frequencies. Suppression above a few MHz is no longer possible in such cases. In addition to this, the use of parallel strands entails higher production costs (increased stripping time) and takes up more installation space. The technology disclosed here allows the coil to be divided into segments such as brackets, for example, that are fitted onto (or over) the core and which can then be connected to each other, for example, by means of automatic soldering.
Thus, by employing the technology described here, solid wire windings of larger diameters can be fitted onto an annular core while taking into due consideration the specific characteristics of taped annular cores made, for example, of a highly permeable material, which, as a rule, is highly sensitive to mechanical influences. Further, this technology makes it possible to continue using existing cores with their present housings for wire strengths that could not be previously used due to the tension force that their winding had, until now, exerted on the cores.
Although various embodiments have been illustrated and described with respect to one or more specific implementations, alterations and/or modifications may be made to the illustrated examples without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. With particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described components or structures (units, assemblies, devices, circuits, systems, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe such components are intended to correspond—unless otherwise indicated—to any component or structure that performs the specified function of the described component (e.g., that is functionally equivalent), even if it is not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure that performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary implementations of the invention.
Further, the purpose of the Abstract of the Disclosure is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The Abstract of the Disclosure is not intended to be limiting as to the scope in any way.
Finally, it is the applicant's intent that only claims that include the express language “means for” or “step for” be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112. Claims that do not expressly include the phrase “means for” or “step for” are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2018 112 975.0 | May 2018 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2019/063805 | 5/28/2019 | WO |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2019/229054 | 12/5/2019 | WO | A |
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Entry |
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International Search Report and Written Report regarding PCT/EP2019/063805 dated Aug. 29, 2019. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20210217550 A1 | Jul 2021 | US |