A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the reproduction of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
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The present invention relates generally to magnetic components for electronic circuits in which the component includes multiple wire windings on a bobbin and a core inserted through the bobbin. The bobbin may have one or more pins to which the windings may be connected The magnetic component may be used as a transformer to couple, distribute, balance or allocate power among different windings on the bobbin.
More particularly, the present invention pertains to a magnetic component apparatus having a large number of windings on a bobbin and a large number of pins on the bobbin to which the windings are to be connected.
Conventional bobbins for magnetic components typically have two pin rails with each rail having multiple pins. Conventional bobbins may have a single row of pins on each pin rail. The problem with such a configuration is that as more windings are added to the bobbin, and therefore more pins are added to the end of the row of pins, the bobbin must necessarily be made wider to accommodate the additional pins. A wider bobbin may also require a wider core. A wider bobbin may also require more insulation material to conform to applicable product safety standards. As such, the overall size as well as the material cost to make the bobbin can increase as more pins are added. This is undesirable because for many applications, space is limited, and a larger magnetic component would be cumbersome and consume valuable space.
What is needed, then, are improvements in a magnetic component apparatus having multiple windings and multiple pins.
The present invention includes a magnetic component apparatus having multiple windings on a bobbin and multiple pins on the bobbin to which the multiple windings may be connected.
One aspect of the invention is a magnetic component apparatus including a core. The core can be inserted through a bobbin having a bobbin body, a first pin rail, a second pin rail, and a longitudinal axis. The core may be inserted through the bobbin along a longitudinal axis. The first pin rail can have a first inner side and the second pin rail can have a second inner side. A first pin row can be located on the first pin rail. A second pin row can also be located on the first pin rail, the second pin row located at a longitudinally exterior position from the first pin row. A third pin row can be located on the second pin rail. The first, second, and third pin rows can be oriented in a direction substantially transverse to the longitudinal axis. A plurality of windings can be located on the bobbin body between the first pin rail and the second pin rail.
Another aspect of the present invention is a magnetic component apparatus having a bobbin which includes a bobbin body having a first end, a second end, and a longitudinal axis. The bobbin further includes a first pin rail located on the first end of the bobbin body and a second pin rail located on the second end of the bobbin body. The first pin rail has a first inner side and the second pin rail has a second inner side. A first pin row can be located on the first pin rail. A second pin row can also be located on the first pin rail, the second pin row located at a longitudinally exterior position from the first pin row. At least a third pin row can be located on the second pin rail. A plurality of windings can be located on the bobbin body.
A third aspect of the present invention is a magnetic component including a core and a bobbin disposed on the core. The bobbin can include a bobbin body, a first pin rail, and a second pin rail. A first pin row can be located on the first pin rail. A second pin row can also be located on the first pin rail, the second pin row located at an exterior position from the first pin row on the first pin rail. At least a third pin row can be located on the second pin rail. A plurality of windings can be located on the bobbin body. A printed circuit board can be electrically connected to the first, second, and third pin rows.
In the embodiments described above, the magnetic component apparatus can further include a fourth pin row located on the second pin rail. The fourth pin row can be located at a longitudinally exterior position from the third pin row. Additionally, in some embodiments a first wire guide channel can be defined in the first inner side of the first pin rail, the first wide guide channel extending between the first pin row toward the second pin row. A second wire guide channel can be defined in the second inner side of the second pin rail. The second wire guide channel can extend between the third pin row toward the fourth pin row.
One object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic component apparatus having multiple windings and multiple pins.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic component which is capable of being manufactured with minimal overall size.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic component including one or more wire guide channels which can help separate multiple breakout wires from a plurality of windings.
While the making and using of various embodiments of the present invention are discussed in detail below, it should be appreciated that the present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts that is embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention and do not delimit the scope of the invention.
To facilitate the understanding of the embodiments described herein, a number of terms are defined below. The terms defined herein have meanings as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the areas relevant to the present invention. Terms such as “a,” “an,” and “the” are not intended to refer to only a singular entity, but rather include the general class of which a specific example may be used for illustration. The terminology herein is used to describe specific embodiments of the invention, but their usage does not delimit the invention, except as set forth in the claims. Numerical terms such as first, second, third, etc. as used herein are meant to help identify different aspects of the embodiments, but their usage does not delimit the scope of the invention, except as set forth in the claims.
As described herein, an upright position is considered to be the position of apparatus components while in proper operation or in a natural resting position as described herein. Vertical, horizontal, above, below, side, top, bottom and other orientation terms are described with respect to this upright position during operation unless otherwise specified. The term “when” is used to specify orientation for relative positions of components, not as a temporal limitation of the claims or apparatus described and claimed herein unless otherwise specified.
The present invention provides an apparatus for a magnetic component that can be used in an electric circuit. The magnetic component apparatus includes multiple windings and multiple pins.
A perspective view of one embodiment of a magnetic component apparatus 10 is shown in
A bottom side perspective view of the embodiment shown in
In some embodiments a fourth pin row 32 can be located on second pin rail 20. Fourth pin row 32 can be located at a longitudinally exterior position from third pin row 30. As such, both first pin rail 18 and second pin rail 20 can include two pin rows.
Having more than one pin row on one or more pin rails can help reduce the overall size and cost of magnetic component apparatus 10. With a single pin row on a pin rail, as the number of pins required is increased, the pins had to be added to the end of the pin row. The width and overall size of the magnetic component can necessarily increase to accommodate the extra pins. Having an additional pin row on a pin rail can allow additional pins to be added to the magnetic component apparatus 10 while decreasing the amount of added material that may be necessary to accommodate the additional pins. Thus, the use of more than one pin row can decrease the size of core 12 and bobbin 14 compared to conventional models. Additionally, a smaller core and bobbin size also requires less insulation material to keep magnetic component 10 compliant with safety standards. This can help minimize the overall cost and size of magnetic component 10, which can be of significant importance in many applications in which magnetic component 10 can be used where space is limited, including many electrical applications.
A pin row can be defined as a row of at least two pins. In some embodiments, as shown in
Referring again to
Referring again to
First wire guide channel 40 can be a long, narrow channel which can be configured to receive one of the breakout wires from windings 34. Additionally, as seen in
Additionally, in some embodiments, second pin rail 20 can have a second inner side 46. A second wire guide channel 48 can then be defined in second inner side 46. Second wire guide channel 48 can extend between third pin row 30 toward fourth pin row 32. The features of second wire guide channel 48 can be similar to the features of first wire guide channel 40 as previously described above.
In some embodiments, first pin row 26 can include first pin 50, second pin 52, and third pin 54. First wire guide channel 40 can extend between first pin 50 and second pin 52 toward second pin row 28. A third wire guide channel 56 can be further defined in first inner side 38 of first pin rail 18. Third wire guide channel 56 can extend between second and third pins 52 and 54 toward second pin row 28. Multiple wire guide channels in first pin rail 18 can help provide multiple points of access for breakout wires from plurality of windings 34 being connected to second pin row 28.
Similarly, third pin row 30 on second pin rail 20 can include fourth pin 58, fifth pin 60, and sixth pin 62. Second wire guide channel 48 can extend between fourth and fifth pin 58 and 60 toward fourth pin row 32. A fourth wire guide channel 64 can be further defined in second inner side 46. Fourth wire guide channel 64 can extend between fifth and sixth pin 60 and 62 toward fourth pin row 32. As such, multiple wire guide channels in second pin rail 20 can help provide multiple points of access for breakout wires in windings 34 being connected to fourth pin row 32.
In some embodiments, a first wire guide groove 66 can be defined in first inner side 38 of first pin rail 18. First wire guide groove 66 can extend toward first pin row 26. A second wire guide groove 68 can be defined in second inner side 46 of second pin rail 20. Second wire guide groove 68 can extend toward third pin row 30.
In some embodiments as seen in
In some embodiments, as shown in
Thus, wire guide channels 40, 48, 56, and 64 previously mentioned can facilitate access to second and fourth pin rows 28 and 32, while wire guide grooves 66 and 68 can help provide access to first and third pin rows 26 and 30. As can be seen in
In some embodiments, first inner side 38 of first pin rail 18 and second inner side 46 of second pin rail 20 can include a plurality of wire guide posts 82 (
A bottom end perspective view of magnetic component 10 of
An exploded view of magnetic component 10 of
Bobbin body 16 can have a first end 72 and a second end 74. First pin rail 18 can be located on first end 72 of bobbin body 16, and second pin rail 20 can be located on second end 74 of bobbin body 16. As such, windings 34 located on bobbin body 16 can be between first and second pin rails 18 and 20 so that the windings 34 can be connected across first and second pin rails 18 and 20.
A bottom view of magnetic component apparatus 10 of
In an additional embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
In some embodiments, printed circuit board 90 can be configured to receive wire guide posts 82 so that wire guide posts 82 thereby support bobbin 14 on printed circuit board 90 and alleviate stress on the first, second, third, and fourth pin rows 26, 28, 30, and 32. Additionally, in some embodiments, winding guide posts 84 as well as dividers 42 can butt against printed circuit board 90 after pins on bobbin 14 have been inserted into printed circuit board 90 a predetermined distance. As such, winding guide posts 84 and dividers 42 can act as stops against printed circuit board 90 and can be configured to leave a gap between first and second pin rails 18 and 20 and printed circuit board 90. Such a gap can help increase circulation and ventilation around the pins and printed circuit board 90 when power is being supplied to plurality of windings 34.
In some embodiments the individual pins in each pin row can be oriented substantially linearly to one another, as shown in
A bottom side perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention is shown in
The windings 34 in the second embodiment include a single multi-layered winding disposed about bobbin body 16. As such, the second embodiment does not include one or more central flanges 36 as none are needed.
As shown in
Thus, although there have been described particular embodiments of the present invention of a new and useful MAGNETIC COMPONENT WITH MULTIPLE PIN ROW BOBBIN it is not intended that such references be construed as limitations upon the scope of this invention except as set forth in the following claims.
This application claims benefit of the following patent application which is hereby incorporated by reference: MAGNETIC COMPONENT WITH DUAL PIN ROW BOBBIN, Application Ser. No. 61/772,379 filed Mar. 4, 2013.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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61772379 | Mar 2013 | US |