Patent Application
20100232083
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a trimmer capacitor.
2. Related Art
Capacitors are passive electrical devices which store electrical charge. Most capacitors consist of two conductors insulated from each other by a dielectric, whereby electrical charge is stored on the conductors. Often, capacitors are used in filtration applications, such as in power supplies and in radio frequency (RF) circuits.
A common type of capacitor is the “trimmer” capacitor, the capacitance of which can be varied by adjusting a portion of the capacitor (e.g., by turning a screw). Often, trimmer capacitors are used to make precise adjustments to the capacitance of a circuit, such as in microwave transceiver applications. In such applications, the trimmer capacitor can be used to adjust the resonance of an RF circuit (i.e., to “tune” the circuit) to a desired frequency.
It is known to provide a trimmer capacitor having a conductive bushing, a first terminal attached to the bushing, a rotor threadably engaged to the bushing, a cylindrical dielectric portion attached at one end to the conductive bushing, and a stator attached at an opposite end of the dielectric portion, wherein the stator serves as the second terminal of the capacitor. The capacitance of such a device can be adjusted by selectively turning the rotor, which causes the rotor to advance toward or away from the stator. By varying the distance between the rotor and the stator, the capacitance of the device is adjusted.
There are, however, drawbacks associated with this design, in that there are a number of components that are made separately and assembled.
The present invention relates to a trimmer capacitor. The capacitor includes a conductive bushing having a first terminal of the capacitor formed integrally therewith, a rotor threadably engageable with the bushing, and a dielectric portion attached at one end to the bushing and having a metallized stator surrounding the dielectric portion near an opposite end of the dielectric portion. The metallized stator forms the second terminal of the capacitor, and is positioned above the bottom edge of the dielectric portion. Capacitance can be adjusted by selectively rotating the rotor, which causes the rotor to move toward or away from the stator. The rotor includes transverse slots which bias the rotor in position against the bushing, to prevent undesired rotation of the rotor. The trimmer capacitor provides manufacturing and cost advantages because it is formed from fewer components than existing trimmer capacitors.
The present invention also relates to a method for manufacturing a trimmer capacitor. The method includes the steps of forming a bushing having an integral terminal and a threaded inner surface, forming a cylindrical dielectric portion, forming a metallized stator on an outer surface of the cylindrical dielectric portion, forming a rotor, attaching one end of the dielectric portion to one end of the bushing, and threading the rotor into the bushing.
The foregoing features of the invention will be apparent from the following Detailed Description of the Invention, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
The present invention relates to a trimmer capacitor, as discussed in detail below in connection with
Advantageously, by forming the first terminal 16 integrally with the bushing 12, manufacturing steps and costs are reduced. Of course, it is noted that the first terminal 16 need not be formed integrally with the bushing 12, and could be formed separately from the bushing 12 and subsequently attached thereto (e.g., by way of a collar extending from the first terminal 16 and press-fit over a bulge on the bushing 12). As will be discussed below, the bushing 12 includes internal threads for threadably receiving a rotor which can be selectively rotated with respect to the bushing 12 to adjust the capacitance of the capacitor 12.
The rotor 24 also includes a cylindrical portion 36 which extends from the lower threaded portion 32 and is received by the dielectric portion 18. The cylindrical portion 36 could be solid or hollow, and is in electrical communication with the bushing 12 by way of the threaded upper and lower portions 28, 32. When the rotor 24 is rotated, the cylindrical portion 36 is selectively advanced toward or away from the stator 20, as indicated by arrow B. This causes the capacitance of the device to be adjusted as desired. As shown in
The bushing 12 and rotor 24 could be formed from any suitable conductive metal, such as brass, and could be non-magnetic. The dielectric portion 18 could be formed from any suitable dielectric material, including, but not limited to, alumina (Al2O3), zirconia, or sapphire. The stator 20 could be formed from moly-manganese, copper, tin plate, or any other suitable material. As mentioned above, the stator 20 could be formed directly on the outer surface of the dielectric portion 18 using a suitable metallization process.
The trimmer capacitor 10 could be formed using the following manufacturing steps. First, the bushing 12 (including the cylindrical body 14 and integral first terminal 16) could be formed using a precision milling process. Then, the rotor 24 could be formed using precision milling processes. Once the dielectric portion 18 is formed by pressing and sintering, the stator 20 could be formed on a portion of the outer surface of the dielectric portion 18 using a metallization process. Once the stator 20 is formed, one end of the dielectric portion 18 is fit into the annular recess 38 of the bushing 12. The dielectric portion 18 could be attached to the bushing 12 by way of a frictional fit, or by an adhesive (e.g., epoxy) applied to the annular recess 38 before insertion of the dielectric portion 18. When the dielectric portion 18 is attached to the bushing 12, the rotor 24 is threaded into the bushing 12, forming a complete trimmer capacitor in accordance with the present invention.
The trimmer capacitor of the present invention could have a wide range of operating frequencies. For example, an operating frequency range of 800 MHz to 2.1 GHz is possible, which is advantageous for usage of the trimmer capacitor in various RF applications including WiMax, cellular telephony, and global positioning system (GPS) applications. A capacity range of 0.5 to 2.5 picofarads (pF) could be provided, which corresponds roughly to 8 full rotations of the rotor of the rotor of the trimmer capacitor. A working voltage of 500 volts direct current (DC) could be provided, with a test voltage of 1,000 volts DC. The capacitor could have a quality (“Q”) rating of greater than 3,000, and an insulation resistance of greater than 106 megohms. An operating temperature range of −65 degrees Celsius to +125 degress Celsius is possible, and the rotor of the trimmer capacitor can be operated with torque in the range of 0.2 to 2.0 oz.-inch. Moisture resistance ratings of 10-24 hour cycles is also possible. These operational parameters could be varied without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.
Having thus described the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the foregoing description is not intended to limit the spirit or scope thereof. What is desired to be protected is set forth in the following claims.
