The present invention relates to a voltage conversion module to be used in information communication devices and mobile communication devices.
Since capacitors 141 and 142 have a capacity of not less than 1 μF, they are large in dimensions, so that the layout of IC 143, capacitor 141 and capacitor 142 is restricted when they are mounted in the two dimensions. Therefore, this place problem limits those capacitors to make full use of their noise-removing ability, which should have been effective if they had been placed immediately close to the voltage converter IC.
A height of those capacitors, which are chip components, determines a height of the entire circuit, and a total cross sectional area in a horizontal direction of the voltage-converter IC and the capacitors determines an area occupied by the entire circuit.
The present invention aims to provide a compact and low-profile voltage converter module in which a voltage-converter IC and capacitors coupled to the IC are closely placed to each other in three dimensions for making the most of its excellent noise-removing ability.
The voltage converter module of the present invention comprises the following members stacked by resin composite:
To be more specific, the foregoing members are constructed as follows:
The foregoing structure thus includes a circuit, in which the first capacitor and the second capacitor are coupled to each other, between the voltage converter IC and the grounding. In addition to this, a terminal of the voltage converter IC is electrically coupled to terminals of peripheral components through the wiring pattern of the second inner wiring layer.
Further, the voltage converter IC, the first capacitor and the second capacitor are electrically coupled to each other through the wiring pattern of the second inner wiring layer, the third via-hole conductor and the wiring pattern of the capacitor-mounted layer.
The connecting terminal is coupled to an input/output terminal, communicating signals to/from an external circuit, of the voltage converter module through the first via-hole conductor and the wiring pattern of the first inner wiring layer.
The structure discussed above realizes a compact and low profile voltage converter circuit in a form of module excellent in removing noises.
Exemplary Embodiment 1
Terminal surface 2 is placed at the lowest position of voltage converter module 50 and includes connecting terminals 1 for coupling to an external signal.
Terminals placed on terminal surface 2 are electrically coupled to wiring pattern 73 formed on first inner wiring layer 4 through via-hole conductor 3. Meanwhile the via-hole conductor formed on first connecting layer is called a first via-hole conductor.
Voltage converter IC 11 is integrated in component built-in layer 8 and mounted on second inner wiring layer 5. Further, chip components forming peripheral circuit 18 of IC 11, such as resistors, capacitors and inductors are also integrated in layer 8, and mounted on inner wiring layer 5. Those components including voltage converter IC 11 are electrically coupled to each other with wiring pattern 13 formed on inner wiring layer 5.
Wiring pattern 7 formed on first inner wiring layer 4 is coupled to wiring pattern 13 on second inner wiring layer 5 through via-hole conductor 53 formed in component built-in layer 8 (a via-hole conductor formed in layer 8 is called a second via-hole conductor).
Wiring pattern 13 on second inner wiring layer 5 is coupled to wiring pattern 83 on capacitor-mounted layer 6 through via-hole conductor 63 (a via-hole conductor formed in second connecting layer 9 is called a third via-hole conductor).
Capacitor built-in layer 10 is placed on capacitor-mounted layer 6, namely, the upper most location of module 50. Layer 10 incorporates first capacitor 16 and second capacitor 17, and those two capacitors are electrically coupled to wiring pattern 83 on capacitor-mounted layer 6.
Module 50 is thus formed by multi-layering the wiring patterns and insulating-resin layers with resin composite.
A terminal of voltage converter IC 11 or chip component 12 are electrically coupled to connecting terminal 1 by using wiring pattern 73 formed on first inner wiring layer 4, wiring pattern 13 on second inner wiring layer 5, first via-hole conductor 3, and second via-hole conductor 53.
Voltage converter IC 11, first and second capacitors 16, 17 are electrically coupled to each other by using wiring pattern 13 formed on second inner wiring layer 5 and wiring pattern 83 formed on capacitor-mounted layer 6, and third via-hole conductor 63.
First inner wiring layer 4, second inner wiring layer 5 and connecting terminal 1 of capacitor-mounted layer 6, first capacitor 16 and second capacitor 17 are electrically coupled to each other.
First and second capacitors 16, 17 are, for instance, formed of capacitor 19 made of conductive polymer. To be more specific, electrolytic capacitors, of which electrolyte is made of highly conductive polymer, i.e., functional polymer, and of which electrodes are made of aluminum or tantalum, may be used as first and second capacitors 16, 17. The functional polymer often uses polypyrrole or polythiophene.
Capacitor 19 is simply a single element or shaped like a surface mounting package, and mounted on layer 6 before being coupled to the wiring pattern through connecting terminals 44. Capacitor 19 can be bonded onto layer 6 with resin composite. First and second capacitors 16, 17 can be ceramic capacitors.
For instance, as shown in
Voltage converter IC 11 is shaped like a bare-chip or a package, and mounted in module 50 with resin composite. Connecting terminal 1, which couples an external circuit to an input/output section of a circuit using voltage converter IC 11, may be formed as an end-face electrode on the end face of module 50.
The capacitors, resistors and inductors forming peripheral circuit 18 may be constructed as follows:
The following structure facilitates heat dissipation. As shown in
The following structure facilitates electromagnetic shielding. As
As above described, the voltage converter IC and the capacitors connected thereto are mounted in three dimensions, so that a compact and low profile voltage converter module with improved noise-removing ability is obtainable.
Exemplary Embodiment 2
In
Terminal surface 2 is placed at the lowest position of module 50, and includes connecting terminal 1 for communicating signals to/from an external circuit.
A terminal prepared on terminal surface 2 is electrically coupled to wiring pattern 73 formed on first inner wiring layer 4 through first via-hole conductor 3 formed in first connecting layer 7.
Voltage converter IC 11 is integrated in component built-in layer 8 and mounted onto second inner wiring layer 5. Further, chip components 12 such as resistors, capacitors and inductors are incorporated in component built-in layer 8 and mounted on second inner wiring layer 5. IC 11 and those components forming peripheral circuit 18 are electrically coupled to each other by wiring pattern 13 formed on inner wiring layer 5.
Wiring pattern 73 on first inner wiring layer 4 is coupled to wiring pattern 13 on second inner wiring layer 5 through second via-hole conductor 53 formed in component built-in layer 8.
Wiring pattern 13 formed on second inner wiring layer 5 is coupled to wiring pattern 83 on capacitor-mounted layer 6 through third via-hole conductor 63 formed in second connecting layer 9.
Capacitor built-in layer 10 is placed on capacitor-mounted layer 6, namely, at the upper most position of module 50. Layer 10 incorporates first capacitor 16 and second capacitor 17, and those capacitors are electrically coupled to wiring pattern 83 formed on capacitor-mounted layer 6.
Module 50 is thus formed by multi-layering insulating-resin layers and layers including wiring patterns with resin composite.
Smoothing inductor 22 is mounted on layer 6 or second inner wiring layer 5, so that it is incorporated in the layer stretching from first connecting layer 7 to second connecting layer 9.
The foregoing construction is thus similar to that of the first embodiment except the presence of inductor 22.
Connecting terminal 1 and a terminal of voltage converter IC 11 or chip component 12 are electrically coupled to connecting terminal 1 by using wiring pattern 73 on first inner wiring layer, wiring pattern 13 on second inner wiring layer 5, first via-hole conductor 3, and second via-hole conductor 53.
Voltage converter IC 11, first and second capacitors 16, 17, and smoothing inductor 22 are electrically coupled to each other by using wiring pattern 13 on second inner wiring layer 5, wiring pattern 83 on layer 6 mounted with capacitors, and third via-hole conductor 63. Inductor 22 is coupled to wiring pattern 13 formed on second inner wiring layer 5 or wiring pattern 83 formed on capacitor-mounted layer 6.
Connecting terminal 1, first and second capacitors 16, 17, and smoothing inductor 22 are electrically coupled to each other by using first inner wiring layer 4, second inner wiring layer 5, the wiring pattern formed on capacitor-mounted layer 6, and first, second, third via-hole conductors.
Similar to the first embodiment, voltage converter IC 11 is shaped like a bare-chip or a package, and mounted in module 50 with resin composite.
Similar to the first embodiment, first and second capacitors 16, 17 are formed of capacitors, e.g., using conductive polymer as shown in
Similar to the first embodiment, resistors, capacitors and inductors forming peripheral circuit 18 are formed on second connecting layer 9 by using a ceramic board.
As described in the first embodiment, the structure shown in
As described in the first embodiment, the structure shown in
Similar to peripheral circuit 18, feedback circuit 28 can be constructed by chip components and coupled to IC 11 by using wiring pattern 13 formed on second inner wiring plate 5. Feedback circuit 28 is integrated into component built-in layer 8.
IC 11 can include output-voltage controlling terminal 27, which is electrically coupled to connecting terminal 1 through wiring pattern 13 formed on second wiring plate 5, second via-hole conductor, wiring pattern 73 first inner wiring plate 5, and first via-hole conductor. The output terminal of IC 11 can be thus controlled from the outside of module 50.
As described above, a compact and low-profile voltage converter module including a voltage converter circuit having a large power capacity is obtainable, and the performance of removing noises is improved.
Exemplary Embodiment 3
In order to obtain DC superposition characteristics and a high inductor value, smoothing inductor 22 is formed of a coil and magnetic material such as a ferrite core.
A coil shown in
In a similar way, plural spiral-coil patterns are coupled to each other, so that the helical line 31 shown in
A ferrite core is constructed as follows in order to sandwich helical line 31. Upper ferrite core 32 and lower ferrite core 33 sandwich helical line 31 from the upper side and the lower side of module 50 respectively. Further, ferrite cores 32 and 33 sandwich insulating layer 34 so that cores 32 and 33 can retain a given space in between.
Coil 22 thus constructed is coupled to IC 11 and other circuit elements in the following way: A terminal of coil 22 is electrically coupled to a wiring pattern formed on insulating layer 34. This wiring pattern is coupled to an end-face electrode prepared on the outer rim of the ferrite core, and this end-face electrode is coupled to wiring pattern 13 formed on second inner wiring layer. Voltage converter IC 11 is thus electrically coupled to coil 22.
Similar to the first and the second embodiments, first and second capacitors 16, 17 can be constructed as shown in
Similar to the first and the second embodiments, the structure shown in
As described in the first and the second embodiments, the structure shown in
As above described, a compact and low profile voltage converter module including a voltage converter circuit having a large power capacity is obtainable. The module shows an improved performance of removing noises, and has excellent DC superposition characteristics.
According to the present invention, a voltage converter IC, capacitors, and chip components such as resistors, capacitors and inductors which are used in a peripheral circuit coupled to the voltage converter IC are disposed in three dimensions by using resin composite. A voltage converter circuit thus formed realizes the compact and low profile circuit. Further, a length of conductors that connect the voltage converter IC and the capacitors can be shortened, so that performance of removing noises can be improved.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2001-309597 | Oct 2001 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
PCT/JP02/10361 | 10/4/2002 | WO | 00 | 7/30/2003 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO03/032389 | 4/17/2003 | WO | A |
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20040070950 A1 | Apr 2004 | US |