Continuous production system for integrated chip inductor blank

Abstract

The invention discloses a continuous production system for integrated chip inductor blanks. The system comprises a raw material pretreatment unit, a forming unit, a coating unit, a curing unit, a cutting unit and a conveying unit which are connected in sequence. The raw material pretreatment unit is used for grinding, mixing and dehumidifying inductor blank raw materials; the forming unit is matched with a continuous forming die through a double-screw extrusion mechanism, and the pretreated raw materials are extruded into continuous green body strips; the coating unit adopts an ultrasonic atomization spraying structure to coat the green body strip with an insulating coating; the curing unit realizes rapid curing of the coating in an infrared and hot air composite heating mode; the cutting unit is used for accurately cutting the blank body strips based on a visual positioning assembly to obtain single inductor blank bodies; the conveying unit is matched with the steering mechanism through a multi-section type conveying belt, and continuous transferring of materials among the units is achieved. According to the system, the whole-process continuous production of the inductor blank from raw material treatment to finished product cutting is realized.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of integrated chip inductor manufacturing technology, and more specifically to a continuous production system for integrated chip inductor blanks. Background Technology

[0002] As a core component in electronic devices, the production quality of integrated chip inductors directly affects their performance parameters. Currently, the production of integrated chip inductor blanks mostly adopts discrete processes, that is, raw material grinding, mixing, molding, coating, curing, and cutting are completed by separate equipment. Material transfer between each process requires manual labor or dedicated transfer equipment, which has the following problems: First, the production process is discontinuous, and the waiting time between processes is long, resulting in low production efficiency and difficulty in meeting the needs of large-scale industrial production; second, the process parameters of each process are controlled independently, and materials are easily affected by environmental factors (such as humidity and temperature) during transfer, resulting in poor dimensional accuracy, coating thickness, and performance consistency of the blanks; third, discrete production requires a large number of operators, resulting in high labor costs, and human operation is prone to introducing errors, further reducing the product qualification rate.

[0003] To address the aforementioned issues, there is an urgent need to develop a system capable of achieving continuous production of integrated chip inductor blanks throughout the entire process. This system would improve production efficiency and product quality consistency through the organic integration of various units and the coordinated control of process parameters. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this invention is to provide a continuous production system for integrated chip inductor blanks, which realizes continuous production of inductor blanks from raw material processing to finished product cutting, and solves the problems of low efficiency, poor quality consistency and high labor costs in existing discrete production.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following technical solution: a continuous production system for integrated chip inductor blanks, comprising a raw material pretreatment unit, a forming unit, a coating unit, a curing unit, a cutting unit connected sequentially along the material conveying direction, and a conveying unit that runs through each unit;

[0006] The raw material pretreatment unit includes a grinding mechanism, a mixing mechanism and a dehumidification mechanism connected in sequence. The grinding mechanism is equipped with a three-stage grinding roller group. The dehumidification mechanism adopts a vacuum dehumidification structure and is equipped with a temperature-adjustable heating plate inside.

[0007] The molding unit includes a twin-screw extrusion mechanism and a continuous molding die. The discharge end of the twin-screw extrusion mechanism is sealed to the feed port of the continuous molding die. The cavity cross-sectional dimensions of the continuous molding die are matched with the preset dimensions of the inductor preform, and a polytetrafluoroethylene anti-stick layer is provided on the inner wall of the die.

[0008] The coating unit includes an ultrasonic atomizing nozzle, a coating material tank, and a position adjustment mechanism. The ultrasonic atomizing nozzle is connected to the coating material tank through a liquid infusion pipe, and the position adjustment mechanism drives the ultrasonic atomizing nozzle to reciprocate along the conveying direction of the blank strip.

[0009] The curing unit includes a shell, and inside the shell, an infrared heating zone and a hot air circulation zone are arranged sequentially along the material conveying direction. The infrared heating zone is provided with a number of evenly distributed infrared heating tubes, and the hot air circulation zone is provided with a hot air generator and a guide plate.

[0010] The cutting unit includes a frame, a vision positioning component, and a drive mechanism. The vision positioning component includes an industrial camera and an image recognition module. The output end of the image recognition module is electrically connected to the control end of the drive mechanism. The drive mechanism drives the high-speed cutting blade to perform lifting and cutting motion.

[0011] The conveying unit includes a multi-segment conveyor belt and a turning mechanism. Adjacent conveyor belt segments are connected by the turning mechanism. The surface of the conveyor belt is provided with anti-slip ridges, and the running speed of the conveyor belt is matched with the working rhythm of each unit.

[0012] The mixing mechanism includes a mixing tank, a bidirectional stirring paddle, and a variable frequency motor. The bidirectional stirring paddle is located inside the mixing tank, and the variable frequency motor drives the bidirectional stirring paddle to rotate at a speed of 50-300 r / min. The outer wall of the mixing tank is provided with a heat insulation layer.

[0013] The twin-screw extrusion mechanism includes a barrel, two meshing screws, and a heating jacket. The heating jacket is wrapped around the outside of the barrel and is divided into three independent temperature control zones: a feeding zone, a compression zone, and a metering zone. The temperature adjustment range of each zone is 80-200℃.

[0014] The coating unit further includes a thickness detection component, which includes a laser thickness gauge. The detection end of the laser thickness gauge faces the surface of the blank strip, and the output end of the laser thickness gauge is electrically connected to the flow control end of the ultrasonic atomizing nozzle.

[0015] The inner wall of the curing unit is provided with heat insulation cotton. The temperature control range of the infrared heating zone is 100-150℃, the temperature control range of the hot air circulation zone is 80-120℃, and the hot air circulation speed is 0.5-2m / s.

[0016] The high-speed cutting blade of the cutting unit is made of diamond and has a cutting edge angle of 15-30°. The driving mechanism is a combination of a servo motor and a ball screw, and the cutting accuracy is controlled within ±0.01mm.

[0017] This system includes a central control system, which is electrically connected to the raw material pretreatment unit, molding unit, coating unit, curing unit, cutting unit and conveying unit respectively. The central control system has a built-in PLC controller and human-machine interface.

[0018] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows:

[0019] (1) Achieve continuous production throughout the entire process: By integrating and connecting processes such as raw material pretreatment, molding, coating, curing, and cutting, and using conveying units to achieve continuous material transfer, the waiting time between processes is eliminated, and the production efficiency is increased by more than 50% compared with discrete production, making it suitable for large-scale industrial production.

[0020] (2) Improve product quality consistency: The process parameters of each unit are controlled in coordination through the central control system. The raw material pretreatment ensures that the raw material particle size and moisture content are uniform. The forming unit ensures the accurate size of the blank strip. The coating unit achieves stable coating thickness. The cutting unit ensures cutting accuracy through visual positioning. In the end, the size error of the inductor blank is controlled within ±0.01mm, the coating thickness error is controlled within ±1μm, and the product qualification rate is increased to over 98%.

[0021] (3) Reduce production energy consumption and labor costs: The system adopts an integrated design, which reduces the equipment footprint and repetitive energy consumption. At the same time, by replacing manual operation with automated control, the number of operators on a single production line is reduced by more than 60%, which significantly reduces production labor costs.

[0022] (4) It has good flexibility and adaptability: the process parameters of each unit can be flexibly adjusted through the central control system. For example, the molding mold can be replaced according to different specifications of inductor blanks, and the coating unit can adjust the coating thickness and raw material type to meet the production needs of different integrated chip inductor blanks. Attached Figure Description

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the raw material pretreatment of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the molding and coating unit of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the forming unit and the cutting unit of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0027] The present invention will be further described below with reference to all the accompanying drawings, and specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in further detail.

[0028] Example 1

[0029] The integrated chip inductor preform continuous production system described in this embodiment includes a raw material pretreatment unit, a forming unit, a coating unit, a curing unit, a cutting unit connected sequentially along the material conveying direction, and a conveying unit that runs through each unit.

[0030] The raw material pretreatment unit includes a grinding mechanism, a mixing mechanism, and a dehumidification mechanism connected in sequence. It is used to refine the raw materials (such as ferrite powder, binder, etc.) of the inductor blank to provide qualified raw materials for subsequent molding processes. The grinding mechanism includes a three-stage grinding roller group. The first-stage grinding roller group performs coarse grinding, breaking the lumpy raw material into particles with a diameter of 100-200μm. The second-stage grinding roller group performs medium grinding, grinding the raw material into particles with a diameter of 50-100μm. The third-stage grinding roller group performs fine grinding, ultimately controlling the particle size of the raw material to 10-50μm, meeting the particle size requirements for green body forming. The mixing mechanism includes a stirring tank, a two-way stirring paddle, and a variable frequency motor. The two-way stirring paddle adopts a spiral structure, which can realize axial and radial stirring of the raw material. The variable frequency motor can adjust the speed (50-300r / min) according to the raw material mixing requirements, ensuring that the ferrite powder and binder and other components are mixed evenly. The heat insulation layer on the outer wall of the stirring tank can prevent abnormal temperature changes of the raw material during the mixing process. The dehumidification mechanism adopts a vacuum dehumidification structure, with an adjustable heating plate (heating temperature 50-80℃) inside. Through the synergistic effect of vacuum environment and heating, the moisture in the raw material is quickly removed, controlling the moisture content of the raw material to below 0.5%, avoiding porosity defects in the formed green body.

[0031] The forming unit includes a twin-screw extrusion mechanism and a continuous forming die, used to extrude pre-treated raw materials into continuous preform strips. The twin-screw extrusion mechanism includes a barrel, two meshing screws, and a heating jacket. The two screws rotate in opposite directions, generating strong shear and conveying forces to ensure full plasticization of the raw material. The heating jacket, enclosing the barrel, is divided into three independent temperature-controlled zones: a feeding zone (80-120℃), a compression zone (120-160℃), and a metering zone (160-200℃). Gradient heating achieves gradual plasticization of the raw material, avoiding local overheating that could lead to material deterioration. The discharge end of the twin-screw extrusion mechanism is sealed to the feed port of the continuous forming die to prevent air from entering the raw material during transport. The cavity cross-sectional dimensions of the continuous forming die match the preset dimensions of the inductor preform (e.g., 5mm long, 3mm wide, and 2mm high), and the inner wall of the die is provided with a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) anti-stick layer to reduce adhesion between the preform and the die, ensuring a smooth surface of the preform strip.

[0032] The coating unit includes an ultrasonic atomizing nozzle, a coating material tank, a position adjustment mechanism, and a thickness detection component. It is used to coat the surface of a blank strip with an insulating coating (such as an epoxy resin coating). The ultrasonic atomizing nozzle is connected to the coating material tank via a delivery tube, using ultrasound to atomize the coating material into tiny droplets with a particle size of 5-10 μm, achieving uniform coating application. The position adjustment mechanism uses a linear module to drive the ultrasonic atomizing nozzle to reciprocate along the blank strip's conveying direction (the movement speed matches the blank strip's conveying speed), ensuring 100% coating coverage on the blank strip's surface. The thickness detection component includes a laser thickness gauge, with its detection end facing the blank strip's surface. It detects the coating thickness in real time and transmits the data to the flow control end of the ultrasonic atomizing nozzle. By adjusting the nozzle's delivery flow rate, precise control of the coating thickness is achieved (coating thickness controlled between 5-20 μm).

[0033] The curing unit includes an outer shell, inside which an infrared heating zone and a hot air circulation zone are sequentially arranged along the material conveying direction to achieve rapid curing of the insulating coating. The inner wall of the shell is lined with insulation cotton to reduce heat loss and ensure a stable curing environment. The infrared heating zone contains several evenly distributed infrared heating tubes, with the heating temperature controlled at 100-150℃. The infrared thermal radiation rapidly raises the coating surface to the curing temperature, forming a preliminary cured layer. The hot air circulation zone contains a hot air generator and a guide plate, with the hot air temperature controlled at 80-120℃ and a circulation speed of 0.5-2 m / s. The guide plate guides the hot air evenly onto the surface of the blank strip, achieving deep curing of the coating and ensuring its adhesion and insulation properties. The cured coating has a hardness ≥ H.

[0034] The cutting unit comprises a frame, a high-speed cutting blade, a vision positioning component, and a drive mechanism, used to cut continuous strips of billet into individual inductor blanks. The high-speed cutting blade is made of diamond with a cutting edge angle of 15-30°, possessing high hardness and wear resistance to ensure minimal wear during cutting. The vision positioning component includes an industrial camera and an image recognition module. The industrial camera captures images of the billet strip in real time, and the image recognition module processes the images, identifying positioning marks on the billet strip or calculating the cutting position based on preset dimensions, and transmitting control signals to the drive mechanism. The drive mechanism is a combination of a servo motor and a ball screw. The servo motor drives the ball screw to move the high-speed cutting blade in a lifting and cutting motion, with cutting accuracy controlled within ±0.01mm, ensuring dimensional consistency of individual blanks.

[0035] The conveying unit includes a multi-segment conveyor belt and a steering mechanism for continuous material transfer between units. Adjacent conveyor belt segments are connected by a steering mechanism, which employs a rotary conveyor belt structure, allowing for 90° or 180° material turning to meet system layout requirements. The conveyor belt surface is textured with anti-slip ridges to increase friction between the material and the belt, preventing slippage during transport. The conveyor belt speed is adjusted via a variable frequency motor to match the working rhythm of each unit (e.g., the discharge speed of the forming unit is 0.5-2 m / min, and the conveyor belt speed is adjusted synchronously), ensuring smooth material transport between units and preventing material accumulation or interruptions.

[0036] This system also includes a central control system, which is electrically connected to each unit and has a built-in PLC controller and human-machine interface. The PLC controller receives sensor signals from each unit (such as thickness detection signals, vision positioning signals, temperature signals, etc.) and controls the operating parameters of each unit (such as stirring speed, extrusion temperature, spraying flow rate, cutting speed, etc.) according to preset programs to achieve coordinated operation of each unit. The human-machine interface adopts a touch screen structure, allowing operators to set process parameters, monitor system operating status, and view fault information through the interface, enabling convenient operation and maintenance of the system.

[0037] In this embodiment, the preset dimensions of the integrated chip inductor blank are 5mm in length, 3mm in width, and 2mm in height, and the thickness of the insulating coating is 10μm. The raw material used is a mixture of ferrite powder (main component Ni-Zn-Cu) and epoxy resin binder.

[0038] When using this system for production, the specific steps are as follows:

[0039] S1: Raw material pretreatment: Ferrite powder and epoxy resin binder are added to the grinding mechanism at a mass ratio of 9:1. The three-stage grinding roller group grinds the raw materials to a particle size of 20-30μm. The ground raw materials enter the mixing mechanism, where a variable frequency motor drives a bidirectional stirring paddle to stir at a speed of 200r / min for 30min to achieve uniform mixing. The mixed raw materials enter the dehumidification mechanism, where the vacuum degree is set to -0.09MPa and the heating plate temperature is set to 60℃. The dehumidification treatment lasts for 20min, reducing the moisture content of the raw materials to 0.3%.

[0040] S2: Molding: The pretreated raw material enters the twin-screw extrusion mechanism. The temperature of the barrel feeding section is set to 100℃, the temperature of the compression section is set to 140℃, the temperature of the metering section is set to 180℃, and the screw speed is set to 100r / min. After plasticization, the raw material is extruded into a continuous preform strip with a cross-sectional size of 5mm×3mm×2mm through a continuous forming die. The polytetrafluoroethylene anti-stick layer on the inner wall of the die ensures that the surface of the preform strip is smooth and free from adhesion.

[0041] S3: Coating: The preform strip is fed into the coating unit by the conveying unit. The flow rate of the ultrasonic atomizing nozzle is set to 5 mL / min. The position adjustment mechanism drives the nozzle to reciprocate along the conveying direction of the preform strip at a speed of 1 m / min. The laser thickness gauge detects the coating thickness in real time. When the detected thickness deviation exceeds ±1 μm, the system automatically adjusts the flow rate of the nozzle to ensure that the coating thickness is stable at 10 μm.

[0042] S4: Curing: The coated blank strip enters the curing unit. The infrared heating zone temperature is set to 120℃ and the heating time is 5min. The hot air circulation zone temperature is set to 100℃, the hot air circulation speed is 1m / s, and the holding time is 10min to achieve complete curing of the coating. The hardness of the cured coating is 2H.

[0043] S5: Cutting: The cured blank strip is fed into the cutting unit, the industrial camera captures the image of the blank strip, the image recognition module calculates the cutting position based on the preset length of 5mm, the drive mechanism drives the high-speed cutting blade to cut at a frequency of 50 times / min, the cutting accuracy is controlled within ±0.01mm, and a single integrated chip inductor blank is obtained.

[0044] In this embodiment, the system has a production efficiency of 1000 pieces / hour and a product qualification rate of 98.5%, which is 60% higher than that of traditional discrete manufacturing and 15% higher in qualification rate.

[0045] Example 2

[0046] In this embodiment, the preset dimensions of the integrated chip inductor blank are 8mm in length, 4mm in width, and 3mm in height, and the thickness of the insulating coating is 15μm. The raw material used is a mixture of ferrite powder (main component Mn-Zn) and phenolic resin binder.

[0047] When using this system for production, only the cavity size of the continuous forming mold needs to be changed, and the process parameters of each unit can be adjusted through the central control system: the grinding mechanism controls the raw material particle size to 30-40μm, the mixing mechanism has a stirring speed of 150r / min and a stirring time of 40min, the dehumidification mechanism has a temperature of 70℃ and a dehumidification time of 25min; the twin-screw extrusion mechanism has a feeding section temperature of 110℃, a compression section temperature of 150℃, a metering section temperature of 190℃, and a screw speed of 80r / min; the coating unit has a nozzle flow rate of 8mL / min and a reciprocating speed of 0.8m / min; the curing unit has an infrared heating zone temperature of 130℃ and a heating time of 6min, a hot air circulation zone temperature of 110℃, a hot air speed of 1.5m / s, and a holding time of 12min; the cutting unit has a cutting frequency of 30 times / min and a cutting length of 8mm.

[0048] In this embodiment, the system has a production efficiency of 600 pieces / hour and a product qualification rate of 98.2%, which meets the production requirements of this type of inductor blank and demonstrates the system's good adaptability.

[0049] The embodiments described above are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Therefore, any changes made in accordance with the shape and principle of the present invention should be covered within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A continuous production system for integrated chip inductor blanks, characterized in that, It includes a raw material pretreatment unit (1), a molding unit (2), a coating unit (3), a curing unit (4), a cutting unit (5) connected sequentially along the material conveying direction, and a conveying unit (6) that runs through each unit; The raw material pretreatment unit (1) includes a grinding mechanism (11), a mixing mechanism (12) and a dehumidification mechanism (13) connected in sequence. The grinding mechanism (11) is equipped with a three-stage grinding roller group. The dehumidification mechanism (13) adopts a vacuum dehumidification structure and is equipped with a temperature-adjustable heating plate inside. The molding unit (2) includes a twin-screw extrusion mechanism (21) and a continuous molding die (22). The discharge end of the twin-screw extrusion mechanism (21) is sealed to the feed port of the continuous molding die (22). The cavity cross-sectional dimensions of the continuous molding die (22) match the preset dimensions of the inductor blank, and a polytetrafluoroethylene anti-stick layer is provided on the inner wall of the die. The coating unit (3) includes an ultrasonic atomizing nozzle (31), a coating material box (32) and a position adjustment mechanism (33). The ultrasonic atomizing nozzle (31) is connected to the coating material box (32) through an infusion pipe. The position adjustment mechanism (33) drives the ultrasonic atomizing nozzle (31) to reciprocate along the conveying direction of the blank strip. The curing unit (4) includes a shell (41). Inside the shell (41), an infrared heating zone (42) and a hot air circulation zone (43) are arranged sequentially along the material conveying direction. The infrared heating zone (42) is provided with a number of uniformly distributed infrared heating tubes. The hot air circulation zone (43) is provided with a hot air generator and a guide plate. The cutting unit (5) includes a frame (51), a vision positioning component (53) and a drive mechanism (54). The vision positioning component (53) includes an industrial camera and an image recognition module. The output end of the image recognition module is electrically connected to the control end of the drive mechanism (54). The drive mechanism (54) drives the high-speed cutting blade to perform lifting and cutting motion. The conveying unit (6) includes a multi-segment conveyor belt and a turning mechanism. Adjacent conveyor belt segments are connected by the turning mechanism. The surface of the conveyor belt is provided with anti-slip ridges, and the running speed of the conveyor belt matches the working rhythm of each unit.

2. The integrated chip inductor blank continuous production system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The mixing mechanism (12) includes a mixing tank (121), a bidirectional stirring paddle (122), and a variable frequency motor (123). The bidirectional stirring paddle (122) is located inside the mixing tank (121). The variable frequency motor (123) drives the bidirectional stirring paddle (122) to rotate at a speed of 50-300 r / min. The outer wall of the mixing tank (121) is provided with a heat insulation layer.

3. The integrated chip inductor blank continuous production system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The twin-screw extrusion mechanism (21) includes a barrel (211), two meshing screws (212) and a heating jacket (213). The heating jacket (213) is wrapped around the outside of the barrel (211) and is divided into three independent temperature control zones: a feeding zone, a compression zone and a metering zone. The temperature adjustment range of each zone is 80-200℃.

4. The integrated chip inductor blank continuous production system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The coating unit (3) further includes a thickness detection component (34), which includes a laser thickness gauge. The detection end of the laser thickness gauge faces the surface of the blank strip, and the output end of the laser thickness gauge is electrically connected to the flow control end of the ultrasonic atomizing nozzle (31).

5. The integrated chip inductor blank continuous production system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The inner wall of the outer shell (41) of the curing unit (4) is provided with heat insulation cotton. The temperature control range of the infrared heating zone (42) is 100-150℃, the temperature control range of the hot air circulation zone (43) is 80-120℃, and the hot air circulation speed is 0.5-2m / s.

6. The integrated chip inductor blank continuous production system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The high-speed cutting blade (52) of the cutting unit (5) is made of diamond material, and the cutting edge angle of the cutting blade is 15-30°. The driving mechanism (54) is a combination structure of servo motor and ball screw, and the cutting accuracy is controlled within ±0.01mm.

7. The integrated chip inductor blank continuous production system according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a central control system (7), which is electrically connected to the raw material pretreatment unit (1), the molding unit (2), the coating unit (3), the curing unit (4), the cutting unit (5) and the conveying unit (6), respectively. The central control system (7) has a built-in PLC controller and a human-machine interface.

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