Inductor structure comprising side electrode and inductor array

Abstract

The utility model provides an inductor structure comprising a side electrode and an inductor array, the inductor structure comprises a magnet and a coil arranged in the magnet, the two ends of the coil extend out of the magnet from the two opposite side faces of the magnet respectively, and a first folding pin and a second folding pin are formed; each of the first folding pin and the second folding pin comprises a side surface part and a bottom surface part, the side surface parts of the first folding pin and the second folding pin are flush with the side surface of the magnet to serve as side surface electrodes, and the bottom surface parts of the first folding pin and the second folding pin are flush with the bottom surface of the magnet to serve as bottom surface electrodes. According to the coil structure in the inductor, input current and output current are parallel, so that wiring is facilitated, the welding effect of the inductor can be visually checked through the side electrodes, and the welding efficiency is improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of inductors, in particular to an inductor structure with side electrodes and an inductor array. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the rapid growth of the automobile industry, the bottom welding structure inductor has the advantages of low DCR (direct current resistance) and large current, and is suitable for power supply and EMI countermeasure circuits in a large area. The electrode of the bottom welding structure inductor is located on the bottom surface of the inductor. In the welding process, the electrode on the bottom surface of the inductor is welded with the solder pad on the PCB (printed circuit board), and the welding connection is usually realized by using the SMD (surface mount technology).

[0003] However, the applicant found that when the bottom welding structure inductor is welded with the solder pad, on the one hand, the input and output currents are not in the same plane, which makes the wiring more inconvenient, and on the other hand, after the inductor electrode is welded with the solder pad, it is difficult to judge the welding state of the bottom surface from the visual appearance. CONTENT OF THE UTILITY MODEL

[0004] Therefore, the present application provides an inductor structure with side electrodes and an inductor array, which realizes parallel input and output currents, facilitates later wiring, and can intuitively view the welding effect of the inductor through the side electrodes, thereby improving the welding efficiency.

[0005] The present application provides an inductor structure with side electrodes, which comprises a magnet and a coil arranged inside the magnet. The two ends of the coil extend to the outside of the magnet from the opposite two sides of the magnet and form a first folded leg and a second folded leg. The first folded leg and the second folded leg each include a side portion and a bottom portion. The side portion of the first folded leg and the second folded leg is flush with the side of the magnet to serve as a side electrode, and the bottom portion of the first folded leg and the second folded leg is flush with the bottom of the magnet to serve as a bottom electrode.

[0006] In some embodiments, the length of the side portion of the first folded leg and the second folded leg is less than the height of the side of the magnet, and the length of the bottom portion of the first folded leg and the second folded leg is less than the width of the bottom of the magnet.

[0007] In some embodiments, the magnet is a hexahedral structure, and the opposite two sides of the magnet each include a notch. The side portion of the first folded leg and the second folded leg is exposed outside the magnet through the notch.

[0008] In some embodiments, the width of the notch is the same as the width of the side of the magnet, the length of the notch is less than or equal to the length of the side portion of the first folded leg and the second folded leg, and the depth of the notch is between 0.1-0.3 mm.

[0009] In some embodiments, the inductor structure comprising side electrodes is formed by cutting off part of the magnet to form the gap after being integrally formed.

[0010] In some embodiments, the coil is a flat coil or a round coil.

[0011] In some embodiments, the part of the coil inside the magnet comprises a coil body and a varnish film covering the outer surface of the coil body to insulate the coil body from the magnet.

[0012] In some embodiments, the first and second folded legs of the coil are subjected to varnish film removal and metallization treatment to form the bottom electrode and the side electrodes.

[0013] In some embodiments, the metallization treatment includes PVD, electroplating or tin dipping.

[0014] The application also provides an inductor array comprising a plurality of inductor structures, the plurality of inductor structures being separated by an insulating material, the inductor structure comprising the inductor structure comprising side electrodes as described above.

[0015] The application provides an inductor structure comprising side electrodes and an inductor array, comprising a magnet and a coil arranged inside the magnet, both ends of the coil extending from the opposite sides of the magnet to the outside of the magnet and forming a first folded leg and a second folded leg, the first folded leg and the second folded leg each comprising a side portion and a bottom portion, the side portion of the first folded leg and the second folded leg being flush with the side of the magnet to serve as a side electrode, and the bottom portion of the first folded leg and the second folded leg being flush with the bottom of the magnet to serve as a bottom electrode. The coil structure in the inductor provided by the embodiment realizes parallel input and output current, facilitating wiring, and the soldering effect of the inductor can be directly observed through the side electrode, thereby improving soldering efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0016] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the application, the drawings needed in the embodiment description will be briefly introduced. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the application, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort.

[0017] Figure 1 is a structural schematic diagram of the inductor structure comprising side electrodes provided by the application.

[0018] Figure 2 is a coil structure schematic diagram in the inductor structure comprising side electrodes provided by the application.

[0019] Figure 3is a structural schematic diagram of an inductance array provided by the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, but not all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative work fall within the scope of protection of the present application. In the case of no conflict, each of the following embodiments and technical features can be combined with each other.

[0021] In addition, the terms "first", "second" are only used for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first", "second" can explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of the present application, the meaning of "multiple" is at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise specifically limited. In the description of the present application, the meaning of "several" is at least one, such as one, two, etc., unless otherwise specifically limited.

[0022] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present application belongs. The terms used herein are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present application. The term "and / or" used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more related listed items. The term "connected", "electrically connected", "electrically connected" used herein includes any direct and indirect electrical or structural connection means. Therefore, if the first device is described as being coupled / connected / electrically connected to the second device in the text, it means that the first device can be directly electrically / structurally connected to the second device, or indirectly electrically / structurally connected to the second device through other devices or connection means.

[0023] The present application provides an inductance structure comprising a side electrode, including a magnet and a coil arranged inside the magnet, both ends of the coil extending from the opposite two sides of the magnet to the outside of the magnet and forming a first folded foot and a second folded foot, the first folded foot and the second folded foot each comprising a side portion and a bottom portion, the side portion of the first folded foot and the second folded foot flush with the side of the magnet to serve as a side electrode, and the bottom portion of the first folded foot and the second folded foot flush with the bottom of the magnet to serve as a bottom electrode.

[0024] Specifically, please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1is a structural diagram of an inductance structure provided by the present application. The inductance structure provided by the present application includes a magnet 100 and a coil 200 arranged inside the magnet 100. The two ends of the coil 200 extend to the outside of the magnet 100 from the opposite two sides of the magnet 100, respectively, and form a first folded leg and a second folded leg. The first folded leg and the second folded leg each include a bottom surface portion 210 and a side surface portion 220. The side surface portion 220 of the first folded leg and the second folded leg is flush with the side surface of the magnet 100 to serve as a side electrode. The bottom surface portion 210 of the first folded leg and the second folded leg is flush with the bottom surface of the magnet 100 to serve as a bottom electrode.

[0025] The magnet 100 provides a necessary magnetic circuit for the inductance structure. The material of the magnet 100 can include, for example, iron (such as pure iron powder), iron alloy (alloy powder based on Fe-Si, Fe-Si-Al, Fe-Ni, Fe-Ni-Mo, Fe-Ni-Mo-Cu, Fe-Co, Fe-Ni-Co, Fe-Cr, Fe-Cr-Si, Fe-Ni-Cr, Fe-Cr-Al, etc.), amorphous alloy such as Fe-based amorphous alloy, Co-based amorphous alloy, etc., spinel ferrite such as ferrite based on Mg-Zn, Mn-Zn, Mn-Mg, Cu-Zn, Mg-Mn-Sr, Ni-Zn, etc., hexagonal ferrite such as ferrite based on Ba-Zn, Ba-Mg, Ba-Ni, Ba-Co-based, Ba-Ni-Co, etc., or garnet ferrite such as Y-based ferrite, etc. The material of the magnet 100 can also be a magnetic material resin composite in which metal magnetic powder particles and a resin mixture are mixed with each other. The metal magnetic powder particles can include iron (Fe), chromium (Cr), or silicon (Si) as a main component. For example, the metal magnetic powder particles can include Fe-Ni, Fe, Fe-Cr-Si, etc. The resin mixture can include epoxy resin, polyimide, liquid crystal polymer (LCP), etc., but is not limited thereto.

[0026] The coil 200 is wound by a wire, and a magnetic field is generated around the coil when current passes through the coil. The coil 200 is generally made of a metal conductor, such as copper, silver, tin, chromium, aluminum, etc. The coil 200 can specifically include multiple electrode coil layers, and the coil 200 can be covered with a dielectric layer, which can completely wrap the coil 200, or the dielectric layer and the electrode coil layer are alternately stacked therebetween, and the dielectric layer and the electrode coil layer are stacked in the thickness direction of the coil 200. In this inductance structure, the coil is arranged inside the magnet, and by this arrangement, the inductance not only enables the bottom electrode to be welded with the pad, but also enables the side electrode to participate in welding, thereby increasing the welding area and improving the welding strength. It should be noted that the coil 200 described above can be a flat coil or a circular coil, and can also be an elliptical coil, which will not be described further in this embodiment.

[0027] In an embodiment, the length of the side portion of the first and second folded legs is less than the height of the side of the magnet 100, and the length of the bottom portion of the first and second folded legs is less than the width of the bottom of the magnet 100. Since the first and second folded legs extend from the opposite two sides of the magnet 100, respectively, the corresponding bottom portions 210 of the first and second folded legs are also located on the opposite two sides of the bottom of the magnet 100. Further, the bottom portions 210 of the first and second folded legs are located on the opposite two sides of the bottom of the magnet 100 and at opposite ends, such as the bottom portion of the first folded leg is located at the lower left corner of the bottom of the magnet 100, and the bottom portion of the second folded leg is located at the upper right corner of the bottom of the magnet 100, as shown in Figure 1

[0028] Further, please continue to refer to Figure 2 In this embodiment, the two ends of the coil 200 extend out of the first and second folded legs from the two sides, respectively, and the first and second folded legs each include a bottom portion 210 and a side portion 220.

[0029] In an embodiment, the magnet 100 has a hexahedral structure, and the opposite two sides of the magnet 100 each include a notch 110, as shown in Figure 1 , so that the side portions 220 of the first and second folded legs are exposed outside the magnet 100 through the two notches 110, respectively. The width of the notch 110 can be the same as the width of the side of the magnet 100, the length of the notch 110 can be less than or equal to the length of the side portion 220 of the first and second folded legs, and the depth of the notch 110 can be between 0.1-0.3 mm. The side electrode, i.e., the side portion 220 of the first and second folded legs, is arranged inside the magnet 100, and accordingly, the surface-to-surface distance between the side electrode and the surface of the side of the magnet 100 is also between 0.1-0.3 mm.

[0030] ​Specifically, the notch 110 can be formed by cutting part of the magnet after the integrated inductance structure containing the side electrode is formed. For example, the integrated inductance structure can be cut by a cutter, and the size of the cutter blade is selected according to the size of the inductance. The purpose is to separate part of the magnet, and to expose the side part 220 of the first and second folded feet inside the magnet 100 to form the side electrode.

[0031] Further, the part of the coil 200 inside the magnet 100 includes a coil body and a varnish film covering the outer surface of the coil body to insulate the coil body from the magnet 100. The varnish film covering the outer surface of the coil body is used to isolate the coil body from the magnet 100. The varnish film isolates the coil body from the magnet 100, thereby avoiding current interference between the coil 200 and the magnet 100, avoiding magnetic saturation of the magnet 100, and thereby ensuring the reliability of the inductance. In addition, the varnish film has not only insulation performance but also high-temperature resistance performance. First, the coil body generates heat due to the current during operation. Second, when the inductance is assembled to the PCB circuit board, the inductance can be fixed to the circuit board using a soldering process, which generates high heat. Therefore, the varnish film has strong high-temperature resistance performance, which can further improve the reliability of the inductance.

[0032] Further, for the part of the coil 200 not inside the magnet 100, i.e., the first and second folded feet of the coil 100, the bottom and side electrodes of the inductance component can be formed after the varnish film is removed and the metalization process is performed. The metalization process to form the electrode can be PVD, electroplating, or tin immersion, etc. For the first and second folded feet exposed outside the magnet 100, the copper wire of the folded feet can be stripped (e.g., the outer film of the enameled copper wire) by laser or grinding to expose the copper wire base, i.e., the conductive part, which is directly used as the bottom and side electrodes of the inductance component after the metalization process.

[0033] The inductance structure containing the side electrode provided in the embodiment can tin the side electrode after being SMD soldered to the pad, so that the appearance AOI can evaluate the soldering effect through the tinning effect of the side surface. In addition, compared with the bottom soldering structure, the inductance provided in the embodiment has two bottom electrodes extending out, and has a larger contact area with the PCB, so that the soldering strength is stronger.

[0034] The embodiment also provides an inductance array including a plurality of inductance structures, and an insulating material is arranged between the plurality of inductance structures to isolate the inductance structures. The inductance structure includes the inductance structure containing the side electrode described above. Figure 3As shown, the plurality of coils 200 can be arranged together and then the magnet 100 is poured to form the inductance array, and then the first and second folded feet are uniformly electroplated to form electrodes after cutting or grinding. The cutting refers to uniformly cutting the side surface of the plurality of inductance structures to expose the side surface part of the first and second folded feet, and the grinding refers to uniformly grinding the bottom surface of the plurality of inductance structures to expose the bottom surface part of the first and second folded feet. Through this form of magnet post-processing, a part of the coil is exposed from the bottom surface and the side surface of the magnet respectively, thereby respectively constituting the bottom surface electrode and the side surface electrode, and thus solving the problem of poor coplanarity of the plurality of inductance structures.

[0035] The above is only an embodiment of the present application, and does not limit the patent scope of the present application. Any equivalent structure or equivalent process transformation using the content of the specification and drawings, such as the mutual combination of technical features between embodiments, or direct or indirect application in other related technical fields, is also included in the patent protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. An inductor structure including side electrodes, characterized in that, The device includes a magnet and a coil disposed inside the magnet. The two ends of the coil extend from two opposite sides of the magnet to the outside of the magnet, forming a first fold and a second fold. The first fold and the second fold each include a side portion and a bottom portion. The side portions of the first fold and the second fold are flush with the side of the magnet to serve as side electrodes, and the bottom portions of the first fold and the second fold are flush with the bottom of the magnet to serve as bottom electrodes.

2. The inductor structure including side electrodes according to claim 1, characterized in that, The length of the side portion of the first and second folding feet is less than the height of the side of the magnet, and the length of the bottom portion of the first and second folding feet is less than the width of the bottom of the magnet.

3. The inductor structure including side electrodes according to claim 1, characterized in that, The magnet has a hexahedral structure, and each of the two opposite sides of the magnet includes a notch. The side portions of the first and second folded feet are exposed outside the magnet through the notches.

4. The inductor structure including side electrodes according to claim 3, characterized in that, The width of the notch is the same as the width of the side of the magnet, the length of the notch is less than or equal to the length of the side portion of the first and second folded feet, and the depth of the notch is between 0.1 and 0.3 mm.

5. The inductor structure including side electrodes according to claim 3, characterized in that, The inductor structure containing the side electrodes is integrally formed by cutting off a portion of the magnet to create the notch.

6. The inductor structure including side electrodes according to claim 1, characterized in that, The coil is either a flat coil or a round coil.

7. The inductor structure including side electrodes according to claim 1, characterized in that, The portion of the coil located inside the magnet includes a coil body and a varnish film. The varnish film covers the outer surface of the coil body to insulate the coil body from the magnet.

8. The inductor structure including side electrodes according to claim 7, characterized in that, The first and second folded portions of the coil are subjected to varnish removal and metallization treatment to form the bottom electrode and side electrode.

9. The inductor structure including side electrodes according to claim 8, characterized in that, The metallization process includes PVD, electroplating, or tin dipping.

10. An inductor array, characterized in that, It includes multiple inductor structures, with insulating material disposed between the multiple inductor structures for isolation, and the inductor structure includes the inductor structure with side electrodes as described in any one of claims 1-9.

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