Floating Electrode Layout for Stable Overlap Capacitance
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Manufacturing tolerances in electrical components, such as thermistors and capacitors, lead to inaccuracies in electrode shape, size, and positioning, affecting the overlap region area and resulting electrical properties.
Innovation Solution
The design of electrodes where one electrode projects beyond the other in multiple directions, ensuring the overlap region area remains unchanged despite manufacturing tolerances, making the electrical properties less sensitive to such inaccuracies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If electrodes are manufactured with standard tolerances, then manufacturing complexity is reduced, but the area of the overlap region varies leading to inconsistent electrical properties
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by designing the first electrode with unequal projections beyond the second electrode in different directions (first direction vs. second direction). Specifically, the first electrode projects further in the first direction than in the second direction, creating an asymmetric configuration that compensates for manufacturing tolerances in a directional manner to maintain consistent overlap area.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent addresses the overlap area problem by considering projections in multiple directions (first direction and second direction perpendicular to stacking direction). This multi-dimensional approach allows the electrode configuration to compensate for tolerances in various orientations, ensuring the overlap region area remains stable despite manufacturing variations.
2Reliability
If electrodes are made with larger dimensions to accommodate tolerances, then electrical property consistency improves, but material usage and component size increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making the first electrode extend beyond the second electrode only in specific directions (first direction and partially in second direction) rather than uniformly in all directions. This localized extension provides tolerance compensation exactly where needed for maintaining overlap area consistency, while minimizing unnecessary material usage in other regions.
3Manufacturing precision
If manufacturing tolerances are reduced, then overlap region area precision improves, but manufacturing cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-configuring the first electrode to project beyond the second electrode in specific directions before assembly. This pre-designed asymmetric configuration anticipates and compensates for potential manufacturing tolerances in electrode positioning, allowing standard manufacturing processes to produce consistent electrical properties without requiring ultra-precise alignment during assembly.
Data Source
AI summary
In an embodiment, a component includes a first electrode and a second electrode arranged one above the other in a stacking direction, wherein the first electrode and the second electrode overlap in a first overlap region, wherein the first electrode has, in a first region containing the first overlap region, an extent in a first direction perpendicular to the stacking direction that is greater than an extent of the second electrode in the first direction in the first region, and wherein the first electrode has, in the first region containing the first overlap region, an extent in a second direction perpendicular to the stacking direction and to the first direction that is greater than an extent of the second electrode in the second direction in the first region, and a third electrode arranged in the same plane as the second electrode, wherein the first electrode is a floating electrode, wherein the first electrode and the third electrode overlap in a second overlap region, wherein the first electrode has, in a second region that contains the second overlap region, extents in the first direction and in the second direction that are greater than the extents of the third electrode in the first and the second direction in the second region, and wherein the first electrode has, in a connecting region that connects the first region and the second region, an extent in the first direction that is smaller than the extent of the first electrode in the first region and smaller than the extent of the first electrode in the second region.