Fuse Terminal Structure for Standardized PCB Design
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing printed boards with pattern fuses face challenges in standardization and miniaturization due to the need for individual design for different electronic parts, slow response time in cutting off excess current, and increased manufacturing costs associated with heat management and high-density packaging.
Innovation Solution
The use of an electronic part with a main body and multiple terminals, including a fuse terminal with a cut-off portion that melts to disconnect electrical connections, positioned above the board surface to reduce heat transfer and prevent reconnection, allowing for standardized printed boards and improved response times.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If pattern fuses are formed in the printed board as part of wiring patterns, then the printed board can be designed with integrated protection, but it becomes difficult to commonalize printed boards for different electronic control units and increases board size
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the fuse function from the printed board's wiring patterns and relocates it to the electronic part itself through terminal structures with reduced cross-sectional areas. This separation allows the printed board to use standardized, thicker wiring patterns while the electronic part incorporates the protective fuse element, enabling commonalization of printed boards across different electronic control units.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention moves the fuse functionality from the two-dimensional plane of the printed board to the three-dimensional structure of the electronic part's terminal. By forming the terminal with a reduced cross-sectional area portion that extends vertically from the printed board surface, the fuse function is implemented in a different spatial dimension, allowing standardized printed board designs to be used across multiple electronic control unit variants.
2Reliability
If pattern fuses are formed in the printed board, then protection against excess current is provided, but the heat generated at the pattern fuse transfers to the insulating board causing slower response time
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the heat generation and melting process from the printed board's insulating substrate by relocating the fuse function to the electronic part's terminal. The terminal's reduced cross-sectional area portion generates heat and melts in response to excess current while being spatially separated from the insulating board, preventing heat transfer that would delay the cut-off response and protect the printed board from thermal damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The terminal structure acts as an intermediary between the electrical circuit and the printed board. The reduced cross-sectional area portion of the terminal serves as the fuse element that melts under excess current conditions, providing a controlled failure point that protects the rest of the system. This intermediary structure ensures rapid response by concentrating the thermal effect in a small volume away from the insulating board.
3Ease of manufacture
If pattern fuses are integrated in the printed board, then protection function is built-in, but individual design is required for different electronic parts increasing manufacturing complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The invention creates a universal terminal structure with a reduced cross-sectional area portion that can be applied to various electronic parts regardless of their specific function or rating. This standardized fuse-integrated terminal design can be used across different electronic control units and electronic parts, eliminating the need for individual pattern fuse designs for each application and simplifying manufacturing processes.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enables the use of standardized printed boards for various electronic control units, reduces board size, enhances response accuracy, and lowers manufacturing costs by minimizing heat transfer and maintaining high-density packaging capabilities.
Implementation Method 1
a cut-off portion (58) having a width smaller than that of other portions of the fuse terminal (48a), the cut-off portion (58) being melted down depending on heat generated by excess current so as to cut off electrical connection between the electrode (50) and the land (40a)
Data Source
AI summary
A main body of an electronic part has multiple electrodes, to which multiple terminals are respectively connected. The terminals include a normal terminal and a fuse terminal, each of which extends from lands formed in a printed board so as to hold the main body at a position above and separated from a board surface of the printed board. The fuse terminal has multiple leg portions divided by slits. A first leg portion forms an electrical path portion having a cut-off portion, a width of which is smaller than that of other portions of the electrical path portion. A second leg portion has a first supporting leg and a second supporting leg, which are arranged at both sides of the first leg portion. Each of the supporting legs is connected to each of dummy lands formed in the printed board.