Leadframe Slide Rail Structure for Scratch-Protected Power Terminals
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electronic devices face challenges in handling power terminals without damaging them during storage, processing, cleaning, inspecting, testing, handling, and moving due to their soft metal composition and high weight, which increases the risk of scratches.
Innovation Solution
A pre-product design featuring integrated slide rails and nose pieces that support the power terminals, allowing for secure handling and easy removal without damaging the terminals, while maintaining mechanical stability and electrical conductivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If power terminals are made of soft metal for good electrical conductivity, then electrical performance is improved, but susceptibility to scratches and damage during handling increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a hard coating layer as an intermediary between the soft metal power terminal and the external environment. This coating layer serves as a protective mediator that prevents scratches and mechanical damage to the underlying soft metal, while allowing the power terminal to maintain its excellent electrical conductivity. The coating acts as a shield that absorbs mechanical stresses without compromising the electrical function.
Solution Approach 2:
The power terminal is constructed as a composite structure combining soft metal (for electrical conductivity) with a hard coating layer (for mechanical protection). This composite material approach allows the device to simultaneously achieve both high electrical performance and high scratch resistance by integrating materials with complementary properties into a single functional component.
2Stability of the object's composition
If power terminals are made with high weight for mechanical stability, then structural stability is improved, but ease of handling and movement deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The device is segmented into distinct functional components: a heavy base structure providing mechanical stability and anchoring, and lighter power terminals that can be handled separately. This segmentation allows the heavy stabilizing elements to remain fixed while the power terminals can be manipulated independently with less effort, resolving the contradiction between overall stability and handling ease.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent distributes weight strategically in the vertical dimension, with heavy stabilizing elements positioned at the base and lighter components above. This dimensional distribution of mass allows the device to achieve mechanical stability through low-center-of-gravity design while keeping the upper power terminals easier to handle and manipulate.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If slide rails are integrated into the leadframe for protective handling, then protection during handling is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The slide rails are merged with the leadframe structure, forming an integrated assembly where the protective handling features are combined with the electrical interconnection structure. This merging eliminates the need for separate protective fixtures or handling mechanisms, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining the protective function during manufacturing and assembly operations.
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, a pre-product is configured for an electronic device intended to be loaded with a maximum current of at least 10 A, and comprises: an electronic component, a plurality of power terminals for external electrical contacting the electronic device, and a slide rail at an end of the at least one assigned power terminal remote from the electronic component. The power terminals are electrically connected to the electronic component and extend in a direction away from the electronic component. The slide rail is integrated in a metallic first leadframe together with at least one of the power terminals. A weight of the pre-product is at least 0.1 kg.