Molded Magnetic Component Assembly with Embedded Coils
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Solution Overview
Problem
The manufacturing of miniaturized magnetic components, such as inductors and transformers, faces challenges in reducing costs and achieving consistent performance due to difficulties in winding coils around fragile core pieces, maintaining gap sizes, and forming reliable connections between coils and terminal clips, which leads to inconsistent performance and increased manufacturing expenses.
Innovation Solution
The development of magnetic component assemblies using moldable magnetic powder sheets and coupled coils, where the magnetic material is laminated and molded around the coils to form a monolithic structure, eliminating the need for physical gaps and simplifying the assembly process, and incorporating conductive copper layers for efficient winding configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional winding methods are used to manufacture miniaturized magnetic components, then coil assembly is possible, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase due to fragile core pieces and difficult connections
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the core and coil into a single integrated component where the coil is embedded within the magnetic core material. This eliminates the need for separate winding steps and assembly of fragile core pieces, directly resolving the technical contradiction by simplifying manufacturing while reducing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical winding process with a casting or molding process where the coil is formed and embedded within the magnetic core material in a single step. This substitution eliminates the complexity of manual or automated winding operations and handles the fragile core pieces issue by using a monolithic structure.
2Manufacturing precision
If physical gaps are maintained in magnetic core pieces, then magnetic flux control is achieved, but manufacturing precision and consistency deteriorate due to difficulty in maintaining gap sizes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the approach from mechanical gap formation to magnetic gap formation by controlling the magnetic properties of the core material itself. The magnetic permeability is varied within the core to create effective magnetic gaps without physical discontinuities, achieving precise flux control while maintaining manufacturing precision and performance consistency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite magnetic materials with varying permeability characteristics within the same monolithic structure. This allows different regions of the core to have different magnetic properties, effectively creating gap functionality without physical gaps, thereby improving manufacturing precision and reliability.
3Power
If miniaturization is pursued to reduce device size, then power density increases, but manufacturing difficulty and cost increase due to smaller tolerances and more fragile components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the coil and core into a single cast or molded component, eliminating the need for separate assembly steps that become increasingly difficult at miniaturized scales. This merging approach maintains ease of manufacture while achieving high power density through optimized miniaturized geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical assembly processes with a single-step casting or molding process that can reliably produce miniaturized components with tight tolerances. This substitution maintains manufacturing ease while enabling the miniaturization required for high power density.
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 approach reduces manufacturing costs, enhances reliability, and improves performance by minimizing audible noise and variability in magnetic components, while allowing for increased power handling and reduced footprint, making it suitable for high-volume production of miniaturized components.
Implementation Method 1
a first plurality of coupled coils situated within a magnetic body
Implementation Method 2
a second plurality of coupled coils situated within the magnetic body, the second plurality of coupled coils wound from a conductive copper layer
Data Source
AI summary
Magnetic component assemblies including coil coupling arrangements, that are advantageously utilized in providing surface mount magnetic components such as inductors and transformers.