PCB Current Sensor with Hall and Coil Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional current sensors used in motor drives and power conversion systems generate heat, leading to energy losses and potential damage, and are not accurately efficient for real-time current sensing.
Innovation Solution
A printed circuit board assembly with a current sense trace, a magnetic core, and Hall effect sensors and coils to detect both low-frequency and high-frequency components of electrical currents, utilizing different materials for the sensors and ferrite for the magnetic core to minimize heat generation and enhance accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If conventional current sensors are used, then current sensing function is provided, but heat is generated leading to energy losses and potential damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional resistive current sensing with magnetic field-based sensing using Hall effect sensors and coil sensors. This substitution eliminates the need for power-dissipating resistors, thereby reducing energy loss while maintaining sensing functionality and improving system reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the sensing mechanism from resistive to magnetic field-based detection. By utilizing magnetic field parameters instead of electrical resistance, the system achieves accurate current sensing without the energy losses inherent in conventional resistive methods
2Measurement precision
If Hall effect sensors and coil sensors are used together, then both low-frequency and high-frequency current components are detected accurately, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the current sensing function into two distinct frequency ranges: low-frequency components detected by Hall effect sensors and high-frequency components detected by coil sensors. This segmentation allows each sensor type to optimize for its designated frequency range, improving overall measurement precision while managing complexity through functional division
Solution Approach 2:
The magnetic core structure serves multiple functions: it concentrates magnetic fields for both Hall effect and coil sensors, provides structural support, and enables both low-frequency and high-frequency sensing capabilities within a single integrated assembly, thereby reducing overall device complexity
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
The solution provides accurate real-time current sensing with reduced heat generation and energy losses, enabling efficient monitoring of both DC and AC currents while maintaining compactness and reliability.
Implementation Method 1
a first Hall effect sensor located in at least one of the plurality of first stack layers or the plurality of second stack layers and configured to detect first Hall effect data corresponding to a first Hall effect current of the electrical signal having a frequency between zero hertz and a first frequency value
Implementation Method 2
a first coil wrapped around the at least one of the plurality of first stack layers or the plurality of second stack layers and configured to detect first coil data corresponding to a first higher-frequency component of the current of the electrical signal having a greater frequency than the first frequency value
Data Source
AI summary
A printed circuit board assembly includes a current sense trace to transmit an electrical signal through the assembly. The assembly includes a magnetic core including an opening for receiving the current sense trace and includes first stack layers and second stack layers that each define opposing sides of the opening, and elongate layers that extend from the first stack layers to the second stack layers and define additional opposing sides of the opening. The assembly further includes a Hall effect sensor located in the first stack layers or the second stack layers and configured to detect Hall effect data corresponding to a first Hall effect current of the electrical signal having a DC frequency. The assembly further includes a coil wrapped around the first stack layers or the second stack layers and configured to detect coil data corresponding to an AC component of the signal.