Planar Current Detection Device with PCB Magnetic Circuit
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing current detection devices for low-voltage electrical installations are cumbersome, difficult to install, especially in spaces with multiple detection points, and have limitations in manufacturability and cost-effectiveness.
Innovation Solution
A current detection device with a compact, lightweight design featuring a support board with conductive coils and a magnetic circuit, allowing for easy installation and industrial-scale manufacturing using printed circuit technologies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional current detection devices are used, then detection accuracy is good, but device size is large and installation is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from traditional three-dimensional toroidal current transformers to a planar two-dimensional structure by winding coils on a flat support board. This dimensional reduction dramatically decreases device volume while maintaining the magnetic circuit functionality through carefully designed magnetic elements and airgaps that guide magnetic flux in the planar configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The magnetic circuit is segmented into discrete magnetic elements positioned at specific locations on the support board, with airgaps creating distinct magnetic paths. This segmentation allows the magnetic flux to be channeled through defined regions, maintaining measurement accuracy while enabling the compact planar structure.
2Measurement precision
If traditional current detection devices are used, then detection accuracy is good, but ease of installation is poor
Solution Approach 1:
By flattening the device into a planar structure, the patent enables installation in confined spaces where traditional bulky current transformers cannot fit. The reduced profile and simplified geometry make the device easier to mount on existing electrical infrastructure without requiring complex assembly procedures.
3Ease of manufacture
If printed circuit manufacturing techniques are used, then ease of manufacture is improved, but detection accuracy and linearity need improvement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes several critical parameters including airgap dimensions, magnetic element geometry, and coil winding configurations to enhance detection accuracy and linearity. By carefully controlling these parameters during the printed circuit manufacturing process, the device achieves high measurement precision while maintaining the manufacturing simplicity and cost-effectiveness of PCB techniques.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical coil windings and magnetic core assemblies with printed circuit board-based coil structures and magnetically engineered PCB layouts. This substitution maintains ease of manufacture through automated PCB processes while achieving detection accuracy comparable to or exceeding traditional devices through optimized magnetic circuit design.
4Ease of manufacture
If printed circuit manufacturing techniques are used, then production cost is reduced, but device complexity needs management
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functional elements into a single integrated planar structure. The support board simultaneously serves as the mechanical substrate, coil former, magnetic circuit component holder, and structural support. This merging of functions reduces the number of separate parts and assembly steps, managing device complexity while maintaining low production costs through printed circuit manufacturing.
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 device ensures high detection accuracy and linearity across a wide range of current amplitudes, is easy to install in constrained spaces, and is cost-effective to manufacture at an industrial level.
Implementation Method 1
a current detection device for detecting a current to be detected flowing along a conductor (100)
Implementation Method 2
a magnetic circuit including a plurality of magnetic elements and a plurality of airgaps (40a, 40b, 40c, 40d)
Data Source
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AI summary
A current detection device comprising: - a support board having opposite first and second surfaces and a passage for a conductor of an electric line through the thickness of the support board between the first and second surfaces of the support board; - a plurality of conductive coils arranged on at least one of said first and second surfaces of the support board at corresponding coil regions of the support board. Each conductive coil is formed by at least a coil turn wound around a corresponding coil axis perpendicular to said support board and extending planarly along one of the first and second surfaces of the support board; - a magnetic circuit including a plurality of magnetic elements and a plurality of airgaps. The magnetic elements of the magnetic circuit are arranged on both the first and second surfaces of the support board. Each magnetic element extends in parallel to a surface of the support board and is overlapped, at two or more coil regions of the support board, with another magnetic element arranged at the opposite surface of the support board. A pair of overlapped magnetic elements spaced apart one from another by the thickness of the support board is thus formed at each coil region. Each pair of overlapped and spaced apart magnetic elements defines an airgap of said magnetic circuit, in which a conductive coil is placed.