Surface-Mount Swing Inductor Core Gaps for Stepped Inductance Roll-Off
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional swing-type inductor components face challenges in achieving desired performance while being economically manufacturable in reduced footprints, particularly in high current applications, and there is a need for improved single phase inductor designs that can operate with low inductance and high DC bias current resistance for fast load transient response and high efficiency.
Innovation Solution
The design of single phase, surface mount swing-type inductor components with a magnetic core structure composed of discrete or integrated pieces featuring physical gaps that intersect magnetic flux paths, allowing for multiple steps of inductance roll off, enabling operation at different inductance values based on current load.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If conventional swing-type inductor components are designed for reduced footprint, then package size is reduced, but manufacturing cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The magnetic core structure is divided into multiple discrete pieces (first magnetic core piece, second magnetic core piece, third magnetic core piece) that can be separately manufactured and then assembled. This segmentation allows each piece to be optimized for manufacturing while achieving the overall reduced footprint when combined, resolving the contradiction between small package size and ease of manufacture
Solution Approach 2:
The coil structure is positioned within and surrounded by the magnetic core pieces, with the first and second legs of the coil nested between the first and second magnetic core pieces. This nesting arrangement maximizes the use of space within the reduced footprint while maintaining proper electromagnetic coupling and manufacturing feasibility
2Adaptability or versatility
If physical gaps are added to magnetic core structure to achieve multiple inductance roll off steps, then inductance control is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The physical gaps in the magnetic core structure enable the inductor to dynamically adjust its effective inductance based on the current load. At low currents, the magnetic path is continuous providing high inductance; at high currents, the gaps are overcome and inductance drops, providing automatic adaptability without additional control circuitry
Solution Approach 2:
The inductance parameter is changed by modifying the magnetic path through the physical gaps. The gaps create different magnetic reluctance states that are overcome at different current levels, automatically changing the effective inductance parameter to provide multiple roll-off steps without increasing device complexity
3Loss of energy
If single phase design is used for high current applications, then efficiency is improved, but performance at high currents is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The magnetic core pieces are designed with specific gap dimensions that may be larger than traditionally used, allowing the core to operate in a partially saturated state at high currents. This excessive gapping provides better control over magnetic flux distribution and reduces core losses at high current levels, improving both efficiency and high-current performance
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 components achieve high performance with reduced size and cost, offering flexible inductance adjustment and improved efficiency in high current applications, suitable for power converter circuits.
Implementation Method 1
Current flow through a conductor in the inductor component generates a magnetic field that can be concentrated in a magnetic core
Implementation Method 2
Electromagnetic inductor components are known that utilize electric current and magnetic fields to provide a desired effect in an electrical circuit
Implementation Method 3
First and second physical gaps are respectively formed in the magnetic core structure, each of the first and second physical gaps extending incompletely through a respective one of an opposing pair of the exterior side walls or an opposing pair of the interior side walls, and each of the first and second physical gaps being located to respectively intersect a flux path generated by current flow in only one of the elongated first or second legs
Data Source
AI summary
An inductor component includes a single conductive coil configured to establish surface mount connections with a circuit board. A magnetic core structure receives and encloses first and second legs of the single conductive coil, and first and second physical gaps are respectively formed in the magnetic core structure and are located to respectively intersect a flux path generated by current flow in only one of the elongated first or second legs. By virtue of the pair of physical gaps the inductor component operates as a swing-type inductor component with multiple steps of inductance roll off.