Inductor devices – With outer casing or housing
Reexamination Certificate
2002-11-26
2004-07-06
Donovan, Lincoln (Department: 2832)
Inductor devices
With outer casing or housing
C336S083000, C336S096000, C336S200000, C336S223000, C336S232000, C029S602100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06759936
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to transformers. More particularly, the present invention relates to coil modules and transformers which use the coil modules.
2. Description of Related Art
Coil elements are widely used in transformers and other electronic devices. However, coiling procedures often take too much time and become too complicated. Besides, implicit dangers such as accidental fires or electronic shocks might occur because of incautious manufacturing or usage.
Please refer to FIG.
1
(
a
), which shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a traditional transformer
10
and coils thereon. The transformer
10
has a bobbin
101
, pins
102
, a metal core
103
, insulation tapes
104
,
105
, and coils
106
.
The bobbin
101
supports the pins
102
and the metal core
103
. The insulation tapes
104
are used so that the positions of the coils
106
follow certain safety standards. The coils
106
are coiled in sequence one after another until all necessary coils
106
are installed on the bobbin
101
. Each coil
106
has two wires connected to the pin
102
for connecting to other elements in certain applications. The tapes
105
are provided so that the coils
106
of different sets keep proper distance.
Please refer to
FIG. 1
(
b
), which shows a schematic, cross-sectional view of another traditional transformer
11
. Similarly, the transformer
11
has a bobbin
111
, pins
112
, a core
113
, insulation layers
114
and coils
116
.
The bobbin
111
supports the pins
112
, the core
113
, and the insulation layers
114
. The coils
116
are coiled on the bobbin
111
, one layer after another. In this example, four coil layers
1161
,
1162
,
1163
,
1164
have different coil loops for performing two sets of electric voltage transformation. The coil layers
1161
and
1163
are used to function as primary coils of the transformer
11
for inputting electric voltage, and the layers
1162
and
1164
are used to function as secondary coils of the transformer
11
for outputting the resultant electric voltage.
The coiling procedures in both examples in FIG.
1
(
a
) and FIG.
1
(
b
) are slow because the coil wires are wound one layer after another. Incautious operators in a factory may make mistakes regarding loop number of coils for some layers. However, coils of other layers need to be unwound first before correcting the loop number of coils of the faulty layer.
Such coiling methods are also imprecise. In the example of FIG.
1
(
a
), the thickness of tapes
104
and
105
are difficult to control. In FIG.
1
(
b
), the insulation layers
114
take up unnecessary space and increase the size of the transformer
11
. Also, coil wires may have different lengths even if the coil loops are the same when the coils are not neatly wound. Besides, coils are easily broken or fractured during winding, particularly when the bobbin structure is complicated like the one
111
shown in FIG.
1
(
b
).
Therefore, there are still many problems for manufacturing transformers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
As seen from the above description, there is a strong need for flexible and reliable coil elements and transformer. An embodiment of the present invention provides a coil module. The coil module has a conductive wire and an insulating encapsulator. The conductive wire has a portion wound into coils. The loop number of the coils is selected from a predetermined set. The coils define a coil opening. The insulating encapsulator encapsulates the coils and defines a core opening. An outline of the core opening is within the coil opening.
A metal core is provided for manufacturing a transformer. Next, coil modules of necessary coil loops are selected. These coil modules are installed so that the core opening of the coil module surrounds the metal core. Besides, these coil modules are arranged as a stack. The coils of two adjacent coil modules are separated by the insulating encapsulators of the two adjacent coil modules.
The procedure of manufacturing transformers is therefore simplified and flexible. Furthermore, the coil modules are stacked directly so that the height of the transformer is reduced. The insulating encapsulator also protects the coils from damage by manufacturing or usage. Therefore, the present invention provides a nice solution for coiling in transformers that is flexible, improves quality and has low manufacturing cost.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5175525 (1992-12-01), Smith
patent: 5726615 (1998-03-01), Bloom
patent: 6583697 (2003-06-01), Koyama et al.
Du Anthony
Wu Steven
Yeh Ming
Delta Electronics , Inc.
Donovan Lincoln
Harness Dickey & Pierce P. L. C.
Poker Jennifer A.
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