Inductor devices – With mounting or supporting means
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-28
2001-06-19
Mai, Anh (Department: 2832)
Inductor devices
With mounting or supporting means
C336S192000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06249202
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
The present invention related to an inductance element used for power supply units for electronic equipment, and the like.
In recent years, to enhance the mounting density of circuit boards for miniaturizing electronic equipment, inductance elements as electronic parts have been required to be miniaturized and thinned, and further to have an electric performance allowed to carry a large current while being miniaturized and thinned.
FIG. 10
shows the structure of a related art inductance element, in which a drum core
20
around which a coil
21
is wound is fixed on a base
22
, and winding terminals
21
a
of the coil are connected to terminal boards
23
mounted on the base
22
. Japanese Utility Model Laid-open Nos. Sho 64-39612 and Hei 5-95010 disclose inductance elements each of which has basically the same structure as that shown in FIG.
10
.
The structure shown in
FIG. 10
, however, has a disadvantage that since the terminal board
23
projects outwardly from the base
22
, there is a fear that the terminal board
23
may be deformed only by applying a slight external force to the terminal board
23
, resulting in a contact failure between the circuit board and the terminal board
23
due to bending of the terminal board
23
and disconnection of the winding terminal
21
a.
FIG. 11
shows the structure of another related art inductance element, in which a terminal board
25
mounted on a base
24
is bent on a bottom surface
26
side of the base
24
. Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei 2-14179 and Japanese Utility Model Laid-open No. Sho 60-74328 disclose inductance elements each of which has basically the same structure as that shown in FIG.
11
. The inductance element having such a structure is advantageous in that since the terminal board
25
does not project outwardly from the base
24
, it is possible to prevent occurrence of the above-described inconvenience that the terminal board
25
Is deformed when an external force is applied to the terminal board
25
.
When the terminal board
25
is bent on the bottom surface
26
side of the base
24
in such a manner as to be brought into contact therewith as shown in
FIG. 11
, the terminal board
25
may spring downwardly out of the bottom surface
26
of the base
24
, as shown by a dotted line in
FIG. 11
, by a so-called spring back caused by elasticity of the terminal board
25
.
If there occurs such downward spring-out of the terminal board
25
, it is impossible to fixedly support the inductance element at a horizontal position upon mounting the inductance element on a circuit board, and therefore, it is difficult to rigidly bond the terminal board
25
on a circuit pattern of the circuit board by soldering. Even when the base
24
is adhesively bonded to the circuit board, since the bottom surface
26
of the base
24
is floated from the surface of the circuit board, it is difficult to certainly, rigidly bond the base
24
to the circuit board, and at the worst case, the inductance element may be peeled from the surface of the circuit board.
OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an inductance element allowed to be rigidly, fixedly supported on a circuit board.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an inductance element having a thickness being small enough to meet the requirement toward thinning of electronic parts.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an inductance element capable of carrying a large current therethrough although it is of a thin type.
According to the present invention, there is provided an inductance element including: a plate-like coil formed by a metal plate as one-turn coil, the coil having a coil portion formed into a branched shape and electrode terminals extending from the branched portions of the coil portion; a base made from an insulating material, in which the plate-like coil is buried with the electrode terminals projecting from the base, the base having through-holes in which legs of a core are to be inserted; and a core mounted in such a manner as to hold the base and thereby hold the plate-like coil buried in the base so as to form a closed magnetic path; wherein the electrode terminals projecting from the base are bent on the bottom surface of the base.
When the plate-like coil is buried in the base, the electrode terminals may project outwardly from the base.
In the plate-like coil in which the electrode terminals are provided on the branched portions of the coil portion, a fixing terminal may be provided on the coil portion. In this case, like the electrode terminals, the fixing terminal may be provided in such a manner as to project outwardly from the base.
The core is generally composed of an E-shaped core and an I-shaped core, and a central leg and side legs of the E-shaped core may be inserted in through-holes formed in the base.
The electrode terminals projecting from the base may be bent with the leading ends thereof disposed on the bottom surface of the base. A base bottom surface portion at which the electrode terminals are disposed is called an “electrode terminal bent portion located bottom surface portion”. In the case of providing the fixing terminal on the coil portion of the plate-like coil, the fixing terminal projecting from the base is bent with the leading end thereof disposed on the bottom surface of the base. A base surface portion at which the fixing terminal is disposed is called a “fixing terminal bent portion located bottom surface portion”. Each of the remaining bottom surface portions, other than the base bottom surface portions at which the electrode terminals and the fixing terminal are disposed, is called a “base bottom portion”. According to the present invention, the electrode terminal bent portion located bottom surface portion may be preferably positioned upwardly from the base bottom portion. In other words, a stepped difference is formed between the electrode terminal bent portion located bottom surface portion and the base bottom portion.
According to the present invention, a recessed groove may be preferably formed between the electrode terminal bent portion located bottom surface portion and the base bottom portion. With this configuration, when the electrode terminal having been bent along the base side surface is further bent on the base bottom surface, the leading end of the electrode terminal can be bent at an angle of 90° or more, with a result that it is possible to prevent occurrence of downward spring-out of the leading end of the electrode terminal due to spring back.
Even in the case of providing the fixing terminal on the plate-like coil, similarly, the fixing terminal bent portion located bottom surface portion may be positioned upwardly from the base bottom portion and a recessed groove may be provided between fixing terminal bent portion located bottom surface portion and the base bottom portion. With this configuration, it is possible to bent the leading end of the fixing terminal at an angle of 90° or more, and hence to prevent occurrence of downward spring-out of the fixing terminal.
According to the present invention, since the plate-like coil is integrally buried in the base and the electrode terminals projecting from the base are bent on the bottom surface of the base, it is possible to realize an inductance element having a small thickness, and hence to contribute to thinning of electronic parts.
Since the plate-like coil is configured as one-turn coil, the coil itself can be thinned. As a result, the base in which the coil is buried can be thinned and also the core holding the base can be thinned, to thereby realize an inductance element thinned as a whole.
Since the base bottom surface portions at which the electrode terminals and fixing terminal are bent and disposed are positioned upwardly from the base bottom portions and recessed grooves are provided between the above base bottom surface portions and the base bottom portions, the electrode terminals and
Mai Anh
Sumida Corporation
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