Electrical generator or motor structure – Dynamoelectric – Rotary
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-03
2003-05-27
Mullins, Burton S. (Department: 2834)
Electrical generator or motor structure
Dynamoelectric
Rotary
C439S083000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06570280
ABSTRACT:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is based on and incorporates herein by reference Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-244762 filed on Aug. 11, 2000.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solder-bonding structure of a terminal and also to a brushless motor including the terminal having one end connected to exciting coils and the other end solder-bonded to a circuit board through the solder-bonding structure.
2. Description of Related Art
One type of brushless motor used, for example, as a blower motor of a vehicle air conditioning system includes a stator and a circuit board. The stator includes exciting coils, and the circuit board includes an excitation circuit. A power supply terminal for supplying electric power to the exciting coils is electrically connected to the excitation circuit of the circuit board through a connector terminal. One previously proposed structure for connecting the connector terminal to the excitation circuit of the circuit board is shown in
FIGS. 16
to
19
.
As shown in
FIG. 16
, an elongated hole
52
penetrates through the circuit board
51
, and conductors
53
are provided around opposed open ends of the elongated hole
52
, respectively (FIGS.
18
and
19
). As shown in
FIGS. 16-17B
, the connector terminal
54
includes a fitting portion
55
, a bonding portion
56
and a bridge
57
. The fitting portion
55
is fitted to or electrically connected to the power supply terminal (not shown) that is, in turn, connected to the exciting coils. The bonding portion
56
is received within the elongated hole
52
and is solder-bonded to the conductors
53
. The bridge
57
electrically connects between the fitting portion
55
and the bonding portion
56
. With the above arrangement, the exciting coils are electrically connected to the excitation circuit through the connector terminal
54
and the conductors
53
.
With reference to
FIG. 17A
, the elongated hole
52
is formed to receive the plate-shaped bonding portion
56
therein. As shown in
FIGS. 16 and 17B
, a couple of positioning projections
56
a
are provided on opposed ends of the bonding portion
56
, respectively. The positioning projections
56
a
abut against the circuit board
51
and determine a position of the bonding portion
56
in an insertion direction of the bonding portion
56
. At the center of the bonding portion
56
, a slit
56
b
is provided as a through hole that penetrates through a portion of the bonding portion
56
and a portion of the bridge
57
. More specifically, when the bonding portion
56
is inserted to a predetermined position in the elongated hole
52
, the slit
56
b
extends from the bridge
57
to about one half the depth of the elongated hole
52
of the circuit board
14
.
As shown in
FIG. 18
, after the bonding portion
56
is inserted through the elongated hole
52
, the bonding portion
56
is solder-bonded to the conductors
53
. This solder-bonding is conducted as follows. That is, a solder material (not shown) is applied to one flat surface
56
c
(located on the left side in
FIG. 18
) of a base end side region (where the slit
56
b
is formed) of the bonding portion
56
. Then, a soldering iron (not shown) is applied against the other flat surface
56
d
(located on the right side in
FIG. 18
) of the bonding portion
56
to melt the solder material. During this solder-bonding process, melted solder material flows through a flow passage
58
formed by the slit
56
b
toward an opposite side of the bonding portion
56
in a direction perpendicular to the bonding portion
56
. Furthermore, the melted solder material also flows toward an opposite side of the circuit board
51
(toward the distal end side of the bonding portion
56
) through spaces
59
a
,
59
b
formed between the bonding portion
56
and wall surfaces of the elongated hole
52
when the bonding portion
56
is inserted through the elongated hole
52
and is positioned in the center of the cross-section of the elongated hole
52
. In this way, the bonding portion
56
is solder-bonded to the conductors
53
.
However, it may happen that the bonding portion
56
is not positioned in the center of the elongated hole
52
due to, for example, size variation or positioning error of the connector terminal
54
and/or the circuit board
51
(FIG.
19
). If the solder-bonding is conducted while the flat surface
56
d
is engaged with wall surface
52
a
extending in a horizontal direction of the cross-section of the elongated hole
52
, the melted solder material is restrained from flowing toward the distal end side of the flat surface
56
d
of the bonding portion
56
. Thus, as shown in
FIG. 19
, the solder material is accumulated on the distal end side of the flat surface
56
c
of the bonding portion
56
, so that the distal end side of the flat surface
56
d
of the bonding portion
56
is not solder-bonded to the conductor
53
. As a result, bonding strength of the solder-bonded portion is weakened. Especially, in the case of the brushless motor or the like, the connector terminal
54
is connected to the stator, so that the solder-bonded portion can be easily damaged (easily cracked) by vibrations of the stator. In order to avoid this, the distal end side of the bonding portion
56
can be first solder-bonded to the conductor
53
prior to solder-bonding the rest of the bonding portion
56
. However, this will disadvantageously lengthen the solder-bonding operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention addresses the above disadvantages. Thus, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a solder-bonding structure of a terminal that allows easy and proper solder-bonding thereof. It is another objective of the present invention to provided a brushless motor having such a solder-bonding structure of the terminal.
To achieve the objectives of the present invention, there is provided a solder-bonding structure including a circuit board and a plate-shaped terminal. The circuit board has an elongated hole penetrating through the circuit board. The elongated hole is provided with two conductors arranged around opposed open ends of the elongated hole, respectively. The plate-shaped terminal is arranged to be received through the elongated hole of the circuit board and to be solder-bonded to the conductors. The terminal includes at least one flow-passage defining portion that defines at least one flow passage. The at least one flow passage allows flow of melted solder material therethrough in a direction that is generally parallel to a plane of the circuit board and also in a direction that is generally perpendicular to a plane of the circuit board. Alternatively or additionally, the at least one flow passage may allow flow of melted solder material from one of opposed sides of the terminal to the other of opposed sides of the terminal within the elongated hole and may also allows flow of the melted solder material along each one of opposed wall surfaces of the elongated hole from one of the open ends of the elongated hole to the other of the open ends of the elongated hole even when one of the opposed sides of the terminal abuts against one of the opposed wall surfaces of the elongated hole.
There is also provided a brushless motor that includes a stator and a solder-bonding structure. The stator has a plurality of exciting coils. The solder-bonding structure includes a circuit board and a plate-shaped terminal. The circuit board has an excitation circuit for supplying electric current to the plurality of exciting coils. The circuit board has an elongated hole that penetrates through the circuit board. The elongated hole is provided with two conductors arranged around opposed open ends of the elongated hole, respectively. The plate-shaped terminal is electrically connected to the plurality of exciting coils. The terminal is arranged to be received through the elongated hole of the circuit board and to be solder-bonded to the conductors. The terminal includes at least one flow-passage defining
Asmo Co. Ltd.
Mullins Burton S.
Posz & Bethards, PLC
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