Power inductor and method for manufacturing the same

• US 10,308,786 B2
• Filed: 04/27/2015
• Issued: 06/04/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Moda-InnoChips Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Moda-InnoChips Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Park, In Kil, Kim, Gyeong Tae, Cho, Seung Hun, Jung, Jun Ho, Nam, Ki Joung, Lee, Jung Gyu
• Primary Examiner(s): Norris, Jeremy C
• Application Number:
  US15/509,852
• Publication Number:
  US 20170256353A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,499 Days
• Field of Search: 336223
• CPC Class Codes: B22F 1/102 Metallic powder coated with organic material
• CPC Class Codes: B22F 1/16 Metallic particles coated with a non-metal coated with lubricating or binding agents or with organic material B22F1/10
• CPC Class Codes: B22F 2301/35 Iron
• CPC Class Codes: B22F 2302/25 Oxide
• CPC Class Codes: B22F 2302/45 Others, including non-metals
• CPC Class Codes: B22F 3/02 Compacting only
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 43/02 of articles of definite length, i.e. discrete articles B29C35/0227 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 65/002 Joining methods not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: B29L 2031/34 Electrical apparatus, e.g. sparking plugs or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: C08K 2003/0856 Iron
• CPC Class Codes: C08K 2003/222 Magnesia, i.e. magnesium oxide
• CPC Class Codes: C08K 2003/282 Binary compounds of nitrogen with aluminium
• CPC Class Codes: C08K 2201/001 Conductive additives
• CPC Class Codes: C08K 2201/01 Magnetic additives
• CPC Class Codes: C08K 3/04 Carbon
• CPC Class Codes: C08K 3/08 Metals
• CPC Class Codes: C08K 3/22 of metals
• CPC Class Codes: C08K 3/28 Nitrogen-containing compounds
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 5/14 Solid materials, e.g. powdery or granular
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 18/1637 metallic substrate
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 18/1653 : Two or more layers with at least one layer obtained by electroless plating and one layer obtained by electroplating
• CPC Class Codes: C25D 7/123 : Semiconductors first coated with a seed layer or a conductive layer
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 17/0013 : with stacked layers
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 17/04 : with magnetic core
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 2017/048 : with encapsulating core, e.g. made of resin and magnetic powder
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 2027/2809 : on stacked layers
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 27/008 : with temperature compensation
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 27/22 : Cooling by heat conduction through solid or powdered fillings
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 27/292 : Surface mounted devices
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 27/34 : Special means for preventing or reducing unwanted electric or magnetic effects, e.g. no-load losses, reactive currents, harmonics, oscillations, leakage fields
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 41/0233 : Manufacturing of magnetic circuits made from sheets magnetic cores made from sheets H01F27/245; soft magnetic alloys in the form of sheets H01F1/16
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 41/041 : Printed circuit coils apparatus or processes for manufacturing printed circuits in general H05K3/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 41/10 : Connecting leads to windings making electric connections in general H01R43/00
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/181 : associated with surface mounted components
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/1003 : Non-printed inductor

Abstract

Provided are a power inductor including a body, a base disposed in the body, a coil disposed on the base, a first external electrode connected to the coil, the first external electrode being disposed on a side surface of the body, and a second external electrode connected to the first external electrode, the second external electrode being disposed on a bottom surface of the body and a method for manufacturing the same.

Claims

1. A power inductor, comprising:

a body having first, second, third and fourth external surfaces, wherein the third external surface is between the first and second external surfaces, wherein the first external surface is opposite the second external surface and wherein the third external surface is opposite the fourth external surface;

a base disposed in the body;

a coil disposed on the base;

a plurality of first external electrodes connected to the coil, the plurality of first external electrode being disposed on first and second external surfaces of the body; and

a second external electrode connected to the first external electrode, the second external electrode being disposed on the third surface of the body,

wherein no external electrode is disposed on the fourth external surface of the body.

2. The power inductor of claim 1, wherein the second external electrode is mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) and spaced apart from a central portion of the third surface of the body.

7. The power inductor of claim 1, further comprising the body comprises metal powder, a polymer, and a thermal conductive filler.

8. The power inductor of claim 7, wherein the metal powder comprises metal alloy powder comprising iron and has a surface coated with at least one of a magnetic material and an insulating material.

9. The power inductor of claim 8, wherein the thermal conductive filler comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of MgO, AlN, and a carbon-based material and is contained in a content of approximately 0.5 wt % to approximately 3 wt %, based on approximately 100 wt % of the metal powder.

10. The power inductor of claim 7, wherein the base is formed by bonding a copper foil to both surfaces of a metal plate comprising iron.

11. The power inductor of claim 7, further comprising a magnetic layer disposed on at least one area of the body and having magnetic permeability greater than that of the body.

12. The power inductor of claim 7, wherein at least two bases are provided, the coils are respectively disposed on the at least two bases, and the coils are connected to each other by a side surface electrode disposed on a fifth surface of the body.

3. A power inductor, comprising:

a body comprising a stepped portion formed on an area of a top surface thereof

a base disposed in the body;

a coil disposed on the base; and

external electrodes connected to the coil, the external electrodes being disposed from first and second surfaces, which are opposite to each other, to upper and lower portions of the body, respectively

wherein each of the external electrodes has a height less than the stepped portion on the upper portion of the body.

4. A power inductor, comprising:

a body;

a base disposed in the body;

a coil disposed on the base;

an external electrode disposed on a surface of the body such that a portion of the body is present between the external electrode and the coil along a direction; and

a connection electrode extending within the body along the direction from the coil to the external electrode,

wherein, along the direction, the coil is arranged between the base and the connection electrode.

5. The power inductor of claim 4, wherein the external electrode is mounted on a PCB and spaced from a central portion of the body.

6. The power inductor of claim 5, wherein the external electrode is grown from the connection electrode.

13. A method for manufacturing a power inductor, the method comprising:

forming a coil on at least one base;

forming a plurality of sheets comprising metal powder and a polymer;

stacking the plurality of sheets with the base therebetween to press the sheets, and then molding the sheets to form a body having first, second, third and fourth external surfaces, wherein the third external surface is between the first and second external surfaces, wherein the first external surface is opposite the second external surface and wherein the third external surface is opposite the fourth external surface;

forming a plurality of second external electrodes on the third external surface of the body so as to be spaced apart from one another; and

forming a plurality of first external electrodes each connected to the plurality of second external electrodes on the first and second external surfaces of the body,

wherein no external electrode is disposed on the fourth external surface of the body.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the plurality of second external electrodes are bonded to a copper foil, and then a plating process is performed to grow a plated layer from the copper foil.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein the base is formed by bonding the copper foil to at least one surface of the metal plate comprising iron.

15. A method for manufacturing a power inductor, the method comprising:

forming a coil on at least one base;

forming a plurality of sheets comprising metal powder and a polymer, in which a hole is formed in a predetermined area thereof;

stacking the plurality of sheets with the base therebetween, compressing the sheets, and then molding the sheets to form a passing hole exposing a predetermined area of the coil;

filling the passing hole to form a connection electrode; and

forming an external electrode on a surface of the body and connecting the external electrode to the connection electrode.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the connection electrode is formed by performing an electroless plating process to fill at least a portion of the passing hole and then performing an electroplating process to fill the passing hole, wherein the external electrode grows from the connection electrode by the electroplating process.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the base is formed by bonding the copper foil to at least one surface of the metal plate comprising iron.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the sheet further comprises a thermal conductive filler.