Winding bobbin and winding component

Abstract

A winding bobbin includes a bobbin main body constructed in a ring shape so as to house a ring-shaped core and a plurality of partitions that are provided at intervals in a circumferential direction of the bobbin main body and formed so as to protrude from a surface of the bobbin main body. A winding is formed by winding a conductive wire in winding regions on the surface that are partitioned by the partitions. The partitions each include a flange that is formed of a U-shaped plate that protrudes from the surface at three positions out of four positions that are an outer circumference, an inner circumference, and two sides of the bobbin main body, with one position omitted, and a protrusion that is formed so as to protrude from at least one out of two opening-side ends of the flange.

Claims

1. A winding bobbin comprising: a bobbin main body constructed in a ring shape so as to be capable of housing a ring-shaped core; and a plurality of partitions that are provided at intervals in a circumferential direction of the bobbin main body and are formed so as to protrude from a surface of the bobbin main body, wherein a winding is formed by winding a conductive wire in winding regions on the surface that are partitioned by the partitions, and the partitions each include: a flange that is formed of a U-shaped plate that protrudes from the surface at three positions out of four positions that are an outer circumference, an inner circumference, and two sides of the bobbin main body, with one position omitted; and a protrusion that is formed so as to protrude from at least one out of two opening-side ends of the flange.

2. The winding bobbin according to claim 1, wherein the flange is formed of the U-shaped plate that protrudes from the surface at three positions that do not include the inner circumference.

3. The winding bobbin according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion is formed on both of the two opening-side ends of the flange.

4. The winding bobbin according to claim 2, wherein the protrusion is formed on both of the two opening-side ends of the flange.

5. A winding component comprising: a winding bobbin including a bobbin main body constructed in a ring shape so as to be capable of housing a ring-shaped core and a plurality of partitions that are provided at intervals in a circumferential direction of the bobbin main body and are formed so as to protrude from a surface of the bobbin main body, wherein a winding is formed by winding a conductive wire in winding regions on the surface that are partitioned by the partitions, and the partitions each include a flange that is formed of a U-shaped plate that protrudes from the surface at three positions out of four positions that are an outer circumference, an inner circumference, and two sides of the bobbin main body, with one position omitted, and a protrusion that is formed so as to protrude from at least one out of two opening-side ends of the flange; the ring-shaped core that is housed in the winding bobbin; and the winding that is formed in the winding regions of the winding bobbin.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) These and other objects and features of the present invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 is a plan view of a winding component 1;

(3) FIG. 2 is a plan view of the winding component 1 in which a part surrounded by a circle C1 in FIG. 1 is enlarged;

(4) FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a core 2 and a bobbin 3;

(5) FIG. 4 is a plan view of the core 2 and the bobbin 3;

(6) FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the bobbin 3;

(7) FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the bobbin 3 in which a part surrounded by a circle C2 in FIG. 5 is enlarged;

(8) FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view along a line B-B in FIG. 4;

(9) FIG. 8 is a diagram useful in explaining a method of forming the winding 4 on the bobbin 3;

(10) FIG. 9 is a partial cross-sectional view of a bobbin 103;

(11) FIG. 10 is a partial cross-sectional view of a bobbin 203; and

(12) FIG. 11 is a partial cross-sectional view of a bobbin 303.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(13) Preferred embodiments of a winding bobbin and a winding component will now be described with reference to the attached drawings.

(14) First, the configuration of a winding component 1 depicted in FIG. 1 will be described as one example of a winding component according to the present invention. As one example, the winding component 1 is a toroidal coil used as a current sensor that detects the current flowing in a conductor in a contactless state (i.e., without contacting the conductor), and as depicted in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, is equipped with a core 2, a bobbin 3 (or winding bobbin), and a winding 4.

(15) As depicted in FIG. 3, the core 2 is formed of a magnetic material in a ring (toroidal) shape.

(16) As depicted in FIG. 4, the bobbin 3 includes a bobbin main body 11 and a plurality of partitions 12 (as one example, forty partitions 12). As depicted in FIGS. 3, 5, and 6, the bobbin 3 is configured so as to be split at a central position in the thickness direction into two members, namely a first member 3a and a second member 3b. That is, the bobbin 3 is constructed of the first member 3a and the second member 3b that are formed with the same thickness (or substantially the same thickness) and are capable of fitting together.

(17) The bobbin main body 11 is formed for example of an insulating material such as resin, and as depicted in FIG. 4, is constructed in a ring shape so as to be capable of housing the core 2. As depicted in FIG. 7, the bobbin main body 11 is formed with a cross section in the form of a rectangular frame and is provided with a housing 11e that internally houses the core 2.

(18) The partitions 12 are members that partition a surface 21 of the bobbin main body 11, and as depicted in FIG. 4, the partitions 12 are provided on the surface 21 of the bobbin main body 11 at intervals along a circumferential direction A of the bobbin main body 11 (in the present embodiment, at fixed (i.e., equal) intervals). As depicted in FIGS. 6 and 7, the partitions 12 are formed so as to protrude from the surface 21 of the bobbin main body 11. More specifically, as depicted in FIG. 7, the partitions 12 include flanges 31 and protrusions 32a and 32b (hereinafter referred to as the protrusions 32 when not distinguishing between the protrusions 32a and 32b).

(19) As depicted in FIG. 7, the flanges 31 are formed of plates that are U-shaped in plan view (the expression plan view here refers to the state when looking from the circumferential direction A depicted in FIG. 4) that protrude perpendicularly from the surface 21 at three positions, namely the outer circumference 11a and the sides 11c and 11d, out of the outer circumference 11a, the inner circumference 11b, and the sides 11c and 11d of the bobbin main body 11, with the inner circumference 11b omitted as one example of one position for the present invention. That is, the surface 21 at the inner circumference 11b of the bobbin main body 11 is a partitionless position where the flanges 31 are not formed.

(20) As depicted in FIG. 7, the protrusions 32a and 32b are formed so as to protrude in a direction toward the center of the bobbin 3 (rightward in FIG. 7) from the two opening-side ends (i.e., the ends on the right in FIG. 7) of the flanges 31.

(21) By providing the partitions 12 that protrude from the surface 21 of the bobbin main body 11, as depicted in FIGS. 2 and 6, a plurality of winding regions F (as described later, regions in which the conductive wire 50 is wound, in this example, forty regions) that are partitioned at equal intervals by the partitions 12 are provided on the surface 21 of the bobbin 3.

(22) The winding 4 is formed by winding the conductive wire 50 in the winding regions F described above. Note that the windings wound in the individual winding regions F, or in other words, the elements that construct the winding 4, are also referred to as the unit windings 4a (see FIG. 2). Although the unit windings 4a are formed with the same number of turns in this example, it is also possible to form the unit windings 4a with different numbers of turns. Also, the unit windings 4a may be formed of a single layer or may be formed of multiple layers in a range where the thickness of an individual winding from the surface 21 of the core 2 is below the height of the partitions 12.

(23) As described above, on the winding component 1, the surface 21 on the inner circumference 11b-side of the bobbin main body 11 is a partitionless position where the flanges 31 are not formed. After a unit winding 4a has been formed in a given winding region F, when a unit winding 4a is formed in the next adjacent winding region F, the conductive wire 50 is wound so as to cross the surface 21 at the inner circumference 11b that is a partitionless position where no flanges 31 are formed. This means that the conductive wire 50 is not wound so as to cross any of the partitions 12, and as a result, a situation where stress is applied to the conductive wire 50 due to the conductive wire 50 crossing a partition 12 is completely prevented.

(24) Next, one example of a method of assembling the winding component 1 will be described with reference to the drawings.

(25) First, as depicted in FIG. 3, the core 2 is inserted into the first member 3a (i.e., half the bobbin main body 11) that constructs the bobbin 3 and then the second member 3b that also constructs the bobbin 3 is fitted onto the first member 3a so as to cover the core 2 with the second member 3b. By doing so, the core 2 is housed in the housing 11e (see FIG. 7) of the bobbin main body 11 of the bobbin 3. Note that in the following description, the core 2 and the bobbin 3 in this state where the core 2 is housed in the bobbin 3 are also collectively referred to as the winding component main body 10 (see FIG. 8).

(26) Next, the winding 4 is formed. Here, although it is possible to form the winding 4 by a manual operation, an example where a toroidal coil winder 60 is used to form the winding 4 is described below.

(27) As depicted in FIG. 8, the toroidal coil winder 60 of this type includes a plurality of rollers 61 (here, four rollers 61) that contact the outer circumference of the bobbin 3 (in this example, the front ends of plates 41 depicted in FIG. 7) and cause the winding component main body 10 to rotate about a center O, a shuttle ring 62 that is formed in a ring shape, is capable of holding the conductive wire 50, and winds the conductive wire 50 around the winding component main body 10 by rotating in a state where the shuttle ring 62 is disposed so as to be perpendicular to the winding component main body 10, and a control unit, not illustrated, that controls rotation of the respective rollers 61 and rotation of the shuttle ring 62.

(28) When the toroidal coil winder 60 described above is used to form the winding 4, as depicted in FIG. 8, the winding component main body 10 is set so that the rollers 61 contact the outer circumference of the bobbin 3 and then the toroidal coil winder 60 is started. After this, the control unit starts rotation of the rollers 61 and the shuttle ring 62. By doing so, winding of the conductive wire 50 onto the winding component main body 10 for the conductive wire 50 starts.

(29) Here, when the conductive wire 50 has been wound for a number of turns decided in advance to form a unit winding 4a in one winding region F (see FIGS. 2 and 5) of the bobbin 3, the control unit controls rotation of the rollers 61 and the shuttle ring 62 so that the conductive wire 50 crosses the surface 21 at the inner circumference 11b of the bobbin main body 11 (i.e., the partitionless position where no flanges 31 are formed: see FIG. 7) to move to the next winding region F that is adjacent. In this way, by causing the conductive wire 50 to cross the partitionless position with no flanges 31 to the next winding region F that is adjacent, a situation where stress is applied to the conductive wire 50 due to the conductive wire 50 being wound so as to cross a partition 12 is completely prevented.

(30) Also, with the bobbin 3, since the flanges 31 of the partitions 12 are formed of plates which are U-shaped in plan view and protrude perpendicularly from the surface 21 at three positions composed of the outer circumference 11a and the sides 11c and 11d of the bobbin main body 11, compared to the conventional configuration where the partitions 12 are formed on only the surface 21 at the outer circumference 11a, collapsing of the windings of the conductive wire 50 that can cause fluctuations in the properties of the winding component 1 can be suppressed.

(31) Also, with the bobbin 3, the protrusions 32a and 32b are formed so as to protrude from the two opening-side ends 41a and 41b of the flanges 31. This means that with the bobbin 3, it is possible to suppress the amount of conductive wire 50 that protrudes into the next adjacent winding region F even at the inner circumference 11b of a winding region F where the flanges 31 are not formed. As a result, it is possible to suppress collapsing of the individual windings, even at the inner circumference 11b of the winding regions F.

(32) Since the bobbin 3 has the protrusions 32a and 32b formed on both of the opening-side ends 41a and 41b of the flanges 31, compared to a configuration where a protrusion 32 is formed on only one of the opening-side ends 41a and 41b, it is possible to suppress collapsing of the windings at the inner circumference 11b of the winding regions F more thoroughly.

(33) With the bobbin 3, the flanges 31 are formed of plates that are U-shaped in plan view and protrude perpendicularly from the surface 21 at the outer circumference 11a and the sides 11c and 11d of the bobbin main body 11 (i.e., three positions but not the inner circumference 11b). That is, the surface 21 of the inner circumference 11b is a partitionless position where the flanges 31 are not formed. Here, since the perimeter (i.e., the length around the outside) of the surface 21 at the inner circumference 11b of the bobbin main body 11 is shorter than the perimeter of the surface 21 at the outer circumference 11a, the length of the surface 21 at the inner circumference 11b in each winding region F is shorter than the length of the surface 21 at the outer circumference 11a and the lengths of the surface 21 at the sides 11c and 11d. This means that when the number of turns of the conductive wire 50 wound in the winding regions F is high, it is easy for fattening, where the winding becomes fat due to parts of the conductive wire 50 overlapping one another, to occur at the inner circumference 11b of the winding region F. Fattening can cause fluctuations in the properties of the winding component 1. With a configuration where the flanges 31 are formed on the inner circumference 11b of the bobbin main body 11, the length of the inner circumference 11b in a winding region F will be shorter by the thickness of a flange 31, which causes a corresponding increase in the likelihood of fattening and fluctuations in the properties of the winding component 1 due to fattening. With the bobbin 3 however, since the inner circumference 11b is a partitionless position where the flanges 31 are not formed, compared to a configuration where the flanges 31 are formed on the inner circumference 11b, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of fattening, and as a result, it is possible to suppress fluctuations in the properties of the winding component 1 due to fattening.

(34) After this, when the unit windings 4a have been formed on all of the winding regions F, the control unit stops the rollers 61 and the shuttle ring 62. By doing so, the winding 4 composed of the unit windings 4a is formed on the winding component main body 10 to complete the winding component 1. After this, the winding component 1 (that is, the winding component main body 10 on which the winding 4 has been formed) is removed from the toroidal coil winder 60. By doing so, assembly of the winding component 1 is completed.

(35) In this way, according to the bobbin 3 and the winding component 1, the partitions 12 include the flanges 31 that are formed of U-shaped plates that protrude from the surface 21 at the outer circumference 11a and the sides 11c and 11d (i.e., three positions) of the bobbin main body 11, so that compared to the conventional configuration where the partitions 12 are formed on only the surface 21 at the outer circumference 11a, it is possible to prevent collapsing of the windings of the conductive wire 50 that can cause fluctuations in the properties of the winding component 1 and to suppress contact between the unit windings 4a in adjacent winding regions F that can cause parasitic capacitance. Also, according to the bobbin 3 and the winding component 1, by constructing the individual partitions 12 so as to include the protrusions 32a and 32b that are formed so as to protrude from at least one of the two opening-side ends 41a and 41b of the flanges 31 (in the present embodiment, from both of the opening-side ends 41a and 41b), it is possible to suppress protrusion of the conductive wire 50 into other winding regions F that are adjacent, even at the inner circumference 11b of a winding region F where the flanges 31 are not formed. As a result, at the inner circumference 11b of the winding regions F also, it is possible to prevent collapsing of the windings and to suppress contact between the unit windings 4a in the respective adjacent winding regions F. Accordingly, with the bobbin 3 and the winding component 1, it is possible to sufficiently suppress fluctuations in the properties of the winding component 1 due to collapsing and parasitic capacitance caused by contact between the unit windings 4a in adjacent winding regions F.

(36) With the bobbin 3 and the winding component 1, the flanges 31 are formed of U-shaped plates that protrude from the surface 21 at the outer circumference 11a and the sides 11c and 11d of the bobbin main body 11 but not at the inner circumference 11b. That is, the surface 21 of the inner circumference 11b is a partitionless position where the flanges 31 are not formed. Here, with a configuration where the flanges 31 are formed at the inner circumference 11b of the winding regions F where the length of the surface 21 is shorter than the length of the surface 21 at the outer circumference 11a and the length of the surface 21 at the sides 11c and 11d, the length of the surface 21 of the winding regions F at the inner circumference 11b will be even shorter, which makes fattening that can cause fluctuations in the properties more likely to occur. On the other hand, according to the bobbin 3 and the winding component 1, by setting the surface 21 of the inner circumference 11b as a partitionless position where the flanges 31 are not formed, compared to a configuration where the flanges 31 are formed at the inner circumference 11b, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of fattening. As a result, it is possible to sufficiently suppress fluctuations in the properties of the winding component 1 due to fattening.

(37) According to the bobbin 3 and the winding component 1, by forming the protrusions 32a and 32b on both of the two opening-side ends 41a and 41b of the flanges 31, compared to a configuration where a protrusion 32 is formed on only one of the opening-side ends 41a and 41b, it is possible to further suppress the occurrence of collapsing of the windings at the inner circumference 11b of the winding regions F, and possible to further reduce fluctuations in the properties of the winding component 1 due to the collapsing of the windings.

(38) Note that the configurations of the winding bobbin and the winding component are not limited to the configurations described above. As one example, it is possible to configure a bobbin 103 depicted in FIG. 9 and a winding component 1 equipped with the bobbin 103. Note that in the following description, component elements that are the same as the bobbin 3 described above have been assigned the same reference numerals and duplicated description thereof is omitted. As depicted in FIG. 9, the bobbin 103 includes partitions 112 in place of the partitions 12 described above. As depicted in FIG. 9, the partitions 112 include flanges 131 and protrusions 132a and 132b.

(39) As depicted in FIG. 9, the flanges 131 are formed of plates that are U-shaped in plan view that protrude perpendicularly from the surface 21 at three positions, namely the sides 11c and 11d and the inner circumference 11b, out of the outer circumference 11a, the inner circumference 11b, and the sides 11c and 11d of the bobbin main body 11, with the outer circumference 11a omitted as one example of one position for the present invention. That is, the surface 21 at the outer circumference 11a of the bobbin main body 11 is a partitionless position where the flanges 131 are not formed.

(40) As depicted in FIG. 9, the protrusions 132a and 132b are formed so as to protrude in a direction (i.e., leftward in FIG. 9) that is opposite to a direction toward the center of the bobbin 103 from at least one of the two opening-side ends 141a and 141b of the flanges 131 (in the present embodiment, from both the opening-side ends 141a and 141b).

(41) With the bobbin 103 also, by constructing the partitions 112 so as to include the flanges 131 formed of U-shaped plates that protrude from the surface 21 at the sides 11c and 11d and inner circumference 11b of the bobbin main body 11 (that is, at three positions) and the protrusions 132a and 132b that are formed so as to protrude from at least one of the two opening-side ends 141a and 141b of the flanges 131 (in the present embodiment, from both the opening-side ends 141a and 141b), it is possible to suppress collapsing of the individual windings. As a result, it is possible to sufficiently reduce both fluctuations in the properties of the winding component 1 due to collapsing and parasitic capacitance due to contact between unit windings 4a in adjacent winding regions F.

(42) It is also possible to configure a bobbin 203 depicted in FIG. 10 and a winding component 1 equipped with the bobbin 203. Note that in the following description, component elements that are the same as the bobbin 3 described above have been assigned the same reference numerals and duplicated description thereof is omitted. As depicted in FIG. 10, the bobbin 203 includes partitions 212 in place of the partitions 12 described above. As depicted in FIG. 10, the partitions 212 include flanges 231 and protrusions 232a and 232b.

(43) As depicted in FIG. 10, the flanges 231 are formed of plates that are U-shaped in plan view and protrude perpendicularly from the surface 21 at three positions, namely, the outer circumference 11a, the inner circumference 11b, and the side 11c, out of the outer circumference 11a, the inner circumference 11b, and the sides 11c and 11d of the bobbin main body 11, with the side 11d omitted as one example of one position for the present invention. That is, the surface 21 at the side 11d of the bobbin main body 11 is a partitionless position where the flanges 231 are not formed.

(44) Also, as depicted in FIG. 10, the protrusions 232a and 232b are formed so as to protrude upward in FIG. 10 from at least one of the two opening-side ends 241a and 241b of the flanges 231 (in the present embodiment, from both the opening-side ends 241a and 241b).

(45) With the bobbin 203 also, by constructing the partitions 212 so as to include the flanges 231 formed of U-shaped plates that protrude from the surface 21 at the outer circumference 11a, the inner circumference 11b, and the side 11c of the bobbin main body 11 (that is, at three positions), and the protrusions 232a and 232b that are formed so as to protrude from at least one of the two opening-side ends 241a and 241b of the flanges 231 (in the present embodiment, from both the opening-side ends 241a and 241b), it is possible to sufficiently reduce both fluctuations in the properties of the winding component 1 due to collapsing and parasitic capacitance due to contact between unit windings 4a in adjacent winding regions F.

(46) It is also possible to configure a bobbin 303 depicted in FIG. 11 and a winding component 1 equipped with the bobbin 303. Note that in the following description, component elements that are the same as the bobbin 3 described above have been assigned the same reference numerals and duplicated description thereof is omitted. As depicted in FIG. 11, the bobbin 303 includes partitions 312 in place of the partitions 12 described above. As depicted in FIG. 11, the partitions 312 include flanges 331 and protrusions 332a and 332b.

(47) As depicted in FIG. 11, the flanges 331 are formed of plates that are U-shaped in plan view and protrude perpendicularly from the surface 21 at three positions, namely the outer circumference 11a, the inner circumference 11b, and the side 11d, out of the outer circumference 11a, the inner circumference 11b, and the sides 11c and 11d of the bobbin main body 11, with the side 11c omitted as one example of one position for the present invention. That is, the surface 21 of the side 11c of the bobbin main body 11 is a partitionless position where the flanges 331 are not formed.

(48) Also, as depicted in FIG. 11, the protrusions 332a and 332b are formed so as to protrude downward in FIG. 11 from at least one of the two opening-side ends 341a and 341b of the flanges 331 (in the present embodiment, from both the opening-side ends 341a and 341b).

(49) With the bobbin 303 also, by constructing the partitions 312 so as to include the flanges 331 formed of U-shaped plates that protrude from the surface 21 at the outer circumference 11a, the inner circumference 11b, and the side 11d of the bobbin main body 11 (that is, at three positions), and the protrusions 332a and 332b that are formed so as to protrude from at least one of the two opening-side ends 341a and 341b of the flanges 331 (in the present embodiment, both the opening-side ends 341a and 341b), it is possible to suppress the occurrence of collapsing, which means that it is possible to sufficiently reduce both fluctuations in the properties of the winding component 1 due to collapsing and parasitic capacitance due to contact between the respective unit windings 4a in adjacent winding regions F.

(50) Although examples where the protrusions are formed on both of the two opening-side ends of the flanges have been described above, it is also possible to use configurations where a protrusion is formed on only one of the two opening-side ends.

(51) Also, as depicted in FIG. 1, although the winding components 1 where the winding 4 is formed in every winding region F have been described as examples, it is also possible to use configurations where the winding 4 is formed in only some of the winding regions F.

(52) Although examples where the bobbin 3 is constructed by the first member 3a and the second member 3b that are formed with the same thickness (or substantially the same thickness) have been described above, it is also possible to construct the bobbin 3 of the first member 3a and the second member 3b that are formed with respectively different thicknesses. It is also possible to construct the bobbin 3 from three or more members.

(53) Also, although an example where the present invention is applied to the winding component 1 as a toroidal coil to be used for example as a current sensor has been described above, it is also possible for example to apply the present invention to a winding component that functions as a transformer constructed by forming a plurality of windings 4 that are not electrically connected on the winding component main body 10.