SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE, PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD (PCB), AND METHOD OF INTERFACING CONTROL PIN (GATE PIN) OF A POWER SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE (MOSFET) TO A PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD (PCB) IN A BATTERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (BMS)

Abstract

Provided is a MOSFET device for use with a printed circuit board (PCB) of a battery management system (BMS), the device including a semiconductor body; a metal conductor extending outwardly from a side of the semiconductor body; a plurality of power pins extending outwardly from at least one side of the semiconductor body, the power pins having tips bent downwardly; a gate pin extending outwardly from at least one side of the semiconductor body, wherein the tip of the gate pin is raised or elevated relative to the tips of the power pins so as to avoid electrical contact with the one of the spaced apart copper plates, and wherein the tip of the gate pin is connected to a circuit of the battery management system (BMS).

Claims

1. A MOSFET device for use with a printed circuit board (PCB) of a battery management system (BMS), the device comprising: a semiconductor body; a metal conductor extending outwardly from a side of the semiconductor body; a plurality of power pins extending outwardly from at least one side of the semiconductor body, the power pins having tips bent downwardly; a gate pin extending outwardly from at least one side of the semiconductor body, wherein the tip of the gate pin is raised or elevated relative to the tips of the power pins so as to avoid electrical contact with the one of the spaced apart copper plates, and wherein the tip of the gate pin is connected to a circuit of the battery management system (BMS).

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the gate pin is a straight gate pin.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the power pins have a fully bent configuration and the gate pin has a partially bent configuration.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein a lower surface of the tips of the power pins are located in a same plane as a lower surface of the semiconductor body.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the gate pin is connected to a trace of the printed circuit board (PCB) for connecting the gate pin to a circuit of the battery management system (BMS).

6. The device according to claim 5, wherein the gate pin is connected to the trace of the printed circuit board by a connector wire.

7. The device according to claim 1, wherein the gate pin is connected to a gate printed circuit board connected to the printed circuit board (PCB) for connecting the gate pin to a circuit of the battery management system (BMS).

8. A printed circuit board (PCB) device for use with a battery management system (BMS) of a lithium ion battery, comprising; a printed circuit board having spaced apart copper plates; and a plurality of MOSFETs bridging the copper plates, the MOSFETs each comprising: a semiconductor body; a plurality of power pins extending outwardly from at least one side of the semiconductor body, the power pins having tips bent downwardly and connected to one of the spaced apart copper plates; a gate pin extending outwardly from at least one side of the semiconductor body, the gate pin connected to a circuit of the battery management system (BMS), wherein the tip of the gate pin is raised or elevated relative to the tips of the power pins so as to avoid electrical contact with the one of the spaced apart cooper plates, and wherein the tip of the gate pin is connected to a circuit of the battery management system (BMS).

9. The device according to claim 8, wherein the gate pin is a straight gate pin.

10. The device according to claim 8, wherein the gate pin is a partially bent gate pin.

11. A method of connecting a MOSFET to a printed circuit board (PCB) of a battery management system (BMS), the method comprising: locating a tip of a gate pin of the MOSFET at a raised or elevated position relative to tips of power pins of the MOSFET; installing the MOSFET bridging a pair of spaced apart copper plates located on a printed circuit board (PCB) of the battery management system (BMS) with the tips of the power pins connected to one of the spaced apart copper plates and a metal connector of the MOSFET connected to the other of the spaced apart copper plates; and electrically connecting the raised or elevated tip of the gate pin to a circuit of the battery management system (BMS).

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the power pins of the MOSFET are bent, and the gate pin of the MOSFET is a straight gate pin with a raised or elevated tip.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the power pins of the MOSFET are bent, and the gate pin of the MOSFET is a partially bent gate pin with a raised or elevated tip.

14. The method according to claim 11, wherein the gate pin is electrically connected to the circuit of the battery management system (BMS) with a connecting wire.

15. The method according to claim 11, wherein the gate pin is electrically connected to the circuit of the battery management system (BMS) with a gate printed circuit board (PCB).

16. The method according to claim 11, wherein a connection of the gate pin with the circuit of the battery management system (BMS) is mechanically stabilized by providing a resilient material between the connection of the gate pin and the surface of the printed circuit board (PCB).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0033] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional MOSFET having a standard configuration of the power pins and gate pin. Specifically, the tips of the power pins and gate pin are all located is a same plane and along a same axis in the same plane.

[0034] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a semiconductor device (e.g. MOSFET) according to the present invention.

[0035] FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the semiconductor device shown in FIG. 2.

[0036] FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the semiconductor device shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 installed onto a printed circuit board of a battery management system (BMS) for use in a lithium ion battery.

[0037] FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the semiconductor device shown in FIG. 4 installed onto a printed circuit board of a battery management system (BMS) for use in a lithium ion battery showing the connector wire protected.

[0038] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the printed circuit board (PCB) of the battery management system (BMS) showing multiple semiconductor devices shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 installed onto the printed circuit board (PCB) of a battery management system (BMS) for use in a lithium ion battery.

[0039] FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the semiconductor device shown in FIG. 2 installed in an alternative manner onto a printed circuit board of a battery management system (BMS) for use in a lithium ion battery.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] A semiconductor device (e.g. MOSFET 10) according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

[0041] The MOSFET 10 comprises a body 12, a metal connector 12A, five (5) power pins 13, and one (1) gate pin 14. The power pins 13 and gate pin 14 extend outwardly from the side of the body 12. The gate pin 14, for example, is a straight gate pin 14, or a partially bent gate pin 14 (FIG. 2), and the power pins 14 are fully bent, as shown in FIG. 4).

[0042] It is pointed out that the tips of the power pins 13 are located at height H1, as shown in FIG. 2. The height of the tip of the partially bent gate pin 14′ is at the height H2 (i.e. half height location), and the height of the tip of the straight gate pin 14 is at the height H3 (i.e. full height). Thus, the tip of the partially bent gate pin 14′ and the tip of the straight gate pin 14 are elevated relative to the tips of the power pins 13 located at height H1. Thus, after the MOSFET 10 is installed, the tip of the partially bent gate pin 14′ and the tip of the straight gate pin 14 are raised or elevated relative to the conductive plate 18 (FIG. 4) to avoid electrically contact therebetween.

[0043] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the MOSFET 10 and copper plates 17, 18 are installed onto the printed circuit board (PCB) 16. Specifically, the copper plates 17, 18 are spaced apart, and then soldered onto anchors located on the printed circuit board (PCB) 16 (e.g. copper plates embedded into the surface or thickness or through the printed circuit board (PCB) 16). The MOSFET 10 is then soldered onto the spaced apart copper plates 17, 18. Specifically, the metal connector 12A of the MOSFET 10 is soldered (e.g. via soldered layer 20) onto the copper plate 17, and the tips of the power pins 13 of the MOSFET 10 are soldered (e.g. via soldered layer 21) onto the copper plate 18. Further, one end of a wire connector 15 is soldered to the gate pin 14, and an opposite end of the wire connector 15 is soldered (e.g. via soldered layer 19) onto a particular trace of the printed circuit board (PCB) 16.

[0044] As shown in FIG. 5, a material 22 (e.g. Room Temperature Vulcanizing (RTV) Silicone) is applied at least between the gate pin 14 and the upper surface of the printed circuit board (PCB) 22 to stabilize and support the gate pin 14 and wire connector 15 against vibration and/or physical shock to prevent breakage of the soldered connection between the gate pin 14 and wire connector 15. For example, the material 22 is applied by a caulk gun.

[0045] Another arrangement for installing one or more MOFETs 112 onto a printed circuit board (PCB) 116 according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. A plurality of MOFETs 112 (e.g. six (6) shown) are installed by soldering onto the spaced apart copper plates 118, 117, 118. The tips of the power pins 113 are soldered onto the respective copper plates 118. The tips of the gate pins 114 are soldered onto respective gate printed circuit boards 123 connected to the copper plates 118, 118 (e.g. by soldering). Specifically, the gate printed circuit boards 123 are provided with a plurality of soldering tabs or soldering areas 124, which are soldered to the respective tips of the straight gate pins 114.

[0046] The gate printed circuit boards 123 act as insulating spacers located between the copper plates 118, 118 and the tips of the gate pins 124. The gate printed circuit boards have a conductive trace or a conductive layer that can be connected (e.g. soldered) to other circuits or components of the printed circuit board 116 (e.g. via wire or conductive lead(s)).

[0047] The gate printed circuit boards 123 occupy the space located between the copper plates 118 and the tips of the gate pins 114 of the MOSFETs 112, and insulate the tips of the gate pins 114 of the MOSFETs 112 from the copper plates 118.