EP0549060B1 - Thermoplastic-composition resistor and method of manufacture - Google Patents

Thermoplastic-composition resistor and method of manufacture Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0549060B1
EP0549060B1 EP19920203976 EP92203976A EP0549060B1 EP 0549060 B1 EP0549060 B1 EP 0549060B1 EP 19920203976 EP19920203976 EP 19920203976 EP 92203976 A EP92203976 A EP 92203976A EP 0549060 B1 EP0549060 B1 EP 0549060B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
resistor
terminals
mixture
rod
predetermined
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP19920203976
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0549060A3 (en
EP0549060A2 (en
Inventor
Robert Fielding Aycock
Stanley Bowlin
Gilbert Lee Marshall
Max Markvicka
Paul Robert Strandin
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Koninklijke Philips NV
Original Assignee
Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV
Philips Electronics NV
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV, Philips Electronics NV filed Critical Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV
Publication of EP0549060A2 publication Critical patent/EP0549060A2/en
Publication of EP0549060A3 publication Critical patent/EP0549060A3/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0549060B1 publication Critical patent/EP0549060B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01C—RESISTORS
    • H01C1/00—Details
    • H01C1/14—Terminals or tapping points or electrodes specially adapted for resistors; Arrangements of terminals or tapping points or electrodes on resistors
    • H01C1/144—Terminals or tapping points or electrodes specially adapted for resistors; Arrangements of terminals or tapping points or electrodes on resistors the terminals or tapping points being welded or soldered
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01C—RESISTORS
    • H01C17/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing resistors
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01C—RESISTORS
    • H01C17/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing resistors
    • H01C17/06—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing resistors adapted for coating resistive material on a base
    • H01C17/065—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing resistors adapted for coating resistive material on a base by thick film techniques, e.g. serigraphy
    • H01C17/06506—Precursor compositions therefor, e.g. pastes, inks, glass frits
    • H01C17/06513—Precursor compositions therefor, e.g. pastes, inks, glass frits characterised by the resistive component
    • H01C17/0652—Precursor compositions therefor, e.g. pastes, inks, glass frits characterised by the resistive component containing carbon or carbides
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01C—RESISTORS
    • H01C17/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing resistors
    • H01C17/22—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing resistors adapted for trimming
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01C—RESISTORS
    • H01C7/00—Non-adjustable resistors formed as one or more layers or coatings; Non-adjustable resistors made from powdered conducting material or powdered semi-conducting material with or without insulating material
    • H01C7/001—Mass resistors

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a resistor capable of dissipating substantial power and to a method for making such a resistor.
  • the invention relates to a leaded resistor having a thermoplastic-composition body and to the manufacture of such a resistor.
  • the most commonly used resistor is the carbon-composition resistor. It is rugged, is readily available in a wide range of resistance values, will dissipate substantial power, and can be manufactured to a resistance tolerance of about 5%. Despite its popularity, however, the carbon-composition resistor has a number of disadvantages:
  • JP-A-54 152 197 describes a semiconductive resistor body which comprises ethylene vinyl acetate as a thermoplastic resin, mixed with acetylene black and another carbon black.
  • a resistor which has all of the advantages of a carbon-composition resistor, and none of the disadvantages.
  • a resistor is to be provided which has an accurately-predictable resistance, regardless of when or on which assembly line it is made, which has a resistance that does not substantially vary with temperature or humidity at the time of manufacture or in use, and which has leads with a solderability that is not impaired during the manufacturing process.
  • a resistor body as defined in claim 1, a resistor as defined in claim 6, and methods as defined in claims 3 and 7.
  • the resistor body comprises a rod of predetermined cross-sectional area which is formed from a coextrudated mixture comprising a thermoplastic resin, acetylene black and another carbon black.
  • the ratio of thermoplastic resin to carbon material determines the resistivity of the body.
  • the ratio of acetylene black to carbon black determines the thermal coefficient of resistance of the resistor body.
  • the resistor body according to the present invention comprises 3-12 % by weight of acetylene black and 1-5 % by weight of another carbon black, calculated on the total weight of the resistor body.
  • the weight ratio of acetylene black and another carbon black in the resistor of the present invention lies between 2,5:1 and 3,5:1. According to these preferred embodiments, the coefficient of resistance does not or not noteworthy vary with temperature.
  • a method of manufacturing the resistor body in accordance with the invention involves mixing particulate forms of the above materials in proportions which effect production of a predetermined resistivity. This mixture is then heated until it becomes plastically deformable to ensure distribution of the carbon materials throughout the resin and to facilitate shaping of the mixture. The hot mixture is extruded through an opening in a die to form a hot resistive rod, which is then cooled to hardening and cut into sections to form the resistor bodies.
  • the word "rod” is not limited to solid bodies, but also includes other extrudable shapes, such as tubular bodies.
  • a resistor in accordance with the invention comprises a thermoplastic-carbon body and is terminated with electrical leads to which a solder material having a predetermined melting temperature may be applied.
  • the body has a melting temperature which is greater than that of the solder material, and has first and second faces to which are fused corresponding faces of first and second terminals of electrically conductive, weldable material.
  • First and second ones of the electrical leads are welded to respective ones of the terminals, and an electrically insulating material encapsulates the body and the first and second terminals.
  • the resistor body has the shape and composition described above, but the just-described termination structure may be used advantageously with resistor bodies having other shapes and thermoplastic-carbon compositions.
  • a method of terminating a resistor body in accordance with the invention includes the steps of:
  • Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of an apparatus for making resistor bodies in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the invention.
  • Figures 2 and 3 are schematic illustrations of collective apparatus for making resistor bodies in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the invention.
  • Figures 4a through 4f are schematic illustrations of steps for producing a resistor from a thermoplastic-carbon resistive body.
  • Figure 5 is a schematic drawing of a resistor made in accordance with steps of Figures 4a - 4e.
  • Figure 1 shows a first preferred embodiment of an apparatus for making resistive rods in accordance with the invention.
  • the apparatus includes an extrusion machine 10 for forming a hot resistive rod, a cooling bath 12 for cooling the resistive rod, a tension controller 13 and a puller 14 for cooperatively regulating the diameter of the rod, and a resistance-measuring device 16 for measuring the resistivity of the rod.
  • the dashed lines in this drawing figure represent electrical signals flowing in the directions indicated by arrowheads at the ends of the lines.
  • the extrusion machine 10 includes an extruder having eight distinct sections (designated 1 through 8) and a drive motor 20, a melt pump 9, a forming die 18, a feed inlet hopper 22, gravimetric feeders 24 and 26, and a control panel 28.
  • the two gravimetric feeders have individually controllable feed rates and supply to the inlet hopper respective components of the particulate materials used to make the resistive rod 30.
  • the extruder comprises a barrel containing a pair of counterrotatable, intermeshing screws, which extend through sections 1 - 8.
  • Section 1 is a feed section, which is water cooled to facilitate the feeding of particulate materials from the hopper 22 into the extruder.
  • Sections 2 - 8 are conveying and mixing sections, which are electrically heated to effect melting of the mixture as it passes through the extruder. A latter one of these sections (e.g. section 7) is vented to allow moisture and gases trapped in the melt to escape, thereby devolatising the melt.
  • the melt pump 9, which is also heated, provides a uniform pressure to force the melt through the forming die 18.
  • the temperatures of sections 2 - 8 and of the melt pump 9 are remotely controlled at the control panel 28. (To avoid complicating the drawing, the temperature control signal lines coupling the control panel to the extruder and the melt pump are not shown).
  • the forming die 18, the cooling bath 12, the tension controller 13, and the puller 14 cooperate to regulate the diameter of the extruded resistive rod 30 produced by the apparatus of Figure 1.
  • the forming die 18 determines the cross sectional shape and dimensions of the extrudate forced through it by the melt pump. For a circular cross section, the extrudate leaving the die typically has a diameter which is 10 to 20% larger than the final diameter of the rod. This final diameter is achieved by the puller 14, which employs a succession of opposed roller pairs for pulling the extrudate through the cooling bath 12 at a controlled rate.
  • the cooling bath gradually lowers the temperature of the extrudate, causing it to change from a soft deformable state to a hardened state.
  • the tension controller 13 includes a laser micrometer having a beam transmitter and a beam receiver (not individually shown) which are disposed on opposite sides of the hardened rod leaving the cooling bath.
  • the laser micrometer optically measures the diameter of the rod and applies to the control panel 28 a signal representative of the measurement.
  • the control panel includes a comparator which compares the measurement with a preset nominal diameter and applies a variable output signal to the puller 14 to control the speed at which the puller rollers draw the extrudate out of the forming die 18.
  • the output signal is delayed by a period equivalent to the time required for the diameter of the rod leaving the die 18 to travel to the laser micrometer part of the tension controller 13.
  • the rotary speed of the rollers is increased to reduce the diameter of the rod being hardened in the cooling bath. Conversely, if the measured rod diameter is smaller than the nominal diameter, the roller speed is decreased to enlarge the diameter of the rod being hardened in the cooling bath.
  • the resistance measuring device 16, the control panel 28, the gravimetric feeders 24,26 and the extruder drive motor 20 cooperate to regulate the resistivity of the rod 30 produced by the apparatus. Principally, this resistivity is determined by the composition of the particulate matter received in section 1 of the extruder from the gravimetric feeders. Other factors which affect the resistivity are the melt pump pressure and any other factor which affects the properties of the extrudate.
  • Feeder 24 contains particles of a thermoplastic resin
  • feeder 26 contains a particulate mixture of acetylene black and another carbon black.
  • Alternative arrangements may be used for supplying these three materials to the extruder. For example, a separate feeder may be provided for each material.
  • the relative rates at which the feeders convey their respective materials to the feed inlet hopper 22 are determined by the control panel 28 in conjunction with the resistance measuring device 16. These feed rates are manually adjusted at the control panel until a desired resistivity is measured by the resistance measuring device 16.
  • This device electrically measures the resistivity of the rod 30 by determining the resistance between spaced-apart electrical contacts 32 which press against the rod at a fixed separation distance.
  • the device 16 applies an input signal to the control panel 28 indicating changes in the resistivity of the rod being produced. If the resistivity increases above the desired magnitude, the feed rate of the gravimetric feeder supplying the carbon materials is increased at the control panel. Conversely, if the resistivity decreases below the desired magnitude, the feed rate of the same feeder is decreased. Such increases and decreases delayed by a period equivalent to the time required for the carbon materials leaving feeder 26 to reach the resistance measuring device 16.
  • the speeds of the extruder drive motor 20 and the melt pump 9 are manually controlled at the control panel between an upper and a lower limit. Above the upper limit the extruder screws will generate sufficient heat to effect decomposition of the thermoplastic resin. Below the lower limit the screws will not effect uniform mixing of the carbon and thermoplastic components.
  • the speed of the melt pump is adjusted to a speed compatible with the rate at which the particulate matter is received in the hopper 22.
  • gravimetric feeder 24 contained a mixture of silica and a polymer resin.
  • the polymer material are liquid crystal polymers, polyetherketones, polyetheretherketones, polyethersulfones and polyphenylene sulfides.
  • liquid crystal polymers are preferred, as they showed the best heat tolerance during the soldering of the resistors into circuitry.
  • Gravimetric feeder 26 contained a mixture of acetylene black and another carbon black, and may further contain a quantity of one or more inorganic filler materials. Examples of preferable filler materials are silica, alumina and talc.
  • the temperatures of the heated extruder sections 2 - 8 and of the melt pump 9 were above the melting temperature of the polymer and were below the temperature where the polymer will degrade. These temperatures ranged from about 290 to 330 degrees C. for a typical liquid crystal polymer.
  • feeders 24 and 26 contained mixtures of the above-described materials and were operated at feed rates which resulted in a mixture in feeder 22 of 26.67% by weight of silica, 66.67% by weight of liquid crystal polymer composed of an aromatic copolyester, (trade name Vectra; Hoechst Celanese) 1.66% by weight of carbon black, and 5.00% by weight of acetylene black.
  • Figures 2 and 3 show a second preferred embodiment of apparatus for making resistive rods in accordance with the invention.
  • the apparatus of Figure 2 is utilized to form batches of pellets of different resistivities.
  • the apparatus of Figure 3 is utilized to form, from the pellets, rods of different resistivities.
  • the apparatus of Figure 2 includes an extrusion machine 34 for producing an extrudate of soft resistive material and a pelletizer 36 for forming the extrudate into hard pellets.
  • the extrusion machine is substantially identical to that of Figure 1, except that the melt pump 9, the forming die 18 and the control panel 28 have been eliminated.
  • the melt pump is not needed because the screws of the extruder themselves provide sufficient pressure to convey the soft extrudate to the pelletizer 36 through a flanged connecting pipe 38.
  • the pelletizer forms small resistive pellets 40 by cutting the soft extrudate into small cylindrical shapes, cooling them with a flow of water, drying them and conveying them to an outlet opening where they can be collected.
  • the resistivity of the pellets 40 produced by the apparatus of Figure 2 is determined principally by the composition of the particulate matter received in section 1 of the extruder 34 from the gravimetric feeders 24 and 26. Other factors which affect the resistivity are the pressure developed by the extruder and any other factor which affects the properties of the extrudate. Batches of pellets of different resistivities can be obtained by locally adjusting the feed rates of the feeders and/or the relative amounts of the two carbon materials in feeder 26. If a separate feeder is provided for each different particulate material, only the feed rates need be adjusted. The resistivity of each batch of pellets is determined experimentally by adjusting the feed rate of feeder 26 and measuring the resistivity of individual pellets in different batches.
  • the apparatus of Figure 3 includes an extrusion machine 42, a cooling bath 12, a tension controller 13 and a puller 14. Again, the dashed lines represent electrical signals flowing in the directions indicated by the arrowheads at the ends of the lines.
  • the extrusion machine 42 includes an extruder having four distinct sections (designated A through E) and an extruder drive motor 44, a melt pump E, a forming die 18, a feed inlet hopper 22, and a control panel 26. All of the elements in figure 3 with reference numbers 30 or lower are substantially identical to the elements in Figure 1 with the same numbers.
  • the extruder comprises a barrel containing a single screw, which extends through sections A - D.
  • the screw has three successive portions, including a feed portion for mixing and conveying resistive pellets received from the hopper 22, a compression portion for compacting and encouraging melting of the pellets, and a metering section for controlling the quantity, steadiness and homogeneity of the melt supplied to the melt pump E.
  • Section A of the extruder which substantially corresponds to the feed portion of the screw, is water cooled to facilitate feeding of the pellets from the hopper 22 into the extruder.
  • Sections B - D are electrically heated to effect melting of the pellet mix as it passes through the extruder.
  • the melt pump E is also heated.
  • the forming die 18, the cooling bath 12, the tension controller 13, and the puller 14 cooperate, as was described with reference to Figure 1, to regulate the diameter of the rod 30.
  • the resistivity of the rod is determined by the relative quantities of pellets of different resistivities which are deposited in the hopper 22.
  • the speeds of the extruder drive motor 44 and of the melt pump E are manually controllable at the control panel. Typically these speed of the melt pump is set to maximize productivity and the speed of the motor 44 is adjusted to maintain a constant pressure differential across the melt pump.
  • the extruder includes the drive motor 44, sections A-D, and heating elements for these sections which are both locally and remotely controllable.
  • gravimetric feeder 24 contained a mixture of silica and a polymer resin.
  • the polymer material are liquid crystal polymers, polyetherketones, polyetheretherketones, polyethersulfones and polyphenylene sulfides of which the liquid crystal polymers are preferred.
  • Gravimetric feeder 26 contained a mixture of carbon acetylene black and another carbon black, and may further contain a quantity of one or more inorganic filler materials. Examples of preferable filler materials are silica, alumina and talc.
  • the temperatures of the heated extruder sections 2 - 8 in Figure 2 were above the melting temperature of the polymer and were below the temperature where the polymer will degrade. These temperatures ranged from about 280 to 300 degrees C. for a typical liquid crystal polymer.
  • the temperatures of the heated extruder sections A - D and of the melt pump E in Figure 3 were also above the melting temperature of the polymer and below the temperature where the polymer will degrade. These temperatures ranged from about 295 to 300 degrees C. for a typical liquid crystal polymer.
  • feeders 24 and 26 contained mixtures of the above-described materials and were operated at feed rates which resulted in a mixture in feeder 22 of 7.0% by weight of silica, 82.5% by weight of liquid crystal polymer, on the basis of an aromatic polyester 2.6% by weight of carbon black, (more general from 1-5%) and 7.9% by weight of acetylene black. (more general from 3-12%)
  • Figures 4a through 4f illustrate a method of making resistors by terminating and encapsulating thermoplastic-carbon resistive bodies 45 cut from the extruded resistive rods 30.
  • the bodies are cut to a standardized length and the resistance of each batch of resistors is determined by cutting the bodies from rods of corresponding resistivity.
  • a rod of one resistivity may be cut into bodies of different lengths to form resistors having different resistances.
  • the length to which the bodies are cut can be adjusted within a desired nominal range to bring the resistances within a specified tolerance.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Electromagnetism (AREA)
  • Extrusion Moulding Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)
  • Apparatuses And Processes For Manufacturing Resistors (AREA)
EP19920203976 1991-12-27 1992-12-17 Thermoplastic-composition resistor and method of manufacture Expired - Lifetime EP0549060B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US81500091A 1991-12-27 1991-12-27
US815000 1991-12-27

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0549060A2 EP0549060A2 (en) 1993-06-30
EP0549060A3 EP0549060A3 (en) 1994-08-10
EP0549060B1 true EP0549060B1 (en) 1997-07-09

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ID=25216577

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19920203976 Expired - Lifetime EP0549060B1 (en) 1991-12-27 1992-12-17 Thermoplastic-composition resistor and method of manufacture

Country Status (4)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0549060B1 (ja)
JP (1) JPH05267023A (ja)
DE (1) DE69220769T2 (ja)
TW (1) TW221514B (ja)

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2301223B (en) * 1995-05-26 1999-04-21 Johnson Electric Sa Polymeric type positive temperature coefficient thermistors
DE19963391A1 (de) * 1999-12-28 2001-07-05 Bosch Gmbh Robert Handwerkzeugmaschine, mit einem elektromotorischen Antrieb
DE102017111415A1 (de) * 2017-05-24 2018-11-29 Epcos Ag Elektrisches Bauteil mit Sicherungselement

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3237286A (en) * 1962-11-28 1966-03-01 Int Resistance Co Method of making electrical resistors
DE1465413A1 (de) * 1963-10-09 1969-03-27 Degussa Elektrisches Widerstandselement
JPS54152197A (en) * 1978-05-23 1979-11-30 Furukawa Electric Co Ltd:The Manufacture of semiconductive mixture
JPH03152943A (ja) * 1989-11-09 1991-06-28 Unitika Ltd 封止方法

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
TW221514B (ja) 1994-03-01
JPH05267023A (ja) 1993-10-15
EP0549060A3 (en) 1994-08-10
EP0549060A2 (en) 1993-06-30
DE69220769D1 (de) 1997-08-14
DE69220769T2 (de) 1998-02-05

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