JP3246773U - Relay Device - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a relay device that can effectively reduce processing difficulty and manufacturing costs while simultaneously improving current capacity. [Solution] A relay device 100 includes a substrate 110, an upper electrode 120, a lower electrode 130, and vertical connection elements 140, 140a, 140b. The substrate has a first surface 110t and a second surface 110b opposite to each other. The upper electrode is provided on the first surface. The lower electrode is provided on the second surface. The vertical connection element is embedded in the substrate. The upper electrode and the lower electrode are located at both ends of the vertical connection element, and the upper electrode is electrically connected to the lower electrode by the vertical connection element. [Selected Figure] Figure 2

Description

This invention relates to a relay device.

In conventional relay devices, the vertical conductive lines on the substrate are generally formed by side lead wires. However, the side lead wires require electroplating processes on multiple sides of the substrate and must be precisely aligned with the upper and lower electrodes, which complicates the processing process and increases the processing difficulty and manufacturing costs.

This invention provides a relay device that can effectively reduce processing difficulty and manufacturing costs while at the same time improving current capacity.

The relay device according to the present invention includes a substrate, an upper electrode, a lower electrode, and a vertical connection element. The substrate has opposing first and second surfaces. The upper electrode is disposed on the first surface. The lower electrode is disposed on the second surface. The vertical connection element is embedded within the substrate. The upper and lower electrodes are located at opposite ends of the vertical connection element, and the upper electrode is electrically connected to the lower electrode by the vertical connection element.

In one embodiment of the invention, the vertical connection elements are not exposed to the outer sidewall of the substrate.

In one embodiment of the invention, the outer wall of the substrate does not have any leads.

In one embodiment of the invention, the upper electrode is spaced a fixed distance from the outer wall of the substrate.

In one embodiment of the invention, the distance is at least 0.05 μm.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the vertical connection element is a plurality of vertical connection elements, each of which has a different size, shape, or combination thereof.

In one embodiment of the present invention, one of the upper electrodes corresponds to one or more vertical connection elements.

In one embodiment of the invention, the vertical connection element is a solid cylinder.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the relay device further includes a switch and a coil. The coil is disposed in the switch, and the switch is joined to the upper electrode.

In an embodiment of the invention, the relay device further includes a modular package that encapsulates the switch and the coil. The edge of the modular package is in direct contact with the first surface.

In light of the above, in the relay device of the present invention, by designing a vertical connection element embedded in the substrate, vertical conductive lines are formed inside the substrate, which makes it possible to omit multiple electroplating processes performed on multiple outer walls of the substrate, and the requirements for the accuracy of electrode alignment can be significantly reduced. At the same time, the electrode contact cross-sectional area is increased, which effectively reduces the difficulty of processing and manufacturing costs while at the same time improving the current capacity.

In order to make the above features and advantages of the present invention clearer and easier to understand, the following specific embodiments will be described in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

1 is a perspective view of a relay device according to some embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of the relay device of FIG. 1 . 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a relay device according to some embodiments of the present invention.

For clarity, components such as switches, coils, and module packages are not shown in Figure 2.

Some of the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, when the same reference numbers appear in different drawings, they are considered to be the same or similar components. These embodiments are merely a part of the present invention and do not disclose all possible ways of implementing the present invention. Rather, these embodiments are merely examples within the scope of the application for the invention.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs.

Directional terms used herein (e.g., up, down, right, left, front, back, top, bottom) are used for illustrative reference only and are not intended to imply absolute directions.

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional view of a relay device according to some embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of the relay device of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of a relay device according to some embodiments of the present invention. Here, the following relay device 100 is an example of a reed relay.

1 and 2, in this embodiment, the relay device 100 includes a substrate 110, an upper electrode 120, a lower electrode 130, and a vertical connection element 140, and the substrate 110 has a first surface 110t and a second surface 110b facing each other, and a plurality of outer walls connecting the first surface 110t and the second surface 110b. For example, the substrate 110 has a groove 111, so that the substrate 110 has an inner wall 110s close to the groove 111 and an outer wall 110e facing the inner wall 110s. Here, the substrate 110 can be a ceramic substrate, a bakelite plate, or any insulating plate material suitable for withstanding subsequent high temperature processes (such as withstanding welding temperatures), but is not limited in the present invention.

In addition, the upper electrode 120 is provided on the first surface 110t, the lower electrode 130 is provided on the second surface 110b, and the vertical connection element 140 is embedded in the substrate 110, among which the upper electrode 120 and the lower electrode 130 are located at both ends of the vertical connection element 140, and the upper electrode 120 is electrically connected to the lower electrode 130 through the vertical connection element 140. Therefore, in the relay device 100 of this embodiment, by forming a vertical conductive line inside the substrate 110 through the design of the vertical connection element 140 embedded in the substrate 110, it is possible to omit multiple electroplating processes performed on multiple outer walls 110e (saving work time), and also to significantly reduce the requirements on the accuracy of electrode alignment, while at the same time increasing the electrode contact cross-sectional area (increasing the amount of current passing through), thereby effectively reducing the difficulty of processing and manufacturing costs while simultaneously improving the current capacity. Here, the upper electrode 120, the lower electrode 130, and the vertical connection element 140 are, for example, copper, aluminum, gold, silver, or any suitable conductive material.

The relay device 100 further includes a switch 150 and a coil 160 (e.g., a coil unit) provided on the switch, and since the switch 150 is connected to the upper electrode 120, the switch 150 and the coil 160 are electrically connected to the control terminal via the upper electrode 120, the vertical connection element 140, and the lower electrode 130. The relay device 100 further includes a module package 170 that seals the switch 150 and the coil 160, and the switch 150 and the coil 160 are insulated and sealed, and the switch 150 and the coil 160 may be of any appropriate type, and the module package 170 is, for example, a molding compound. If necessary, a shield (not shown) may be provided between the switch and the coil.

In conventional relay devices, when the lower electrode 130 is further connected as a pin to a control terminal (printed circuit board, PCB, etc.) (not shown), the side lead wire may come into contact with other components on the control terminal, causing problems such as a short circuit. However, in this embodiment, the vertical connection element 140 is not exposed to the outer wall 110e of the substrate 110, i.e., there is no lead wire on the outer wall 110e of the substrate 110, so the above problem can be effectively improved.

In addition, in conventional relay devices, the upper electrode 120 must be extended to the outer wall 110e of the substrate 110 to connect to the side lead wire. When the switch 150 or coil 160 is soldered to the upper electrode 120, the solder (e.g., tin) often overflows downward along the side, making it difficult to control the degree of processing difficulty. In this embodiment, there is no lead on the outer wall 110e of the substrate 110, and the upper electrode 120 and the outer wall 110e of the substrate 110 are separated by a distance D of at least 0.05 μm, which significantly reduces the possibility of solder overflow. Furthermore, when the module package 170 is formed, the edge 170e of the module package 170 comes into direct contact with the first surface 110t and does not come into contact with the solder and hinder its formation, but the present invention is not limited to this.

In some embodiments, the vertical connection element 140 is a plurality of vertical connection elements, such as the vertical connection element 140a and the vertical connection element 140b shown in FIG. 2, in which the vertical connection element 140a and the vertical connection element 140b have different sizes (e.g., different diameters of a circle), and the plurality of vertical connection elements can also have different shapes, such as a circle, an ellipse, a square, a polygon, or the like, so that the plurality of vertical connection elements can have different sizes, shapes, or combinations thereof. Also, as shown in FIG. 2, one upper electrode 120 can correspond to one or more vertical connection elements 140a, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the vertical connection element 140 is a solid columnar vertical connection element 140c, which can further increase the electrode contact cross-sectional area. The solid columnar vertical connection element 140c is formed, for example, by a lamination method similar to that used in conventional multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs), in which circuits such as the upper electrode 120, the lower electrode 130, and the solid columnar vertical connection element 140c are formed together in the lamination process, and then a sintering process is performed, but the present invention is not limited to this.

In other non-illustrated embodiments, the vertical connection element is a pillar vertical connection element (a pillar of any shape, not limited to solid or hollow) (e.g., formed only on the wall surface and not filling the hole), and the pillar vertical connection element can be formed by first sintering a ceramic machine plate, and then going through a hole cleaning and electroplating process, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

The present invention is not limited to the specific aspects (quantity, size, shape, etc.) of the vertical connection elements described in the above embodiment, and any of the above vertical connection elements can be designed based on the actual current requirements. As long as the vertical connection elements are embedded in the substrate and the upper electrodes are electrically connected to the lower electrodes by the vertical connection elements, any of them fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

In summary, the relay device of the present invention uses a design of a vertical connection element embedded in the substrate to form vertical conductive lines inside the substrate, eliminating the need for multiple electroplating processes on multiple outer walls and greatly reducing the requirements for precision in electrode alignment. At the same time, the electrode contact cross-sectional area can be increased, effectively reducing the difficulty of processing and manufacturing costs while simultaneously improving the current capacity.

As described above, the present invention has been disclosed in the form of an embodiment, but this is of course not intended to limit the present invention, and as a person skilled in the art can easily understand, appropriate changes and modifications can naturally be made within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention, and therefore the scope of protection for the utility model right must be determined based on the scope of the utility model claim and any equivalent area thereto.

100: Relay device 110: Substrate 110t: First surface 110b: Second surface 110s: Inner wall 110e: Outer wall 111: Groove 120: Upper electrode 130: Lower electrode 140, 140a, 140b, 140c: Vertical connection element 150: Switch 160: Coil 170: Module package 170e: Edge D: Distance

Claims (10)

a substrate having opposing first and second surfaces;
an upper electrode provided on the first surface;
A lower electrode provided on the second surface;
a vertical connection element embedded in the substrate;
The upper electrode and the lower electrode are located at opposite ends of the vertical connection element, and the upper electrode is electrically connected to the lower electrode by the vertical connection element. The relay device of claim 1, wherein the vertical connection element is not exposed to an outer wall of the substrate. The relay device of claim 1, which has no leads on the outer wall of the substrate. The relay device of claim 1, wherein the upper electrode is spaced a fixed distance from an outer wall of the substrate. The relay device of claim 4, wherein the distance is at least 0.05 μm or more. The relay device of claim 1, wherein the vertical connection element is a plurality of vertical connection elements, the plurality of vertical connection elements having different sizes, shapes, or combinations thereof. The relay device of claim 1, wherein one of the upper electrodes corresponds to one or more of the vertical connection elements. The relay device of claim 1, wherein the vertical connection element is a solid column. The relay device of claim 1, further comprising a switch and a coil, the coil being provided in the switch and the switch being joined to the upper electrode. The relay device of claim 9 , further comprising a modular package encapsulating the switch and the coil, an edge of the modular package directly contacting the first surface.