WO2024034181A1

WO2024034181A1 - Inductor component manufacturing method and inductor component

Info

Publication number: WO2024034181A1
Application number: PCT/JP2023/014575
Authority: WO
Inventors: 暁海大場; 俊友廣; 功井田
Original assignee: 株式会社村田製作所
Priority date: 2022-08-08
Filing date: 2023-04-10
Publication date: 2024-02-15

Abstract

Provided are an inductor component manufacturing method and an inductor component product that can improve variations in product dimensions or magnetic characteristics. An inductor component manufacturing method of the present disclosure comprises: a connecting step for electrically connecting an end portion 11 of a coil conductor 10 and a metal terminal 30 to each other; a recess forming step for pinching the metal terminal 30 between a first mold and a second mold (mold 100) to form a recess 30g in the metal terminal 30 by means of a protrusion 111 provided on the first mold; and a molding step for coating the coil conductor 10 with a magnetic material in a space formed by the first mold and the second mold, and curing the magnetic material to form a magnetic body 20 having an outer surface through which a part of the metal terminal 30 is drawn out.

Description

Manufacturing method of inductor parts and inductor parts

The present disclosure relates to a method for manufacturing an inductor component and an inductor component.

Patent Document 1 discloses an embedded inductor structure including a coil having two ends and a magnetic body in which the coil is embedded, further including two terminals connected to each end, and the terminals are An embedded inductor structure is disclosed that is exposed to the outside of the magnetic material.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-189205

The inventor of the present application noticed that there were problems to be overcome with the conventional embedded inductor structure, and found it necessary to take measures to solve the problem. Specifically, the inventor of the present application has found that there are the following problems.

In the embedded inductor structure described in Patent Document 1, a magnetic body is manufactured by mixing magnetic metal powder (for example, iron powder or iron-based alloy) with a thermosetting resin. Here, when forming the magnetic body, it is considered that the magnetic metal powder and the resin material are sealed in a mold and the magnetic body is molded by pressing the magnetic metal powder and the resin material in the mold.

In this case, the magnetic material 20j' containing magnetic metal powder and resin material leaks from the mold 100' through the metal terminal 30' due to the pressure during molding (see FIG. 12), and the product dimensions of the magnetic material or the magnetic material This results in variations in magnetic properties. Furthermore, since it is necessary to remove leaked magnetic metal powder and resin material, the manufacturing process becomes complicated and productivity deteriorates.

The present disclosure has been made in view of such problems. That is, the main objective of the present disclosure is to provide a method for manufacturing an inductor component and an inductor component that can improve variations in product dimensions or magnetic properties.

The inventor of the present application attempted to solve the above problem by tackling the problem in a new direction rather than by extending the conventional technology. As a result, the disclosure has been made in which the above main objective has been achieved.

A method for manufacturing an inductor component according to the present disclosure includes:
a connecting step of electrically connecting the end of the coil conductor and the metal terminal to each other;
a recess forming step of sandwiching the metal terminal between a first mold and a second mold, and forming a recess in the metal terminal using a convex portion provided in the first mold;
A magnetic body in which the coil conductor is covered with a magnetic material in a space formed by the first mold and the second mold, the magnetic material is hardened, and a part of the metal terminal is drawn out from the outer surface. a molding process to form a
Equipped with.

The inductor component according to the present disclosure includes:
a coil conductor;
a magnetic body containing at least the coil conductor and containing a magnetic material;
a metal terminal that is electrically connected to an end of the coil conductor within the magnetic body and partially exposed from the magnetic body;
The metal terminal is provided with a recess,
An end of the recess on the magnetic body side is located outside the magnetic body and at a distance of 0.1 mm or more and 0.1 mm or less from a side surface of the magnetic body.

Since the method for manufacturing an inductor component according to the present disclosure includes a recess forming step of forming a recess in a metal terminal, leakage of magnetic material from a mold is reduced, and variations in product dimensions or magnetic properties of the inductor component are achieved. can be improved.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an inductor component according to the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of an inductor component according to the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a plan view of an inductor component according to the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is a plan view of a modification of the inductor component according to the present disclosure. FIG. 5 is a plan view of another modification of the inductor component according to the present disclosure. FIG. 6 is a process schematic diagram illustrating a manufacturing process of an inductor component according to the present disclosure. FIG. 7 is a process schematic diagram illustrating a manufacturing process of an inductor component according to the present disclosure. FIG. 8 is a process schematic diagram illustrating a manufacturing process of an inductor component according to the present disclosure. FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of the broken line area in FIG. 8. FIG. 10 is a process schematic diagram illustrating a manufacturing process of an inductor component according to the present disclosure. FIG. 11 is a SEM photograph of an inductor component according to the present disclosure. FIG. 12 is an enlarged view of a conventional inductor component.

Hereinafter, the inductor component of the present disclosure will be described in detail. Although explanations will be made with reference to drawings as necessary, the contents shown in the drawings are merely shown schematically and exemplarily for understanding the present disclosure, and the appearance, dimensional ratio, etc. may differ from the real thing. Note that the configuration of the inductor component described here is merely an example for understanding the invention, and does not limit the invention.

The various numerical ranges mentioned herein are intended to include the lower and upper numerical limits themselves, unless specific terms such as "less than" or "more than/greater than" are used. In other words, if we take a numerical range from 1 to 10 as an example, it can be interpreted as including the lower limit of "1" and also the upper limit of "10". Also, the terms "about" and "extent" are meant to include variations of several percentage points, such as ±10%.

The inductor component 1 of the present disclosure includes a coil conductor 10, a magnetic body 20 that accommodates at least the coil conductor 10 and contains a magnetic material, and an end 11 of the coil conductor 10 that is electrically connected within the magnetic body 20. , and a pair of metal terminals 30 whose portions are exposed from the magnetic body 20 (see FIGS. 1 and 2). The metal terminal 30 is provided with a recess 30g. Although the recess may be provided on one metal terminal, it is preferable that the recess is provided on both metal terminals 30. As used herein, the term "recessed portion" refers to a portion having a recessed area so that the thickness of the metal terminal 30 is reduced.

Here, the recess 30g formed in the metal terminal 30 will be described in detail in the explanation of the method of manufacturing an inductor component of the present disclosure, but the metal terminal 30 is sandwiched between the mold 100 (see FIG. 6, etc.) having the projection 111. It is formed by Therefore, since the convex portion 111 of the mold 100 can reduce the leakage of magnetic material from the mold 100, when the concave portion is formed in the metal terminal 30, variations in product dimensions or magnetic properties of the inductor component 1 can be improved. Can be done.

Furthermore, as an additional effect, when the inductor component 1 of the present disclosure is mounted on the substrate S, the recess 30g is buried in the solder H etc. (see FIG. 2), thereby increasing the adhesion strength between the inductor component 1 and the substrate S. You can also do that.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the inductor component of the present disclosure will be described in detail.

[Coil conductor]
The coil conductor 10 may be configured by winding a metal wire (for example, a copper wire). The winding may be α winding, edgewise winding, non-aligned winding, aligned winding, or the like. In other words, it is preferable to provide a space in the center in which the magnetic body 20 is arranged.

The coil conductor 10 may be covered with an insulating material, and in this case, together with the resin contained in the magnetic body 20 described above, the coil conductor 10 is firmly fixed within the magnetic body 20. be able to. Note that since the ends of the coil conductor 10 are electrically connected to the metal terminals 30, the insulating material around the coil conductor 10 may be removed.

The end 11 of the coil conductor 10 may extend toward one side of the magnetic body 20 as shown in FIG. 3 or 4. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 5, the magnetic body 20 may be extended toward two orthogonal sides. Furthermore, although not shown, they may be extended toward two opposing sides of the magnetic body 20, respectively.

[Magnetic material]
The magnetic body 20 may be a hardened magnetic material. The magnetic material may include at least magnetic raw material particles, a resin, and a solvent. Note that the solvent may evaporate during curing of the magnetic material. The magnetic body may have a substantially hexahedral shape. The term "substantially hexahedron" as used herein refers to a three-dimensional shape surrounded by six planes, and is a concept that includes those in which each of the six planes is approximately quadrilateral, and those in which the sides or corners of the quadrilateral are rounded. be. Furthermore, in the "substantially hexahedron", the surfaces facing each other in the direction of the winding axis of the coil conductor correspond to the "top surface" and the "bottom surface", and the four surfaces parallel to the winding axis correspond to the "side surfaces". Note that "parallel" as used herein includes not only complete parallelism but also substantial parallelism within a certain error range. Furthermore, the term "orthogonal" as used herein includes not only complete orthogonality but also substantially orthogonality within a certain error range.

-Magnetic raw material particles-
As the magnetic raw material particles, conventionally used Fe-based metal magnetic particles may be used, and for example, Fe (pure iron) or Fe alloy may be used. Examples of Fe alloys include alloys containing Fe and Ni, alloys containing Fe and Co, alloys containing Fe and Si, alloys containing Fe, Si and Cr, alloys containing Fe, Si and Al, Fe, Si, B and alloys containing Cr and alloys containing Fe, P, Cr, Si, B, Nb, and C. Furthermore, the surface of the magnetic raw material particles may be subjected to insulation treatment. For example, the magnetic raw material particles may have an insulating coating on their surfaces. The insulating coating may be, for example, one or more insulating coatings selected from the group consisting of an inorganic glass coating, an organic-inorganic hybrid coating, and an inorganic insulating coating formed by a sol-gel reaction of metal alkoxide. The magnetic raw material particles may contain 93% by weight or more and 98% by weight or less based on the entire magnetic material.

-resin-
The resin may contain functional groups that contribute to the curing reaction. In other words, it may be cured by a resin curing reaction to enable production of a magnetic body. More specifically, the resin before manufacturing the magnetic material is uncured. The term "uncured" as used herein refers to a state prior to a substantially completely cured state, and includes a semi-cured state. An example of the resin may be at least one selected from the group consisting of epoxy resin, phenol resin, polyester resin, polyimide resin, polyolefin resin, and silicone resin. Among these, when an epoxy resin is used as the resin, a magnetic material with high electrical insulation and/or mechanical strength can be obtained. Alternatively, thermoplastic resins such as polyamideimide, polyphenylene sulfide and/or liquid crystal polymers may be used. The curing reaction is preferably carried out by heat. That is, the resin is preferably a thermosetting resin. An example is a thermosetting epoxy resin. If such a resin is used, a curing reaction can be caused by a simple method. The resin may be contained in an amount of 2.0% by weight or more and 5.6% by weight or less based on the entire magnetic material.

-solvent-
The solvent is used to mix the magnetic raw material particles and the resin, and is preferably an organic solvent. For example, aromatic hydrocarbons such as toluene or xylene; ketones such as acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, or methyl isobutyl ketone; alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, or isopropyl alcohol; propylene glycol monomethyl ether or propylene glycol It may include any of the glycol ethers such as monomethyl ether acetate.

A coil conductor 10 is housed inside the magnetic body 20 based on the above magnetic material (see FIG. 2). Thereby, the magnetic body 20 is magnetized and desired inductance characteristics can be obtained.

As a preferable embodiment of the magnetic body 20, the magnetic body 20 may be provided with a housing portion 21 (see FIG. 2) for housing the bent metal terminal 30 on the substrate mounting surface side. Specifically, the corners may be cut out to accommodate the metal terminals 30. According to such a configuration, the height of the inductor component can be reduced according to the amount of the notch, and the product can be made smaller.

[Metal terminal]
The metal terminal 30 may have an inner part 31 contained inside the magnetic body 20 and an outer part 32 exposed outside the magnetic body 20 (see FIGS. 1 and 2).

In the inner part 31 of the metal terminal 30, the metal terminal 30 may be electrically connected to the coil conductor 10. That is, the electrical connection position between the metal terminal 30 and the coil conductor 10 may be contained within the magnetic body 20. Therefore, compared to the case where the electrical connection position is outside the magnetic body 20, separation of the electrical connection between the metal terminal 30 and the coil conductor 10 due to external force or the like may be less likely to occur.

The outer edge of the inner part 31 of the metal terminal 30 may be curved to correspond to the curvature of the coil conductor 10 (see FIG. 1). Therefore, the distance between the inner portion 31 and the coil conductor 10 may be kept constant. By keeping the distance constant, withstand voltage can be improved.

The outer portion 32 of the metal terminal 30 may be exposed outside the magnetic body 20. The magnetic body 20 may be bent along the side and bottom surfaces of the magnetic body 20 . In other words, the outer portion 32 of the metal terminal 30 may be provided over the side surface and bottom surface of the magnetic body 20.

As an example, the metal terminal 30 may be exposed from two opposing sides of the magnetic body 20 (see FIG. 3). According to such an arrangement, the metal terminals 30 can be spaced apart from each other as much as possible, so that short circuits can be prevented.

Note that the arrangement of the metal terminals 30 is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 3. Various arrangements may be adopted depending on the substrate S on which the inductor component 1 is mounted. For example, a pair of metal terminals 30 may be exposed from one side of the magnetic body 20 as shown in FIG. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5, the magnetic material 20 may be exposed from two orthogonal sides.

The outer part 32 may be mounted on the substrate S or the like on the lower surface side of the magnetic body 20 (see FIG. 2). The mounting may be performed, for example, with solder H or conductive adhesive. In the inductor component 1 of the present disclosure, since the metal terminal 30 is used for mounting on the substrate S, even if an external force is applied to the substrate S and deflection occurs, the metal terminal 30 will not bend following the deflection. becomes. In other words, the influence on the deflection of the substrate S can be reduced.

The metal terminal 30 is provided with a recess 30g. The recess 30g is formed by sandwiching the metal terminal 30 between a mold 100 (see FIG. 6, etc.) having a projection 111. Thereby, when the inductor component 1 is mounted on the substrate S, the recess 30g is buried in the solder H (see FIG. 2), so that the adhesion strength between the inductor component 1 and the substrate S can be increased.

The recessed portion 30g is located outside the magnetic body 20. In other words, it may be provided on the outer part 32 of the metal terminal 30. By exposing the recess 30g in this manner, the recess can be used when the inductor component 1 and the substrate S are mounted.

The recessed portion 30g is located outside the magnetic body 20 and near the side surface of the magnetic body 20. More specifically, the end of the recess 30g on the magnetic body 20 side may be located near the side surface. The term "near the side surface" as used herein refers to a position that is 0.01 mm or more and 0.10 mm or less away from the side surface of the magnetic body 20 from which the metal terminal 30 is drawn out. This numerical range depends on the position of the convex portion 111 provided on the mold 100. In other words, the closer the position of the convex part 111 of the mold 100 is to the magnetic body 20, the more the burr 20B (see FIG. 9) caused by the magnetic material can be reduced, so it is preferable to set the value within the above numerical range.

The recess, which is half or more of the total area of the recess 30g, may be provided parallel to the side surface of the magnetic body 20 from which the metal terminal 30 is drawn out. With such a configuration of the recessed portion 30g, a solder fillet is formed and the recessed portion 30g can be appropriately buried in the solder H.

The recessed portion 30g may be formed in the entire area in a direction perpendicular to the extending direction of the metal terminal 30 and parallel to the side surface from which the metal terminal 30 is pulled out. Specifically, "the extending direction of the metal terminal 30" is intended to be the ±Y direction shown in FIG. Moreover, "the direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the metal terminal 30" is intended to be the ±X direction shown in FIG. In other words, the width direction of the metal terminal 30 is intended. The concave portion 30g is formed by the convex portion 111 of the mold 100 pressing the metal terminal 30 over the entire width direction. Therefore, since the gap between the convex portion 111 and the metal terminal 30 can be reduced during pressing, leakage of the magnetic material from the mold 100 can be further reduced.

The length in the extending direction of the metal terminal 30 in the recessed portion 30g may be 0.5 mm or more and 3.0 mm or less. This numerical range depends on the size of the convex portion 111 provided in the mold 100. If the protrusions 111 are small, the protrusions 111 will become sharp and the durability of the mold will be reduced, while if the protrusions 111 are large, the equipment will need to be larger in order to achieve uniform pressing. That is, it is preferable to set it as the said numerical range from a viewpoint of equipment.

The depth of the recessed portion 30g may be 3% or more and 10% or less of the average plate thickness of the metal terminal 30. This numerical range depends on the degree of protrusion of the convex portion 111 provided in the mold 100. Having the convex portions 111 can reduce the leakage of magnetic material from the mold 100, but if the concave portions 30g can be formed by 3% or more with respect to the average plate thickness of the metal terminals 30, the magnetic material can be effectively reduced. Material leakage can be reduced. Moreover, if the recessed portion 30g can be formed to have a thickness of 10% or less with respect to the average plate thickness of the metal terminal 30, terminal strength can be ensured. Note that the recessed portion 30g may be formed to have a thickness of 10% or more with respect to the average plate thickness of the metal terminal 30.

Note that the characteristics of the recessed portion 30g described above are based on an inductor component having a volume of 45 mm ³ or more and 350 mm ³ or less.

Next, a method for manufacturing an inductor component according to the present disclosure will be described. A method for manufacturing an inductor component according to the present disclosure includes the following steps.
- A connection step of electrically connecting the end portion 11 of the coil conductor 10 and the metal terminal 30 to each other.
- A recess forming step in which the metal terminal 30 is sandwiched between a first mold and/or a second mold (mold 100) having a convex portion 111 protruding toward the metal terminal 30, and a recess 30g is formed in the metal terminal 30.
- A molding process in which the coil conductor 10 in the mold 100 is coated with a magnetic material and then the magnetic material is hardened to form the magnetic body 20 in which a part of the metal terminal 30 is drawn out from the outer surface.
Each step will be explained in detail below.

[Connection process]
First, the coil conductor 10 is prepared. As an example, an air-core coil conductor 10 is formed by winding a metal wire (for example, a copper wire) whose surface is coated with an insulating film. Here, the insulating film of the end portion 11 of the coil conductor 10 has been removed by laser irradiation or the like. Then, the end portion 11 of the coil conductor 10 from which the insulation coating has been removed is pressed to flatten it.

After preparing the coil conductor 10, the plate-shaped metal terminal 30 is prepared. This metal terminal 30 is electrically connected to the end portion 11 of the coil conductor 10. The electrical connection is made by laser welding with the metal terminal 30 in contact with the coil conductor 10. Note that the bonding method is not limited to this example, and for example, a conductive adhesive or the like may be used for bonding. As described above, the end portion 11 of the coil conductor 10 and the metal terminal 30 are electrically connected to each other.

[Concave formation process]
Next, the process moves to a recess forming step. First, the mold 100 used in the recess forming process will be described.

-Explanation of mold-
The mold 100 may include an upper mold 110 and a lower mold 120, as shown in FIG. By operating the upper mold 110 and the lower mold 120 so that they approach each other relatively, the molds are clamped.

The mold 100 may include an accommodating portion 100a that accommodates a magnetic material 20j for forming the magnetic body 20, and a convex portion 111 that forms a concave portion 30g by pressing the metal terminal 30. Although FIG. 6 shows an example in which the upper mold 110 is provided with the protrusion 111, the protrusion 111 may be provided on the lower mold. Further, the convex portion 111 may be provided on both the upper mold 110 and the lower mold 120.

The mold 100 may include a magnetic material supply section 121 that supplies magnetic material toward the coil conductor 10 (see FIG. 6). The magnetic material supply unit 121 has a structure that is movable so as to supply the magnetic material accommodated in the mold 100. That is, by operating the magnetic material supply section 121 toward the coil conductor 10, the coil conductor 10 can be wrapped in the magnetic material.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example in which the lower mold 120 is equipped with a magnetic material supply section 121 and the upper mold 110 is not equipped with a magnetic material supply section 121. Note that the magnetic material supply section may be different from FIG. 6 in that the upper mold is provided with the magnetic material supply section and the lower mold is not provided with the magnetic material supply section. Further, both the upper mold and the lower mold may be provided with a magnetic material supply section.

-Explanation of the recess formation process-
A process of forming a recess in the metal terminal 30 using the mold 100 described above will be described. The magnetic material 20j is contained in the upper mold 110 and the lower mold 120. Then, the coil conductor 10 to which the metal terminal 30 is connected is placed between the upper mold 110 and the lower mold 120.

Then, the upper mold 110 and the lower mold 120 are clamped. At this time, the metal terminal 30 is sandwiched between the upper mold 110 and the lower mold 120. Further, by pressing the metal terminal 30 with the convex portion 111, a concave portion is formed in the metal terminal 30.

[Molding process]
Next, move on to the molding process. With the recess formed in the metal terminal 30, the magnetic material supply section 121 is operated toward the coil conductor 10, and the coil conductor 10 is wrapped in the magnetic material 20j. In FIG. 8, the coil conductor 10 is wrapped in the magnetic material 20j by the magnetic material supply unit 121 operating toward the upper mold 110. Note that the operation of the magnetic material supply section 121 may be performed before the recess forming step, or may be performed simultaneously with the recess forming step.

In this case, the convex portion 111 is in close contact with the metal terminal 30 by pressing. That is, the upper mold 110 is in close contact with the metal terminal 30. Furthermore, the lower mold 120 is also in close contact with the metal terminal 30 due to the pressure exerted by the convex portion 111 . Therefore, leakage of the magnetic material 20j to the outside from the mold 100 is reduced. More specifically, flowing outward from the convex portions 111 of the mold 100 is reduced. Therefore, leakage of the magnetic material 20j from the mold 100 can be reduced, and variations in product dimensions or magnetic properties of the inductor component 1 can be improved.

With the coil conductor 10 shown in FIG. 8 wrapped in magnetic material, the mold is heated to harden the magnetic material. Note that this curing may be performed by semi-curing in a mold having convex portions to the extent that the material does not lose its shape, and may be completely cured in another step. Here, as shown in FIG. 9, which is a partial enlargement of FIG. It can be easily removed, and because it is so small, it does not need to be removed.

Finally, the mold 100 is opened and the molded product is taken out (see FIG. 10). Then, the shape of the molded product is adjusted by cutting off the excess portion of the metal terminal.

[Bending process]
The method for manufacturing an inductor component may include, after the molding step, a bending step in which the metal terminal 30 is bent based on the recess 30g. Thereby, the recessed portion 30g is provided corresponding to the side surface of the magnetic body 20 (see FIG. 2).

Through the above steps, the inductor component of the present disclosure can be manufactured.

In addition, as a preferable aspect of the above method for manufacturing an inductor component, in the recess forming step, the upper mold 110 uses a magnetic material 20j with a high density, and the lower mold 120 uses a magnetic material 20j with a low density. You can use anything. The magnetic materials 20j having different densities may be temporarily formed by compacting the magnetic materials 20j when preparing the magnetic materials 20j in advance. Specifically, by making the force for compacting the magnetic material 20j relatively strong, the density of the magnetic material 20j can be increased, and the magnetic material 20j becomes a relatively hard material. On the other hand, by making the force for compacting the magnetic material 20j relatively weak, the density of the magnetic material 20j can be lowered, resulting in a relatively soft material. Further, the magnetic material accommodated in the upper mold 110 and the magnetic material accommodated in the lower mold 120 may be different materials. Further, as another preferred embodiment of the method for manufacturing the inductor component described above, a manufacturing method such as transfer molding using a molten magnetic material may be used.

The above-mentioned molding process is performed using magnetic materials having different densities. That is, as a forming process, the magnetic material supply section 121 is operated toward the coil conductor 10. In this case, since the relatively hard magnetic material 20j is accommodated in the upper mold 110, even if the magnetic material 20j is supplied from the lower mold 120, displacement of the coil conductor 10 can be reduced. Specifically, exposure of the coil conductor 10 from the resin material of the upper mold 110 can be reduced.

Furthermore, since the magnetic material 20j accommodated in the upper mold 110 is relatively hard, the magnetic material 20j supplied from the lower mold 120 can also be efficiently pressed by the magnetic material supply section 121.

Next, examples related to the present disclosure will be described. Note that the examples listed below are merely illustrative and do not limit the scope of the present invention. Specifically, FIG. 11 shows an observed image of the inductor component shown in FIG. 1 after polishing to the center in the X direction and observing the cross section.

After obtaining a cross-sectional SEM photograph, image analysis was performed to measure the depth of the recess. The measurement method is as follows.
(1) The cross-sectional area of the metal terminal in area A (see FIG. 11) up to 0.5 mm from the end of the metal terminal on the mounting surface side is calculated by image analysis.
(2) Calculate the thickness of the metal terminal on the mounting surface side by dividing the cross-sectional area of region A by the length of region A (set to 0.5 mm this time). The thickness corresponds to the average thickness of the metal terminal at a position where no recess is formed.
(3) Calculate the cross-sectional area of the metal terminal in region B (see FIG. 11) where the recess is formed by image analysis.
(4) Calculate the thickness of the metal terminal by dividing the cross-sectional area of region B by the length of region B. The thickness corresponds to the average thickness of the metal terminal at the position where the recess is formed.
(5) The thickness ratio is calculated by calculating (average thickness of the metal terminal at the position where the recess is formed)/(average thickness of the metal terminal at the position where the recess is not formed).
In this example, the image analysis software used was Winroof manufactured by Mitani Shoji Corporation, and the observation photographs were taken using a microscope manufactured by Keyence Corporation (model number VHX-6000).

As a result of cross-sectional observation, it was confirmed that the depth of the recess in the inductor component of the example was 3% or more and 10% or less of the average plate thickness of the metal terminal. In addition, the inductor component was able to improve variations in product dimensions or variations in magnetic properties of the inductor component.

A method for manufacturing an inductor component and aspects of the inductor component of the present disclosure are as follows.
<1> A connecting step of electrically connecting the end of the coil conductor and the metal terminal to each other,
a recess forming step of sandwiching the metal terminal between a first mold and a second mold, and forming a recess in the metal terminal using a convex portion provided in the first mold;
A magnetic body in which the coil conductor is covered with a magnetic material in a space formed by the first mold and the second mold, the magnetic material is hardened, and a part of the metal terminal is drawn out from the outer surface. a molding process to form a
A manufacturing method for inductor parts, which includes:
<2> The inductor component according to <1>, wherein either the first mold or the second mold further includes a magnetic material supply section that supplies the magnetic material toward the coil conductor. manufacturing method.
<3> One of the first mold and the second mold is a mold that supplies the magnetic material toward the coil conductor and is equipped with an independently movable magnetic material supply section, and the other is an independently movable mold. The mold is not equipped with a magnetic material supply section that moves with the magnetic material supply section, and the density of the magnetic material before hardening accommodated in the mold equipped with the magnetic material supply section is lower than that of the mold without the magnetic material supply section. The method for manufacturing an inductor component according to <1> or <2>, wherein the density of the magnetic material is lower than that before curing.
<4> The method for manufacturing an inductor component according to any one of <1> to <3>, further comprising a bending step in which the metal terminal is bent based on the recess after the molding step.
<5> Coil conductor;
a magnetic body containing at least the coil conductor and containing a magnetic material;
a metal terminal that is electrically connected to an end of the coil conductor within the magnetic body and partially exposed from the magnetic body;
The metal terminal is provided with a recess,
An inductor component, wherein an end of the recess on the magnetic body side is located outside the magnetic body and at a distance of 0.01 mm or more and 0.10 mm or less from a side surface of the magnetic body.
<6> The inductor component according to <5>, wherein the length in the extending direction of the metal terminal in the recess is 0.5 mm or more and 3.0 mm or less.
<7> The inductor component according to <5> or <6>, wherein the depth of the recess is 3% or more and 10% or less with respect to the average plate thickness of the metal terminal.
<8> The inductor component according to any one of <5> to <7>, wherein the magnetic body has a substantially hexahedral shape.
<9> The inductor component according to any one of <5> to <8>, wherein the pair of metal terminals are exposed from two opposing sides of the magnetic body.
<10> The inductor component according to any one of <5> to <8>, wherein the pair of metal terminals are exposed from two orthogonal sides of the magnetic body.
<11> The inductor component according to any one of <5> to <8>, wherein the pair of metal terminals are exposed from one side of the magnetic body.
<12> The recessed portion having half or more of the total area of the recessed portion is provided in parallel to the side surface of the magnetic body from which the metal terminal is drawn out, according to any one of <5> to <11>. inductor parts.
<13> The inductor component according to any one of <5> to <12>, wherein the recess is formed over the entire width of the metal terminal.

Note that the embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative in all respects, and are not the basis for a limited interpretation. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be interpreted only by the above-described embodiments, but should be defined based on the claims. Further, the technical scope of the present invention includes all changes within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of the claims.

The inductor component of the present disclosure can be suitably used as an electronic component that can improve variations in product dimensions or magnetic properties.

1 Inductor component 10 Coil conductor 11 End portion 20 Magnetic material 20B Burr 20j, 20j' Magnetic material 21 Storage portion 30, 30' Metal terminal 30g Recessed portion 31 Inner portion 32 Outside portion 100, 100' Mold 100a Accommodation portion 110 Upper mold 111 Convex portion 120 Lower mold 121 Magnetic material supply section A Region B Region S Substrate H Solder

Claims

a connecting step of electrically connecting the end of the coil conductor and the metal terminal to each other;
a recess forming step of sandwiching the metal terminal between a first mold and a second mold, and forming a recess in the metal terminal using a convex portion provided in the first mold;
A magnetic material in which the coil conductor is covered with a magnetic material in a space formed by the first mold and the second mold, the magnetic material is hardened, and a part of the metal terminal is pulled out from the surface. a molding process to form a
A manufacturing method for inductor parts, which includes:
The method for manufacturing an inductor component according to claim 1, wherein either the first mold or the second mold further includes a magnetic material supply section that supplies the magnetic material toward the coil conductor. .
One of the first mold and the second mold is a mold equipped with a magnetic material supply section that supplies the magnetic material toward the coil conductor and is movable independently, and the other mold is movable independently. The mold is not equipped with the magnetic material supply section,
1 . The density of the magnetic material before hardening accommodated in the mold including the magnetic material supply section is lower than the density before hardening of the magnetic material accommodated in the mold without the magnetic material supply section. Or the method for manufacturing an inductor component according to 2.
The method for manufacturing an inductor component according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a bending step in which the metal terminal is bent based on the recess after the molding step.
a coil conductor;
a magnetic body containing at least the coil conductor and containing a magnetic material;
a metal terminal that is electrically connected to an end of the coil conductor within the magnetic body and partially exposed from the magnetic body;
The metal terminal is provided with a recess,
An inductor component, wherein an end of the recess on the magnetic body side is located outside the magnetic body and at a distance of 0.01 mm or more and 0.10 mm or less from a side surface of the magnetic body.
The inductor component according to claim 5, wherein the length in the extending direction of the metal terminal in the recess is 0.5 mm or more and 3.0 mm or less.
The inductor component according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the depth of the recess is 3% or more and 10% or less with respect to the average plate thickness of the metal terminal.
The inductor component according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the magnetic body has a substantially hexahedral shape.
The inductor component according to any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein the pair of metal terminals are exposed from two opposing sides of the magnetic body.
The inductor component according to any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein the pair of metal terminals are exposed from two orthogonal sides of the magnetic body.
The inductor component according to any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein the pair of metal terminals are exposed from one side of the magnetic body.
The inductor component according to any one of claims 5 to 11, wherein the recess, which is more than half of the total area of the recess, is provided parallel to a side surface of the magnetic body from which the metal terminal is drawn out.
13. The inductor component according to claim 5, wherein the recess is formed over the entire width of the metal terminal.