Claims:1. A multi-polar coil assembly comprising:
a coil former (4) comprising a terminal (6), said coil former (4) is adapted to be flexed or un-flexed; said coil former (4) comprising at least a pair of coplanar bobbins operably coupled to each other, said each bobbin comprises a hollow coil holding area (7);
at least one winding wire (11) coaxially wound over the coil holding area (7) of the coil former (4) in a manner that the winding wire (11) encompasses the coil holding area (7);
wherein said coil former (4) is adapted to support the winding wire (11) in both clockwise and anti-clockwise directions;
a pair of connector wires (2, 3) operably coupled to the winding wire (11) at one end and operably coupled to a connector (1) at the other end for connection to external circuitry;
said terminal (6) comprising a pair of slots adapted to receive the winding wire (11) and connector wires (2, 3);
wherein said coil former (4) is flexed for winding the winding wire (11) over the coil holding area (7).

2. The multi-polar coil assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein a mandrill (10) is inserted into the coil holding area (7) for flexing the coil former (4) when the winding wire (11) is wound over the coil holding area (7) of the coil former (4).

3. The multi-polar coil assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein flexing or un-flexing of the coil former (4) produces flux outputs (9) depending on winding direction of the winding wire (11).

4. The multi-polar coil assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the un-flexed coil former (4) produces flux outputs (9) in opposite directions of same plane, when the winding wire (11) is wound in the same direction.

5. The multi-polar coil assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flexed coil former (4) produces parallel flux outputs (9) in same direction, when the winding wire (11) is wound in the same directions.

6. The multi-polar coil assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the un-flexed coil former (4) is adapted for multi-stage flux reduction in permanent magnet actuators, solenoids and the like.

7. The multi-polar coil assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flexed coil former (4) is adapted for the transformers with multiple secondary turns and multi-taps and the like.
, Description:[001] The subject matter of the present invention, in general, relates to trip actuating device for circuit breakers and more particularly, pertains to multi-polar coil assembly for use in electrical applications.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

[002] Coil winding is manufacturing of electromagnetic coils. These coils are used as components of circuits, and to provide the magnetic field of electrical machines such as motors and generators, and in the manufacture of loudspeakers and microphones. The shape and dimensions of a winding are designed to fulfil the particular purpose. Parameters such as inductance, Q factor, insulation strength, and strength of the desired magnetic field greatly influence the design of coil windings. Coil winding can be structured into several groups regarding the type and geometry of the wound coil. Mass production of electromagnetic coils relies on automated machinery.

[003] The conventional coil winding involves a coil former or bobbin and a winding wire that is wound over the bobbin. The electrical coils wound on winding forms or bobbins have been used extensively for many years.

[004] For some existing coil windings used in the field of engineering, reference is made to US Application Number 3389355 A, wherein a solenoid assembly is disclosed. The solenoid assembly comprises a magnetic metallic core, a direct succession of a plurality of coaxial independently conductive coils surrounding said core, connector means for simultaneously electrically energizing all of said coils and each independently of the others, said connector means comprising separate conductors extending from common terminals at one end of the core to connections with each of the coils, and a magnetic metallic plunger within the electromagnetic field of said core and coils and displaceable axially thereof in response to energization of all or less than all of said coils.

[005] Reference is also made to US Patent Number 6598824 B2, wherein an electrical and mechanical coil system for dual and single action solenoids is disclosed. A coil bobbin structure comprising a series of axially spaced bobbin members including integrally formed tubular base portions supported on a tubular support member. The base portions each have edges facing one another and including stepped edged portions cooperating to provide interlocking structure for resisting relative rotation of the bobbin members and the tubular support member. The bobbin members each include radially extending flanges arranged to receive entering and exiting coil lead wires and to route the lead wires along a longitudinal path extending across a coil wound on the structure.

[006] Reference is also made to US Application Number 5847518 A, wherein a high voltage transformer with secondary coil windings on opposing bobbins is disclosed. The high voltage transformer comprises a core with a closed magnetic flux path formed by at least two core parts, at least two bobbins mounted on the side legs of the core, a primary coil and a secondary coil. The bobbin has a hollow through hole to receive the side leg, a low voltage side flange and a high voltage side flange at end portions. The primary coil is inserted in the low voltage side flange, and the secondary coil is regularly and orderly wound on the bobbin between the low voltage side flange and the high voltage side flange. The winding direction of the secondary coil of one of the bobbins is opposite to that of the secondary coil of the other bobbin. The regularly and orderly wound coil and the opposite winding directions decrease the potential difference between the adjacent turns in the second coil and minimize the potential difference between the opposing turns of the secondary coils which are placed parallel to each other. As a result, thereof, an internal short-circuiting of a high voltage transformer due to the discharge between the adjacent turns or the opposing turns can be effectively prevented.

[007] Reference is also made to US Application Number 4473811 A, wherein a single bobbin transformer having multiple delink windings and method of making same is disclosed. The symmetrically wound signal transformer has a first primary coil portion wound in one groove on a bobbin and a first secondary coil portion wound in an adjacent groove on the bobbin. A second primary coil portion, of shorter length than the first primary coil portion is wound in a reverse direction in the groove containing the first secondary coil portion. Likewise, a shorter second secondary coil portion is wound in a reverse direction in the groove containing the first primary coil portion. The respective second coil portions serve as decoupling windings.

[008] The drawbacks associated with these existing processes of winding coils is that as the number of coils in the system increases, the manufacturing cost, time and size of the electrical component increases by the number of coil times.

[009] As electrical technology advances, the space, time and cost of the assemblies and sub-assemblies are becoming more and more critical for the product development based industries. The coils are one among such sub-assemblies that take much space in the corresponding devices as well as take more time for manufacturing and more cost as the volume of copper or the winding wire increases. As the number of coils in the system increases, the parameters discussed hereinabove increases in proportion to the number of coil times. This is one of the most critical problems of the coil industry that increases both direct and indirect costs associated with manufacturing of coil windings. Accordingly, there is a need to reduce the manufacturing cost, time and effort associated with increasing the number of coils in the assemblies and sub-assemblies in electrical components.

[0010] The above-described need to reduce the manufacturing cost, time and effort associated with increasing the number of coils in electrical components is merely intended to provide an overview of some of the shortcomings of conventional systems / mechanism / techniques, and is not intended to be exhaustive. Other problems/ shortcomings with conventional systems/ mechanism /techniques and corresponding benefits of the various non-limiting embodiments described herein may become further apparent upon review of the following description.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the present invention. It is not intended to identify the key/critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concept of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description of the invention presented later.

[0012] An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-polar coil assembly for electrical applications.

[0013] Another object of the present invention is to provide a multi-polar coil assembly capable of providing both supporting and opposite flux outputs.

[0014] Yet another object of the present invention is to employ the dual purpose coils for the permanent magnet actuation by using multi-polar multi-stage flux reduction.

[0015] Yet another object of the present invention is to reduce the winding time, the cost of multiple multi-polar coil formers, connectors and connector wires thereby reducing the overall cost and number of components of the multi-polar coil assembly.

[0016] According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-polar coil assembly. This multi-polar coil assembly comprises a coil former comprising a terminal, said coil former is adapted to be flexed or un-flexed; said coil former comprising at least a pair of coplanar bobbins operably coupled to each other, said each bobbin comprises a hollow coil holding area; at least one winding wire coaxially wound over the coil holding area of the coil former in a manner that the winding wire encompasses the coil holding area; wherein said coil former is adapted to support the winding wire in both clockwise and anti-clockwise directions; a pair of connector wires operably coupled to the winding wire at one end and operably coupled to a connector at the other end for connection to external circuitry; said terminal comprising a pair of slots adapted to receive the winding wire and connector wires; wherein said coil former is flexed for winding the winding wire over the coil holding area.

[0017] In a possible implementation of the multi-polar coil assembly according to the first aspect, a mandrill is inserted into the coil holding area for flexing the coil former when the winding wire is wound over the coil holding area of the coil former.

[0018] In another possible implementation of the multi-polar coil assembly according to the first aspect, flexing or un-flexing of the coil former produces flux outputs depending on winding direction of the winding wire.

[0019] In yet another possible implementation of the multi-polar coil assembly according to the first aspect, the flexed coil former produces flux outputs in opposite directions of same plane when the winding wire is wound in the same direction.

[0020] In yet another possible implementation of the multi-polar coil assembly according to the first aspect, the un-flexed coil former produces parallel flux outputs in opposite directions when the winding wire is wound in the opposing directions.

[0021] In yet another possible implementation of the multi-polar coil assembly according to the first aspect, the un-flexed coil former is adapted for multi-stage flux reduction in permanent magnet actuators, solenoids and the like.

[0022] In yet another possible implementation of the multi-polar coil assembly according to the first aspect, the flexed coil former is adapted for the transformers with multiple secondary turns and multi-taps and the like.

[0023] Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

[0024] The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

[0025] Figure 1 illustrates the multi-polar coil former in flexed condition according to an implementation of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 2 illustrates the multi-polar coil former in un-flexed condition according to an implementation of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 3 illustrates the connectors along with the connector wires according to an implementation of the present invention.

[0028] Figure 4 illustrates the complete assembly of a dual output single winding coil according to an implementation of the present invention.

[0029] Figure 5 illustrates the various configurations of the coil according to an implementation of the present invention.

[0030] Figure 6 illustrates the flux output when coil former is flexed according to an implementation of the present invention.

[0031] Figure 7 illustrates the flux output when coil former is un-flexed according to an implementation of the present invention.

[0032] Figure 8 illustrates the coil former supporting windings in both clockwise and anti-clockwise directions according to an implementation of the present invention.

[0033] Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may have not been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0034] The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.

[0035] Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.

[0036] The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the invention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0037] It is to be understood that the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0038] By the term “substantially” it is meant that the recited characteristic, parameter, or value need not be achieved exactly, but that deviations or variations, including for example, tolerances, measurement error, measurement accuracy limitations and other factors known to those of skill in the art, may occur in amounts that do not preclude the effect the characteristic was intended to provide.

[0039] Features that are described and/or illustrated with respect to one embodiment may be used in the same way or in a similar way in one or more other embodiments and/or in combination with or instead of the features of the other embodiments.

[0040] It should be emphasized that the term “comprises/comprising” when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or component but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof.

[0041] The present invention lies in providing a multi-polar coil assembly for electrical applications.

[0042] In particular, the present invention describes the construction of a multi-polar coil assembly capable of performing both supporting and opposite flux outputs by employing dual purpose coils for permanent magnet actuation by using multi-polar multi-stage flux reduction. It aims at reducing the winding time, the cost of multiple multi-polar coil formers, connectors and connector wires thereby reducing the overall cost and number of components of the multi-polar coil assembly.

[0043] With advancement in electrical technology, the space, time and cost of manufacturing coils for electrical assemblies and sub-assemblies is becoming more and more critical for the product development based industries. The coils occupy space in the corresponding devices; require considerable time to manufacturing and experiences rise in cost as the volume of copper or the winding wire increases. As the number of coils in the system increases, said parameters also increases by the number of coil times. This is one of the most critical problems in the coil industry which increases both direct and indirect cost.

[0044] To avoid such increases, a multi-polar coil assembly is disclosed. The coil assembly comprises a multi-polar coil former or bobbin (4), coil winding wire (11), connector wires (2, 3) and a connector (1). The multi-polar coil former (4) is the one over which the complete winding of the winding wire (11) will happen. The coil former (4) is designed keeping in mind that it is both flexible as well as solid for its pre-winding and post-winding utilization conditions.

[0045] According to a first embodiment of the present invention, a multi-polar coil assembly is disclosed. The multi-polar coil assembly comprises a coil former (4) comprising a terminal (6), said coil former (4) is adapted to be flexed or un-flexed; said coil former (4) comprising at least a pair of coplanar bobbins operably coupled to each other, said each bobbin comprises a hollow coil holding area (7); at least one winding wire (11) coaxially wound over the coil holding area (7) of the coil former (4) in a manner that the winding wire (11) encompasses the coil holding area (7); wherein said coil former (4) is adapted to support the winding wire (11) in both clockwise and anti-clockwise directions; a pair of connector wires (2, 3) operably coupled to the winding wire (11) at one end and operably coupled to a connector (1) at the other end for connection to external circuitry; said terminal (6) comprising a pair of slots adapted to receive the winding wire (11) and connector wires (2, 3); wherein said coil former (4) is flexed for winding the winding wire (11) over the coil holding area (7).

[0046] Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the multi-polar coil former (4) in its flexed and un-flexed conditions. The multi-polar coil former (4) also holds the connector wires (2, 3) that connects the coil winding wire (11) to the connector (1) that in turn connects it to the control circuitry. The multi-polar coil former (4) while winding takes the flexible mode and its folded 180 degrees as illustrated in the Figure 2.

[0047] Figure 3 illustrates the connector (1) along with the connector wires (2, 3). The connector wires (2, 3) are the flexible yet strong means connecting the wound coil to the control circuitry.

[0048] Figure 4 illustrates the complete assembly of the dual output single winding coil. The various configurations of the coil are illustrated Figure 5. Here, the coil former (4) is shown in its completely flexed form which pumps the flux in unidirectional way depending upon the polarity of the input signal and the winding direction in case of DC. In case of AC, the output signal depends purely on the coil winding direction. The current (8) in the coil winding (11) is illustrated with the arrows drawn over the coil winding areas (7) and the flux output is shown with the bold bigger arrows (9). The flux output depends upon the right hand principle of the coils.

[0049] Figure 6 illustrates flux output when the coil former is in flexed condition. The winding wire (11) produces flux outputs that are in line with each other representing two identical coils mounted on a single core pole when wounded in the same single direction. This will give a uni-directional flux output to the core

[0050] Figure 7 illustrates the flux outputs when the coil former (4) is in un-flexed condition. This creates two flux outputs in opposite directions mounted on the cores that are parallel to each other or two difference cores. This will give multi directional flux outputs as indicated in Figure 7.

[0051] Significantly, the two flux outputs have same components, i.e., a multi-polar coil former (4), coil winding wire (11), connector wires (2, 3) and connector (1) common to them along with the input signal. The current (8) in the winding wire (11) is illustrated with the arrows drawn over the coil winding areas (7) and the flux output is shown with the bold bigger arrows (9). The construction of the coil enables ease of winding, ease of utilization in multiple applications and ease of conversion of final functional parameters.

[0052] The mandrill (10) is inserted into the multi-polar coil former (4) in order to keep the bobbin (4) in the flexed condition for the winding process to happen. The coil former (4) supports the winding (11) in both clockwise and anti-clockwise directions, as illustrated in Figure 8.

[0053] The one end of the coil winding wire (11) is soldered to the connector wires (2, 3) inserted inside the coil former’s terminal (6) for accommodating the same. The coil winding wire (11) is wound over the bobbin’s (4) one of the multiple coil holding areas (7) and then a brief movement of mandrill (10) is executed in order to continue the winding the next coil holding area (7) in the multi-polar coil former (4). The other end of the coil (11) is then connected to the other connector wire (2, 3) and then terminated. The connector wires (2, 3) are connected to the connector (1) for connection to external circuitry.

[0054] Notably, the coil winding direction is different in the both the coils and its output flux direction is also different corresponding to the coils. The coil assembly in its un-flexed state is used for multi-stage flux reduction in permanent magnet actuators, solenoids and many more. The coil assembly in its flexed state is used for the transformers with multiple secondary turns and multi-taps and similar applications.

[0055] Thus, the multi-polar coil assembly for electrical applications reduces the winding time, the cost of multiple multi-polar coil formers (4), connectors (1) and connector wires (2, 3) thereby resulting in reducing the cost and number of components. Significantly, the coil former (4) can be of any shape making way to more varieties of applications in the field of electrical engineering.

[0056] Some of the non-limiting advantages of the present invention are mentioned hereinbelow:
1. The coil forming supports both uni-directional and multi-directional flux outputs in the same arrangement;
2. Single multi-polar coil former provides more than one set of coil outputs;
3. The coil former can be of any shape, thereby paving way for a variety of applications in the field of electrical engineering;
4. Only one connector set comprising 2 connector wires and a connector is required for more than one coil outputs having multi-polar outputs.
5. It reduces the winding time, the cost of multiple multi-polar coil formers, connectors and connector wires thereby resulting the overall cost reduction.
6. It also reduces the size of assembly, reduces the complexity of wiring in the assembly, reduces the manufacturing and assembly time of the coils and number of components of the assembly.

[0057] Although a multi-polar coil assembly for electrical applications has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methods as indicated, it is to be understood that the embodiments disclosed in the above section are not necessarily limited to the specific features or components or devices or methods described therein. Rather, the specific features are disclosed as examples of implementations of an electro-magnetic trip actuating device for use in circuit breakers that reduces the winding time, cost of manufacturing and number of components appearing therein.