Mold for Encapsulating a Component Having Non-Axial Leads

The present invention relates to molds for encapsulating components. More particularly, the present invention relates to molds for encapsulating components having non-axial leads.

The encapsulating of components with plastic using molds is known to the art, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,542,328, which is directed to the encapsulating of components having leads extending axially therefrom, i.e., an axially leaded component. A different type of component, having non-axial leads, has also been encapsulated with plastic using molds of different design, as hereinafter described. However, the use of such molds has often resulted in the pinching and shearing of component leads and other disadvantages.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a mold for the encapsulation of non-axial leaded components which avoids pinching and shearing damage to the component's leads.

Other objects will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in conjunction with the drawing, wherein

FIG. 1 shows a component of the type for encapsulation in accordance with the present invention

FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b) are sectional views of the component of FIG. 1 along view lines "a" and "b" respectively of FIG. 1

FIGS. 2 and 2(a) are views of a prior art molding technique, FIG. 2(a) being sectioned along view line 2(a) of FIG. 2

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of a closed mold in accordance with the present invention

FIGS. 3(a), 3(b), 3(c) and 3(d) are sectional view of portions of the mold of FIG. 3 along view lines "a", "b", "c" and "d" respectively of FIG. 3

FIG. 4 shows a component after removal from the mold of FIG. 3

FIG. 4(a) is a sectional view of a portion of the device shown in FIG. 4 along view line "a" of FIG. 4 while still in the mold

FIG. 5 shows a molded component provided by the practice of the present invention

FIG. 6 shows the mold of FIG. 3 in an open condition

FIG. 6(a) shows the broken portion of the mold of FIG. 6 extended to show a plurality of the chambers grooves and passageways illustrated in FIG. 6

FIG. 7 shows a section of a portion of the mold arrangement of FIG. 3.

With reference to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a component of the type which can be encapsulated using the mold of the present invention. In FIG. 1 the component is a conventional ceramic capacitor having a slab-shaped ceramic body 20 with metal terminations 30, 32 to which leads 40, 42 are attached, e.g., by solder as shown at 50. It is frequently desirable to provide such components with a plastic encapsulation as shown at 60 in FIGS. 1(a) and 1 (b). As shown in FIGS. 1 and 1(a), the leads 40, 42 are not in line with a central axis 65 of the component body 20, i.e., the leads are not "axial" and comprise a portion 70 which is adjacent to the component body 20, an elongate intermediate portion 72 which extends substantially parallel to the axis 65 of the capacitor body, and a terminal portion 74 remote from component body 20. In the past such components have been encapsulated using conventional mold of the type shown in FIG. 2 comprising two metal mold halves 80, 82 which when closed as shown in FIG. 2 form a chamber 84 to receive a component body 20'. Molten plastic is conventionally introduced into the chamber 84 which solidifies in situ in the mold and forms an encapsulation 86 shown in the sectional view of FIG. 2(a). As can be seen from FIG. 2(a), in order to avoid pinch or shear damage to leads 40', 42' the intermediate lead portion 72' must mate closely with grooves 90 in mold 80. It is not unusual, in commercial operations, to have situations where intermediate portions 72' do not precisely "line up" with the grooves 90, which results in lead damage.

In the present invention, these difficulties are avoided by a mold such as shown in FIG. 3. With reference to FIG. 3, a mold 100 comprises mold halves 102 and 104; mold half 104 is essentially identical to mold half 102 and is shown in dotted lines for purposes of clarity. FIG. 6 shows the mold of FIG. 3 "opened".

FIG. 6(a) shows the broken portion of FIG. 6 extended having a plurality of chambers, grooves and passageways corresponding to those illustrated in FIG. 6. With the mold halves closed as shown in FIG. 3, grooves 106 are formed which closely engage lead portions 74' and essentially sealably close the mold while positioning leads 40', 42'. A pair of first chambers 108 are formed by the mold halves for receiving intermediate lead portions 72'. In chambers 108, as shown in FIG. 3(a) the opposing inner surfaces 111, 113, which define the depth of chamber 108, closely contact intermediate lead portion 72' which thus partitions chamber 108 into compartments 115, 117 on each side of intermediate portion 72' and due to the lateral space thus provided in chambers 108, variations in the size, shape and length of the intermediate lead portion 72', and component body 20', can be accommodated. With reference to FIG. 3(b), the close fitting contact of surfaces 111, 113 with elongate intermediate lead portion 72' provides support for component body 20' which is received by second chamber 119 which has a greater depth than chamber 108. Passageways 121 shown in FIG. 3 which are relatively narrow, e.g., about 2 to 3 times the cross-section of lead portion 72', are formed by the portion of chambers 108 which are contiguous to chamber 119 and receive adjacent lead portions 70 and provide a path for molten plastic to each compartment 115, 117 of chambers 108. Passageways 121, as shown in FIG. 3, are substantially respectively in alignment with grooves 106 to accommodate leads 40', 42' which are parallel to the axis of component body 20'. Passageways 121, while relatively narrow, are wide enough to accommodate a variation in the spacing between leads 40' and 42' which may occur due to dimensional variation of component body 20'. In operation, molten plastic is conventionally introduced into the mold 100 from runner 130 through gate 132 into chamber 119 and through passageways 121 into compartments 115, 117 of chambers 108. Gases in the mold exit vent 135 and the plastic is prevented from running out of the mold by the sealing engagement of terminal lead portions 74' in grooves 106. Upon opening of the mold after in situ solidification of the molten plastic, the encapsulated capacitor has the configuration shown in FIG. 4, the plastic encapsulation of capacitor body 20' being indicated at 140 and the resulting partial encapsulation of intermediate lead portions 72' being shown at 148 and 149. As can be seen from FIG. 4 and FIG. 4(a) the surface portions 146 of intermediate lead portion 72' are not coated with plastic because of the above-mentioned supporting contact with the opposed inner surfaces of chambers 108. Consequently, as is known in the art, these relatively massive flash portions, i.e., tabs, 148 and 149 can be conventionally removed, e.g., by forces applied as shown at 150 using known de-flashing devices which break the tabs at the edge interface 153 to provide a finished encapsulated product as shown in FIG. 5.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the opposing surfaces of the mold halves which form chambers 108, FIG. 3, deform the cross section of intermediate lead portion 72', as shown in FIG. 7 to ensure firm support for the component in the mold and also provide substantially flat area, 146, 10.degree. to 20.degree. on each side, which will not be enclosed with plastic thus facilitating the deflashing of the solidified plastic tabs 148 and 149 attached to intermediate lead portions 72'.

Also in the preferred embodiment of the invention, 119 shown in FIG. 3, has a depth, represented at 200 in FIG. 4 which is from 2 to 4 times the depth of chambers 108 represented at 210 in FIG. 4, in order to facilitate "deflashing". The width of chambers 108 shown in FIG. 3 is represented at 300 in FIG. 4 and is about 2 to 4 times the cross section of intermediate lead portion 72' to facilitate "deflashing".