Electric shock protection device and portable electronic device including the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10635138-B2
Application number	US-201715605732-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 25, 2017
Priority date	Nov 20, 2014
Publication date	Apr 28, 2020
Grant date	Apr 28, 2020

Abstract

Provided is an electric shock protection device disposed between a human body contactable conductor and an internal circuit unit of an electronic device. The electric shock protection device includes: a sintered body where a plurality of sheet layers stacked; an electric shock protection unit including at least one pair of inner electrodes disposed spaced a predetermined interval apart from each other inside the sintered body and a pore disposed between the inner electrodes; and at least one capacitor layer configured to pass communication signals flowing from the conductor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electric shock protection device disposed between a human body contactable conductor and an internal circuit unit of an electronic device, the electric shock protection device comprising:
a sintered body where a plurality of sheet layers are stacked;
an electric shock protection unit including at least one pair of inner electrodes disposed spaced a predetermined interval apart from each other inside the sintered body, having one end connected the human body contactable conductor and the other end connected internal circuit unit of an electronic device, and configured to pass static electricity without causing dielectric breakdown when the static electricity flows from the conductor, and to block a leakage current of an external power source flowing from a ground of the circuit unit; and
at least one capacitor layer connected in parallel to the electric shock protection unit and configured to pass communication signals flowing from the conductor,
wherein at least part of the plurality of sheet layers is formed of a first ceramic material;
the remaining sheet layers are formed of a second ceramic material;
the first ceramic material and the second ceramic material are different kinds of ceramic materials; and
the ceramic material is a metal-oxide compound comprising at least one selected from Er 2 O 3 , Dy 2 O 3 , Ho 2 O 3 , V 2 O 5 , CoO, MoO 3 , SnO 2 , BaTiO 3 , and Nd 2 O 3 , or Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramics (LTCC) or High Temperature Co-fired Ceramics (HTCC), or ferrite.

2. The electric shock protection device of claim 1 , wherein the following equation is satisfied for the electric shock protection unit,
Vbr>Vin
where Vbr is a breakdown voltage of the electric shock protection unit and Vin is a rated voltage of an external power source of the electronic device.

3. The electric shock protection device of claim 2 , wherein the following equation is satisfied for the electric shock protection unit and the capacitor layer,
Vcp>Vbr
where Vbr is a breakdown voltage of the electric shock protection unit and Vcp is a dielectric breakdown voltage of the capacitor layer.

4. The electric shock protection device of claim 1 , wherein the following equation is satisfied for the electric shock protection unit and the capacitor layer,
Vcp>Vbr
where Vbr is a breakdown voltage of the electric shock protection unit and Vcp is a dielectric breakdown voltage of the capacitor layer.

5. The electric shock protection device of claim 1 , wherein the electric shock protection unit comprises a pore formed between at least one pair of inner electrodes.

6. The electric shock protection device of claim 5 , wherein the pore has a width that is equal to or greater than an interval between the pair of inner electrodes and a height that is equal or greater than a thickness of the pair of inner electrodes.

7. The electric shock protection device of claim 5 , wherein the pore includes a discharging material layer.

8. The electric shock protection device of claim 7 , wherein the discharging material layer is formed of a non-conductive material including metal particles or a semiconductor material.

9. The electric shock protection device of claim 5 , wherein a volume of the pore is 1% to 15% with respect to a total volume of the electric shock protection device.

10. The electric shock protection device of claim 1 , wherein an interval between the capacitor layer and the electric shock protection unit is greater than an interval between the pair of inner electrodes of the electric shock protection unit.

11. The electric shock protection device of claim 1 , wherein an interval between the capacitor layer and the electric shock protection unit is 15 μm to 100 μm.

12. The electric shock protection device of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of a capacitor electrode of the capacitor layer is 2 μm to 10 μm.

13. The electric shock protection device of claim 1 , wherein an interval between capacitor electrodes of the capacitor layer is 15 μm to 100 μm.

14. The electric shock protection device of claim 1 , wherein the pair of inner electrodes are disposed on the same plane or disposed vertically to face each other.

15. The electric shock protection device of claim 1 , wherein the inner electrode comprises at least one component of Ag, Au, Pt, Pd, Ni, or Cu.

16. The electric shock protection device of claim 1 , wherein an interval of the inner electrodes is 10 μm to 100 μm.

17. The electric shock protection device of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the inner electrodes is 2 μm to 10 μm.

18. A portable electronic device with an electric shock protection function, the portable electronic device comprising:
a human body contactable conductor;
a circuit unit; and
an electric shock protection device of claim 1 disposed between the conductor and the circuit unit.

19. The portable electronic device of claim 18 , wherein the conductor comprises at least one of an antenna for communication between the electronic device and an external device, a metal case, and a conductive jewelry.

20. The portable electronic device of claim 19 , wherein the metal case is provided to partially or entirely surround a side part of a housing of the electronic device.

21. The portable electronic device of claim 19 , wherein the metal case is provided to surround a camera that is provided at a front or rear surface of a housing of the electronic device to be exposed to the outside.

22. An electric shock protection device disposed between a human body contactable conductor and an internal circuit unit of an electronic device, the electric shock protection device comprising:
an electric shock protection unit including at least one pair of inner electrodes disposed spaced a predetermined interval apart from each other inside a sintered body where a plurality of sheet layers stacked and a discharging material layer disposed between the inner electrodes, having one end connected the human body contactable conductor and the other end connected internal circuit unit of an electronic device, and configured to pass static electricity without causing dielectric breakdown when the static electricity flows from the conductor, and to block a leakage current of an external power source flowing from a ground of the circuit unit; and
one pair of capacitor layer comprising a plurality of capacitor electrodes disposed spaced a predetermined interval apart from each other inside the sintered body, connected in parallel to both ends of the electric shock protection unit and configured to pass communication signals flowing from the conductor,
wherein
the electric shock protection unit is disposed between the pair of capacitor layers;
an interval between the capacitor layer and the electric shock protection unit which is an interval between the nearest capacitor electrodes and the pair of inner electrodes is 15 μm to 100 μm;
an interval between the pair of inner electrodes is 15 μm to 100 μm;
a thickness of the pair of inner electrodes is 2 μm to 10 μm;
a thickness of capacitor electrodes is 2 μm to 10 μm;
at least part of the plurality of sheet layers is formed of a first ceramic material;
the remaining sheet layers are formed of a second ceramic material;
the first ceramic material and the second ceramic material are different kinds of ceramic materials; and
the ceramic material is a metal-oxide compound comprising at least one selected from Er 2 O 3 , Dy 2 O 3 , Ho 2 O 3 , V 2 O 5 , CoO, M

Assignees

• Amotech Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Tong Gi
• Yu Jun-Suh
• Park Kyu Hwan
• Sun Gui Nam
• Ryu Jae Su
• Lee Seung Chul

Classifications

• H01G4/30

  Stacked capacitors (H01G4/33 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04M1/026

  Details of the structure or mounting of specific components · CPC title

• H01G4/35

  Feed-through capacitors or anti-noise capacitors · CPC title

• H01G2/14

  Protection against electric or thermal overload (by cooling H01G2/08) · CPC title

• H01Q1/243

  with built-in antennas · CPC title