Power adapter with a single-piece insulator assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9343850-B2
Application number	US-201214351287-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 10, 2012
Priority date	Oct 13, 2011
Publication date	May 17, 2016
Grant date	May 17, 2016

Abstract

An AC-to-DC power adapter comprises a single-piece insulator unit. The various components of the power adapter such as a transformer, other circuitry, etc. are attached to the single-piece insulator unit. The single-piece insulator unit has embedded channels to provide electrical connectivity between the circuitry, The entire assembly is placed in housing and a cap assembly having prongs to connect to a AC wall outlet is ultrasonically welded to the housing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A power adapter comprising:
a first connector;
a first electrical assembly coupled to the first connector and configured to receive an incoming AC voltage and convert it to a DC voltage;
a second connector;
a second electrical assembly coupled to the second connector and configured to accept the DC voltage and output the DC voltage via the second connector; and
a single-piece insulator unit having a first side and a second side, wherein the first electrical assembly is coupled to the first side and the second electrical assembly is coupled to the second side; and
wherein the insulator unit electrically insulates the first electrical assembly from the second electrical assembly and comprises one or more channels embedded therein to provide an electrical path between the first electrical assembly and the second electrical assembly at designated locations.

2. The power adapter of claim 1 wherein the second connector comprises a universal serial bus (USB) connector.

3. The power adapter of claim 1 wherein the first connector is configured to mate with a wall outlet that provides between 110-220 VAC.

4. The power adapter of claim 1 wherein the single-piece insulator unit comprises glass-filled nylon material.

5. The power adapter of claim 1 wherein the single-piece insulator unit is disposed between a cap assembly having the first connector and a rear wall having an opening to the second connector.

6. The power adapter of claim 5 wherein each of the one or more channels includes a conducting member that provides electrical connectivity between the first electrical assembly and the second electrical assembly.

7. The power adapter of claim 1 further comprising:
a power transformer attached to the single-piece insulator unit; and
a common mode choke attached to the single-piece insulator unit.

8. The power adapter of claim 7 further comprising a housing enclosing the single-piece insulator unit, the first electrical assembly, the second electrical assembly, the power transformer, and the common mode choke.

9. The power adapter of claim 8 wherein the housing comprises materials selected from plastic, rubber, ceramic, or silicon.

10. An insulator assembly comprising:
a single-piece structure having a first side and a second side, the first and the second side, each side having features thereon to accept a first circuitry and a second circuitry, respectively, wherein the single-piece structure electrically insulates the first circuitry from the second circuitry;
one or more channels embedded in the single-piece structure, wherein each of the one or more channels extends from the first side to the second side; and
electrically conducting members disposed in each of the one or more channels to provide electrical connection between the first circuitry and the second circuitry.

11. The insulator assembly of claim 10 wherein the single-piece structure comprises glass-filled nylon material.

12. The insulator assembly of claim 10 wherein the conducting members comprise metal.

13. The insulator assembly of claim 10 wherein the second circuitry includes a connector for providing DC power to an external device connected to the connector.

14. The insulator assembly of claim 10 wherein the single-piece structure has a length in the range of about 20 mm to 22 mm, a width in the range of about 19 mm to 21 mm, and a height in the range of about 18 mm to 21 mm.

15. The insulator assembly of claim 10 wherein the single-piece structure comprises an insulating material having a V-0 flame rating.

16. A method comprising:
providing a single-piece insulator unit having a first side and a second side, wherein each of the first side and the second side includes features formed thereon and the insulator unit electrical insulates the first side from the second side;
attaching a transformer at a first predefined location of the single-piece insulator unit;
attaching a common mode choke at a second predefined location of the single-piece insulator unit;
attaching a primary printed circuit board (PCB) including a first circuitry to the first side of the single-piece insulator unit;
attaching a secondary PCB including a second circuitry to the second side of the single-piece insulator unit;
providing electrical connectivity between the primary PCB and the secondary PCB through one or more channels within the single-piece insulator unit;
attaching a cap assembly to the single-piece insulator unit;
placing the single-piece insulator unit inside a housing; and
attaching the cap assembly to the housing to seal the single-piece insulator unit within the housing.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the one or more channels extend from the first side to the second side and providing the electrical connectivity further comprises placing conductive members in the one or more channels to provide an electrical path between the first circuitry and the second circuitry.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein attaching the transformer further comprises applying an adhesive to one or more portions of the transformer and applying a compressive force to the transformer.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein attaching the primary PCB and the secondary PCB to the single-piece insulator unit comprises using a wave soldering technique.

20. The method of claim 16 wherein attaching the cap assembly to the housing comprises ultrasonically welding the cap assembly to the housing.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Colahan Ian P
• Vista Fiedl Nick

Classifications

• H01R31/065

  with built-in electric apparatus · CPC title

• H01R13/6633

  with inductive component, e.g. transformer · CPC title

• H01R4/70

  Insulation of connections (end caps H01R4/22) · CPC title

• H01R13/6675 Primary

  with built-in power supply · CPC title

• H01R13/504

  different pieces being moulded, cemented, welded, e.g. ultrasonic welding, or swaged together · CPC title