Patent Publication Number: US-2010109609-A1

Title: Power supply module

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number 97142937, filed Nov. 6, 2008, which is herein incorporated by reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of Invention 
     The present invention relates to a power supply module. More particularly, the present invention relates to a power supply module with energy cells. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Energy storage parts play important roles in our daily lives since they influence the performance and the working time of electronic devices. Components such as capacitors used in the circuits and batteries used in portable devices are the most common energy storage parts. 
     Ultra-capacitors, also called Electric Double-Layer Capacitors (EDLC), have substantially high power density. In the past few years, these components have been used in consumer electronics, industrial and automotive applications. Today, ultra-capacitors with 20 kW/kg of power densities are already available, and they have very compact sizes (a small ultra-capacitor usually has a stamp size or even smaller). They can store a lot more energy than traditional capacitors. Faraday (F) is the unit of the capacitance value used by most ultra-capacitors, usually in 1F to 5000F. The discharge rate can be very quick and can also be very slow. Their life is very long and can be designed for the entire life cycle of end products. 
     Power supply solutions such as power supply modules or power suppliers often employ energy cells like batteries or capacitors. Previously, owning to the limitations in sizes, functionality, and life of energy cells, energy cells are typically placed outside circuit boards. However, as technology advances, energy cells like batteries or magnetic capacitors will be used in various electronic devices in the future. Therefore, there is a need to provide an application of energy cells. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, a power supply module includes a circuit board and at least one energy cell. The energy cell has a positive contact and a negative contact. The energy cell is placed on the circuit board. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings, 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a power supply module according to a first embodiment of this invention; and 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a power supply module according to a second embodiment of this invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiment of this invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a power supply module according to a first embodiment of this invention. The power supply module  100  can be used in various electronic devices. The power supply module  100  includes at least one energy cell  110  and a circuit board  130 . The energy cell  110  is a high efficiency energy cell such as a super capacitor, magnetic capacitor, and miniature flat type batteries, and the size of which can achieve the size of a post stamp or even smaller. In addition, the energy cell  110  has large capacitance and can charge or discharge a great number of times. For certain energy cells, their energy densities can achieve 500 wh/kg. The energy cell  110  has a positive contact  113  and a negative contact  116 . The positive contact  113  and negative contact  116  can be used to connect with a load, or to connect with another or more energy cells in serial or parallel first and then to a load. The energy cell  110  in  FIG. 1  is for illustrative purpose only and not intended to limit this invention. The positive contact  113  and negative contact  116  can be arranged on the same side, neighboring sides, or opposite sides of the energy cell  110 . 
     Because the energy cell  110  has a small size, it can be placed directly on the circuit board  130 . Besides, based on the actual needs varying from application to application, the energy cell  110  may be electrically connected to the circuit board  130  in different ways. As mentioned above, the energy cell  110  to is characterized by small size, large capacitance, and a great number of charge or discharge times. Thus, such design (placing the energy cell directly on the circuit board) could save a lot of space. The circuit board  130  can be a printed circuit board, a flexible printed circuit, a ceramic circuit board or other suitable circuit boards. This power supply module  110  can also include at least one first jointing component and at least one second jointing component. The first jointing component joints the positive contact  113  and the circuit board  130 ; and the second jointing component joints the negative contact  116  and the circuit board  130 . The material of the first and second jointing component could be gold, copper, aluminum, silver, tin, combination alloy from the above is metal, or other conductive material. The first and the second jointing component could be holes, metal bumps, metal bonding wires, solder, or other suitable conductive structure. 
     The energy cell  110  may be a package already completed, or may be an unpackaged cell. If the energy cell  110  is unpackaged, then the power supply module  100  also includes at least one insulating layer coating the energy cell  110 . The material of the insulating layer could be Epoxy resin, ceramic, glass, or other suitable material. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a power supply module according to a second embodiment of this invention. The power supply module  200  can be used in various electronic devices. The power supply module  200  includes at least one energy cell  210  and a circuit board  230 . The energy cell  210  is a high efficiency energy cell such as a super capacitor, magnetic capacitor, and miniature flat type batteries, and the size of which can achieve the size of a post stamp or even smaller. In addition, the energy cell  210  has large capacitance and can charge or discharge a great number of times. The energy cell  210  has a positive contact  213  and a negative contact  216 . The positive contact  213  and negative contact  216  can be used to connect with a load, or to connect with another or more energy cells in serial or parallel first and then to a load. The energy cell  210  in  FIG. 2  is for illustrative purpose only and not intended to limit this invention. The positive contact  213  and negative contact  216  can be arranged on the same side, neighboring sides, or opposite sides of the energy cell  210 . 
     Because the energy cell  210  has a small size, it can be placed directly on the circuit board  230 . Besides, based on the actual needs varying from is application to application, the energy cell  210  may be electrically connected to the circuit board  230  in different ways. As mentioned above, the energy cell  210  is characterized by small size, large capacitance, and a great number of charge or discharge times. Thus, such design (placing the energy cell directly on the circuit board) could save a lot of space. The circuit board  230  can be a printed circuit board, a flexible printed circuit, a ceramic circuit board or other suitable circuit boards. This power supply module  210  can also include at least one first jointing component and at least one second jointing component. The first jointing component joints the positive contact  213  and the circuit board  230 ; and the second jointing component joints the negative contact  216  and the circuit board  230 . The material of the first and second jointing component could be gold, copper, aluminum, silver, tin, combination alloy from the above metal, or other conductive material. The first and the second jointing component could be holes, metal bumps, metal bonding wires, solder, or other suitable conductive structure. 
     The energy cell  210  may be a package already completed, or may be an unpackaged cell. If the energy cell  210  is unpackaged, then the power supply module  200  also includes at least one insulating layer coating the energy cell  210 . The material of the insulating layer could be Epoxy resin, ceramic, glass, or other suitable material. 
     The power supply module  200  can also include a power management system  250 , also placed on the circuit board  230 . The power management system  250  could control the energy cells within the power supply module so as to charge or discharge the energy cells respectively, sequentially, or together. The power management system  250  could have a DC-DC convertor  251  and/or an AC-DC convertor  252 . 
     Additionally, the power supply module  200  may include a positive plate  260  and a negative plate  270 . The positive plate  260  and the negative plate  270  respectively has at lest one charging electrode and/or at least one discharging electrode such as charging electrodes  261  and  262  on the positive plate  260  and the discharging electrode  271  on the negative plate  270 . The positive plate  260  is connected to a side of the circuit board  230 , while the negative plate  270  is connected to the other side of the circuit board  230  opposite of the positive plate  260 . Depending on the area the power supply module  230  actually applies to, the number of charging and discharging electrodes can vary. For instance, when this invention is applied to the car industry, it can have multiple charging electrodes so as to meet the demand of large power supply. 
     The positive contacts of the energy cells are connected to the positive plate  260 ; and the negative contacts of the energy cells are connected to the negative plate  270 . The material of the positive plate  260  and the negative plate  270  may be ceramic, metal, glass or other suitable material The positive plate  260  and the negative plate  270  may both be printed circuit boards. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the embodiment without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the embodiment cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.