Patent ID: 7746209

Claim:
An N-phase coupled inductor for magnetically coupling N phases of a power converter, comprising: a printed circuit board for supporting the coupled inductor, the printed circuit board having a first side opposite a second side; a magnetic core including a first and a second I-shaped magnetic element and N I-shaped connecting magnetic elements, N being an integer greater than one; and N windings formed on the printed circuit board, each of the N windings for electrically connecting to a respective phase of the power converter, the first and second magnetic elements being disposed parallel to each other on the first side of the printed circuit board, the first and second magnetic elements being separated by a linear separation distance along the first side of the printed circuit board, each connecting magnetic element being disposed on the second side of the printed circuit board such that one section of each connecting magnetic element overlaps the first magnetic element and another section of each connecting magnetic element overlaps the second magnetic element, each connecting magnetic element having a respective one the N windings crossing thereabout, two of the N windings crossing a respective one of the N connecting magnetic elements and one of the first and second magnetic elements, and N-2 of the N windings crossing a respective one of the N connecting magnetic elements and both of the first and second magnetic elements.