Patent ID: 7498920

Claim:
An N-phase coupled inductor for magnetically coupling N phases of a power converter, comprising: a magnetic core having a bottom planar surface opposite a top surface, the magnetic core having N legs, N being an integer greater than two, the magnetic core forming N-1 interior passageways, each interior passageway extending from the top surface to the bottom planar surface and being at least partially defined by two of the N legs; and N windings, each winding for electrically connecting to a respective phase of the power converter, N-2 of the N windings being at least partially wound about a respective leg of the magnetic core and through two of the N-1 interior passageways, two of the N windings being at least partially wound about a respective leg of the magnetic core and through one of the N-1 interior passageways, each interior passageway having two of the N windings wound therethrough, and each winding having two ends, each end forming a tab having a planar surface for connecting the tab to a printed circuit board, the planar surface of each tab being about parallel to the bottom planar surface of the magnetic core, 2N-2 of the tabs being partially disposed along the bottom planar surface of the magnetic core.