What Is a Lead Inductor?
A lead inductor is a type of inductor with leads on both ends of the component. They are also sometimes called coils.
Lead inductors are one of the most commonly used electronic components as well as resistors, diodes, and capacitors used in electric and electronic circuits.
They are used in power supply circuits and high-frequency circuits, in addition to various signal processing circuits as general applications.
The structure is simple, and there are types made by wrapping wires around a wire or by wrapping a wire around a core. When a current flows through an inductor, a magnetic field is generated, which is called an induced magnetic field. Direct current flows through the inductor as it is, but the generation of an induction magnetic field suppresses the flow of alternating current.
Other types of inductors include surface mount inductors.
Uses of Lead Inductors
Lead inductors are used in a variety of circuits by taking advantage of the above characteristics.
Because of their ability to suppress the flow of alternating current while allowing direct current to flow, they are used in filter circuits to eliminate noise generated in the internal circuits of various electronic devices.
Currently, various electronic and electric circuits are being made more compact and faster, and the internal operating frequency is increasing rapidly along with this trend. As the operating frequency increases, countermeasures against high-frequency noise generated inside the equipment are unavoidable.
Inductors are used for noise suppression in various types of equipment.
In addition, in the power supply circuits within equipment, inductors play the role of converting AC commercial power into DC and supplying it to internal circuits. Here, an inductor that passes DC is used to smooth the waveform.
Principle of Lead Inductors
As mentioned above, a magnetic field can be generated by passing a current through an inductor, and this magnetic field generates a current from the magnetic field even when there is no current flowing in the coil.
The fact that current flows from the magnetic field when no current flows indicates that the coil itself has the ability to store current, and the amount of electrical energy that can be stored is expressed in Henleys (H).
The ability to store this energy is called inductance, and the larger the value, the higher the ability to store electric energy.
Inductors include high-frequency tuning coils and choke coils.
Choke coils are a type of inductor with relatively large inductance.
They are used in power supply circuits and high-frequency circuits and have a relatively large inductance due to the use of a relatively solid core.
A high-frequency tuning coil is configured by connecting it in parallel with a capacitor, and can be set to pass only a certain frequency.
The high-frequency tuning coil consists of a shielded cover covering the body, a core in the center, and wires wrapped around the core. It has a structure that allows variable inductance, such as a minus driver at the tip of the component.