US Patent 8368500 Form-less electronic device assemblies and methods of operation

Improved form-less electronic apparatus and methods for manufacturing the same. In one exemplary embodiment, the apparatus comprises a shape-core inductive device having a bonded-wire coil which is formed and maintained within the device without resort to a bobbin or other form(er). The absence of the bobbin simplifies the manufacture of the device, reduces its cost, and allows it to be made more compact (or alternatively additional functionality to be disposed therein). One variant utilizes a termination header for mating to a PCB or other assembly, while another totally avoids the use of the header by directly mating to the PCB. Multi-core variants and methods of manufacturing are also disclosed.