Patents by Inventor Jeffrey Horn

Jeffrey Horn has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11887784
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a multilayer ceramic capacitor. A plurality of active electrodes may be arranged within a monolithic body of the capacitor and parallel with a longitudinal direction. A first shield electrode may be arranged within the monolithic body and parallel with the longitudinal direction. The first shield electrode may be connected with a first external terminal. The first shield electrode may have a first longitudinal edge and a second longitudinal edge that are each aligned with the lateral direction and face away from the first external terminal. The second longitudinal edge may be offset in the longitudinal direction from the first longitudinal edge by a shield electrode offset distance. A second shield electrode may be connected with a second external terminal. The second shield electrode may be approximately aligned with the first shield electrode in the Z-direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: KYOCERA AVX Components Corporation
    Inventors: Marianne Berolini, Jeffrey A. Horn, Richad C. VanAlstine
  • Publication number: 20240029956
    Abstract: A broadband multilayer ceramic capacitor can include at least one active electrode layer including a first active electrode and a second active electrode. The first active electrode can have a central portion extending away from a base portion in a longitudinal direction. The second active electrode can include at least one arm extending away from a base portion towards the first end and overlapping the central portion of the first active electrode. A first shield electrode in a shield electrode region can have a central portion extending from a base portion. A second shield electrode can include an arm overlapping the central portion of the first shield electrode in the longitudinal direction. The shield electrode region can be spaced apart from the active electrode region by a shield-to-active distance that is greater than an active electrode spacing distance between respective active electrodes of the plurality of active electrodes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 5, 2023
    Publication date: January 25, 2024
    Inventors: Marianne Berolini, Jeffrey A Horn
  • Patent number: 11830676
    Abstract: A broadband multilayer ceramic capacitor can include at least one active electrode layer including a first active electrode and a second active electrode. The first active electrode can have a central portion extending away from a base portion in a longitudinal direction. The second active electrode can include at least one arm extending away from a base portion towards the first end and overlapping the central portion of the first active electrode. A first shield electrode in a shield electrode region can have a central portion extending from a base portion. A second shield electrode can include an arm overlapping the central portion of the first shield electrode in the longitudinal direction. The shield electrode region can be spaced apart from the active electrode region by a shield-to-active distance that is greater than an active electrode spacing distance between respective active electrodes of the plurality of active electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: KYOCERA AVX Components Corporation
    Inventors: Marianne Berolini, Jeffrey A Horn
  • Publication number: 20230368977
    Abstract: A broadband multilayer ceramic capacitor may include a first external termination and a second external termination. A first portion of the first external termination may be spaced apart from a first portion of the second external termination by a first external termination spacing distance. A first active electrode layer may include a rectangular first active electrode connected with the first external termination. A second active electrode layer may include a rectangular second active electrode connected with the second external termination. An outermost active electrode layer closest to an outer surface of the capacitor may be spaced apart from the outer surface by an outermost-active-to-surface distance. A ratio of a capacitor thickness in a Z-direction to the outermost-active-to-surface distance may be 1.1 or more. A ratio of a capacitor length in a longitudinal direction to the first external termination spacing distance may be 15 or more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 11, 2023
    Publication date: November 16, 2023
    Inventors: Marianne Berolini, Jeffrey Horn, Fumihiko Hidaka, Yuki Inanaga
  • Patent number: 11728092
    Abstract: A broadband multilayer ceramic capacitor may include a monolithic body including a plurality of dielectric layers stacked in the Z-direction, a first external terminal, and a second external terminal. A plurality of active electrodes, a bottom shield electrode, and a top shield electrode may be arranged within the monolithic body. The top shield electrode may be positioned between the active electrodes and a top surface of the capacitor and spaced apart from the top surface of the capacitor by a top-shield-to-top distance. A bottom shield electrode may be positioned between the active electrodes and the bottom surface of the capacitor and spaced apart from the bottom surface of the capacitor by a bottom-shield-to-bottom distance. A ratio of the top-shield-to-top distance to the bottom-shield-to-bottom distance may be between about 0.8 and about 1.2. The bottom-shield-to-bottom distance may range from about 8 microns to about 100 microns.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: KYOCERA AVX Components Corporation
    Inventors: Marianne Berolini, Jeffrey A. Horn, Richard C. VanAlstine
  • Patent number: 11721488
    Abstract: A multilayer ceramic capacitor is disclosed including a first external terminal disposed along a first end of the capacitor, a second external terminal disposed along a second end of the capacitor opposite the first end, an active electrode region containing alternating dielectric layers and active electrode layers, and a shield electrode region including at least two shield electrodes that are spaced apart by a shield layer gap in the longitudinal direction. The distance from the active electrode region to the shield electrode region may range from about 4% to about 20% of a thickness of the capacitor between a top surface and a bottom surface opposing the top surface. The shield layer gap may range from about 3% to about 60% of an external terminal gap between the first external terminal and second external terminal in the longitudinal direction on at least one of the top or bottom surfaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2023
    Assignee: KYOCERA AVX Components Corporation
    Inventors: Jeffrey A. Horn, Marianne Berolini
  • Patent number: 11676763
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a multilayer ceramic capacitor comprising a first external terminal disposed along a first end, a second external terminal disposed along a second end that is opposite the first end, and an active electrode region containing alternating dielectric layers and active electrode layers. At least one of the electrode layers comprises a first electrode and a second electrode. The first electrode is electrically connected with the first external terminal and has a first electrode arm comprising a main portion and a step portion. The main portion has a lateral edge extending from the first end of the multilayer capacitor and the step portion has a lateral edge offset from the lateral edge of the main portion. The second electrode is electrically connected with the second external terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2023
    Assignee: KYOCERA AVX Components Corporation
    Inventors: Jeffrey A. Horn, Marianne Berolini
  • Patent number: 11664169
    Abstract: A multilayer capacitor may include a monolithic body including a plurality of dielectric layers. A first external terminal may be disposed along a first end, and a second external terminal may be disposed along a second end of the capacitor. The external terminals may include respective bottom portions that extend along a bottom surface of the capacitor. The bottom portions of the external terminals may be spaced apart by a bottom external terminal spacing distance. A bottom shield electrode may be arranged within the monolithic body between a plurality of active electrodes and the bottom surface of the capacitor. The bottom shield electrode may be spaced apart from the bottom surface of the capacitor by a bottom-shield-to-bottom distance that may range from about 3 microns to about 100 microns. A ratio of a length of the capacitor to the bottom external terminal spacing distance may be less than about 4.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Assignee: KYOCERA AVX Components Corporation
    Inventors: Marianne Berolini, Jeffrey A. Horn, Richard C. VanAlstine
  • Publication number: 20230068137
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a multilayer ceramic capacitor that includes a plurality of active electrodes and at least one shield electrode that are each arranged within a monolithic body and parallel with a longitudinal direction. The capacitor may exhibit a first insertion loss value at a test frequency, which may be greater than about 2 GHz, in a first orientation relative to the mounting surface. The capacitor may exhibit a second insertion loss value at about the test frequency in a second orientation relative to the mounting surface and the capacitor is rotated 90 degrees or more about the longitudinal direction with respect to the first orientation. The longitudinal direction of the capacitor may be parallel with the mounting surface in each of the first and second orientations. The second insertion loss value may differ from the first insertion loss value by at least about 0.3 dB.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2022
    Publication date: March 2, 2023
    Inventors: Marianne Berolini, Jeffrey A. Horn, Richard C. VanAlstine
  • Patent number: 11495406
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a multilayer ceramic capacitor that includes a plurality of active electrodes and at least one shield electrode that are each arranged within a monolithic body and parallel with a longitudinal direction. The capacitor may exhibit a first insertion loss value at a test frequency, which may be greater than about 2 GHz, in a first orientation relative to the mounting surface. The capacitor may exhibit a second insertion loss value at about the test frequency in a second orientation relative to the mounting surface and the capacitor is rotated 90 degrees or more about the longitudinal direction with respect to the first orientation. The longitudinal direction of the capacitor may be parallel with the mounting surface in each of the first and second orientations. The second insertion loss value may differ from the first insertion loss value by at least about 0.3 dB.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: KYOCERA AVX Components Corporation
    Inventors: Marianne Berolini, Jeffrey A. Horn, Richard C. VanAlstine
  • Publication number: 20220328248
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a multilayer ceramic capacitor. The capacitor comprises a top surface, a bottom surface, and at least one side surface connecting the top surface and the bottom surface. The capacitor comprises a main body containing a plurality of alternating dielectric layers and internal electrode layers comprising a first plurality of internal electrode layers and a second plurality of internal electrode layers. A first through-hole conductive via electrically connects the first plurality of internal electrode layers to a first external terminal on the top surface and a first external terminal on the bottom surface of the capacitor. A second through-hole conductive via electrically connects the second plurality of internal electrode layers to a second external terminal on the top surface and a second external terminal on the bottom surface of the capacitor. The at least one side surface does not include an external terminal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2022
    Publication date: October 13, 2022
    Inventors: Marianne Berolini, Jeffrey Horn, Jeffrey Cain
  • Publication number: 20220293348
    Abstract: A multilayer capacitor may include a monolithic body including a plurality of dielectric layers. A first external terminal may be disposed along a first end, and a second external terminal may be disposed along a second end of the capacitor. The external terminals may include respective bottom portions that extend along a bottom surface of the capacitor. The bottom portions of the external terminals may be spaced apart by a bottom external terminal spacing distance. A bottom shield electrode may be arranged within the monolithic body between a plurality of active electrodes and the bottom surface of the capacitor. The bottom shield electrode may be spaced apart from the bottom surface of the capacitor by a bottom-shield-to-bottom distance that may range from about 3 microns to about 100 microns. A ratio of a length of the capacitor to the bottom external terminal spacing distance may be less than about 4.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 2, 2022
    Publication date: September 15, 2022
    Inventors: Marianne Berolini, Jeffrey A. Horn, Richard C. VanAlstine
  • Publication number: 20220216011
    Abstract: A broadband multilayer ceramic capacitor may include a first external terminal and a second external terminal. A bottom portion of the first external terminal may be spaced apart from a bottom portion of the second external terminal by a bottom external terminal spacing distance. A first active electrode layer may include a first active electrode connected with the first external terminal and a second active electrode connected with the second external terminal and co-planar with the first electrode. A second active electrode layer may include a third active electrode connected to the first external terminal and a fourth active electrode connected to the second external terminal and co-planar with the fourth electrode. The first active electrode may overlap the fourth active electrode in the longitudinal direction. A ratio of a length of the capacitor to the bottom external terminal spacing distance may be greater than about 4.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 4, 2022
    Publication date: July 7, 2022
    Inventors: Marianne Berolini, Jeffrey A Horn
  • Publication number: 20220216007
    Abstract: A broadband multilayer ceramic capacitor can include at least one active electrode layer including a first active electrode and a second active electrode. The first active electrode can have a central portion extending away from a base portion in a longitudinal direction. The second active electrode can include at least one arm extending away from a base portion towards the first end and overlapping the central portion of the first active electrode. A first shield electrode in a shield electrode region can have a central portion extending from a base portion. A second shield electrode can include an arm overlapping the central portion of the first shield electrode in the longitudinal direction. The shield electrode region can be spaced apart from the active electrode region by a shield-to-active distance that is greater than an active electrode spacing distance between respective active electrodes of the plurality of active electrodes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 4, 2022
    Publication date: July 7, 2022
    Inventors: Marianne Berolini, Jeffrey A. Horn
  • Patent number: 11373809
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a multilayer ceramic capacitor. The capacitor comprises a top surface, a bottom surface, and at least one side surface connecting the top surface and the bottom surface. The capacitor comprises a main body containing a plurality of alternating dielectric layers and internal electrode layers comprising a first plurality of internal electrode layers and a second plurality of internal electrode layers. A first through-hole conductive via electrically connects the first plurality of internal electrode layers to a first external terminal on the top surface and a first external terminal on the bottom surface of the capacitor. A second through-hole conductive via electrically connects the second plurality of internal electrode layers to a second external terminal on the top surface and a second external terminal on the bottom surface of the capacitor. The at least one side surface does not include an external terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: KYOCERA AVX Components Corporation
    Inventors: Marianne Berolini, Jeffrey Horn, Jeffrey Cain
  • Publication number: 20220189691
    Abstract: A multilayer ceramic capacitor may include a monolithic body including a plurality of dielectric layers and a plurality of electrode regions. The plurality of electrode regions can include a dielectric region, an active electrode region, and a shield electrode region. The active electrode region may be located between the dielectric region and the shield electrode region in a Z-direction. The dielectric region may extend from the active electrode region to the top surface of the broadband multilayer ceramic capacitor. The capacitor may include a plurality of active electrodes arranged within the active electrode region and at least one shield electrode arranged within the shield electrode region. The dielectric region may be free of electrode layers that extend greater than 25% of a length of the capacitor. A ratio of a capacitor thickness to a thickness of the dielectric region may be less than about 20.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 25, 2022
    Publication date: June 16, 2022
    Inventors: Marianne Berolini, Jeffrey A. Horn, Richard C. VanAlstine
  • Patent number: 11361907
    Abstract: A multilayer capacitor may include a monolithic body including a plurality of dielectric layers. A first external terminal may be disposed along a first end, and a second external terminal may be disposed along a second end of the capacitor. The external terminals may include respective bottom portions that extend along a bottom surface of the capacitor. The bottom portions of the external terminals may be spaced apart by a bottom external terminal spacing distance. A bottom shield electrode may be arranged within the monolithic body between a plurality of active electrodes and the bottom surface of the capacitor. The bottom shield electrode may be spaced apart from the bottom surface of the capacitor by a bottom-shield-to-bottom distance that may range from about 3 microns to about 100 microns. A ratio of a length of the capacitor to the bottom external terminal spacing distance may be less than about 4.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2022
    Assignee: KYOCERA AVX Components Corporation
    Inventors: Marianne Berolini, Jeffrey A. Horn, Richard C. VanAlstine
  • Publication number: 20220115182
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a multilayer ceramic capacitor. A plurality of active electrodes may be arranged within a monolithic body of the capacitor and parallel with a longitudinal direction. A first shield electrode may be arranged within the monolithic body and parallel with the longitudinal direction. The first shield electrode may be connected with a first external terminal. The first shield electrode may have a first longitudinal edge and a second longitudinal edge that are each aligned with the lateral direction and face away from the first external terminal. The second longitudinal edge may be offset in the longitudinal direction from the first longitudinal edge by a shield electrode offset distance. A second shield electrode may be connected with a second external terminal. The second shield electrode may be approximately aligned with the first shield electrode in the Z-direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2021
    Publication date: April 14, 2022
    Inventors: Marianne Berolini, Jeffrey A. Horn, Richad C. VanAlstine
  • Publication number: 20220093332
    Abstract: A broadband multilayer ceramic capacitor may include a monolithic body including a plurality of dielectric layers stacked in the Z-direction, a first external terminal, and a second external terminal. A plurality of active electrodes, a bottom shield electrode, and a top shield electrode may be arranged within the monolithic body. The top shield electrode may be positioned between the active electrodes and a top surface of the capacitor and spaced apart from the top surface of the capacitor by a top-shield-to-top distance. A bottom shield electrode may be positioned between the active electrodes and the bottom surface of the capacitor and spaced apart from the bottom surface of the capacitor by a bottom-shield-to-bottom distance. A ratio of the top-shield-to-top distance to the bottom-shield-to-bottom distance may be between about 0.8 and about 1.2. The bottom-shield-to-bottom distance may range from about 8 microns to about 100 microns.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 3, 2021
    Publication date: March 24, 2022
    Inventors: Marianne Berolini, Jeffrey A. Horn, Richard C. VanAlstine
  • Patent number: 11270842
    Abstract: A multilayer ceramic capacitor may include a monolithic body including a plurality of dielectric layers and a plurality of electrode regions. The plurality of electrode regions can include a dielectric region, an active electrode region, and a shield electrode region. The active electrode region may be located between the dielectric region and the shield electrode region in a Z-direction. The dielectric region may extend from the active electrode region to the top surface of the broadband multilayer ceramic capacitor. The capacitor may include a plurality of active electrodes arranged within the active electrode region and at least one shield electrode arranged within the shield electrode region. The dielectric region may be free of electrode layers that extend greater than 25% of a length of the capacitor. A ratio of a capacitor thickness to a thickness of the dielectric region may be less than about 20.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: KYOCERA AVX Components Corporation
    Inventors: Marianne Berolini, Jeffrey A. Horn, Richard C. VanAlstine