Embodiments described herein relate generally to electronic apparatus.
Electronic apparatuses comprising a housing and an antenna are provided.
A general architecture that implements the various features of the embodiments will now be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings and the associated descriptions are provided to illustrate the embodiments and not to limit the scope of the invention.
Various embodiments will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In general, according to one embodiment, an electronic apparatus comprises a housing, an electronic component in the housing, and an antenna in the housing. The antenna comprises a feed point, and an antenna element pattern located between the feed point and the electronic component.
In this specification, some components are expressed by two or more terms. These terms are merely examples. The components may be further expressed by another or other terms. The other components which are not expressed by two or more terms may be expressed by another or other terms.
As shown in
The upper wall 11 extends in a longitudinal direction (e.g., substantially horizontal direction) of the first housing 2. A keyboard 14 as an input portion is attached to the upper wall 11. It should be noted that the input portion provided on the upper wall 11 is not limited to a keyboard, and can be, for example, a touchpanel (i.e., touch sensor) or other input devices.
The lower wall 12 is located opposite to the upper wall 11. The lower wall 12 extends, for example, substantially parallel to the upper wall 11. When the electronic apparatus 1 is put on a desk, the lower wall 12 faces the upper surface of the desk (i.e., external placement surface). The lower wall 12 comprises, for example, a plurality of feet 15 (i.e., supporting portions). When the electronic apparatus 1 is put on the desk, the feet 15 contact the upper surface of the desk and support the electronic apparatus 1.
The peripheral wall 13 extends in a direction crossing the upper wall 11 and the lower wall 12, and connects a peripheral portion of the lower wall 12 and that of the upper wall 11. The peripheral wall 13 extends in a thickness direction of the first housing 2. Also, the first housing 2 comprises a first end 2a (e.g., rear end) and a second end 2b (e.g., front end) located opposite to the first end 2a.
On the other hand, the second housing 3 is, for example, a display housing. A display 20 (i.e., display module or unit) is provided in the second housing 3. The display 20 is an example of each of an electronic component, a component, a component comprising a metal portion, and a metal portion. Although an example of the display 20 is a liquid crystal display, the display 20 is not limited to this. The display 20 comprises a display screen 20a on which an image is displayed.
The second housing 3 comprises the front wall 21 (i.e., first wall), the back wall 22 (i.e., second wall) and the peripheral wall 23 (i.e., sidewall or third wall), and is formed to be a flat box. An opening 21a for exposing the display screen 20a is provided on the front wall 21. The back wall 22 is located opposite to the front wall 21, and covers the back surface of the display 20. The peripheral wall 23 extends in a direction crossing the front wall 21 and the back wall 22, and connects a peripheral portion of the front wall 21 and that of the back wall 22. The second housing 3 comprises a first end 3a (e.g., upper end) and a second end 3b (e.g., lower end) located opposite to the first end 3a.
The hinges 4a and 4b rotatably (i.e., openably and closably) connect the first end 2a of the first housing 2 and the second end 3b of the second housing 3. Thus, the electronic apparatus 1 is openable and closable (i.e., deformable or foldable). The second housing 3 is rotatable between a first state (e.g., closed state) in which the first housing 2 and the second housing 3 overlap each other, and a second state (e.g., open state) in which the second housing 3 is raised from the first housing 2.
As shown in
As shown in
Accordingly, the second housing 3 is formed to be in a tapered shape with the second housing 3 tapered toward the first end 3a. The second housing 3 according to this embodiment comprises the inclined portion 34 in an arc shape, and is rounded. It should be noted that the inclined portion 34 is not necessarily in the arc shape. It may be linearly inclined toward, for example, the front wall 21.
The mask 31 is formed of, for example, synthetic resin. The cover 32 is formed of, for example, metal. In this embodiment, the whole of the cover 32 comprising the first end 3a and the inclined portion 34 (that is, the whole of the back wall 22 and the peripheral wall 23) is formed of metal.
Next, a mounting structure of antennas 36 and 37 will be described.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
It should be noted that
As shown in
The antenna cable 45 is, for example, a coaxial cable, and comprises a core wire and a ground portion. A current (i.e., signal) concerning transmission and reception of the antenna 36 flows through the core wire. The core wire of the antenna cable 45 is electrically connected to the antenna element pattern 41 at the feed point 44. The ground portion of the antenna cable 45 is electrically connected to the antenna ground 42. Accordingly, the antenna 36 is fed through the antenna cable 45.
As shown in
Thus, in this embodiment, the antenna element pattern 41 is apart from the first end 3a of the housing 3. Also, the antenna element pattern 41 is closer to the display 20 (i.e., electronic component) than the antenna ground 42 and the feed point 44.
In another expression, the antenna element pattern 41 is located between the feed point 44 and the display 20. In other words, the feed point 44 is located between the first end 3a of the housing 3 and the antenna element pattern 41.
As shown in
As shown in
The antenna board 43 is supported by the supporting portion 51, and closer to the front wall 21 of the housing 3 than to the back wall 22 of the housing 3. The antenna board 43 is substantially parallel to the front wall 21. That is, the antenna element pattern 41 and the antenna ground 42 are substantially parallel to the front wall 21.
Thus, as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The conductive tape 61 is an example of a conductive member. It should be noted that the conductive member is not especially limited if it electrically connects the antenna ground 42 and the back wall 22, and can be, for example, a connection member without flexibility.
It should be noted that a conductive gasket 62 (i.e., second conductive member) may be provided between the antenna cable 45 and the back wall 22 of the housing 3, as indicated by a two-dot chain line in
It should be noted that in this embodiment, since the antenna ground 42 is closer to the first end 3a of the housing 3 than the antenna element pattern 41, length L2 between the antenna ground 42 and the inner surface of the back wall 22 is smaller than length L1 between the antenna element pattern 41 and the inner surface of the back wall 22. Thus, according to the structure of this embodiment, thinning and weight reduction of the gasket 62 can be achieved. This contributes to the thinning and weight reduction of the electronic apparatus 1.
The conductive tape 61 is soldered on, for example, the antenna ground 42. This allows the connection between the conductive tape 61 and the antenna ground 42 to be more secured. As shown in
To be specific, the conductive tape 61 comprises the first surface 61a comprising an adhesive layer (i.e., adhesive) and a second surface 61b located opposite to the first surface 61a. The conductive tape 61 is bent with the first surface 61a outside. A first end of a first surface 61a is attached to the antenna 36. A second end of the first surface 61a is attached to the inner surface of the back wall 22 of the housing 3.
Such a structure allows an electronic apparatus bringing good antenna performance to be provided.
A general electronic apparatus comprises a cover for antenna formed of synthetic resin in a portion corresponding to an antenna, if, for example, a metal housing is adopted. This allows the performance of the antenna provided in a metal housing to be secured.
However, a desire to remove the antenna cover formed of synthetic resin and to form the whole back wall of the housing of metal has been growing, for example, to achieve high quality or differentiation in design. However, in the case where an antenna is mounted in the same manner as before, the distance between the antenna and a metal housing becomes closer and the good antenna performance is not achieved if the whole back wall of the housing is formed of metal. On the other hand, since electronic apparatuses of recent years are requested to be thinner and to comprise a narrow frame, the housing cannot be thickened, or the frame cannot be widened.
Then, the electronic apparatus 1 according to this embodiment comprises the housing 3, the display 20 (i.e., electronic component) provided in the housing 3, and the antenna 36 provided in the housing 3. The antenna element pattern 41 of the antenna 36 is located between the feed point 44 and the display 20. According to such a structure, the distance between the antenna element pattern 41 and the metal portion of the housing 3 can be made longer, and good antenna performance can be secured.
In this embodiment, the antenna element pattern 41 is located more apart from the end 3a of the housing 3 than the feed point 44. According to such a structure, the distance between the antenna element pattern 41 and the metal portion of the housing 3 can be easily made longer, and good antenna performance can be further secured.
In addition, in this embodiment, the antenna element pattern 41 is located between at least part of the antenna cable 45 and the display 20. According to such a structure, the distance between the antenna element pattern 41 and the metal portion of the housing 3 can be easily made longer, and good antenna performance can be further secured.
In this embodiment, the housing 3 comprises the front wall 21 and the metal back wall 22 located opposite to the front wall 21. The back wall 22 comprises the inclined portion 34 approaching the front wall 21 as approaching the end 3a of the housing 3. The antenna 36 is located between the front wall 21 and the inclined portion 34 of the back wall 22.
According to such a structure, the distance between the antenna element pattern 41 and the metal portion of the housing 3 can be made longer by arranging the antenna element pattern 41 apart from the end 3a of the housing 3. This allows good antenna performance to be secured.
In this embodiment, the antenna element pattern 41 is arranged substantially parallel to the front wall 21. According to such a structure, the distance between the antenna element pattern 41 and the metal back wall 22 of the housing 3 can be further made longer. This allows the antenna performance to be further secured.
In this embodiment, the antenna 36 comprises the antenna ground 42 located between the end 3a of the housing 3 and the feed point 44. According to such a structure, the antenna element pattern 41 can be separated from the end 3a of the housing 3, and the antenna 36 can be arranged in the vicinity of the end 3a of the housing 3. This allows good antenna performance to be secured without increasing the area necessary to mount the antenna 36.
In this embodiment, it further comprises the conductive tape 61 for electrically connecting the antenna ground 42 and the back wall 22 between the end 3a of the housing 3 and the feed point 44. Such a structure allows the antenna ground 42 to be grounded on the back wall 22 in the vicinity of an edge of the metal back wall 22.
Generally, if a current flows through a flat member, the current flows easily along an edge of a member, not in the center of the member. Thus, the current easily flows along an edge of a metal housing when the antenna ground 42 and the back wall 22 are electrically connected in the vicinity of the edge of the back wall 22 as in this embodiment. This allows the antenna performance to be further improved.
In this embodiment, part of the antenna cable 45 is located between the antenna 36 and the inner surface of the back wall 22 of the housing 3. According to such a structure, space between the antenna 36 and the back wall 22 of the housing 3 can be effectively utilized, and the housing 3 can be thinned. This contributes to thinning of the electronic apparatus 1.
Next, a first simulation according to this embodiment will be described with reference to
In a housing shape shown in
Next, a second simulation according to this embodiment will be described with reference to
The second simulation shows a difference in impedance (VSWR) when the shape of the antenna element pattern 41 is somewhat changed in the mounting model of structure B of the first simulation. It should be noted that the condition other than the shape of the antenna element pattern 41 is identical to that of the first simulation.
The first half portion 81 and the second half portion 83 extend substantially parallel to the antenna ground 42. The first half portion 81 extends toward an end of the antenna element. The folded portion 82 connects an end of the first half portion 81 and that of the second half portion 83. The grounding portion 84 connects the other end of the second half portion 83 and the antenna ground 42. The short-circuit portion 85 connects an intermediate portion of the first half portion 81 and that of the second half portion 83.
As shown in
Thus, as shown in
Next, a third simulation according to this embodiment will be described with reference to
The third simulation shows radiation efficiency and VSWR when the shape of the antenna element pattern 41 is changed in the mounting model of structure B of the first simulation. It should be noted that the condition other than the shape of the antenna element pattern 41 is identical to that of the first simulation.
Next, the electronic apparatus 1 according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to
As shown in
Such a structure allows the length of the antenna cable 45 to be shorter than in the first embodiment. This contributes not only to improvement of antenna performance caused by the shortened cable but to weight and cost reduction of the electronic apparatus 1.
Although the first and second embodiments have been described, embodiments of the present invention are not limited to them. For example, an electronic component provided in the housing 3 is not limited to a display, and can be, for example, a circuit board, a battery, a hard disk drive (HDD), an optical disk drive (ODD) or other components.
Furthermore, the whole of the back wall 22 of the housing 3 is not necessarily formed of metal. For example, the distance between a metal portion of the back wall 22 of the housing 3 and the antenna element pattern 41 can be increased by applying the structures of the first and second embodiments to the housing 3 comprising the metal portion in a position closer to the first end 3a than the antenna element pattern 41.
While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/915,978, filed Dec. 13, 2013, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61915978 | Dec 2013 | US |