The disclosure herein generally relates to a glass antenna and a vehicle window glass provided with the glass antenna.
Recently, with development of communication technology, a mobile terminal or the like is often brought into a vehicle, to perform communication between the vehicle and the mobile terminal or between the vehicle and the outside.
Moreover, a technology of a vehicle provided with a function of collecting information from outside by itself and of delivering information, termed as a connected car, has been proposed. In a connected car, by performing a two-way communication for data transmitted from the vehicle, such as a vehicle position, a vehicle condition, and a road surface condition and for information collected from outside, such as map information, traffic information and weather information, a telematics service such as traffic congestion moderation or driving support for enhancing an efficiency and safety of the vehicle is provided. Furthermore, the connected car is expected to provide a solution/service or the like as a tool (device) for enhancing convenience for a user such as a delivery service of music or moving picture.
With respect to a communication wave used for such a two-way communication, frequencies used as stipulated in respective countries are different. Moreover, even within a country, frequency bands used for respective carriers are different. Thus, an antenna corresponding to a broadband so as to receive a plurality of communication waves is desirable.
A technology of mounting a communication antenna on a vehicle roof, as illustrated in
In the example illustrated in
Moreover, in an example illustrated in
However, in the example illustrated in FIG. 1 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-054915, an antenna unit 80 is projected from a roof 91, thus there was a possibility of affecting a design of a vehicle or an aerodynamic character.
Moreover, in the example illustrated in FIG. 2 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H06-291530, because the glass antenna 100 is configured of two elements for a radiation pattern 120 (121, 122) and the grounded pattern 110, a wide space for arrangement is required.
Furthermore, in the example illustrated in
In view of such a background, the present invention aims at providing a glass antenna and a vehicle window glass that improves appearance and can perform broadband communication.
In order to solve the above-described problem, an aspect of the present invention provides a glass antenna arranged on a vehicle window glass including
a slot antenna formed by cutting out a conductive film; and
a pair of power supply units for supplying power to the slot antenna,
the slot antenna including
a power supply slot extended in a first direction and arranged so that the pair of power supply units straddle the power supply slot,
a plurality of comb-tooth slots extended in a second direction, and
a root slot extended in a third direction, the root slot being connected directly to the power supply slot or being connected to the power supply slot via a connection slot, and end portions of the plurality of comb-tooth slots being connected to the root slot, and
a vehicle window glass provided with the glass antenna.
According to an aspect of the present invention, in a glass antenna arranged on a vehicle window glass, it becomes possible to improve appearance and to perform broadband communication.
In the following, with reference to drawings, embodiments for implementing the present invention will be described. In the drawings for describing embodiments, in the absence of a specific description with respect to a direction, a direction refers to a direction on the drawings. Moreover, the drawings are drawings when viewed facing a surface of a window glass, and drawings may be viewed from the inside (or viewed from the outside) in a state that a window glass is mounted in the vehicle. A right-left direction (transverse direction) on the drawing corresponds to the horizontal direction, and an up-down direction corresponds to the vertical direction. The drawings may be referred to as drawings viewed from the outside.
For example, a window glass according to the present invention is mainly a rear glass mounted in a rear part of a vehicle, and a right-left direction on the drawing corresponds to a vehicle width direction. Moreover, a direction, such as parallel, or orthogonal, or the like allows a deviation enough to keep the effect of the present invention.
Moreover, in the present invention, a window glass is an example of a window plate covering an opening of a vehicle body. The window glass is a member having a plate shape. A material of the window glass is not limited to a glass, but may be a resin, a film or the like. A window glass 60 in the vehicle in the rear of the vehicle (also referred to as a vehicle window glass or a rear glass) is mounted on a chassis opening (also referred to as an opening or a window opening) formed of a vehicle chassis (a body or a vehicle body). An outer periphery 61 of the window glass 60 is indicated by a solid line in
In
The glass antenna 1, illustrated in
The metallic film 30 is cut out into an elongated hole (making a slit), and radiation is performed from the cutout part as a slot. The glass antenna 1 functions as a slot antenna.
In
Moreover, with reference to
In the case where the glass antenna 1 is arranged on the surface of the window glass 60 inside the vehicle, a component forming the glass antenna 1 does not exist on the surface outside the vehicle. Furthermore, because the glass antenna 1 is arranged on the shielding film 65, and the entire metallic film 30 or a part of the metallic film 30 is not viewed from outside of the window glass, the window glass is excellent in design.
Furthermore, the shielding film 65 may be formed with shielding dot parts in a portion off the vehicle chassis 70 so that the shielding gradually becomes thinner approaching the center of the window (with a gradation).
As illustrated in
In
Even if the shape of the window glass is the same as the above, when for example, a rear support part of a backseat banks upward, a metallic part of the rear support part (including a part of a metallic body supporting the rear support part, a metallic frame part, or a metallic body part of a speaker embedded in the rear support part) may project upward relative to the lower edge portion 71c of the opening of the vehicle chassis 70, and may be arranged in proximity to the glass antenna. In this case, the glass antenna is affected more from the metallic part of the rear support part than the lower edge portion 71c of the opening of the vehicle chassis 70.
Thus, in the case of attaching a glass antenna 1 to a vehicle with a configuration that is liable to be affected by the metallic part of the rear support part, in the margin region between the lowermost heater wire 42c and the lower edge portion 71c, the glass antenna 1 can be arranged at a position that is above the position illustrated in
In any case, the glass antenna 1 is arranged, for example, at either a corner portion between the lower edge portion 71c of the opening of a vehicle chassis 70 and a side edge portion 71b continuing into the lower edge portion 71c (a part indicated by a solid line in the lower right position in
Alternatively, in the window glass 60, the glass antenna 1 may be arranged adjacent to either of the left and right corner portions of the upper edge portion 71a of the vehicle chassis 70. In this case, the configuration is flipped top-bottom.
In descriptions of first to fifth embodiments, a configuration of the glass antenna 1 arranged at a lower right position indicated by a solid line in
The glass antenna 1, in which a cutout portion 10 is formed in a metallic film (conductive film) 30, functions as a slot antenna.
Specifically, in the metallic film 30, a power supply slot 11, a connection slot 19, a root slot 27, a comb-tooth slot 20 and a two-sided island shaped slot 18 are formed as cutout portions 10. A pair of power supply units (power supply points) 7 are arranged so as to straddle the power supply slot 11.
In the embodiment, the power supply slot 11, on which the pair of power supply units 7 are arranged so as to straddle the power supply slot 11, extends in an approximately up-down direction (direction “B”) as a first direction.
In the embodiment, the connection slot 19 extends in an approximately horizontal direction (direction “A”) as a second direction that is different from the first direction, and connects the power supply slot 11 and the root slot 27.
The connection slot 19 is provided with a line-shaped linear connection slot 12 having a constant slot width connected to the power supply slot 11 at an end portion g (connection point g), and a triangular slot (triangle shaped slot) 13 arranged between the linear connection slot 12 and the root slot 27. The linear connection slot 12 extends in an approximately horizontal direction (fourth direction).
The triangular slot 13 has a shape of an isosceles triangle, in which a slot width on the side (end portion f) connected to the linear connection slot 12 is great, and the slot width gradually becomes smaller extending toward the root slot 27 (end portion e).
The comb-tooth slot 20 and the root slot 27 have shapes of a head portion of a fork, particularly a digging fork. The comb-tooth slot 20, having a shape of tip sections (claw sections or tooth sections) from the head portion of a fork, has a plurality of linear slots (tip slots) respectively extending parallel to each other in an approximately horizontal direction (direction “A”).
The root slot 27, corresponding to a root portion of teeth from the head portion of the fork (fork-head portion), connected to end portions of the comb-tooth slot 20, extends in a direction different from the comb-tooth slot 20 (vertical direction, the third direction). Moreover, the connection slot 19 is connected to an extending portion of the root slot 27 other than an end portion (in the example illustrated in
In the embodiment, the comb-tooth slot 20 is provided with a linear first slot 21, a linear second slot 22, a linear third slot 23 and a linear fourth slot 24. An end of the first slot 21 is a lower part comb-tooth slot (lower part tip slot) connected to a lower end of the root slot 27, and an end of the fourth slot 24 is an upper part comb-tooth slot (upper part tip slot) connected to an upper end of the root slot 27. Moreover, the second slot 22 and the third slot 23 are central part comb-tooth slots (central part tip slots).
Slot lengths of the first slot 21, the second slot 22, the third slot 23 and the fourth slot 24 are different from each other.
For example, the first slot 21 extends up to an end portion “a”, the second slot 22 extends up to an end portion “b”, the third slot 23 extends up to an end portion “c” and the fourth slot 24 extends up to an end portion “d”. When the slot lengths of the respective slots in the comb-tooth slot 20 are denoted by L21, L22, L23 and L24, respectively, in
The island shaped slots 14, 15 are arranged so that the connection slot 19, the root slot 27 and the comb-tooth slot 20 are interposed in the vertical direction from both sides.
Note that a corner of the slot may be a curve having a curvature. Moreover, the end portion may be a terminal end of an extension of the slot, or may be a neighborhood of the terminal end before the end portion of the slot.
The approximately upward direction means locating relatively above other end portions, and includes upward in the vertical direction and obliquely upward. The approximately downward direction means locating below other end portions, and includes downward in the vertical direction and obliquely downward.
For example, a mounting angle of the window glass 60 with respect to the vehicle falls, for example, preferably within a range of 15° to 90° with respect to a horizon plane. The up-down direction of the glass antenna is an up-down direction on a surface of the window glass, and have the same inclination as that of the window glass.
As illustrated in
Thus, when the glass antenna 1 according to the first embodiment is employed, a longitudinal length of a space for arranging the metallic film 30 to be formed can be set small. Even if a defogger 40 occupies most of the window glass (rear glass) 60 in the up-down direction, the glass antenna 1 that is small in the up-down direction can be arranged in a small margin region of the window glass 60.
In
In the metallic film 30, a part closer to the side edge portion 71b of the vehicle chassis 70, which is arranged adjacent to the metallic film 30, than the power supply slot 11 (right side in
The pair of power supply units 7 supply power to the ground side conductive body 31 and the core wire side conductive body 32 at a position arranged so as to straddle the power supply slot 11. In the embodiment, the power supply unit 7 is arranged below a portion at which the power supply slot 11 is connected to the linear connection slot 12 and is arranged in the lower part of the metallic film 30.
Moreover, as illustrated in
Thus, the above-described island shaped slots 14, 15 are arranged on both sides so that the width of the metallic film 30 can be increased while maintaining the formability of glass.
Moreover, the island shaped slots 14, 15 on both sides are also used for controlling the frequency used for communication.
In the present invention, the ground side conductive body 31, the core wire side conductive body 32, the power supply unit 7, the resistor 9, the coaxial cable 8c and the on-glass connector for connecting coaxial cable 8 are arranged on one surface (the same surface) of the window glass 60 that is a conductive body, i.e. an indoor side surface.
In the embodiment of the present invention, as described above, the on-glass connector for connecting coaxial cable 8 is soldered with a solder 8s to the power supply unit 7 arranged so as to straddle the power supply slot 11. In the on-glass connector for connecting coaxial cable 8, an internal conductive body of the coaxial cable 8c is connected to and soldered to the core wire side conductive body 32. An external conductive body of the coaxial cable 8c, such as a braided wire, is connected to and soldered to the ground side conductive body 31.
In the antenna for communication that is a subject of the present invention, transmission and reception of information including a telematics service are performed. Because as a property of the telematics service, a real-time property and urgency are required, a connection state of network is required to be maintained. Thus, in the present embodiment, in order to detect at least a connection of an antenna, the resistor 9 for detecting connection may be arranged.
According to the above-described configuration, the ground side conductive body 31 and the core wire side conductive body 32 of the metallic film 30 form a closed circuit with a route that includes the resistor 9. The circuit is connected inside (internal conductive body) and outside (external conductive body such as the braided wire) of the coaxial cable 8c, which are connected to the connector 8 arranged at the power supply unit 7.
In the case where with the above-described configuration, a resistance value that falls within a predetermined range is not obtained for the circuit including the resistor 9 by a communication device (not shown) mounted in the vehicle and connected to the coaxial cable 8c, it is detected that an antenna is not connected and a communication cannot be performed.
Moreover, by arranging a resistor 9, a member indicated by X in
The ground side conductive body 31 and the core wire side conductive body 32 are metallic films that were formed by printing a paste including a conductive metal, such as a silver paste, on the vehicle interior surface of the window glass 60, and baking the paste. Note that the formation method is not limited to the above, a linear body or a foil-like body made of a conductive material such as copper may be formed on one surface of either of the vehicle interior surface or the vehicle exterior surface of the window glass. The conductive bodies may be formed by pasting on the window glass with an adhesive agent. In the case where the window glass is a laminated glass, the conductive bodies may be formed inside the window glass.
Moreover, because the window glass 60 is a rear glass, and typically a strengthened glass is used, when the window glass is broken, the window glass becomes fine granular fragments. When the window glass 60 is broken, the core wire side conductive body 32 and the ground side conductive body 31 in the state of silver paste printed on the window glass 60 also become granular fragments and are broken.
In the case where the disconnection detection path X is formed by connecting the core wire side conductive body 32 and the ground side conductive body 31 with the connector 8 connected to the power supply unit 7 and with the resistor 9, when a disconnection occurs in the disconnection detection path X, the value of resistance becomes infinity, and thereby a breakage of the window glass 6 can be detected.
Because the antenna according to the embodiment can detect a breakage of a glass by detecting a disconnection, it is not necessary to separately arrange a glass breakage detection means on the window glass 60. Because a number of parts arranged on the window glass can be reduced, a space for arranging an antenna and a glass breakage detection means can be reduced, and the appearance of the window glass is improved.
Furthermore, in the embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in
In the case where the vehicle chassis is made of a metal, when a radiating element of a linear antenna in a silver paste state is arranged at a position near the vehicle chassis or a position close to a defogger (related art, see
In the embodiment of the present invention, for any of the embodiments illustrated in
For the antenna according to the embodiment, even if a metal, such as a defogger, a vehicle chassis or a rear support part, is in proximity around the antenna, or even if a resin part of the vehicle chassis is in proximity around the antenna, a stable characteristic can be obtained. Furthermore, even if a metallic film such as a transparent conductive film is formed around the antenna, an antenna that is not liable to be affected by interference can be formed in the same way as above.
Frequencies used for communication as specified by countries are different from each other. Even within one country, frequency bands used for respective carriers are different from each other. An antenna for accommodating a wide band so that a plurality of communication waves can be received is preferable.
For UHF (Ultra High Frequency) waves used for communication, the glass antenna according to the present invention is set to perform communication in, for example, three bands, 0.698 GHz to 0.96 GHz (Band 1), 1.71 GHz to 2.17 GHz (Band 2) and 2.4 GHz to 2.69 GHz (Band 3), among the bands used for LTE (Long Term Evolution).
Furthermore, the glass antenna according to the present invention is set to perform communication in an ISM (Industry Science Medical) band, as a frequency band used for communication. The ISM band used for communication includes 0.863 GHz to 0.870 GHz (Europe), 0.902 GHz to 0.928 GHz (US) and 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz (common worldwide). A communication standard using the 2.4 GHz band that is an example of the ISM band includes a wireless LAN of the DSSS method in compliance with IEEE 802.11b, Bluetooth (trademark registered), a part of FWA system and the like.
The ISM bands in US and Europe overlap with a band of the Band 1 of the LTE, and the ISM band common worldwide overlaps with the Band 3 of the LTE. The glass antenna according to the embodiment also can be applied to the ISM bands for communication.
Specifically, in the present invention, as a slot antenna, by forming a power supply slot 11, a connection slot 19 (12, 13), a root slot 27, a comb-tooth slot 20, and an island shaped slot 18 (14, 15) in the metallic film 30, a plurality of frequencies are accommodated.
In the glass antenna 1 according to the embodiment, a plurality of slots with different length and different widths are formed, and the antenna can accommodate a wide frequency band.
Furthermore, in field tests for communication service in recent years, in the low frequency band, the vertically polarized wave tends to be emphasized. Thus, in the embodiment, the respective slots 21 to 24 of the comb-tooth slot, the connection slot 19 (12, 13), and two-sided island shaped slots 18 (14, 15) extend in approximately horizontal directions. From a horizontal slot antenna, vertically polarized radio waves can be transmitted and received.
Thus, in the first embodiment of the present invention, in a mode of mounting a glass antenna, the respective slots are caused to extend in an approximately horizontal direction; moreover, in the low frequency region, mainly vertical polarized waves are accommodated. When the respective slots are caused to extend in an approximately vertical direction, the antenna can accommodate a horizontal polarized wave.
In this way, the glass antenna according to the embodiment of the present invention, without affecting a design of the vehicle or an aerodynamic characteristic, as in the related art illustrated in
In the case of using the antenna according to the second embodiment, because the respective linear slots 21 to 24 of the comb-tooth slot 20 and the connection slot 19 (12,13) extend in an approximately horizontal direction, a vertically polarized wave is sent and received.
However, in the second embodiment, it is impossible to have a minimum value for a return loss at the frequency of 0.7525 GHz where the impedance matching was performed by the island shaped slots 14, 15 in the first embodiment. A return loss in the Band 1 in the first embodiment is more excellent than a return loss in the second embodiment. Thus, it is preferable to select the embodiment appropriately in light of a size of a space for arrangement and performance of the antenna, and to install the antenna.
The third embodiment is different from the first and second embodiments in that a power supply slot 16 is directly connected to a root slot 27B, and a first direction where the power supply slot 16 extends is an approximately horizontal direction.
In the third embodiment, the power supply slot 16 extending in an approximately horizontal direction opens in the approximately horizontal direction (right side in
In the metallic film 30B illustrated in
A pair of power supply units 7B are arranged so as to straddle the power supply slot 16. The pair of power supply units 7B supply power to the ground side conductive body 31B and the core wire side conductive body 32B.
In the third embodiment, in the core wire side conductive body 32B, a notch portion 28 is arranged so as to contact the power supply slot 16. Moreover, in the ground side conductive body 31B, a notch portion 29 is arranged so as to contact the power supply slot 16. Note that
By forming the notch portions 28 and 29 in this way, flows of electric currents are controlled, and a resonance frequency can be adjusted.
In the third embodiment, the part near the lower edge portion 71c is set to be the core wire side conductive body 32B, and the part far from the lower edge portion 71c is set to be the ground side conductive body 31B. Because the sizes of the conductive bodies are almost the same, an opposite assignment is possible. That is, in the third embodiment, an upper part and a lower part of the metallic film 30 function as one of the core wire side conductive body and the ground side conductive body and as the other conductive body, respectively. The function of the conductive body can be appropriately selected according to a direction of arranging the coaxial cable.
In
In
Because the arrangement direction of the coaxial cable is set taking into account a shape of a flange of the window to be arranged, locations of arrangement of the other members, and a position of wiring, the embodiment can be appropriately selected according to the arrangement direction of cable.
In the glass antenna 2 according to the third embodiment, because the respective linear slots 21B to 24B of the comb-tooth slot 20B and the power supply slot 16 extend in approximately horizontal directions, a length in the longitudinal direction of the space for arranging the metallic film 30B to be formed can be reduced. Even if a defogger 40 occupies most of the window glass (rear glass) 60 in the up-down direction, the glass antenna 2 that is small in the up-down direction can be arranged in a further small margin region of the window glass 60.
In the first to third embodiment, the root slot and the comb-tooth slot configured the shape of a head portion of a digging fork. In the tip portion of the head, four comb-tooth slots 20 were arranged, but the number of comb-tooth slots 20C may be three.
In the fourth embodiment, in the same way as in the third embodiment, a power supply slot 16C and the root slot 27C are directly connected to each other, and a first direction where the power supply slot 16C extends is an approximately horizontal direction.
In the embodiment including three comb-tooth slots, in the case of obtaining a desired antenna performance in a desired frequency band used for a communication wave, slot widths of the slots 21C, 22C and 23C that are tip portions having linear shapes are greater than the slot widths of the slots 21, 22, 23 and 24 in the first to third embodiments, and length of the slots 21C, 22C and 23C are shorter than those of the slots 21, 22, 23 and 24.
The fourth embodiment can be applied to the case where there is enough space for arranging the antenna both in the vertical direction and in the horizontal direction.
In the fourth embodiment, because an opening portion is not formed in a metallic film 30C, a cutout portion does not contact an edge portion of the metallic film 30C, and an electric field generated by an electric current inside the metallic film 30C forming slots is formed in a closed loop. The glass antenna 3 is not likely to be affected by an interference with a metal around the glass antenna 3. It becomes possible to make the distance from the edge portions 71c, 71b of the vehicle chassis 70 to the glass antenna 3 according to the embodiment further smaller. Because the size of space for arranging the antenna and the distance from the vehicle chassis vary depending on vehicles, the configuration is appropriately selected.
Even in the case of employing the third embodiment or the fourth embodiment, because the respective linear slots 21 to 24 (21C to 23C) of the comb-tooth slot 20 (20C) and the power supply slot 16 (16C) extend in an approximately horizontal direction, vertically polarized waves can be transmitted/received. It becomes easy to transmit/receive radio waves of vertically polarized communication waves.
In the first embodiment or the second embodiment, the power supply unit 7 is arranged in the lower part of the metallic film 30. In the case where a rear support part (interior material) of a backseat banks upward, at the stage of assembling the vehicle, it is difficult to arrange a connector in the lower part inside the conductive film.
Moreover, in this way, in the case where the rear support part is arranged in proximity to the rear glass, and a metallic part of the rear support part is projected from the lower edge portion 71c of the opening of the body 70, the power supply unit 7 is more affected from the metallic part of the rear support part than from the lower edge portion 71c.
From the viewpoint of assembly and from the viewpoint of avoiding an influence from the metallic portion of the rear support part, as an antenna corresponding to the interior material of the vehicle, a configuration of arranging a connector in an upper part inside the conductive film is preferable. As an example of arranging the power supply unit in the upper part inside the conductive film, a fifth embodiment and a sixth embodiment will be described in the following.
In the fifth embodiment, the comb-tooth slot 20D is provided with a first slot 21D, a second slot 22D, a third slot 23D, a fourth slot 24D, a fifth slot 25D and a sixth slot 26 that are tip portions having linear shapes. Slot lengths of the first slot 21D, the second slot 22D, the third slot 23D, the fourth slot 24D, the fifth slot 25D and the sixth slot 26 are different from each other.
As illustrated in
In the metallic film 30D, in the same way as in
Moreover, in the configuration illustrated in
In the core wire side conductive body 32D, a notch portion 28D is arranged so as to contact the power supply slot 11D. As illustrated in
Because a part in which the resistor 9D is arranged is required to have a wide conductor area, a notch portion 28D is close to a site, at which the coaxial cable 8cD is arranged (power supply unit 7D), and is cut from up above the power supply slot 11D extending in an approximately vertical direction, so as not to be connected to the linear connection slot 12D. By forming the notch portion 28D in this way, it becomes possible to control a flow of an electric current and to adjust a resonance frequency.
In addition, although in the examples illustrated in
Because the vehicle is a movable body, the vehicle is preferably provided with a plurality of communication antennas and is able to select a radio wave by switching to an antenna with higher receiving sensitivity depending on a location. Alternatively, a MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) configuration that increases a communication capacity by a plurality of antennas is further preferable.
In the present invention, a wide band antenna having the same configuration as the antenna 1 according to the embodiment may additionally be arranged at a position approximately symmetric to the antenna 1 with respect to a center line extending in the width direction of the window glass 60. At this time, in order to avoid interference with each other, the plurality of antennas are preferably arranged separated by a predetermined distance (e.g. greater than or equal to 0.2 times a wavelength of an electric wave with a frequency of 0.7 GHz, i.e. 86 mm). In this way, by arranging a plurality of glass antennas on the window glass 60 so that the communication performance is enhanced by switching antennas, or by providing the MIMO configuration, also in the vehicle that is a movable body, the effect of improving the communication capacity in a wide band can be obtained.
For example, in order to further improve the communication capacity or for other use, in parts near the right and left corner portions of the opening of the window glass 60, illustrated in
In the following, in a sixth embodiment, a configuration of a glass antenna, which is preferably used combining with the glass antenna according to any one of the first to fifth embodiments, on the premise that the glass antenna is arranged at the lower left position indicated by a dotted line in
In the embodiment, the comb-tooth slot 20E is provided with a first slot 21E and a second slot 22E both having a linear shape. An end portion of the first slot 21E is connected to a lower end of the root slot 27E that extends in an approximately vertical direction, and an end portion of the second slot 22E is connected to an upper end of the root slot 27E. In the embodiment, the comb-tooth slot 20E is not provided with a central part comb-tooth slot. The first slot 21E is a lower part comb-tooth slot and the second slot 22E is an upper part comb-tooth slot.
As illustrated in
In the metallic film 30E, different from
In the configuration illustrated in
With respect to the ground side conductive body 31E, a part in which the resistor 9E is arranged is formed to be greater than the other parts. That is, an extension part 33 is arranged.
Because a part in which the resistor 9E is arranged is required to have a wide conductor area, the ground side conductive body 31E has a shape in which the part in which the resistor 9E is arranged is extended to be greater than a portion in which the connector 8E is arranged that is another region. In this way, by arranging the extension part 33, it becomes possible to adjust a resonance frequency while controlling interference from the resistor 9E.
Note that
In the sixth embodiment, the antenna that receives an electric wave in the ISM band has been described. An antenna for another use may be arranged on the rear glass.
For example, in
As described above, in the case where a glass antenna for different use from the glass antenna according to the present invention is arranged on the rear glass, the glass antenna for different use is preferably arranged at a location separated from the glass antenna according to the present invention on the window glass. For example, in the case illustrated in
Moreover, in the embodiment described above, the glass antenna is configured by arranging on the window glass (rear glass) 60 for vehicle a metallic film (conductive film) that is a conductive body (e.g. a copper foil or a silver foil) in which the cutout portion 10 is formed by punching or etching. Furthermore, the glass antenna according to the present invention can be configured by printing using a screen plate in the same way as a conventional glass antenna or a defogger that is formed by burning a silver paste. In this case, the glass antenna according to the present invention can be formed collectively with another glass antenna or a defogger, and is excellent in mass productivity.
However, the glass antenna may be formed by arranging (attaching), at a predetermined location on a vehicle interior surface or a vehicle exterior surface of a window glass, a synthetic resin film, a flexible circuit substrate or the like in which or on which a conductive layer including the above-described cutout portion is arranged.
Moreover, in order to control against a rise in temperature in vehicle or to counteract ultraviolet rays, there is a window that is coated with a metallic layer of a thin film having a low UV transmittance and reflecting IR ray of sunlight. In this case, the above-described cutout portion may be formed in a part of the thin film of the metallic layer so that the metallic layer functions as a glass antenna.
As described above, the glass antenna and the window glass have been described by the plurality of embodiments. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments. Various variations and improvements, such as combination/replacement with/by a part or a whole of another embodiment may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
<Electric Current Simulation According to the First Embodiment>
As described later, by an electromagnetic field simulation based on the FI (Finite Integration) method, for the glass antenna according to the embodiment, with parameter values set as described later, a return loss (reflection coefficient) was numerically calculated for a frequency within a range of 0.5 GHz to 3.0 GHz.
Typically, within a frequency band used for communication, the return loss is preferably −7 dB or less, and more preferably −10 dB or less.
In the shape of the glass antenna 1 illustrated in
Moreover, the power supply unit 7 (connector 8) was arranged in the power supply slot 11 near almost a center between a lower end of the power supply slot 11 and a connection point g where the power supply slot 11 is connected to the linear connection slot 12. The resistor 9 was arranged in the power supply slot near almost a center between an upper end of the power supply slot and the connection point g.
As can be seen from
A distribution of an electric current in the metallic film 30 by a simulation will be described for the respective frequency bands with reference to
As can be seen from
In addition, when the first slot 21 that is located in the lowest portion or the fourth slot 24 that is located in the highest portion, resonates, an electric current also flows in a periphery of the triangular slot 13.
Assuming that a wavelength of an electric wave in the air at a central frequency in the frequency band is X, a wavelength contraction rate is k, and a wavelength of an electric wave propagating in the glass is λq, i.e. λg=λ·k, at the predetermined four frequencies in the frequency band, Band 1 (in the above example, 0.698 GHz, 0.8125 GHz, 0.8825 GHz and 0.945 GHz), slot lengths of the first slot 21, the second slot 22, the third slot 23 and the fourth slot 24 are set to fall within a range of ⅙λq to ⅓λq, and thereby an impedance matching can be performed.
Moreover, similarly, a slot length of the island shaped slot 15 is set to fall within a range of 0.4λq to 0.6λq at a predetermined single frequency in the frequency band of Band 1 (in the above example, 0.7525 GHz), and thereby an impedance matching can be performed.
As can be seen from the electric current distribution diagrams by simulation illustrated in
<Return Loss when Attachment Position of Power Supply Unit Changes According to First Embodiment>
For the glass antenna 1 according to the first embodiment illustrated in
The dimensions of the glass antenna according to Second Example are set to be the same as in First Example.
In
As shown in
In the manufacturing process, even if the position of the power supply unit 7 deviates from the power supply position of the design value (Df is 14.5 mm), the performance is maintained. Thus, the robustness for position can be enhanced.
<Return Loss Estimated by Simulation According to Third Embodiment>
The size of the notch portion 29 was made to be the same as the notch portion 28.
Also in the third example, at the predetermined three frequencies in the frequency band of Band 1 (in the above example, 0.725 GHz, 0.815 GHz and 0.915 GHz), four slot lengths L21B, L22B, L23B and L24B of the respective slots 21B, 22B, 23B and 24B having the dimensions of the glass antenna 2 influence one another, to radiate an electro-magnetic field, and thereby particularly satisfactory impedance matching can be performed.
As illustrated in
The dimensions in the shape of the glass antenna 3 illustrated in
In the fourth example, the respective wide slots 21C, 22C, and 23C of the glass antenna 3 influence one another, to radiate an electro-magnetic field, and thereby satisfactory impedance matching can be performed in the specific frequency band.
As illustrated in
<Return Loss by Actual Measurement According to First Embodiment>
The dimensions of the glass antenna 1 were made to be the same as the first example.
In the measurement, the position where the glass antenna 1 was arranged on the window glass 60 was determined as follows: a distance from the lower edge portion 71c of the vehicle chassis 70 to a lower edge of the metallic film 30 was 4 mm, and a distance from a side edge portion 71b of the vehicle chassis 70 to a side edge of the metallic film 30 was 58.9 mm.
As shown in
Assuming that a wavelength of an electric wave in the air at a central frequency in the frequency band is X, a wavelength contraction rate is k, and a wavelength of an electric wave propagating in the glass is λg, i.e. λg=λ·k, at the predetermined four frequencies in the frequency band, Band 1 (in the above example, 0.698 GHz, 0.8125 GHz, 0.8825 GHz and 0.945 GHz), slot lengths L21, L22, L23 and L24 of the respective slots 21, 22, 23 and 24 of the dimensions of the glass antenna 1 used in the second example correspond to a range of 0.21λq to 0.23λg, and are thus set to fall within a range from ⅙λq to ⅓λg. Thus, for the predetermined frequencies, a particularly excellent impedance matching is performed.
Moreover, similarly, at a predetermined single frequency in the frequency band of Band 1 (in the above example, 0.7525 GHz), slot lengths L14, L15 of the island shaped slots 14, 15 correspond to 0.47λg, and are thus set to fall within a range of 0.4λg to 0.6λg. Thus, as illustrated in
Even when an actual measurement is performed for the glass antenna 1 with the configuration of being arranged in the vehicle chassis 70, similarly to the simulation for a simple glass, a desired return loss can be obtained.
<Antenna Gain by Actual Measurement According to First Embodiment>
For the glass antenna for vehicle prepared by attaching to an actual vehicle window glass (rear glass) having the above-described configuration of glass antenna, results of actual measurement for an antenna gain will be described.
The measurement was performed by setting left-right, fore-aft wheel axis centers of the vehicle 50, to which the vehicle window glass with the glass antenna was assembled, to a center of the turntable, and by rotating the vehicle in the horizontal direction by an angle θr up to 360°.
An antenna gain was measured within a predetermined frequency range every 10 MHz for frequency, every 2 degrees for turntable rotating angle θr from 0° to 360°, and every 2 degrees for transmission elevation angle θe from 0° to 30°. The elevation angle was defined so that a direction parallel to the ground surface was θe=0°, and the zenith direction was θe=90°. The antenna gain was indicated with an absolute gain by calibrating in advance the measurement system using a standard gain antenna.
In the measurement for the gain shown in
In the sixth example, as an example, for the resistor 9, a resistor of a resistance value of 100 kΩ with an error of ±5% (resistor module element) was used. Moreover, for the power supply unit 7, the on-glass connector for connecting coaxial cable 8 was used by soldering the connector.
TABLE 1 shows average gains for vertically polarized waves received by the glass antenna 1 for communication waves in the three bands, as shown in
TABLE 2 shows average gains for horizontally polarized waves received by the glass antenna 1 for the communication waves in the three bands and an average value of the gains of the three bands.
As can be seen from
<Return Loss by Actual Measurement According to Fifth Embodiment>
The dimensions of the glass antenna 4 were set as follows:
In the measurement, the position where the glass antenna 4 was arranged on the window glass 60 was determined as follows: a distance from a lower edge of the window glass 60, which is along the lower edge portion 71c of the vehicle chassis 70, to a lower edge of the metallic film 30D was 53 mm, and a distance from a side edge of the window glass 60, which is along a right side edge portion 71b of the vehicle chassis 70, to a side edge of the metallic film 30D was 120 mm.
TABLE 3 shows a return loss (dB) at a predetermined frequency (GHz) extracted from the graph shown in
As shown in
When an actual measurement was performed for the configuration in which the glass antenna 4 is arranged on the window glass (rear glass) 60 of the vehicle chassis 70, a desired antenna performance can be obtained in the frequency bands for Band 1 to Band 3, and for the ISM.
<Return Loss by Actual Measurement According to Sixth Embodiment>
The dimensions of the glass antenna 5 were set as follows:
In the measurement, the position where the glass antenna 5 was arranged on the window glass 60 was determined as follows: a distance from a lower edge of the window glass 60, along the lower edge portion 71c of the vehicle chassis 70, to a lower edge of the metallic film 30E was 50 mm, and a distance from a side edge of the window glass 60, along a left side edge portion 71d of the vehicle chassis 70, to a side edge of the metallic film 30E was 103 mm.
TABLE 4 shows a return loss (dB) at a predetermined frequency (GHz) extracted from the graph shown in
As shown in
When an actual measurement was performed for the configuration in which the glass antenna 5 is arranged on the window glass (rear glass) 60 of the vehicle chassis 70, an excellent antenna performance can be obtained in the frequency bands of the ISM.
In addition, typically, a communication wave has a high tolerance of noise, frequency of the communication wave is higher than a broadcast wave, and the frequency is substantially different from that of signals used in an electronic device. Thus, even if the glass antenna is arranged near a wiper or the like, a return loss and a value of a gain will not be appreciably affected.
As described above, the antenna system has been described by the embodiments and examples. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments or examples. Various variations and improvements, such as combination/replacement with/by a part or a whole of the other embodiment or example may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2015-147255 | Jul 2015 | JP | national |
The present application is a continuation application filed under 35 U.S.C. 111(a) claiming benefit under 35 U.S.C. 120 and 365(c) of PCT International Application No. PCT/JP2016/071458 filed on Jul. 21, 2016 and designating the U.S., which claims priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-147255 filed on Jul. 24, 2015. The entire contents of the foregoing applications are incorporated herein by reference.
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Entry |
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International Search Report for PCT/JP2016/071458 dated Sep. 13, 2016. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20180138586 A1 | May 2018 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/JP2016/071458 | Jul 2016 | US |
Child | 15870451 | US |