Patent Application
20100271281
1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to housings, and especially relates to a housing with a built-in antenna, and a method for fabricating the housing.
2. Description of related art
Portable electronic devices generally use antennas for receiving and/or sending signals. The antenna is usually assembled inside the portable electronic device by of adhering or hot melting the antenna to a circuit board, which increases costs. Additionally, it can be difficult to arrange the antenna and many other electronic components inside the portable electronic device, if it is desired that the portable electronic device be smaller and more portable.
Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.
Many aspects of the housing with a built-in antenna and method for fabricating the housing can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the exemplary embodiment. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
The housing 10 includes a film layer 12, an antenna layer 14, a base layer 16, and two connecting poles 18. The antenna layer 14 is embedded between the film layer 12 and the base layer 16. The connecting poles 18 are affixed on the antenna layer 14 and extend through the base layer 16 to outside.
The film layer 12 can be made of a transparent and thermoplastic macromolecular material such as polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate or a combination thereof. The film layer 12 has superior high temperature-resistant capability and can be used in injection molding to be combined with a molten plastic material. The film layer 12 has an antenna forming area 122, which can be printed with an electro-conductive ink to form the antenna layer 14 thereon. The film layer 12 also can be printed on with colored inks to form patterns (not shown) thereon.
The antenna layer 14 can be comprised of an electro-conductive ink which is printed on the antenna forming area 122 of the film layer 12. The electro-conductive ink can be made by adding conductive materials to a solvent. The conductive material may include one or more of gold, silver, copper, carbon and so on. The thickness of the antenna layer 14 is exemplarily ranged from about 0.002 mm (millimeter) to about 0.015 mm.
The base layer 16 can be formed by injection molding a molten plastic material over the film layer 12. The base layer 16 is formed from any one or more plastic material such as PE (polyethylene), PA (polyamide), PC (polycarbonate), ABS (acrylonitrile butadient styrene), PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) and PET (polyethylene terephthalate). The base layer 16 includes two apertures 162 for the connecting poles 18 engaging therein.
The connecting poles 18 can be made from a conductive metal such as a copper. The connecting poles 18 are affixed on the antenna layer 14 with one end of each passing through the base layer 16 to be exposed to the outside. When the housing 10 is assembled , the exposed ends of the connecting poles 18 resist against the circuit board and electronically connect the antenna layer 14 to inner circuitry of the electronic device.
A method of making the housing 10 may include at least the following steps.
The film layer 12 is provided with an antenna forming area 122. An electro-conductive ink is printed on the antenna forming area 122 to form an antenna layer 14 on the film layer 12. It is to be understood, that the film layer 12 can include decorative patterns printed thereon.
The film layer 12 is hot- pressed and cut to achieve a three-dimensional preformed film layer 12. Two connecting poles 18 are adhered to the antenna layer 14. Referring to
It is to be understood that, to securely interlock the film layer 12 with the base layer 16, the film layer 12 can be attached with an adhesive layer (not shown) on the surface having the antenna layer 14 before molding.
It is to be understood that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of structures and functions of various embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the present invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200910301883.9 | Apr 2009 | CN | national |
This application is related to co-pending U.S. Patent Application (Attorney Docket No. US26569, entitled “HOUSING WITH BUILT-IN ANTENNA AND METHOD FOR FABRICATING THE SAME”, by BEN-DING TSAO et al., which is the same assignee as the present application. The above-identified application is incorporated herein by reference.
