1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of printed decorative antenna and electronics, and more specifically to radiating antenna and electronics integrated as a part of a decorative image printed on a substrate, and various applications of the same.
2. Background of the Invention
The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Television antennas are of two types, indoor antennas and outdoor antennas. While popular indoor antenna types include antennas packaged within the television sets or a typical ‘rabbit ear’ type antenna, the outdoor antennas include, but are not limited to Yagi-Uda, parabolic dish etc.
Indoor or outdoor antenna concealed within a painting, signage, mascot, etc. provide dual functionalities as a working antenna element, and as a piece of aesthetic appeal. A picture antenna for television sets is suggested by J. E. Lundy in U.S. Pat. No. 3,261,019 entitled “Picture Antenna For Television Sets” which issued Jul. 12, 1966. The picture antenna consists of a variable antenna containing one loop and two rectangular antennas attached to the back of a picture and incorporated within a picture frame. Different antenna loops are connected to the television set depending upon the position of the pole switches provided at the back.
A picture frame antenna utilizing a thin rigid dielectric circuit board having a circuit printed on it, approximating a dipole antenna, acting as the backing member of the picture frame is suggested by W. E. Neilson in U.S. Pat. No. 3,587,105, entitled “Picture Framed Antenna” which issued Jun. 22, 1971. A television wire antenna serves to position a backing easel to incline the antenna for maximum reception. A further configuration allows the formation of a folded dipole antenna utilizing three circuit boards in three hinged picture frames, with continuous electrical connections through the hinges.
Sadowski et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 8,144,069 entitled “Hidden Wideband Antenna” discloses a compact hidden wideband picture antenna formed by winding the conductive wire into a zigzag pattern to form a bow tie antenna. The bow tie antenna is also hidden inside a decorative household item to improve aesthetic appeal of the home and to provide performance of a wideband antenna for television reception.
Although the dual purpose of aesthetic appeal and functionality are achieved through the above disclosures, the antenna assemblies consist of several discrete parts, which require separate fabrication and packaging processes, resulting in complex integration and increased cost. Additionally, with the above disclosures it is not possible to integrate other electronic devices such as batteries, solar cells, RFID, memories, displays, etc. to provide additional functionalities. Therefore, what is needed in the art is an antenna apparatus that provides aesthetic appeal and functionality as well as integration with other electronic devices such as batteries, solar cells, RFID, memories, displays, etc.
A decorative antenna incorporating the functional antenna element integrated together with an artistic image on the same substrate is disclosed. The structure comprises a substrate on which the antenna system together with associated circuitry and the decorative picture is developed, a frame and a backing cover to hold the substrate, a coaxial electrical connector at the back in order to enable connection to a television set or a digital receiver box, and a mounting structure to enable display in a room. The device may further comprise an integrated control circuit consisting of printed electronic components such as transmission lines, photovoltaic cells, batteries, resistors, capacitors, etc.
In one disclosure, the printed broadband antenna is disposed in the same layer as the decorative image, wherein the antenna element also forms a part of the decorative image. The antenna structure comprises a metallic part, and the decorative image comprises coloring materials. The antenna structure is configured to receive the input wireless television signal such that the signal can be transmitted to a television box or a digital receiver via a coaxial electrical connector at the back of the picture frame. The device may further comprise an integrated control circuit consisting of printed electronic components such as transmission lines, photovoltaic cells, batteries, resistors, capacitors, etc.
Moreover, a decorative piece comprising an antenna structure completely concealed by a decorative image is disclosed. In this case, the antenna structure does not form a part of the decorative image, but is a functional antenna element concealed beneath the decorative image on the same substrate material. The antenna structure comprises a metallic single broadband antenna or a metallic antenna array, and the decorative image comprises coloring materials. The antenna structure is configured to receive the input RF wireless signal, such as a television signal, which is fed to the television set via a connector at the back of the frame. The device may further comprise an antenna array control circuit to control the antenna array, an integrated phase shifting network to achieve beam steering, an integrated control circuit consisting of printed electronic components such as transmission lines, active switching elements, photovoltaic cells, batteries, resistors, capacitors, etc. The active switching elements may comprise a field-effect transistor and the field-effect transistor may comprise at least one of: carbon nanotubes, organic semiconductors, graphene, and silicon nanoparticles.
The device may further comprise an antenna array, an integrated phase shifting network, an integrated control circuit, and an integrated power supply in order to achieve beam steering for maximum signal reception.
This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features. Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
To summarize:
The primary objective of the invention is to simplify the fabrication and integration of antenna elements and electronics with a decorative picture by fabricating them on the same substrate using a printing process. For the scope of the present invention, and encompassing all applications resulting from it, the printing technique can refer to any one of solution or vacuum processing techniques. These techniques include, but are not limited to ink jet printing, screen printing, offset printing, gravure printing, contact printing, imprinting, chemical vapor deposition, dip pen printing, etc.
The second objective of the invention is to eliminate the need for external control circuits by utilizing a layer by layer arrangement of decorative image, antenna elements, control circuitry etc. in order to generate a multilayer, multifunctional device that can all be fabricated using the same manufacturing process, thereby greatly simplifying fabrication and integration.
The third objective of the invention is to print a phased array antenna together with the decorative picture in order to achieve beam steering, thereby enabling strong signal reception from other directions, thereby improving signal quality.
The fourth objective is to either conceal by the decorative image or form as part of the decorative image one or more printed electronic components such as sensors, RFIDs, photovoltaic cells, displays, batteries, transmission lines, resistors, capacitors, inductors, transistors, amplifiers, diodes etc.
Other objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following descriptions, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed.
The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention, which may be embodied in various forms. The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not of all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way. It is to be understood that in some instances, various aspects of the present invention may be shown exaggerated or enlarged to facilitate an understanding of the invention.
A more complete and thorough understanding of the present invention and benefits thereof may be acquired by referring to the following description together with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers indicate like features, and wherein:
Detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiments are provided herein. It is to be understood, however, that the present invention may be embodied in various forms. In some instances, there may or may not be a requirement for an antenna, and electronic components can be placed in suitable configurations to form functional, stand-alone devices. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed system, structure, or manner. This section will provide detailed description of the preferred embodiments in the aspect of device architecture, as well as the design concept. Example embodiments will now be described fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring initially to
In another embodiment of the present invention, shown in
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Although the device described herein is for television signal reception, one skilled in the art will understand that the structure in its general form may include sensors, radio-frequency identification, batteries, photovoltaic cells, displays, transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes, etc. in addition to antenna systems or maybe be included as stand-alone devices.
In summary, the present invention provides a decorative picture antenna together with electronic components for television signal reception developed using single and multi layer printing. The invention enables development of the decorative antenna, with a great relief in fabrication and integration efforts due to its realization in a single printing process, thereby maximizing the product yield. The invention also enables the realization of several other decorative picture circuits that may contain printed electronics as a part of the image, or as a concealment, that provide additional capabilities to the decorative image apart from aesthetic appeal alone. Owing to the solution and vacuum based printing processes used for developing the decorative antenna structure presented herein, one can integrate several other printable devices such as RFID, solar cells etc. on the same substrate.
While the invention has been described in connection with a number of preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the particular form set forth, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the design concept of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
This application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/841,845, filed on Jul. 1, 2013, entitled “Integrated Printed Decorative Antenna And Electronics,” the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference into the present disclosure.
This invention was made with government support under contracts N00014-11-C-0704 and NNX09CA37C awarded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), respectively. The government has certain rights in the invention.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61841845 | Jul 2013 | US |