1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antenna, and more particularly, to a multi-frequency antenna.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the evolution of wireless communication technology, various portable devices are exploiting wireless communication technology for data transmission, thus causing the antenna design to evolve at a rapid rate. Nowadays, these portable communication devices are becoming lighter and smaller, and the antenna must also be reduced in size in order to be installed into these electronic devices.
In terms of antenna's exterior design, the lengthy external antenna that is designed to receive and transmit radio frequency has become shorter and has been internalized, and it makes the appearance of the devices more appealing. In terms of application aspect, antenna is able to take on different shapes and sizes, thus the antennas can be designed accordingly to comply with various electronic appliance standards and to cater for different system products. Therefore, antenna manufacturing has the characteristic of high variety with low volume. However, the basic objective of designing an antenna is to improve the quality of signal transmission and reception, thus this property should not be compromised from improving its exterior appearance, size or choice of material.
Nowadays, the helical antenna and the monopole antenna are used in the circuit separately, and its pitfall is that both the helical antenna and the monopole antenna can only have a single-band frequency respectively. The applicant of the present invention has filed a TW patent application with Appl. No.: 095141199 on Dec. 07, 2006, which discloses a multi-frequency antenna combining with helix element and/or radiating element. The multi-frequency antenna comprises a helix element connecting to a feeding portion and a helix element connecting to a grounding portion. The radiating element is resonated with high frequency such as 5 GHz, and the helix element is resonated with low frequency such as 2.4 GHz. However, the multi-frequency antenna of the TW application No. 095141199 further comprises a base for fixing the radiating element and the helix element, and further for grounding and feeding.
In order to cater for the aforementioned needs in the precedent technology, the present invention provides an antenna that can be used for the transmission and reception of radio frequency (RF) signals.
The multi-frequency antenna of the present invention comprises a helix element and a coaxial cable. The coaxial cable is disposed within the helix element. The helix element comprises a first helix portion and a second helix portion adjacent to each other. The coaxial cable comprises a grounding portion and a radiating portion. The first helix portion covers the grounding portion. The first helix portion is connected with the grounding portion. For example, the first helix portion and the grounding portion are connected by soldering therebetween. In this embodiment, the radiating portion is disposed within the second helix portion. The radiating portion and the second helix portion are separated.
The radiating portion comprises an isolating layer and a core covered by the isolating layer. The grounding portion comprises a metal layer covering the isolating layer. The coaxial cable comprises an insulating layer covering the metal layer. The length of the radiating portion is around ¼ wavelength, such as ¼ wavelength of the high frequency (5 GHz).
A dielectric portion may be disposed between at least a part of the radiating portion and at least a part of the second helix portion to avoid improper interference. The dielectric portion may be insulating, such as formed by low dielectric material comprising sponge, acrylic fiber, plastic, or ceramic.
In one embodiment, the multi-frequency antenna further comprises a grounding element comprising a covering portion. The first helix portion substantially covers the metal layer. The covering portion of the grounding element covers the first helix portion so as to ground the grounding portion and the first helix portion simultaneously.
The second helix portion of the present invention may have different variation according to different fields or frequency. For example, the cross-section of the second helix portion may be circular, square, oval, triangular, or polyhedron. The helix element controls low frequency, so the length of the second helix portion is ¼ wavelength (i.e. calculated by stretching and measuring it from the grounding portion to its end), such as ¼ wavelength of low frequency of 2.4 GHz. In another ward, the height of the second helix portion 112 is about 0.08˜0.12 wavelength before stretching
In one of the other embodiments, the multi-frequency antenna comprises a helix element and a coaxial cable as described above, however one end of a radiating portion and one end of a second helix portion are connected with each other, such as by soldering the two ends. The multi-frequency antenna in this embodiment generates a spiral route before grounding to reduce the total size of the whole antenna. That is, in this embodiment, the resonance frequency may be adjustable based on the lengths of the radiating portion and the second helix portion in order to obtain a desired frequency range.
In one of another embodiment, the second helix portion may further comprise a connecting portion surrounding the end of the radiating portion so as to connect the end of the second helix portion. Alternatively, the end of the second helix portion may be formed as perpendicular.
In another aspect of the present invention, a multi-frequency antenna comprising a helix element and a coaxial cable is disclosed, wherein the helix element comprises a first helix portion and a radiator adjacent to each other. The grounding portion and the first helix portion are connected with each other.
The radiator of the helix element comprises a plurality of bends forming a plurality of sections. In a preferred embodiment, a grounding element comprising a covering portion can be used for covering the first helix portion and a supporting portion used for covering one of the sections.
The radiator may comprise a feeding point shaped in a loop so that no post-processing is required.
Various frequencies can be generated through the antenna disclosed in the present invention to cover a wide range of bandwidths for the system requirements. The antenna of the present invention has high practical industrial value as it is simple to design and it also leads to low manufacturing cost.
The advantages and innovative features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Please refer to
Referring to
Please refer back to
The length of the second helix portion 112, i.e. calculated by stretching and measuring it from the grounding portion to its end, is substantially around ¼ wavelength. For example, the length can be ¼ wavelength of low frequency (such as 2.4 GHz). In another word, the height of the second helix portion 112 is about 0.08˜0.12 wavelength before stretching.
Referring to
In general, the multi-frequency antenna 10 or 10a is assembled into an electronic device (will be described in below). A fixing portion S can be used to screw (or solder) the multi-frequency antenna 10 or 10a into (or onto) the electronic device so as to ground the grounding portion 121 and the first helix portion 111 simultaneously.
However, when the housing of the electronic device is not made by conductive material, the fixing portion S cannot provide grounding function for the grounding portion 121 and the first helix portion 111. Please refer to
Furthermore, referring to
Another embodiment of a multi-frequency antenna of the present invention is shown in
Similarly, in this embodiment, a dielectric portion 13 can be used to separate the radiating portion 422 and second helix portion 412. In addition, though it does not show in the figures, the multi-frequency antenna 40 comprises a grounding element for grounding the grounding portion 121 and the first helix portion 111 simultaneously.
To connect the end of the radiating portion 422 and the end of the second helix portion 412, except using soldering, it can have the end of the second helix portion 412 to wind around the radiating portion 422. Referring to
Alternatively, referring to
In addition, the helix element of the multi-frequency antenna 10, 10a, 10b, 40, or 40a according to the figures herewith, though they all have the same diameter in their second helix portion, they may have variation. Please refer to
Furthermore, the helix element of the multi-frequency antenna 10, 10a, 10b, 40, or 40a according to the figures herewith, though they all are shaped in circular, which are not used to limit the present invention. The helix element according to the present invention may vary based on different fields or frequency requirements. For example, referring to
In different embodiments of the present invention, the diameter of the helix element 11, 41, 41a, 71a, 71b, 71c, 81a, or 81b can be substantially around 0.2-1.5 mm. The diameter of the second helix portion is substantially around 4.5±0.5 mm. The distance between every two helixes of the second helix portion may be substantially around 2.8±0.5 mm.
In summary, the helix element of the present invention uses the resonance frequency (e.g. high frequency) generated from the radiating portion to radiate the helix element by coupling energy, so as to generate another form of resonance frequency (e.g. low frequency). Therefore, the radiated mode can provide a wide frequency band for different system. Various frequencies can be generated through this kind of antenna to cover a wide range of bandwidths for the system requirements. The antenna of the present invention has high practical industrial value as it is simple to design and it also leads to low manufacturing cost.
In
The multi-frequency antenna 10 and the RF module 90 are connected electronically. For example, a coaxial cable 12 can be used to connect the multi-frequency antenna 10 and the RF module 90 electronically. As shown in
Please refer to
In addition to the helix element 11, 41, 41a, 41b, 71a, 71b, 71c, 81a, and 81b described in above, the present invention can be varied with different second helix portion. Please refer to
The radiator 912 comprises a plurality of bends forming a plurality of sections 912a, 912b, 912c, and 912d. The length of the radiator 912 away from the feeding point F can determine the low-band resonances (such as 2.4 GHz). The feeding point F can be shaped for easier soldering, for example, with a pressed wire in a flat tab shape, but not limit to the shape shown in
The section 912c having semi circular bend portion, but not limit to the shape, can be in XY or XZ plane that is used for controlling high-band resonances (such as 5 GHz) by coupling. The section 912d is bended at the tip that can have lower effective resonance frequency. Further, it may reduce the total size of the helix element 91. The section 912a is a grounding connection extended from the first helix portion 911. Therefore, when a grounding element is used, such as the grounding element 14 shown in
According to different frequencies, similarly, radiators 922, 932, 942, 952, 962, 972, 982, and 992 can be designed with different shape having the feeding point F designed therein. As shown in
Particularly, as shown in
The shape of the radiators 922, 932, 942, 952, 962, 972, 982, and 992 are used to illustrating the figures, which should not be used for limiting the present invention. Furthermore, the x-y-z coordinates are used to describe only, which should not be used to limit the present invention, either.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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096109589 | Mar 2007 | TW | national |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 11826240 | Jul 2007 | US |
Child | 12718075 | US |