This application claims the benefit of People's Republic of China application Serial No. 201610955314.6, filed Oct. 27, 2016, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The invention relates in general to a network monitoring device, and more particularly to a wireless networked network monitoring device with antenna.
Most casings of wireless networked products are made of insulating plastics in order to avoid wireless signals being affected by the casing. However, the plastic casing is subjected to certain restrictions. For example, the plastic casing has poor performance in terms of waterproof, impact resistance, weather resistance, environmental damage resistance and heat dissipation. Therefore, it has become a prominent task for the industry to provide a new technology capable of resolving the said problems.
The invention is directed to a network monitoring device capable of resolving the said problems.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a network monitoring device is provided. The network monitoring device includes a metal casing, a first antenna and a first feeding point. The metal casing has a first outer lateral surface. The first antenna is disposed on the first outer lateral surface and electrically connected to the metal casing. The first feeding point is disposed on the first antenna.
The above and other aspects of the invention will become better understood with regard to the following detailed description of the preferred but non-limiting embodiment(s). The following description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Refer to
The network monitoring device 100 can be realized by a network monitor (IP cam), a doorbell, or other types of monitors. The network monitoring device 100 can be a fixed-type network monitoring device, or can be disposed on a transport vehicle and move with the transport vehicle. The network monitoring device 100 can be disposed in an outdoor or an indoor environment.
The network monitoring device 100 includes multiple fixing members 103, the metal casing 105, a first antenna 110, a first feeding point 115, a first feeding line 120, a circuit board 125, a second antenna 130, a second feeding point 135, a second feeding line 140, a camera lens 145, two infra-red emitters 150, an ambient light sensor (ALS) 155, an object sensor 160, a front cover 165, a cover 170, a first sealing ring 175, a second sealing ring 180 and a rear cover 185.
The fixing members 103 pass through the rear cover 185 and the metal casing 105 to be fixed to the front cover 165 for fixing relative positions among the metal casing 105, the rear cover 185 and the front cover 165. The fixing members 103 have threads and can be realized by such as bolts. The cover 170 is disposed on the metal casing 105 and covers a portion of the metal casing 105, the first antenna 110, the first feeding point 115, the first feeding line 120, the second antenna 130, the second feeding point 135 and the second feeding line 140. The cover 170 can be realized by an insulating cover to avoid interfering with or shielding the signals transmitted or received by the first antenna 110 and the second antenna 130 and reducing the damage caused to the first antenna 110 and the second antenna 130 by the external environment (such as sunlight, rainwater, and impurities). In another embodiment, the network monitoring device 100 can omit the cover 170.
The metal casing 105 has a first outer lateral surface 105s1 and a second outer lateral surface 105s2 disposed oppositely. The first antenna 110 and the second antenna 130 are disposed on the first outer lateral surface 105s1 and the second outer lateral surface 105s2 respectively, and are exposed outside the metal casing 105. Thus, the signals transmitted or received by the first antenna 110 and the second antenna 130 will not be shielded by the metal casing 105. Besides, the first antenna 110 and the second antenna 130 can emit radio frequency (RF) signals, Wi-Fi signals or wireless signals using other communication protocols.
The first antenna 110 is electrically connected to the metal casing 105. The first feeding point 115 is disposed on the first antenna 110 and electrically connected to the circuit board 125 through the first feeding line 120, wherein the circuit board 125 is disposed inside the metal casing 105. As indicated in
Besides, the second antenna 130 is electrically connected to the metal casing 105. The second feeding point 135 is disposed on the second antenna 130 and electrically connected to the circuit board 125 through the second feeding line 140. As indicated in
Refer to
The metal casing 105 may be made of a material including aluminum, iron or other conductive materials. The metal casing 105 is made of a metal having better strength and hardness than the polymeric material, and therefore can be used in the outdoor environment. The metal casing 105 has better heat dissipation capacity than the insulating polymeric material. In terms of the manufacturing process, the metal casing 105 can be formed by way of extrusion, casting or machining. Also, the first antenna 110 and the second antenna 130 can be fixed to an outer lateral surface of the metal casing 105 using a screwing or a soldering method. As indicated in
As indicated in
The camera lens 145 can capture the image at the front by way of photography or video recording. The images captured by the camera lens 145 can be wirelessly transmitted to an external electronic device, such as a server, a display or a mobile phone, through the first antenna 110 and the second antenna 130. In another embodiment, the network monitoring device 100 may selectively omit the camera lens 145.
The infra-red emitter 150 can provide illumination during the night. The ambient light sensor 155 can detect an ambient brightness. Although it is not illustrated in the diagram, a controller (not illustrated) disposed on the circuit board 125 can turn on/off the capturing function of the camera lens 145 according to the signal of the object sensor 160 or control the infra-red emitter 150 to emit an infra-red light according to the signal of the ambient light sensor 155 to improve the clarity of night photography. The object sensor 160 can detect an external object approaching the network monitoring device 100 or the movement of the external object. When the object sensor 160 detects that an object enters a monitoring range, the controller controls the camera lens 145 to start photographing. The object sensor 160 can be realized by a passive infrared sensor (PIR), a microwave sensor or other types of sensors. The said object can be a living body, such as a human or an animal, or a non-living body.
The first sealing ring 175 is located between the front cover 165 and the first terminal surface 105e1 to seal the gap between the front cover 165 and the first terminal surface 105e1 of the metal casing 105 to avoid external impurities entering the network monitoring device 100 through the gap. Therefore, the network monitoring device 100 can be used in an outdoor environment. Besides, the front cover 165 can be realized by an insulating front cover to avoid affecting the signal transmission and reception of the first antenna 110 and the second antenna 130. Since front cover 165 is an isolative, the first antenna 110 and the second antenna 130 are allowed to contact the front cover 165 during the assembly process. However, in the present invention, the front cover 165 does not have to be an insulating front cover. When the front cover 165 is a metallic front cover, the front cover 165 is preferably separated from the first antenna 110 and the second antenna 130 by a distance, such as 1 cm, to reduce the negative influence caused to the signal transmission and reception of antennas by the metallic front cover.
The rear cover 185 is disposed on a second terminal surface 105e2. The second sealing ring 180 is located between the rear cover 185 and the second terminal surface 105e2 to seal the gap between the rear cover 185 and the second terminal surface 105e2 of the metal casing 105 and avoid external impurities entering the network monitoring device 100 through the gap. Therefore, the network monitoring device 100 can be used in an outdoor environment. Besides, the rear cover 185 can be realized by an insulating rear cover or a metal rear cover.
To summarize, the network monitoring device disclosed in above embodiments of the present invention includes a metal casing and at least an antenna electrically connected to the metal casing. The metal casing is electrically connected to a grounding potential. When the metal casing is used as a grounding portion of the antenna, the radiation field pattern of the network monitoring device becomes omnidirectional, and the larger the omnidirectional coverage, the smaller the no-signal area. The network monitoring device of the present invention embodiment uses the metal casing which has better performance in terms of waterproof, impact resistance, weather resistance, environmental damage resistance and heat dissipation than the plastic casing.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiment (s), it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2016 1 0955314 | Oct 2016 | CN | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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D748709 | Jeong | Feb 2016 | S |
20100289703 | Huang | Nov 2010 | A1 |
20140361933 | Zhang | Dec 2014 | A1 |
20170365919 | Hovmoller | Dec 2017 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20180123230 A1 | May 2018 | US |