Patent Application
20050285804
The present invention relates generally to a portable information terminal with communication capabilities, and more specifically, to a portable information terminal comprising a conductive housing and a built-in antenna.
Some recent notebook type personal computers have a built-in antenna for a wireless local area network (WLAN) or Bluetooth (registered trade mark). A planar inverted F antenna (sometimes called an “F type antenna”) suitable for transmitting and receiving high frequencies is used as this antenna and embedded, for example, at the top of a rear cover or at the top of both sides of the rear cover.
Many of today's rear covers are made of a conductive material to prevent electromagnetic radiation generated within the personal computers from leaking out. In order to allow an inverted-F antenna to transmit a radio wave to the outside and receive a radio wave from the outside, an opening is provided in a rear cover in the position where the inverted-F antenna is embedded and the opening is covered with a resin cap.
The antenna requires a ground. However, the conventional structure as described above does not allow a large ground area to be provided. Consequently, such conventional antennas have a problem that they tend to be affected by the conductive material surrounding the antenna and therefore does not provide stable transmission and reception.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method for overcoming the above-identified problems. The present invention addresses such a need.
A portable information terminal with communication capabilities according to the present invention comprises a conductive housing, a display, and a planar antenna. The display is attached to the inside of the housing. The planar antenna is attached to the outside of the housing.
[Description of Symbols]
The present invention relates generally to a portable information terminal with communication capabilities, and more specifically, to a portable information terminal comprising a conductive housing and a built-in antenna. The following description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention and is provided in the context of a patent application and its requirements. Various modifications to the preferred embodiments and the generic principles and features described herein will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.
An object of the present invention is to provide a portable information terminal having a built-in antenna capable of providing stable transmission and reception even if its housing is electrically conductive.
A portable information terminal with communication capabilities according to the present invention comprises a conductive housing, a display, and a planar antenna. The display is attached to the inside of the housing. The planar antenna is attached to the outside of the housing. The term “portable information terminal” as used herein refers to a notebook type personal computer, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance), a cellular phone (PHS (Personal Handyphone System)), or the like. For the notebook type personal computer, the term “housing” as used herein corresponds to a rear cover attached to the notebook type personal computer main body so as to be freely opened and closed.
The portable information terminal employs the conductive housing in order to block electromagnetic waves generated inside the terminal. However, since the planar antenna is attached to the outside of the housing, the terminal is unlikely to be affected by a display attached to the inside of the housing. As a result, stable transmissions and receptions can be carried out.
Preferably, the housing has a concave formed over a predetermined area outside the housing. The planar antenna is attached in the concave. The portable information terminal further comprises a dielectric decorative laminate. The decorative laminate is attached so as to cover the planar antenna.
In this case, the planar antenna is attached in the concave of the housing and is further covered with the decorative plate. Accordingly, the planar antenna is formed integrally with the housing. This simplifies the external configuration of the terminal. Moreover, the decorative plate is dielectric, so that radio waves transmitted and received by the planar antenna are not blocked by the decorative plate.
Moreover, the planar antenna preferably has a resonator. The housing has a through-hole formed at a position corresponding to the resonator of the planar antenna. The portable information terminal further comprises a cable connected to the planar antenna and passing through the through-hole.
In this case, the through-hole is formed at the position corresponding to the resonator of the planar antenna. Consequently, the vibration of the resonator is not prevented. Moreover, the cable connected to the planar antenna passes through the through-hole. This simplifies the wiring structure of the terminal.
Preferably, the planar antenna is in electric contact with the housing.
In this case, the planar antenna has a larger ground area and can thus carry out more stable transmissions and receptions.
Moreover, the housing is preferably molded of carbon fiber reinforced plastics. The planar antenna is in contact with carbon fibers exposed from a surface of the housing.
In this case, it is possible to ensure that the planar antenna and the housing are electrically contacted with each other.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The same or corresponding parts will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and their descriptions will not be repeated.
With reference to
A keyboard 20 and the like are arranged on a top surface of the PC main body 12. The PC main body 12 contains a printed circuit board on which a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, and the like are mounted, a hard disk drive, a flexible disk drive, a CD-ROM (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory) drive, and the like.
The rear cover 16 is formed of carbon-fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) so as not to allow the leakage of electromagnetic waves generated in the PC main body 12 or the LCD 18.
With reference to
A planar antenna 26 one size smaller than the concave 24 in the rear cover 16 is installed in the concave 24 parallel to the LCD 18. The planar antenna 26 is formed of metal such as copper, nickel, a copper-nickel alloy, or phosphor bronze, or their plating.
The planar antenna 26 has two WLAN inverted F antennas 28 and 30 on its long side and a Bluetooth inverted F antenna 32 on its short side. The inverted F antennas 28, 30, and 32 have resonators 36, 38, and 40, respectively, extending from a ground portion 34 like a key and notches 42, 44, and 46, respectively, formed between the resonators 36, 38, and 40 and the ground portion 34. The ground portion 34, which is common to the three inverted F antennas 28, 30, and 32, is sufficiently large compared to the resonators 36, 38, and 40.
The planar antenna 26 thus has the WLAN inverted F antennas 28 and 30 and the Bluetooth inverted F antenna 32. Consequently, the notebook type personal computer 10 can carry out transmissions and receptions using either system. Moreover, since the planar antenna 26 has the two WLAN inverted F antennas 28 and 30, a diversity system can be realized.
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
The coaxial cables 56, 58, and 60 are thus passed through the through-holes 50, 52, and 54, respectively, formed so as not to prevent the vibration of the resonators 36, 38, and 40. This simplifies the wiring structure.
Finally, an adhesive decorative laminate 62 is fitted into and stuck to the concave 24 of the rear cover 16 so as to cover the planar antenna 26. The decorative laminate 62 is a rectangle having almost the same size as that of the concave 24. The decorative laminate 62 is formed of a dielectric such as resin. Accordingly, the planar antenna 26 is formed integrally with the rear cover 16, thus simplifying the external configuration. Moreover, radio waves transmitted and received by the planar antenna 26 are not blocked by the decorative plate 62.
As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the rear cover 16 is formed of the CFRP in order to block electromagnetic waves generated in the PC main body 12 or the LCD 18. However, the planar antenna 26 is attached to the outside of the rear cover 16 to ensure transmissions and receptions to and from external equipment. Further, the planar antenna 26 has the sufficiently large ground portion 34 and is in electric contact with the conductive rear cover 16. Consequently, the planar antenna 26 is unlikely to be affected by the LCD 18, the hinges 22, or the like. This enables very stable transmissions and receptions. Moreover, the planar antenna 26 is attached to the outside of the rear cover 16. This makes it possible to equally design any forms of notebook type personal computers.
In the above embodiment, the rear cover 16 is formed of the CFRP. Alternatively, the rear cover 16 may be formed of a conductive material such as aluminum or steel. Further, the concave 24, the planar antenna 26, and the decorative laminate 62 need not be rectangular but may be square, circular, elliptical, trapezoidal, or parallelogrammatic. The shapes of these components are not limited. Furthermore, slot antennas having elongated rectangular holes may be used in place of the inverted F antennas 28, 30, and 32. The type of the planar antenna is not limited. Moreover, a plasma display or the like may be used in place of the LCD 18.
The present invention is applicable not only to the notebook type personal computer but also to a PDA, a cellular phone, and the like. For a PDA or a cellular phone in which the LCD is integrated with the main body, the planar antenna may be attached to the outside of a conductive housing that accommodates the main body and the LCD. For a PDA or a cellular phone in which the LCD is attached to the main body so as to be freely opened or closed, the planar antenna may be attached to the outside of a conductive rear cover (housing) that accommodates the LCD.
Although the present invention has been described in accordance with the embodiments shown, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that there could be variations to the embodiments and those variations would be within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, many modifications may be made by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-186810 | Jun 2004 | JP | national |
