Antenna assemblies, housing assemblies and electronic devices

Abstract

This application provides an antenna assembly, including a back cover, a bracket, and a radiator. The back cover has opposing inner and outer surfaces, and the bracket has a mounting surface facing the inner surface. The mounting surface has a mounting groove, and the radiator is located within the mounting groove. By placing the radiator within the mounting groove, the gap between the radiator and the back cover is increased. This prevents significant frequency offset during radio frequency communication regardless of the material of the back cover, resulting in better consistency when using back covers of different materials. Furthermore, this application also provides a housing assembly and an electronic device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of charging technology, specifically to an antenna assembly, a housing assembly, and an electronic device. Background Technology

[0002] In related technologies, mobile phones and other electronic devices are equipped with antennas for radio frequency communication with external devices or networks. These antennas are typically located on the side of the mid-frame near the back cover and radiate signals through the back cover. To differentiate back covers and meet the needs of different users, current mobile phones and other electronic devices often design several battery covers made of different materials, such as ceramic, glass, and leather, for users to choose from. However, the antenna's radio frequency communication through the back cover is highly susceptible to the influence of the back cover material, which is detrimental to the antenna's operation. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of this application is to provide an antenna assembly, a housing assembly, and an electronic device to at least partially solve the above-mentioned technical problems.

[0004] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide an antenna assembly, including a back cover, a bracket, and a radiator. The back cover has an inner surface and an outer surface facing away from each other. The bracket has a mounting surface facing the inner surface, and the mounting surface is provided with a mounting groove. The radiator is located in the mounting groove.

[0005] Secondly, embodiments of this application also provide a housing assembly, including the aforementioned antenna assembly, mid-frame, and front shell. The mid-frame includes a mid-plate and a side frame, the side frame surrounding the edge of the mid-plate, a rear cover mounted on the side frame, a bracket disposed on the side of the mid-plate facing the rear cover, the rear cover mounted on the side frame, and the front shell and rear cover located on opposite sides of the mid-plate.

[0006] Thirdly, embodiments of this application also provide an electronic device, including the aforementioned housing assembly.

[0007] The antenna assembly, housing assembly, and electronic device provided in this application embodiment increase the gap between the radiator and the back cover by placing the radiator in the mounting groove of the mounting surface. This ensures that no significant frequency offset will occur during radio frequency communication of the radiator, regardless of the material of the back cover, resulting in better consistency of the electronic device when using back covers of different materials.

[0008] These or other aspects of this application will become more apparent in the following description of the embodiments. Attached Figure Description

[0009] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are only some embodiments of this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0010] Figure 1 It shows the scattering curves of radiators covered by back covers of different materials in related technologies.

[0011] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0012] Figure 3 yes Figure 2 The structure of the electronic device is shown with the back cover removed.

[0013] Figure 4 yes Figure 2 The diagram shows a structural schematic of the housing assembly in an electronic device.

[0014] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the assembly structure of an antenna assembly provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0015] Figure 6 This is a scattering curve of the radiator of the antenna assembly provided in this application embodiment when using back covers of different materials.

[0016] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the assembly structure of another antenna assembly provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0017] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the assembly structure of another antenna assembly provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0018] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of another antenna assembly structure provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0019] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the assembly structure of yet another antenna assembly provided in the embodiments of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0020] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this application, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0021] It should be noted that the terms "center," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "top," "bottom," "inner," and "outer," etc., used herein to indicate the orientation or positional relationship are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and are not intended to indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of the present invention. Unless otherwise stated, "a plurality of" means two or more.

[0022] Non-metallic materials such as ceramics, glass, and leather are increasingly used in the manufacture of back covers (also known as battery covers) for electronic devices. These non-metallic back covers have a pleasing appearance and are popular with consumers. Meanwhile, antennas, as indispensable components of electronic devices, are typically housed inside the device and covered by the back cover. Therefore, the antenna's operation is affected by the back cover. Below 5GHz, the dielectric constant of glass is around 6, that of ceramic is around 30, and that of leather is around 4. Under back covers with different dielectric constants, frequency shifts can occur during antenna operation.

[0023] Taking LDS bracket antenna as an example, Figure 1 The diagram illustrates the frequency offset of the LDS bracket antenna in the N78 band for back covers made of ceramic and leather. Curve 1 represents the frequency curve of the leather back cover, and curve 2 represents the frequency curve of the ceramic back cover. The horizontal axis represents frequency, and the vertical axis represents gain. The resonant frequencies of the two materials differ by approximately 80MHz. Glass, due to its similar dielectric constant to leather, exhibits less significant frequency offset. This leads to a problem: when the same electronic device uses back covers made of different materials, devices using different back covers may exhibit significant frequency offsets, resulting in poor consistency and inconvenience for users.

[0024] Meanwhile, during the assembly of the antenna bracket and the back cover, assembly tolerances exist, and the spacing between the antenna and the back cover is not fixed, which can lead to poor antenna performance consistency. Based on this, the inventors of this application, after long-term research, have proposed an antenna assembly, a housing assembly, and electronic equipment so that the radiator can have good frequency consistency when it is working, regardless of the material of the back cover.

[0025] The contents of this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0026] like Figure 2As shown, this embodiment provides an electronic device 10. The electronic device 10 in this application can be a mobile phone or smartphone (e.g., a phone based on iPhone™ or Android™), a portable gaming device (e.g., Nintendo DS™, PlayStation Portable™, Gameboy Advance™, iPhone™), a laptop computer, a PDA, a portable internet device, a music player, and a data storage device, other handheld devices, and such as watches, headphones, pendants, etc. The electronic device 10 can also be other wearable devices (e.g., such as electronic glasses, electronic clothing, electronic bracelets, electronic necklaces, electronic tattoos, head-mounted devices (HMDs) of the electronic device 10 or smartwatches).

[0027] Please refer to the following: Figure 2 and Figure 3 The electronic device 10 provided in this embodiment is illustrated using a mobile phone as an example. The electronic device 10 includes a housing assembly 20, a display screen 30, a motherboard 50, and a battery 40, etc., with the motherboard 50 and battery 40 both housed within the housing assembly 20. The electronic device 10 may also include a front-facing camera, which is located on one side of the display screen 30 of the electronic device 10.

[0028] Please refer to the following: Figure 2 , Figure 3 as well as Figure 4 The housing assembly 20 includes an antenna assembly 24, a mid-frame 21, and a front housing 25, such as Figure 4 As shown, the antenna assembly 24 includes a rear cover 26, a bracket 100, and a radiator 200, wherein the radiator 200 is used for radio frequency communication with external devices or networks, and the bracket 100 can be fixed to the middle frame 21.

[0029] See Figure 3The battery 40 is disposed in the middle frame 21 and is used to power the antenna assembly 24 and the display screen 30. The display screen 30 is mounted on the front shell 25. The display screen 30 can be an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen for displaying information. The LCD screen can be a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) screen, an IPS (In-Plane Switching) screen, or an SLCD (Splice Liquid Crystal Display) screen. In other embodiments, the display screen 30 can be an OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) screen for displaying information. The OLED screen can be an AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode) screen, a Super AMOLED (Super Active Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode) screen, or a Super AMOLED Plus (Super Active Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode Plus) screen, which will not be described in detail here.

[0030] Specifically, see Figure 4 The mid-frame 21 includes a mid-plate 22 and a frame 23. The frame 23 surrounds the edge of the mid-plate 22 and is made of non-metallic materials such as plastic. The frame 23 protrudes from the mid-plate 22, and the frame 23 protrudes from the mid-plate 22 on both opposite sides. The front shell 25 and the rear cover 26 are respectively assembled on opposite sides of the mid-plate 22, and both the front shell 25 and the rear cover 26 are assembled and fixed to the frame 23. The rear cover 26, the mid-frame 21, and the front shell 25 together form a cavity. The mainboard 50 is disposed in the cavity and fixed to the mid-plate 22. The cavity can also accommodate other components such as a rear camera, antenna, and processor.

[0031] The middle frame 21 can be a one-piece structure, where the side frame 23 and the middle plate 22 can be integrally formed to give the middle frame 21 sufficient structural strength. The middle plate 22 can be made partially or entirely of metal, without limitation. For example, in a more specific embodiment, the middle plate 22 can be made of a magnesium alloy metal plate as the substrate, and the side frame 23 can be made of plastic, injection molded onto the substrate to form the one-piece middle frame 21. In another embodiment, the middle plate 21 and the side frame 23 can be made entirely of plastic or entirely of metal.

[0032] Please continue reading. Figure 4 The middle plate 22 has a first side and a second side facing away from each other, located in the thickness direction of the electronic device 10. The front cover 25 is mounted on the first side of the middle plate 22, and the rear cover 26 is mounted on the second side of the middle plate 22. The frame 23 is connected to the edge of the middle plate 22 and extends towards both the first and second sides of the middle plate 22. The frame 23 has an inner surface that can form a ring. The middle plate 22 is connected to the inner surface of the frame 23, that is, the inner surface surrounds the middle plate 22.

[0033] like Figure 5 As shown, the rear cover 26 has an inner surface 261 and an outer surface 262 facing away from each other, wherein the outer surface 262 can serve as part of the exterior surface of the electronic device, and the inner surface 261 faces the middle plate 22. The rear cover 26 can also be provided with a camera mounting hole 27. Figure 4 As shown in the figure, the camera mounting hole 27 penetrates the inner surface 261 and the outer surface 262.

[0034] Please continue reading. Figure 5 The bracket 100 is used to house the radiator 200 for wiring. In one embodiment, the bracket 100 is disposed on the surface of the middle plate 22 facing the rear cover 26 and fixed to the middle plate 22. The bracket 100 can be disposed close to the frame to avoid interference with other electronic components inside the electronic device. It is understood that there can be one or more brackets 100 and radiators 200, which is not specifically limited here. The bracket 100 can be configured into any shape according to design needs, such as a plate structure, a bent structure, etc. In this embodiment, the bracket 100 has a mounting surface 110 facing the inner surface 261 of the rear cover 26. The mounting surface 110 is provided with a mounting groove 120. The opening direction of the mounting groove 120 faces the inner surface 261 of the rear cover 26. The mounting groove 120 is used to house the radiator 200, so the opening position of the mounting groove 120 coincides with the designed position of the radiator 200. The bracket 100 also includes a bottom wall and a side wall defining the mounting groove 120.

[0035] During assembly, there is a gap between the mounting surface 110 of the bracket 100 and the inner surface 261 of the rear cover 26. Due to assembly tolerances, this gap is typically between 0.1mm and 0.2mm. By creating a mounting groove 120, the distance between the bottom wall of the mounting groove 120 and the rear cover 26 can be increased. It should be noted that the mounting groove 120 can be formed by cutting or milling on the bracket 100, or integrally formed during the manufacturing of the bracket 100; neither is limited here. The bracket 100 can be made of insulating plastic material to provide electrical insulation between the bracket 100 and the radiator 200.

[0036] The radiator 200 is used for communication, specifically for transmitting wireless signals to the outside or receiving wireless signals sent by other electronic devices 10. The radiator 200 includes, but is not limited to, radio frequency antennas, Bluetooth antennas, Wi-Fi antennas, GPS antennas, etc. Various electronic components can be mounted on the motherboard 50, including, but not limited to, processors, memory, antenna modules, speakers, receivers, etc., without specific limitations. The motherboard 50 may have pads (not shown), and electronic components are connected to the circuitry on the motherboard 50 via soldering to these pads. In this embodiment, the motherboard 50 has an antenna circuit for electrical connection to the radiator 200 to feed power to or receive signals from the radiator 200. The radiator 200 can be an LDS radiator or an FPC radiator, without limitation.

[0037] Among them, the LDS radiator is a radiator 200 formed by direct electroplating on the bracket 100 using laser technology. The FPC radiator is a radiator 200 formed by a flexible circuit board.

[0038] The radiator 200 is installed within the mounting slot 120, and the radiator 200 does not protrude from the mounting surface 110. This results in a greater distance between the radiator 200 and the rear cover 26 than the distance between the mounting surface 110 and the rear cover 26. Essentially, by creating the mounting slot 120, the distance between the radiator 200 and the rear cover 26 is increased. By increasing this distance, the impact of the rear cover 26 on the antenna performance of the radiator 200 can be reduced. Thus, regardless of the material of the rear cover 26, the frequency offset of the radiator 200 is reduced during operation, improving the performance consistency of the radiator 200 under different rear covers 26.

[0039] Figure 6 The diagram illustrates the scattering curves of the radiator 200 when the antenna assembly 24 provided in this embodiment uses a ceramic material and a leather material for the back cover 26. Curve 2 represents the frequency curve of the leather material back cover 26, and curve 1 represents the frequency curve of the ceramic material back cover 26. The horizontal axis represents frequency, and the vertical axis represents gain. The resonant frequencies of the two materials differ by approximately 10 MHz. Figure 6 and Figure 1 As can be seen, in this embodiment, by opening a mounting groove 120 on the mounting surface 110 of the bracket 100 and placing the radiator 200 in the mounting groove 120, the influence of the material of the back cover 26 on the radiation performance of the radiator 200 is reduced. Under the cover of back covers 26 of different materials, the frequency forward shift of the radiator 200 is significantly reduced, and the radiation consistency of the antenna assembly 24 is improved.

[0040] To further improve the uniformity of the antenna assembly 24, its radiation uniformity can be further enhanced by increasing the gap between the radiator 200 and the inner surface 261 of the rear cover 26. For example, the gap width can be set to be greater than or equal to 0.3 mm, where the gap width refers to the gap width in the direction perpendicular to the mounting surface 110. A larger gap can significantly reduce the impact of the rear cover 26 on the radiation performance of the radiator 200, but an excessively large gap will increase the thickness of the electronic device 10. Therefore, preferably, the gap can be greater than or equal to 0.3 mm and less than or equal to 0.4 mm. Of course, in other embodiments, the gap size can also be other values, which are not limited here.

[0041] The depth of the mounting groove 120 can be set, for example, to 0.1mm-0.2mm. The depth of the mounting groove 120 refers to its depth dimension in the direction perpendicular to the mounting surface 110, that is, the dimension in the direction perpendicular to the bottom wall. This ensures that when the radiator 200 is installed in the mounting groove 120, the radiator 200 will not protrude from the mounting surface 110, and there is a suitable gap width between the radiator 200 and the inner surface 261 of the rear cover 26. It should be noted that in some other embodiments, the depth of the mounting groove 120 can also be other values, which are not specifically limited here. In one embodiment, such as... Figure 7 As shown, the mounting groove 120 can also be configured as an open shape, meaning the angle between the side wall and the bottom wall is greater than 90°. The advantage of this configuration is that, because the mounting groove 120 is open, the radiator 200 experiences less obstruction in all directions during radiation, thus improving radiation performance and correspondingly reducing the amount of frequency shift. The angle between the side wall and the bottom wall can be, for example, between 110° and 135°, and is not specifically limited here.

[0042] In one implementation, such as Figure 8As shown, the back cover 26 includes a leather layer 263 and a fiberglass layer 264. The leather layer 263 is disposed on the surface of the fiberglass layer 264 away from the support 100. An inner surface 261 is formed on the fiberglass layer 264. The leather layer 263 is located on the outer side of the back cover 26, and an outer surface 262 is formed on the leather layer 263, serving as the outer surface of the back cover 26. The dielectric constant of the fiberglass layer 264 is greater than or equal to the dielectric constant of the leather layer 263. By setting the fiberglass layer 264, the dielectric constant of the entire back cover 26 is increased compared to the leather layer 263 alone. This reduces the difference in dielectric constant between the leather-material back cover 26 and the ceramic-material back cover 26, thereby reducing the radiation impact on the radiator 200 after the back cover 26 is formed, and improving the antenna performance consistency between back covers 26 made of different materials. As a more specific implementation, the fiberglass board layer 264 can be made of L-shaped glass fiber, which has a larger dielectric constant and is more conducive to improving the antenna performance consistency between back covers 26 made of different materials.

[0043] When fiberglass layer 264 is used, a gap is formed between fiberglass layer 264 and radiator 200. This is to further improve the antenna performance consistency between back covers 26 made of different materials. Figure 9 As shown, in one embodiment, a filling dielectric layer 268 may be provided within the gap. The dielectric constant of the filling dielectric layer 268 is greater than or equal to the dielectric constant of the fiberglass layer 264, thereby increasing the effective dielectric constant of the entire back cover 26 and further improving the antenna performance consistency between back covers 26 made of different materials. The filling dielectric layer 268 may be made of materials such as ceramic or alumina, and is not specifically limited here.

[0044] The filling medium layer 268 can be disposed on the surface of the fiberglass board layer 264 away from the leather layer 263, and the thickness of the filling medium layer 268 can be less than the gap between the mounting surface 110 and the fiberglass board layer 264, that is, there is a gap between the filling medium layer 268 and the mounting surface 110. This arrangement allows for slack during assembly, preventing the back cover 26 from directly contacting or interfering with the bracket 100, and facilitating subsequent assembly.

[0045] Among them, the dielectric constant is the main parameter reflecting the dielectric properties or polarization properties of piezoelectric smart materials under the action of an electrostatic field.

[0046] See Figure 10In another embodiment, the back cover 26 includes a ceramic layer 265 and a dielectric layer 266. The ceramic layer 265 is disposed on the side of the dielectric layer 266 away from the support 100, and the inner surface 261 is formed on the dielectric layer 266. That is, the dielectric layer 266 is located on the side of the ceramic layer 265 closer to the support 100 and the radiator 200. The dielectric constant of the dielectric layer 266 is smaller than that of the ceramic layer 265. By setting the dielectric layer 266, the dielectric constant of the entire back cover 26 is reduced compared to the ceramic layer 265 alone. This reduces the difference in dielectric constant between the leather-material back cover 26 and the ceramic-material back cover 26, thereby reducing the radiation impact on the radiator 200 after the back cover 26 is formed, and improving the antenna performance consistency between back covers 26 made of different materials.

[0047] The dielectric layer 266 can be made of materials such as fiberglass or glass, and no specific limitation is made here. Furthermore, the thickness of the dielectric layer 266 can be less than the gap between the mounting surface 110 and the ceramic layer 265, meaning there is a gap between the dielectric layer 266 and the mounting surface 110. This arrangement allows for sufficient clearance during assembly, preventing the back cover 26 from directly contacting or interfering with the bracket 100, thus facilitating subsequent assembly.

[0048] The antenna assembly 24 provided in this embodiment, by opening a mounting slot 120 on the bracket 100, allows the radiator 200 to be located within the mounting slot 120 during installation, thereby increasing the distance between the radiator 200 and the back cover 26, reducing the impact of the back cover 26 on the operation of the radiator 200, and avoiding a large frequency shift phenomenon when the radiator 200 radiates. Therefore, even if the same electronic device is designed with multiple back covers 26 made of different materials, using any back cover 26 will not have a significant adverse impact on the antenna performance of the radiator 200, improving the consistency of the antenna performance of the electronic device 10. When making a selection, users only need to choose according to their own material preferences without worrying about antenna performance.

[0049] Unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," and "linking" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to fixed connections, detachable connections, or integral connections; they can refer to mechanical connections or electrical connections; they can refer to direct connections or indirect connections through an intermediate medium; and they can refer to the internal connection between two components. Those skilled in the art will understand the specific meaning of these terms in this invention based on the specific circumstances.

[0050] The above are merely preferred embodiments of this application and are not intended to limit this application. Various modifications and variations can be made to this application by those skilled in the art. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of this application should be included within the protection scope of this application.

Claims

1. An antenna assembly, characterized by The antenna assembly comprises: a back cover having opposite inner and outer surfaces, the back cover comprising a leather layer and a fiberglass plate layer; a bracket having a mounting surface facing the inner surface, the mounting surface being provided with a mounting groove, an opening of the mounting groove being in an open form; and a radiator located in the mounting groove and not protruding from the mounting surface, the radiator being used for radiating a signal through the back cover, the radiator having a gap with the inner surface, the gap being greater than or equal to 0.3 mm and less than or equal to 0.4 mm. The leather layer is arranged on a surface of the fiberglass plate layer away from the bracket, the inner surface is formed on the fiberglass plate layer, a dielectric constant of the fiberglass plate layer is greater than or equal to a dielectric constant of the leather layer, a gap is formed between the fiberglass plate layer and the radiator, and a filling medium layer is arranged in the gap, a dielectric constant of the filling medium layer being greater than or equal to a dielectric constant of the fiberglass plate layer. A distance between the mounting surface and the inner surface is 0.1 mm-0.2 mm.

2. The antenna assembly of claim 1, wherein, A depth of the mounting groove is 0.1 mm-0.2 mm.

3. The antenna assembly of claim 1, wherein, The radiator is an LDS radiator or an FPC radiator.

4. The antenna assembly of any of claims 1-3, wherein, The antenna assembly comprises:

5. A housing assembly characterized by, The antenna assembly according to any one of claims 1-4; a middle frame comprising a middle plate and a frame, the frame being arranged around an edge of the middle plate, the back cover being assembled to the frame, and the bracket being arranged on a side of the middle plate facing the back cover; and a front shell, the back cover being assembled to the frame, and the front shell and the back cover being located on opposite sides of the middle plate. The shell assembly comprises the shell assembly according to claim 5. ​ 6. An electronic device, comprising: ​

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