Rack-and-pinion antenna system

Abstract

The application provides a back cavity slot antenna system installed in a housing of an electronic device. The back cavity slot antenna system includes a metal cavity, a support assembly, an antenna device, a conductive post and a coupling metal piece. The metal cavity is located in the housing and has an opening and a closed surface opposite to the opening. A slot is formed on the closed surface. The support assembly is located in the metal cavity. The antenna device is located in the metal cavity and on the support assembly, so that a side surface of the antenna device is exposed from the slot. The antenna device includes a feed source. The conductive post penetrates the antenna device and extends to connect to the metal cavity. The coupling metal piece is located in the housing and close to the opening of the metal cavity, so that the coupling metal piece is close to and corresponds to the feed source of the antenna device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to a built-in, miniaturized cavity slot antenna system. Background Technology

[0002] As consumers increasingly demand higher standards for product appearance, metal casings offer significant advantages in structural strength, heat dissipation, and aesthetics. Consequently, more and more manufacturers are designing wireless mobile devices with metal casings to meet market demand. However, metal casings can easily shield internal antenna radiation signals and hinder broadband operation. Therefore, many manufacturers incorporate slots or breaks in the metal frame into the casing, thus affecting the product's aesthetic appeal.

[0003] On the other hand, cavity-backed slot antennas offer a significant advantage in aesthetics because the slots can be positioned on the side and concealed through design, preventing consumers from directly viewing the openings. Furthermore, the ease of attachment or integration with metal components makes this design common in automotive, aerospace, marine, and military applications. However, the biggest drawback of traditional cavity-backed slot antennas compared to other antenna types is their large overall cavity size, making them difficult to conceal. Therefore, cavity-backed slot antenna designs are rarely used in thin and lightweight wireless mobile devices.

[0004] To reduce the size of traditional cavity-backed slot antennas, the simplest and most common miniaturization method is to fill the metal cavity with a high-dielectric or high-permeability material, thereby reducing the overall volume of the metal cavity and the size of the slot. However, this design approach results in a sharp reduction in antenna bandwidth and a decrease in antenna efficiency; furthermore, using highly conductive / high-permeability materials drastically increases the overall design cost of the antenna, hindering antenna development. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The technical problem to be solved by this application is to provide a cavity-type slot antenna system, which is installed inside the housing of an electronic device. This cavity-type slot antenna system includes a metal cavity, a support assembly, an antenna device, a conductive post, and a coupling metal element. The metal cavity is located inside the housing and has an opening and a closed surface, with a slot on the closed surface. The support assembly is located inside the metal cavity, and the antenna device is located inside the metal cavity and on the support assembly, with one side of the antenna device exposed through the slot. This antenna device includes a feed source. The conductive post passes through the antenna device and extends to connect to the metal cavity. The coupling metal element is located inside the housing and near the opening of the metal cavity, such that the coupling metal element corresponds to the feed source of the antenna device.

[0006] In summary, this application presents a miniaturized cavity-type slot antenna system design suitable for use within a metal casing. In addition to effectively reducing the overall size of the cavity-type slot antenna system, the antenna design of this application can easily resist coupling from surrounding metal components and can simultaneously achieve operating bandwidths in both the low-frequency band (2400–2480 MHz) and high-frequency band (5150–7150 MHz) of wireless local area networks (WLANs), thereby achieving the goals of miniaturization and broadband.

[0007] The other effects and embodiments of this application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Attached Figure Description

[0008] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments recorded in this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0009] Figure 1 This is a structural cross-sectional view of a cavity-type slot antenna system according to an embodiment of this application;

[0010] Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional structural schematic diagram of a cavity-type slot antenna system according to an embodiment of this application;

[0011] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the antenna device structure of a cavity slot antenna system according to an embodiment of this application;

[0012] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the parasitic loop circuit of an antenna device according to an embodiment of this application;

[0013] Figure 5 This is a structural cross-sectional view of a cavity-type slot antenna system according to another embodiment of this application;

[0014] Figure 6 This is a structural cross-sectional view of a cavity-type slot antenna system according to another embodiment of this application;

[0015] Figure 7 This is a structural cross-sectional view of a cavity-type slot antenna system according to yet another embodiment of this application;

[0016] Figure 8 This is a structural cross-sectional view of a cavity-type slot antenna system according to yet another embodiment of this application;

[0017] Figure 9This is a structural cross-sectional view of a cavity-type slot antenna system according to yet another embodiment of this application;

[0018] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the S-parameter simulation generated by the cavity slot antenna system according to this application. Detailed Implementation

[0019] In the embodiments described below, the positional relationships include: up, down, left, and right. Unless otherwise specified, they are all based on the direction shown by the components in the diagram.

[0020] Please also refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, a miniaturized cavity-type slot antenna system 10 of this application is installed within the housing 50 of an electronic device. The housing 50 includes an upper housing 501 and a lower housing 502, which are assembled together. This cavity-type slot antenna system 10 includes a metal cavity 12, a support assembly 14, an antenna device 16, a conductive post 18, a coupling metal component 20, and a metal wall 22.

[0021] In one embodiment, the electronic device is a laptop computer. In this case, the housing 50 consists of a keyboard cover (commonly referred to as part C) and a keyboard base (commonly referred to as part D), that is, the upper housing 501 is the keyboard cover and the lower housing 502 is the keyboard base, so that the cavity-type slot antenna system 10 is mounted on the lower housing 502 of the housing 50. However, this application is not limited to this. In another embodiment, the cavity-type slot antenna system 10 can be mounted upside down on the upper housing 501 of the housing 50.

[0022] like Figure 1 and Figure 2As shown, in this cavity-type slot antenna system 10, a metal cavity 12 is disposed within a housing 50 and located on the inner surface of the lower housing 502. The metal cavity 12 has an opening 24 and a closed surface 26 facing each other. The opening 24 faces the interior of the housing 50, and the closed surface 26 is close to and faces the side wall of the housing 50 (lower housing 502). A slot 28 is provided on the closed surface 26. In one embodiment, the size of the slot 28 is half the wavelength of the antenna's operating frequency band. A support assembly 14 is located within the metal cavity 12 and is made of a non-conductive material. An antenna device 16 is also located within the metal cavity 12 and on the support assembly 14, with one side of the antenna device 16 exposed through the slot 28. The antenna device 16 includes a feed source 30. A conductive post 18 is located within the metal cavity 12, penetrates the antenna device 16, and extends to connect to the inner wall of the metal cavity 12, electrically connecting the antenna device 16 and the metal cavity 12. The coupling metal member 20 is located inside the housing 50 and mounted on the inner surface of the lower housing 502. The coupling metal member 20 is close to the opening 24 of the metal cavity 12 to correspond to the feed source 30 of the antenna device 16. An antenna window 32 is provided on the upper housing 501 of the housing 50, at a position on a projection plane of the coupling metal member 20 on the upper housing 501, so that the coupling metal member 20 can transmit wireless signals through this antenna window 32. The metal wall 22 is located inside the housing 50 and outside the coupling metal member 20, wherein the height of the metal wall 22 is greater than the height of the coupling metal member 20, so as to block signal interference from the electronic device system.

[0023] In one embodiment, the coupling metal member 20 further includes a vertical metal portion 201 and a horizontal metal portion 202. One side of the vertical metal portion 201 is connected to the inner surface of the lower housing 502 of the housing 50, and the other side is vertically connected to the horizontal metal portion 202, so that the horizontal metal portion 202 corresponds to the antenna window 32, and the size of the antenna window 32 is greater than or equal to the size of the horizontal metal portion 202 of the coupling metal member 20.

[0024] In one embodiment, please also refer to Figures 1 to 4As shown, the antenna device 16 includes a substrate 34, a feed line 36, a feed source 30, and a parasitic loop circuit 38. The substrate 34 is a printed circuit board (PCB) and has a first surface 341 and a second surface 342 opposite to each other. The feed line 36 is located on the first surface 341 of the substrate 34, and the feed source 30 is also located on the first surface 341 of the substrate 34 and close to the coupling metal member 20. The feed source 30 is electrically connected to the feed line 36. The parasitic loop circuit 38 is located on the second surface 342 of the substrate 34. Conductive posts 18 penetrate the substrate 34, the feed line 36, and the parasitic loop circuit 38, and extend upwards to the metal cavity 12, so that the conductive posts 18 are electrically connected to the feed line 36, the parasitic loop circuit 38, and the metal cavity 12. In one embodiment, this application does not limit the structural design of the feed line 36 and the parasitic loop circuit 38. The feed line 36 is as follows... Figure 3 The diagram shows a T-shape, but this application is not limited to this. The parasitic loop circuit 38 can be as follows: Figure 4 The illustrated circuit design shows that the parasitic loop circuit 38 includes a first metal portion 381, a second metal portion 382, ​​a first metal loop 383, and a second metal loop 384. The first metal loop 383 surrounds the periphery of the first metal portion 381 and the second metal portion 382 and connects to the first metal portion 381 and the second metal portion 382. The second metal loop 384 surrounds the periphery of the first metal loop 383 and connects to the first metal loop 383, thereby forming the parasitic loop circuit 38. However, this application is not limited to this structural design, and other circuit patterns are also possible. In this embodiment, the conductive post 18 penetrates the first metal loop 383 of the parasitic loop circuit 38.

[0025] In one embodiment, please also refer to Figures 1 to 2 As shown, in this cavity-type slot antenna system 10, the metal cavity 12 further includes a metal base plate 121, a metal cover plate 122, and a metal side plate 123. The metal base plate 121 is located below the support assembly 14, the metal cover plate 122 is located above the antenna device 16, and the metal side plate 123 is located on the periphery between the metal base plate 121 and the metal cover plate 122, so that the metal base plate 121, the metal cover plate 122, and the metal side plate 123 are connected to each other to form the metal cavity 12, and simultaneously form opposite openings 24 and closed surfaces 26, so that the slots 28 on the closed surface 26 (metal side plate 123) can correspond to and expose the antenna device 16, and the openings 24 can correspond to and couple the metal parts 20.

[0026] To enhance the grounding effect, the cavity-type slot antenna system 10 further includes a metal layer 40 located on the side wall of the antenna device 16 and extending downward from the feed source 30 to connect to the metal base plate 121 of the metal cavity 12, so as to electrically connect the feed source 30 to the metal base plate 121 for grounding.

[0027] In another embodiment, please refer to Figure 5 As shown, the cavity-type slot antenna system 10 further includes a metal layer 40, which is located on the side wall of the antenna device 16 and extends downward from the feed source 30 to connect to the metal base plate 121 of the metal cavity 12. The metal layer 40 extends further to the bottom of the coupling metal member 20, so that the side of the vertical metal portion 201 of the coupling metal member 20 is connected to the metal layer 40, so as to simultaneously electrically connect the feed source 30 and the coupling metal member 20 to the metal base plate 121 and ground.

[0028] In one embodiment, please refer to Figure 6 As shown, in this cavity-type slot antenna system 10, the metal base plate used for the metal cavity 12 is a metal bottom surface 503 at the bottom of the housing 50, that is, the metal bottom surface 503 of the lower housing 501 is part of the metal cavity 12. Figure 6 As shown, the metal cavity 12 includes a metal base plate 121, a metal cover plate 122, and a metal bottom surface 503. The support assembly 14 is directly located on the surface of the metal bottom surface 503. The metal cover plate 122 is located above the antenna device 16, and the metal side plate 123 is located on the periphery between the metal bottom surface 503 and the metal cover plate 122. The metal bottom surface 503, the metal cover plate 122, and the metal side plate 123 are interconnected to form the metal cavity 12 to accommodate the support assembly 14, the antenna device 16, and the conductive post 18, and simultaneously form opposing openings 24 and closed surfaces 26. The slots 28 on the closed surface 26 (metal side plate 123) can correspond to and expose the antenna device 16, and the openings 24 can correspond to and couple the metal component 20. In this embodiment, the metal layer 40 is also located on the side wall of the antenna device 16 and extends downward from the feed source 30 to connect to the metal bottom surface 503 of the metal cavity 12, so as to electrically connect the feed source 30 to the metal bottom surface 503 for grounding. The rest of the structure and Figure 1 The cavity-type slot antenna system 10 shown is the same, so it will not be described again here.

[0029] In another embodiment, please refer to Figure 7 As shown, in the cavity-type slot antenna system 10, the metal layer 40 is located on the side wall of the antenna device 16 and extends downward from the feed source 30 to connect to the metal bottom surface 503 of the metal cavity 12. The metal layer 40 further extends along the metal bottom surface 503 to below the coupling metal member 20, so that the lower side of the vertical metal part 201 of the coupling metal member 20 is connected to the metal layer 40, so that the feed source 30 and the coupling metal member 20 are electrically connected to the metal bottom surface 503 and grounded at the same time.

[0030] In one embodiment, such as Figure 8 and Figure 9As shown, in this cavity-type slot antenna system 10, if the sidewall of the lower housing 502 in the housing 50 is a metal part or made of metal, an antenna window 504 is provided on the metal sidewall of the lower housing 502 at the position corresponding to the slot 28, so that the slot 28 is exposed through the antenna window 504. This allows the coupling metal part 20 to transmit wireless signals through the slot 28 and the antenna window 504, providing a high-frequency operating band energy radiation outlet to optimize the coverage of the radiation pattern. The size of the antenna window 504 is greater than or equal to the size of the slot 28. The remaining structure is the same as in the aforementioned embodiment, and therefore will not be described again here.

[0031] In one embodiment, such as Figures 1 to 9 As shown, the metal cavity 12 (metal base plate 121, metal cover plate 122 and metal side plate 123), the feed line 36 and parasitic loop line 38 of the antenna device 16, the conductive post 18, the coupling metal parts 20 (vertical metal part 201 and horizontal metal part 202) and the metal wall 22 are made of conductive metal materials, such as silver, copper, aluminum, iron or their alloys, but this application is not limited to these.

[0032] Please also refer to Figures 1 to 9 As shown, taking a wireless local area network (WLAN) antenna as an example, the low-frequency (2400-2480MHz) operating band is achieved by the feed source 30 and the coupling metal member 20 located near the feed source 30 forming a λ / 4 resonant mode, thus operating in the low-frequency band. An antenna window 32 is provided on the projection surface above the coupling metal member 20 to provide an energy radiation outlet for the low-frequency operating band. The high-frequency (5150-7150MHz) operating band is determined by the geometric dimensions of the metal cavity 12 (including the length and width of the slot 28 and the depth of the metal cavity 12), and is related to the relative positions of the conductive post 18 and the feed source 30 relative to the metal cavity 12, thereby operating in the high-frequency band. In this embodiment, the high-frequency band operates in a λ / 2 resonant mode.

[0033] The cavity-backed slot antenna system 10 proposed in this application does indeed exhibit good return loss. Please also refer to... Figure 1 and Figure 10 As shown, the S-parameter simulation analysis of this cavity-backed slot antenna system 10 during radio frequency signal transmission is performed. The S-parameter simulation results of the cavity-backed slot antenna system 10 in the low-frequency operating band (2400–2480 MHz) and the high-frequency operating band (5150–7150 MHz) are as follows. Figure 10As shown in the figure, the curves indicate that the antenna resonant band return loss (S-parameter) of this application is mostly greater than 10dB (S-parameter < -10dB) in both the low-frequency and high-frequency operating bands. Even in the high-frequency operating band of 6500–7150MHz, it still exhibits a performance greater than 6dB (S-parameter < -6dB), demonstrating good return loss in both the low-frequency and high-frequency operating bands. This application is effectively applicable to both the low-frequency (2400–2480MHz) and high-frequency (5150–7150MHz) operating bands.

[0034] Miniaturized antennas often suffer from extremely low input resistance and very high imaginary parts, resulting in narrow bandwidth. Compared to a planar slot design, cavity-backed slot antennas typically have even narrower operating bandwidths. Therefore, multi-stage impedance matching networks are needed to extend multimode resonances and expand bandwidth. However, this method increases design costs and introduces additional losses due to the multi-stage matching networks, leading to poor antenna efficiency. This application addresses this by adjusting the geometry and structure of the feed line and surrounding parasitic loop circuitry within the antenna device inside the metal cavity. This generates additional capacitive and inductive loads on the antenna structure itself, eliminating the drastic reactance changes associated with miniaturized cavity-backed antennas, thus achieving better impedance matching and expanding antenna operation. Based on this, the cavity-backed slot antenna system proposed in this application covers the high-frequency operating bandwidth of WLAN while reducing the size of the metal cavity. Furthermore, the slot size on the metal cavity in the aforementioned embodiment is half the wavelength in length, which is about half the length required for traditional cavity-backed slot antennas (slightly larger than a wavelength), and the depth of the metal cavity is reduced to less than a quarter of a wavelength. The overall size of the metal cavity is significantly reduced, making it suitable for an internal antenna design.

[0035] In summary, this application presents a miniaturized cavity-type slot antenna system design suitable for use within a metal casing. In addition to effectively reducing the overall size of the cavity-type slot antenna system, the antenna design of this application can easily resist coupling from surrounding metal components and can simultaneously achieve operating bandwidths in both the low-frequency band (2400–2480 MHz) and high-frequency band (5150–7150 MHz) of wireless local area networks (WLANs), thereby achieving the goals of miniaturization and broadband.

[0036] The embodiments and / or implementation methods described above are merely preferred embodiments and / or implementation methods for implementing the technology of this application, and are not intended to limit the implementation methods of the technology of this application in any way. Any person skilled in the art may make some modifications or alterations to other equivalent embodiments without departing from the scope of the technical means disclosed in this application, but these should still be regarded as the technology or embodiments that are substantially the same as those of this application.

Claims

1. A cavity-type slot antenna system, installed inside the housing of an electronic device, characterized in that, The cavity-backed slot antenna system includes: A metal cavity is located inside the housing. The metal cavity has opposing openings and closed surfaces, and slots are provided on the closed surfaces. The support assembly is located within the metal cavity; An antenna device is located within the metal cavity and on the support assembly, with the side of the antenna device exposed from the slot, the antenna device including a feed source; A conductive post that penetrates the antenna assembly and extends to the metal cavity; as well as A coupling metal element is located within the housing and near the opening of the metal cavity, the coupling metal element corresponding to the feed source of the antenna device.

2. The cavity-type slot antenna system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The antenna device comprises: A substrate having a first surface and a second surface that are vertically opposite each other; The feed line is located on the first surface of the substrate; The feed source is located on the first surface of the substrate and is electrically connected to the feed line; as well as A parasitic circulation circuit is located on the second surface of the substrate, and the conductive post penetrates the substrate, the feed line and the parasitic circulation circuit, so that the conductive post electrically connects the substrate, the feed line, the parasitic circulation circuit and the metal cavity.

3. The cavity-type slot antenna system according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a metal wall located inside the housing and outside the coupling metal member.

4. The cavity-type slot antenna system according to claim 3, characterized in that, The height of the metal wall is greater than the height of the coupling metal component.

5. The cavity-type slot antenna system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The coupling metal component is also provided with an antenna window at the position of its projection surface on the housing.

6. The cavity-type slot antenna system according to claim 5, characterized in that, The coupling metal part further includes a vertical metal part and a horizontal metal part. One side of the vertical metal part is connected to the housing, and the other side is connected to the horizontal metal part, so that the horizontal metal part corresponds to the antenna window.

7. The cavity-type slot antenna system according to claim 6, characterized in that, The size of the antenna window is greater than or equal to the size of the horizontal metal portion of the coupling metal member.

8. The cavity-type slot antenna system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The metal cavity further includes a metal base plate, a metal cover plate, and a metal side plate. The metal base plate is located below the support assembly, the metal cover plate is located above the antenna device, and the metal side plate is located on the periphery between the metal base plate and the metal cover plate, forming the opening and the closed surface.

9. The cavity-type slot antenna system according to claim 8, characterized in that, The metal base plate is the metal bottom surface of the housing.

10. The cavity-type slot antenna system according to claim 8, characterized in that, It also includes a metal base plate with a metal layer located on the sidewall of the antenna device and extending to connect to the metal cavity, so as to electrically connect the feed source to the metal base plate for grounding.

11. The cavity-type slot antenna system according to claim 10, characterized in that, The metal layer also extends below the coupling metal element to electrically connect the coupling metal element to the metal base plate for grounding.

12. The cavity-type slot antenna system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The size of the slot is half the wavelength of the operating frequency band.

13. The cavity-type slot antenna system according to claim 1, characterized in that, When the sidewall of the housing is made of metal, an antenna window is also provided on the sidewall of the housing at the position corresponding to the slot.

14. The cavity-type slot antenna system according to claim 13, characterized in that, The size of the antenna window is greater than or equal to the size of the slot.

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