Lens preparation method and lens

Abstract

The invention provides a lens preparation method and a lens, and belongs to the technical field of antennas. The preparation method comprises the steps that a design model of the lens is established, the design model comprises a center cylinder part and a plurality of cylinder parts sequentially arranged on the center cylinder part in a sleeving mode in the radial direction, the cylinder parts are tightly attached to the center cylinder part, and the adjacent cylinder parts are tightly attached to each other; a plurality of attaching structures made of metal are uniformly arranged on the peripheral surface of the central cylinder part and the peripheral surface of each cylinder part, and the thickness of each attaching structure is smaller than a first thickness threshold value; determining lens design parameters according to a design target, wherein the lens design parameters comprise the diameter of the central cylinder part, the thickness of each cylinder part, and the material, the distribution density, the shape and the size of the attachment structure; and preparing the lens according to the lens design parameters. The preparation method disclosed by the invention is relatively low in cost and simple in preparation process.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of antenna technology, and in particular to a method for preparing a lens and a lens. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous development of technology, lenses are increasingly used in the field of mobile communications. In some special scenarios, such as narrow roads, bridges, high-speed railways, sea areas, etc., a large coverage area is not required, but at the same time, the characteristics of small size and high gain need to be maintained. In such application scenarios, lenses will be used.

[0003] A lens is a device that can shift the phase of electromagnetic waves and convert the spherical waves radiated by the feed source into plane waves, thereby focusing the electromagnetic waves and achieving the effect of shrinking the wave width and increasing the gain. Traditional cylindrical lenses are generally made of foam materials with different dielectric constants. Therefore, different layers of structures need to be prepared according to the different dielectric constants and then assembled together, which makes the manufacturing of lenses difficult and costly. Summary of the invention

[0004] An object of the first aspect of the present invention is to provide a method for preparing a lens with low cost and simple preparation process.

[0005] Another object of the present invention is to meet the needs of various application scenarios.

[0006] A further object of the present invention is to ensure structural strength.

[0007] An object of the second aspect of the present invention is to provide a lens manufactured according to the above manufacturing method.

[0008] An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for preparing a lens, comprising:

[0009] Establishing a design model of a lens, the design model comprising a central cylindrical portion and a plurality of cylindrical portions sequentially sleeved on the central cylindrical portion in a radial direction, wherein the cylindrical portions are tightly fitted with each other and adjacent cylindrical portions, and a plurality of metal attachment structures are evenly arranged on the outer circumference of the central cylindrical portion and the outer circumference of each cylindrical portion, wherein the thickness of the attachment structure is less than a first thickness threshold;

[0010] Determine lens design parameters according to the design objectives, wherein the lens design parameters include the diameter of the central cylindrical portion, the thickness of each of the cylindrical portions, the material, distribution density, shape and size of the attachment structure;

[0011] A lens is manufactured according to the lens design parameters.

[0012] Optionally, the design goal includes that a minimum value of thicknesses of each of the cylindrical portions is greater than a second thickness threshold.

[0013] Optionally, the thicknesses of the cylindrical portions are equal.

[0014] Optionally, the step of preparing a lens according to the lens design parameters includes:

[0015] Providing or preparing the central cylindrical portion and each of the cylindrical portions;

[0016] The attachment structure is fixed to the central cylindrical portion and each of the cylindrical portions by laminating, transferring or spraying.

[0017] Optionally, the central cylindrical portion and each of the cylindrical portions are made of a polymer foam material.

[0018] Optionally, the dielectric constant of the polymer foam material is less than 1.2.

[0019] In particular, the present application also provides a lens prepared according to any of the preparation methods described above.

[0020] The present application provides a method for preparing a lens, by first establishing a design model including a central cylindrical portion, a cylindrical portion and an attached structure. The material, shape, size and distribution density of the evenly arranged attached structures can change the equivalent dielectric constants of the central cylindrical portion and each cylindrical portion. Therefore, the design model can be adjusted by changing these parameters to achieve the corresponding design goals. This optimized design method, combined with the corresponding preparation process, can efficiently and simply prepare a lens that meets the design goals with low cost, and the flexibility of the periodic structure can adapt to the requirements of various application scenarios.

[0021] Furthermore, the minimum thickness of the cylindrical portion can be controlled by the above-mentioned preparation method, and the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens layer can be changed by the attached structure. For example, in the case of an attached structure of the same shape and size, the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens layer can be changed by controlling the sparsity of the attached structure; at the same time, the equivalent dielectric constant can be changed by changing the shape and size of the attached structure itself while keeping the sparsity unchanged. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Figure 1 is a flow chart of a method for preparing a lens according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a lens according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 3 is an exploded schematic diagram of a lens according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0025] Reference numerals:

[0026] 10-central cylindrical portion, 20-cylindrical portion, 30-attachment structure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] In order to make the above-mentioned purposes, features and advantages of the present application more obvious and easy to understand, the specific implementation methods of the present application are described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the following description, many specific details are set forth to facilitate a full understanding of the present application. However, the present application can be implemented in many other ways different from those described herein, and those skilled in the art can make similar improvements without violating the connotation of the present application, so the present application is not limited by the specific embodiments disclosed below.

[0028] It should be noted that when a component is referred to as being "fixed to" or "disposed on" another component, it may be directly on the other component or there may also be a central component. When a component is considered to be "connected to" another component, it may be directly connected to the other component or there may be a central component at the same time. The terms "vertical", "horizontal", "upper", "lower", "left", "right" and similar expressions used in the specification of this application are for illustrative purposes only and do not represent the only implementation method.

[0029] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of this application, the meaning of "plurality" is at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0030] In the present application, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, a first feature being “above” or “below” a second feature may mean that the first feature is directly in contact with the second feature, or the first feature and the second feature are in contact indirectly through an intermediate medium. Moreover, a first feature being “above”, “above”, or “above” a second feature may mean that the first feature is directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is higher in level than the second feature. A first feature being “below”, “below”, or “below” a second feature may mean that the first feature is directly below or obliquely below the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is lower in level than the second feature.

[0031] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used in the specification of this application have the same meaning as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this application belongs. The terms used in the specification of this application are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit this application. The term "and / or" used in the specification of this application includes any and all combinations of one or more related listed items.

[0032] Figure 1 is a flow chart of a method for preparing a lens according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the structure of a lens according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of an exploded view of a lens according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 As shown, in one embodiment, the method for preparing a lens includes:

[0033] Step S100, establishing a design model of the lens, such as Figure 2 As shown in FIG. 3 , the design model includes a central cylindrical portion 10 and a plurality of cylindrical portions 20 sequentially sleeved on the central cylindrical portion 10 in a radial direction, the cylindrical portions 20 and the central cylindrical portions 10 and the adjacent cylindrical portions 20 are tightly fitted, and a plurality of metal attachment structures 30 are evenly arranged on the outer circumference of the central cylindrical portion 10 and the outer circumference of each cylindrical portion 20, wherein the thickness of the attachment structure 30 is less than the first thickness threshold;

[0034] Step S200, determining lens design parameters according to the design objectives, the lens design parameters including the diameter of the central cylindrical portion 10, the thickness of each cylindrical portion 20, the material, distribution density, shape and size of the attachment structure 30;

[0035] Step S300: preparing a lens according to lens design parameters.

[0036] In step S100, the design model can be established in simulation software, or a mathematical model can be established. The shape of the attached structure 30 here can be a regular shape such as a square, rectangle, circle, ellipse, cross, diamond, etc., or an irregular shape. The material of the attached structure 30 can be a metal material such as copper, aluminum, silver, etc., which is not limited here. In one embodiment, the first thickness threshold can be set to 0.1mm, so that the attached structure 30 forms almost no obvious protrusions on the surface of the central cylindrical portion 10 and each cylindrical portion 20, which facilitates the assembly of the central cylindrical portion 10 and each cylindrical portion 20. Hereinafter, the central cylindrical portion 10 to which the attached structure 30 is attached is referred to as the lens center portion, and the cylindrical portion 20 to which the attached structure 30 is attached is referred to as the lens layer.

[0037] In step S200, the design target may include an operating frequency band, an equivalent dielectric constant, a mass, a hardness, a minimum thickness value, and the like. For example, the thickness of the lens layer may be set according to the subwavelength size of the minimum frequency of the operating frequency band of the electromagnetic wave (for example, a subwavelength less than one tenth) to avoid causing excessive interference to the propagation of the electromagnetic wave. The equivalent dielectric constant of the lens gradually decreases from the center to the circumferential edge. The total mass of the lens may also be set to be less than a certain value according to the lightweight target, and the hardness of each part of the lens may be set to be greater than a certain value in order to ensure the stability of the structure. In one embodiment, the design target includes that the minimum value of the thickness of each cylindrical portion 20 is greater than a second thickness threshold, for example, the thickness of each cylindrical portion 20 gradually decreases along the radial direction away from the center of the circle, wherein the thickness of the outermost cylindrical portion 20 is set to be not less than the second thickness threshold, thereby ensuring that the structure of the outermost and thinnest part is still relatively stable.

[0038] After the design parameters of each lens are determined according to the design objectives, the lens can be specifically manufactured according to the lens design parameters.

[0039] The present embodiment provides a method for preparing a lens, by first establishing a design model including a central cylindrical portion 10, a cylindrical portion 20 and an attachment structure 30. The material, shape, size and distribution density of the evenly arranged attachment structure 30 can change the equivalent dielectric constant of the central cylindrical portion 10 and each cylindrical portion 20. Therefore, the design model can be adjusted by changing these parameters to achieve the corresponding design goal. This optimization design method, combined with the corresponding preparation process, can efficiently and simply prepare a lens that meets the design goal with low cost, and the flexibility of the periodic structure can adapt to the requirements of various application scenarios.

[0040] Furthermore, the minimum thickness of the cylindrical portion 20 can be controlled by the above-mentioned preparation method, and the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens layer can be changed by the attached structure 30. For example, in the case of the attached structure 30 of the same shape and size, the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens layer can be changed by controlling the sparseness of the attached structure 30; at the same time, the equivalent dielectric constant can be changed by changing the shape and size of the attached structure 30 itself while keeping the sparseness unchanged.

[0041] In a further embodiment, each cylindrical portion 20 has an equal thickness and is made of the same material. Optionally, the central cylindrical portion 10 and each cylindrical portion 20 are made of a polymer foam material. Preferably, the dielectric constant of the polymer foam material is less than 1.2. Ultra-microporous foam materials made of low dielectric constant polymer materials such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polystyrene (PS), and polypropylene (PP) can be used here. The foam material can also meet the requirements of light weight. The foamed polymer introduces air (dielectric constant close to 1) due to the presence of micropores, so the equivalent dielectric constant of the overall structure can be reduced. Therefore, the foaming process can significantly reduce the equivalent dielectric constant. Foaming polymer materials is a conventional technical means in this field, and the preparation process of polymer foam materials will not be repeated here.

[0042] Using polymers of the same material and thickness to manufacture the cylindrical portion 20 can reduce material types, which is beneficial to reducing manufacturing costs.

[0043] In one embodiment, step S300 includes:

[0044] Step S320, providing or preparing the central cylindrical portion 10 and each cylindrical portion 20;

[0045] Step S340 , fixing the attachment structure 30 to the central cylindrical portion 10 and each cylindrical portion 20 by lamination, transfer printing or spraying process.

[0046] In step S320 , a polymer foam material in a cylindrical or cylindrical shape may be directly provided, or a polymer sheet may be rolled to form the cylindrical portion 20 .

[0047] In step S340 , an ultra-thin attachment structure 30 may be formed on the central cylindrical portion 10 and the cylindrical portion 20 by lamination, transfer printing or spraying, for example, an attachment structure 30 of about 0.05 mm may be obtained.

[0048] If the lens prepared by the above preparation method is applied to the design of lens antenna, the structure of the lens will be different according to different design goals. For example, for signal coverage in narrow and long areas such as along high-speed railways, roads and bridges, tunnels, and sea areas, the size of the lens antenna should be as small as possible to minimize wind resistance, and the number of internal layers can be designed according to actual needs.

[0049] For lens antennas, the smaller the bandwidth, the higher the gain and the smaller the coverage range. Therefore, when designing a lens antenna, a lower limit value can be set for the bandwidth, and then the gain can be increased as much as possible based on a value greater than the lower limit. Therefore, during the design stage, maximizing gain can be used as a design goal and the bandwidth as a design parameter.

[0050] The lens antenna in the present invention can also be applied to the design of multi-beams. Electromagnetic waves can be incident from multiple angles, and multi-beams can increase communication capacity.

[0051] The above-mentioned embodiments only express several implementation methods of the present invention, and the descriptions thereof are relatively specific and detailed, but they cannot be understood as limiting the scope of the invention patent. It should be pointed out that, for ordinary technicians in this field, several variations and improvements can be made without departing from the concept of the present invention, and these all belong to the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the patent of the present invention shall be subject to the attached claims.

Claims

1. A method for preparing a lens, characterized in that: include: Establishing a design model of a lens, the design model comprising a central cylindrical portion and a plurality of cylindrical portions sequentially sleeved on the central cylindrical portion in a radial direction, wherein the cylindrical portions are tightly fitted with each other and adjacent cylindrical portions, and a plurality of metal attachment structures are evenly arranged on the outer circumference of the central cylindrical portion and the outer circumference of each cylindrical portion, wherein the thickness of the attachment structure is less than a first thickness threshold; Determine lens design parameters according to the design objectives, wherein the lens design parameters include the diameter of the central cylindrical portion, the thickness of each of the cylindrical portions, the material, distribution density, shape and size of the attachment structure; A lens is manufactured according to the lens design parameters.

2. The method for preparing a lens according to claim 1, characterized in that: The design goal includes that a minimum value of thicknesses of the cylindrical portions is greater than a second thickness threshold.

3. The method for preparing a lens according to claim 2, characterized in that: The thickness of each of the cylindrical parts is equal.

4. The method for preparing a lens according to claim 1, characterized in that: The steps of preparing a lens according to the lens design parameters include: Providing or preparing the central cylindrical portion and each of the cylindrical portions; The attachment structure is fixed to the central cylindrical portion and each of the cylindrical portions by laminating, transferring or spraying.

5. The method for preparing a lens according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The central cylindrical portion and each of the cylindrical portions are made of a polymer foam material.

6. The method for preparing a lens according to claim 5, characterized in that: The dielectric constant of the polymer foam material is less than 1.

2.

7. A lens prepared by the preparation method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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