NFC antenna and electronic product using same

Abstract

One or more embodiments of the utility model provide an NFC antenna and an electronic product using the same. The NFC antenna comprises a second shell part made of a metal material and a coil part formed by winding a wire, and the coil part is wound along the second shell part and is electrically connected with the inner wall of the second shell part. Moreover, the second shell part can be used as a part of the shell of the corresponding electronic product, and is spliced with the first shell part of the corresponding electronic product to form the whole shell body of the corresponding electronic product. Namely, according to the embodiment of the invention, a part of the NFC antenna is multiplexed as a part of the shell of the electronic product applying the NFC antenna, or a part of the shell of the electronic product is multiplexed as a part of the NFC antenna of the electronic product. The electronic product using the NFC antenna comprises a payment terminal based on NFC communication.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of a utility model application with an application date of July 24, 2024, an application number of 202421766405.1, and a utility model name of "NFC Antenna and Electronic Product Using the Same". Technical Field

[0002] One or more embodiments of this specification relate to the field of near-field communication technology, and particularly to an NFC antenna and an electronic product using the same. Background Art

[0003] Electronic products with metal casings are popular among consumers due to their high strength and resistance to damage. However, at the same time, due to the electrical conductivity and magnetic permeability of metal, the metal casing will interfere with the signal of the near-field communication (NFC) antenna built into the electronic product, thereby affecting the NFC performance of the electronic product. Summary of the Utility Model

[0004] To solve the problem that the signal of the NFC antenna built into the electronic product is interfered by its metal casing, one or more embodiments of this specification provide an NFC antenna and an electronic product using the same.

[0005] In a first aspect, one or more embodiments of this specification provide an NFC antenna, which is applied to an electronic product, and the electronic product includes a first casing portion;

[0006] The NFC antenna includes: a second casing portion, and a coil portion connected to the second casing portion;

[0007] The second casing portion is made of metal;

[0008] The coil portion is formed by winding a wire;

[0009] The NFC antenna is connected to the first casing portion through a plastic connecting portion, so that the first casing portion and the second casing portion are spliced to form the casing body of the electronic product.

[0010] In a possible implementation, the second casing portion includes a first end portion of the casing body; the shape of the first end portion is any one of a right-angle U shape, a rounded U shape, or an arc shape.

[0011] In a possible implementation, the second casing portion includes a frame portion of the first end portion.

[0012] In a possible implementation, the plastic connecting portion is a plastic body with a preset thickness formed by a nano-injection molding process.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the coil part is connected to the NFC control board through a conductive connecting piece.

[0014] In one possible implementation, the conductive connecting piece includes at least one of a conducting spring piece and a conductive cable.

[0015] In a second aspect, one or more embodiments of this specification provide an electronic product, including a first housing part and an NFC antenna;

[0016] The NFC antenna includes: a second housing part, and a coil part connected to the second housing part;

[0017] The second housing part is made of a metal material; the coil part is formed by winding a wire;

[0018] The NFC antenna is connected to the first housing part through a plastic connecting part, so that the first housing part and the second housing part are spliced to form the housing body of the electronic product.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the second housing part includes a first end of the housing body; the shape of the first end is any one of a right-angled U shape, a rounded U shape, or an arc shape.

[0020] In one possible implementation, the second housing part includes a border part of the first end.

[0021] In one possible implementation, the plastic connecting part is a plastic body with a preset thickness formed by a nano-injection molding process.

[0022] In one possible implementation, the electronic product further includes: a conductive connecting piece and an NFC control board;

[0023] One end of the conductive connecting piece is connected to the coil part, and the other end is connected to the NFC control board, so that the NFC antenna and the NFC control board form an electrically conductive loop.

[0024] In one possible implementation, the conductive connecting piece includes at least one of a conducting spring piece and a conductive cable.

[0025] In one possible implementation, one end of the conducting spring piece is welded to the coil part, and the other end is connected to the NFC control board.

[0026] In one possible implementation, the electronic product includes a payment terminal based on NFC communication.

[0027] In summary, the NFC antenna provided in this embodiment includes a second housing part and a coil part that are connected to each other. The NFC antenna can be connected to the first housing part of the corresponding electronic product through a plastic connection part, so that the first housing part and the second housing part are spliced to form the entire housing body of the electronic product. That is to say, in this embodiment, a part of the NFC antenna is reused as a part of the housing of the electronic product to which it is applied, or in other words, a part of the housing of the electronic product is reused as a part of its NFC antenna; in this way, since this part of the metal housing constituting the NFC antenna is exposed outside, it is equivalent to externalizing the NFC antenna part of the electronic product, avoiding the shielding interference of other components of the electronic product, and thus improving the signal strength and induction sensitivity of the NFC antenna.

[0028] Secondly, while realizing the connection between the NFC antenna and the rest of the housing part of the electronic product through the plastic connection part, insulation between the two is also achieved, which can not only ensure firm connection but also avoid interference from the rest of the housing part of the electronic product to the NFC antenna, ensuring the NFC performance of the electronic product.

[0029] In addition, the NFC antenna provided in this embodiment and the electronic product applying it do not require the use of additional shielding components such as ferrite, which can eliminate the restrictions on the size and housing material of the electronic product, enabling the electronic product to use a metal housing, not increasing the thickness of the electronic product due to the restriction of the clearance distance, and taking into account the NFC performance to ensure the normal operation of the relevant functions based on NFC communication in the electronic product. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of one or more embodiments of this specification, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of one or more embodiments of this specification. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings.

[0031] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of an NFC antenna provided for one or more embodiments of this specification;

[0032] Figure 2 It is a top view structure diagram of an electronic product with an NFC antenna provided for one or more embodiments of this specification;

[0033] Figure 3 It is an exploded view of an electronic product with an NFC antenna provided for one or more embodiments of this specification;

[0034] Figure 4 It is a schematic structural diagram of another NFC antenna provided for one or more embodiments of this specification. Detailed implementation manners

[0035] The present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. Through these descriptions, the features and advantages of the present application will become more clearly defined.

[0036] The special term "exemplary" here means "serving as an example, embodiment or illustration". Any embodiment described as "exemplary" here does not have to be construed as superior or better than other embodiments. Although various aspects of the embodiments are shown in the drawings, the drawings do not have to be drawn to scale unless otherwise specified.

[0037] In addition, the technical features involved in different embodiments of the present application described below can be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.

[0038] In the related art, for electronic products with NFC function, if they adopt a metal shell, a ferrite is usually arranged between the NFC antenna and the metal shell to isolate the absorption of the magnetic field of the NFC antenna by the metal shell and reduce the interference of the metal shell on the NFC antenna signal. However, the inventor found during the research process that the isolation effect of the ferrite in the above solution is limited and cannot completely eliminate the interference caused by the metal shell. On the contrary, it will even increase the clearance distance between the NFC antenna and the metal shell. Therefore, when the size of the electronic product is fixed, the size and position of the NFC antenna are restricted, thereby affecting the NFC sensing area.

[0039] In view of this, one or more embodiments of this specification provide an NFC antenna and an electronic product having the NFC antenna.

[0040] Figure 1 FIG. is a schematic structural diagram of an NFC antenna provided by one or more embodiments of this specification. Figure 2 For having Figure 1 A top view structural diagram of an electronic product with the NFC antenna shown. Figure 3 For having Figure 1 An exploded view of an electronic product with the NFC antenna shown.

[0041] Refer to Figures 1 - 3, the NFC antenna 10 provided in this embodiment includes a second housing portion 11 and a coil portion 12. The second housing portion 11 is made of a metal material, such as aluminum alloy, stainless steel, etc.; the coil portion 12 is formed by a wire winding multiple turns from the inside to the outside (or from the outside to the inside), and the wire forming the coil portion 12 can be a wire made of a metal material such as copper, silver, or aluminum. The second housing portion 11 and the coil portion 12 are electrically connected and jointly serve as the NFC antenna to realize the transmission and reception of NFC signals, that is: when there is a current flowing through, a magnetic field can be generated and electromagnetic waves (NFC signals) can be radiated outward; or, when an external electromagnetic wave (NFC signal) is sensed, a corresponding current signal is generated.

[0042] At the same time, in this embodiment, the NFC antenna 10 is connected to the first housing portion 20 of the electronic product through a plastic connecting portion 30; that is to say, in this embodiment, the second housing portion 11 also serves as a part of the housing of the electronic product where the NFC antenna 10 is located, and is spliced with the first housing portion 20 of the electronic product to form the entire housing body of the electronic product.

[0043] Optionally, the plastic connecting portion 30 is a plastic body with a preset thickness formed by an injection molding process. As Figure 2 shown, in the actual production process, the first housing portion 20 and the NFC antenna 10 can be placed on the workbench at a preset position first, and then a preset area including the gap between the two (such as Figure 2 the internal area of the electronic product shown by the dashed box in the figure) is used as the injection molding area, and thermoplastic plastic is injected to form the plastic connecting portion 30.

[0044] Optionally, this embodiment can also be based on a nano-injection molding process, that is, nano-molding technology (Nano Molding Technology, NMT). First, nano-scale pits are etched on the surface of the metal material in the above-mentioned preset area, and then the plastic is injected onto the metal surface so that the plastic fills into the nano-scale pits. After the plastic is cured, it is combined with the metal material as a whole to realize the firm connection between the first housing portion 20 and the NFC antenna 10.

[0045] In other possible implementation manners, the above-mentioned plastic connecting portion can also be made by other processes, such as coating, casting, drop molding, etc. Appropriate processes can be selected according to the production equipment, application scenarios, etc. to prepare the plastic connecting portion, and this embodiment will not list them one by one.

[0046] In addition to filling the gap between the first housing part 20 and the NFC antenna 10, the above-mentioned plastic connecting part 30 also covers the surface of the NFC antenna 10 and a part of the surface of the first housing part 20 to ensure a firm connection between the first housing part 20 and the NFC antenna 10. Additionally, the greater the thickness of the plastic connecting part 30, that is, the preset thickness, the greater the structural strength of the formed electronic product, and correspondingly, the greater the thickness of the electronic product. Therefore, during the injection molding process, according to the actual application requirements, by controlling the plastic injection speed, time, etc., the thickness of the finally formed plastic connecting part 30 can meet the preset thickness.

[0047] In addition, in this embodiment, during the molding process of the plastic connecting part 30, it can fill the gap between the first housing part 20 and the NFC antenna 10, not only realizing a firm connection between the two, but also due to the insulating property of the plastic material, making the first housing part 20 and the NFC antenna 10 insulated from each other, thereby avoiding the signal interference of the first housing part 20 on the NFC antenna 10. Regardless of the material used for the first housing part 20, including metal materials and non-metal materials, the performance of the NFC antenna can be guaranteed.

[0048] As can be seen from the above description, in this embodiment, a part of the metal housing of the electronic product, that is, the second housing part, is used as a part of the NFC antenna, that is, the second housing part is connected to the coil part formed by winding the wire, and together they form the NFC antenna, and the connection and insulation between the NFC antenna and the remaining housing part of the electronic product, that is, the first housing part, are realized through the plastic connecting part. In this way, since this part of the metal housing constituting the NFC antenna is exposed, it is equivalent to externally placing the NFC antenna part of the electronic product, avoiding the shielding interference of other components of the electronic product, thereby improving the signal strength and induction sensitivity of the NFC antenna; at the same time, through the plastic connecting part, the connection and insulation between the NFC antenna and the remaining housing part of the electronic product are realized, which can not only ensure a firm connection, but also avoid the interference of the remaining housing part of the electronic product on the NFC antenna, ensuring the NFC performance of the electronic product; in addition, in this embodiment, without using additional shielding components such as ferrite, it is possible to eliminate the restrictions on the size and housing material of the electronic product, enabling the electronic product to use a metal housing and not increasing the thickness of the electronic product due to the restriction of the clearance distance, and at the same time, it can also take into account the NFC performance and ensure the normal operation of the related functions based on NFC communication in the electronic product.

[0049] In a possible implementation manner, the above-mentioned second housing part 11 can specifically be the first end part of the housing body of the electronic product, and the shape of this first end part can be any one of a right-angled U shape, a rounded U shape, or an arc shape. As Figure 2 shown in the electronic product, the right side is its first end part 21, which is in an arc shape; correspondingly, the left side is its second end part 22, which is in a rounded U shape.

[0050] In other possible implementation manners, the shape of the second housing part 11 can be designed according to the appearance requirements of the electronic product. Correspondingly, the shape formed by the coil part 12 surrounding the second housing part is not limited to Figure 1 the circular shape shown. For example, if according to the design requirements, the first end of the electronic product needs to be in a right-angled U shape, then as Figure 4 shown, the second housing part 11' shown by the thick solid line adopts a right-angled U shape, and the coil shape formed by the surrounding of the coil part 12' shown by the thin dashed line is correspondingly a rectangle.

[0051] In one possible implementation manner, the above-mentioned second housing part 11 may specifically include only the frame part of the above-mentioned first end. That is to say, the bottom of the first end can be formed separately and connected to the second housing part 11 as the frame part by means of pasting or the like; or, the bottom of the first end can also be integrally formed with the first housing part 20. Thus, when the first housing part 20 and the NFC antenna 10 are connected through the plastic connecting part 30, the housing body of the electronic product is also completely formed (including the entire bottom and the surrounding frame part of the housing body).

[0052] In one possible implementation manner, as Figure 1 shown, the two end points 121 and 122 of the metal wire forming the coil part 12 can be used as connection points for connecting the NFC antenna and the NFC control board. As Figure 3 shown, the NFC antenna 10 can be connected to the NFC control board 40 through the conductive connecting piece 50, so that the NFC control board 40 and the NFC antenna 10 form a conductive loop, and thus the NFC control board can receive or send information through the NFC antenna.

[0053] In one possible implementation manner, the above-mentioned conductive connecting piece 50 can be two conducting spring pieces as Figure 3 shown; one end of each conducting spring piece is respectively welded to the connection points 121 and 122 on the coil part 12 of the NFC antenna 10, and the other end is movably connected to the corresponding contact points on the NFC control board.

[0054] In other possible implementation manners, the above-mentioned conductive connecting piece 50 can also be a conductive cable, such as a jumper or other connecting pieces; in addition, the connection points of the conductive connecting piece 50 on the NFC antenna are not limited to Figure 1 the end points 121 and 122 shown, and can also be any two points on the coil part 12. In actual application scenarios, the appropriate connection points and conductive connecting pieces can be specifically selected according to the design requirements of the corresponding electronic product, and are not listed one by one in this embodiment.

[0055] In this embodiment, the relationship between the second housing part and the coil part constituting the NFC antenna 10 can be regarded as a series relationship or a parallel relationship, which is specifically determined by their connection manner.

[0056] As Figure 1 shown, the coil portion 12 is formed by starting from the end point 121 and winding two circles from the outside to the inside to the end point 122, that is, the coil portion 12 is actually formed by a single wire; both ends of the second housing portion 11 are respectively connected to two points 123 and 124 on the formed coil portion 12 by means such as welding, so that the wire segment between the two points 123 and 124 on the coil portion 12 and the second housing portion 11 are in a parallel relationship.

[0057] As Figure 4 shown, the coil portion 12 can also be composed of two wires: there is a wire between the end point 121' and the connection point 123', and it is connected to one end of the second housing portion 11' at the connection point 123'; there is another wire between the end point 122' and the connection point 124', and it is connected to the other end of the second housing portion 11' at the connection point 124'. In this way, Figure 4 in the shown NFC antenna, the coil portion 12' and the second housing portion 11' are in a series relationship.

[0058] In this embodiment, the connection point positions and quantities of the above coil portion and the second housing portion are not limited to Figure 1 、 Figure 4 shown; for example, in some possible implementation manners, when the coil portion uses a single wire, the wire segment adjacent to the second housing portion thereof, such as Figure 1 the wire segment between the connection points 123 and 124, can be completely attached to and connected with the inner wall of the second housing portion, or in addition to the two ends of the second housing portion, it is also welded to one or more points on the inner wall of the second housing portion. In actual application scenarios, the specific connection manner between the coil portion and the second housing portion can be determined by combining factors such as manufacturing equipment, processes, and conductivity.

[0059] Based on the same inventive concept, one or more embodiments of this specification also provide an electronic product. Referring to Figure 2 and Figure 3 , the electronic product may include a first housing portion 20 and an NFC antenna 10.

[0060] The NFC antenna 10 includes: a second housing portion, and a coil portion connected to the second housing portion; the second housing portion is made of a metal material; the coil portion is formed by winding a wire.

[0061] The NFC antenna 10 is connected to the first housing portion 20 through a plastic connection portion 30, so that the first housing portion 20 and the second housing portion in the NFC antenna 10 are spliced to form the entire housing body of the electronic product, and at the same time, the NFC antenna 10 is also firmly connected to the first housing portion 20.

[0062] The connection manner between the second housing portion and the coil portion in the above-mentioned NFC antenna 10 is as described in the previous embodiment and will not be elaborated here. Among them, the second housing portion can specifically serve as the first end portion of the housing body of the electronic product; the shape of the first end portion can be any one of a right-angled U shape, a rounded U shape, or an arc shape. Optionally, the second housing portion can specifically be the frame portion of the first end portion; the bottom of the first end portion can be integrally formed with the first housing portion 20, or the bottom of the first end portion can also be a detachable independent component and be connected to the first housing portion 20 and the NFC antenna 10 through processes such as injection molding.

[0063] The above-mentioned plastic connection portion 30 can be prepared by processes such as injection molding or nano-injection molding, and its thickness can also be set according to the actual application scenario to ensure a firm connection between the first housing portion 20 and the NFC antenna 10 and also ensure the strength of the electronic product. In addition, since the plastic connection portion 30 is an insulating plastic body, it can play an insulating role between the first housing portion 20 and the NFC antenna 10 to avoid affecting the signal strength and radiation range of the NFC antenna 10 when the first housing portion 20 is made of a metal material.

[0064] Continue to refer to Figure 3 , the above-mentioned electronic product can also include a conductive connection member 50 and an NFC control board 40; one end of the conductive connection member 50 is connected to the NFC antenna 10, and the other end is connected to the NFC control board 40, so that the NFC antenna 10 and the NFC control board 40 form a conductive circuit.

[0065] Optionally, the conductive connection member 50 can adopt a conductive spring piece; one end of the conductive spring piece can be welded to any point on the coil portion of the NFC antenna 10 to achieve connection with the NFC antenna 10.

[0066] Optionally, the conductive connection member 50 can also adopt a conductive cable, such as a jumper wire, etc., and specifically can refer to the connection manner of an integrated circuit board or an electronic device in the related art, which will not be listed one by one here.

[0067] In this embodiment, the NFC control board 40 can integrate an NFC controller, a security chip, etc. Among them, the NFC controller, that is, the NFC chip, is used to implement the processing procedures defined in modes such as card emulation, reader / writer, and peer-to-peer; the security chip is used to implement the processing procedures related to sensitive data, encryption operations, etc. to ensure the security of the NFC communication process. The specific processing procedures of the above-mentioned NFC controller and security chip can refer to the related art and will not be elaborated here.

[0068] The above NFC control board 40 and NFC antenna 10 are connected to form a closed circuit, which can realize the conversion between digital information and electromagnetic signals (i.e., NFC signals). The working process includes but is not limited to: the NFC controller 40 can convert digital information into an analog current signal and output it to the NFC antenna 10, so that an electromagnetic field is generated around the NFC antenna 10 to radiate electromagnetic signals outward, that is, NFC signals, so that other devices with NFC functions can receive the NFC signals; the above NFC antenna 10 can also receive the electromagnetic signals radiated by other devices with NFC functions, thus triggering the NFC antenna 10 to generate an electromagnetic field and generate a corresponding current signal. The NFC controller 40 receives the current signal and can obtain the corresponding digital signal through processes such as analog-to-digital conversion and identification.

[0069] From a functional perspective, the above electronic product can be a device with NFC card or NFC electronic tag reading and writing functions, or a device with NFC card simulation functions, or a device with NFC-based peer-to-peer communication functions, or a device with the above three functions.

[0070] From the perspective of product form, the above electronic product can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a smart watch, etc., or a payment terminal based on NFC communication. This payment terminal can be used as a merchant's collection terminal to send current transaction information, merchant information, etc. to a payment terminal, such as the user's smart phone, through the above NFC antenna, so as to initiate the subsequent payment process.

[0071] Based on different functions or product forms, the above electronic product can also include one or more of the following functional components: a display screen, a main control board, a mobile communication component, a memory, a power supply, etc.

[0072] In the description of the present application, it should be noted that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by terms such as "upper", "lower", "inner", "outer", "front", "rear", "left", "right", etc. is the orientation or positional relationship based on the working state of the present application. It is only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, so it should not be construed as a limitation to the present application.

[0073] In the description of the present application, it should be noted that unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", and "coupled" should be understood in a broad sense. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present application can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0074] The above description of the present application has been made in combination with preferred embodiments. However, these embodiments are only exemplary and serve only an illustrative role. On this basis, various substitutions and improvements can be made to the present application, and all of these fall within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. An NFC antenna, characterized in that, Applied to electronic products, the electronic products include a first housing part; The NFC antenna includes: a coil part formed by winding a wire and a second housing part made of a metal material; the coil part surrounds the second housing part and is electrically connected to the inner wall of the second housing part; The second housing part is a part of the housing of the electronic product and is spliced with the first housing part to form the housing body of the electronic product.

2. The NFC antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that, The inner wall of the second housing part is adhesively connected to the coil part.

3. The NFC antenna according to claim 1, wherein The shape formed by winding the coil part is circular or rectangular.

4. The NFC antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that The coil part is connected to the NFC control board through a conductive connector.

5. The NFC antenna according to claim 4, wherein The conductive connector includes at least one of a conduction elastic sheet and a conductive cable.

6. The NFC antenna according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, The gap between the NFC antenna and the first housing part is filled with a plastic connection part.

7. An electronic product, characterized in that, Including a first housing part and an NFC antenna; The NFC antenna includes: a coil part formed by winding a wire and a second housing part made of a metal material; the coil part surrounds the second housing part and is electrically connected to the inner wall of the second housing part; The second housing part is a part of the housing of the electronic product and is spliced with the first housing part to form the housing body of the electronic product.

8. The electronic product according to claim 7, characterized in that, The inner wall of the second housing part is adhesively connected to the coil part.

9. The electronic product according to claim 7, wherein The shape formed by winding the coil part is circular or rectangular.

10. The electronic product according to claim 7, characterized in that, The gap between the NFC antenna and the first housing part is filled with a plastic connection part.

11. The electronic product according to claim 10, wherein The plastic connection part is a plastic body with a preset thickness formed by a nano-injection molding process.

12. The electronic product according to claim 7, characterized in that, Further included are: a conductive connector and an NFC control board; One end of the conductive connector is connected to the coil part, and the other end is connected to the NFC control board, so that the NFC antenna and the NFC control board form a conductive loop.

13. The electronic product according to claim 12, characterized in that, The conductive connector includes at least one of a conduction elastic sheet and a conductive cable.

14. The electronic product according to claim 13, wherein One end of the conduction elastic sheet is welded to the coil part, and the other end is connected to the NFC control board.

15. The electronic product according to claim 7, characterized in that The electronic product includes a payment terminal based on NFC communication.

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