Antenna Gap Structure Using Connected Conductor Patterns
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional antenna devices require a spacer to form a gap between the antenna excitation element and the parasitic element, which is challenging to accurately manage, especially in high-frequency bands like millimeter waves, due to manufacturing tolerance issues and difficulty in controlling the thickness of substrates or metal plates.
Innovation Solution
An antenna device design where conductor patterns on both substrates are electrically connected without contacting the antenna excitation and parasitic elements, allowing for a predetermined gap formation without a spacer, with the conductor patterns' thicknesses managed in units of several micrometers for precise control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a substrate or metal plate is used as the spacer to form a gap between the antenna excitation element and the parasitic element, then the gap structure is simple to manufacture, but the thickness cannot be precisely controlled in units of several micrometers
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the material parameter from substrate or metal plate to resin material, enabling precise thickness control in units of several micrometers. The resin material can be molded to achieve the required gap precision of several micrometers, which is impossible with conventional substrates (minimum 50 μm) or metal plates.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses a resin material spacer that is easier and cheaper to manufacture with precise thickness compared to substrate or metal plate spacers. The resin spacer can be easily molded to the required dimensions and then discarded after serving its purpose of creating the precise air gap.
2Manufacturing precision
If the thickness of the spacer is reduced to several micrometers to achieve the required gap precision, then the manufacturing precision is improved, but the difficulty of controlling the thickness increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the material parameter from substrate or metal plate to resin material, which can be easily molded to achieve precise thickness control. The resin material's properties allow for straightforward thickness control during molding, making it easy to manufacture spacers with thicknesses of several micrometers.
3Ease of manufacture
If a conventional substrate is used as the spacer, then the manufacturing process is simple, but the thickness cannot be managed in units of several micrometers due to minimum thickness constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the material parameter from substrate to resin material, which has different physical properties that allow for precise thickness control. The resin material can be molded to achieve thicknesses of several micrometers, providing the measurement precision required for millimeter-wave antenna operation.
Data Source
AI summary
An antenna device includes an antenna excitation element provided on a surface of a substrate, a conductor pattern provided on the surface of the substrate and disposed around the antenna excitation element without being in contact with the antenna excitation element, a parasitic element provided on a surface of a substrate facing the surface of the substrate, and a conductor pattern provided on the surface of the substrate and disposed around the parasitic element without being in contact with the parasitic element, in which the conductor pattern and the conductor pattern are electrically connected to each other, a thickness of the conductor pattern is formed to be equal to or larger than a thickness of the antenna excitation element, and a thickness of the conductor pattern is formed to be equal to or larger than a thickness of the parasitic element.