Bendable Antenna Substrate for Compact Electronic Devices
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing antenna devices for electronic apparatuses, such as smartphones, face challenges in reducing size and cost due to the need for individually designed components and the limitations of current mounting methods, which affect communication range and maintenance accessibility.
Innovation Solution
An antenna device with a bendable substrate featuring an antenna coil portion, a component portion, and a bending portion, where I/O interfaces are located on both surfaces of the component portion, allowing for flexible mounting and magnetic shielding to minimize size and cost, and enabling common use across multiple electronic apparatuses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the antenna device uses a conventional flat substrate layout, then the device area is large, but the mounting space in electronic apparatus is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The antenna substrate is folded along a folding line to transform from a planar two-dimensional layout to a three-dimensional configuration. This dimensional transition reduces the projected area of the antenna device while maintaining the electrical connection between the antenna coil and electronic components through the folded substrate structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The component mounting area is positioned to overlap with the antenna coil area in the planar projection after folding. This nesting arrangement allows electronic components to be mounted on the folded substrate in a space that would otherwise be occupied by the antenna coil's projection, effectively utilizing vertical space and reducing the overall device footprint.
2Reliability
If the antenna device is designed for specific electronic apparatus, then the communication characteristics are optimized, but the design complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The antenna device is designed with a standardized interface and folding structure that can be adapted to multiple electronic apparatus types. The folding substrate and component layout are configured to provide universal mounting capability while maintaining optimized communication characteristics through the preserved spatial relationship between the antenna coil and electronic components regardless of the specific application.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the antenna device uses thick adhesive layers for mounting, then the magnetic shielding effect is improved, but the device thickness increases
Solution Approach 1:
The magnetic shielding function is extracted from the adhesive layer and implemented through a dedicated ferrite sheet positioned between the antenna coil and the battery or metal components. This separation allows the adhesive layer to be thin for maintaining compact thickness while the ferrite sheet provides the necessary magnetic shielding effect independently.
Solution Approach 2:
A ferrite sheet is introduced as an intermediary magnetic shielding element between the antenna coil and potential sources of magnetic interference such as the battery or metal housing. This intermediary structure provides effective magnetic shielding without requiring thick adhesive layers, thus maintaining thin overall device profile while achieving the desired magnetic shielding performance.
Data Source
AI summary
In order to reduce device size and costs, an antenna device incorporated into an electronic apparatus is provided with an antenna substrate including an antenna coil portion having an antenna coil formed therein, a component portion, and a bending portion arranged along the X-direction, the bending portion being sandwiched between the antenna coil portion and the component portion, wherein on each of the front surface and the back surface of the component portion, an I/O interface for connecting electrically to the body of the electronic apparatus is provided. The antenna substrate is bendable at the bending portion.