Vehicle Antenna Layout for Broad Bandwidth and Easy Assembly
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle antenna devices face manufacturing complexity due to partially cut sheet metal structures, which can cause bending and affect transmission/reception characteristics, and require broad bandwidth and adjustable frequency adjustment.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle antenna device with a plate-like element and ground substrate configuration that allows easy assembly, broad bandwidth, and adjustable transmission/reception characteristics, featuring a C-, G-, or U-shaped plate-like element with a non-overlapping ground substrate and optional three-dimensional folded parts for enhanced adjustment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the sheet metal is partially cut to achieve bandwidth widening, then the bandwidth is improved, but the sheet metal may be caught by the insulating bracket during sliding insertion and may be bent upon being held from the side, which changes antenna transmission/reception characteristics
Solution Approach 1:
The antenna element is divided into multiple independent parts (first antenna element and second antenna element) that can be separately formed and then connected. This segmentation allows each part to be simpler in shape, avoiding the catching problem during assembly, while the combined structure achieves the desired bandwidth through their coordinated resonance characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a two-dimensional sheet metal structure to a three-dimensional configuration by forming antenna elements with both planar and vertical components. The antenna elements extend in multiple dimensions, allowing them to achieve broader bandwidth through spatial resonance while maintaining a simple overall shape that prevents assembly problems.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the size of the antenna element is made as large as possible to achieve broad bandwidth, then the bandwidth is improved, but the antenna device becomes more complex and harder to assemble within a restricted range
Solution Approach 1:
The antenna elements are designed to be nested within the insulating bracket, with the first and second antenna elements positioned at different locations and orientations. This nesting arrangement allows the antenna structure to achieve effective electrical length for broad bandwidth while fitting within the restricted space of the vehicle instrument panel.
Solution Approach 2:
The antenna elements are designed with flexible positioning capabilities, allowing them to be dynamically arranged in different configurations (first antenna element at first location, second antenna element at second location). This dynamic arrangement enables bandwidth optimization without requiring a single large fixed structure, thereby reducing overall device complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the sheet metal has a complicated partially cut structure to adjust antenna characteristics, then the bandwidth and frequency adjustment are improved, but the assembly process becomes more difficult and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The antenna system is segmented into multiple independent antenna elements that can be separately manufactured and then assembled. This segmentation simplifies the manufacturing of each individual element, avoiding the need for complex cutting operations on a single sheet metal piece, while still allowing frequency adjustment through the selection and configuration of different element combinations.
Solution Approach 2:
The antenna elements are pre-formed as separate components with predetermined shapes and characteristics before assembly. This preliminary formation allows for standardized manufacturing processes and simplifies the final assembly operation, as the elements are ready-to-install components rather than requiring complex in-situ shaping or cutting operations.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle antenna device includes a plate-like element and a ground substrate. The plate-like element has a feed part and a leading end part extending a predetermined line width from the feed part to the leading end part to define a blank part at its center as viewed from above. The plate-like element has an open part extending from the blank part between the feed part and the leading end to transmit and receive signals of a predetermined frequency band. The ground substrate has a ground part serving as a ground of the plate-like element and a feed point connected with the feed part of the plate-like element and is disposed such that a large part of the ground part does not overlap the plate-like element as viewed from above and does not run off the range defined by the blank part and the open part.