Continuous Wire Antenna With Integral Contact Spring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mobile device antennae face challenges in reducing lead times for redesign and manufacture while maintaining quality, as they require custom tooling and exotic materials, leading to increased costs and complexity, especially when adapting to changing specifications and materials.
Innovation Solution
The development of internal antennae formed from a continuous length of wire, where the wire is shaped into a main grouping, a contact region, and multiple radiator portions acting as resonators, allowing for rapid reconfiguration and production using a programmable wire-forming machine, integrating contact spring functionality directly into the antenna radiator.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If custom tooling and exotic materials are used for planar and sintered metal antennae, then antenna performance and reliability are improved, but manufacturing lead time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the fundamental manufacturing parameters from custom tooling and exotic materials to standard wire forming processes. This allows the same manufacturing infrastructure to produce various antenna designs by changing only the wire feedstock parameters (material, diameter, length), thereby reducing lead time while maintaining performance through proper wire selection and forming geometry
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal wire forming process that can produce multiple antenna types and configurations using the same equipment. The wire antenna system serves multiple functions: it provides the radiating element, the mounting structure, and the electrical connection all in one continuous component, eliminating the need for separate tooling for each function
2Manufacturing precision
If custom tooling is used for each antenna design, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent achieves manufacturing precision through controlled parameter changes in the wire forming process (temperature, tension, forming geometry) rather than through complex custom tooling. The precision is maintained by carefully selecting wire material properties and controlling the forming parameters, which simplifies the overall manufacturing system
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the essential antenna functionality from complex multi-component assemblies and concentrates it into a single wire-formed component. This extraction eliminates the need for separate mounting brackets, springs, and connectors, reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining precision through the inherent flexibility and strength of the wire structure
3Force
If separate spring clips are used to hold planar antennae, then contact force is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the spring contact function directly into the wire antenna structure itself. The wire antenna is formed with loops or bends that naturally provide contact force when inserted into the device cavity, combining the radiating element and the mounting spring into one integrated component. This eliminates separate spring clips while maintaining adequate contact force through the wire's elastic properties
Solution Approach 2:
The wire antenna structure is designed to be self-mounding, where the wire's own elasticity and forming geometry provide the necessary contact force without external springs or clips. The wire naturally conforms to the mounting cavity and maintains contact pressure through its inherent mechanical properties, making the system self-sufficient
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables rapid design changes and production of various antenna types with minimal raw material changes, significantly reducing manufacturing lead times and costs, while maintaining communication quality by integrating contact spring functionality into the antenna itself.
Implementation Method 1
a first radiator portion (103) comprising a portion of the main grouping (110) and electrically coupled to the contact region (101). The first radiator portion (103) is configured such that in operation the first radiator portion (103) acts as a first resonator having a first electrical length
Data Source
AI summary
Some embodiments of the present invention are internal antennae for mobile devices. For example, an internal antenna for a mobile device that is a continuous length of wire formed into a collection of antenna features. Other embodiments relate to methods of manufacturing internal antennae for mobile devices; for example, manufacturing an internal antenna for a mobile device from a continuous length of wire. Still other embodiments relate to an iterative antenna production and re-design cycle. Preferably, antennae consistent with some embodiments of the invention include multiple radiator portions, a contact region, and integral configured to form a torsion spring of the contact region and parts of the radiator portions that reacts against displacement of the contact region toward those parts of the radiator portions.