Electronic devices having ventilation systems with antennas

• US 10,268,236 B2
• Filed: 01/27/2016
• Issued: 04/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Guterman, Jerzy S., Barrera, Joel D., Robinson, Kevin M., Hershey, Daniel D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Phan, Tho G
• Assistant Examiner(s): Holecek, Patrick R
• Application Number:
  US15/008,139
• Publication Number:
  US 20170212554A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,182 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1616 with folding flat displays, e.g. laptop computers or notebooks having a clamshell configuration, with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1637 Details related to the display arrangement, including those related to the mounting of the display in the housing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1681 Details related solely to hinges hinge details related to the transmission of signals or power are classified in G06F1/1683
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1698 the I/O peripheral being a sending/receiving arrangement to establish a cordless communication link, e.g. radio or infrared link, integrated cellular phone details of antennas disposed inside a computer H01Q1/2266
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/203 for portable computers, e.g. for laptops
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/02 Arrangements for de-icing; Arrangements for drying-out ; Arrangements for cooling; Arrangements for preventing corrosion
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/2266 disposed inside the computer
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/2291 used in bluetooth or WI-FI devices of Wireless Local Area Networks [WLAN] H01Q1/241 takes precedence; WLAN in general H04W
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 13/10 Resonant slot antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/28 Combinations of substantially independent non-interacting antenna units or systems multiple beam H01Q25/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/0407 Substantially flat resonant element parallel to ground plane, e.g. patch antenna dipole H01Q9/285; monopole H01Q9/40
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/42 with folded element, the folded parts being spaced apart a small fraction of the operating wavelength

Abstract

An electronic device may have a metal housing. The metal housing may have an upper housing in which a component such as a display is mounted and a lower housing in which a component such as a keyboard is mounted. Hinges may be used to mount the upper housing to the lower housing for rotation about a rotational axis. A slot-shaped opening may separate the upper and lower housing. Flexible printed circuits with ground traces may bisect the slot-shaped opening to form three electrically isolated slots each of which is aligned with a respective cavity antenna. The antennas may have antenna grounds formed from portions of the metal housing and other conductive structures. Resonating elements for the antennas may be supported by an elongated ventilation port structure along the rear edge of the lower housing.

Claims

1. Apparatus, comprising:

a housing having walls separating an interior from an exterior, wherein at least one of the walls has an opening;

a plastic structure mounted in the interior of the housing having at least one ventilation port opening, wherein the at least one ventilation port opening is defined by at least one wall that surrounds the opening and the at least one ventilation port opening at least partially overlaps the opening in the housing;

a fan that directs air through the ventilation port opening; and

an antenna resonating element on the plastic structure, wherein the antenna resonating element includes a metal trace on the plastic structure, wherein the metal trace has a portion that extends into the ventilation port opening, and wherein the metal trace is coupled to the at least one wall.

2. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein the ventilation port opening comprises one of a plurality of ventilation port openings and wherein the metal trace comprises an arm that extends between the ventilation port openings.

3. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein the walls are metal housing walls, the apparatus further comprising:

an additional housing;

a display in the additional housing;

a metal member having fingers that short the metal trace to at least one of the metal housing walls; and

first and second flexible printed circuits that extend across an opening between the housing and the additional housing to form first, second, and third slot-shaped openings between the housing and the additional housing.

4. The apparatus defined in claim 1 further comprising a metal-filled via that passes through the at least one wall and that is coupled to the metal trace.

5. An electronic device, comprising:

a metal housing;

electrical components in the metal housing;

a plastic ventilation port structure having a plurality of ventilation port openings;

a fan in the metal housing that directs air through the ventilation port openings;

an inverted-F antenna resonating element for a first antenna formed from a metal trace on the plastic ventilation port structure; and

a second antenna resonating element for a second antenna on the ventilation port structure.

6. The electronic device defined in claim 5 wherein a portion of the metal trace extends into at least one of the ventilation port openings.

7. The electronic device defined in claim 6 further comprising a metal-filled via that passes through a portion of the plastic ventilation port structure and that is coupled to the metal trace.

8. The electronic device defined in claim 5 further comprising a conductive gasket that extends between the metal housing and the metal trace.

9. The electronic device defined in claim 5 further comprising additional metal traces that form a third antenna resonating element on the ventilation port structure for a third antenna.

10. The electronic device defined in claim 5 wherein at least a portion of the inverted-F antenna resonating element is formed between the ventilation port openings.

11. An electronic device, comprising:

a metal housing;

electrical components in the metal housing;

a plastic ventilation port structure having a plurality of ventilation port openings;

a fan in the metal housing that directs air through the ventilation port openings;

an antenna resonating element formed from a metal trace on the plastic ventilation port structure, wherein the metal trace forms a first antenna resonating element for a first antenna;

additional metal traces that form second and third antenna resonating elements on the ventilation port structure for respective second and third antennas;

a first flexible printed circuit between the first and second antennas; and

a second flexible printed circuit between the second and third antennas.

12. The electronic device defined in claim 11 further comprising:

a display, wherein the first and second flexible printed circuits include signal lines and wherein at least one of the signal lines carries signals for the display.