Interconnection circuit between two loop antennas embedded in a wristband of a wrist-carried wireless instrument

• US 20060003721A1
• Filed: 07/02/2004
• Published: 01/05/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogã¨Re Suisse (The Swatch Group AG)
• Original Assignee: ETA SA Manufacture Horlogã¨Re Suisse (The Swatch Group AG)
• Inventors: Bisig, Martin
• Granted Patent: US 7,162,217 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/269
• CPC Class Codes: G04G 21/04 using radio waves radio-controlled time-pieces G04R
• CPC Class Codes: G04R 60/04 Antennas attached to or integrated in watch bracelets
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/273 Adaptation for carrying or wearing by persons or animals
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 7/00 Loop antennas with a substantially uniform current distribution around the loop and having a directional radiation pattern in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the loop
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/18 Input circuits, e.g. for coupling to an antenna or a transmission line coupling networks between antennas or lines and receivers independent of the nature of the receiver H03H

Abstract

The invention relates to a wireless instrument (1) comprising a wristband (2) having a first (2a) and a second (2b) band portions connected to opposite edges of a casing (3), each of the first and second band portions having upper and lower surfaces. A first (4a) and a second (4b) loop antennas are embedded respectively in the first and second band portions and extend between the corresponding upper and lower surfaces, both loop antennas being connected through the opposite edges of the casing to a first (5a) and a second (5b) tuning circuits. the first and second tuning circuits are connected to an antenna receiver (6) arranged in said casing and together in a hybrid manner via an interconnection circuit (7), both tuning circuits being connected partially in parallel and partially in series.

Claims

1. A wireless instrument comprising

a wristband having a first and a second band portions connected to opposite edges of a casing, each of said first and second band portions having upper and lower surfaces,

a first and a second single loop antennas being embedded respectively in said first and second band portions and extending between said corresponding upper and lower surfaces, both single loop antennas being connected through said opposite edges of said casing to a first and a second tuning circuits, wherein

said first and second tuning circuits are connected to an antenna receiver arranged in said casing and together in a hybrid manner via an interconnection circuit, both tuning circuits being connected partially in parallel and partially in series.

2. The wireless instrument according to claim 1, wherein said interconnection circuit is a capacitor network comprising a first and a second capacitors connecting said first and second tuning circuits partially in parallel, and a third capacitor connecting said first and second tuning circuits partially in series.

3. The wireless instrument according to claim 2, wherein each of said first and second tuning circuits has a first and a second connecting points, wherein said first and second capacitors are respectively connected to said first connecting points and to said second connecting points of both tuning circuits, and said third capacitor is connected to said second connecting point of said first tuning circuit and to said first connecting point of said second tuning circuit, and wherein said antenna receiver is connected between said first connecting point of said first tuning circuit and said second connecting point of said second tuning circuit.

4. The wireless instrument according to claim 1, wherein each of said first and second tuning circuits is formed by a capacitor and a varactor in series and by a resistor connected between said capacitor and said varactor on one side and to a determined potential on the other side.

5. The wireless instrument according to claim 4, wherein a capacitor for adjusting tuning range of said first and second tuning circuits is connected between said capacitor and said varactor of said first tuning circuit on the one side and between said varactor and said capacitor of said second tuning circuit on the other side.

6. The wireless instrument according to claim 1, wherein both single loop antennas are substantially rectangular or opened O shaped.

7. The wireless instrument according to claim 1, wherein both single loop antennas operate in the frequency band from 88 to 108 MHz.

8. The wireless instrument according to claim 1, wherein said wireless instrument is a wristwatch.