WIRELESS ELECTRONIC DEVICES WITH CLUTCH BARREL TRANSCEIVERS
First Claim
1. A portable wireless electronic device, comprising:
- an upper housing;
a lower housing that is attached to the upper housing by a hinge;
a clutch barrel associated with the hinge that has a clutch barrel cover;
radio-frequency transceiver circuitry within the clutch barrel cover;
at least one antenna element within the clutch barrel cover; and
a transmission line path within the clutch barrel cover that connects the radio-frequency transceiver circuitry with the antenna element.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Wireless portable electronic devices such as laptop computers are provided with antennas and radio-frequency transceiver circuitry. Antenna structures and transceiver circuitry may be provided within a clutch barrel in a laptop computer. The clutch barrel may have a dielectric cover. Antenna elements may be mounted within the clutch barrel cover on an antenna support structure. The antenna support structure may be mounted to a metal housing frame. The metal housing frame may have a tab-shaped extension that serves as a heat sink. The heat sink may draw heat away from the transceiver circuitry. The transceiver circuitry may be coupled to the antenna using a radio-frequency transmission line path that contains microstrip transmission lines or coaxial cable transmission lines. The transceiver circuitry may be coupled to logic circuitry on a laptop computer motherboard using a digital data communications path.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A portable wireless electronic device, comprising:
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an upper housing; a lower housing that is attached to the upper housing by a hinge; a clutch barrel associated with the hinge that has a clutch barrel cover; radio-frequency transceiver circuitry within the clutch barrel cover; at least one antenna element within the clutch barrel cover; and a transmission line path within the clutch barrel cover that connects the radio-frequency transceiver circuitry with the antenna element. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. Clutch barrel structures located in a clutch barrel between an upper and lower housing portion of a portable electronic device, comprising:
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antenna structures in the clutch barrel; and radio-frequency transceiver circuitry in the clutch barrel. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. The clutch barrel structures defined in claim further comprising a frame member heat sink next to the shielding can to draw heat away from the transceiver circuitry.
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15. The clutch barrel structures defined in claim wherein the frame member heat sink is formed from part of a metal frame that is mounted to a portable computer housing cover.
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16. The clutch barrel structures defined in claim wherein the antenna structures comprise at least two flex circuit antenna elements mounted to a dielectric antenna support structure.
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17. The clutch barrel structures defined in claim further comprising a metal heat sink extension to a metal housing frame, wherein the metal heat sink extension is adjacent to the transceiver circuitry and wherein the antenna structures comprise a dielectric antenna support structure that is mounted to the metal housing frame.
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18. Structures in a portable computer that has an upper housing portion, a lower housing portion, and a portable computer clutch barrel associated with a hinge that connects the upper housing portion to the lower housing portion, comprising:
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at least one antenna element in the portable computer clutch barrel; and radio-frequency transceiver circuitry in the portable computer clutch barrel. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification