Antenna gasket for process housing
First Claim
1. An apparatus for use with a housing assembly having at least two separable portions, comprisinga. A gasket comprising an elastic material adapted to form a seal between said portions;
- b. An antenna located within the region defined by said housing assembly; and
c. A conduit, embedded in said gasket, electrically connecting said antenna to the exterior of said housing assembly.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for providing wireless communication and optionally power to the interior of a housing assembly is disclosed. In one embodiment, an antenna is molded within a gasket material, such as silicon, so as to be completely encapsulated. The gasket preferably includes at least one support arm, which holds the antenna toward the middle of the housing, so as to minimize interference from the metal housing. In further embodiments, an inductive coil is encapsulated in the gasket. An alternating current is passed through this coil to create a changing magnetic field, which can then be used to create electrical power in physically separate components, such as filtering elements. In certain embodiments, multiple loops are molded to correspond to multiple filtering elements within the housing.
-
Citations
43 Claims
-
1. An apparatus for use with a housing assembly having at least two separable portions, comprising
a. A gasket comprising an elastic material adapted to form a seal between said portions; -
b. An antenna located within the region defined by said housing assembly; and c. A conduit, embedded in said gasket, electrically connecting said antenna to the exterior of said housing assembly. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A method of communicating to a device within a housing assembly having at least two separable portions, comprising:
-
providing a gasket between said portions so that a portion of said gasket forms a seal between said separable portions; embedding an electrical conduit in said gasket; providing an antenna within the region defined by said housing assembly connected to the exterior of said housing assembly via said conduit; providing a second device external to said housing, having communication capacities; connecting said second device to said conduit; and transmitting information from said second device through said antenna to said device within said housing. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. An apparatus for use with a housing assembly having at least two separable portions, comprising
a gasket comprising an elastic material adapted to form a seal between said portions; -
a coil, located within said housing assembly, adapted to receive an alternating current so as to generate a changing magnetic field; and a conduit embedded in said gasket, electrically connecting said coil to the exterior of said housing assembly. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
-
-
38. A method of powering a device within a housing assembly having at least two separable portions, comprising:
-
providing a gasket between said portions so that a portion of said gasket forms a seal between said separable portions; embedding an electrical conduit in said gasket; providing a circular coil within said housing assembly external connected to the exterior of said housing assembly via said conduit; energizing said coil with an alternating current so as to create a changing magnetic field within said housing assembly; and providing a second coil in said device within said housing adapted to convert said magnetic field into electrical power. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
-
Specification