Electronic device with dual clutch barrel cavity antennas

• US 9,559,406 B2
• Filed: 06/08/2015
• Issued: 01/31/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Guterman, Jerzy, Li, Qingxiang, Pascolini, Mattia
• Primary Examiner(s): Levi, Dameon E
• Assistant Examiner(s): MAGALLANES, RICARDO I
• Application Number:
  US14/733,793
• Publication Number:
  US 20150270599A1
• Time in Patent Office: 603 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 1/1683 for the transmission of signal or power between the different housings, e.g. details of wired or wireless communication, passage of cabling
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/2266 disposed inside the computer
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 13/18 the slot being backed by, or formed in boundary wall of, a resonant cavity longitudinally slotted cylinder H01Q13/12 ; Open cavity antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/42 with folded element, the folded parts being spaced apart a small fraction of the operating wavelength
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/0215 Grounding of printed circuits by connection to external grounding means
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/0224 Patterned shielding planes, ground planes or power planes H05K1/0253 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/028 Bending or folding regions of flexible printed circuits H05K1/0283 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 9/0054 specially adapted for display applications

Abstract

An electronic device has antennas formed from cavity antenna structures. The 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. Cavity antennas may be formed in a clutch barrel region located between the hinges and running along the rotational axis. A flexible printed circuit may be formed between the cavity antennas. Each cavity antenna may have a first end that is adjacent to one of the hinges and a second end that is adjacent to the flexible printed circuit. Cavity walls for the cavity antennas may be formed from metal housing structures such as metal portions of the lower housing.

Claims

1. A portable computer, comprising:

a metal housing having an upper metal housing portion that contains a display and having a lower metal housing portion that contains a keyboard;

hinges that connect the upper metal housing portion to the lower metal housing portion, wherein the upper metal housing portion rotates relative to the lower metal housing portion about a rotational axis between a closed position and an open position, and there is a gap between opposing metal portions of the upper and lower metal housing portions when the upper metal housing portion is in the closed position through which antenna signals pass;

first and second antennas in the lower housing portion between the hinges that transmit and receive the antenna signals;

control circuitry in the lower housing portion; and

a flexible printed circuit that is coupled between the control circuitry and the display and that runs across the gap between the first and second antennas, wherein the flexible printed circuit includes metal traces that are shorted to the upper metal housing portion and the lower metal housing portion, the metal traces are interposed between the first and second antennas, the metal traces divide the gap into a first portion and a second portion, the first antenna transmits and receives the antenna signals through the first portion of the gap, and the second antenna transmits and receives the antenna signals through the second portion of the gap.

2. The portable computer defined in claim 1 wherein the gap has a slot shape that runs parallel to the rotational axis.

3. The portable computer defined in claim 2 wherein the first and second antennas comprise dual band antennas.

4. The portable computer defined in claim 3 wherein the first and second antennas transmit and receive the antenna signals in communications bands at 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz.

5. The portable computer defined in claim 4 wherein the first and second antennas comprise cavity antennas.

6. A portable computer, comprising:

a display;

an upper metal housing in which the display is mounted;

a keyboard;

a lower metal housing in which the keyboard is mounted;

hinges that connect the upper metal housing to the lower metal housing, wherein the upper metal housing rotates relative to the lower metal housing about a rotational axis between a closed position and an open position, and there is a slot between opposing metal portions of the upper and lower metal housing portions that runs parallel to the rotational axis;

first and second cavity antennas in the lower metal housing between the hinges that transmit and receive antenna signals through the slot; and

control circuitry in the lower housing portion; and

a flexible printed circuit that is coupled between the control circuitry and the display and that runs across the slot between the first and second cavity antennas, wherein the flexible printed circuit includes ground traces that are shorted to the upper metal housing and to the lower metal housing, and the flexible printed circuit forms at least part of an end of the first and second cavity antennas.

7. The portable computer defined in claim 6 wherein the flexible printed circuit includes metal traces that are shorted to the upper metal housing and the lower metal housing.

8. The portable computer defined in claim 7 wherein the first and second antennas transmit and receive the antenna signals in communications bands at 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz.

9. A portable computer, comprising:

a metal housing having an upper metal housing portion that contains a display and having a lower metal housing portion that contains a keyboard;

hinges that connect the upper metal housing portion to the lower metal housing portion, wherein the upper metal housing portion rotates relative to the lower metal housing portion about a rotational axis between a closed position and an open position, and there is a gap between opposing metal portions of the upper and lower metal housing portions when the upper metal housing portion is in the closed position through which antenna signals pass;

first and second antennas in the lower housing portion between the hinges that transmit and receive the antenna signals;

control circuitry in the lower housing portion; and

a flexible printed circuit that is coupled between the control circuitry and the display and that runs across the gap between the first and second antennas, wherein the flexible printed circuit includes metal traces that are shorted to the upper metal housing portion and the lower metal housing portion, the metal traces are interposed between the first and second antennas, the metal traces are shorted to the lower metal housing portion at first and second grounding locations, the first grounding location is interposed between the second grounding location and the first antenna, and the second grounding location is interposed between the first grounding location and the second antenna.

10. A portable computer, comprising:

a metal housing having an upper metal housing portion that contains a display and having a lower metal housing portion that contains a keyboard;

hinges that connect the upper metal housing portion to the lower metal housing portion, wherein the upper metal housing portion rotates relative to the lower metal housing portion about a rotational axis between a closed position and an open position, and there is a gap between opposing metal portions of the upper and lower metal housing portions when the upper metal housing portion is in the closed position through which antenna signals pass;

first and second antennas in the lower housing portion between the hinges that transmit and receive the antenna signals;

control circuitry in the lower housing portion; and

a flexible printed circuit that is coupled between the control circuitry and the display and that runs across the gap between the first and second antennas, wherein the flexible printed circuit includes metal traces that are shorted to the upper metal housing portion and the lower metal housing portion, the metal traces are interposed between the first and second antennas, the lower metal housing portion has opposing first and second conductive surfaces, the first antenna comprises a first antenna resonating element, the second antenna comprises a second antenna resonating element, an entirety of the first antenna resonating element is interposed between the first and second conductive surfaces of the lower metal housing portion, and an entirety of the second antenna resonating element is interposed between the first and second conductive surfaces of the lower metal housing portion.