Deformable magnetic antennas

• US 10,446,917 B1
• Filed: 12/03/2016
• Issued: 10/15/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Atomics, Inc.
• Original Assignee: General Atomics, Inc.
• Inventors: Bonebright, Mark Eugene, Covington, Mark William, Caton, Jeffrey Howard
• Primary Examiner(s): Levi, Dameon E
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dawkins, Collin
• Application Number:
  US15/368,589
• Time in Patent Office: 1,046 Days
• Field of Search: 343787, 343745, 343850, 343771
• 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 1/273 Adaptation for carrying or wearing by persons or animals
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 5/22 RF wavebands combined with non-RF wavebands, e.g. infrared or optical
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 7/06 with core of ferromagnetic material H01Q7/02 takes precedence

Abstract

Deformable magnetic antennas are provided to include a plurality of flexible magnetic antenna layers stacked to form a layered magnetic antenna structure that is bendable. Each flexible magnetic antenna layer includes a magnetic material that confines a magnetic field to concentrate a magnetic flux of the magnetic field inside the magnetic antenna layer. A lubricating material is applied between adjacent flexible magnetic antenna layers to allow adjacent magnetic layers to move relative to one another when the layered magnetic antenna structure is bent so as to reduce a stress in each flexible magnetic antenna layer caused by bending the layered magnetic antenna structure.

Claims

1. A deformable magnetic antenna apparatus, comprising:

a plurality of flexible magnetic antenna layers stacked to form a layered magnetic antenna structure that is bendable, each flexible magnetic antenna layer including a magnetic material that confines a magnetic field to concentrate a magnetic flux of the magnetic field inside the magnetic antenna layer;

a lubricating material applied between adjacent flexible magnetic antenna layers to allow adjacent magnetic layers to move relative to one another when the layered magnetic antenna structure is bent so as to reduce a stress in each flexible magnetic antenna layer caused by bending the layered magnetic antenna structure;

an anchoring device inserted to fix the flexible magnetic antenna layers at one fixed location in the layered magnetic antenna structure to allow the magnetic layers to move relative to one another at locations other than the one fixed location when the layered magnetic antenna structure is bent and to prevent slippage between the flexible magnetic antenna layers while maintaining a desired overall structure of the layered magnetic antenna structure during the bending; and

a transducer circuit positioned to be electromagnetically coupled to a selected location along the layered magnetic antenna structure, wherein the transducer circuit converts a combined magnetic flux in the flexible magnetic antenna layers due to an incoming antenna signal to a received antenna signal for processing, and wherein the transducer converts an antenna transmission signal to an oscillating magnetic field induced in the layered magnetic antenna structure that radiates an outgoing antenna signal.

2. The apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the transducer circuit converts the magnetic field confined in the layered magnetic antenna structure to an electric current as the received antenna signal for further processing.

3. The apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the transducer circuit converts the magnetic field confined in the layered magnetic antenna structure to an electric voltage as the received antenna signal for further processing.

4. The apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the transducer circuit converts the magnetic field confined in the layered magnetic antenna structure to an optical signal as the received antenna signal for further processing.

5. The apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the transducer circuit converts an electric current from a transmitter to the magnetic field confined in the layered magnetic antenna structure.

6. The apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the transducer circuit converts an electric voltage from a transmitter to the magnetic field confined in the layered magnetic antenna structure.

7. The apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the transducer circuit converts an optical signal from a transmitter to the magnetic field confined in the layered magnetic antenna structure.

8. The apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the magnetic material included in a flexible magnetic antenna layer is selected to exhibit a permeability including a real permeability and an imaginary permeability which is less than the real permeability.

9. The apparatus as in claim 8, wherein the magnetic material included in a flexible magnetic antenna layer is selected to exhibit have a permittivity including a real permittivity and an imaginary permittivity which is less than the real permittivity.

10. The apparatus as in claim 8, wherein the magnetic material included in a flexible magnetic antenna layer is selected to render the real permeability to be greater than a real permittivity for a wide-frequency-band operation.

11. The apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the flexible magnetic antenna layers are structured to exhibit different permeabilities, respectively.

12. The apparatus as in claim 11, wherein the flexible magnetic antenna layers are structured to exhibit alternating permeabilities.

13. The apparatus as in claim 1, further comprising one or more additional anchoring devices engaged to the flexible magnetic antenna layers, wherein each additional anchoring device is not fixed to any of the flexible magnetic antenna layers to allow each flexible magnetic antenna layer to move within a limited confined range.

14. A deformable magnetic antenna apparatus, comprising:

a plurality of flexible magnetic antenna layers stacked to form a layered magnetic antenna structure that is bendable, each flexible magnetic antenna layer including a magnetic material that confines a magnetic field to concentrate a magnetic flux of the magnetic field inside the magnetic antenna layer;

an anchoring device engaged to the flexible magnetic antenna layers to fix the flexible magnetic antenna layers at one single fixed location in each of the flexible magnetic antenna layers to allow the flexible magnetic layers to move relative to one another at locations other than the one single fixed location when the layered magnetic antenna structure is bent to prevent slippage between the flexible magnetic antenna layers and to reduce a stress in each flexible magnetic antenna layer caused by bending while maintaining a desired overall structure of the layered magnetic antenna structure during the bending; and

a transducer circuit positioned to be electromagnetically coupled to a selected location along the layered magnetic antenna structure, wherein the transducer circuit converts a combined magnetic flux in the flexible magnetic antenna layers due to an incoming antenna signal to a received antenna signal for processing, and wherein the transducer converts an antenna transmission signal to an oscillating magnetic field induced in the layered magnetic antenna structure that radiates an outgoing antennal signal.

15. The apparatus as in claim 14, further comprising a lubricating material between the flexible magnetic antenna layers to allow adjacent magnetic layers to move relative to one another when the layered magnetic antenna structure is bent so as to reduce a stress in each flexible magnetic antenna layer caused by bending the layered magnetic antenna structure.

16. The apparatus as in claim 14, wherein the magnetic material included in a flexible magnetic antenna layer is selected to exhibit a permeability including a real permeability and an imaginary permeability which is less than the real permeability.

17. The apparatus as in claim 14, wherein the magnetic material included in a flexible magnetic antenna layer is selected to exhibit a permittivity including a real permittivity and an imaginary permittivity which is less than the real permittivity.

18. The apparatus as in claim 14, wherein the magnetic material included in a flexible magnetic antenna layer is selected to render the real permeability to be greater than a real permittivity for a wide-frequency-band operation.

19. The apparatus as in claim 18, wherein the flexible magnetic antenna layers are structured to exhibit alternating permeabilities.

20. The apparatus as in claim 14, wherein the flexible magnetic antenna layers are structured to exhibit different permeabilities, respectively.

21. The apparatus as in claim 14, further comprising one or more additional anchoring devices engaged to the flexible magnetic antenna layers, wherein each additional anchoring device is not fixed to any of the flexible magnetic antenna layers to allow each flexible magnetic antenna layer to move within a limited confined range.