Background
An antenna is a device used in a radio apparatus to transmit or receive electromagnetic waves. Engineering systems such as radio communication, broadcasting, television, radar, navigation, remote sensing, radio astronomy and the like all utilize electromagnetic waves to transmit information and all rely on antennas to work. In recent years, with the rapid development of radar and communication systems, antennas of various sizes and shapes are required for automobiles, airplanes, ships, and various consumer electronic devices. The traditional solid metal antenna only has a specific shape, and in order to meet the sending and receiving requirements of different radio signals, the traditional solid metal antenna can only be solved by adopting a mode of carrying a plurality of antennas, which undoubtedly increases the manufacturing cost and the occupied space of the antenna.
The shape and height of the antenna directly affect the reception of radio signals. In order to increase the bandwidth of the antenna, i.e. the frequency range in which it operates efficiently, techniques are often used such as using thicker wires, using metal "netcages" to approximate the thicker wires, tapering antenna elements such as feed horns and single components of multi-antenna integration. The inclination angle of the antenna also affects the transmitting effect of the antenna, for example, the bottom radar antenna is inclined upwards, so that the aerial vehicle at high altitude can receive radio signals conveniently. In addition, the position of the receiving antenna also affects the receiving effect of the signal, and the antenna radiation characteristic of a mobile device such as a mobile phone varies according to the use state of the user.
In short, the current solid metal antenna has the defects of single shape and no deformation, so that the application of the solid metal antenna is limited.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention mainly aims to provide a deformable antenna which has the characteristic of thermal deformation and achieves the purpose of controllable and autonomous deformation of the antenna.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing the deformable antenna, which reduces the cost of industrial design and manufacture and improves the production efficiency by using a 3D printing technology.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following technical solutions.
A deformable antenna comprises a resistance grounding layer, a heat-deformable polylactic acid composite material layer and an electric wave radiation layer which are sequentially laminated;
the polylactic acid composite material is formed by compounding polylactic acid and carbon fibers.
The deformable antenna is of a sandwich structure formed by three layers of materials, and the resistance grounding layer can be used for generating resistance heat when electrified, so that the polylactic acid composite material layer deforms under the action of the resistance heat and simultaneously drives the electric wave radiation layer to deform, and the purpose of autonomous controllable deformation is achieved.
The polylactic acid composite material adopted by the central layer is compounded by polylactic acid and carbon fiber.
The invention also provides a preparation method of the deformable antenna, which specifically comprises the following steps:
selecting one of a resistance grounding layer and an electric wave radiation layer as a base layer, and carrying out hot-melt deposition on a 3D printing heat-deformable polylactic acid composite material on the base layer to form a polylactic acid composite material layer; then, the other of the resistive ground layer and the radio wave radiation layer is bonded to the polylactic acid composite material layer.
The preparation sequence of the resistance grounding layer and the radio wave radiation layer is not limited, the preparation method of the two outer layer materials is determined according to other factors such as material, cost and the like, and a 3D printing technology is preferably adopted, so that the effect of 4D printing is integrally achieved, and the production efficiency is improved.
Compared with the prior art, the invention achieves the following technical effects:
(1) the autonomous controllable thermal deformation can be realized without a mechanical transmission device, and convenience is provided for the miniaturization of an antenna device;
(2) the 3D and 4D printing technology is utilized to improve the production efficiency and realize the intellectualization.
Detailed Description
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the description is illustrative only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the following description, descriptions of well-known structures and techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the concepts of the present disclosure.
Various structural schematics according to embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the figures. The figures are not drawn to scale, wherein certain details are exaggerated and possibly omitted for clarity of presentation. The shapes of various regions, layers, and relative sizes and positional relationships therebetween shown in the drawings are merely exemplary, and deviations may occur in practice due to manufacturing tolerances or technical limitations, and a person skilled in the art may additionally design regions/layers having different shapes, sizes, relative positions, as actually required.
In the context of the present disclosure, when a layer/element is referred to as being "on" another layer/element, it can be directly on the other layer/element or intervening layers/elements may be present. In addition, if a layer/element is "on" another layer/element in one orientation, then that layer/element may be "under" the other layer/element when the orientation is reversed.
In order to overcome the problem that the existing metal antenna cannot be deformed, the invention provides the following antenna.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following technical solutions.
A deformable antenna, as shown in figure 1, comprises a resistance grounding layer 1, a heat-deformable polylactic acid composite material layer 2 and an electric wave radiation layer 3 which are sequentially laminated;
the polylactic acid composite material is formed by compounding polylactic acid and carbon fibers.
The deformable antenna is of a sandwich structure formed by three layers of materials, and the resistance grounding layer 1 can be used for being electrified to generate resistance heat, so that the polylactic acid composite material layer 2 deforms under the action of the resistance heat, and meanwhile, the electric wave radiation layer 3 is driven to deform, and the purpose of autonomous controllable deformation is achieved.
On the other hand, the antenna can be deformed, and a mechanical transmission device for adjusting the angle and the position of the antenna is not required to be additionally arranged, so that the size of a device is reduced, and the miniaturization is easier to realize.
The polylactic acid composite material adopted by the central layer is formed by compounding polylactic acid and carbon fiber according to a weight ratio of 90-99: 10-1.
The resistance layer can be made of a material which can generate resistance heat enough for antenna deformation when electrified, is not limited to common metal materials of gold, silver, copper and aluminum, and can also be a high-performance heat transfer material added with graphene, or a polymer material doped with metal and conducting electricity.
The electric wave radiation layer is the main functional layer of the antenna, which is used for radiating electric waves and receiving or transmitting signals, and common metal materials of gold, silver, copper and aluminum or polymer materials doped with metal and conducting can be adopted.
The polymer used in the resistive layer and the radio wave radiation layer is mainly polylactic acid. . The amount of metal doping in the two layers is function dependent.
The above method for manufacturing the transformable antenna is arbitrary and may be bonded together with an adhesive or deposited layer by layer, but the above methods have a problem of low efficiency, and the present invention provides the following preferable manufacturing method.
Firstly, selecting one of a resistance grounding layer and an electric wave radiation layer as a base layer, and carrying out hot-melt deposition on a 3D printing heat-deformable polylactic acid composite material on the base layer to form a polylactic acid composite material layer;
then, the other of the resistive ground layer and the radio wave radiation layer is bonded to the polylactic acid composite material layer.
The key point of the method is that the polylactic acid composite material layer in the middle of the antenna is formed by hot-melt deposition 3D printing, so that the production efficiency can be improved, the method is simultaneously suitable for resistance grounding layers and electric wave radiation layers made of various materials, and the preparation sequence of the two outer surface layers is not limited. Wherein, the temperature of the hot-melt deposition 3D printing is determined according to the type of the polylactic acid composite material.
Taking the resistive ground layer as an example of the base layer, the resistive ground layer may be a metal foil cut in advance, or may be a liquid metal or a molten/liquid polymer doped with a metal as a raw material, and a 3D printing means is used to print the resistive ground layer with a desired size.
And then, thermally fusing and depositing the 3D printing polylactic acid composite material with thermal deformation to form a polylactic acid composite material layer. Then, similarly, the electric wave radiation layer can adopt a metal foil which is cut in advance, or can also adopt liquid metal or molten/liquid polymer doped with metal as raw materials, and the electric wave radiation layer with the required size is printed by adopting a 3D printing means. When a metal foil cut in advance is used, the metal foil is preferably pressed onto the polylactic acid composite material before cooling and solidifying, and can be tightly attached without an adhesive.
In some preferred embodiments, the resistive ground layer, the thermal deformable polylactic acid composite material layer and the electric wave radiation layer are all prepared by 3D printing, so that the effect of 4D printing is achieved as a whole, and the printing is more intelligent.
The embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above. However, these examples are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. The scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, and such alternatives and modifications are intended to be within the scope of the present disclosure.