JP2004312707A - Arm-mounted communication device and information terminal device provided with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an arm-mounted communication device which is miniaturized and thinned as a whole and also can improve antenna performance. <P>SOLUTION: An arm-mounted communication device 1 includes a communication device main body 2 and bands 5, 6 for removably mounting the main body 2 on the arm of a user. The device includes a patch antenna 51 which is housed in the band 5 so that a ground conductor 55 can be positioned on the side of the inner periphery rather than a radiation conductor 54, and a circuit board 70 equipped with a first circuit board 70a that is positioned within casings 11, 12 of the communication device main body 41, a second circuit board 70b positioned within casings 12, 22 of the band 5 on the side of the inner periphery rather than the patch antenna 51, and a ground electrode 32 spread over both the first and second circuit boards 70a, 70b, and the ground conductor 55 of the patch antenna 51 is connected to the ground electrode 32 of the circuit board 70. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an arm-mounted communication device.

  Since the wrist-worn communication device is worn on the user's arm, typically the wrist, it is desirable that the wrist be miniaturized as much as possible without interfering. It is desirable to minimize this noise because electromagnetic waves are likely to be noise to the communication device body (circuit portion). Further, since the wrist-worn communication device is mounted so as to be in close contact with the body surface, When transmitting and receiving radio signals, it is desirable to minimize the influence of the human body.

For the purpose of minimizing the influence of the human body, for example, a wristwatch-type wireless device in which a helical antenna is protruded from an upper surface of a wristwatch body has been proposed as an arm-mounted communication device (Patent Document 1). 1).
JP-A-11-177328 JP-A-6-224620 (Japanese Patent No. 3248277) JP-A-2002-353718

  However, in the wristwatch-type wireless device disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the antenna protrudes greatly from the surface of the main body, not only is it difficult to avoid the main body becoming large or having a special shape, but also lacks portability.

  On the other hand, though it is not related to an arm-mounted communication device, in a planar patch antenna used for a moving object such as a ship, an aircraft, or an automobile, an antenna substrate larger than the planar patch antenna body is connected to a ground electrode ( (Patent Document 2). In a foldable mobile phone, a patch antenna is provided with a ground substrate separate from a ground substrate of a patch antenna. (Patent Literature 3) has also been proposed in which a large grounding board is provided by providing the two grounding boards by a flexible conductive means and providing a larger bandwidth by providing the grounding board in a housing portion in which no is accommodated. .

  However, the former planar patch antenna is large in size at a position where the antenna substrate faces the patch antenna, and thus it is difficult to avoid an increase in the size of the antenna device as a whole. On the other hand, in the case of the foldable mobile phone including the latter antenna device, since the relative position between the antenna and the user's body cannot be uniquely determined, depending on the manner in which the mobile phone is stored in a pocket or the like, the May not be able to exhibit desired characteristics.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an arm-mounted communication device that can not only reduce the size and thickness as a whole but also enhance the antenna performance. It is in.

  In order to achieve the above object, an arm-mounted communication device according to the present invention is an arm-mounted communication device including a communication device main body and a band portion for detachably attaching the main body to a user's arm. The patch antenna housed in the band portion so that the conductor is located on the inner side of the radiation conductor, the first circuit board portion located in the housing of the communication device main body, and the inner side of the patch antenna A second circuit board portion located in the housing portion of the band portion, and a circuit board having a ground electrode extending over both the first and second circuit board portions. It is connected to the earth electrode of the circuit board.

  In the arm-mounted communication device of the present invention, the patch antenna is housed so that the ground conductor is located on the inner peripheral side of the radiation conductor. Can be suppressed. Further, in the arm-mounted communication device of the present invention, "the second circuit board portion of the circuit board provided with the ground electrode is located in the housing portion of the band portion on the inner peripheral side of the patch antenna, and the ground conductor of the patch antenna Is connected to the ground electrode of the circuit board ", the effect of the arm can be minimized when transmitting and receiving with the patch antenna. Further, since it is not necessary to accommodate the patch antenna in the main body, the size and thickness of the main body can be reduced. Further, in the arm-mounted communication device of the present invention, since the “patch antenna” is housed in the band portion, it can be located away from the communication device main body. The risk that the part will be affected can be minimized. In addition, in the arm-mounted communication device of the present invention, the first circuit in which the circuit board including the ground electrode connected to the ground conductor of the patch antenna at the second circuit board portion is located in the housing of the communication device main body is provided. Since it further has a substrate portion, while keeping the area occupied by the second circuit board portion in the band portion in which the patch antenna is accommodated to a minimum, not only can the antenna bandwidth be expanded, but also the effect of the arm portion is minimized. And the antenna gain can be maximized.

  Here, the circuit board may be a ground board including only a ground electrode as the conductive pattern, but is not limited to the ground board, and may include other signal line patterns and power supply line patterns in addition to the ground electrode pattern. One or both of them may be included at the same time. Since the earth electrode of the circuit board is relatively far from the radiation conductor of the patch antenna and located on the back side of the ground conductor, it is relatively hard to be affected by radio waves transmitted and received at the radiation conductor, and The part can be minimized from being radiated or received from the back side of the patch antenna. The circuit board may be on the entire surface of the band portion or the main body portion, but is not necessarily on the entire surface, and the wiring pattern is formed while avoiding the area so that a space or area occupied by circuit components or the like can be secured. It may be in some areas as formed.

  In this specification, with respect to the arm-mounted communication device, the “inner side” refers to a side close to the surface of the arm when the arm-mounted communication device is worn around the arm of the user. Say.

  In the arm-mounted communication device of the present invention, typically, the circuit board includes a flexible circuit board, and for example, the entire circuit board including the ground electrode is formed of the flexible circuit board. In such a case, the flexible circuit board including the ground electrode may be connected not only to the body of the body of the wrist-worn type communication device or the housing of the band, but also to a hinge (rotating part) connecting the body and the band. A patch antenna having a ground electrode connected to a large ground electrode can be obtained by simply forming the entire portion including the connecting portion and electrically directly connecting the ground conductor of the patch antenna to the ground electrode of the flexible circuit board.

  In the wrist-worn communication device of the present invention, typically, the band portion includes a pair of band portions, and the circuit board including the ground electrode includes only the band portion of the band portion in which the patch antenna is accommodated. But also extends to the other band. In that case, the circuit board with the ground electrode may extend only to one band portion and the main body portion of the patch antenna, but typically also extends to another band portion. This not only makes it possible to maximize the earth electrode connected to the ground electrode of the patch antenna, but also makes it possible to surround substantially the entire circumference of the user's arm with the earth electrode. In addition to not only minimizing the effect of the arm of the user located on the back side of the patch antenna, the arm of the user located on the back side also reduces the effect of radio waves in the microwave region. Can be minimized.

  The wrist-worn communication device of the present invention is typically used as a wrist-worn mobile phone or the like, in which case, typically, a receiving speaker of the mobile phone and a transmitting One of the microphones is housed. The wrist-worn communication device of the present invention can be further used as an information communication terminal device as a communication terminal for various types of information including data communication, and can incorporate a desired information processing device or a desired sensor. Etc. may be incorporated.

  Further, a matching circuit of the antenna or a circuit board having a grounding conductor portion for connecting the grounding conductor and the ground electrode is fixed to the grounding conductor of the antenna, impedance matching between the antenna and the circuit portion is performed, and the area of the fixed surface is further fixed. May be smaller than the area of the grounding fuselage.

  Since the patch antenna is accommodated such that the ground conductor is located on the inner peripheral side of the radiation conductor, the influence of the arm can be suppressed when transmitting and receiving the patch antenna. Further, since it is not necessary to accommodate the patch antenna in the main body, the size and thickness of the main body can be reduced.

  In addition, since the communication device main body and the patch antenna can be located apart from each other, the possibility that the circuit portion of the communication device main body is affected by the radio wave of the patch antenna can be suppressed.

  Also, since the circuit board including the ground electrode connected to the ground conductor of the patch antenna by the second circuit board section is also provided in the first circuit board section located in the housing section of the communication device main body, the patch antenna is accommodated. While the occupied area of the second circuit board in the band is suppressed, not only can the bandwidth of the antenna be increased, but also the effect of the arm can be suppressed and the gain of the antenna can be increased.

  In addition, since the ground electrode of the circuit board is relatively far away from the radiating conductor of the patch antenna and located on the back side of the ground conductor, it is relatively hard to be affected by radio waves transmitted and received at the radiating conductor, and Part of the patch antenna can be suppressed from being radiated from the back side or received on the back side.

  In the case where the entire circuit board including the ground electrode is formed of a flexible circuit board, the flexible circuit board including the ground electrode may be mounted not only in the housing of the main body of the arm-mounted communication device or the housing of the band, but also in the main body. It is formed over the whole including a connecting portion such as a hinge portion (rotating portion) connecting the cable and the band portion, and only by electrically directly connecting the ground conductor of the patch antenna to the ground electrode of the flexible circuit board, a large size is obtained. A patch antenna having a ground electrode connected to the ground electrode is obtained.

  Further, the patch antenna has a substantially rectangular thick plate shape, a radiation conductor layer or a radiation conductor portion formed on substantially the entire curved surface of the dielectric having a curved upper surface so as to change the thickness in the width direction, By using an antenna having a ground conductor layer or a ground conductor portion formed substantially all over the flat bottom surface, the bandwidth can be increased.

  Further, the band portion includes a pair of band portions, and the circuit board provided with the ground electrode extends not only to the band portion in which the patch antenna is housed but also to the other band portion of the band portion, whereby the patch antenna Not only can the ground electrode connected to the ground electrode be expanded, but also the whole circumference of the user's arm can be surrounded by the ground electrode, which is located on the back side of the patch antenna. In addition to suppressing the effect of the user's arm, the user's arm located on the back side can be prevented from being affected by the radio waves in the microwave region.

  Further, by arranging a signal line such as a speaker or a microphone so as to be away from a feeding point of the antenna, noise generated in the signal line can be suppressed.

  In addition, the flexible wiring board is not limited to the grounding board, but also functions as an original circuit board that transmits various signals and power supply energy by including other signal line patterns and power supply line patterns in addition to the ground electrode pattern. On the other hand, it is possible to enhance the transmission and reception characteristics of the antenna.

  Further, it is possible to fix the circuit board provided with the matching circuit to the ground conductor of the antenna and to perform impedance matching between the antenna and the circuit side.

  A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described based on a preferred embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings.

  1 to 4 show a preferred embodiment of the arm-mounted communication device 1 according to the present invention. The wrist-mounted communication device 1 includes a main body 2 and rigid arms 5 and 6 as bands that can rotate in the A and B directions with respect to the main body 2 around the rotation shafts 3 and 4. Having. The arm portions 5 and 6 may be flexible to some extent as long as the arms 5 and 6 have such a rigidity that they do not bend and turn over in a normal use state.

  In terms of structure, for example, as shown in detail in the exploded perspective view of FIG. 1, the rigid casing 7 is formed by the front casing section 10 and the rear casing section 20 which are fixed to each other by a large number of setscrews 9 and the like. The front case 10 includes a front case 11 that forms the front case of the main body 2 and an upper arm 5 that corresponds to a 12 o'clock band located on the 12 o'clock side of an analog timepiece. A front upper arm portion 12 constituting a front housing portion and a front lower arm portion constituting a front housing portion of a lower arm portion 6 corresponding to a 6 o'clock band portion located at 6 o'clock in an analog timepiece. 13. On the other hand, the back case 20 includes a back case 21 forming the back case of the main body 2, a back upper arm 22 forming the back case of the upper arm 5, and a lower arm 6 of the lower arm 6. And a back lower arm portion 23 constituting a back housing portion. Note that a cushion member 28 made of soft rubber or the like is attached to the inside of the rear housing portion 20 (in FIG. 2B, the cushion member 28 is shown in a detached state). The cushion member 28 includes a main body cushion 28a attached to the back or inside of the back case 21, an upper cushion 28b attached to the back or inside of the back upper arm 22, and a lower cushion attached to the back or inside of the back lower arm 23. Includes cushion 28c. The cushion member 28 cooperates with the back case 21 to form sound propagation paths 28d and 28e in regions corresponding to the sound holes of the speaker 52 and the microphone 63.

  A main module 41, a circuit frame 42, a polymer battery 43, and the like are accommodated between the front and rear housing portions 11 and 21 of the main body 2, and the front and rear housing portions 12 and 22 of the upper arm portion 5 are accommodated. An antenna module 51, a speaker 52, and the like are accommodated therein, and an LED circuit block 61, an LED light guide plate 62, a microphone 63, and the like are housed in the front and rear housing portions 13, 23 of the lower arm unit 6. Is done. The main module 41 includes a communication processing circuit section and other information processing circuit sections, includes a liquid crystal display section and a display control section thereof, and is mounted on a rigid circuit board section as necessary. The circuit section of the main module 41 may include a circuit for processing a high-frequency (RF) signal or a circuit for processing a pulse signal including a high-frequency component of about GHz. 52a is a speaker holding cushion, and 52b is a speaker holding cushion seat.

  In addition, the housing 7 of the arm-mounted communication device 1 has a flexible circuit board portion 70a, 70b, 70c that extends over the main body 2 of the arm-mounted communication device 1 and the arms 5, 6 on both sides. A switch circuit block 70 composed of a circuit board is accommodated. The flexible circuit board 70 has an outer edge shape similar to the outer edge shape of the front and rear housings 10 and 20, and the outer edge of a flexible plastic base material having no wiring pattern among the circuit board portions 70a, 70b and 70c is formed. , Between the corresponding housing portions 11, 12, 13 and 21, 22, 23 of the front and rear housings 10, 20, via a sealing member such as a waterproof packing. Liquid tightly sealed. Here, the flexible circuit board 70a in the main body 2 forms a first circuit board, and the flexible circuit board 70b in the arm 5 forms a second circuit board. The switch circuit block 70 includes a base 71 of a flexible circuit board and a wiring pattern 72 formed on the base 71.

  The wiring pattern 72 includes an upper arm area wiring pattern 73 located in the upper arm section 5, a main body area wiring pattern 74 located in the main body section 2, and a lower-arm area wiring pattern located in the lower arm section 6. 75, an elongated connection wiring pattern 76 connecting the area wiring patterns 73 and 74, and an elongated connection wiring pattern 77 connecting the area wiring patterns 74 and 75.

  The wiring pattern 72 includes the ground wiring pattern 32 serving as a ground electrode occupying most of the area, and the other signal wiring patterns 78.

  The ground wiring pattern or the ground pattern 32 is located in the upper arm portion 5 and constitutes most of the upper arm region wiring pattern 73. The upper arm region ground pattern 33 is located in the main body portion 2 and the body region wiring pattern 74. , A lower-arm area ground pattern 35 located in the lower-arm portion 6 and forming a majority of the lower-arm area wiring pattern 75, and area wiring patterns 73 and 74. And a part of a long and thin connection wiring pattern 76 connecting the area ground patterns 33 and 34, and a part of a long and thin connection wiring pattern 77 connecting the area wiring patterns 74 and 75. An elongated connecting ground pattern 37 connecting the ground patterns 34 and 35 Including the.

  The upper arm region wiring pattern 73 includes a substantially oval portion 73a extending along the vicinity of the outer peripheral edge of the upper arm portion 5, and a tongue-shaped antenna protruding inside the side of the main body side of the oval portion 73a. And a connection portion 73b. The upper arm region ground pattern 33 also has a substantially oval portion 33a forming a part of the oval portion 73a of the upper arm region wiring pattern 73, and protrudes inside the side of the main body side of the oval portion 33a. And a tongue-shaped antenna connection portion 33b. However, substantially all of the tongue-shaped antenna connection portion 73b of the upper arm region wiring pattern 73 is formed of the tongue-shaped antenna connection portion 33b of the upper arm region ground pattern 33.

  The main area wiring pattern 74 has a substantially square shape substantially corresponding to the outer peripheral shape of the main module 41, and the ground pattern 34 of the main area wiring pattern 74 is such that the main module 41 includes a rigid circuit board or is connected to the rigid circuit board. -When mounted, it is connected to the ground terminal (ground pattern) of the rigid circuit board. The lower-arm wiring area pattern 75 has an outer shape corresponding to the outer shape of the lower arm portion 6, and includes a dome switch 75a corresponding to the arrangement of the push button 6a, as described later.

  The patch antenna 51 has a substantially rectangular thick plate-shaped dielectric 53 having an upper surface 53a curved so as to change the thickness in the width direction so as to expand the bandwidth, and a substantially entire surface of the curved surface 53a of the dielectric 53. And a ground conductor layer or a ground conductor portion 55 formed substantially over the entire area of the flat bottom surface 53b of the dielectric material 53. A through hole or through hole 53c is provided. In the drawings, the conductor layers 54 and 55 are exaggerated and thick. When antenna characteristics are ensured in a desired bandwidth, the top surface 53a of the dielectric 53 may be, for example, a plane parallel to the bottom surface 53b. An antenna substrate 56 having a matching circuit (not shown) including a capacitor and a coil is fixed to the bottom surface 53b of the antenna 51. A grounding conductor layer is formed on a portion of the antenna substrate 56 other than the matching circuit (not shown). The area of the antenna substrate 56 is smaller than the area of the ground conductor layer or the ground electrode 55 of the patch antenna 51. If impedance matching between the antenna 51 and the circuit side can be achieved by designing the position of the feed point 51a, the antenna substrate 56 may be omitted. A feed through hole or through hole 56a is also formed at a portion of the antenna substrate 56 corresponding to the hole 53c of the dielectric 53 of the antenna 51, and the inside or the center conductor of the feed coaxial cable 57 is formed through the holes 56a and 53c. 57 a is electrically connected to the radiation conductor 54. In FIG. 4A, reference numeral 56b denotes a soldered portion between the center conductor 57a and the through holes 56a and 53c, and 56c denotes a soldered portion between the outer shield conductor 57b and the grounding conductor layer of the antenna substrate 56. The tongue-shaped antenna substrate connecting portion 33b of the upper arm area ground pattern 33 of the ground pattern 32 of the wiring pattern 72 of the flexible circuit board 70 is electrically connected to the ground conductor layer 55 of the antenna 51. Therefore, the ground pattern 33 of the flexible circuit board portion 70b as the second circuit board portion is located substantially on the inner peripheral side of the patch antenna 51, that is, on the side closer to the arm portion W. The tongue-shaped connecting portion 33b may be fixedly connected by another fixing connector as shown by an imaginary line 51d in FIG. As long as the flexible circuit board portion 70b provided with the ground pattern 33 is connected to the ground conductor layer 55 on the ground conductor layer 55 side of the patch antenna 51, the shape of the antenna substrate 56 and the tongue-shaped connection portion 33b of the ground pattern 33 The arrangement, fixing, and connection of the coaxial cable 57 may be different.

  As can be seen from FIGS. 3 and 4, the coaxial cable 57 is curved and fixed in an inverted U-shape as shown by reference numeral 57c at a side edge portion near the main body 2 of the antenna 51, and furthermore, by reference numeral 57d. As shown, it extends spirally around the rotation shaft 3, is loosely fitted to the rotation shaft 3, enters the housing of the main body 2, and extends to the main module 41 including a transmission / reception signal processing circuit. The wiring pattern 72 is also loosely spirally fitted around the rotation shaft 3 at a position 76a where the elongated connection pattern portion 76 straddles the rotation shaft 3. The arrangement of the connection pattern 77 and the rotating shaft 4 is the same. Reference numeral 3a denotes a spring that biases the rigid band 5 around the rotation shaft 3 to the open position when the lock of the rigid band 5 is released. A spring having a similar function is provided for the rotating shaft 4 and the rigid band 6.

  As can be seen from FIG. 1, the through-holes 53c and 56a serving as the feeding points of the antenna 51 at the portion 51a are located on the left side of the outer peripheral portion 73c on the right side of the oval portion 73a of the upper arm region pattern 73 of the wiring pattern 72. Since it is located close to the outer peripheral portion 73d, the signal line and the ground line of the speaker 52 are connected to the oblong portion 73a so as to minimize the influence of transmission / reception radio waves which are likely to be strong near the feeding point 51a of the antenna 51. Of these, the one remote from the feeding point 51a, that is, the outer peripheral portion 73c on the right side is connected to the wiring pattern 72. By doing so, in a case where transmission or reception of radio waves is intermittently repeated at, for example, about 200 Hz in the antenna 51, it is possible to minimize the possibility that noise in the audible frequency region is included in the acoustic signal of the speaker 52. Can be suppressed. The earth pattern 33a of the oval portion 73a may be completely closed, but may be opened at the end portion 33e of FIG. 1 if desired.

  The wiring pattern 75 in the lower arm region includes, in addition to the ground pattern 35 in the lower arm region, a power supply line and a signal line of the microphone 63, a power supply line of the LED, a large number of dome-shaped switch portions 75a and their signal lines. Including. Each dome-shaped switch part 75a has a lower wiring board part and an elastic dome-shaped upper wiring board part, and the upper and lower wiring patterns are electrically connected by pressing the corresponding push button 6a. A signal unique to the push button 6a is generated. The LED of the LED circuit block 61 is supplied with power via the connector 61a, and the light from the LED of the LED circuit block 61 illuminates the push button 6a via the LED light guide plate 62 from the rear side so as to be visible even in a dark place.

  Note that the lower arm 6 is located substantially behind the patch antenna 51 when the arm-mounted communication device 1 is mounted on the arm W, so that the lower arm 6 is originally affected by radio waves transmitted and received by the patch antenna 51. In addition to being hardly received, the ground pattern 35 connected to the ground conductor 55 of the patch antenna 51 occupies most of the portion, so that the radio wave radiated from the antenna 51 is minimized from being emitted to the rear side.

  In the arm-mounted communication device 1 configured as described above, in the usable state, as can be seen mainly from FIGS. 2 and 3, the upper arm region ground pattern 33, the main body region ground pattern 34, the lower arm region ground pattern 35, The flexible wiring board 70 provided with the earth pattern 32 composed of the connection earth patterns 36 and 37 over most of the area is the area shown by the thick solid line in FIGS. 2B and 3, that is, the upper arm 5 and the main body 2. In almost the entire area of the lower arm 6, it extends substantially along the rear housing 20.

  Accordingly, in the arm-mounted communication device 1, more specifically, the arms 5 and 6 thereof have the detached position (open position) as shown by a solid line in FIG. 2B and shown in FIG. In the case of Pd, the ground pattern 32 extends substantially planarly over a much wider range than the patch antenna 51 on the ground conductor layer 55 side of the patch antenna 51. In this open position Pd, the user puts his / her ear to the receiver with the speaker 52 and brings the mouth closer to the vicinity of the transmitter with the microphone 63 in this open position Pd to form a so-called mobile phone. When used, the patch antenna 51 is brought close to the side of the user's face with the ground pattern 32 directly connected to the ground conductor layer 55 interposed therebetween.

  On the other hand, as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 2B, the rigid upper arm 5 and the lower arm 6 are turned around the respective turning shafts 3 and 4 to the closed position Pm and used. When the wrist W1 of the wrist W1 of the person is set at the mounting position Pm1 where the wrist W1 is wound around the wrist W1, the wrist W1 of the arm W is substantially indicated by the ground pattern 32 (shown by a thick imaginary line in FIG. 2B). ), And the patch antenna 51 with the ground conductor layer 55 facing the inner peripheral side is mounted on the outer peripheral side thereof.

  That is, in the arm-mounted communication device 1 configured as described above, the patch antenna 51 is housed in the housings 10 and 20 so that the ground conductor 55 is located on the inner peripheral side of the radiation conductor 54. In the state Pm1 in which the arm-mounted communication device 1 is mounted on the user's arm W, the effect of the arm W is minimized when transmitting and receiving microwaves or radio waves in a wavelength region close to the microwave by the patch antenna 51. Can be suppressed.

  In the arm-mounted communication device 1, the ground pattern 33 of the upper arm area wiring pattern 73 of the flexible wiring board part 70 b as the second circuit board part is located on the inner peripheral side of the patch antenna 51 as an upper arm as a band part. Since the ground conductor 55 of the patch antenna 51 is connected to the ground pattern 33 of the upper arm area wiring pattern 73 because the ground conductor 55 is located in the housing portion of the portion 5, that is, the front and rear upper arm portions 12 and 22. In transmitting and receiving a radio wave such as a microwave or a wavelength range close to the microwave, the influence of the arm W can be minimized.

  Further, in this wrist-mounted communication device 1, the patch antenna 51 is housed not in the main body 2 but in the upper arm portion 5, so that the communication device main body and the information processing device main body housed in the main body 2 are provided. Since the antenna can be located at a position distant from the functional main module 41, the possibility that the microwaves of the patch antenna 51 or radio waves in a wavelength range close to the patch antenna 51 affect circuit parts such as the main module 41 can be minimized. . Further, in the arm-mounted communication device 1, the patch antenna 51 is housed not in the main body 2 but in the upper arm 5, so that the size and thickness of the main body 2 can be reduced.

  In addition, in the arm-mounted communication device 1, the flexible wiring board 70 including the ground pattern 32 connected to the ground conductor 55 of the patch antenna 51 by the ground pattern 33 of the upper arm area wiring pattern 73 of the flexible circuit board 70b is provided. Since the main module 41 includes the main body area wiring patterns 74 located in the cases 11 and 21 of the main body 2 in which the main module 41 is incorporated, the area occupied by the flexible circuit board part 70b in the upper arm part 5 in which the patch antenna 51 is accommodated is minimized. Since the ground pattern 32 can be expanded while keeping the minimum, the bandwidth of the antenna 51 can be expanded, the influence of the arm W can be minimized, and the antenna gain can be maximized.

  Here, the flexible wiring board 70 may be a ground board including only the ground pattern 32 as the conductive pattern, but is not limited to the ground board, and may include other signal line patterns and power supply patterns in addition to the ground electrode pattern. Includes wire patterns. Therefore, it is possible to improve the transmission / reception characteristics of the antenna 51 on the other hand while allowing the flexible wiring board 70 to function as an original circuit board for transmitting various signals and power supply energy.

  In the wrist-mounted communication device 1, the wiring pattern 72 of the flexible wiring board 70 is relatively far from the radiation conductor 54 of the patch antenna 51, and further, the wrist-mounted communication device 1 takes the mounting position Pm1 or removes it. Irrespective of whether Pd is used, since it is located on the back side of the ground conductor 55, it is relatively unaffected by the radio wave transmitted and received at the radiation conductor 54, and the radio wave is radiated from the back side of the patch antenna 51. Or reception on the back side can be minimized.

  Further, in the arm-mounted communication device 1, the entire circuit board 70 including the ground pattern 32 is formed of a flexible wiring board, and the flexible wiring board 70 is provided inside the housings 11 and 21 of the main body 2 and the housing of the upper arm 5. Hinge parts (rotating parts) 3 and 4 for connecting the main body part 2 with the upper arm part 5 and the lower arm part 6 as well as inside the bodies 13 and 23 of the bodies 12 and 22 and the lower arm part 6 are included. The patch antenna having the ground electrode 55 connected to the large ground pattern 32 simply by electrically directly connecting the ground conductor 55 of the patch antenna 51 to the ground pattern 33 of the flexible circuit board portion 70b because it is formed entirely. 51 will be obtained.

  In the arm-mounted communication device 1, the arm portion as the band portion is composed of a pair, ie, upper and lower arm portions 5 and 6, and the flexible wiring board 70 provided with the ground pattern 32 includes the main body portion 2 and the arm portion 5. , 6 extend not only to the upper arm portion 5 in which the patch antenna 51 is accommodated, but also to the other arm portion, that is, the lower arm portion 6. Thus, not only can the earth pattern 32 connected to the ground electrode 55 of the patch antenna 51 be maximized, but also the whole circumference of the user's arm W is surrounded by the earth electrode 32. Not only can the effect of the user's arm W located on the back side of the patch antenna 51 be minimized, but also the user's arm W located on the back side can be reduced. The influence of the radio wave in the microwave region can be minimized.

  Although the flexible wiring board 70 provided with the ground pattern 32 may extend only between the upper arm portion 5 having the patch antenna 51 and the main body portion 2, the other arm portion, that is, The lower arm unit 6 processes signals of extremely high frequency components, which are susceptible to noise, and the like, and radio waves in a microwave region such as a microwave transmitted and received by the patch antenna 51 have a lower signal. The ground pattern 32 of the flexible circuit board 70 is lower unless there is a special situation such as a case where a high-frequency component is particularly overlapped and signal processing in a region including the frequency component needs to be performed in the lower arm unit 6. -It is preferred that it also extends to the arm 6. The patch antenna 51 may be housed in the lower arm section 6 instead of the upper arm section 5 as long as the ground conductor section 55 is connected to the ground pattern 32, and in some cases, the upper arm section 5 and the Separate patch antennas may be accommodated in the lower arm 6.

  For example, when a signal is transmitted or received at a repetition frequency of about several hundred Hz by the patch antenna 51, a relatively strong sideband of about several hundred Hz is generated in the signal of the antenna 51, but as described above, the flexible circuit is used. By dividing the wiring pattern 73 of the board 70 into an area 73c used for transmitting a signal in the audible frequency range from the speaker 52 and an area 73d to be used in connection with the patch antenna 51, the patch It has been confirmed that noise of several hundred Hz from the antenna 51 can be practically prevented from being reduced, and the signal quality of the speaker 52 can be improved.

When the ground conductor layer 55 of the patch antenna (about 2 cm × about 2 cm × about 4 to 5 mm (thickness)) 51 is substantially connected to the ground pattern 32 of the flexible wiring pattern 70 (F11), about 1 to 2 mm When an experiment (F1) was performed on a microwave in the 1.9 GHz band to compare with a case in which there was a region close to and not connected by a conductor (F12), as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. Point was confirmed. FIG. 5 shows experimental data for F12, and FIG. 6 shows experimental data for F11.
(1) In the case of F11, the gain is increased due to the improvement in the reflection efficiency of the antenna 51 as compared with the case of F12, and the arms W and W are set by setting the arms 5 and 6 of the device 1 to the closed position Pm. Pm1 (the state shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 2B (the state where the arm W is present)) and the state Pm2 which is the closed position Pm but is not mounted on the arm W (the imagination of FIG. 2B). (In the state shown by the line and without the arm W), the fluctuation of the reflection efficiency of the antenna 51 is reduced, and the fluctuation of the gain is reduced. (2) The bandwidth of the received signal in the state Pm2 is larger in the case of F11 than in the case of F12.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an arm-mounted communication device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 1A is an explanatory plan view when an open position (removed position) is present, FIG. 1B is a front explanatory view of FIG. 1A, and FIG. The state at (mounting position) is further indicated by imaginary lines. FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 2A, showing a further enlarged view of an upper arm portion incorporating an antenna in the arm-mounted communication device of FIG. 2. 4A and 4B show an antenna portion of the upper arm portion in FIG. 3, wherein FIG. 4A is an explanatory bottom view, and FIG. 4B is a further enlarged explanatory view of a concentric cable extraction portion. 7 is a graph showing antenna characteristics when the ground conductor layer of the patch antenna is not connected to the ground pattern of the flexible wiring pattern, wherein (a) shows a state where the device is mounted on the arm, and (b) shows a state where the device is not mounted on the arm. 7 is a graph showing antenna characteristics when a ground conductor layer of a patch antenna is connected to an earth pattern of a flexible wiring pattern, wherein (a) shows a state in which the device is mounted on an arm, and (b) shows a state in which the device is not mounted on the arm.

Explanation of reference numerals

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 arm-worn communication device 2 main body 3, 4 pivot 5 upper arm 6 lower arm 10 front housing 11 front case 12 front upper arm 13 front lower arm 20 back housing 21 back case 22 back upper Arm part 23 Back lower arm part 32 Earth pattern 33 Upper arm area earth pattern 34 Body area earth pattern 35 Lower arm area earth pattern 36, 37 Connection earth pattern 41 Main module 42 Circuit frame 43 Battery 51 Patch antenna 51a Feeding point 52 Speaker 53 Dielectric 53c, 56a Through hole 54 Radiating conductor 55 Grounding conductor 56 Matching circuit board 57 Coaxial cable 61 LED circuit block 62 LED light guide plate 63 Microphone 70 Switch circuit block (flexible circuit board)
70a Flexible circuit board part of main body (first circuit board part)
70b Flexible circuit board part of upper arm part (second circuit board part)
70c Flexible circuit board part 71 Base material 72 Wiring pattern 73 Upper arm area wiring pattern 74 Body area wiring pattern 75 Lower arm area wiring pattern 76, 77 Connection wiring pattern Pd Removal position Pm Closed position Pm1 Mounting position

Claims (16)

An arm-mounted communication device including a communication device main body portion and a band portion for detachably attaching the main body portion to a user's arm,
A patch antenna housed in the band portion such that the ground conductor is located on the inner peripheral side of the radiation conductor,
A first circuit board portion located in the housing portion of the communication device main body portion, and a second circuit board portion located in the housing portion of the band portion on the inner peripheral side of the patch antenna, the first and second circuits being provided. A circuit board with a ground electrode extending over both of the board parts,
An arm-mounted communication device in which a ground conductor of a patch antenna is connected to an earth electrode of a circuit board.   The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the circuit board includes a flexible circuit board.   2. The band portion comprises a pair of band portions, and the circuit board provided with the ground electrode extends not only to the band portion where the patch antenna is housed but also to the other band portion of the band portion. Or the arm-mounted communication device according to 2.   The portable telephone according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a mobile phone function, wherein one of a receiving speaker and a transmitting microphone of the mobile phone is housed in the band section in which the patch antenna is housed. The communication device according to any one of the preceding claims.   The patch antenna has a ground conductor and a radiation conductor, and the ground conductor and the radiation conductor are arranged in parallel, or the radiation conductor is arranged to be curved or inclined with respect to the ground conductor. The wrist-worn communication device according to claim 1, wherein: An arm-mounted communication device comprising: a communication device main body portion; and a band portion for detachably attaching the main body portion to a user's arm,
An antenna housed in a band portion such that the directivity of the antenna is strongly directed outward, a first circuit board portion located in a housing portion of a communication device main body portion, and a first circuit board portion arranged in a housing portion of the band portion. A second circuit board portion, wherein the second circuit board portion is entirely or partially located on the inner peripheral side of the antenna, and is connected to a ground electrode that extends over both the first and second circuit board portions. An arm-mounted communication device, wherein a ground conductor of an antenna is connected.   7. The wrist mounted communication device according to claim 6, wherein the antenna is an antenna having a dielectric and a ground conductor and a radiation conductor.   7. The band portion includes a pair of band portions, and the circuit board including the ground electrode extends not only to the band portion in which the antenna is housed but also to the other band portion of the band portion. 8. The communication device according to claim 7.   9. The arm-mounted communication device according to claim 1, wherein the ground electrode is arranged along an outer edge shape of the housing.   The circuit board has an outer edge shape similar to the outer edge shape of a housing, and an outer edge portion of the circuit board is sandwiched between a front side and a back side via a sealing member to have waterproofness. Item 10. An arm-mounted communication device according to item 9.   Ground electrodes are respectively arranged at positions opposed to each other with the feeding point of the antenna interposed between the second circuit board portion, and electric signal wiring is arranged on the ground electrode side remote from the feeding point of the antenna at the second circuit board portion. The wrist-worn communication device according to claim 1, wherein:   The communication device according to claim 11, wherein the wiring of the electric signal is a wiring of a microphone or a speaker.   An antenna substrate is fixed to a ground conductor of the antenna, and the antenna substrate has a ground conductor portion, and the ground conductor portion is connected to a ground conductor of the antenna and a ground electrode of the first and second circuit board portions. 13. The wrist-worn communication device according to claim 1, wherein   14. The wrist-worn communication device according to claim 13, wherein a matching circuit of the antenna is provided on the circuit board, and is connected to a radiation conductor of the antenna.   15. The arm-mounted communication device according to claim 13, wherein an area of a fixing surface of the antenna substrate is smaller than an area of a ground conductor of the antenna.   An information terminal device comprising the wrist-worn communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

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