JP2024000710A - Electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic apparatus which can achieve both transmission/reception performance of suitable radio waves by an antenna element and sufficient housing strength, and can improve miniaturization of the housing and a degree of layout freedom.

SOLUTION: An electronic apparatus 10 has: a housing 14 having a flat shape; a louver 50 which is provided on the side face of the housing 14, has a laterally long shape and is made of a resin material; an air blowing fan 38 which is provided in the housing 14, and exhausts air from the louver 50; an antenna element 60 which is provided on a surface opposite to the air blowing fan 38 in the louver 50; and support pillars 86a to 86d which support between an upper cover material 20 and a lower cover material 22 between the air blowing fan 38 and the louver 50, are arranged at unequal intervals in a lateral direction, and are made of metal materials. The antenna element 60 has a shape at least partially extending in the lateral direction, and is arranged in parts of ventilation holes 82 where the intervals among the support pillars 86a and 86d are longest in side view so as to be longest.

SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

COPYRIGHT: (C)2024,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to an electronic device having an antenna element on the side surface of a housing.

Electronic devices such as notebook PCs (notebook personal computers) are equipped with antennas for various wireless communications such as WWAN (Wireless Wide Area Network) and WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network). It is preferable to provide the antenna element on the side surface of the housing because there is no barrier to transmitting and receiving data to and from the outside (see Patent Document 1).

In addition, a notebook PC is equipped with a heat generating element such as a CPU, and a cooling module is mounted inside the case to absorb heat generated by the heat generating element and radiate the heat to the outside. As the heat dissipation means, for example, a blower fan is used to exhaust and exhaust heat from the exhaust port. Exhaust ports are often provided with louvers to ensure the strength of the housing, prevent foreign matter from entering, and provide ventilation. The blower fan has a flat shape that fits the flat housing. Additionally, the louver has a horizontally elongated shape to match the air outlet of the blower fan.

Patent No. 6890702

There is a demand for smaller notebook PCs. However, both the antenna element and the exhaust port are sometimes provided on the side of the housing, and the total length of the four circumferences of the housing is limited, so if they occupy a predetermined length range, further miniaturization is required. becomes difficult. Furthermore, although it is desirable to be able to reduce the layout space of the antenna element as much as possible, it is difficult to make it extremely compact due to factors such as transmission and reception wavelengths. For this reason, it is being considered to provide the antenna element in the louver. This eliminates the need for the antenna element to occupy a predetermined space by itself, increasing the degree of freedom in layout within the housing. In order to provide the antenna element on the louver, it is preferable that the louver itself be made of a resin material.

By the way, as mentioned above, the louver has a horizontally elongated shape, and there is a concern that the resin material may not have sufficient strength to support the space between the upper cover and the lower cover of the housing. Providing many resin walls between the upper cover and the lower cover can improve the strength, but increases ventilation resistance.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide a metal support support between the upper cover and the lower cover near the louver, but if the metal support is too close to the antenna element, it will affect the transmission and reception of radio waves.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and is capable of achieving both suitable radio wave transmission and reception performance using an antenna element and sufficient strength of the casing, and also allows for miniaturization of the casing and freedom in layout. The purpose is to provide electronic equipment that can improve performance.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the objects, an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention is an electronic device, and includes a casing in which a first cover and a second cover are combined to form a flat shape. , a horizontally elongated resin louver provided on a side surface of the casing; a blower fan provided inside the casing for exhausting air from the louver; and a blower fan provided on a side of the louver opposite to the blower fan. a plurality of metal supports supporting between the first cover and the second cover between the blower fan and the louver, and arranged at irregular intervals in the horizontal direction; , the antenna element has a shape in which at least a portion thereof extends in the lateral direction, and is disposed longest at a location where the spacing between the pillars is longest in side view.

According to the above aspect of the present invention, the strength between the first cover and the second cover is ensured by the plurality of metal supports. In addition, although the pillars are made of metal, they are arranged at uneven intervals, and in particular, the antenna element is placed longest where the distance between the pillars is longest when viewed from the side. It is possible to achieve both transmission and reception performance and the strength of the casing. Furthermore, since the antenna element is provided in the louver, the antenna element alone does not occupy space, making it possible to reduce the size of the housing and improve the degree of freedom in layout.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view looking down from above on an electronic device according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the casing with the lower cover material removed to expose the inside. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the exhaust structure viewed diagonally from above. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the exhaust structure with the louver separated, viewed diagonally from below. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a louver and an upper cover material around the exhaust structure. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional side view of the exhaust structure and its surrounding area.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Below, embodiment of the electronic device concerning this invention is described in detail based on drawing. Note that the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view looking down from above an electronic device 10 according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic device 10 is a clamshell notebook PC in which a display casing 12 and a casing 14 are connected by a hinge 16 so as to be relatively rotatable. The electronic device according to the present invention may be a tablet PC, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a portable game machine, or the like other than a notebook PC.

The display housing 12 is a flat box that is thinner than the housing 14. A display 18 is mounted on the display housing 12. The display 18 is composed of, for example, an organic EL (OLED) or a liquid crystal.

Hereinafter, regarding the housing 14 and each component mounted thereon, the front side is referred to as the "front", and the rear side is referred to as the "front", with the display housing 12 opened at a predetermined angle and the display 18 viewed as a reference, as shown in FIG. The side will be referred to as "back," the width direction will be referred to as "left and right," and the thickness direction will be referred to as top and bottom or "vertical." Furthermore, in the description of the exhaust structure 56 that will be described later, the direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the housing 14 will be referred to as "horizontal".

A hinge 16 is connected to the rear end of the housing 14 . The housing 14 includes an upper cover material 20 that forms an upper surface and four circumferential side surfaces, and a lower cover material 22 that forms a lower surface. The housing 14 has an upper cover material 20 and a lower cover material 22 combined to form a flat box. A keyboard 24 and a touch pad 26 are provided on the top surface of the housing 14.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the housing 14 with the lower cover material 22 removed to expose the inside. The cooling module 28 is a cooling device that absorbs and diffuses the heat generated by the heating element 32 mounted on the motherboard 30 inside the housing 14, and further radiates the heat to the outside of the housing 14. The heating element 32 is, for example, a CPU, a GPU, or the like. The motherboard 30 is a printed circuit board on which various semiconductor chips such as a heating element 32 are mounted. The heating element 32 is the largest heating element within the housing 14. The cooling module 28 includes two heat pipes 34 and 36, two blower fans 38 and 40, two cooling fins 42 and 44, and a heat spreader 46. Reference numeral 48 in FIG. 2 is a battery.

The heat pipes 34 and 36 are pipe-shaped heat transport devices. The heat pipes 34 and 36 are arranged in parallel with some parts close to each other or in contact with each other. The heat pipe 34 has one end disposed so as to be able to absorb heat from the heating element 32, and the other end thermally connected to the cooling fins 42. The heat pipe 36 has one end thermally connected to the heating element 32 and the other end thermally connected to the cooling fin 44. A heat transfer material or a heat dissipation material may be interposed between the heating element 32 and the heat pipes 34 and 36. The heat pipes 34 and 36 each have a structure in which a working fluid is sealed in a sealed space formed inside a flat metal pipe, and the working fluid flows while causing a phase change in the sealed space, thereby efficiently distributing heat. transport.

The blowing fans 38 and 40 exhaust and radiate the heat transported by the heat pipes 34 and 36 to the outside from the louvers 50 and 52 via the cooling fins 42 and 44. The louvers 50 and 52 are provided so as to form part of the outer wall of the housing 14. In this embodiment, the louvers 50 and 52 also serve as exhaust ports, but an exhaust port may be provided on the outer wall of the casing 14 and the louvers 50 and 52 may be provided inside the exhaust port.

The blower fans 38 and 40 are arranged near the rear end of the housing 14 and separated into left and right sides. The blower fans 38 and 40 have a flat shape that fits the flat housing 14. The louver 50 is formed at a location corresponding to the exhaust position of the blower fan 38, and the cooling fins 42 are provided between the louver 50 and the blower fan 38. The louver 52 is formed at a location corresponding to the exhaust position of the blower fan 40, and the cooling fins 44 are provided between the louver 52 and the blower fan 40. The cooling fins 42 and 44 may be integrally configured with the blower fans 38 and 40. The edges of the lower surfaces of the blower fans 38 and 40 are surrounded by a sponge material 54. The sponge material 54 contacts the lower cover material 22 and prevents air from flowing back. The blower fans 38 and 40 take in air from air intake ports (not shown) formed in the lower cover material 22.

Next, the configuration of the exhaust structure 56 that blows air from the ventilation fan 38 to exhaust and radiate the heat of the cooling fins 42 from the louvers 50 will be described. Note that the configuration of the exhaust structure 58 (see FIG. 1) that blows air from the ventilation fan 40 and exhausts and radiates the heat of the cooling fins 44 from the louvers 52 is the same, so a detailed explanation will be omitted.

As mentioned above, in the description of the exhaust structure 56, the thickness direction of the casing 14 is referred to as "vertical", and the direction orthogonal thereto is referred to as "horizontal". In this example, the "lateral direction" of the exhaust structure 56 is the left-right direction, but when the exhaust from the blower fan 40 is along the left-right direction, the "lateral direction" is the front-back direction of the housing 14.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the exhaust structure 56 viewed diagonally from above. In FIG. 3, the keyboard 24 and display housing 12 are omitted. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the exhaust structure 56 with the louvers 50 separated, viewed diagonally from below. In FIG. 4, the display housing 12 is omitted. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the louver 50 and the upper cover material 20 around the exhaust structure 56. The exhaust structure 56 includes the above-mentioned blower fan 38, louver 50, and cooling fin 42, and further includes a louver partition 80 and an antenna element 60 provided on the louver 50. The antenna element 60 is shown with dots as appropriate for easy identification.

The louver 50 is a horizontally elongated resin material provided so as to open on the rear side of the housing 14 . The purpose of the louver 50 is to ensure the strength of the casing 14, prevent foreign matter from entering, and provide ventilation for the blower fan 38. The louver 50 is a unit type fixed to the housing 14, and is suitable for providing the antenna element 60 alone. The louver 50 is basically an integrally molded product made of resin, but it may be formed from a plurality of members depending on molding circumstances.

The louver 50 has an upper wall 64, a lower wall 66, a horizontal wall 68, and a plurality of vertical walls 70. The upper wall 64 abuts the inner surface 20a of the upper cover material 20 directly or via a sponge material 75 (see FIG. 6). The lower wall 66 contacts the inner surface 22a (see FIG. 6) of the lower cover material 22. The entire surface of the upper cover material 20 and the lower cover material 22, or at least the portion that contacts the louver 50 and the surrounding portion thereof, are made of metal and are electrically at ground level.

Two screw fixing pieces 72a and 72b are formed on the louver 50. The screw fixing pieces 72a and 72b are parts for fixing the louver 50 to the upper cover material 20 with screws B. The screw fixing pieces 72a and 72b are provided at both left and right ends of the louver 50.

An antenna ground corresponding to the antenna element 60 is provided on the upper wall 64. The antenna ground is formed at a location including the screw holes of the screw fixing pieces 72a and 72b, and is brought into contact with the upper cover material 20 by the screw fixation to establish electrical conduction. A conductive sponge material 75 is provided in a portion of the antenna ground other than the screw fixing pieces 72a and 72b, and is electrically connected to the upper cover material 20 via the sponge material 75. The sponge material 75 is fixed to the upper wall 64 with, for example, a conductive adhesive tape.

The plurality of vertical walls 70 are provided across the upper wall 64 and the lower wall 66 to ensure the strength of the louver 50 and the housing 14. The left and right ends of the vertical walls 70 serve as side walls of the louver 50. The plurality of vertical walls 70 are provided in such a number that they hardly obstruct the wind from the blower fan 38, and are provided at irregular intervals.

The horizontal wall 68 is provided at an intermediate portion between the upper wall 64 and the lower wall 66 over the entire length of the louver 50 in the horizontal direction. The horizontal wall 68 intersects with a plurality of vertical walls 70. The side of the lateral wall 68 inside the housing 14 forms an acute-angled cross section to reduce wind resistance from the blower fan 38.

The antenna element 60 is provided on the outer surface of the horizontal wall 68 of the louver 50 (that is, the surface opposite to the blower fan 38). The width W1 of the antenna element 60 is determined by the corresponding radio wave frequency and the like. In this embodiment, the width W1 is approximately half the opening width W4 in the louver 50. The antenna element 60 has a short sub-portion 60b along the vertical wall 70 in addition to a main portion 60a having a width W1 formed along the horizontal wall 68. In other words, at least a portion of the antenna element 60 is provided along the side wall 68. The antenna element 60 is formed of, for example, LDS (Laser Direct Structuring) or metal foil.

The cooling fins 42 are block-shaped and made of thin metal plates. The cooling fins 42 have a shape corresponding to the air outlet of the air blower fan 38, and include an upper plate, a lower plate, and a plurality of vertical plates 42a provided between these. The vertical plates 42a have their surfaces oriented to follow the wind from the blower fan 38, and a large number of vertical plates 42a are lined up at narrow intervals in the horizontal direction. The lower plate is fixed to the end of the heat pipe 34 by welding or the like.

Next, the louver partition portion 80 included in the exhaust structure 56 will be explained.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the louver partition portion 80 is provided at a location that partitions the louver 50 and the inside of the casing 14. Specifically, the rear surface of the louver partition part 80 is in contact with the front surface of the louver 50, and the front surface is located close to the end surface of the air outlet of the cooling fin 42. If the system does not include the cooling fins 42, the louver partition 80 may be provided between the louver 50 and the blower fan 38.

The louver partition part 80 is not a so-called partition wall, but has three ventilation holes 82a, 82b, and 82c formed side by side in the horizontal direction, so that the air from the blower fan 38 is almost unobstructed and can flow into the louver 50. It has become.

The louver partition part 80 is integrally molded as a part of the upper cover material 20. The louver partition part 80 is made of a metal material like the upper cover material 20 and has sufficient strength. Depending on the design conditions, the louver partition part 80 may be integrally molded as a part of the lower cover material 22, or may be formed separately from the upper cover material 20 and the lower cover material 22 by forming the inner surface 20a and the inner surface 22a. It may be arranged in between.

The louver partition portion 80 includes an upper edge portion 84a that slightly projects from the inner surface 20a in front of the rear edge 20b of the upper cover material 20, and a lower edge portion that is disposed downward from the upper edge portion 84a through ventilation holes 82a to 82c. It has an edge 84b and four pillars 86a, 86b, 86c, and 86d that connect between the upper edge 84a and the lower edge 84b.

The upper edge 84a and the lower edge 84 have the same vertical width and the same front-to-back width, and extend in the lateral direction. The lower edge portion 84b contacts the inner surface 22a (see FIG. 6) of the lower cover material 22. That is, the struts 86a to 86d support between the blower fan 38 and the louver 50, and between the upper cover material 20 and the lower cover material 22 via the upper edge 84a and the lower edge 84b.

The upper edge 84a and the lower edge 84b each have a right end supported by a support 86a and a left end supported by a support 86d. The struts 86b and 86c are arranged between the strut 86a and the strut 86d. The ventilation hole 82b is formed between the pillars 86b and 86c, and the interval therebetween is width W2. The ventilation hole 82a is formed between the pillar 86a and the pillar 86b, and the ventilation hole 82c is formed between the pillar 86c and the pillar 86d, and the intervals between them are equal and have a width W3. Width W2 is wider than width W3. In other words, the pillars 86a to 86d are arranged at irregular intervals, and the central ventilation hole 82b is the widest among the ventilation holes 82a to 82c formed by the pillars 86a to 86d. Furthermore, the four pillars 86a to 86d are arranged at symmetrical positions in the lateral direction and are well balanced in terms of strength.

Further, the width W2 of the ventilation hole 82b is slightly wider than the width W1 of the antenna element 60. At least the main portion 60a of the antenna element 60 falls within the range of the ventilation hole 82b when viewed from the side from the rear. Although a rear side view is omitted, the positional relationship between the main portion 60a and the ventilation hole 82b is made clearer in FIG.

The support column 86a is connected to the right wall 88a. The right wall 88a has the same height as the column 86a, extends rearward from the column 86a, and forms a gap 90 with the rear surface 14a of the housing. The gap 90 is where the hinge 16 is provided.

The support column 86d is connected to the left wall 88b. The left wall 88b is slightly lower than the support 86d, and connects the support 86d and the display housing facing surface 14b in an angular shape. The display case facing surface 14b is a portion at the rear end of the case 14 that faces the end of the display case 12, and is located slightly forward of the case rear surface 14a. The rear surface 50a of the louver 50 is on the same plane that is continuous with the display housing facing surface 14b (see FIG. 3), and faces the end of the display housing 12. The front surface 50b of the louver 50 contacts the louver partition 80. The louver partition part 80 and the louver 50 are at the same height (see FIG. 5). The pillars 86b and 86c are located at positions overlapping the vertical wall 70 of the louver 50 and do not obstruct ventilation by the ventilation fan 38.

A screw seat 92a is provided at the corner formed by the inner surface 20a and the right wall 88a, and a screw seat 92b is provided at the corner formed by the inner surface 2a and the left wall 88b. The screw fixing seats 92a and 92b are seating surfaces to which the screw fixing pieces 72a and 72b are fixed by screws B.

In the electronic device 10, since the antenna element 60 is provided in the louver 50, the antenna element 60 does not occupy a predetermined space by itself, and the housing 14 can be made smaller. Furthermore, the degree of freedom in layout within the casing 14 is increased, and for example, the battery 48 can be made larger. Since the antenna element 60 is provided on the side surface of the housing 14, it is suitable for transmitting and receiving data to and from the outside without any barrier.

The louver 50 is a horizontally elongated resin material and may not have sufficient strength to support the space between the upper cover material 20 and the lower cover material 22 of the casing 14; Strength is ensured by four metal supports 86a to 86d. The pillars 86a to 86d support the upper cover material 20 and the lower cover material 22 via the upper edge portion 84a and the lower edge portion 84b, so that the support area is wide and stable support is possible. Further, the supports 86a to 86d are made of metal and are arranged at irregular intervals. In particular, since the antenna element 60 is within the range of the ventilation hole 82b when viewed from the side from the rear, both ends of the ventilation hole 82b are arranged. The electromagnetic influence of the pillars 86b and 86c forming the antenna element 60 is considerably suppressed, allowing suitable radio wave transmission and reception performance. Moreover, this allows the longitudinal width W5 of the louver 50 to be shortened, and the size of the casing 14 to be reduced.

In this manner, the electronic device 10 can achieve both suitable radio wave transmission and reception performance by the antenna element 60 and sufficient strength of the casing 14. Note that depending on the conditions, such as the ability to maintain the front-to-back width W5 of the louver 50 to a certain extent, the antenna element 60 may protrude somewhat from the range of the ventilation hole 82b in the lateral direction when viewed from the side from the rear. is obtained. In other words, the antenna element is located most at the location where the interval is the longest among the plurality of columns 86a to 86d (in this example, the location of the ventilation hole 82b formed between the columns 86b and 86c). It is better if it is placed for a long time.

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of the exhaust structure 56 and its surrounding area. Legs 94 projecting downward are provided at the rear end of the lower cover material 22 . A similar leg portion is also provided near the front end of the lower cover material 22. The legs 94 are placed with their lower surfaces in contact with the placement surface G, and support the housing 14 horizontally. The leg portions 94 are made of, for example, a rubber material. Reference numeral 98 in FIG. 6 is a feed line of the antenna element 60.

Legs 94 are at the lower portion of louver 50 and antenna element 60. The lower cover material 22 includes a spacing section 96 that protrudes downward inside the leg section 94 and has a concave upper surface 96a so as to be spaced apart from the antenna element 60. The spacing portion 96 is a part of the lower cover material 22 and is made of a metal material. The lower surface of the louver 50 is in contact with the upper surface 96a of the separation part 96. The upper surface 96a is a part of the inner surface 22a of the lower cover material 22.

For stable transmission and reception of radio waves, the antenna element 60 has a distance Lu from the inner surface 20a of the upper cover material 20, which is a metal material, of a certain value or more, and a distance Ld from the inner surface 22a of the lower cover material 22, which is a metal material. It is desirable that a certain level or more be secured. Furthermore, considering the case where the mounting surface G is a human body, in order to irradiate a reasonably strong radio wave from the antenna element 60, it is necessary to ensure that the distance Lg from the mounting surface G is at least a certain value (for example, 8 mm or more). desirable.

If the separation part 96 were not provided, the distance between the inner surface 20a and the inner surface 22a (that is, Lu+Ld) would be short, and the degree of freedom in layout would be small, so that the above requirements could not be met. In this embodiment, since the separating portion 96 is provided, the inner surface 20a and the inner surface 22a are separated from each other, increasing the degree of freedom in layout, and making it possible to ensure appropriately large distances Lu, Ld, and Lg.

It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be freely modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

10 Electronic equipment 14 Housing 20 Upper cover material 20a Inner surface 22 Lower cover material 22a Inner surface 38, 40 Blow fan 42, 44 Cooling fins 50, 52 Louvers 56, 58 Exhaust structure 60 Antenna element 60a Main portion 80 Louver partition portions 82a, 82b , 82c Ventilation hole 84a Upper edge 84b Lower edge 86a, 86b, 86c, 86d Support column 94 Leg portion 96 Separation portion

Claims (4)

An electronic device,
A casing in which a first cover and a second cover are combined to form a flat shape;
a horizontally oblong resin louver provided on a side surface of the housing;
a blower fan installed in the housing and exhausting air from the louver;
an antenna element provided on a surface of the louver opposite to the blower fan;
a plurality of metal supports supporting between the first cover and the second cover between the blower fan and the louver and arranged at irregular intervals in the horizontal direction;
has
The electronic device is characterized in that the antenna element has a shape in which at least a portion thereof extends in the lateral direction, and is disposed longest at a location where the spacing between the pillars is longest when viewed from the side. The electronic device according to claim 1,
The second cover is a lower cover material made of a metal material that forms the side on which the legs placed on the placement surface are provided,
The first cover is an upper cover material of a metal material forming the opposite side to the second cover,
the leg is in a lower part of the antenna element;
The electronic device is characterized in that the second cover includes a spacing portion that protrudes downward inside the leg portion and has a concave upper surface so as to be spaced apart from the antenna element. The electronic device according to claim 1,
An electronic device characterized in that the plurality of support columns are arranged at symmetrical positions in the lateral direction. The electronic device according to claim 1,
An electronic device, wherein the plurality of support columns are integrally configured with the first cover or the second cover.

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