JP4613914B2 - In-vehicle wireless communication device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted wireless communication device that is provided in a playback device such as a CD or DVD mounted on a vehicle and performs wireless communication such as an in-vehicle LAN.

In general, a playback device such as an audio device or a car navigation device using a CD or a DVD mounted on a vehicle has a casing installed in an instrument panel or a center cluster panel in the vehicle. In particular, a type in which only an insertion slot for a CD, a DVD or the like is exposed and the casing is covered with an instrument panel or a center cluster panel is often used because of a high degree of freedom in design.
In recent years, in order to perform wireless communication within a vehicle such as an in-vehicle LAN, a wireless device such as an in-vehicle LAN using Bluetooth (registered trademark) has been incorporated into a playback device such as a CD or DVD. .

  For example, Patent Document 1 proposes an in-vehicle wireless device in which an antenna unit is provided on one side of a casing covered with a front panel cover. Patent Document 2 proposes an in-vehicle communication device in which an antenna for wireless communication is mounted on an internal base housed in a center cluster so as not to overlap a display panel.

JP 2004-153625 A JP 2004-179976 A

However, the following problems remain in the conventional technology.
That is, when a wireless device is incorporated inside an instrument panel or center cluster panel, in order to prevent reflection and absorption of electromagnetic waves radiated from the antenna, a metal, display device or control device is provided in front of the antenna mounting position. It is necessary to prevent other electronic devices from being arranged. For this reason, the arrangement of the antenna mounting position and other members and devices is restricted, and there is a disadvantage that the degree of freedom in design is low.
On the antenna side, since the electromagnetic environment around the antenna varies depending on the instrument panel and center cluster panel that covers the antenna, the resonance frequency and input impedance of the antenna must be set for each instrument panel and center cluster panel. There was a need to adjust. For this reason, an antenna adjusted according to an instrument panel or a center cluster panel having a different shape or arrangement is required, and it is difficult to incorporate a wireless device using a general-purpose antenna.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and provides an in-vehicle wireless communication apparatus that can obtain a high design freedom of an instrument panel and a center cluster panel and can use a general-purpose antenna. With the goal.

  The present invention employs the following configuration in order to solve the above problems. In other words, the in-vehicle wireless communication device of the present invention has a housing that is mounted in a vehicle and has an electronic circuit built therein, and an insertion port through which a disc-shaped recording medium can be inserted and removed, and protrudes from the front surface of the housing. And a wireless mechanism in which an antenna element is installed inside the resin insertion port portion.

  In this in-vehicle wireless communication device, since the antenna element is installed inside the resin insertion slot arranged in a protruding state on the front surface of the housing, only the area where the resin insertion slot built in the antenna element is arranged Is opened in the instrument panel or center cluster panel, the electromagnetic wave is not reflected or absorbed in front of the antenna element. Therefore, the resin insertion slot protrudes from the casing, and the resin insertion slot can be easily exposed while covering the casing with the instrument panel or center cluster panel. The center cluster panel has little influence on the electromagnetic environment around the antenna elements, and the same general-purpose antenna elements and antenna characteristics can be used by being incorporated into various instrument panels and center cluster panels. Further, if only the region where the resin insertion port portion is provided is secured, there is no restriction on the design of the instrument panel and the center cluster panel, and a high degree of design freedom can be obtained.

  The on-vehicle wireless communication device of the present invention is characterized in that the antenna element is disposed at an end of the resin insertion port. That is, in this in-vehicle wireless communication device, since the antenna element is disposed at the end of the resin insertion slot, a disc-shaped storage medium such as a CD or DVD on which a conductive thin film is formed is taken in and out of the insertion slot. It is difficult to affect the antenna characteristics even during communication, and stable communication is possible.

  Furthermore, in the in-vehicle wireless communication device of the present invention, the wireless mechanism includes a metal connector portion that can be connected to the wiring connected to the electronic circuit and is connected to the antenna element, and the metal connector portion includes: It is arranged at the end of the resin insertion slot opposite to the antenna element. That is, in this in-vehicle wireless communication device, since the metal connector portion is arranged at the end opposite to the antenna element of the resin insertion port portion, the metal connector portion is separated from the antenna element as much as possible to obtain the antenna characteristics. The influence of can be suppressed.

  Further, in the in-vehicle wireless communication device of the present invention, the wireless mechanism includes a printed board on which the antenna element is mounted and a ground conductor is provided while being installed inside the resin insertion port portion, and the ground The conductor is formed over the entire length of the insertion port along the insertion port. That is, in this in-vehicle wireless communication device, since the ground conductor is formed along the insertion port over the entire length of the insertion port, the ground conductor can be lengthened and the ground area can be set to the maximum in the resin insertion port portion. Is possible.

The present invention has the following effects.
That is, according to the in-vehicle wireless communication device according to the present invention, since the antenna element is installed inside the resin insertion port arranged in a protruding state on the front surface of the housing, the resin insertion with the built-in antenna element is performed. If only the area where the mouth is arranged is secured, there is no restriction on the design of the instrument panel and center cluster panel, and a high degree of design freedom can be obtained, and even with the same general-purpose antenna elements and antenna characteristics. It can be used by being incorporated into various instrument panels and center cluster panels. Therefore, it can be applied to various instrument panels and center cluster panels with different designs and configurations, and is stable with the same wireless communication device even if there is metal or other electronic equipment in the part covering the housing Antenna performance can be obtained.

Hereinafter, a first embodiment of an in-vehicle wireless communication device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.
As shown in FIG. 1, the in-vehicle wireless communication device of this embodiment is provided in a playback device such as an audio device or a car navigation device that uses a disk-shaped storage medium 1 such as a CD or a DVD mounted on a vehicle. The apparatus is applied to a type in which the front surface of the housing 2 of the apparatus is covered with a panel P such as an instrument panel or a center cluster panel except for the insertion port 3 of the disk-shaped storage medium 1.

  This in-vehicle wireless communication device has a metal housing 2 that is mounted in a vehicle and has an electronic circuit of a playback device and the like, and an insertion port 3 through which the disc-shaped storage medium 1 can be inserted and removed. The resin insertion port 4 is fixed to the front surface of the housing 2 in a protruding state, and the radio mechanism 6 has a chip antenna (antenna element) 5 installed inside the resin insertion port 4. .

The housing 2 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and stores therein an electronic circuit for reproducing the disk-shaped storage medium 1, a control circuit for liquid crystal display, and the like. In the car navigation device, an arithmetic circuit such as a map display is stored.
The resin insertion port 4 is formed of ABS resin or the like with a horizontally long insertion port 3 corresponding to the dimensions of the disk-shaped storage medium 1 provided at the center, and hollow portions 7 are provided above and below the insertion port 3. It has been.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the wireless mechanism 6 is installed in a cavity 7 above the insertion port 3 and is connected to a printed circuit board 8 on which the chip antenna 5 is mounted and an electronic circuit in the housing 2. And a metal RF connector (metal connector portion) 10 that can be connected to the wiring (not shown) and is connected to the chip antenna 5 via a feeder 9a. The wireless mechanism 6 is disposed along with the chip antenna 5 at the end of the resin insertion opening 4.

  The chip antenna 5 includes a rectangular parallelepiped element body 5a made of a dielectric material such as alumina, and a linear conductor pattern 5b wound around the surface of the element body 5a in a spiral shape with respect to the longitudinal direction of the element body. It is constituted by. The chip antenna 5 includes a feeding point 5c connected to the conductor pattern 5b and a ground connection portion 5d.

The printed circuit board 8 includes a rectangular substrate body 8a made of an insulating material such as a resin, a ground conductor 8b serving as an antenna ground ground and a chip antenna formed by patterning a metal thin film such as copper foil on the surface of the substrate body 8a. And a feeding line 9a connected to the feeding point 5c. The chip antenna 5 is fixed on a land (not shown) formed at a predetermined position on the substrate body 8a. Moreover, the dimension of the printed circuit board 8 is 25 * 8 * 1 mm, for example.
The RF connector 10 is connected to the power supply line 9a and the ground conductor 8b, and is electrically connected to the chip antenna 5 through these.

  Thus, in this embodiment, since the chip antenna 5 is installed inside the resin insertion opening 4 arranged in a protruding state on the front surface of the housing 2, the resin insertion opening 4 built in the chip antenna 5 is provided. If the panel P is opened only in the region where the antenna is disposed, the electromagnetic wave is not reflected or absorbed in front of the chip antenna 5. Therefore, since the resin insertion port 4 protrudes from the housing 2 and the resin insertion port 4 can be easily exposed while covering the housing 2 with the panel P, the periphery of the chip antenna 5 by the panel P is provided. The same general-purpose chip antenna 5 and antenna characteristics can be incorporated and used in a panel P such as various instrument panels and center cluster panels.

Moreover, if only the area | region which arrange | positions the resin insertion port part 4 is ensured, there will be no restrictions on the design of the panel P, and a high design freedom will be obtained.
Furthermore, since the chip antenna 5 is disposed at the end of the resin insertion portion 4, the radiation end of the chip antenna 5 can be disposed at the end, such as a CD or DVD on which a conductive thin film is formed. Even when the disk-shaped storage medium 1 is inserted into or removed from the insertion slot 3, the antenna characteristics are hardly affected and stable communication is possible.

  Next, a second embodiment of the in-vehicle wireless communication device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the following description of each embodiment, the same constituent elements described in the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  The difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment is that, in the first embodiment, the entire wireless mechanism 6 is arranged at the end of the resin insertion opening 4, whereas the vehicle mounted in the second embodiment. In the wireless communication apparatus for use, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the wireless mechanism 26 includes a printed board 28 that is long along the insertion opening 3 over the entire length of the insertion opening 3 in the resin insertion opening 4. It is. The second embodiment is also different from the first embodiment in that the ground conductor 8b of the printed board 28 is formed along the insertion port 3 over the entire length of the insertion port 3. Furthermore, in 2nd Embodiment, RF connector 10 is arrange | positioned at the edge part on the opposite side to the chip antenna 5 distribute | arranged to the edge part of the resin-made insertion port parts 4. FIG. The dimensions of the printed circuit board 28 are, for example, 130 × 8 × 1 mm.

Thus, in the second embodiment, since the ground conductor 8b is formed along the insertion port 3 over the entire length of the insertion port 3, the ground conductor 8b can be lengthened, and the ground area can be maximized in the resin insertion port portion 4. It becomes possible to set as large as possible.
Further, since the RF connector 10 is disposed at the end of the resin insertion opening 4 opposite to the chip antenna 5, it is possible to suppress the influence on the antenna characteristics by separating the RF connector 10 from the chip antenna 5 as much as possible. it can.

  Next, a third embodiment and a fourth embodiment of the in-vehicle wireless communication device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  The difference between the third embodiment and the first embodiment is that the ground conductor 8b is grounded via the RF connector 10 in the first embodiment, whereas the in-vehicle wireless communication device of the third embodiment is grounded. 6 and 7, in the wireless mechanism 36, the ground conductor 8b of the printed circuit board 8 and the housing 2 are electrically connected by a metal connecting member 31. As shown in FIG. In other words, in the third embodiment, the casing 2 acts as a ground conductor with respect to the chip antenna 5, so that good grounding is possible.

  The difference between the fourth embodiment and the first embodiment is that, in the first embodiment, the wireless mechanism 6 in which the chip antenna 5 is mounted on the printed circuit board 8 is adopted, whereas the fourth embodiment is different from the fourth embodiment. In the in-vehicle wireless communication device, as shown in FIG. 8, an L-shaped antenna element 45 formed of a metal plate such as a copper plate and a ground conductor plate 48 are inserted into a resin insertion slot when the resin insertion slot 4 is molded with resin. The wireless mechanism 46 is configured by being incorporated in an end portion in the portion 4.

One end of the ground conductor plate 48 is provided with a ground conductor terminal 48a projecting to the back side of the resin insertion slot 4, and one end of the L-shaped antenna element 45 is provided with a resin insertion slot. 4 is provided on the back side of the power supply terminal 4a. The ground conductor terminal 48a and the power feeding terminal 45a are electrically connected to the electronic circuit in the housing 2 by wiring or the like.
As described above, in the fourth embodiment, since the wireless mechanism 46 is built in the resin insertion port 4 at the same time as resin molding such as injection molding, there is no need to provide a separate assembly process or mounting process, and the manufacturing cost is reduced. Can be reduced.

  Next, fifth and sixth embodiments of the in-vehicle wireless communication apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

The difference between the fifth embodiment and the first embodiment is that the chip antenna 5 is mounted as an antenna element on the printed board 8 in the first embodiment, whereas the in-vehicle wireless communication of the fifth embodiment. In the apparatus, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, in the wireless mechanism 56, an inverted F-type antenna pattern (antenna element) 55 is formed of copper foil or the like on the surface of the substrate body 8a.
Further, in the in-vehicle wireless communication device of the sixth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, in the wireless mechanism 66, the surface of the substrate body 8 a is composed of a pattern such as a pair of copper foils extending from the center toward both ends. This is different from the fifth embodiment in that a dipole antenna pattern (antenna element) 65 is formed.

  In these fifth and sixth embodiments, the inverted F-type antenna pattern 55 and the dipole antenna pattern 65 are formed of copper foil or the like on the substrate body 8a, and the antenna elements are thus patterned using copper foil or the like. By forming, an antenna element can be obtained with a high degree of design freedom.

In addition, this invention is not limited to said each embodiment, A various change can be added in the range which does not deviate from the meaning of this invention.
For example, alumina, which is a dielectric material, is used as the element body of the chip antenna 5, but a magnetic material or a composite material having both a dielectric material and a magnetic material may be used.
Further, a frequency matching circuit or an impedance matching circuit having antenna characteristics may be incorporated in the printed circuit board.

1 is a top view, a front view, and a side view showing an in-vehicle wireless communication device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In 1st Embodiment, it is a top view which shows a radio mechanism. It is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. It is the top view, front view, and side view which show the vehicle-mounted radio | wireless communication apparatus of 2nd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. In 2nd Embodiment, it is a top view which shows a radio mechanism. It is an enlarged front view of the principal part which shows the vehicle-mounted radio | wireless communication apparatus of 3rd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is the BB sectional view taken on the line of FIG. 6, and CC sectional view taken on the line. It is sectional drawing of the resin insertion port part which shows the vehicle-mounted radio | wireless communication apparatus of 4th Embodiment concerning this invention, DD sectional view, and EE sectional drawing. It is the top view, front view, and side view which show the vehicle-mounted radio | wireless communication apparatus of 5th Embodiment concerning this invention. In 5th Embodiment, it is a top view which shows a printed circuit board. In 6th Embodiment, it is a top view which shows a printed circuit board.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Disk-shaped storage medium, 2 ... Housing | casing, 3 ... Insertion port, 4 ... Resin insertion port part, 5 ... Chip antenna (antenna element), 6, 26, 36, 46, 56, 66 ... Wireless mechanism, 8 28 ... Printed circuit board, 8b ... Ground conductor, 10 ... RF connector (metal connector part), 45 ... L-shaped antenna element (antenna element), 55 ... Inverted F-type antenna pattern (antenna element), 65 ... Dipole antenna Pattern (antenna element)

Claims (3)

A housing that is mounted inside the vehicle and has an electronic circuit;
A resin insertion slot having an insertion slot through which a disc-shaped recording medium can be taken in and out of the casing and arranged in a protruding state on the front surface of the casing;
A radio mechanism in which an antenna element that is a chip antenna is installed inside the resin insertion opening,
The wireless mechanism is installed inside the resin insertion slot, the antenna element is mounted, a ground conductor serving as an antenna ground is provided, and the printed board is long along the insertion slot over the entire length of the insertion slot With
The in-vehicle wireless communication device, wherein the grounding conductor is formed along the insertion port over the entire length of the insertion port. The in-vehicle wireless communication device according to claim 1,
The in-vehicle wireless communication device, wherein the antenna element is disposed at an end of the resin insertion port. The in-vehicle wireless communication device according to claim 2,
The wireless mechanism includes a metal connector portion connectable to a wiring connected to the electronic circuit and connected to the antenna element;
The in-vehicle wireless communication device, wherein the metal connector portion is disposed at an end portion of the resin insertion portion opposite to the antenna element.

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