KR102278597B1 - An antenna module and wireless communication device having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an antenna module and a wireless communication device having the same, and more particularly, to an antenna module capable of improving radiation efficiency by optimizing the area of a radiation pattern formed on one surface of an injection-molded product in a limited space, and a wireless communication device having the same. The antenna module includes the injection-molded product, a first radiation pattern, and magnetic sheet.

Description

Antenna module and wireless communication device including same {AN ANTENNA MODULE AND WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICE HAVING THE SAME}

The present invention relates to an antenna module and a wireless communication device including the same, and more particularly, to an antenna module capable of improving radiation efficiency by optimizing the area of a radiation pattern formed on one surface of an injection-molded product in a limited space, and a wireless communication device including the same It relates to a communication device.

Recently, various communication functions are implemented in wireless communication devices such as mobile phones, tablet PCs, notebook PCs, and PDA's, and accordingly, antennas for 3G (LTE), 4G (LTE-A), 5G communication, WiFi antenna for wireless local area network, Bluetooth Various types of antennas are being used, such as (Bluetooth) antennas, NFC antennas, GPS receiving antennas, and wireless charging antennas.

As an example, in order to implement functions such as information exchange, payment, ticket reservation, wireless charging, etc. between devices in addition to long-distance wireless communication, the demand for NFC (Near Field Communication) antennas is increasing, and accordingly, NFC antennas are provided in wireless communication devices. There is a trend to be provided, and a sub-antenna for implementing various functions in such an NFC antenna is additionally provided.

The NFC antenna communicates using the principle of electromagnetic induction, and the NFC antenna is generally implemented as a radiation pattern in the form of a coil or loop through which current can flow. In this case, NFC needs to form a wide radiation pattern area in order to increase the tag recognition rate. At this time, if the radiation pattern area of the NFC antenna in the limited space inside the wireless communication device becomes too large, it may cause interference to other sub-antennas for implementing WiFi and GPS. It is necessary to develop a technology to implement the radiation area.

Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1275159 (2013.06.10)

Accordingly, the technical problem of the present invention is to provide an antenna module capable of improving radiation efficiency by optimizing the area of a radiation pattern formed on one surface of an injection-molded product in a limited space, and a wireless communication device including the same.

In addition, an antenna module capable of slimming a wireless communication device by implementing a radiation pattern included in an antenna module used in a wireless communication device in an LDS method to reduce the thickness of the antenna module, and a wireless communication device including the same to provide.

In addition, an antenna module capable of improving the radiation performance of the antenna by shielding electromagnetic waves transmitted from the outside by providing a magnetic sheet for shielding electromagnetic waves on the opposite surface of the molded product on which the LDS antenna is formed, and a wireless communication device including the same to provide.

An antenna module according to an embodiment of the present invention, injection molding; a first radiation pattern formed on one surface of the injection-molded product; and a magnetic sheet provided to cover the first radiation pattern on the other surface of the injection-molded product.

In this case, a terminal connection part formed on one surface of the injection-molded product so as to be in contact with the first radiation pattern; and a terminal pattern formed on the other surface of the injection-molded product and electrically connected to the terminal connection part.

In addition, it may further include a heat dissipation sheet formed on the other side of the magnetic sheet.

In addition, an installation area for installing electronic components is formed on one surface of the injection-molded product, and the first radiation pattern includes: a first radiation area formed by bending a conductive line pattern a plurality of times; and a second radiation area extending from the conductive line pattern to protrude from the first radiation area along an outer periphery of the installation area.

In addition, the conductive line patterns of the second radiation region may be formed to be spaced apart from each other while having different current directions.

In addition, it further includes a heating element provided in contact with the other side of the heat dissipation sheet, the heat dissipation sheet may be formed to cover the heating element.

In addition, the magnetic sheet may be formed to correspond to an area of the first radiation pattern, and the heat dissipation sheet may be formed to be larger than an area of the magnetic sheet.

In addition, the terminal pattern may be formed to be exposed to the outside of the heat dissipation sheet on the other surface of the injection-molded product.

In addition, a second radiation pattern and a third radiation pattern formed along the outer periphery of the injection-molded product may be included.

In addition, the first radiation pattern may be an antenna pattern for near field communication (NFC), and the second radiation pattern and the third radiation pattern may be an antenna pattern for any one of WiFi, GPS, 3G, 4G or 5G. have.

In addition, the first radiation pattern, the second radiation pattern, and the third radiation pattern may be formed by etching the injection-molded product and plating the etched portion.

A wireless communication device according to another embodiment of the present invention may include the antenna module.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is an effect that the radiation efficiency can be improved by optimizing the area of the radiation pattern formed on one surface of the injection-molded product in a limited space.

In addition, by implementing the radiation pattern included in the antenna module used in the wireless communication device in the LDS method to reduce the thickness of the antenna module, it is possible to slim the wireless communication device.

In addition, by providing a magnetic sheet for shielding electromagnetic waves on the opposite surface of the molded product on which the LDS antenna is formed, electromagnetic waves transmitted from the outside can be shielded to improve the radiation performance of the antenna.

Effects of the present invention are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description of the claims.

The summary set forth above as well as the detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present application set forth below may be better understood when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings preferred embodiments. It should be understood, however, that the present application is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.
1 is a plan view for explaining an antenna module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a rear view for explaining an antenna module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating an antenna module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the accompanying drawings are only described in order to more easily disclose the contents of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope of the accompanying drawings. you will know

And, in describing the embodiment of the present invention, the same name and the same reference numerals are used for the components having the same function, and it is to be clearly stated in advance that the components are not substantially the same as the components of the prior art.

In addition, the terms used in the present application are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. The singular expression includes the plural expression unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In the present application, terms such as “comprise” or “have” are intended to designate that a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification exists, but one or more other features It should be understood that this does not preclude the existence or addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Hereinafter, an antenna module and a wireless communication device including the same according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description with reference to the accompanying drawings, the same or corresponding components are given the same reference numerals. and a redundant description thereof will be omitted.

Figure 1 is a plan view for explaining an antenna module according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a rear view for explaining an antenna module according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is one of the present invention It is an exploded perspective view for explaining the antenna module according to the embodiment.

1 to 3 , the antenna module according to the present embodiment is installed in a wireless communication device (not shown) to wirelessly transmit/receive data. In this case, the wireless communication device (not shown) may be a mobile phone, a tablet PC, a notebook PC, a PDA, or the like.

The antenna module according to an embodiment of the present invention may include an injection-molded product 100 , a first radiation pattern 120 , and a magnetic sheet 140 .

The injection-molded product 100 is the main body of the antenna module, and may be formed in a plate shape having a constant thickness.

The injection-molded product 100 constitutes the inside of a wireless communication device (not shown) or is used as an external case, and may be formed of an insulating material by injection molding. In this case, the injection-molded product 100 may be made of a synthetic resin material such as polyester resin or polycarbonate (PC) in order to maintain weather resistance, impact resistance, and mechanical strength.

The first radiation pattern 120 may be formed on one surface of the injection-molded product 100 . In the present embodiment, 'one side' may be 'top side' in the drawing of the injection-molded product 100 .

The first radiation pattern 120 is a metal pattern that radiates an electromagnetic field to the outside for communication with an external device, and may be formed by bending a conductive line pattern a plurality of times. At this time, the first radiation pattern 120 includes two terminal connection parts 131 to allow current to flow, and a current is input to one terminal connection part 131 and is configured to be output to the other terminal connection part 131 . .

In this case, the first radiation pattern 120 may be an antenna pattern for near field communication (NFC).

Meanwhile, an electronic component installation region 170 for mounting an electronic component may be formed on the upper side of the injection-molded product 100 . In this case, the electronic component may be a camera module.

The first radiation pattern 120 may include a first radiation area 123 and a second radiation area 125 .

The first radiation area 123 is formed by bending the conductive line pattern a plurality of times, and the second radiation area 125 extends from the conductive line pattern and extends along the outer periphery of the electronic component installation area 170 . ) may be formed to protrude outward from the.

Specifically, the electronic component installation region 170 may be formed in a rectangular shape in which corners are curved. The conductive line pattern extending from the conductive line pattern forming the first radiation area 123 is formed to be rounded along the edge of the electronic component installation area 170 and protrudes toward the side of the first radiation area 123 . The second radiation region 125 is formed.

By forming the second radiation area 125 in this way, the radiation area of the first radiation pattern 120 can be expanded, and specifically, the tag area of the first radiation pattern 120 functioning as an NFC antenna can be expanded. .

The conductive line patterns of the second radiation region 125 may have different current directions and may be formed to be spaced apart from each other. In this case, the conductive line pattern is bent in the second radiation region 125 and the current direction of the innermost conductive line pattern may be formed as an acute angle.

The second radiation region 125 is formed to have a relatively narrower area than the first radiation region 123 by the electronic component installation region 170 , and when the conductive line pattern is bent in the second radiation region 125 , the innermost Conductive line patterns in the poles are adjacent to each other and are formed with different current directions (opposite directions). When the current directions of adjacent conductive line patterns are formed in opposite directions, the magnetic fields become opposite directions according to the right handed screw rule and cancel each other, thereby deteriorating the radiation performance of the antenna. The innermost conductive lines of (125) are formed to be spaced apart from each other to maintain radiation performance.

In this case, the interval (b) between the innermost conductive line patterns of the second radiation region 125 may be wider than the spacing (a) between the conductive line patterns inside the first radiation region 123 .

Meanwhile, the terminal pattern 133 and the terminal connection part 131 may be electrically connected through the via hole 135 .

Specifically, the terminal pattern 133 may be formed on the other side of the injection-molded product 100 . The terminal pattern 133 on the other side of the injection-molded product 100 and the terminal connection part 131 on one side of the injection-molded product 100 are connected through the via hole 135 . Electrically connected to the first radiation pattern 120 through the terminal pattern 133 may be fed. At this time, the terminal pattern 133 may be electrically contacted with a PCB board provided outside the antenna module by a contact means (C-Clip, etc.), so that power may be fed to the first radiation pattern 120 by the PCB.

In this case, the terminal pattern 133 may be formed to be exposed to the outside of the heat dissipation sheet 150 to be described later on the other surface of the injection-molded product 100 .

Specifically, referring to FIG. 2 , a heat radiation sheet 150 to be described later is provided on the other side of the injection-molded product 100. When the heat radiation sheet 150 completely covers the terminal pattern 133, power feeding by the PCB may be difficult, This is to expose a portion of the terminal pattern 133 to the outside of the heat dissipation sheet 150 so that power supply through the PCB can be smoothly performed.

Meanwhile, the second radiation pattern 210 and the third radiation pattern 230 may be formed along the outer periphery of the injection-molded product 100 , and the second radiation pattern 210 , the third radiation pattern 230 , and the fourth radiation pattern may be formed. The pattern 250 may be an antenna pattern for any one of WiFi, GPS, 3G, 4G, or 5G. In this case, the second radiation pattern 210 may be formed below the first radiation pattern 120 , and the third radiation pattern 230 is spaced apart from the second radiation pattern 210 to form the first radiation pattern 120 . may be formed on the right side of , and the fourth radiation pattern 250 may be formed to be spaced apart between the second radiation pattern 210 and the third radiation pattern 230 below the first radiation pattern 120 . . In this case, the second radiation pattern 210 , the third radiation pattern 230 , and the fourth radiation pattern 250 may be electrically connected to a terminal pattern formed on the other side of the injection-molded product 100 through a via hole.

In this case, the pattern length of the second radiation pattern 210 may be longer than that of the third radiation pattern 230 and the fourth radiation pattern 250 . At this time, the second radiation pattern 210 is an antenna for any one of 3G, 4G, or 5G, the third radiation pattern 230 is an antenna for WiFi, and the fourth radiation pattern 250 is an antenna for GPS. can

The magnetic sheet 140 may be provided to cover the first radiation pattern 120 on the other surface of the injection-molded product 100 . In this embodiment, 'the other side' may be the 'rear side' of the injection-molded product 100 . In this case, the magnetic sheet 140 may be attached to the other surface of the injection-molded product 100 via the pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet 160 .

The magnetic sheet 140 is a sheet made of a magnetic material with high permeability, and blocks electromagnetic waves generated from the first radiation pattern 120 to focus it in a desired direction, or is disposed on the other side of the injection-molded product 100 . It is possible to improve the radiation performance of the antenna by suppressing electromagnetic wave interference by shielding electromagnetic waves generated from electronic components such as PCBs.

The magnetic sheet 140 may include ferrite. Specifically, the magnetic sheet 140 is used as a single material such as a magnetic alloy or a ferrite sintered body, or a magnetic metal powder and/or a ferrite powder is mixed with an insulating resin, a rubber-based component, a ceramic or a non-magnetic metal, and the like is extruded, pressed, a film It can be used in the form of a composite material molded by a method such as casting.

The magnetic sheet 140 may be formed to have the same shape and area to correspond to the area of the first radiation pattern 120 . When the magnetic sheet 140 is formed to be larger than the area of the first radiation pattern 120 , the other second radiation pattern 210 or the second radiation pattern 210 around the first radiation pattern 120 by the magnetic field of the magnetic sheet 140 . 3 The radiation pattern 230 can be affected, and when the magnetic sheet 140 is formed to be smaller than the area of the first radiation pattern 120 , the electromagnetic wave shielding effect is lowered, so that the first radiation pattern 120 as an NFC antenna This is because radiation performance may decrease.

Meanwhile, the magnetic sheet 140 may be formed to have the same shape and area to correspond to the area of the first radiation region 123 . Since the magnetic flux density of the first radiation area 123 is higher than that of the second radiation area 125 and the first radiation area 123 is wider than that of the second radiation area 125 , even in this case, the magnetic sheet This is because the electromagnetic wave shielding effect by 140 can be obtained to some extent and the cost of manufacturing the magnetic sheet 140 can be reduced.

In this embodiment, the magnetic sheet 140 is disposed to be spaced apart from the first radiation pattern 120 with the injection-molded product 100 interposed therebetween. In this way, the magnetic sheet 140 is not directly attached to the first radiation pattern 120 . By disposing the injection-molded product 100 in the middle and spaced apart from each other, the shielding performance of electromagnetic waves can be improved, and accordingly, the antenna performance of the first radiation pattern 120 can be improved.

Specifically, an electronic component such as a PCB may be disposed on the other side of the injection-molded product 100 , and antenna performance may be deteriorated due to the metal material of the PCB. To solve this problem, the magnetic sheet 140 may be directly attached to the first radiation pattern 120 , but since the magnetic sheet 140 also contains a metal component, the magnetic sheet 140 is in contact with the first radiation pattern 120 . If it is, it may affect the antenna performance.

In the present embodiment, the magnetic material sheet 140 is not directly attached to the first radiation pattern 120 , but the injection-molded product 100 is placed in the middle so as to be spaced apart from each other, so that between the first radiation pattern 120 and the magnetic sheet 140 . It is possible to improve the antenna performance by forming a space.

Meanwhile, the heat dissipation sheet 150 may be formed on the other side of the magnetic sheet 140 . Specifically, the heat dissipation sheet 150 may be formed on the other surface of the magnetic sheet 140 formed on the other surface of the injection-molded product 100 .

In this case, the magnetic sheet 140 and the heat dissipation sheet 150 may be laminated with an adhesive and then manufactured in the form of a composite sheet through a pressing process.

The heat dissipation sheet 150 may be formed in the same shape to correspond to the magnetic sheet 140 . The heat dissipation sheet 150 is to prevent heat generated from the heating element 190 outside the antenna module from being transmitted to the first radiation pattern 120 formed on one surface of the injection-molded product 100 , and the heat dissipation sheet 150 has thermal conductivity It can be formed of a material with excellent heat dissipation and excellent heat dissipation ability. In this case, the heat dissipation sheet 150 may be formed of copper (Cu), aluminum (Al), or graphite.

In this case, the other side of the heat dissipation sheet 150 may be provided with a heating element 190 in contact with the other surface of the heat dissipation sheet 150 , and the heat dissipation sheet 150 may be formed to cover the heating element 190 . In this case, the heating element 190 may be various electronic components such as a PCB and an application processor (AP) provided in a wireless communication device.

In addition, the heat dissipation sheet 150 may be provided with an area larger than that of the magnetic sheet 140 , and may be formed to completely cover the magnetic sheet 140 . The larger the area of the heat dissipation sheet 150 is, the greater the heat dissipation effect, and the heat dissipation sheet 150 has an effect on the other second radiation pattern 210 or the third radiation pattern 230 around the first radiation pattern 120 . Since it is insignificant, unlike the magnetic sheet 140 , the heat dissipation sheet 150 has a large area.

Meanwhile, the first radiation pattern 120 , the second radiation pattern 210 , and the third radiation pattern 230 may be formed by etching at least a portion of the injection-molded product 100 in a predetermined shape and plating the etched portion. .

Specifically, the injection product 100 is formed of a material containing a non-conductive and chemically stable heavy metal complex, and a part of the injection product 100 is exposed to a laser such as a UV (Ultra Violet) laser, an excimer laser, etc. It breaks the chemical bond of the metal to expose the metal seed. Next, it may be formed by a method of metalizing the injection-molded product 100 to form a conductive material in the laser-exposed portion of the injection-molded product 100 .

Meanwhile, according to another embodiment of the present invention, a wireless communication device (not shown) including the above-described antenna module is disclosed.

The wireless communication device (not shown) may include the above-described antenna module, camera module, and electronic components such as a PCB in a metal case, and may wirelessly transmit/receive data through the antenna module.

Since the antenna module included in this embodiment is the same as the antenna module described in the previous embodiment, a detailed description will be replaced with that of the previous embodiment.

As described above, according to the present invention, there is an effect that the radiation efficiency can be improved by optimizing the width of the first radiation pattern 120 formed on one surface of the injection-molded product 100 in a limited space.

In addition, by providing the magnetic sheet 140 for shielding electromagnetic waves on the opposite surface of the injection-molded product 100 on which the radiation pattern is formed, electromagnetic waves transmitted from the outside can be shielded to improve the radiation performance of the antenna.

In addition, the first radiation pattern 120 , the second radiation pattern 210 , and the third radiation pattern 230 included in the antenna module used in the wireless communication device are implemented in the LDS method to reduce the thickness of the antenna module, so that the wireless A communication device (not shown) can be made slim.

As described above, preferred embodiments according to the present invention have been described, and the fact that the present invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention other than the above-described embodiments is a fact having ordinary skill in the art. It is obvious to them. Therefore, the above-described embodiments are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive, and accordingly, the present invention is not limited to the above description, but may be modified within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

100: injection molding
120: first radiation pattern
123: first radiation region
125: second radiation area
131: terminal connection
133: terminal pattern
135: via hole
140: magnetic sheet
150: heat dissipation sheet
160: adhesive sheet
170: electronic component installation area
190: heating element
210: second radiation pattern
230: third radiation pattern
250: fourth radiation pattern

Claims (12)

extrudate;
a first radiation pattern formed on one surface of the injection-molded product; and
and a magnetic sheet provided to cover the first radiation pattern on the other surface of the injection-molded product;
An installation area for installing electronic components is formed on one surface of the injection-molded product,
The first radiation pattern,
a first radiation region formed by bending the conductive line pattern a plurality of times; and
and a second radiation area extending from the conductive line pattern to protrude from the first radiation area along an outer periphery of the installation area.
According to claim 1,
a terminal connection part formed on one surface of the injection-molded product so as to be in contact with the first radiation pattern; and
and a terminal pattern formed on the other surface of the injection-molded product and electrically connected to the terminal connection part.
3. The method of claim 2,
The antenna module, characterized in that it further comprises a heat dissipation sheet formed on the other side of the magnetic sheet.
delete According to claim 1,
The conductive line pattern of the second radiation region has a different current direction and is formed to be spaced apart from each other, the antenna module.
4. The method of claim 3,
Further comprising a heating element provided in contact with the other side of the heat dissipation sheet,
The heat dissipation sheet is characterized in that formed to cover the heating element, the antenna module.
7. The method of claim 6,
The magnetic sheet is formed to correspond to the area of the first radiation pattern,
The antenna module, characterized in that the heat dissipation sheet is formed to be larger than the area of the magnetic sheet.
8. The method of claim 7,
The terminal pattern is formed to be exposed to the outside of the heat dissipation sheet on the other surface of the injection-molded product, the antenna module.
4. The method of claim 3,
The antenna module, characterized in that it comprises a second radiation pattern, a third radiation pattern, and a fourth radiation pattern formed along the outer periphery of the injection-molded product.
10. The method of claim 9,
The first radiation pattern is an antenna pattern for near field communication (NFC),
The second radiation pattern, the third radiation pattern and the fourth radiation pattern are, characterized in that the antenna pattern for any one of WiFi, GPS, 3G, 4G or 5G, the antenna module.
10. The method of claim 9,
The first radiation pattern, the second radiation pattern, the third radiation pattern, and the fourth radiation pattern are characterized in that the molded product is etched and an etched portion is plated to form the antenna module.
A wireless communication device comprising the antenna module of claim 1 .

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