KR20190002042A - Antenna and mobile electronic device having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are an antenna and a manufacturing method thereof, and a mobile electronic device including the same which can dramatically reduce a unit cost of production. The antenna includes a film and a radiant pattern. The film includes a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. The radiant pattern comprises: a thin conductive layer formed on at least one surface between the first surface and the second surface; and a closed loop reaching from a first terminal to a second terminal. The closed loop includes a first long side and a second long side facing each other. A part of the second long side includes a depression unit which is depressed in a direction of the first long side.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to an antenna, a method of manufacturing the same, and a mobile electronic device including the antenna.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an antenna, a method of manufacturing the same, and a mobile electronic device including the antenna. More particularly, the present invention relates to an antenna patterned as a metal thin film on a film, a manufacturing method thereof, and a mobile electronic device including the same.

As functions are integrated into smartphones, their functions are becoming more convenient. To this end, various antennas are embedded in smartphones. For example, an antenna for transmitting / receiving a call, an antenna for wireless charging, and an NFC antenna are built in.

An NFC antenna is an antenna used for transmitting and receiving information at a close distance, and is generally used for transmitting data between terminals at a near distance.

These antennas are manufactured through a method of forming a plurality of antenna patterns through patterning on one film on which a conductive layer is formed.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2015-0045394

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an antenna capable of reducing the manufacturing cost of each antenna by increasing the number of antenna patterns formed on a mother film of the same size in the process of manufacturing a plurality of antennas by patterning one film, .

Another object of the present invention is to provide a mobile electronic device including such an antenna.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing such an antenna.

To solve this problem, an antenna according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a film and a radiation pattern. The film comprises a first side and an opposite second side. Wherein the radiation pattern comprises a thin conductive layer formed on at least one of the first and second surfaces of the film and forms a closed loop from the first terminal to the second terminal, Includes a first long side and a second long side facing each other. At this time, a part of the second long side includes a depression recessed in the first long side direction.

For example, the depression may be formed at the center of the second long side of the container.

The radiation pattern may further include a first short side and a second short side, which connect the opposite ends of the first long side and the second long side, respectively, and face each other.

At this time, it is preferable that the innermost short side of the loops constituting the first short side and the second short side is 3 mm or more.

Of the first long side and the second long side, the distance between the innermost portion of the loop forming the depression portion is preferably 0.9 mm.

A mobile electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes any one of the above-mentioned antennas.

A method of manufacturing an antenna according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes the steps of: preparing a film including a first side and a second side opposite to the first side; and forming at least one of the first and second sides of the film And a closed loop extending from the first terminal to the second terminal, wherein the closed loop includes a first long side and a second long side facing each other, and the second long side And partly forming a radiation pattern including a depression recessed in the first long side direction.

At this time, the depressed portion is formed at a central portion of the second long side of the container, and the radiation pattern further includes a first short side and a second short side which connect the opposite ends of the first long side and the second long side, .

At this time, the innermost short side of the loops constituting the first short side and the second short side is 3 mm or more, and the innermost one of the loops constituting the depressed portion among the first long side and the second long side is formed to be 0.9 mm .

The forming of the radiation pattern may include forming a metal thin film layer on at least one of the first and second surfaces of the film, forming a mask layer on the metal thin film layer, Removing the remaining region of the mask layer except the shape of the radiation pattern, removing the exposed metal thin film layer through the remaining region of the mask layer, and removing the mask layer .

As described above, according to the antenna and the antenna manufacturing method of the present invention, since a plurality of antennas can be formed on the film for manufacturing the antenna by the same process, the cost for developing and manufacturing the antenna can be reduced.

FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing a configuration in which a conventional antenna is mounted on a smartphone.
2 is an enlarged view of the conventional antenna shown in Fig.
3 is a plan view of a film for manufacturing the antenna shown in Fig.
FIG. 4 is a view schematically showing a shape in which an antenna is mounted according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in comparison with FIG.
5 is an enlarged view of an antenna according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG.
Fig. 6 is a plan view of a film for manufacturing the antenna shown in Fig. 5, in comparison with Fig.

The present invention is capable of various modifications and various forms, and specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the text. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed, but includes all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention. Like reference numerals are used for like elements in describing each drawing. In the accompanying drawings, the dimensions of the structures may be exaggerated to illustrate the present invention.

The terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as a first component.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In the present application, the terms "comprising" or "having ", and the like, are intended to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, parts, or combinations thereof, But do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, parts, or combinations thereof. In addition, A and B are 'connected' and 'coupled', meaning that A and B are directly connected or combined, and other component C is included between A and B, and A and B are connected or combined .

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries are to be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the contextual meaning of the related art and are to be interpreted as either ideal or overly formal in the sense of the present application Do not. Also, in the claims of a method invention, each step may be reversed in order, unless the steps are clearly constrained in order.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing a configuration in which a conventional antenna is mounted on a smartphone, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a conventional antenna shown in FIG.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional antenna included in the smartphone 1000 includes a film F and a radiation pattern 100.

The rear surface of the smartphone 1000 is a metal cover, and the metal on the camera 1100 is divided into two parts, and the two parts are separated from each other by a certain distance.

 The radiation pattern 100 is wound from the first terminal 110 toward the second terminal 120 so as to maintain a generally rectangular shape through at least one of the first and second faces of the film F. [ Thereby forming a closed loop.

In general, a camera 1100 is formed on the rear surface of a smart phone, and a radiation pattern 100 of a conventional antenna is wrapped around the camera 1100.

FIG. 4 is a view schematically showing a shape in which an antenna according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is mounted, in comparison with FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an antenna according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, As shown in FIG.

4 and 5, an antenna according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention included in the smartphone 1000 includes a film F and a radiation pattern 200. [

The rear surface of the smartphone 1000 is a metal cover, and the metal on the camera 1100 is divided into two parts, and the two parts are separated from each other by a certain distance.

The film (F) comprises a first side and an opposite second side. For example, the film (F) may be a synthetic resin film such as a PI film or a PET film. Further, the film (F) has a hole (h) formed at a position corresponding to the camera.

The radiation pattern (200) is composed of a thin conductive layer formed on at least one of the first and second surfaces of the film (F). The radiation pattern 200 may be formed of a metal such as aluminum (Al), copper (Cu), or silver (Ag).

The radiation pattern 200 is wrapped from the first terminal 210 to the second terminal 220 to form a closed loop which includes a first long side 230 and a second long side 240 ). The radiation pattern 200 connects both ends of the first long side 230 and the second long side 240 and connects the first short side 250 and the second short side 260 facing each other .

A portion of the second long side 240 includes a depression 241 recessed toward the first long side 230. For example, the depression 241 may be formed at a central portion of the second long side 240 of the container. A hole h corresponding to the camera of the smartphone is formed in a region outside the depressed portion 241 of the radiation pattern 200 of the film F. [

At this time, the innermost short side of the loops constituting the first short side 250 and the second short side 260 is preferably formed to be at least 3 mm, and the first long side 230 and the second long side 230, It is preferable that the innermost of the loops constituting the depressed portion is formed with a separation distance of 0.9 mm.

Hereinafter, the reason why the antenna radiation pattern 200 according to the present invention has the above-described shape is as follows. The radiation pattern 100 of the conventional antenna shown in Fig. 2 is compared with the radiation pattern 200 of the antenna according to the present invention shown in Fig. .

In order to form the antenna pattern, the length of the short side of the roughly rectangular shaped loop shown in Fig. 2 is reduced so that the loop of the entire radiation pattern 100 is arranged on the camera 1100 (i.e., Camera is placed), the result of the experiment does not show satisfactory performance.

Therefore, it was confirmed that when the length of the short side of the radiation pattern 100 is greater than or equal to a certain degree, the performance as an NFC antenna is exhibited.

Table 1 below shows the results of increasing the length of short side.

Minimum length of short side [mm] Tec Tile frequency 15cm or more (pass) [MHz] 0.35 12 14 1.5 13 14 3 16 14 6 15 14

As a result of the experiment using Tec Tile as an NFC model, the short side should be at least 3mm and normal operation can be performed even when the required standard is 15cm or more. In addition, the experiments were repeated for models Topaz, 1K, Ultra light, Desfire and so on. If the length of the short side is more than 3mm, the requirements of all models can be satisfied.

However, in this case, the second long side passes through the position of the camera, which causes a problem that the design of the camera position and the NFC antenna position must be changed. 5, a depression 241 is formed in the second long side 240 so as to be located at a position at which the camera is to be placed Hole (h) of position].

 Thus, the minimum length of the first and second short sides 250 and 260 was fixed to 3 mm, and the minimum required distance between the patterns inside the depression was experimented.

The experimental results are shown in Table 2 below.

Minimum required distance between patterns in depression [mm] Tec Tile frequency 15cm or more (pass) [MHz] 0.35 15 14 0.7 16 14 0.9 17 14 1.2 16 14

As shown in Table 2, it was confirmed that the depth of the depression was not greatly affected and the required performance was satisfied even when the reduction was reduced to 0.35 mm.

However, it was confirmed that the optimum performance was shown at about 0.9 mm.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the antenna manufacturing method of the present invention, a film including a first side and a second side opposite to the first side is first prepared. The film may be, for example, a synthetic resin film such as a rectangular PI film or a PET film.

Thereafter, a closed loop is formed of a thin film conductive layer formed on at least one of the first surface and the second surface of the film and extending from the first terminal to the second terminal, And a part of the second long side forms a radiation pattern including a depression recessed in the first long side direction.

In order to form the radiation pattern, a metal thin film layer is formed on at least one of the first surface and the second surface of the film. That is, the film may be coated with a metal thin film layer, or alternatively, the metal thin film may be bonded to the film by heat pressing. Alternatively, the metal thin film may be attached to the film using an adhesive.

Thereafter, a mask layer is formed on the upper surface of the metal thin film layer, and the remaining region of the mask layer excluding the shape of the radiation pattern is removed.

Thereafter, the metal thin film layer exposed through the remaining region of the mask layer can be removed. For example, the radiation pattern may be patterned by removing the exposed metal by immersion in an etchant.

Thereafter, removing the mask layer may be included.

It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the method of patterning the antenna is only exemplary and may be manufactured by applying other methods as long as it has a radiation pattern according to the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a film for manufacturing the antenna shown in Fig. 2, and Fig. 6 is a plan view of a film for manufacturing the antenna shown in Fig. 5 in comparison with Fig.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 6, it can be seen that much more antennas can be fabricated in the present invention than in the prior art for a mother film M of the same shape. Specifically, in FIG. 3, in the case of the conventional antenna pattern, 3X5 = 15 antennas can be manufactured on one mother film (M). In the antenna pattern according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 6, ), It is possible to manufacture 3X2X5 = 30 antennas, so that the unit cost can be reduced by half in the production process.

In practice, the length of the short side is much smaller than that of the prior art, so that the patterning can be performed twice or more, and thus the antenna can be formed twice or more on one mother board.

As described above, according to the antenna and the antenna manufacturing method of the present invention, since a plurality of antennas can be formed on the film for manufacturing the antenna by the same process, the cost for developing and manufacturing the antenna can be reduced.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical and exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

1000: Smartphone
1100: Camera
100: radiation pattern of a conventional antenna
110: first terminal 120: second terminal
200: radiation pattern of the antenna according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention
210: first terminal 220: second terminal
230: first long side 240: second long side
241: Depression
250: first short side 260: second short side
F: film h: hole

Claims (10)

A film comprising a first side and an opposite second side; And
And a thin conductive layer formed on at least one of the first surface and the second surface of the film to form a closed loop extending from the first terminal to the second terminal, A radiation pattern including a long side and a second long side, wherein a part of the second long side includes a depression depressed in the first long side direction;
/ RTI >
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the depression is formed at a central portion of a second long side of the housing.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the radiation pattern further comprises a first short side and a second short side, which connect the first long side and the second long side, respectively, and which face each other.
The method of claim 3,
Wherein the innermost short side of the loops constituting the first short side and the second short side is 3 mm or more.
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein a distance between the first long side and the second long side of the loop forming the depression is 0.9 mm.
A mobile electronic device comprising an antenna according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
Preparing a film comprising a first side and an opposite second side; And
And a thin conductive layer formed on at least one of the first surface and the second surface of the film to form a closed loop extending from the first terminal to the second terminal, Forming a radiation pattern including a first long side and a second long side, wherein a portion of the second long side includes a depression depressed in the first long side direction;
/ RTI >
8. The method of claim 7,
The depressed portion is formed at a central portion of the second long side of the container,
Wherein the radiation pattern further comprises a first short side and a second short side which connect the first end of the first long side and the second short side of the second long side, respectively, and face each other.
9. The method of claim 8,
The innermost short side of the loops constituting the first short side and the second short side is 3 mm or more,
Wherein a distance between the first and second long sides of the loop forming the depression is 0.9 mm.
8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein forming the radiation pattern comprises:
Forming a metal thin film layer on at least one of the first surface and the second surface of the film;
Forming a mask layer on the thin film layer of the metal;
Removing the remaining region of the mask layer except the shape of the radiation pattern;
Removing the exposed metal thin film layer through the remaining region of the mask layer; And
Removing the mask layer;
/ RTI >

Images