TWI443906B - Flexible antenna structure and handheld device thereof - Google Patents

Description

Flexible antenna structure and handheld device using the same

The present invention relates to an antenna structure, and more particularly to a flexible antenna structure.

With the development of the 3C (Computer, Communications and Consumer) industry, more and more people will use handheld devices as an aid in life. For example, common handheld devices include personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, smart phones, etc. These handheld devices are lightweight and easy to carry, so the number of people used More and more, the functions required are becoming more and more extensive.

Among them, viewing a digital television using a handheld device has become a common function in handheld devices. The digital TV antennas of the traditional handheld devices mostly use multi-segment telescopic antennas. Since the multi-segment telescopic antennas are segmented and socketed, the diameter is large, and a large antenna space needs to be reserved in the design of the mechanism. The space design of the thin and light hand-held device poses a considerable burden.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an antenna structure for saving space occupied by antennas in a handheld device.

According to an embodiment of the invention, a flexible antenna structure is proposed, comprising a sleeve, a flexible antenna mounted in the sleeve, a conductive outer sleeve, and an inner sleeve, the flexible antenna having a tail end protrusion. The conductive jacket includes an open end of the antenna to expose the flexible antenna. The conductive jacket includes a spring piece disposed on an outer surface of the conductive outer casing, and a neck portion disposed at an open end of the antenna, wherein the neck portion is in close contact with the flexible antenna. The inner sleeve is disposed in the conductive outer sleeve and coupled to the sleeve, and the inner sleeve includes a positioning portion, so that when the flexible antenna is pulled out to the positioning position, the tail end protrusion contacts the positioning portion for positioning.

The inner sleeve includes a plurality of claw-shaped hooks, and the positioning portion is disposed on the claw-shaped hook. The positioning portion includes a plurality of bumps disposed on the claw hook. Wherein when the flexible antenna is in the positioning position, the tail protrusion is located between the bump and the neck. The bump can be a trapezoidal bump. The flexible antenna is a memory alloy antenna.

Another aspect of the present invention is a handheld device using a flexible antenna structure, comprising a housing, a circuit board disposed in the housing, a sleeve disposed in the housing, and a flexible device mounted in the sleeve Antenna, conductive jacket and inner sleeve. The flexible antenna includes a trailing end projection. The conductive outer casing includes an open end of the antenna to expose the flexible antenna, and a spring piece disposed on an outer surface of the conductive outer casing, wherein the elastic piece is electrically connected to the circuit board. The conductive outer sleeve further includes a neck disposed at the open end of the antenna, and the neck is in close contact with the flexible antenna. The inner sleeve is disposed in the conductive outer sleeve and coupled to the sleeve, and the inner sleeve includes a positioning portion, so that when the flexible antenna is pulled out to the positioning position, the tail end protrusion contacts the positioning portion for positioning.

The inner sleeve includes a plurality of claw-shaped hooks, and the positioning portion is disposed on the claw-shaped hook. The positioning portion includes a plurality of bumps disposed on the claw hook. The flexible antenna is a memory alloy antenna.

The present invention utilizes a memory alloy which is excellent in flexibility and can be automatically restored to its original shape as a material of a flexible antenna, and the present invention can effectively save space required for an antenna configuration as compared with a multi-segment antenna structure, and Increased spatial flexibility of the antenna configuration.

The spirit and scope of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments of the invention. The spirit and scope of the invention are not departed.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a flexible antenna structure of the present invention in a first positioning state is illustrated. The flexible antenna structure 100 includes a sleeve 110, a flexible antenna 120 disposed in the sleeve 110, a conductive outer sleeve 130, and an inner sleeve 140. The inner sleeve 140 is disposed in the conductive outer sleeve 130 and coupled to the sleeve 110. The conductive outer sleeve 130 includes an open end 132 of the antenna to expose the flexible antenna 120.

The conductive outer sleeve 130 includes a resilient piece 134 that is disposed on an outer surface of the conductive outer sleeve 130. The conductive outer sleeve 130 includes a neck portion 136 disposed at the open end 132 of the antenna. The neck portion 136 is a narrowed portion. The inner diameter of the neck portion 136 is the same as the outer diameter of the flexible antenna 120, so that the neck portion 136 and the flexible portion are Antenna 120 remains in intimate contact. The material of the conductive outer sleeve 130 is metal.

The flexible antenna 120 includes a tail end protrusion 122 and an antenna head 124. The tail end protrusion 122 and the antenna head 124 are respectively disposed at two ends of the flexible antenna 120. The antenna head 124 is exposed at the open end 132 of the conductive jacket 130. The flexible antenna 120 can be a memory alloy antenna. The material of the flexible antenna 120 may be a nickel titanium alloy.

The inner sleeve 140 includes a plurality of claw-shaped hooks 142, and the claw-shaped hooks 142 have an idle distance therebetween, so that the claw-shaped hooks 142 can allow a slight deformation. The inner sleeve 140 includes a plurality of protrusions 144 as positioning portions, and the protrusions 144 are disposed on the claw-shaped hooks 142 to position the flexible antenna 120. The bump 144 can be a trapezoidal bump. The bump 144 has a first slope 146 and a second slope 148. The first slope 146 and the second slope 148 are disposed along the sliding direction of the flexible antenna 120.

Referring to FIG. 2, it is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a flexible antenna structure of the present invention in a second positioning state. In this embodiment, the flexible antenna 120 is pulled out to the second positioning state, and the user can pull the antenna head 124 exposed on the open end 132 of the antenna to extract the flexible antenna 120 from the sleeve 110. Since the claw hook 142 of the inner sleeve 140 can allow a slight deformation and is slightly opened when the force is applied, the tail end protrusion 122 of the flexible antenna 120 can be guided by the first slope 146 over the protrusion 144 to abut On the second slope 148 of the bump 144. At this time, the tail end protrusion 122 of the flexible antenna 120 is located between the neck portion 136 of the conductive outer sleeve 130 and the bump 144 of the inner sleeve 140. The conductive outer sleeve 130 is made of metal, and the neck portion 136 is disposed inside the open end 132 of the conductive outer sleeve 130. The retracted neck portion 136 can effectively retain the rear end projection 122 of the flexible antenna 120 in the inner sleeve 140. in.

If the flexible antenna 120 is to be returned to the first positioning state shown in FIG. 1 , the user can push the flexible antenna 120 back into the sleeve 110 again. At this time, the inner sleeve 140 The claw hook 142 is slightly opened due to the force. The tail end protrusion 122 of the flexible antenna 120 can be guided over the protrusion 144 by the second slope 148 on the protrusion 144, and then returned to the sleeve 110. The subsequent flexible antenna 120 can then be pushed back into the cannula 110.

Referring to Figure 3, there is shown an exploded view of an embodiment of a hand held device of the present invention employing a flexible antenna structure. The handheld device 200 using the flexible antenna structure includes a housing 210, a circuit board 220 disposed in the housing 210, and a flexible antenna structure disposed in the housing 210. The housing 210 includes an upper cover 212 and a lower cover 214. The circuit board 220 and the flexible antenna structure are disposed between the upper cover 212 and the lower cover 214.

The flexible antenna structure comprises a sleeve 110, a conductive outer sleeve 130 connected to the sleeve 110, and a flexible antenna (not shown) disposed in the sleeve 110, wherein the antenna head of the flexible antenna 124 is exposed to the conductive outer sleeve 130. The elastic piece 134 of the conductive outer casing 130 is in contact with the conductive contact on the circuit board 220 to electrically connect the circuit board 220 and the flexible antenna 120 in the conductive outer casing 130 through the elastic piece 134 on the conductive outer casing 130.

Referring to FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the handheld device of the present invention using a flexible antenna structure in different states of use. In FIG. 4A, the flexible antenna 120 is disposed in the sleeve 110. Since the flexible antenna 120 has excellent flexibility, the sleeve 110 can be disposed in the fragmented space in the housing 210. It can effectively save the space of the antenna setting and increase the flexibility of the space configuration. The flexible antenna 120 is housed in the sleeve 110, and the antenna head 124 is exposed to the housing 210. In FIG. 4B, the user can pull the flexible antenna 120 out of the sleeve 110 through the antenna head 124 of the flexible antenna 120.

The flexible antenna 120 can be a digital TV antenna, and the handheld device 200 can be a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a smart phone, or the like.

It will be apparent from the above-described preferred embodiments of the present invention that the application of the present invention has the following advantages. The present invention utilizes a memory alloy which is excellent in flexibility and can be automatically restored to its original shape as a material of a flexible antenna, and the present invention can effectively save space required for an antenna configuration as compared with a multi-segment antenna structure, and Increased spatial flexibility of the antenna configuration.

Although the present invention has been described above in terms of a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the invention, and it is obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

100. . . Flexible antenna structure

110. . . casing

120. . . Flexible antenna

122. . . Tail protrusion

124. . . Antenna head

130. . . Conductive jacket

132. . . Open end of antenna

134. . . shrapnel

136. . . neck

140. . . Inner sleeve

142. . . Claw hook

144. . . Bump

146. . . First slope

148. . . Bevel

200. . . Handheld device

210. . . case

212. . . Upper cover

214. . . lower lid

220. . . Circuit board

The above and other objects, features, advantages and embodiments of the present invention will become more apparent and understood.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a flexible antenna structure of the present invention in a first positioning state.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of the flexible antenna structure of the present invention in a second positioning state.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of an embodiment of a handheld device of the present invention using a flexible antenna structure.

4A and 4B are schematic views respectively showing the handheld device of the present invention using a flexible antenna structure in different use states.

100. . . Flexible antenna structure

110. . . casing

120. . . Flexible antenna

122. . . Tail protrusion

124. . . Antenna head

130. . . Conductive jacket

132. . . Open end of antenna

134. . . shrapnel

136. . . neck

140. . . Inner sleeve

142. . . Claw hook

144. . . Bump

146. . . First slope

148. . . Bevel

Claims (10)

A flexible antenna structure comprising: a sleeve; a flexible antenna mounted in the sleeve, the flexible antenna comprising a tail end protrusion; and a conductive outer sleeve comprising: an antenna open end, Exposing the flexible antenna, a resilient piece disposed on an outer surface of the conductive outer casing, and a neck disposed at the open end of the antenna to be in close contact with the flexible antenna; and an inner sleeve disposed on the conductive The sleeve is coupled to the sleeve, and the inner sleeve includes a positioning portion for positioning the tail end protrusion contacting the positioning portion when the flexible antenna is pulled out to a positioning position. The flexible antenna structure of claim 1, wherein the inner sleeve comprises a plurality of claw-shaped hooks, and the positioning portion is disposed on the claw-shaped hooks. The flexible antenna structure of claim 2, wherein the positioning portion comprises a plurality of bumps disposed on the claw hooks. The flexible antenna structure of claim 3, wherein the tail end protrusion is located between the protrusions and the neck portion when the flexible antenna is in the positioning position. The flexible antenna structure of claim 3, wherein each of the bumps is a trapezoidal bump. The flexible antenna structure of claim 1, wherein the flexible antenna is a memory alloy antenna. A handheld device using a flexible antenna structure, comprising: a casing; a circuit board disposed in the casing; a casing disposed in the casing, a flexible antenna mounted on the casing In the tube, the flexible antenna includes a tail end protrusion; a conductive outer casing comprising: an open end of the antenna to expose the flexible antenna, a resilient piece disposed on an outer surface of the conductive outer casing, and the circuit board An electrical connection, and a neck portion disposed at the open end of the antenna and in close contact with the flexible antenna; and an inner sleeve disposed in the conductive outer sleeve and coupled to the sleeve, the inner sleeve includes a The positioning portion is configured to position the tail end protrusion contacting the positioning portion when the flexible antenna is pulled out to a positioning position. The hand-held device of the flexible antenna structure of claim 7, wherein the inner sleeve comprises a plurality of claw-shaped hooks, and the positioning portion is disposed on the claw-shaped hooks. The handheld device of the flexible antenna structure of claim 8, wherein the positioning portion comprises a plurality of bumps disposed on the claw hooks. A hand-held device using a flexible antenna structure according to claim 7, wherein the flexible antenna is a memory alloy antenna.