WO2024040940A1

WO2024040940A1 - Foldable antenna and communication device

Info

Publication number: WO2024040940A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/081677
Authority: WO
Inventors: 江宇; 卞冬琛; 吴建军; 张功哲; 吴深毅
Original assignee: 中兴通讯股份有限公司
Priority date: 2022-08-25
Filing date: 2023-03-15
Publication date: 2024-02-29
Also published as: CN117673698A

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of communications and provides a foldable antenna and a communication device. The foldable antenna comprises a main antenna; at least one expansion antenna, each expansion antenna being rotatably connected to at least one side of the main antenna; and at least one first expansion section, two sides of each first expansion section being rotatably connected to the main antenna and each expansion antenna respectively. After the foldable antenna is completely folded, the working surface of each expansion antenna is parallel to the working surface of the main antenna.

Description

Folding antennas and communication equipment

Cross-references to related applications

This disclosure claims priority to Chinese patent application CN202211026898.0 titled "Folding Antenna and Communication Equipment" filed on August 25, 2022, the entire content of which is incorporated into this disclosure by reference.

Technical field

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of communication equipment, and in particular, to a folding antenna and communication equipment.

Background technique

In the information age, communication technology develops rapidly, and 5G antennas are deployed on a large scale. Compared with 4G antennas, 5G antenna signals have higher frequencies, shorter wavelengths, and stronger directivity. In order to optimize the external field force of the antenna equipment and improve the installation reliability, the antenna is designed in a foldable state, so that the antenna can be unfolded when working and folded when not working. After folding, the size of the antenna equipment is small, which optimizes the engineering operations during on-site installation. ease of use.

Folding antennas in some cases have the technical problem of making the folded antenna larger.

Contents of the invention

The main purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a foldable antenna and communication equipment, aiming to solve the technical problem that the folded antenna is large in size.

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a folding antenna is provided, including: a main antenna; at least one extension antenna, each extension antenna is respectively rotatably connected to at least one side of the main antenna; and at least one first extension section, each first Both sides of the extension section are rotatably connected to the main antenna and each extension antenna respectively. After the folded antenna is completely folded, the working surface of each extension antenna is parallel to the working surface of the main antenna.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided, including the folding antenna as described in the first aspect.

Description of drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate embodiments consistent with the disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the present disclosure or the prior art, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments or description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. It is obvious that for those of ordinary skill in the art, Other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings without incurring any creative effort.

Figure 1 shows a first perspective perspective view of a folded antenna in a folded state according to Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure;

Figure 2 shows a second perspective perspective view of the folded antenna provided in Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure in its folded state;

Figure 3 shows a perspective view of the unfolded first intermediate state of the foldable antenna provided by Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure;

Figure 4 shows a perspective view of the unfolded second intermediate state of the foldable antenna provided by Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the fully unfolded state of the foldable antenna provided by Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure;

Figure 6 shows a top view of the folded state of the foldable antenna provided in Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 shows a top view of the unfolded first intermediate state of the foldable antenna provided by Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure;

Figure 8 shows a top view of the unfolded second intermediate state of the foldable antenna provided by Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 shows a top view of the fully unfolded state of the foldable antenna provided by Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure.

The reference symbols are explained as follows:

1. Main antenna; 2. Extension antenna; 3. First extension section; 4. Second extension section; 5. First link assembly; 51. First arm; 511. Arm body; 5111. Slide; 512. Sliding rod; 52. Second arm; 6. Second link assembly; 61. Third arm; 62. Fourth arm.

Detailed ways

In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present disclosure clearer, the technical solutions in the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the present disclosure. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the implementation of the present disclosure. examples, not all examples. Based on the embodiments in this disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without any creative efforts fall within the scope of protection of this disclosure.

Most existing antenna devices that support folding mainly adopt a two-flap folding method, which includes a main antenna and an extension Antenna, the main antenna is rotatably connected to the extension antenna on one side through the rotation axis. Since the main antenna has a certain thickness, the working surface of the extension antenna is tilted after folding and cannot be parallel to the working surface of the main antenna, resulting in the volume of the folded antenna. Still larger and takes up a lot of space.

In view of this, the present disclosure provides a foldable antenna and communication device to solve the above problems.

The various structures of the folding antenna and communication equipment will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Regarding the first embodiment of the folding antenna

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the present disclosure provides a folding antenna, which includes: a main antenna 1; at least one extension antenna 2, each extension antenna 2 is rotatably connected to at least one side of the main antenna 1; and at least one The first extension section 3 has both sides of each first extension section 3 rotatably connected to the main antenna 1 and each extension antenna 2 respectively. After the folded antenna is completely folded, the working surface of each extension antenna 2 is parallel to the working surface of the main antenna 1.

When the folded antenna is fully folded, it refers to a presentation mode that occupies the smallest space. The fully folded state in this embodiment can be seen in Figure 1, Figure 2 and Figure 6. Fully folded refers to all extended antennas. The working surface of 2 is parallel to the working surface of main antenna 1.

This disclosure adopts a three-petal folding method. Through the arrangement of the first expansion section 3 in the middle, the working surface of each expansion antenna 2 will not be tilted after being folded, and is parallel to the working surface of the main antenna 1. Further, The volume of the folded antenna is reduced, thereby reducing its space occupation.

In an exemplary embodiment, after the folded antenna is completely folded, the size of each first extension section 3 in a direction perpendicular to the working surface of the main antenna 1 is greater than or equal to the size of the main antenna 1 . After the folded antenna is completely folded, in order to ensure that the working surface of each extended antenna 2 is parallel to the working surface of the main antenna 1, it is necessary that the size of each first extended section 3 is larger than Or equal to the size of the main antenna 1, so that the folded extension antenna 2 has enough space to fold, ensuring that the device size is smaller after the folded antenna is folded, further optimizing the ease of engineering operations during on-site installation; and, the extension antenna 2 After being completely folded, it is located on the side of the main antenna 1 away from the working surface and does not affect the normal operation of the main antenna 1 working surface.

Please refer to Figures 3 to 9. Since the three-lobed folding antenna needs to separately control the rotational connection between the main antenna 1 and the first extension section 3 and the rotational connection between the extension antenna 2 and the first extension section 3 during operation, the result is that The control during folding is complicated and the folding efficiency is low. In order to solve the problem of low folding efficiency, the folding antenna of this embodiment also includes a first link assembly 5, One end of the first link assembly 5 is rotatably connected to the side of the main antenna 1 away from its working surface, the other end of the first link assembly 5 is rotatably connected to the side of the extension antenna 2 away from its working surface, and the first link The assembly 5 is also rotationally connected to the first expansion section 3 . The three-lobed structures of the main antenna 1, the extension antenna 2 and the first extension section 3 are simultaneously controlled through the first link assembly 5 to achieve single-degree-of-freedom linkage, which greatly improves the folding efficiency and makes the control relatively simple.

In an exemplary embodiment, the first link assembly 5 includes: a first arm 51. One end of the first arm 51 is rotationally connected to the side of the main antenna 1 away from its working surface. The length of the first arm 51 can be Adjust, and the first arm 51 is rotationally connected to the first extension section 3; and the second arm 52, one end of the second arm 52 is rotationally connected to the other end of the first arm 51, and the other end of the second arm 52 is connected to the expansion section Antenna 2 is connected by rotation. By adjusting the length of the first arm 51, the second arm 52 is driven to rotate, so that the first extension section 3 rotates around the main antenna 1, and the extension antenna 2 rotates around the first extension section 3, thereby realizing the main antenna 1 and the second extension section 3. The three-lobed single-degree-of-freedom linkage of the extension section 3 and the extension antenna 2 greatly improves the folding efficiency, and the control is relatively simple.

For the first arm 51, the first arm 51 includes: a sliding rod 512, one end of the sliding rod 512 is rotationally connected to the side of the main antenna 1 away from its working surface; and an arm body 511, the arm body 511 is connected along the A chute 5111 is provided along its length. The other end of the sliding rod 512 is slidably connected in the chute 5111. One end of the arm body 511 is rotatably connected to the second arm 52, and the arm body 511 is rotatably connected to the first extension section 3. The first arm 51 includes a sliding rod 512 and an arm body 511. The sliding rod 512 can move along the chute 5111 of the arm body 511 to adjust the length of the first arm 51 and thereby realize the main antenna 1 and the second arm 511. An extension section 3 and an extension antenna 2 are folded or unfolded in a linked manner. In addition, the sliding pair composed of the sliding rod 512 and the arm body 511 is replaced by a rotating pair, so that the first arm 51 can drive the second arm 52, the first extension section 3 and the extension antenna 2 to achieve linkage.

In an exemplary embodiment, a second extension section 4 is also included. The second extension section 4 is fixedly connected to the side of the extension antenna 2 facing away from its working surface. The first extension section 3 has a side opposite to the main antenna 1 facing away from its working surface. One side of the first expansion section 3 is hinged, the other side of the first expansion section 3 is rotationally connected to one side of the second expansion section 4, and the other end of the second expansion section 4 is rotationally connected to the other end of the second arm 52, so the first expansion section 3 needs to The thickness of the main antenna 1 is satisfied so that the folded extension antenna 2 can be placed parallel to the side of the main antenna 1 away from its working surface to ensure the smallest volume. The second extension section 4 can stabilize the extension antenna 2 with the first extension section 3 Linkage, by fixedly connecting the extension antenna 2 to the second extension section 4, the working area of the main antenna 1 is expanded, which can adapt to different area coverage, improve network capacity, and realize the relative relationship between the first extension section 3 and the second extension section 4. The main antenna 1 rotates with a single degree of freedom in the same direction to achieve the best signal transmission effect.

It should be noted that the foldable antenna can be configured with one extension antenna 2, two extension antennas 2, or four extension antennas 2. When there is one extension antenna 2, one extension antenna 2 is connected to the main antenna through a first extension section 3. On one side of antenna 1, and after it is completely folded, the orthographic projection area of extended antenna 2 on the working surface of main antenna 1 is the same as the working surface area of main antenna 1; When there are two extension antennas 2, the two extension antennas 2 are respectively located on both sides of the midline of the working surface of the vertical main antenna 1, and the two first extension sections 3 are respectively located on both sides of the midline of the working surface of the vertical main antenna 1. The extended antenna 2 on one side of the centerline of the working surface of the antenna 1 is rotationally connected to one side of the main antenna 1 through the first extension section 3, and the extended antenna 2 on the other side of the centerline of the vertical main antenna 1 working surface is connected to one side of the main antenna 1 through the first extension section 3. The other side of the main antenna 1 is rotated and connected, and after the folded antenna is completely folded, the two extension antennas 2 are on the same plane and the sum of the areas of the working surfaces of the two folded antennas 2 is the same as the area of the working surfaces of the main antenna 1. Two extension antennas 2 are respectively rotatably connected to opposite sides of the main antenna 1 through two first extension sections 3, and after being completely folded, the sum of the orthographic projection areas of the two extension antennas 2 on the working surface of the main antenna 1 is equal to The main antenna 1 has the same working surface area; when there are four extension antennas 2, the four extension antennas 2 are respectively rotatably connected to the four sides of the main antenna 1 through the four first extension sections 3, and after being completely folded, the four extension antennas 2 The sum of the orthographic projection areas of the antennas 2 on the working surface of the main antenna 1 is the same as the working surface area of the main antenna 1, and the four extension antennas 2 are located on the same plane. In addition, other numbers of extension antennas 2 can also be included, as long as the working surface of the extension antenna 2 and the working surface of the main antenna 1 are parallel to each other after folding.

It should be noted that the folding antenna in this embodiment is not limited to the above combinations. Specifically, the number of extension antennas 2 is not limited, and the working surface area of the extension antenna 2 and the working surface area of the main antenna 1 are not limited.

The following description takes the example of a folded antenna configured with two extension antennas 2, and the two extension antennas 2 are respectively located on two opposite sides of the main antenna 1.

In this embodiment, the folding antenna includes two extension antennas 2 and two first extension sections 3. The two extension antennas 2 are respectively connected to the two sides opposite to the main antenna 1 through rotation, and are connected to each other through the two first extension sections 3. After the folded antenna is completely folded, the two extended antennas 2 are on the same plane and the sum of the working surfaces of the two folded antennas is the same as the working surface of the main antenna 1, so that after folding, the extended antenna 2 can be located away from the main antenna 1. On one side of the working surface, there are parallel zero-gap stacks with high folding efficiency. After fully unfolding, the angle between the working surface of the extended antenna 2 and the working surface of the main antenna 1 can be adjusted. It has the ability to change the working surface. Adapt to different wind loads and meet actual signal needs.

In an exemplary embodiment, in order to facilitate the control of the two extended antennas 2 so that the angles when they are unfolded or folded are consistent, the two extended antennas 2 and the two first extended sections 3 work perpendicular to the main antenna 1 . The midlines of the surfaces are all symmetrically distributed.

In order to achieve synchronous single-degree-of-freedom linkage of two folding antennas, the folding antenna of this embodiment also includes a second link assembly 6. There are two first link assemblies 5. The two first link assemblies 5 are related to the vertical main antenna. 1. The center line of the working surface is symmetrically distributed; the second link assembly 6 is rotationally connected to the two first link assemblies 5 respectively, and the second link assembly 6 is symmetrically distributed with respect to the center line of the main antenna 1 perpendicular to its working surface, And the second link assembly 6 is symmetrically distributed about the center line of the main antenna 1 perpendicular to its working surface. The second link assembly 6 drives the two first link assemblies 5 to move at the same time, thereby realizing the simultaneous folding or unfolding of the two extended antennas 2 and ensuring single-degree-of-freedom symmetrical movement of the extended antennas 2 on both sides.

For the second link assembly 6, the second link assembly 6 includes: two third arms 61, one ends of the two third arms 61 are respectively rotationally connected to one end of the two first arms 51; and, Four arms 62, the other ends of the two third arms 61 are rotationally connected to one end of the fourth arm 62, the other end of the fourth arm 62 is fixedly connected to the side of the main antenna 1 away from its working surface, and the fourth arm The arm 62 extends and contracts in a direction perpendicular to the working surface of the main antenna 1 . During operation, by extending and contracting the fourth arm 62 in a direction perpendicular to the working surface of the main antenna 1, the two third arms 61 are driven to rotate, thereby driving the first link assembly 5 to rotate, thereby realizing the folding or folding of the two folding antennas. Expand, since the fourth arm 62 is located on the center line perpendicular to the working surface of the main antenna 1, the third arms 61 on both sides are symmetrically distributed with respect to the fourth arm 62, so that the antenna can be expanded on both sides through the fourth arm 62. 2's single-degree-of-freedom symmetrical movement improves the folding or unfolding efficiency of the folding antenna and facilitates control.

The length of the fourth arm 62 is adjustable, and the fourth arm 62 can be a sliding pair. When the length of the fourth arm 62 gradually decreases, the third arm 61 pushes the first link assembly 5, and the third arm 61 The angle between the arm 61 and the first link assembly 5 gradually increases, and the chute 5111 of the arm body 511 slides in a direction away from the main antenna 1 relative to the sliding rod 512, so that the length of the first arm 51 increases, and the first The angle between the arm 51 and the second arm 52 gradually increases, and the angle between the second arm 52 and the extended antenna 2 gradually increases, so that the extended antenna 2 gradually expands; when the length of the fourth arm 62 gradually increases When the third arm 61 is large, the third arm 61 pulls the first link assembly 5, the angle between the third arm 61 and the first link assembly 5 gradually decreases, and the chute 5111 of the arm body 511 faces the main antenna relative to the sliding rod 512. Slide in the direction of 1, so that the length of the first arm 51 decreases, and the angle between the first arm 51 and the second arm 52 gradually decreases, and the angle between the second arm 52 and the extended antenna 2 gradually decreases. decrease, causing the extended antenna 2 to gradually fold.

Please continue to refer to Figures 1 to 9. Figures 1 to 2 and Figure 6 show a schematic diagram of the folded antenna in a fully folded state. It can be seen that in the fully folded state, the working surface of the main antenna 1 and the working surface of the extended antenna 2 The surfaces are parallel to each other and arranged oppositely, so as to reduce the volume of the folded antenna and thereby reduce the space occupied by it. Figures 3-4 and 7-8 show schematic diagrams of the intermediate state of the folded antenna. It can be seen that, By driving the first link component 5 through the second link component 6, the main antenna 1, the first extension section 3 and the extension antenna 2 can have different included angles, so that the angle between the main antenna 1 and the extension antenna 2 can be adjusted. angle to adapt to different regional coverage, network capacity and wind load. Figure 3 and Figure 7 are expanded first state diagrams. At this time, the working surface of the extended antenna 2 is between the working surface of the main antenna 1 and The angle between them is an acute angle. Figures 4 and 8 are diagrams of the second unfolded state. At this time, the extended antenna 2 and the main antenna 1 are unfolded until their working surfaces are parallel to each other. Figures 5 and 9 show the folded antenna. Schematic diagram of the fully unfolded antenna. After the folded antenna is fully unfolded, since the main antenna 1 has a certain thickness and the first extension section 3 is located on the side of the main antenna 1 away from its working surface, it cannot be completely folded to the working surface side of the main antenna 1. This serves the purpose of limiting the moving angle of the extended antenna 2 without affecting the normal operation of the working surface of the main antenna 1. When fully deployed, the extended antenna 2 The angle between the working surface of the spread antenna 2 and the working surface of the main antenna 1 is between 180° and 210°.

It should be noted that when fully deployed, the angle between the working surface of the extended antenna 2 and the working surface of the main antenna 1 is not limited to the above angle, and can also be other angles, which are not listed here.

Second embodiment of communication equipment

Based on the first embodiment, this embodiment provides a communication device, including the folding antenna described in the first embodiment. The communication device provided by the present disclosure has the same technical advantages as the folding antenna of the first embodiment, which will not be described again here.

The main purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a folding antenna and communication equipment, aiming to reduce the volume of the folded antenna so that it occupies a small space. According to a method provided by the present disclosure, a folding antenna and communication equipment are provided, wherein the folding antenna includes: a main antenna; at least one extension antenna, each extension antenna is respectively rotatably connected to at least one side of the main antenna; and at least one first extension section , both sides of each first extension section are rotatably connected to the main antenna and each extension antenna respectively. After the folded antenna is completely folded, the working surface of each extension antenna is parallel to the working surface of the main antenna. This disclosure adopts a three-petal folding method. Through the arrangement of the first expansion section in the middle, the working surface of each expansion antenna will not be tilted after being folded, and is parallel to the working surface of the main antenna, further reducing the need for folding. The size of the antenna reduces its space.

The present disclosure adopts a three-lobed folding antenna structure. Through the arrangement of the first expansion section in the middle, the working surface of each expansion antenna is parallel to the working surface of the main antenna after folding, further reducing the volume of the folding antenna, thereby Reduce its footprint.

It should be noted that in this article, relational terms such as “first” and “second” are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply these There is no such actual relationship or sequence between entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprises," "comprises," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that includes a list of elements includes not only those elements, but also those not expressly listed other elements, or elements inherent to the process, method, article or equipment. Without further limitation, an element defined by the statement "comprises a..." does not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that includes the stated element.

The above descriptions are only specific embodiments of the present disclosure, enabling those skilled in the art to understand or implement the present disclosure. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be practiced in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features claimed herein. around.

Claims

A foldable antenna including:

main antenna;

At least one extension antenna, each extension antenna is rotatably connected to at least one side of the main antenna; and

There is at least one first expansion section. Both sides of each first expansion section are rotatably connected to the main antenna and each of the expansion antennas respectively. After the folding antenna is completely folded, the working surface of each expansion antenna is parallel to The working surface of the main antenna.
The foldable antenna according to claim 1, wherein after the folded antenna is completely folded, the size of each first extension section in a direction perpendicular to the working surface of the main antenna is greater than or equal to the main antenna. Antenna size.
The folding antenna according to claim 2, wherein the folding antenna further includes a first link assembly, one end of the first link assembly is rotationally connected to a side of the main antenna away from its working surface, and the The other end of the first link component is rotatably connected to the side of the extended antenna away from its working surface, and the first link component is also rotatably connected to the first extension section.
The folding antenna according to claim 3, wherein the first link assembly includes:

A first arm, one end of the first arm is rotationally connected to the side of the main antenna away from its working surface, the length of the first arm is adjustable, and the first arm is connected to the first Extension section rotational connection; and

A second arm, one end of the second arm is rotatably connected to the other end of the first arm, and the other end of the second arm is rotatably connected to the extended antenna.
The folded antenna of claim 4, wherein the first arm includes:

A sliding rod, one end of which is rotatably connected to the side of the main antenna facing away from its working surface; and

The arm body has a chute along its length, the other end of the sliding rod is slidingly connected in the chute, one end of the arm body is rotatably connected to the second arm, and The arm body is rotatably connected to the first expansion section.
The folding antenna according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the folding antenna includes two extension antennas and two first extension sections, and the two extension antennas are respectively located perpendicular to the working surface of the main antenna. On both sides of the centerline, the two first expansion sections are respectively located on both sides of the centerline perpendicular to the working surface of the main antenna. The extended antenna located on the side of the centerline perpendicular to the working surface of the main antenna passes through the first expansion section. The extended antenna is rotatably connected to one side of the main antenna, and the extended antenna located on the other side of the center line perpendicular to the working surface of the main antenna is rotatably connected to the other side of the main antenna through the first extension section, and After the folding antenna is completely folded, the two extension antennas are on the same plane and the sum of the areas of the working surfaces of the two folding antennas is the same as the area of the working surface of the main antenna.
The folded antenna according to claim 6, wherein the two extension antennas and the two first extension sections are symmetrically distributed about a center line of the main antenna that is perpendicular to its working surface.
The folding antenna according to claim 7, wherein the folding antenna further includes a second link assembly, there are two first link assemblies, and the two first link assemblies are vertical to the main antenna. The center line of the working surface is symmetrically distributed;

The second link components are rotatably connected to the two first link components respectively, and the second link components are symmetrically distributed about the center line of the main antenna that is perpendicular to its working surface.
The folded antenna according to claim 8, wherein the second link assembly includes:

Two third arms, one end of the two third arms is rotatably connected to one end of the two first arms respectively; and,

The fourth arm, the other ends of the two third arms are rotatably connected to one end of the fourth arm, and the other end of the fourth arm is fixedly connected to the side of the main antenna away from its working surface, And the other end of the fourth arm moves in a direction perpendicular to the working surface of the main antenna.
A communication device including the folding antenna according to any one of claims 1-9.