Abstract:
An antenna connector for holding an antenna in relation to a printed circuit board, where the antenna connector has means for releasable holding the antenna onto the printed circuit board. The holding means of the antenna connector are constructed to enable easy removal of the antenna from the printed circuit board so that components placed under antenna can be reached, repaired or replaced, and that the characteristics of a radio part on the printed circuit board can be measured without having the antenna mounted.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The invention relates to an antenna connector for holding an antenna and a printed circuit board in relation to each other so that there is contact between the antenna and the printed circuit board.  
           [0002]    Electronic devices, e.g. mobile telephones, are getting smaller and smaller along with the present technological development. This means that all the components in the electronic devices also need to get smaller and smaller and more and more integrated. These electronic devices have a printed circuit board, whereon electronic components are mounted during a pick and place process.  
           [0003]    When the antenna device becomes smaller and smaller it is desired to place the device directly onto the printed circuit board during the pick and place process. The cheapest and the most robust solution would be to solder the antenna devices onto the printed circuit board. However for mobile phones there is need for optimising the performance of the radio transmitter and receiver. Therefore it is desired to allow automatical testing of the performance during the testing. However it is not possible to test the RF stage output when the antenna device is soldered directly onto the printed circuit board.  
           [0004]    In the latest mobile phones there is also a need for having more connections between the radio part and the antenna due to the fact that most mobile phones are now working in two frequency bands and in the future they will probably use even more frequency bands.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    An object of the invention is to provide an antenna connector that enables that measurements for controlling the characteristics of a radio part on a printed circuit board can easily be conducted without breaking the antenna and that the components mounted beneath the antenna can on a later occasion be reached for repairing or checking without breaking the antenna.  
           [0006]    According to claimed invention this objective is obtained by an antenna connector for holding an antenna in relation to a printed circuit board, where the antenna connector has means for releasable holding of the antenna onto the printed circuit board and that the holding means of the antenna connector are constructed to enable later flexible removal of the antenna.  
           [0007]    An object of the invention is to provide a communication unit having a printed circuit board provided with an antenna connector for holding an antenna in relation to a printed circuit board, enabling easy removal of the antenna and availability to components mounted beneath the antenna.  
           [0008]    According to the claimed invention a communication unit provided with an antenna connector for holding an antenna in relation to a printed circuit board, where the antenna connector has means for releasable holding of the antenna onto the printed circuit board, and that the holding means of the antenna connector are constructed to enable later flexible removal of the antenna. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    The invention will be explained more fully below, by way of example, in connection with preferred embodiments and with reference to the drawing, in which:  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 shows in a perspective view a preferred embodiment of the communication unit according to the invention.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 schematically shows the essential parts of a telephone for communication with a cellular network.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3 shows an antenna that will be soldered onto the printed circuit board.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 4 shows an antenna that will attached to the printed circuit board by an antenna connector.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 5 shows an antenna that will attached to the printed circuit board by another antenna connector.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 6 shows an antenna assembly having extra holding means for attaching the antenna to the printed circuit board.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 7 shows a schematic view of an antenna probe for conducting measurements and the antenna connector. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]    According to a first aspect the antenna connector according to the invention will be described with reference to a hand portable phone, preferably a cellular/mobile phone. A preferred embodiment of this phone is shown in FIG. 1, where a phone is shown in perspective. As will be seen, the phone is provided with a front cover  2  having a window frame  3  encircling the protection window of the display assembly  1 . The phone comprises a user interface having an on/off button  4 , a keyboard/keypad  7 , a battery, a display/LCD  1 , an ear-piece  21  and a microphone  22  (not shown).  
         [0018]    The keyboard/keypad  7  has a first group of keys  13  as alphanumeric keys, by means of which the user can enter a telephone number, write a text message (SMS), write a name (associated with the phone number), etc. Each of the twelve alphanumeric keys  13  is provided with a figure “0-9” or a sign “#”or “*”, respectively. In alpha mode each key is associated with a number of letters and special signs used in the text editing.  
         [0019]    The keyboard/keypad  7  additionally comprises two soft keys  8 , two call handling keys  12 , and a navigation key  10 . The functionality of the soft key depends on the state of the phone and the navigation in the menu by using a navigation key. The present functionality of the soft keys  8  is shown in separate fields in the display  1  just above the keys  8 . The two call handling keys  12  are used for establishing a call or a conference call, terminating a call or rejecting an incoming call.  
         [0020]    The navigation key  10  is an up/down key and is placed centrally on the front surface of the phone between the display  1  and the group of alphanumeric keys  13 . Hereby the user will be able to control this key with his thumb. This is the best site to place an input key requiring precise motor movements. Many experienced phone users are used to one-hand handling. They place the phone in the hand between the fingertips and the palm of the hand. Hereby the thumb is free for inputting information.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 2 schematically shows the most important parts of a preferred embodiment of the phone, said parts being essential to the understanding of the invention. The microphone  22  records the user&#39;s speech, and the analogue signals formed thereby are A/D converted in an A/D converter (not shown) before the speech is encoded in an audio part  20 . The encoded speech signal is transferred to the controller  18  (physical layer processor), which e.g. supports the GSM terminal software. The controller  18  also forms the interface to the peripheral units of the apparatus, including RAM and ROM memories  17   a  and  17   b,  a SIM card  16 , the display  1  and the keyboard/keypad  7  (from FIG. 1) as well as data, power supply, etc. The controller  18  communicates with the transmitter/receiver circuit  19 . The audio part  20  speech-decodes the signal, which is transferred from the controller  18  to the ear-piece  21  via a D/A converter (not shown).  
         [0022]    The preferred embodiment of the phone of the invention is adapted for use in connection with the GSM network, but, of course, the invention may also be applied in connection with other phone networks. It could be cellular networks, various forms of cordless phone systems or in dual band phones accessing sets of these systems/networks.  
         [0023]    The controller  18  is connected to the user interface. Thus, it is the controller  18 , which monitors the activity in the phone and controls the display  1  in response thereto.  
         [0024]    Therefore, it is the controller  18 , which detects the occurrence of a state change event and changes the state of the phone and thus the display text. The user may cause a state change event, when he/she activates the keyboard/keypad  7  including the navigation key or keys  10 , and these type of events are called entry events or user events. However, the network communicating with the phone may also cause a state change event. These type of events and other events beyond the user&#39;s control are called non-user events. Non user events comprise status change during call set-up, change in battery voltage, change in antenna conditions, message on reception of SMS, etc.  
         [0025]    The invention will be described in some examples with reference to FIGS.  3  to  7  showing the various features of an antenna connector.  
         [0026]    In FIG. 3 a printed circuit board  30  is shown having contact pads  31 , and an antenna  33 . The antenna includes several transmitting and receiving antennas  34 . It also includes legs  35 . The different transmitting and receiving antennas  34  have parts  36  that extends along the legs  35  of the antenna to enable contact with the contact pads  31  on the printed circuit board  30 . The extending parts  36  extend down over the end of the legs  35  and up on the other side of the legs  35 . This construction enables better contact between the antenna  33  and the printed circuit board  30 . The antenna  33  shown in FIG. 3 is soldered onto the printed circuit board  30 .  
         [0027]    Another solution for attaching an antenna  33  to a printed circuit board  30  is shown in FIG. 4, where the antenna  33  is attached to the printed circuit board  30  having an antenna connector  37  mounted, preferably by soldering, on the printed circuit board  30 . The antenna connectors  37  includes contact members  38  mounted in slots (not shown) on the antenna connector  37 , where each contact member  38  includes two contact parts  39  and  40 . The first contact part  39  has mainly a contact function, while the second contact part  40  also has a holding function. When an antenna  33  is placed in the connector  37 , between the two contact parts  39  and  40 , the second contact part  40  will snap into a recession  41  on the antenna  33 . The second contact part  40  will hold the antenna  33  firmly so that a good contact is established between the antenna  33  and the printed circuit board  30 . If the antenna  33  needs be removed due to maintenance of components placed beneath (not shown) the antenna  33  or that testing of a radio part (not shown) on the printed circuit board  30  and connected to the antenna, the second contact parts  40  can easily be bent outwards from the antenna  33  thus releasing the antenna  33  from the antenna connector  37 .  
         [0028]    In FIG. 5 is yet another way of attaching an antenna  33  to a printed circuit board  30  shown, where antenna connectors  42  having a raised section  43  are mounted, preferably by soldering, onto the printed circuit board  30 . The raised section  43  of the antenna connector  42  has a recession  44 , which overlaps with a corresponding recession  46  on the antenna  33 . The antenna connector  42  also includes contact members  45  mounted in slots (not shown) on the antenna connector  42 , where the part of the contact members  45  having contact with the antenna  33  has a closed end or at least an end pointing downwards. Any metal parts in the antenna connector  42  will affect the antenna  33 , but having a closed end or at least an end pointing downwards minimises the effect from the antenna connector  42  on the antenna  33 .  
         [0029]    In FIG. 5 are shown antenna connectors  42  having three and two contact members  45  respectively. To enable the antenna connectors  42  to receive different types of antennas  33  with different numbers of antenna parts the antenna connectors  42  are provided with numerous slots (not shown). For every different type of antenna  33  the antenna connector  42  will be provided with a suitable number of contact members  45 , while the rest of the slots will be empty. Also the embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 and 6 are provided with numerous slots to adapt to different types of antennas  33 .  
         [0030]    When an antenna  33  is placed in the antenna connector  42  the contact members  45  will be bend outwards from the raised section  43  until the recession  46  on the antenna  33  snaps into the recession  44  on the antenna connector  42 . The contact between the contact members  45  and the antenna  33  is earlier shown described with reference to FIG. 3. The antenna  33  is released by pressing the legs  47  inwards and thereby pushing the contact members  45  away, releasing the snapped recessions  44  and  46 , and thereafter lifting the antenna  33 .  
         [0031]    In FIG. 6 is shown an antenna  33  having extra holding means  48  for increasing the attaching force between the antenna  33  and the printed circuit board  30 . The extra holding means  48  includes snapping members that are inserted in recessions  49  on the printed circuit board  30 , when mounting the antenna  33  onto the printed circuit board  30 .  
         [0032]    In FIG. 7 is shown a schematic view of an antenna probe  50  for testing a radio part (not shown) on the print circuit board  30 . The antenna probe  50  has some contact cables  52  for connecting to measuring equipment (not shown) and some coax cables  53  to attach to some grounding pins  51 . As mentioned earlier there is a need for testing the radio part of a mobile phone to see that the radio parts meet the requirements of certain standards or just to check if the performance of the radio part is satisfactory. The antenna probe  50  has in this example a similar structure to that of the earlier described antennas  33 , but it could have any other design as long as the grounding pins  51  fits into the antenna connector  42  and that they are connected to some grounding pads  54 . The antenna probe  50  lacks any recessions that corresponds to the recessions  44  of the antenna connector  42  (FIG. 5) or that the second contact part  40  (shown in FIG. 4), which snaps into the recessions and holds the antenna probe  50  firmly to the printed circuit board  30 . This enables the antenna probe  50  to easily be placed in the antenna connector  37  or  42 , and that tests can be conducted on the radio part.  
         [0033]    The antenna probe  50  and the antenna  33  can be held and placed in the antenna connector  42  by the same rotating tool (not shown). While the antenna probe  50  is placed onto the antenna connector  42  for conducting the tests the antenna  33  can be held in another position waiting to be placed onto the antenna connector  42  after the tests have been completed. The rotating tool lifts the antenna probe  50  and rotates so that the antenna  33  is placed in the mounting position and thereafter placed onto the antenna connector  42 .  
         [0034]    The invention is not limited to the above-described examples or to the drawings showing examples of an embodiment, but can be varied within the scope of the appended claims.