Abstract:
A wireless communication device with an antenna structure includes a wireless communication device body and an antenna. The antenna includes a first flexible laminate substrate, a second flexible laminate substrate, and an antenna metal layer. The antenna is disposed on a surface of a case of the wireless communication device body through the second flexible laminate substrate. The antenna metal layer is disposed between and is in contact with the first flexible laminate substrate and the second flexible laminate substrate. With the antenna disposed on the surface of the case of the wireless communication device, it is feasible to reduce the space required to accommodate an internal circuit of the wireless communication device, enhance the efficiency of the antenna for transmitting and receiving signals, and display any pattern on the outer surface of the antenna.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 101121079 filed in Taiwan, R.O.C. on Jun. 13, 2012, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
       FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to a wireless communication device with an antenna structure, in particular to the wireless communication device with an antenna installed on an outer surface of a case. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    As wireless communication blooms and various communication products tend to be developed with a compact portable design, the position and the space for installing an antenna in the wireless communication device have more limitations, and thus making the design of the antenna in the wireless communication device more difficult. 
         [0004]    In the various different wireless communication devices, there is a wireless communication device having an antenna with related circuits designed on a main circuit board inside the wireless communication device, but such arrangement results in a relatively larger circuit board and requires a reserved space for the wiring of the circuit, so that it is relatively more difficult to reduce the dimensions of the wireless communication device. If a flexible circuit board is used for installing the antenna related circuit instead, a reserved space inside the wireless communication device is still required for installing the antenna related circuit. 
         [0005]    No matter which kind of circuit boards is used for installing the antenna related circuit of the wireless communication device, signal interference may occur in addition to the aforementioned limitation of internal space. More specifically, the circuit of the antenna structure is very close to other control processing circuits inside the wireless communication device, so that signals between the two circuits may have electromagnetic interferences with each other, not only producing noises to the transmitted or received signals of the antenna, but also having the possibility of creating errors to the control processing signal of the internal circuit and resulting in a poor operation of the wireless communication device. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    It is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a flexible antenna structure capable of enhancing the signal transmitting and receiving functions of the antenna and preventing the signals from being affected by electromagnetic interference produced by internal circuits of the wireless communication device. 
         [0007]    Another objective of the present invention is to provide a wireless communication device with an antenna structure capable of forming a trademark, a text or a symbol directly onto the antenna to provide an aesthetic appearance of the antenna. 
         [0008]    To achieve the aforementioned and other objectives, the present invention provides a wireless communication device with an antenna structure, comprising: a wireless communication device body and an antenna, wherein the wireless communication device body has a case, and a control processing circuit installed therein, and the antenna is installed on a surface of the case. Wherein, the antenna includes a first flexible laminate substrate, a second flexible laminate substrate installed on a surface of the case, and an antenna metal layer disposed between the first flexible laminate substrate and the second flexible laminate substrate and contacted with the first flexible laminate substrate and the second flexible laminate substrate. 
         [0009]    In a preferred embodiment, the first flexible laminate substrate and the second flexible laminate substrate are made of polycarbonate (PC), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polystyrene (PS) or mylar. 
         [0010]    In a preferred embodiment, the first flexible laminate substrate has a pattern formed on a surface opposite to the antenna metal layer. The first flexible laminate substrate has a pattern formed on a surface opposite to the antenna metal layer. Wherein, the pattern is formed on the first flexible laminate substrate by printing, bronzing, hair-lining, etching, polishing, sand blasting, transprinting, spray-coating or Boli processing. 
         [0011]    In a preferred embodiment, the case further includes a slot for installing the antenna. 
         [0012]    In a preferred embodiment, the antenna further includes a flexible circuit board installed on the first flexible laminate substrate, and having at least one electronic component embedded into the flexible circuit board, and each of the first flexible circuit board and the second flexible laminate substrate has a corresponding through hole, and the at least one electronic component is electrically coupled to the interior of the case of the wireless communication device through the corresponding through holes of the first flexible laminate substrate and the second flexible laminate substrate. 
         [0013]    Wherein, the flexible circuit board is an operation or indication panel of the wireless communication device. 
         [0014]    Compared with the prior art, the antenna of the present invention is installed on an outer surface of the case of the wireless communication device to reduce the area of the circuit board for the circuit layout of the wireless communication device and prevent the transmitted and received signals of the antenna from being interfered by the internal circuits, or the antenna even provides other functions including pattern display or operation interface, so that the volume of the wireless communication device can be reduced significantly, and the invention can provide sensitive operations and additional effects to meet both user and industrial requirements. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]      FIG. 1  is a partial cross-sectional view of an antenna of a wireless communication device in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view of an antenna of a wireless communication device in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of an antenna of a wireless communication device in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]    The objects, characteristics and effects of the present invention will become apparent with the detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the illustration of related drawings as follows. 
         [0019]    With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2  for a partial cross-sectional view and an exploded view of an antenna of a wireless communication device in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention respectively, the antenna  1  comprises a first flexible laminate substrate  11 , a second flexible laminate substrate  13  and an antenna metal layer  15 . 
         [0020]    The antenna  1  is installed on a surface of a case  21  of the wireless communication device  2 . In  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the antenna  1  of this preferred embodiment is attached onto the surface of the case  21  of the wireless communication device  2  by the second flexible laminate substrate  13 , and the antenna metal layer  15  is disposed between the first flexible laminate substrate  11  and the second flexible laminate substrate  13 , and the antenna metal layer  15  is in contact with the first flexible laminate substrate  11  and the second flexible laminate substrate  13 . 
         [0021]    Therefore, a side opposite to the contact side of the first flexible laminate substrate  11  and the antenna metal layer  15  is aligned outwardly and provided for forming a trademark, a text or a symbol onto the first flexible laminate substrate  11  directly to achieve an aesthetic antenna of this preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0022]    In another preferred embodiment, a slot  23  is formed on the surface of the case  21  of the wireless communication device  2  and provided for installing the antenna  1  therein. Wherein, the slot  23  serves as a space for installing the antenna  1  as shown in  FIG. 2 . In actual implementations, the slot  23  is not absolutely necessary, since the antenna  1  can be attached onto the surface of the case  21  of the wireless communication device  2  directly. 
         [0023]    The antenna  1  can be attached by the following methods. For example, an adhesive  25  is applied to a part of the whole bottom surface of the second flexible laminate substrate  13  for attaching the antenna  1  onto a surface of the case  21 ; or the antenna  1  is snapped into the slot  23  formed on the surface of the case  21  of the wireless communication device  2 ; or both methods of applying adhesive  25  and snapping the antenna  1  into the slot  23  can be used at the same time. However, these methods are provided as examples for illustrating the way of attaching the antenna  1 , and the invention is not limited to these methods only, and thus any other equivalent method of attaching the antenna  1  onto the surface of the case  21  of the wireless communication device  2  can be used in the present invention. 
         [0024]    The antenna metal layer  15  is made of metal; for example, the antenna metal layer  15  is formed by etching a copper foil. 
         [0025]    In  FIG. 1 , the antenna metal layer  15  has a connection portion  151  for electrically connecting the antenna  1  to a control processing circuit substrate in the wireless communication device  2 . In a preferred embodiment, the connection portion  151  is coupled to a metal wire  27  by a solder  153  (In other preferred embodiment, a port can be used for the electric connection, and the metal wire  27  is passed through the case  21  and electrically coupled to the control processing circuit substrate in the wireless communication device  2  (wherein the electric connection is not shown in the figure). Since the antenna  1  is installed on the surface of the case  21  of the wireless communication device  2 , therefore the control processing circuit substrate has relatively less signal interference to the antenna  1 . 
         [0026]    In the preferred embodiment as shown in  FIG. 2 , a pattern  10  is directly formed or printed on a surface opposite to the contact surface of the first flexible laminate substrate  11  and the antenna metal layer  15 , so that the antenna  1  of this preferred embodiment can have both displaying and indicating functions. The pattern  10  can be formed by the conventional methods such as front-side printing, back-side printing, bronzing, hair-lining, etching, polishing, sand blasting, transprinting, spray-coating or Boli processing. The aforementioned pattern can be any pattern, text, symbol or trademark, so that the invention has the functions of integrating pattern display/indication with the antenna. 
         [0027]    In another preferred embodiment, the antenna metal layer  15  is etched and formed, and then a pattern is formed on the surface of the first flexible laminate substrate  11  opposite to the antenna metal layer  15 , and then the first flexible laminate substrate  11 , the antenna metal layer  15  and the second flexible laminate substrate  13  are hot pressed, or the first flexible laminate substrate  11 , the antenna metal layer  15  and the second flexible laminate substrate  13  are hot pressed, and then the pattern  10  is formed on a surface of the first flexible laminate substrate  11  opposite to the antenna metal layer  15 . 
         [0028]    In this preferred embodiment, the first flexible laminate substrate  11  and the second flexible laminate substrate  13  are made of polycarbonate (PC), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polystyrene (PS) or mylar. However, the material used for making the first and second laminate substrates  11 ,  13  is not limited to those given above, and the persons skilled in the art should be able to adopt an appropriate equivalent material for making the flexible laminate substrates. 
         [0029]    With reference to  FIG. 3  for an exploded view of an antenna of a wireless communication device in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the antenna  1 ′ further comprises a flexible circuit board  17 , in addition to the first flexible laminate substrate  11 , the second flexible laminate substrate  13  and the antenna metal layer  15 . 
         [0030]    The flexible circuit board  17  is installed on the first flexible laminate substrate  11 , and the flexible circuit board  17  is an operation or indication panel of the wireless communication device  2 ′. More specifically, the flexible circuit board  17  includes at least one electronic component embedded therein and a circuit (not shown in the figure) electrically coupled to the at least one electronic component. In  FIG. 3 , the at least one electronic component is a four-key membrane keypad  171 , and the corresponding through holes  12  formed on the first flexible laminate substrate  11  and the second flexible laminate substrate  13  are provided for passing the case  21  of the wireless communication device  2 ′ and electrically connecting to the control processing circuit substrate (not shown in the figure). Wherein, the flexible circuit board  17  can be used together with the first flexible laminate substrate  11  having the pattern. For example, the flexible circuit board  17  is a transparent substrate that can show the pattern formed on the first flexible laminate substrate  11  below. 
         [0031]    It is noteworthy to point out that the antenna metal layer  15  of this preferred embodiment is not disposed at the through hole  12 , but it is disposed at the periphery of the through hole  12  to avoid the through hole  12 . For example, the aforementioned antenna metal layer  15  is disposed in the L-shaped area enclosed by a dotted line as shown in  FIG. 3 . Of course, other designs (designed according to specific requirements or specific appearance of an electronic component) can be adopted, and the installation position of the antenna or the shape of the block can be changed flexibly as long as the circuits of the electronic component are not interfered. 
         [0032]    In view of the description above, the design of the flexible circuit board  17  of this preferred embodiment further provides a control/operation function of the antenna  1 ′. In other implementation modes, a combination of other electronic components or different electronic components can be adopted. For example, the at least one electronic component can be a set of four light emitting diodes (not shown in the figure) used as displays; or can be combined with the LED and the aforementioned membrane keypad, so that users can operate the keypad in a dark environment. 
         [0033]    In the foregoing preferred embodiment, the plate body of the antenna is in a rectangular shape. Of course, the shape of the antenna can be changed in other implementation mode according to the actual requirements of the wireless communication device, and the interior design of the antenna metal layer can be adjusted to change the etched pattern. 
         [0034]    In the foregoing preferred embodiment, the mobile phone is used as an example for illustrating the wireless communication device with the antenna of the present invention. Of course, those skilled in the art can easily think of other implementation modes of the antenna of the wireless communication device such as a wireless mouse, a wireless keyboard, a PDA, a notebook computer, an automatic signal return device, or any other equivalent electronic device with an antenna. 
         [0035]    In summation of the description above, the present invention provide an antenna installed on an outer surface of a wireless communication device case, and the antenna is designed at a position outside the wireless communication device to save the space occupied by related circuits of the antenna inside the wireless communication device, so that the wireless communication device can have a smaller volume and a lighter weight and provide a better and smoother wireless communication effect. In addition, the manufacturers and sellers of the wireless communication device can label the contents of the wireless communication device such as a trademark, a product name or a part number on a surface of the antenna. The invention not only provides more functions of the antenna, but also simplifies pattern labeling elements required by the wireless communication device and replaces the conventional way of labeling the wireless communication device by a plastic name plate, so as to lower the production cost of the wireless communication device and improve the competitiveness of the wireless communication device. 
         [0036]    While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.