Abstract:
Radio telephone structure where different functions share mechanical parts. The structure employs at least one piezoelectric ceramic element ( 350, 360 ) to produce mechanical movement in a component that would be needed in the radio telephone anyway. The mechanical movement generates sound waves or vibration. The moving element may be a plane or part of a plane ( 311, 312 ) of a planar antenna. The structure can be applied inverted, in which case the earphone assembly, for example, serves as a microphone. The number of components and/or elements needed in a radio telephone is reduced and the overall space required by the antenna and speaker is reduced.

Description:
[0001]    The invention relates to a radio telephone structure where different functions share mechanical parts.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    A common objective in a wide range of technical apparatus is to reduce the number of discrete components, for a smaller number of components means lower manufacturing costs and better reliability. Moreover, it helps reduce the size of a given structure, which is particularly desirable in mobile phones and other portable radio telephones.  
           [0003]    One possible way of reducing the number of relatively large components in radio telephones is to integrate the antenna and earphone/speaker of the telephone. In this case the antenna is an internal planar antenna, which in itself is a solution that reduces the size of the telephone. FIG. 1 shows an integrated structure known to the applicant from patent application FI 20011400. The structure comprises a conductive ground plane GND and, parallel therewith, a planar component  100  which emits both radio waves and sound waves. The radiating component  100  is layered. The middle layer  110  is comprised of an EMFi-type (Electromechanical Film) material with a conductive diaphragm in the center. Above the middle layer there is a support layer  105  made of a porous and flexible material permeable to sound, and below the middle layer there is another similar support layer  106 . In both support layers, the surface facing the middle layer is corrugated so that the area in contact with the middle layer is relatively small. These corrugated inner surfaces are coated with a conductive material. To the resulting conductive dual plane there is coupled an antenna feed conductor  121  and a short-circuit conductor  122  so that the dual plane serves as a radiating plane for the antenna. In addition, the conductive layers of the inner surfaces of the support layers  105 ,  106  are coupled to an output of an audio amplifier in the radio telephone via an audio conductor  131 . A second audio conductor  132  is coupled to said conductive diaphragm in the middle layer  110 . The middle layer is made such that an audio voltage causes it to move either up or down, depending on the direction of the electric field corresponding to the audio voltage in the EMFi material. Thus the component  100  also generates sound waves according to the audio signal.  
           [0004]    The radiating component  100  is supported by its edges to the plane below it by a dielectric frame  140  of which only a small portion is visible in FIG. 1. The frame  140  helps form an enclosed or nearly enclosed box which is advantageous as regards sound reproduction. Without it, the radiating component would be acoustically short-circuited, especially at low audio frequencies.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    An object of the invention is to provide in a novel, more versatile and advantageous manner a radio telephone structure where different functions share mechanical parts. A radio telephone structure according to the invention is characterized in that which is specified in claim  1 . The other claims present some advantageous embodiments of the invention.  
           [0006]    The basic idea of the invention is as follows: A piezoelectric ceramic element is used to produce mechanical movement in a component of a radio telephone, which component is needed in the telephone in any case. Mechanical movement is used to generate sound waves or vibration. The moving element may be the plane or part of the plane of a planar antenna or part of the shell of the telephone. The structure may also be applied inverted so that e.g. the earphone structure serves as a microphone.  
           [0007]    An advantage of the invention is that the number of components and/or elements needed in a radio telephone is reduced. The structure of the radio telephone also becomes simpler as compared with the prior art. Furthermore, the overall space required by the antenna and speaker, for instance, is reduced. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]    The invention is below described in detail. Reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 shows an example of integration according to the prior art in a radio telephone,  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 a  shows an example of integration according to the invention in a radio telephone,  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 b  illustrates the operating principle of the structure of FIG. 2 a,    
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3 shows a second example of integration according to the invention in a radio telephone,  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 4 a  shows a third example of integration according to the invention in a radio telephone and  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 b  illustrates the operating principle of the structure of FIG. 4 a.   
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0015]    [0015]FIG. 2 a  shows an example of integration according to the invention in a radio telephone. The structure illustrated by this example combines a radio telephone antenna and speaker. The antenna comprises on the upper surface of a telephone circuit board  205  a conductive ground plane GND and, parallel therewith, a radiating plane  210 . Connected to the radiating plane is an antenna feed conductor  221 . The radiating plane is also connected to the ground via a short-circuit conductor  222  so that the antenna is a planar inverted F antenna (PIFA). In order to produce two operation bands the radiating plane includes a slot  215  which divides the radiating plane into two branches of different lengths, as viewed from the short-circuit point. A first branch  211  lies in the center region of the radiating plane and a second branch  212  follows the edges of the plane around the first branch and ends close to the feed point of the antenna.  
         [0016]    For the speaker function the structure shown in FIG. 2 a  comprises a piezoelectric element  250 . This is attached by gluing or sintering, for example, to the upper surface of the radiating plane  210 , within the first branch  211 . Viewed from above, the element  250  is an oblong rectangle, and its longitudinal direction is the same as that of the strip formed by the first branch. The upper and lower surfaces of the piezoelectric element are conductive. The upper surface is connected to an audio amplifier output in the radio telephone via an audio conductor  251  and the lower surface via a second audio conductor  252 . The second audio conductor may also be the radiating plane  210 . The piezoelectric element  250  can thus be driven by audio signals of the telephone.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 2 b  illustrates the principle of the speaker function. There is shown in a lateral view a piezoelectric element  250  and the first branch  211  of the radiating plane. The radiating plane is attached through a rigid supportive element  280  to the circuit board beneath it at that end of the piezoelectric element which is farther away from the free end of the first branch. As the piezoelectric element is driven by an alternative voltage, its length l tends to change in accordance with the voltage. The attachment of the element to the radiating plane prevents the length of the element from changing freely. Therefore the element bends the strip formed by the first branch  211  down when the polarity of the driving voltage tends to cause lengthening in the element, and up when the polarity of the driving voltage tends to cause shortening in the element. These bending directions stem from the fact that the piezoelectric element is located on the upper surface of the plane. If it were located on the lower surface, the bending directions would be the reverse. In FIG. 2 b  the free end of the first branch of the radiating plane vibrates at a magnitude m, which depends of the amplitude of the driving voltage. The first branch thus generates in the surrounding air pressure variation according to the audio signal variation. The plane that emits radio waves thus also emits sound waves. Acceptable sound reproduction usually requires that acoustic short-circuit is prevented. To that end there is an almost closed frame between the radiating plane and the ground plane, of which frame FIG. 2 a  shows a portion  240 . In addition, the slot  215  in the radiating plane is covered by a flexible dielectric film.  
         [0018]    The structure of FIGS. 2 a  and  2   b  may also be applied inverted so that it serves as a microphone. In that case the periodic moving of the planar element  211  is caused by sound waves coming from outside. The piezoelectric element  250  then generates an electric signal corresponding to the sound waves.  
         [0019]    In this description and in the claims the prefixes “upper” and “lower” as well as the words “up” and “down” refer to the orientation of the structures shown in the drawings described, and they are in no way connected to the operating positions of the devices.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 shows a second example of integration according to the invention in a radio telephone. The structure illustrated by this example combines a radio telephone antenna, speaker, and a vibrator. The basic structure is like that described in FIG. 2. Also the speaker arrangement implemented using a first piezoelectric element  350  is identical to that of FIG. 2. In FIG. 3 there is additionally a second piezoelectric element  360  attached to the second branch  312  of the radiating plane  310 , relatively close to the point where the first branch and second branch become separated. In its longitudinal direction the second element  360  is parallel to the center line of the second branch. Its upper surface is connected to a vibration oscillator output in the radio telephone via a vibration conductor  361 , and the lower surface via a second vibration conductor  362 . As in FIG. 2 b , the radiating plane is rigidly attached to a circuit board beneath it at that end of the second piezoelectric element which is closer to the beginning of the second branch. Thus when a ringing signal arrives at the second piezoelectric element, the second branch  312 , from said attachment point to the free end, vibrates according to the ringing voltage variation. To enable vibration of the second branch, the frame  340  between the radiating plane  310  and ground plane, following the outer edge of the radiating plane, is not rigid, at least for the length of the second branch. In FIG. 3 this flexible portion of the frame is denoted by reference number  345 .  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 4 a  shows a fourth example of integration according to the invention in a radio telephone. The structure illustrated by this example combines a radio telephone antenna, at least one speaker, and a vibrator. The basic structure differs from the structure depicted in FIG. 2 in that the antenna ground plane  420  is now a separate conductive plane between the radio telephone circuit board  405  and the radiating plane  410 . The ground plane is rigidly attached by its opposing ends to the circuit board. Approximately at the middle of the both supported ends of the ground plane there is attached a piezoelectric element, a first end element  471 , and a second end element  472 . In their longitudinal direction these elements point to the opposite end of the ground plane. Electrically they are connected in parallel, and their driving voltages come from an audio amplifier in the telephone. Thus when the audio voltage tends to lengthen the end elements, both of these force the ground plane to arch upwards, and when the audio voltage tends to shorten the end elements, both of them force the ground plane to arch downwards. The ground plane vibrates, as shown in FIG. 4 b , according to the sound signal and the amplitude of its variation.  
         [0022]    The plane  410  that emits radio waves is drawn transparent in FIG. 4 a  in order to completely show the ground plane beneath it and its end elements. On the radiating plane, too, may be piezoelectric elements. Broken lines depict elements  450  and  460  located like elements  350  and  360  in FIG. 3. The former can be used to realize a speaker, for example, and the latter a vibrator. There would be two speakers in this case, because the ground plane would serve as a speaker, too, as described above. The speakers can be designed to operate at different volume levels and, correspondingly, for different uses.  
         [0023]    Above it was described structures according to the invention. The invention is not limited to those structures. The number of piezoelectric elements may vary from an application to another. Instead of or in addition to the upper surface of the radiating plane they can also be attached to the lower surface thereof, for example. The inventional idea can be applied in different ways within the scope defined by the independent claim  1 .