Abstract:
An electronic apparatus includes: a first molded body; a second molded body which composes housing with the first molded body; a first conductive pattern provided in the housing; a second conductive pattern provided on an outer surface of the housing; and a first conductive member. The first conductive member passes through a gap of a mating face between the first molded body and the second molded body. The first conductive member connects the first conductive pattern and the second conductive pattern.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-014724, filed on Jan. 25, 2007; the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to an electronic apparatus. 
     2. Background Art 
     A folding-type or sliding-type electronic apparatus including cellular telephones and PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), the housing is occasionally composed of an upper housing and a lower housing. In this case, for example, the upper housing is a display portion and the lower housing is an operating portion including a keyboard part. This is the same in an integrated-type electronic apparatus. 
     Each of the housings contains two molded bodies, and a liquid crystal display device, a key board part, a substrate on which electronic components are disposed, a secondary battery, and so forth are housed. 
     When a conductive pattern such as an antenna pattern provided on an outer surface of a molded body is connected inside the housing, a structure of fixing a metal terminal with a screw or the like is widely used. This structure is simple but the connection easily becomes unstable by vibration or mechanical shock, and an area to which the metal terminal is attached is required, and therefore, this structure is disadvantageous for downsizing and thinning of the electronic apparatus. 
     There is a disclosed example of a technique with respect to an antenna device enabling surface mounting that the power is supplied to a radiation electrode of a patch antenna through a through-hole conductor and a pattern conductor that is provided on the same main surface as and a ground electrode (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 2002-111367 (Kokai)). 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided an electronic apparatus including: a first molded body made of an insulator; a second molded body made of an insulator and closed together with the first molded body; a substrate provided with a first conductive pattern and fixed to the first molded body or the second molded body; and a conductive member connecting the first conductive pattern and a second conductive pattern provided on an outer surface of at least one of the first and second molded bodies, the conductive member being provided so as to pass through a gap of a mating face between the first molded body and the second molded body. 
     According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an electronic apparatus including: a first molded body made of an insulator; a second molded body made of an insulator and closed together with the first molded body; a substrate fixed to the first molded body or the second molded body; and a conductive member connecting, in at least any one of the first and second molded bodies, a first conductive pattern provided on an inner surface thereof and a second conductive pattern, the second conductive pattern being provided on an outer surface thereof, the conductive member being provided so as to pass through a gap of a mating face between the first molded body and the second molded body, and the first conductive pattern being connected to an electric circuit provided on the substrate. 
     According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an electronic apparatus including: a first molded body; a second molded body, the second molded body composing housing with the first molded body; a first conductive pattern provided in the housing; a second conductive pattern provided on an outer surface of the housing; and a first conductive member passing through a gap of a mating face between the first molded body and the second molded body, and connecting the first conductive pattern and the second conductive pattern. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIGS. 1A and 1B  show an electronic apparatus according to the first embodiment of this invention 
         FIGS. 2A and 2B  show the conductive member  14 . 
         FIGS. 3A and 3B  show a connection structure of a conductive pattern of the antenna pattern  20  and a conductive pattern on the substrate  40 . 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic section view showing the connection between an antenna pattern  60  and a substrate  62  in an electronic apparatus according to Comparative Example. 
         FIGS. 5A and 5B  are schematic views showing structures of the antenna. 
         FIGS. 6A and 6B  are schematic views showing the first modified example of the conductive member. 
         FIGS. 7A and 7B  are schematic views showing the second modified example of the conductive member. 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic section view showing the electronic apparatus according to the second embodiment of this invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Hereinafter, embodiments of this invention will be explained with reference to drawings. 
       FIGS. 1A and 1B  show an electronic apparatus according to the first embodiment of this invention, and  FIG. 1A  is a schematic perspective view of an upper housing, and  FIG. 1B  is a partial magnified view of the dash line G 1 . In  FIG. 1B , on an outer surface of a first molding body  10  made of a resin or the like, an antenna pattern  20  is provided by pad printing or the like. 
     Moreover, inside a second molded body  11  made of a resin or the like, for example, a substrate  40  is fixed, and a first molded body  10  is closed together therewith and fixed thereto, and thereby, the upper housing  4  is composed. When the upper housing  4  is a display portion, a liquid crystal display device (not shown) and so forth are further disposed.  FIGS. 1A and 1B  show, for example, a folding-type cellular telephone, and the upper housing  4  and the lower housing  6  are connected with a hinge part  13  or the like. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1B , an end of an antenna pattern  20  provided on an outer surface  102  before coating is connected to the inside of the upper housing  4  with a conductive member  14 . Into a concave portion of the first molded body  10  provided for attaching the conductive member  14  thereinto, a veneer  12  is fit to make its surface flat and thereby the appearance is improved. 
       FIGS. 2A and 2B  show the conductive member  14 .  FIG. 2A  is a schematic plan view, and  FIG. 2B  is a schematic section view along the chain line B-B. The conductive member  14  contains a conductive layer  16  formed on a thin film  18  made of an organic insulating material such as PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) or PI (Polyimide) by a method of, pad printing or screen printing with a silver or copper paste, drawing by inkjet with a conductive material, vapor-deposition or sputtering with a metal, or the like. 
     Onto the conductive member  14  contacting a surface of the first molded body  10  except for a conductive pattern region such as the antenna pattern  20 , an adhesive material having tackiness property is applied for enabling positioning and fixation. Moreover, for the connection surface, a conductive paste having an adhesive force, ACP (Anisotropic Conductive Paste), ACF (Anisotropic Conductive Film), or the like is used to ensure the conduction. 
     In the case of using ACP, when ACP is also applied to the conductive pattern including the antenna pattern  20 , the adhesive material is not required. 
       FIGS. 3A and 3B  show a connection structure of a conductive pattern of the antenna pattern  20  and a conductive pattern on the substrate  40 .  FIG. 3A  is a schematic section view along the A-A line of  FIG. 1A , and the  FIG. 3B  is a magnified view of the conductive member  14 . The antenna pattern  20  provided on the outer surface  102  of the first molded body  10  before coating is connected to a conductive pattern  42  on the substrate  40  fixed to the second molded body  11 , through the conductive member  14 . 
     When a conductive layer  16  is provided on one surface as shown in  FIGS. 2A and 2B  as the conductive member  14 , an end of the conductive pattern  42  connected to a power supply part  50  as shown in  FIG. 3B  is connected to one end of the conductive layer  16  composing the conductive member  14 , and the other end of the conductive layer  16  is connected to the antenna pattern  20 . That is, the conductive member  14  is disposed so as to pass through a gap of a mating face between the first molded body  10  and the second molded body  11 . 
     In this case, a cutout portion may be provided in a side portion of the first molded body  10  or the second molded body  11 .  FIG. 1B  is the case in which a cutout portion of the gap M is provided on the first molded body  10 . The first molded body  10  and the second molded body  11  have the mating face  10   a  (parting face) and the mating face  11   a  (parting face), respectively. In the cutout portion, the gap M is more than the thickness of the conductive member  14 . The shape of an end of the antenna pattern  20  is a circle or a rectangle that is wider than the antenna pattern  20  so that mechanical and electrical connection with the conductive layer  16  in the conductive member  14  becomes easy. 
     The other end of the antenna pattern extends on to the concave portion having a step K from the outer surface  102  of the first molded body  10 . In this case, the step K is the total sum of the thickness of the conductive member and the thickness of the veneer  12  or more. By providing the concave portion, the step of the outer surface  102  of the first molded body  10  except for the antenna pattern  20  region can be made to disappear. 
     Furthermore, coating is performed for adjusting the design aspect as an electronic apparatus. The thickness of the antenna pattern  20  is some—some tens of micrometers. Therefore, it is preferable that the step is reduced by thickening the coating of the part except for the antenna pattern  20  region and the appearance is improved. 
       FIG. 4  is a schematic section view showing the connection between an antenna pattern  60  and a substrate  62  in an electronic apparatus according to Comparative Example. In this case, the antenna pattern  60  provided on an outer surface of the first molded body  64  is electrically connected to a metal terminal  68  having rich elasticity through a metal sleeve  66 . A conductive pattern  70  on the substrate  62  and the metal terminal  68  are pressed by elasticity and contacted. 
     At the contact point portion, the connection occasionally becomes unstable by vibration or shock. Moreover, by corrosion due to a gas or oxidation near the contact point, reliability of the connection occasionally becomes insufficient. Furthermore, a space for attaching the metal sleeve  66  and the metal terminal  68  thereto is required, and downsizing and thinning of the electronic apparatus is made to be difficult. By contrast, in the first embodiment, the electronic apparatus being capable of downsizing and thinning with maintaining stable electrical connection is provided. 
     Here, explanation of the antenna pattern will be complemented. 
       FIGS. 5A and 5B  are schematic views showing structures of the antenna.  FIGS. 5A and 5B  show a monopole antenna and a dipole antenna, respectively. The length of the antenna pattern  20  of a monopole antenna is an approximately quarter wavelength. The power supply part  50  is connected to one end of the monopole antenna and to a ground  52  and excites the antenna. The ground  52  is, for example, provided on a back surface of the substrate  40  of  FIG. 1A  and acts as a half-wavelength antenna by an image represented by dash line in  FIG. 5A . Because permittivity of a material composing the first molded body  10  is more than 1, the wavelength is shorter than that of free space and the antenna pattern  12  can be downsized. 
       FIG. 5B  shows a dipole antenna. The length of the antenna is an approximately half wavelength. Each of the two of the antenna divided at the midpoint of the antenna pattern  20  is connected to the power supply part  50  and the antenna is excited. The power supply part  50  is provided on the substrate  40  as shown in  FIGS. 1A and 3  and connected to the antenna pattern  20  with a conductive pattern. Also, as the antenna, an inverted-F antenna can be used. 
     In the  FIGS. 1A and 1B , when the antenna pattern  20  is the dipole antenna, the two ends of the antenna patterns  20  of the dash line parts are connected to the respective terminals of the power supply part  50 . Moreover, when the monopole antenna, the apparatus comes to have two antenna patterns and the respective ends thereof are connected to the power supply parts  50 . 
       FIGS. 6A and 6B  are schematic views showing the first modified example of the conductive member.  FIG. 6A  is a schematic plan view, and the  FIG. 6B  is a schematic section view. In a conductive member  15 , the conductive layer  16  is selectively provided on one surface of the film  18  made of an insulator, and the conductive layer  17  is provided on the other surface. The conductive layer  17  is connected to a ground  52  on the back surface of the substrate  40  through a connection line  53  and acts as a microstrip line. In this case, with respect to the conductive layer  17  to be the ground, radio waves can be concentrated on the side of the conductive layer  16 . 
       FIGS. 7A and 7B  are schematic views showing the second modified example of the conductive member. A conductive member  19  is composed of a metal thin plate. The conductive member  19  is folded as shown in  FIG. 7B , and mechanically or electrically connected to a conductive pattern  43  provided on an inner surface  104  of the first molded body  10 , by adhesion or the like. Moreover, the conductive member  19  is connected to an end of the antenna pattern  20  provided on the outer surface  102 , by adhesion or the like. The veneer  12  is fit into the step K connected to the antenna pattern  20 , and a coating film  26  is provided on the entire surface. The conductive pattern  43  provided on the inner surface  104  of the first molded body  10  is connected to the power supply part  50  and the antenna is excited. 
       FIG. 8  is a schematic section view showing the electronic apparatus according to the second embodiment of this invention. In this embodiment, one end of the conductive layer  16  provided in the conductive member  14  using the film shown in  FIGS. 2A and 2B  is connected to the antenna pattern  20  of the outer surface  102 , and the other end is connected to the conductive pattern  43  provided on the inner surface  104 . 
     When another antenna pattern  21  is provided on the inner surface  104  of the first molded body  10 , a multiband becomes possible. The another antenna pattern  21  can also be provided on an inner surface of the second molded body  11  as shown in  FIGS. 3A and 3B . The antenna patterns provided on the inner surfaces  104  and  114  in the first molded body  10  and in the second molded body  11  are connected to the conductive pattern  42  on the substrate  40 , by using a metal wire, a metal thin plate, a flexible substrate or the like. 
     Furthermore, the another antenna pattern can be provided on an outer surface  112  of the second molded body  11  as shown in  FIGS. 3A and 3B . In this case, it is preferable that a conductive member  14  is attached to a mating face that does not overlap with the first molded body  10 . By providing a plurality of the conductive members  14  as described above, it becomes easy to provide a plurality of antenna patterns corresponding to a multiband system. That is, one of the antenna patters can be used for a first frequency band, and other of the antenna patterns can be used for a second frequency band which is different from the first frequency band. 
     As a result, the sending and receiving function can be extended including wireless LAN, FM and AM broadcast, GPS (Global Positioning System), and one-segment broadcast of receiving terrestrial digital broadcasting, as well as cellular-phone triple band such as GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication), and DCS (Digital Cellular System)/PCS (Personal Communications Service). Furthermore, an electronic apparatus being capable of downsizing and thinning with maintaining stable electrical connection is provided. 
     In the above-described embodiments, the case in which the conductive pattern is an antenna pattern has been explained, but this invention is not limited thereto. The conductive pattern for wiring with circuit components including a semiconductor element is also included in this invention. 
     In the above-described embodiment examples and the modified examples associated therewith, the folding-type electronic apparatus including the upper housing  4  and the lower housing  6  has been explained. However, this invention is not limited thereto. A sliding-type electronic apparatus is also possible. In this case, in the outer surface  102  of the first molded body  10  of the upper housing  4 , a display screen is disposed, and the outer surface  112  of the second molded body  11  comes to face to the inner surface  114  of the lower housing  6 . In such an open state of a sliding-type electronic apparatus, the antenna pattern  20  is occasionally provided on the outer surface  112  of the second molded body  11  composing the upper housing  4 . Moreover, without superposing the two housings, the case of one housing is possible. 
     As described above, the embodiments of this invention have been explained with reference to drawings. However, this invention is not limited to these embodiments. Various design changes by those skilled in the art with respect to the housing, the conductive member, the conductive pattern, the substrate, the power supply part, the antenna pattern, and so forth, which compose the electronic apparatus, are also included in this invention as long as not departing from the purport of this invention.