Abstract:
This invention relates to an antenna for a portable device. The portable device comprises a display, a host. In addition, a hinge is provided to connect the display and the host such that the display can be rotated relative to the host. Therefore, the portable device can be opened and closed accordingly. Furthermore, a receiver is installed within the hinge so that an antenna can be fixed in the hinge. Thereby, wireless transmitting of the portable device can be achieved through the antenna.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates an antenna for a portable device, and especially relates for an antenna which is received within a hinge of the portable device and is combined into the portable device, such as a notebook computer or a personal digital assistance. Thus, the present invention provides a wireless communication of the portable device.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    A local area network (LAN) means that several computers are connected each other in a specified area. For instance, two or more computers have working stations installed thereon and are connected through cable or wireless communication. Therefore, computers in the LAN can share and transmit data.  
           [0005]    Most computers recently are connected through cables. However, the following defects occurs by using cables to form the LAN. Firstly, it is difficult and expensive to change the location of the client computer after completely installation of the network. Second of all, the cable should be added or removed if new client computer have been changed. This would be heavy work for the network provider. Thirdly, a cable network installation may have a great influence on the view of the building. Furthermore, the cable network installation is not so flexible in arrangement.  
           [0006]    For stated above, wireless LAN technology is increasingly developed and it is intend to replace the cable network installation.  
           [0007]    Please refer to FIG. 1 which shows a circuit diagram of a wireless network card. The circuit diagram comprises an antenna  10 , a RF unit  12  and a DSP unit  14 . These are necessary elements so as to achieve the wireless communication. The antenna  10  is used for receiving and transmitting signal. The RF unit  12  is used for processing radio frequency signal. The DSP unit  14  is used for coding and decoding the signal.  
           [0008]    [0008]FIG. 2 shows the architecture of a wireless network card  2 . The wireless network card  2  is formed as a rectangle and hollow housing which comprises an antenna  22 , a RF unit and a DSP unit wherein the RF unit and the DSP unit are installed within the housing. For increasing the performance of the transmitting of the wireless network card  2 , the antenna  2  protrudes the housing. However, such installation will cause inconvenient for end users when moving or operating the computer. Especially for the user of the notebook computer, the external wireless network card  2  must be carried so that it may cause damage of the wireless network card  2 . Thus, if the wireless network card  2  can be built-up in the notebook computer, it is convenient for users and decreases the possibility of the damage for the wireless network card  2 .  
           [0009]    Referring to FIG. 3, it shows another type of a wireless network card  3 . The wireless network card  3  is built within a main board  42  of a notebook computer  4 . An antenna  32  of the wireless network card  3  is electroplated so that it can be fixed on the main board  42 . Furthermore, a RF unit  34  and a DSP unit  36  are formed within an IC chip which can be bounded in the main board  42 . Thus, a small volume of the card and convenient use for the card can be achieved by the built-up wireless network card  3 . However, the housing of the present notebook computer  4  is formed of an alloy of magnesium and aluminum and the antenna  32  is fixed between electric components of the main board  42 . Thus, the shielding effectiveness will influence the transmitting quality of the wireless network card  4 .  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0010]    Therefore, it is an objective of the present invention to provide an antenna for a portable device and the antenna is installed within a hinge for increasing the convenience of the operation and carry for users.  
           [0011]    Another object of the present invention is to provide an antenna for a portable device and the antenna is installed within a hinge for increasing the transmitting quality of the network card and decreasing the shielding effectiveness.  
           [0012]    The portable device comprises a display, a host. In addition, a hinge is provided to connect the display and the host such that the display can be rotated relative to the host. Therefore, the portable device can be opened and closed accordingly. Furthermore, a receiver is installed within the hinge so that an antenna can be fixed in the hinge. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0013]    The above, as well as other advantages of the present invention, will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment when considered in the light of the accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1 schematically depicts a circuit diagram of a wireless network card;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 2 schematically depicts a conventional wireless network card;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 3 schematically depicts a perspective view of another type of a conventional wireless network card;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a notebook computer having an antenna in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 5 schematically depicts partly enlarged view of a hinge in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a notebook computer having an antenna in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 7 schematically depicts partly enlarged view of a hinge in accordance with the second preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 8 shows the signal gain comparison of the antenna of the present invention when the display is open; and,  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 9 shows the signal gain comparison of the antenna of the present invention when the display is closed. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0023]    With reference to FIG. 4, it shows a perspective view of a portable device having an antenna in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention. The portable device is a kind of electric information apparatus having an open state and a close state, i.e. a notebook computer or a personal digital assistance (PDA). A notebook computer will be identified as the portable device in the following description so as to clearly the content of the present invention. The notebook computer  5  comprises a display  51  an a host  52 , wherein the host  52  proceeds with digital data and the display  51  outputs the proceeded data. The display  51  is connected to the host  52  through a hinge  53 . The hinge  53  has pivot portions  531 ,  532  and  533  to provide rotating machine so that the display  51  can be rotated relative to the host  52  and has the open state and the close state. As shown in FIG. 4, the display  51  and the host  52  are rectangle plates. In a preferred embodiment, the display  51  is a LCD panel and the host  52  comprises a keyboard  521  and a main board.  
         [0024]    The hinge  53  of the notebook computer  5  comprises a non-pivot portion  53  and the non-pivot portion  53  is hollow. This hollow structure forms receivers  534   b  and  534   b  so that an antenna  6  can be installed within the hollow structure as shown in FIG. 5. As the hinge  53  of the notebook computer  5  is not so big to receive all kind of antennas, the antenna  6  should be selected from mini antennas, such as inversed F type antennas, ceramics antennas, rod antennas or spiral antennas.  
         [0025]    In addition, as the antenna  6  should be coupled to a RF unit  61  and a DSP unit  62  to convert the received signal, the RF unit  61  and the DSP unit  62  can be formed on a circuit board  63  and the circuit board  63  and the antenna  6  are together installed within the receiver  534  of the non-pivot portion  53 . In another embodiment, the RF unit  61  and the DSP unit  62  can be also coupled on the main board  54  of the notebook computer  54  and these units are connected to the antenna  6  through wires.  
         [0026]    With reference to FIG. 4, it shows a perspective view of a notebook computer  5   a  having an antenna  53   a  in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. The most popular wireless international protocols are Bluetooth protocol and IEEE 802.11 protocol. However, these protocols can not communicate each other and the computer system merely selects one of these protocols. For stated above, the present invention provides two receivers  543   a  and  534   b  on two sides of hinges  53   a  in the notebook computer  5   a  so that a first antenna  6   a  and a second antenna  6   b  can be installed with the receivers  543   a  and  534   b  separately. The first antenna  6   a  can be installed for the use of Bluetooth protocol and the second antenna  6   b  can be installed for the use of IEEE 802.11 protocol.  
         [0027]    In the second embodiment, there are two antennas  6   a  and  6   b  installed within the notebook computer  5   a  for receiving signal from two different protocols. Thus, the user of the notebook computer  5   a  can enable either select Bluetooth protocol or IEEE 802.11 protocol by selecting one of the antennas  6   a  and  6   b . Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, the first antenna  6   a  and the second antenna  6   b  should be coupled to RF units  61   a ,  61   b  and DSP units  62   a ,  62   b  separately so as to convert the received signal. The RF units  61   a ,  61   b  and DSP units  62   a ,  62   b  can be formed on circuit boards  63   a ,  63   b  and the circuit boards  63   a ,  63   b  and the antennas  6   a ,  6   b  are together installed within the receivers  534   a ,  534   b  of the non-pivot portions  53   a . In another embodiment, a chip set combining the RF unit function and the DSP unit function can be also coupled on the main board of the notebook computer  54  and the chip set is connected to the antennas  6   a  and  6   b  through wires. Thus, the present invention merely needs one chip set for proceeding with digital signal.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 8 shows the signal gain comparison of the antenna of the present invention when the display is open. The experiment data shows vertical pole gain (V-pol),horizontal polegarn (H-pol) and isotropic antenna gain of the monopole antenna. As shown in FIG. 8, I curve indicates the gain of the monopole antenna from 0° to 360° of the spherical surface area and it is nearly 0 dBi. Similarly, V curve and H curve indicate the vertical pole gain and the horizontal pole garn from the same area. It is noted that FIG. 8 discloses the compensation for the vertical pole and the horizontal pole in every angle of this area. The average gain of the present invention is −0.43 dBi and it is quite closed to the gain value of the monopole antenna.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 9 shows the signal gain comparison of the antenna of the present invention when the display is closed. The experiment data shows verticalpole gain (V-pol), horizontal pole garn (H-pol) and isotropic antenna gain of the monopole antenna and it is nearly 0 dBi. As shown in FIG. 9, I curve indicates the gain of themonopole antenna from 0° to 360° of the spherical surface area. Similarly, V curve and H curve indicate the vertical pole gain and the horizontal pole garn from the same area. It is noted that FIG. 9 discloses the compensation for the vertical pole and the horizontal pole in every angle of this area. The average gain of the present invention is 0.47 dBi and it is quite closed to the gain value of the monopole antenna.  
         [0030]    While the invention has been described with reference to various illustrative embodiments, the description is not intended to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the illustrative embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the invention, will be apparent to those persons skilled in the art upon reference to this description. It is therefore contemplated that the appended claims will cover any such modifications or embodiments as may fall within the scope of the invention defined by the following claims and their equivalents.