Patent Publication Number: US-7916091-B2

Title: Antenna module for a wireless electronic device

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS 
     The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/324,391, filed on Jan. 4, 2006, and entitled “ANTENNA MODULE FABRICATION METHOD FOR A WIRELESS ELECTRONIC DEVICE”, presently pending. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not applicable. 
     NAMES OF PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
     Not applicable. 
     REFERENCE TO AN APPENDIX SUBMITTED ON COMPACT DISC 
     Not applicable. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to an antenna module fabrication method for wireless electronic devices, and more particularly to an antenna module with an assembly connection between the antenna and assembly base. 
     2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98. 
     The signal transmitting and receiving functions of wireless electronic product must be done by antennas to reach an expected effect. The antenna for the traditional wireless electronic product looks protruding on the outside, and it is usually extended to the designated circuit board on the inside. However, with today&#39;s wireless electronic product being thin and short, the style and fabrication method for a traditional antenna is outdated, especially with the many handheld or portable electronic products, such as PDA, notebook computers, handheld wireless game consoles or other portable wireless electronic devices. When the size of the electronic products has become smaller and thinner, the traditional antenna that protrudes will look too awkward, and the protruding end of the antenna is not convenient for the electronic products to be carried in the pocket. Moreover, because the wireless electronic devices become smaller, the space inside is very limited. If the antenna is connected electrically by the wire to the circuit board inside the machine, it will cause the wire allocation inside the devices to be more and more complicated. 
     Thus, to overcome the aforementioned problems of the prior art, it would be an advancement in the art to provide an improved structure that can significantly improve the efficacy. 
     To this end, the inventor has provided the present invention of practicability after deliberate design and evaluation based on years of experience in the production, development and design of related products. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Because of the characteristics of the antenna  10   30   60   70  being small and thin, its shape is easy to be changed by pressure or outer force, and the performance of the signal transmitting and receiving is greatly affected thereby. After assembling the assembly base  20  and the antenna  10   30   60   70 , the support and reinforcement of the assembly base  20  makes the antenna  10   30   60   70  hard to change shape. During the production of assembling the circuit board, the reinforcement of the assembly base  20  prevents the antenna  10   30   60   70  from changing shapes. Therefore, the assembling production of the antenna  10   30   60   70  and circuit board  50  becomes easier, and largely reduces the defective rate and cost, which meets the economical benefit. 
     The antenna and the circuit board  50  of the present invention can be connected directly by inserting the protruding footing  25  that is on the bottom of the assembly base  20  into the insert hole  51  on the circuit board  50 , and by connecting the two bent edges  11   12  of the antenna  10  to the designated area on the circuit board  50 . Therefore, the antenna  10  and the circuit board  50  is connected electronically; under the circumstances, the indirect electrical connection from the wire and circuit board  50  is not needed. The special structure of the antenna  10  and assembly base  20  of the present invention can use surface mount technology to connect to the circuit board, which can improve the production speed and the quality. Therefore, the present invention meets the demand of the wireless electronic devices being small and thin, and the antenna module of the present invention becomes better in resolving the issues created from the conventional wireless electronic device that has a protruding antenna. The antenna module of the present invention does not need extra wire to connect circuit board  50  in the limited space inside the wireless electronics to achieve the best signal transmitting and receiving effect, and it meets industrial practicability such as easy assembly and not taking too much room. 
     Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows an exploded perspective view of the first embodiment of the antenna. 
         FIG. 2  shows an exploded perspective view of the first embodiment of the antenna from another view angle. 
         FIG. 3  shows an assembled perspective view of the components revealed in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  shows the schematic view of the antenna module assembly process. 
         FIG. 5  shows an exploded perspective view of the second embodiment of the antenna. 
         FIG. 6  shows an exploded perspective view of the second embodiment of the antenna from another view angle. 
         FIG. 7  shows an assembled perspective view of the components revealed in  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 8  shows an exploded perspective view of the third embodiment of the antenna. 
         FIG. 9  shows an assembled perspective view of the third embodiment of the antenna. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The features and the advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon a thoughtful deliberation of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1-3 , there is a preferred embodiment of the antenna module for wireless electronic device. 
     The antenna  10  is a long metal plate. One end of the antenna has two bent edges  11   12  that are spaced and shaped almost the same, and the middle of the antenna  10  forms a positioning part  13  that protrudes to one side. The antenna&#39;s  10  long plate has holes  14  that are spaced apart. The assembly base  20  is a long block that is made of insulation material. One of its ends has two spaced concave edges  21   22  for the two bent edges  11   12  of the antenna  10  to set in, and, in the middle of the assembly base  20 , has an oblique slot  23  for the positioning part  13  that is located in the middle of the antenna to set in, and, on the other side of the assembly base  20 , has protruding columns  24  for the through holes  14  of the antenna to go through. By the design of the above-mentioned parts, the antenna  10  and the assembly base  20  can be connected as one piece. 
       FIGS. 5 ,  6  and  7  show the second embodiment of an antenna module for a wireless electronic device. The antenna  30  is a long metal plate; one end forms upper and lower bent edges  31   32 ; and the upper and lower bent edges and the long plate  33  of the antenna  30  are placed vertically. The assembly base  40  is a long block that is made of insulation material, and one of its ends has upper and lower concave edges  41   42  for the upper and lower bent edge  31   32  of the antenna  30  to set in. A long and narrow groove  43  is placed on a section of the assembly base  40 , which is for the entire long plate  33  of the antenna to insert in. By the design of the above mentioned parts, the antenna  30  and the assembly base  40  can be connected as one piece as well. 
       FIGS. 8 and 9  show the third embodiment of an antenna module for wireless electronic device being comprised of at least two antennas  60   70  for working in different frequency and an assembly base  20 . The assembly base  20  is a long block that is made of insulation material for positioning said two antennas as one body. 
     By revealing the two embodiments mentioned above, it proves that the antenna and assembly base of the present invention can indeed be connected as one piece, and the assembly of the parts can be very diversified. At least the above-mentioned embodiments have revealed the positioning methods such as holes and columns, inserting and locking. Of course, the antenna  10  and the assembly base  20  can be glued as one piece; and the antenna  10  and the assembly base  20  can be connected as one piece by molding. 
     The description of the antenna module fabrication of the present invention is as follows:
         a) make an antenna and an assembly base separately, and make corresponding positioning parts on the antenna and assembly base; and   b) take the positioning parts mentioned above, and connect the antenna and the assembly base as one to make the antenna module.       

     As for assembling the assembly base to the circuit board as mentioned in the first embodiment,  FIG. 4  shows a protruding footing  25  that is placed on one side of the assembly base  20 , which can be inserted into the inset hole  51  on the circuit board  50 . The two bent edges  11   12  of the antenna  10  can be connected electrically to the designated location on the circuit board  50 . 
     An antenna module and circuit board fabrication method for a wireless electronic device has an antenna  10  and an assembly base  20 , a corresponding positioning part being placed thereon. By coordinating the positioning parts  13  mentioned above to make the antenna module that is made of an antenna  10  and an assembly base  20 , the two bent edges  11   12  of the antenna  10  are located on the outside of the assembly base  20 . The embodiment of the present invention mainly is to remove the protruding footing  25  that is on one side of the assembly base  20 , and the insert hole  51  on the circuit board  50 , and to connect the antenna module to the circuit board by the surface mount technology. 
     An antenna module fabrication method for wireless electronic device, includes: setting up an antenna; placing the antenna into the mold; injecting the plasticity material into the mold to form an assembly base; forming a composite of the antenna into one piece to form a one-piece antenna module; and connecting the antenna module to the circuit board by the surface mount technology.