Patent Publication Number: US-2022223996-A1

Title: Electronic device

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the priority benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 63/137,121, filed on Jan. 13, 2021. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Technical Field 
     The disclosure relates to an electronic device, particularly to an electronic device having an antenna. 
     Description of Related Art 
     For a notebook computer whose casing is made of metal material, it is necessary to provide an antenna clearance area in the metal casing when arranging an antenna inside the metal casing of the notebook computer. The antenna clearance area is usually made of plastic materials embedded in the metal casing, and its position corresponds to the location of the antenna to prevent the metal casing from interfering the antenna&#39;s signal transmission and reception. However, this design also prevents the casing of the notebook computer from having a complete, streamline metallic appearance, and it also complicates the manufacturing process of the casing. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure provides an electronic device with a simple casing design for the antenna module to have a good ability for receiving and transmitting signals. 
     The electronic device of the present disclosure includes a first body, a second body, and at least one cavity antenna module. The second body has a pivot side and a plurality of non-pivot sides, and the pivot side is connected pivotally to the first body. The cavity antenna module includes a metal cavity body and a first antenna structure. The metal cavity body is disposed in the second body and has an opening. The distance between one of the non-pivot sides and the metal cavity body is smaller than the distance between the pivot side and the metal cavity body, and the opening faces the one of the non-pivot sides. The first antenna structure is disposed in the opening of the metal cavity body. The first antenna structure includes a feeding portion, a radiating portion, and a ground portion connected with one another. 
     In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the cavity antenna module includes an insulating substrate. The insulating substrate is embedded in the opening, and the first antenna structure is disposed on the insulating substrate. 
     In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the second body includes a metal casing, and the metal cavity body is disposed in the metal casing. 
     In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the metal casing includes a top wall and a side wall that are connected to each other. The metal cavity body corresponds to a non-edge portion of the top wall. An edge portion of the top wall is connected between the side wall and the non-edge portion. The metal casing has a slot, and the slot is formed on the side wall or the edge portion of the top wall. 
     In an embodiment of the present disclosure, two sections of the opening respectively face two adjacent ones of the non-pivot sides, and two sections of the slot are respectively located on the two ones of the non-pivot sides and respectively correspond to the two sections of the opening. 
     In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic device includes at least one conductive bonding layer, where the metal cavity body is connected to the metal casing through the conductive bonding layer. 
     In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the metal cavity body is at least partially constituted by the metal casing. 
     In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the metal casing includes a top wall and a bottom wall opposed to each other. The metal cavity body includes at least one wall, and the at least one wall is connected between the top wall and the bottom wall. 
     In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the cavity antenna module includes two cavity antenna modules, and a distance exists between the two cavity antenna modules. 
     In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the distance is greater than or equal to 5 mm. 
     In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic device includes a touch pad, where the second body includes a casing, the casing includes a top wall and a bottom wall opposed to each other, the touch pad is disposed on the top wall, and the metal cavity body is located between the touchpad and the bottom wall. 
     In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the cavity antenna module includes a second antenna structure, and the second antenna structure is disposed in the opening and coplanar with the first antenna structure. 
     Based on the above, in the present disclosure, a cavity antenna module is disposed in the second body, where the opening of the metal cavity body faces a non-pivot side of the second body, so that the first antenna structure located in the opening is able to send and receive signals through the non-pivot side. Therefore, in the case where a casing of the second body is made of metal, it only needs to form a slot corresponding to the first antenna structure on the non-pivot side of the second body to operate the first antenna structure&#39;s signal transmission and reception and don&#39;t be interfered by the metal casing. Hence, the present disclosure provides a simple casing design for the cavity antenna module to have a good ability for receiving and transmitting signals without the need to provide a large antenna clearance area in the metal casing as in the conventional design. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of the second body of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a bottom view of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a partial perspective view of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the cavity antenna module of  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic cross-sectional view of the electronic device of  FIG. 3  along line I-I. 
         FIG. 7  shows the first antenna structure of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic cross-sectional view of an electronic device according to another embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 9  is a return loss diagram of the cavity antenna module of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 10  is a schematic cross-sectional view of an electronic device according to yet another embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 11  is a schematic cross-sectional view of an electronic device according to still another embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 12  is a perspective view of an electronic device according to still another embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 13  is a partial top view of the electronic device of  FIG. 12 . 
         FIG. 14  is a schematic cross-sectional view of the electronic device of  FIG. 12 . 
         FIG. 15  is a partial perspective view of an electronic device according to yet another embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 16  is a partial perspective view of the electronic device of  FIG. 15 . 
         FIG. 17  is a top view of a partial structure of the electronic device of  FIG. 15 . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.  FIG. 2  is a side view of the second body of  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 3  is a bottom view of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 . In  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 3 , an electronic device  100  of this embodiment is, for example, a notebook computer and it includes a first body  110 , a second body  120 , and at least one cavity antenna module  130  (two are shown in  FIG. 3 ). The first body  110  is, for example, a screen of a notebook computer. The second body  120  is, for example, a host of a notebook computer and has a pivot side  120   a  and a plurality of non-pivot sides  120   b ,  120   c , and  120   d . The pivot side  120   a  is connected pivotally to the first body  110 . The second body  120  includes a metal casing  1201 , and the metal casing  1201  has slots  1201   d  respectively at the non-pivot sides  120   b  and  120   c . The two cavity antenna modules  130  are disposed in the second body  120  and respectively correspond to the slots  1201   d  at the non-pivot sides  120   b  and  120   c.    
       FIG. 4  is a partial perspective view of the electronic device of  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the cavity antenna module of  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 6  is a schematic cross-sectional view of the electronic device of  FIG. 3  along line I-I. In  FIG. 4  to  FIG. 6 , the cavity antenna module  130  of this embodiment includes a metal cavity body  132 , a first antenna structure  134 , and an insulating substrate  136 . The metal cavity body  132  is disposed in the metal casing  1201  of the second body  120 . The metal cavity body  132  is, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped structure formed by a plurality of metal walls  1321  surrounding the inner cavity, and has an opening  132   a . In other words, the five surfaces of the rectangular parallelepiped structure are all metal walls  1321 , and the last surface is the open end formed by the opening  132   a . The insulating substrate  136  is embedded in the opening  132   a , and the first antenna structure  134  is disposed on the insulating substrate  136  and located in the opening  132   a . The opening  132   a  of each metal cavity body  132  faces the corresponding non-pivot side  120   b / 120   c.    
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the distance between the non-pivot side  120   b  and the corresponding metal cavity body  132  is smaller than the distance between the pivot side  120   a  and the metal cavity body  132 , and the distance between the non-pivot side  120   c  and the corresponding metal cavity body  132  is smaller than the distance between the pivot side  120   a  and the metal cavity body  132 . In other words, each metal cavity body  132  is disposed closer to the corresponding non-pivot side  120   b / 120   c  and is farther away from the pivot side  120   a.    
       FIG. 7  shows the first antenna structure of  FIG. 5 . In  FIG. 7 , the first antenna structure  134  of this embodiment includes a feeding portion  134   a , a radiating portion  134   b , and a ground portion  134   c  connected with one another to form a loop antenna. The feeding portion  134   a  corresponds to a feeding point F shown in  FIG. 6 . The first antenna structure  134  may be in the form of a planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA) or a loop antenna, which is not limited in the present disclosure. 
     As described above, in this embodiment, the cavity antenna module  130  is configured in the second body  120 , and the opening  132   a  of the metal cavity body  132  faces the non-pivot side  120   b / 120   c  of the second body  120 , which enables the loop-like first antenna structure  134  in the opening  132   a  to transmit and receive signals through the non-pivot side  120   b / 120   c . Thus, in the case where the second body  120  includes the metal casing  1201 , it only needs to form a slot  1201   d  corresponding to the first antenna structure  134  on the non-pivot side  120   b / 120   c  of the second body  12  to operate the signal transmission and reception of the first antenna structure  134  and don&#39;t be interfered by the metal casing  1201 . Therefore, in this embodiment, it is not necessary to provide a large antenna clearance area in the metal casing as in the conventional design for the cavity antenna module  130  inside to have a good ability for receiving and transmitting signals through the simple casing design. 
     In  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 4 , in this embodiment, the length of the slot  1201   d  in an X direction is, for example, greater than the length of the metal cavity body  132  in the X direction, and the width of the slot  1201   d  in a Z direction is, for example, greater than 2 mm, so that the cavity antenna module  130  is capable of transmitting and receiving signals through the slot  1201   d  with a good antenna efficiency. 
     More specifically, in  FIG. 6 , the metal casing  1201  of this embodiment includes a top wall  1201   a , a bottom wall  1201   b , and a side wall  1201   c  that are connected to one another. The top wall  1201   a  and the bottom wall  1201   b  are opposed to each other, and the side wall  1201   c  is connected between the top wall  1201   a  and the bottom wall  1201   b . The metal cavity body  132  corresponds to a non-edge portion P 3  of the top wall  1201   a  and a non-edge portion P 4  of the bottom wall  1201   b . An edge portion P 1  of the top wall  1201   a  is connected between the side wall  1201   c  and the non-edge portion P 3 . An edge portion P 2  of the bottom wall  1201   b  is connected between the side wall  1201   c  and the non-edge portion P 4 . The side wall  1201   c , the edge portion P 1  of the top wall  1201   a , and the edge portion P 2  of the bottom wall  1201   b  constitute one of the non-pivot sides  120   b ,  120   c , and  120   d  of the second body  120  ( FIG. 6  shows the non-pivot side  120   b ). The slot  1201   d  of the metal casing  1201  may be formed in the side wall  1201   c  as shown in  FIG. 6 . The slot  1201   d  of the metal casing  1201  may also be formed on the edge portion P 1  of the top wall  1201   a  as shown in  FIG. 8 , to which the present disclosure is not limited. 
     In  FIG. 7 , in this embodiment, the cavity antenna module  130  may further include a second antenna structure  135 . The second antenna structure  135  is disposed on the insulating substrate  136  in the opening  132   a  and is coplanar with the first antenna structure  134  to act as a parasitic element beside the first antenna structure  134 . 
       FIG. 9  is a return loss diagram of the cavity antenna module of  FIG. 5 . Based on the above configuration of the cavity antenna module  130  of this embodiment, the metal cavity body  132  is capable of generating a first resonance frequency a (for example, about 2.4 GHz) and its multiple, a second resonance frequency b (for example, about 5 GHz), as shown in  FIG. 9 . In addition, the cavity antenna module  130  generates a higher third resonance frequency c and a fourth resonance frequency d respectively through the first antenna structure  134  and the second antenna structure  135 . 
     In order for the metal cavity body  132  to generate the first resonance frequency a shown in  FIG. 9  as described above, its size may be designed as follows. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the depth of the metal cavity body  132  in a Y direction is one sixteenth to one quarter of the wavelength corresponding to the first resonance frequency a, and the length L of the metal cavity body  132  in the X direction is one quarter to three quarters of the wavelength corresponding to the first resonance frequency a. 
       FIG. 10  is a schematic cross-sectional view of an electronic device according to another embodiment of the disclosure. The embodiment shown in  FIG. 10  is different from the embodiment shown in  FIG. 6  in that the metal cavity body  132  of  FIG. 6  is directly connected to the metal casing  1201  for grounding, and that the electronic device  100 A in  FIG. 10  further includes at least one conductive bonding layer  140  (two are shown), and the metal cavity body  132  is connected to the metal casing  1201  through the conductive bonding layers  140  for grounding. 
       FIG. 11  is a schematic cross-sectional view of an electronic device according to another embodiment of the disclosure. The embodiment shown in  FIG. 11  is different from the embodiment shown in  FIG. 6  in that the metal cavity body  132  in  FIG. 11  is at least partially formed by a metal casing  1201 . More specifically, in the electronic device  100 B of  FIG. 11 , the top wall  1201   a  and the bottom wall  1201   b  of the metal casing  1201  constitute a part of the metal cavity body  132 , and the wall  1321  of the metal cavity body  132  is connected between the top wall  1201   a  and the bottom wall  1201   b  of the metal casing  1201 . The wall  1321  may be formed by the partially extending top wall  1201   a  and/or bottom wall  1201   b.    
       FIG. 12  is a perspective view of an electronic device according to another embodiment of the disclosure.  FIG. 13  is a partial top view of the electronic device of  FIG. 12 .  FIG. 14  is a schematic cross-sectional view of the electronic device of  FIG. 12 . The differences between the embodiment shown in  FIG. 12  to  FIG. 14  and the embodiment shown in  FIG. 6  are that the electronic device  100 C in  FIG. 12  to  FIG. 14  includes two cavity antenna modules  130 , the opening  132   a  of the metal cavity body  132  of the cavity antenna module  130  faces the non-pivot side  120   d  of the second body  120 , and the slot  1201   d  of the metal casing  1201  is located on the non-pivot side  120   d  of the second body  120 . There is a gap G between the two cavity antenna modules  130 , and the gap G is, for example, greater than or equal to 5 mm to prevent the two cavity antenna modules  130  from interfering with each other. In addition, the electronic device  100 C of this embodiment includes a touchpad  150 . The touchpad  150  is disposed on the top wall  1201   a  of the metal casing  1201  as shown in  FIG. 12  to  FIG. 14 , and the metal cavity body  132  is located between the touchpad  150  and the bottom wall  1201   b  of the metal casing  1201 . In other words, the touchpad  150  and the metal cavity body  132  are disposed above the bottom wall  1201   b  by overlapping each other. 
       FIG. 15  is a partial perspective view of an electronic device according to still another embodiment of the disclosure.  FIG. 16  is a partial perspective view of the electronic device of  FIG. 15 .  FIG. 17  is a top view of a partial structure of the electronic device of  FIG. 15 . The difference between the embodiment shown in  FIG. 15  to  FIG. 17  and the embodiment shown in  FIG. 6  is that the cavity antenna module  130  of the electronic device  100 D of  FIG. 15  to  FIG. 17  is disposed at the corner of the metal casing  1201 . Therefore, two sections S 1  and S 2  of the opening  132   a  of the metal cavity body  132  respectively face the two non-pivot sides  120   b  and  120   d  of the second body  120  that are adjacent to each other, and two sections S 3  and S 4  of the slot  1201   d  of the metal casing  1201  are respectively located on the two non-pivot sides  120   b  and  120   d  and respectively correspond to the two sections S 1  and S 2  of the opening  132   a.    
     To sum up, in the present disclosure, a cavity antenna module is configured in the second body, where the opening of the metal cavity body faces a non-pivot side of the second body, so that the first antenna structure located in the opening is able to send and receive signals through the non-pivot side. Therefore, in the case where a casing of the second body is made of metal, it only needs to form a slot corresponding to the first antenna structure on the non-pivot side of the second body to operate the first antenna structure&#39;s signal transmission and reception and don&#39;t be interfered by the metal casing. Hence, the present disclosure provides a simple casing design for the cavity antenna module to have a good ability for receiving and transmitting signals without the need to provide a large antenna clearance area in the metal casing as in the conventional design.