PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-10141626-B2
Application Number: US-201414339366-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Electronic device printed circuit board patch antenna

Abstract:
An electronic device may be provided with wireless circuitry that includes a radio-frequency transceiver circuit and an antenna. The antenna may be a patch antenna formed from a patch antenna resonating element and an antenna ground. The patch antenna resonating element may be formed from a metal patch on a printed circuit board. The antenna ground may be formed from a metal housing having a planar rear wall that lies in a plane parallel to the metal patch. The radio-frequency transceiver circuit may be coupled to the metal patch through traces on the printed circuit and may be coupled to rear wall of the housing through a screw and a screw boss in the housing. Buttons and other electrical components may be mounted on the printed circuit board and may be coupled to control circuitry on the printed circuit board through the metal patch.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing having a metal portion that serves as an antenna ground for an antenna; 
 a printed circuit having a metal layer that forms an antenna resonating element for the antenna; and 
 a capacitive touch sensor; 
 a glass layer that covers the antenna resonating element and the capacitive touch sensor; and 
 at least one button extending through the glass layer, wherein the metal layer includes an opening that is aligned with the at least one button. 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the metal layer has at least one slot. 
     
     
       3. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  further comprising a support structure under the printed circuit, wherein the support structure is interposed between the printed circuit and the metal portion of the housing. 
     
     
       4. The electronic device defined in  claim 3  wherein the support structure comprises a plastic support structure with an array of recesses. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the metal portion of the housing forms a rear surface for the housing and the glass layer forms an opposing front surface for the housing. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  further comprising a screw that couples a ground trace on the printed circuit to the metal portion of the housing. 
     
     
       7. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  further comprising:
 a flexible printed circuit; and 
 a dielectric structure on the printed circuit that prevents the flexible printed circuit from coming too close to the metal layer. 
 
     
     
       8. The electronic device defined in  claim 7 , wherein the dielectric structure comprises a plastic shim and the capacitive touch sensor is coupled to the flexible printed circuit. 
     
     
       9. The electronic device defined in  claim 8  wherein the metal portion of the housing forms a rear surface for the housing and the glass layer forms an opposing front surface for the housing. 
     
     
       10. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 control circuitry that is coupled to the at least one button through at least one inductor. 
 
     
     
       11. A remote control, comprising:
 a housing having a metal portion that serves as an antenna ground for an antenna; 
 a printed circuit having a metal layer that forms an antenna resonating element for the antenna; 
 a capacitive touch sensor; 
 a glass layer that covers the antenna resonating element and the capacitive touch sensor; and 
 at least one button extending through the glass layer, wherein the metal layer includes an opening that is aligned with the at least one button. 
 
     
     
       12. The remote control defined in  claim 11  wherein the glass layer has an array of openings and wherein the at least one button comprises a plurality of buttons respectively in the array of openings. 
     
     
       13. The remote control defined in  claim 11 , wherein the antenna resonating element comprises a patch antenna resonating element. 
     
     
       14. The remote control defined in  claim 11 , further comprising:
 a switch mounted on the printed circuit at the opening of the metal layer, wherein the switch is aligned with the at least one button and the opening of the metal layer. 
 
     
     
       15. The remote control defined in  claim 14 , wherein a transmission line couples the metal layer to radio-frequency transceiver circuitry. 
     
     
       16. The remote control defined in  claim 11 , wherein the printed circuit includes a substrate, wherein the antenna resonating element is interposed between the substrate and the glass layer. 
     
     
       17. The remote control defined in  claim 16 , wherein the antenna resonating element is interposed between the substrate and a first portion of the glass layer, the capacitive touch sensor is interposed between a second portion of the glass layer and the substrate, and the first and second portions of the glass layer are nonoverlapping. 
     
     
       18. A remote control, comprising:
 a housing having a metal portion that serves as an antenna ground for an antenna; 
 a printed circuit having a metal layer that forms an antenna resonating element for the antenna, the antenna resonating element comprising a patch antenna resonating element; 
 a capacitive touch sensor located at one end of the housing; 
 a glass layer that covers the antenna resonating element and the capacitive touch sensor; and 
 a plurality of buttons extending through a first portion of the glass layer, wherein the printed circuit includes a substrate, the metal layer is interposed between the substrate and the first portion of the glass layer, the capacitive touch sensor is interposed between a second portion of the glass layer and the substrate, and the first and second portions of the glass layer are nonoverlapping.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     This relates generally to electronic devices and, more particularly, to electronic devices with wireless communications circuitry. 
     Electronic devices often include wireless communications circuitry. Radio-frequency transceivers are coupled to antennas to support communications with external equipment. During operation, a radio-frequency transceiver uses an antenna to transmit and receive wireless signals. 
     It can be challenging to incorporate wireless components such as antenna structures within an electronic device. If care is not taken, an antenna may consume more space within a device than desired, may exhibit unsatisfactory wireless performance, or may interfere with the operation of control circuitry in a device. 
     It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improved antennas for electronic devices. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device may be provided with wireless circuitry. The electronic device may be a remote control or other device that uses wireless communications to interact with external electronic equipment. Buttons, a touch pad, and other input-output devices in the remote control may be used to gather input from a user. 
     The wireless circuitry may include a radio-frequency transceiver circuit and an antenna. The antenna may be a patch antenna formed from a patch antenna resonating element and an antenna ground. The patch antenna resonating element may be formed from a metal patch on a printed circuit board. The metal patch may be a rectangular patch formed from a patterned metal trace on the printed circuit board. A transmission line formed from portions of metal traces on the printed circuit board may be coupled to the patch antenna resonating element. Slots may be provided in the patch to help the patch antenna match the impedance of the transmission line. 
     The antenna ground may be formed from a metal housing such as a metal housing having a planar rear wall that lies in a plane parallel to the metal patch. Components for the remote control or other device may be mounted in the housing. For example, the touch pad may be mounted in the housing, the printed circuit may be mounted in the housing, buttons may be mounted in the housing, a battery may be mounted in the housing, and other circuitry may be mounted in the housing. 
     A plastic shim or other dielectric structure may be used to maintain a flexible printed circuit at a desired distance from the metal patch. The flexible primed circuit may be coupled to the touch pad. A glass layer or other dielectric structure may be mounted on the front face of the housing and may cover the patch antenna resonating element and other structures on the printed circuit board. 
     The radio-frequency transceiver circuit may be coupled to the metal patch through traces on the printed circuit and may be coupled to rear wall of the housing through a screw and a screw boss in the housing. Buttons and other electrical components may be mounted on the printed circuit board and may be coupled to control circuitry on the printed circuit board through the metal patch. Inductors may be interposed in signal paths between the control circuitry and the buttons to block radio-frequency signals from the radio-frequency transceiver circuit. A dielectric support structure such as a plastic support structure with an array of recesses may be interposed between the printed circuit board and the rear wall of the metal housing. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device with wireless communications circuitry in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device with wireless communications circuitry in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an illustrative antenna in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative dome switch in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram showing how radio-frequency transceiver circuitry and control circuits in an electronic device may be coupled to metal structures in an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional side view of a button and associated structures in an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a portion of a plastic support structure in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 9  is a top view of an interior portion of an illustrative electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of an illustrative electronic device showing how a screw may be used to mount a printed circuit board to a housing in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 11  is a cross-sectional side view of the screw of  FIG. 10  in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 12  is a top view of an illustrative printed circuit having an antenna resonating element with slits to make impedance adjustments in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 13  is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of an electronic device showing how a flexible printed circuit associated with a component may be maintained at an adequate distance from an antenna trace on a printed circuit using a plastic shim in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     An electronic device such as electronic device  10  of  FIG. 1  may contain wireless circuitry. The wireless circuitry may be used to wirelessly communicate with external equipment such as a computer, a television, a set-top box, a media player, a display, a wearable device, a cellular telephone, or other electronic equipment. Electronic device  10  may be a remote control or other electronic device (e.g., a portable device, a computing device, an accessory for controlling a computer such as a wireless trackpad or wireless mouse, etc.). Illustrative configurations for device  10  in which device  10  includes components that allow device  10  to serve as a remote control for controlling external equipment are sometimes described herein as an example. This is, however, merely illustrative. Device  10  may be any suitable electronic equipment. 
     Device  10  may contain wireless communications circuitry that operates in long-range communications bands such as cellular telephone bands and wireless circuitry that operates in short-range communications bands such as the 2.4 GHz Bluetooth® band and the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz WiFi® wireless local area network bands (sometimes referred to as IEEE 802.11 bands or wireless local area network communications bands). Device  10  may also contain wireless communications circuitry for implementing near-field communications, light-based wireless communications (e.g., infrared light communications and/or visible light communications), satellite navigation system communications, or other wireless communications. Illustrative configurations for the wireless circuitry of device  10  in which wireless communications are performed over a 2.4 GHz communications band (e.g., a Bluetooth® or WiFi® link) are sometimes described herein as an example. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , device  10  may have a housing such as housing  12 . Housing  12 , which may sometimes be referred to as an enclosure or case, may be formed of plastic, glass, ceramics, fiber composites, metal (e.g., stainless steel aluminum, etc.), other suitable materials, or a combination of any two or more of these materials. Housing  12  may be formed using a unibody configuration in which some or all of housing  12  is machined or molded as a single structure or may be formed using multiple structures (e.g., an internal frame structure, one or more structures that form exterior housing surfaces, etc.). With one illustrative configuration, housing  12  may include a rear portion such as portion  12 B and a front portion such as front portion  12 A. Rear portion  12 B may include a rear wall (e.g., a planar wall) and four sidewalls that run along each of the four edges of the rear wall. The sidewalls may be curved, may be planar, or may have other suitable shapes. The sidewalls of the rear portion of housing  12  may, if desired, form smooth continuously extending portions of rear housing  12 B. Configurations for device  10  in which the sidewalls for housing  12  extend vertically upwards (dimension Z in the diagram of  FIG. 1 ) may also be used. 
     Front housing portion  12 A may extend over some or all of the front surface of housing  12 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . Housing portion  12 A may be formed from plastic or other suitable materials (e.g., one or more different plastics, a single plastic, plastic and metal, glass, etc.). The use of a dielectric material such as a layer of glass or plastic to cover the front of housing  12  (i.e., to form front face housing portion  12 A) allows wireless signals to be transmitted and received through the front of housing  12 . The use of metal to form rear portion  12 B of housing  12  allows rear portion  12 B to serve as part of the circuitry of device  10 . For example, rear portion  12 B may serve as antenna ground in an antenna for device  10 . 
     Device  10  may include buttons such as buttons  14 . There may be any suitable number of buttons  14  in device  10  (e.g., a single button  14 , more than one button  14 , two or more buttons  14 , five or more buttons  14 , six or more buttons  14 , etc.). Buttons  14  may be formed from dome switches or other switches mounted in housing  12 . Button members for buttons  14  may be formed from glass, plastic, or other materials and may press against the dome switches or other switches mounted in housing  12 . 
     Buttons  14  may be organized to form a directional pad (D-pad) or other control pad, may include up and down buttons, may be arranged to allow control of functions such as media volume, channel selection, page up and down, menu back/forward, playback reverse, pause, stop, and forward, fast forwards and fast reverse, time period skip, cancel, enter etc., may include number keys and/or letter keys, may be associated with dedicated functions for a set-top box, television, or other equipment may include a power button for turning off and turning on remote equipment, or may have other suitable functions. The six-button layout of  FIG. 1  is merely illustrative. 
     If desired, device  10  may include one or more input-output devices such as input-output device  16 . Input-output device  16  may include a display such as a liquid crystal display, organic light-emitting diode display, electrophoretic display, or other visual output component. Alternatively, or in combination with a visual output component, input-output device  16  may include a touch sensor. For example, input-output device  16  may be a touch pad or other component that incorporates a touch sensor array to gather touch input from a user. A user may, for example, supply touch input using one or more fingers. Touch input may include single-linger commands and/or multi-finger gestures (e.g., swipes, pinch to zoom commands, etc.). The touch sensor array of device  16  may include a capacitive touch sensor array (i.e., device  16  may be a capacitive touch sensor forming a touch pad) or may include touch sensor components based on other touch technologies (e.g., resistive touch, acoustic touch, force-based touch, light-based touch, etc.). 
     Connector ports such as port  18  may be configured to receive plugs on external cables and other accessories. Port  18  may, for example, contain a connector that mates with a connector on the end of a digital data cable. 
     A schematic diagram showing illustrative components that may be used in device  10  is shown in  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , device  10  may include control circuitry such as storage and processing circuitry  30 . Storage and processing circuitry  30  may include storage such as hard disk drive storage, nonvolatile memory (e.g., flash memory or other electrically-programmable-read-only memory configured to form a solid state drive), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic random-access-memory), etc. Processing circuitry in storage and processing circuitry  30  may be used to control the operation of device  10 . This processing circuitry may be based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, baseband processor integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits, etc. 
     Storage and processing circuitry  30  may be used to run software on device  10 . For example, software running on device  10  may be used to process input commands from a user that are supplied using input-output components such as buttons  14 , touch pad (track pad)  16 , and other input-output circuitry. To support interactions with external equipment, storage and processing circuitry  30  may be used in implementing communications protocols. Communications protocols that may be implemented using storage and processing circuitry  30  include internet protocols, wireless local area network protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11 protocols—sometimes referred to as WiFi®), protocols for other short-range wireless communications links such as the Bluetooth® protocol, etc. 
     Device  10  may include input-output circuitry  44 . Input-output circuitry  44  may include input-output devices  32 . Input-output devices  32  may be used to allow data to be supplied to device  10  and to allow data to be provided from device  10  to external devices. Input-output devices  32  may include user interface devices, data port devices, and other input-output components. For example, input-output devices may include touch screens, displays without touch sensor capabilities, buttons (e.g., buttons  14 ), joysticks, scrolling wheels, touch pads (e.g., touch pad  16 ), key pads, keyboards, microphones, cameras, buttons, speakers, status indicators, light sources, audio jacks and other audio port components, digital data port devices, light sensors, motion sensors (accelerometers), capacitance sensors, proximity sensors (e.g., a capacitive proximity sensor and/or an infrared proximity sensor), magnetic sensors, and other sensors and input-output components. 
     Input-output circuitry  44  may include wireless communications circuitry  34  for communicating wirelessly with external equipment. Wireless communications circuitry  34  may include radio-frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry formed from one or more integrated circuits, power amplifier circuitry, low-noise input amplifiers, passive RF components, one or more antennas, transmission lines, and other circuitry for handling RF wireless signals. Wireless signals can also be sent using light (e.g., using infrared communications). 
     Wireless communications circuitry  34  may include radio-frequency transceiver circuitry  90  for handling various radio-frequency communications bands. For example, circuitry  34  may include wireless local area network transceiver circuitry that may handle 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands for WiFi® (IEEE 802.11) communications, wireless transceiver circuitry that may handle the 2.4 GHz Bluetooth® communications band, cellular telephone transceiver circuitry for handling wireless communications in communications bands between 700 MHz and 2700 MHz or other suitable frequencies (as examples), or other wireless communications circuits. If desired, wireless communications circuitry  34  can include circuitry for other short-range and long-range wireless links if desired. For example, wireless communications circuitry  34  may include 60 GHz transceiver circuitry, circuitry for receiving television and radio signals, paging system transceivers, near field communications (NEC) circuitry, satellite navigation system receiver circuitry, etc. In WiFi® and Bluetooth® links and other short-range wireless links, wireless signals are typically used to convey data over tens or hundreds of feet. In cellular telephone links and other long-range links, wireless signals are typically used to convey data over thousands of feet or miles. To conserve power, it may be desirable in some embodiments to configure wireless communications circuitry  34  so that transceiver  90  handles exclusively short-range wireless links such as 2.4 GHz links (e.g., Bluetooth® and/or WiFi® links). Other configurations may be used for wireless circuitry  34  if desired (e.g., configurations with coverage in additional communications bands). 
     Wireless communications circuitry  34  may include one or more antennas such as antenna  40 . Antenna  40  may be formed using any suitable antenna type. For example, antenna  40  may be an antenna with a resonating element that is formed from loop antenna structures, patch antenna structures, inverted-F antenna structures, slot antenna structures, planar inverted-F antenna structures, helical antenna structures, hybrids of these designs, etc. If desired, antenna  40  may be a cavity-backed antenna (e.g., an antenna in which the ground plane has the shape of a cavity). Patch antenna structures may be configured to exhibit lateral antenna currents that help enhance polarization insensitivity and help reduce directional sensitivity. 
     Transmission line paths such as transmission line  92  may be used to couple antenna  40  to transceiver circuitry  90 . Transmission line  92  may be coupled to antenna feed structures associated with antenna structures  40 . As an example, antenna structures  40  may form as patch antenna or other type of antenna having an antenna feed with a positive antenna feed terminal such as terminal  98  and a ground antenna feed terminal such as ground antenna feed terminal  100 . Positive transmission line conductor  94  may be coupled to positive antenna feed terminal  98  and ground transmission line conductor  96  may be coupled to ground antenna feed terminal  92 . Other types of antenna feed arrangements may be used if desired. The illustrative feeding configuration of  FIG. 2  is merely illustrative. Transmission line  92  may include coaxial cable paths, microstrip transmission lines, stripline transmission lines, edge-coupled microstrip transmission lines, edge-coupled stripline transmission lines, transmission lines formed from combinations of transmission lines of these types, etc. Filter circuitry, switching circuitry, impedance matching circuitry, and other circuitry may be interposed within the transmission lines, if desired. Circuits for impedance matching circuitry may be formed from discrete components (e.g., surface mount technology components) or may be formed from housing structures, printed circuit board structures, traces on plastic supports, etc. Components such as these may also be used in forming filter circuitry. 
       FIG. 3  is a diagram of illustrative patch antenna structures that may be used in implementing antenna  40  for device  10 . Patch antenna  40  of  FIG. 3  has an antenna resonating element such as patch antenna resonating element  106  and antenna ground (ground plane)  104 . Resonating element  106  may be formed from metal traces on a printed circuit, metal foil, or other conductive structures. Resonating element  106  may lie in a plane that is parallel to ground plane  104 . Ground plane  104  may be formed using metal traces on a printed circuit, metal device housing structures such as a metal rear housing wall in a housing that is partly or completely formed from metal, or may be formed from other antenna ground structures. For example, ground plane  104  may be formed from a metal rear housing wall that lies in a plane that is parallel to a plane containing patch antenna resonating element  106 . 
     Antenna resonating element  106  may have a rectangular shape or other planar (patch) shape and may lie in the horizontal (X-Y) plane of  FIG. 3 . Resonating element  106  may have lateral dimensions W 1  and W 2 . The values of dimensions W 1  and W 2  may be selected to be a half of a wavelength at an operating frequency of interest (to help enhance antenna efficiency) or may be less than a half of a wavelength in length (to help minimize the size of device  10 ). A half of a wavelength at 2.4 GHz is about 2.5 inches. 
     Axis Y of  FIG. 3  may form the longitudinal axis of resonating element  106  and may also serve as the longitudinal axis of device  10  and housing  12  (see, e.g.,  FIG. 1 ). The size of patch resonating element  106  of  FIG. 3  in dimension X (e.g., width W 1 ) may be substantially equal to the width of device  10 . The size of element  106  in dimension Y (e.g., dimension W 2 ) may be equal to the length of housing  12  or may be less than the length of housing  12  (e.g., 70% or less, 50% or less, etc.). A vertical distance such as height H may separate resonating element patch  106  from antenna ground  104  in vertical dimension Z. The magnitude of H may be 2-3 mm, 1-5 mm or other suitable size. 
     With one suitable arrangement, antenna resonating element patch  106  may be formed from traces on a printed circuit. The traces may form a direct-current (DC) ground for integrated circuits and electrical components on the printed circuit (i.e., a DC ground). The same traces (i.e., the DC ground) may form antenna resonating element patch  106 . Antenna  40  may have an antenna feed formed from positive antenna feed terminal  98  and ground antenna feed terminal  100 . Positive antenna feed terminal  98  may be coupled to resonating element patch  106 . Ground antenna feed terminal  100  may be coupled to antenna ground  104 . 
     Buttons  14  may include button members in respective openings of front wall  12 A of housing  12 . Front housing portion  12 A may, for example, have circular openings in which circular plastic or glass button members move when pressed by a user. Each button member may be associated with a respective electrical switch such as a dome switch or other suitable switch. 
     A cross-sectional side view of an illustrative dome switch is shown in  FIG. 4 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , dome switch  132  may have a compressible dome member such as member  144 . Member  144  may be formed from a material such as plastic. During operation, a user may press downwards in direction −Z on a button member that compresses member  144 . This causes member  144  to collapse against the upper surface of printed circuit  154 . A metal sheet or coating such as metal coating  146  may be formed on the inner surface of dome member  144 . The metal coating may be shorted to metal layer  136  on printed circuit substrate  134  in printed circuit  154  using solder  180  or other electrical coupling mechanism (i.e., in the open state for button  14 , metal coating layer  146  may be shorted to the outer electrode of switch  132 ). When compressed downwards, coating  146  may short central dome switch electrode  182  to the outer electrode formed from layer  136 . Central electrode  182  may be coupled to metal via  184  and horizontal signal trace  138 . Trace  138  and metal layer  136  may be coupled to button controller circuitry in storage and processing circuitry  30  ( FIG. 2 ). 
     Control circuitry  30  and wireless transceiver circuitry  90  may be coupled to metal traces  136  using circuitry of the type shown in  FIG. 5 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , control circuitry  30  may be coupled to buttons  14  (e.g., buttons B 1  . . . BN) using respective inductors L 1  . . . LN. Inductor  170  may be coupled directly to metal layer  136 . When a given switch is depressed, the switch will be closed and will form a short circuit through the inductor associated with the given switch, through the given switch, through metal layer  136 , and through the path containing inductor  170 . Inductors L 1  . . . LN and inductor  170  may serve as low pass filters that prevent high-frequency signals such as radio-frequency signals associated with operation of transceiver circuitry  90  and antenna  40  from interfering with the operation of control circuitry  30 . Metal layer  136  may have the shape of patch antenna resonating element  106  of  FIG. 3  (e.g., a rectangular patch shape that fits within housing  12 ) or may have other suitable shapes. Layer  136  may serve both as antenna resonating element  106  and as DC ground (DCG) for control circuitry  30  and buttons  14 . 
     Wireless radio-frequency transceiver circuitry  90  may be coupled to antenna  40  using transmission line  92 . Transmission line  92  may have a positive signal path such as path  94  that is coupled to positive antenna feed terminal  98  of antenna  40 . Transmission line  92  may also have a ground signal path such as path  96  that is coupled to ground antenna feed terminal  100 . Terminal  98  may be coupled to antenna resonating element  106 , which is formed from metal layer  136 . Terminal  100  may be coupled to antenna ground (ANTG), which is formed from metal housing  12  or other structure for forming antenna ground plane  104 . 
       FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional side view of device  10  of  FIG. 1  taken along line  124  and viewed in direction  126  of  FIG. 1 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , components such as buttons  14  and touch pad  16  or other input-output devices that are operated by a user of device  10  may be mounted in housing  12  along the front of device  10  (i.e., the upper surface of device  10  that is formed by housing wall  12 A). A flexible printed circuit cable or other signal paths may be used to couple battery  150  and other components in device  10  to printed circuit  154 . Flexible printed circuit cables may be coupled to metal traces in printed circuit  154  using board-to-board connectors or other coupling mechanisms. 
     Integrated circuits and other components (see, e.g., components  160 , which may form control circuitry  30  and input-output circuitry  44  such as transceiver  90 ) may be mounted on the upper and lower surfaces of printed circuit  154  using solder. Dielectric carrier  162  (e.g., a foam support structure or a support structure formed from hollow molded plastic or other dielectric materials) may be mounted to housing  12  and may be used to support printed circuit  154  under buttons  14 . 
     A cross-sectional view of device  10  taken along line  120  and viewed in direction  122  of  FIG. 1  is shown in  FIG. 7 . As shown in  FIG. 7 , patch antenna  40  may be formed from antenna resonating element  106  and antenna ground  104 . Antenna resonating element  106  may be formed from metal trace(s)  136 . Metal traces  136  may be formed from one or more metal layers on a printed circuit substrate. As shown in  FIG. 7 , for example, metal traces  136  may be formed on the uppermost layer of printed circuit substrate  134  in printed circuit  154 . Printed circuit  154  may be a rigid printed circuit board (e.g., printed circuit substrate  134  may be formed from a rigid printed circuit board material such as fiberglass-filled epoxy) or may be a flexible printed circuit (e.g., printed circuit substrate  134  may be formed from a sheet of polyimide or other flexible polymer layer). 
     Antenna ground  104  may be formed from metal device structures such as a metal housing (e.g., a metal housing  12  having metal rear housing wall  12 R). Metal rear housing wall  12 R may be a planar metal structure that lies in a plane parallel to the plane of metal traces  136 . Dielectric-filled cavity  155  (e.g., a space filled with air, plastic, foam, or other dielectric materials) may be interposed between resonating element  106  and metal rear housing wall  12 R and may separate resonating element  106  from metal rear housing wall  12 R. During operation of antenna  40 , antenna signals may establish electric fields extending between antenna ground  104  and resonating element  105 . 
     Antenna resonating element  106  may be formed from metal or other conductive material. In configurations of the type shown in  FIG. 7  in which antenna resonating element  106  is formed from metal traces  136  in a printed circuit such as printed circuit  154 , metal traces  136  may serve both to form antenna resonating element  106  and to form a direct-current (DC) ground for non-radio-frequency circuitry in device  10 . As an example, metal traces  135  may serve to carry DC button signals associated with buttons such as button  14  to control circuitry  30  in device  10 . Each button  14  may have an associated switch  132  that is electrically coupled to metal layer  136 . Switches such as switch  132  of  FIG. 4  may be dome switches or other switches that are covered with a protective layer such as a layer of plastic. As shown in  FIG. 4 , each button  14  may have a button member such as button member  204  that moves vertically within an opening  206  (e.g., a circular hole or a hole of other suitable shape) in front housing portion  12 A. Front housing portion  12 A may be formed from a sheet of glass, from a layer of plastic, or from other dielectric structures to allow antenna  40  (i.e., dielectric that does not block signals associated with antenna  40 ). If desired, glass layer  12 A may be attached to housing  12 B of device  10  using adhesive  202  and optional structures such as structure  200  (e.g., an internal metal frame, a plastic support structure, etc.). 
     It may be desirable to form one or more openings in support structure  162  to reduce antenna losses and thereby enhance performance for antenna  40 . As an example, support structure  162  may be provided with openings such as openings  210  of  FIG. 8 . Openings  210  may be box-shaped cavities, may be recesses with curved edges, may be recesses with straight edges or a combination of straight and curved edges, or may have any other suitable shape. Openings  210  may form an array of depressions (e.g., an array of recesses containing multiple rows and columns) or may include randomly distributed depressions or other openings. 
       FIG. 9  is a top view of device  10  in a configuration in which glass upper housing layer  12 A has been removed to expose internal device structures. As shown in  FIG. 9 , switches  132  for buttons  14  may be mounted on printed circuit  154 . Screws  212  may be used to mount printed circuit  154  to housing  12  and may be used to electrically short metal traces on printed circuit  154  to housing  12 . Metal trace  136  may form antenna resonating element  106  (e.g., metal  136  may be a metal layer that is configured to form a rectangular patch antenna as described in connection with antenna resonating element  106  of  FIG. 3 ). Wireless circuitry  34  and other components (e.g., button controller components in storage and processing circuitry  30 ) may be mounted to the upper and/or lower surfaces of printed circuit  154  in region  214 . Touch pad  16  may be mounted in housing  12  in a position that overlaps region  214  (as an example). Battery  150  may be located at an opposing end of housing  12  from region  214 . 
     If desired, slots such as slots  216  may be formed in metal layer  136  to adjust the impedance of antenna resonating element  106 . Slots  216  may, for example, run parallel to the longitudinal axis of device  10  and housing  12  (e.g., slots  216  may extend downwards from edge  218  of metal patch  136  as shown in  FIG. 9 ). Adjustments may be made to the widths of slots  216  and/or the lengths of slots  216  or other parameters associated with slots  216  to help ensure that the impedance of the patch antenna resonating element that is formed from metal  136  is not too dissimilar from the impedance of transmission line  92 , thereby enhancing antenna performance. 
     As shown in  FIG. 10 , screws such as screw  212  may be used to short metal traces in printed circuit  154  to metal portions of housing  12  such as housing portion  12 B.  FIG. 11  shows how printed circuit  154  may have traces such as traces  230  that line the interior of screw-hole openings such as through-hole  232  in printed circuit  154 . Shaft  235  of screw  212  may pass through opening  232  and may screw into a threaded opening in housing portion  12 B or other threaded structure to short screw  212  to antenna ground  104 . 
     Printed circuit  154  may have opposing upper and lower surfaces. Metal traces  136  on the upper surface of printed circuit  154  may be used in forming antenna resonating element  106 . Traces such as traces  234  may be embedded within printed circuit  154  and may, if desired, be shorted to traces  230  and screw  212  at locations such as location  236 . Traces  136  and  234  may form parts of a transmission line (e.g., a microstrip transmission line). For example, trace  136  may form a positive signal conductor and trace  234  may form a ground signal conductor. In general, any suitable transmission line structures may be used for forming a transmission line (e.g., transmission line  92 ) for conveying antenna signals in device  10 . The configuration of  FIG. 11  is merely illustrative. 
       FIG. 12  is a top view of an illustrative arrangement for coupling radio-frequency transceiver circuitry  90  to antenna resonating element  106  using transmission line  92 . As shown in  FIG. 12 , antenna resonating element  106  of antenna  40  may be formed from metal patch  136 . Metal patch  136  may have impedance matching slots such as slots  216  that help to match the impedance of antenna  40  to the impedance of transmission line  92 . Transmission line  92  may be formed from positive signal conductor  94  and ground traces  96 . Ground traces  96  may be located on one side of the trace that forms positive signal conductor  94  or may be formed on opposing sides of conductor  94  as shown in  FIG. 12 . If desired, ground traces  96  may be formed under trace  94  (e.g., in a layer of printed circuit  154  that is separated from trace  94  by an intervening substrate dielectric layer). 
     As shown in  FIG. 12 , ground traces  96  may be coupled to screws  212  and, through screw  212 , may be coupled to metal housing  12 B (e.g., rear wall  12 R), which serves as antenna ground  104 . Screw  212  may serve as antenna ground terminal  100  of  FIG. 5 . Ground terminal  100  and positive antenna feed terminal  98  form antenna feed for antenna  40 . The separation between conductor  94  and conductors  96  may be about three times as large as the width of conductor  94  (as an example). 
     It may be desirable to form dielectric structures that help prevent metal in flexible printed circuits and other conductive structures from coming too close to metal traces  136 , as this might adversely affect antenna performance. Consider, as an example, the arrangement of  FIG. 13 .  FIG. 13  is a cross-sectional side view of the touch pad portion of device  10 . Touch pad  16  may be coupled to a connector on printed circuit  154  such as connector  240  using a flexible printed circuit that is coupled to touch pad (touch sensor)  16  such as flexible printed circuit  242 . Flexible printed circuit  242  may contain metal traces. The metal traces may impact antenna performance if distance D separating antenna trace  136  from flexible printed circuit  242  becomes too small. To ensure that the magnitude of separation distance D between metal traces  136  of antenna resonating element  106  and flexible printed circuit  242  does not become too small, a flexible printed circuit guide (support) structure such as shim  244  may be used to prevent flexible printed circuit  242  from moving too close to metal  136 . Shim  244  may be formed from molded plastic or other dielectric and may mounted on the surface of printed circuit  154  to help maintain flexible printed circuit  242  at an adequate distance from antenna resonating element  106 . Shim  244  may be molded onto printed circuit  154 , may be attached to printed circuit  154  using adhesive, screws, or other attachment structures, may be formed from one or more different plastic members, or may be implemented using other suitable support structure arrangements. The illustrative configuration of  FIG. 13  is merely presented as an example. 
     The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20140723
Publication Date: 20181127
Grant Date: 20181127
Priority Date: 20140723
Inventors: TAN, LIQUAN
WANG, PAUL X.
GOMEZ ANGULO, RODNEY A.
BROOKS, Ryan P.
AZAD, Umar
LOW, WING KONG
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H01Q1/22", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q9/0407", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/243", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/44", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/48", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q9/0407", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/48", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/44", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/44", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/38", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/243", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/243", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/22", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/22", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/243", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/44", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/48", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q9/0407", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q1/48", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H01Q9/0407", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 53759403