Electronic device having antenna tuners around connector

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12519231-B2
Application number	US-202318458720-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 30, 2023
Priority date	Sep 6, 2022
Publication date	Jan 6, 2026
Grant date	Jan 6, 2026

Abstract

An electronic device may be provided with an antenna having a resonating element formed from a segment of peripheral conductive housing structures. A speaker may be aligned with first openings in the segment. A vent may be aligned with second openings in the segment. A connector may protrude through the segment. A trace combiner for the antenna may be patterned onto the speaker and may be coupled to the segment. Tuners for the antenna may be disposed on first and second flexible printed circuits that extend along opposing sides of the connector. The tuners may be controlled through the speaker. The second flexible printed circuit may extend along the vent. The vent may have a vent cowling with a cut-out region next to the tuner on the second flexible printed circuit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An electronic device comprising:
peripheral conductive housing structures; a substrate; a connector mounted to the substrate and protruding through an opening in a segment of the peripheral conductive housing structures; a first flexible printed circuit having a first portion and a second portion that is folded with respect to the first portion, the second portion being coupled to a first location on the segment and extending along a first side of the connector; and a second flexible printed circuit having a third portion mounted to the first portion of the first flexible printed circuit and having a fourth portion that is folded with respect to the third portion, the fourth portion being coupled to a second location on the segment and extending along a second side of the connector opposite the first side of the connector.

2 . The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising:
an antenna having an antenna resonating element formed from the segment.

3 . The electronic device of claim 2 , wherein the first flexible printed circuit has a first conductive trace that couples an antenna ground for the antenna to the first location on the segment and wherein the second flexible printed circuit has a second conductive trace that couples the antenna ground to the second location on the segment.

4 . The electronic device of claim 3 , further comprising:
a first tuner for the antenna disposed on the first conductive trace.

5 . The electronic device of claim 4 , further comprising:
a second tuner for the antenna disposed on the second conductive trace.

6 . The electronic device of claim 4 , further comprising:
a conductive interconnect structure; and a third conductive trace on the substrate, wherein the first, second, and third conductive traces are coupled to the conductive interconnect structure and the third conductive trace is configured to convey a control signal from the conductive interconnect structure to the first tuner.

7 . The electronic device of claim 6 , wherein the control signal comprises a sawtooth waveform.

8 . The electronic device of claim 2 , further comprising:
a vent aligned with openings in the segment and configured to receive sound through the openings, wherein the fourth portion of the second flexible printed circuit is interposed between the vent and the connector.

9 . The electronic device of claim 3 , further comprising:
a tuner disposed on the first conductive trace and configured to adjust a frequency response of the antenna.

10 . The electronic device of claim 9 , further comprising:
a control trace on the first flexible printed circuit and coupled to the tuner; and a speaker having a conductive structure configured to convey, to the control trace, a control signal that adjusts a state of the tuner.

11 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the conductive structure comprises a conductive spring.

12 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the second portion of the first flexible printed circuit is interposed between the speaker and the connector.

13 . The electronic device of claim 9 , further comprising:
an additional tuner disposed on the second conductive trace and configured to adjust the frequency response of the antenna.

14 . The electronic device of claim 2 , wherein the first flexible printed circuit comprises first and second bends between the first portion and the second portion, the first bend being about a first axis and the second bend being about a second axis that is non-parallel to the first axis.

15 . The electronic device of claim 14 , wherein the second flexible printed circuit comprises third and fourth bends between the third portion and the fourth portion, the third bend being about a third axis and the fourth bend being about a fourth axis that is non-parallel to the third axis.

16 . The electronic device of claim 15 , wherein the first axis is parallel to the third axis, the second axis is parallel to the fourth axis, and the second axis is orthogonal to the first axis.

17 . The electronic device of claim 16 , wherein the second flexible printed circuit comprises a fifth bend between the third portion and the fourth portion, the fifth bend being about a fifth axis that is parallel to the fourth axis.

18 . The electronic device of claim 15 , further comprising:
a first conductive interconnect structure that attaches the second portion of the first flexible printed circuit to the first side the connector; a second conductive interconnect structure that attaches the second portion of the first flexible printed circuit to the first side of the connector; a third conductive interconnect structure that attaches the fourth portion of the second flexible printed circuit to the second side of the connector; and a fourth conductive interconnect structure that attaches the fourth portion of the second flexible printed circuit to the second side of the connector.

19 . The electronic device of claim 2 , wherein the first conductive trace forms part of a first return path to ground for the antenna and the second conductive trace forms part of a second return path to ground for the antenna.

20 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the connector comprises a universal serial bus connector.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Ayala Vazquez Enrique
• Tsai Ming-Ju
• Wang Yiren
• Tao Yuan
• Xu Hao
• Jain Sidharath
• Tian Haozhan
• Xu Yuancheng
• Bates Eric W
• Dvorak Peter A
• Dannenberg Harlan S
• Parker Rees S
• Onyemepu Obinna O
• Lee Victor C
• Wang Han
• Hu Hongfei

Classifications

• H01Q9/045

  with particular feeding means (for circular polarisation H01Q9/0428) · CPC title

• H01Q9/0442

  with particular tuning means · CPC title

• H01Q5/328 Primary

  between a radiating element and ground · CPC title

• H01Q9/42

  with folded element, the folded parts being spaced apart a small fraction of the operating wavelength · CPC title

• H01Q1/243 Primary

  with built-in antennas · CPC title