Electronic Devices With Millimeter Wave Antennas

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024186721-A1
Application number	US-202418441656-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 14, 2024
Priority date	Sep 7, 2021
Publication date	Jun 6, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

A head-mounted device may have a head-mounted housing that is configured to be worn on a head of a user. While the head-mounted device is being worn, left and right displays in optical modules in the head-mounted device may provide images to eye boxes located rearward of the head-mounted device. A forward-facing publicly viewable display on a front portion of the head-mounted device may be covered with a transparent housing portion forming a display cover layer. Millimeter wave antennas may be mounted under a dielectric member that is interposed between the antennas and an edge portion of the transparent housing portion. The antennas may have planar outer surfaces. The dielectric member may have a planar surface separated from the planar outer surfaces by air gaps and a curved outer surface.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An electronic device, comprising:
a housing; a display; a dielectric layer having a first surface that has a curved cross-sectional profile and having an opposing second surface that is planar; and a millimeter wave antenna adjacent to the second surface.

2 . The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the millimeter wave antenna comprises an array of millimeter wave patch antenna elements on an antenna substrate with a planar outer surface, wherein the planar outer surface is characterized by a first surface normal, and wherein the second surface is characterized by a second surface normal that is parallel to the first surface normal.

3 . The electronic device defined in claim 2 further comprising a display cover layer overlapping the display and overlapping the dielectric layer.

4 . The electronic device defined in claim 3 wherein the display cover layer comprises a glass layer.

5 . The electronic device defined in claim 4 wherein the glass layer has an inner surface that has a curved cross-sectional profile, wherein the dielectric layer is between the glass layer and the millimeter wave antenna, wherein the first surface faces the inner surface of the glass layer, and wherein the second surface faces the planar outer surface of the antenna substrate.

6 . The electronic device defined in claim 5 wherein the dielectric layer comprises polymer.

7 . The electronic device defined in claim 6 wherein the dielectric layer and the millimeter wave antenna are configured so that there is an even-thickness air gap between the planar outer surface and the second surface.

8 . The electronic device defined in claim 3 wherein the housing comprises a head-mounted housing, the electronic device further comprising left and right displays facing away from the display that are configured to display respective left and right images to left and right eye boxes.

9 . The electronic device defined in claim 1 further comprising:
a display cover layer overlapping the display, wherein the display cover layer has an edge portion that overlaps the dielectric layer and the millimeter wave antenna.

10 . The electronic device defined in claim 9 wherein the edge portion has a concave inner surface of compound curvature.

11 . The electronic device defined in claim 10 wherein the first surface of the dielectric layer is convex and has compound curvature.

12 . A head-mounted device, comprising:
a head-mounted housing; left and right rear-facing displays in the head-mounted housing that are configured to display respective left and right images to eye boxes; a publicly viewable display facing away from the eye boxes; a dielectric layer having an outer surface with a curved cross-sectional profile and having a planar inner surface; and an antenna having an array of antenna elements on a planar substrate, wherein the antenna has a planar outer surface separated from the planar inner surface by an air gap.

13 . The head-mounted device defined in claim 12 further comprising a display cover layer overlapping the publicly viewable display.

14 . The head-mounted device defined in claim 13 wherein the display cover layer has an edge portion with a curved cross-sectional profile that overlaps the dielectric layer.

15 . The head-mounted device defined in claim 14 , wherein the outer surface of the dielectric layer is convex and has compound curvature, wherein the edge portion of the display cover layer has an inner surface that is concave and has compound curvature, and wherein the outer surface of the dielectric layer is adjacent to the inner surface of the edge portion of the display cover layer.

16 . The head-mounted device defined in claim 12 wherein the antenna comprises a millimeter wave antenna and wherein the antenna elements comprise patch antenna elements.

17 . An electronic device, comprising:
a housing having a dielectric layer with a curved inner surface; a dielectric layer having a curved outer surface facing the curved inner surface and having an opposing planar inner surface; and a plurality of millimeter wave antennas each of which has a respective antenna substrate with a planar outer surface facing a respective portion of the planar inner surface and separated from the planar inner surface by an air gap.

18 . The electronic device defined in claim 17 wherein the dielectric layer comprises a glass layer.

19 . The electronic device defined in claim 18 further comprising:
a display overlapped by the glass layer, wherein the curved inner surface is formed on an edge portion of the glass layer that overlaps the dielectric layer.

20 . The electronic device defined in claim 19 wherein the curved inner surface of the dielectric layer has compound curvature and wherein the curved outer surface of the dielectric layer has compound curvature.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Jiang Yi
• Wu Jiangfeng
• Zhang Lijun
• Pascolini Mattia
• Begashaw Simon G
• Yong Siwen

Classifications

• H01Q21/06 Primary

  Arrays of individually energised antenna units similarly polarised and spaced apart · CPC title

• G02B27/017 Primary

  Head mounted · CPC title

• H01Q1/276

  for mounting on helmets · CPC title

• H01Q1/405

  Radome integrated radiating elements · CPC title