Dielectric structure for antennas in RF applications

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9496596-B2
Application number	US-201113520739-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 6, 2011
Priority date	Jan 6, 2010
Publication date	Nov 15, 2016
Grant date	Nov 15, 2016

Abstract

A dielectric structure for positioning adjacent to an active element of an antenna for radio frequency (RF) applications, the dielectric structure comprising: a plurality of individual dielectric material layers in a stacked layer arrangement including a first layer including a first dielectric material and a second layer including a second dielectric material.

First claim

I claim:

1. A dielectric structure positioned adjacent to an active element of an antenna for a radio frequency (RF) application, the dielectric structure comprising:
a plurality of individual layers in a stacked layer arrangement including a first layer having a top surface and an opposing bottom surface and including a first RF dielectric material, a second layer adjacent to and in contact with the first layer, the second layer having a top surface and an opposing bottom surface and including a second RF dielectric material, a third layer adjacent to and spaced apart from the second layer by a predetermined distance to form a gap layer between the second layer and the third layer;
a passage in the third layer configured to route a grounding line to a ground element of the antenna, the ground element disposed below the third layer; and
at least one non-conductive mechanical fastening mechanism configured to couple the plurality of individual layers to one another and to inhibit short-circuiting the active element with the ground element of the antenna.

2. The dielectric structure of claim 1 , wherein the first RF dielectric material and the second RF dielectric material have substantially similar dielectric constants D k .

3. The dielectric structure of claim 1 , wherein a resonance frequency of the RF application is between about 300 MHz and about 14 GHz.

4. The dielectric structure of claim 1 wherein the predetermined distance is substantially less than a layer thickness of each of the plurality of individual layers.

5. The dielectric structure of claim 4 further comprising a gap material positioned in the gap layer, the gap material being RF unsuitable material for resonating at a resonance frequency of the RF application.

6. The dielectric structure of claim 5 , wherein the gap material is an adhesive for adhering the third layer to the second layer.

7. The dielectric structure of claim 5 , wherein the gap material has a dielectric constant value from about D k =1.0 to about D k =4.0.

8. The dielectric structure of claim 4 wherein the plurality of individual layers in the stacked layer arrangement further include a fourth layer adjacent to the third layer, the fourth layer including a fourth RF dielectric material.

9. The dielectric structure of claim 8 wherein the fourth layer is spaced apart from the third layer to form a second gap layer between the third layer and the fourth layer.

10. The dielectric structure of claim 9 further comprising a second gap material positioned in the second gap layer, the second gap material being RF unsuitable material for resonating at a resonance frequency of the RF application.

11. The dielectric structure of claim 10 , wherein the second gap material is an adhesive that adheres the third layer to the fourth layer.

12. The dielectric structure of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of individual layers is composed of a composite polymer resin system having a resin carrier.

13. The dielectric structure of claim 12 , wherein the resin carrier is polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).

14. The dielectric structure of claim 13 , wherein the composite polymer resin system includes a filler inserted into the resin carrier.

15. The dielectric structure of claim 14 , wherein filler is ceramic particles.

16. The dielectric structure of claim 1 , wherein the first RF dielectric material has a dielectric constant value between D k =2.0 and D k =100.0 and the second RF dielectric material has a dielectric constant value between D k =2.0 and D k =100.0.

17. The dielectric structure of claim 4 further comprising a cavity positioned in the second layer.

18. The dielectric structure of claim 17 , wherein the cavity is positioned in the second layer and the first layer is adapted for positioning adjacent to the active element.

19. The dielectric structure of claim 17 further comprising at least one additional layer positioned between the second layer and the third layer, wherein each additional layer includes an additional RF dielectric material.

20. The dielectric structure of claim 17 wherein the second layer includes a plurality of pieces, each piece being made of the second RF dielectric material, and wherein the plurality of pieces are arranged in the second layer to form the cavity.

21. The dielectric structure of claim 17 , wherein walls of the cavity are positioned away from exterior lateral surfaces of the first, second, and third layers.

22. The dielectric structure of claim 19 , wherein the cavity is positioned in a center of the second layer.

23. The dielectric structure of claim 2 , wherein the first dielectric material and the second dielectric material are the same material type.

24. A dielectric structure positioned adjacent to an active element of an antenna for a radio frequency (RF) application, the dielectric structure comprising:
a plurality of individual layers in a stacked layer arrangement including a first layer having a top surface and an opposing bottom surface and including a first RF dielectric material, a second layer adjacent to and in contact with the first layer, the second layer having a top surface and an opposing bottom surface and including a second RF dielectric material, a third layer adjacent to and spaced apart from the second layer by a predetermined distance to form a gap layer between the second layer and the third layer; and
a passage in the third layer configured to route a grounding line to a ground element of the antenna, the ground element disposed below the third layer,
wherein,
the predetermined distance is substantially less than a layer thickness of each of the plurality of individual layers,
the plurality of individual layers in the stacked layer arrangement further include a fourth layer adjacent to the third layer, the fourth layer including a fourth RF dielectric material, and
the fourth layer is spaced apart from the third layer to form a second gap layer between the third layer and the fourth layer.

25. A dielectric structure positioned adjacent to an active element of an antenna for a radio frequency (RF) application, the dielectric structure comprising:
a plurality of individual layers in a stacked layer arrangement including a first layer having a top surface and an opposing bottom surface and including a first RF dielectric material, a second layer adjacent to and in contact with the first layer, the second layer having a top surface and an opposing bottom surface and including a second RF dielectric material, a third layer adjacent to and spaced apart from the second layer by a predetermined distance to form a gap layer between the second layer and the third layer;
a passage in the third layer configured to route a grounding line to a ground element of the antenna, the ground element disposed below the third layer;
a cavity positioned in a center of the second layer; and
at least one additional layer positioned between the second layer and the third layer, wherein the at least one additional layer includes an additional RF dielectric material.

Assignees

• Chirila Laurian Petru
• Symbol Technologies Llc

Inventors

• Chirila Laurian Petru

Classifications

• Y10T428/31544

  Addition polymer is perhalogenated · CPC title

• H01Q9/0407

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• H01Q1/526

  Electromagnetic shields · CPC title

• H01Q5/364

  Creating multiple current paths · CPC title

• H01Q1/2208 Primary

  associated with components used in interrogation type services, i.e. in systems for information exchange between an interrogator/reader and a tag/transponder, e.g. in Radio Frequency Identification [RFID] systems (methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns G06K7/00; record carrier for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings G06K19/00) · CPC title