Electronic device with peripheral display antenna

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9680205-B2
Application number	US-201414468217-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 25, 2014
Priority date	Aug 25, 2014
Publication date	Jun 13, 2017
Grant date	Jun 13, 2017

Abstract

An electronic device may be provided with electrical components mounted in a housing. The electronic device may include wireless transceiver circuitry and antenna structures. A display may be mounted in the housing. The display may have a transparent layer such as display cover layer. The display cover layer may have an inner surface with a recess. The recess may be a groove that runs along a peripheral edge of the display cover layer. An antenna structure such as an inverted-F antenna resonating element may be formed from a metal trace on a plastic support structure. The metal trace and support structure may be mounted in the groove with adhesive. The housing may be a metal housing that forms an antenna ground. Springs may be used in forming an antenna feed and an antenna return path that couples the antenna resonating element to ground.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device having opposing front and rear faces, comprising:
a metal housing, wherein the metal housing has a rear wall that forms the rear face of the electronic device and has sidewalls;
a display mounted in the housing;
a transparent display cover layer that covers the display and that is attached to the sidewalls of the metal housing, wherein the transparent display cover layer has an interior surface with a recess;
an antenna having an antenna resonating element in the recess and an antenna ground formed from the metal housing, wherein the antenna resonating element comprises a metal trace on a plastic antenna trace support structure, the plastic antenna trace support structure has an adhesive gap spacer that is configured to separate the plastic antenna trace support structure from an interior surface of the recess by a gap; and
adhesive in the gap that attaches the plastic antenna trace support structure and the metal trace in the recess to the interior surface of the transparent display cover layer.

2. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the transparent display cover layer comprises a layer selected from the group consisting of: a glass layer and a sapphire layer.

3. The electronic device defined in claim 2 wherein the recess comprises a groove.

4. The electronic device defined in claim 3 wherein the antenna resonating element comprises an inverted-F antenna resonating element.

5. The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein the antenna resonating element is coupled to the metal housing by a spring that forms a return path for the antenna.

6. The electronic device defined in claim 2 wherein the electronic device comprises a wristwatch device.

7. The electronic device defined in claim 1 further comprising a force sensor interposed between the transparent display cover layer and the metal housing.

8. An electronic device having opposing front and rear faces, comprising:
a metal housing, wherein the metal housing has a rear wall that forms the rear face of the electronic device and has sidewalls;
a display mounted in the housing;
a transparent display cover layer that covers the display and that is attached to the sidewalls of the metal housing, wherein the transparent display cover layer has an interior surface with a recess;
an inverted-F antenna having an inverted-F antenna resonating element in the recess and an antenna ground formed from the metal housing, wherein the inverted-F antenna resonating element comprises a metal trace formed on a plastic antenna trace support structure;
a flex circuit that is configured to convey radio-frequency signals for the antenna; and
a screw that passes through an opening in the flex circuit, secures the flex circuit and the plastic antenna trace support structure to a given one of the sidewalls, and shorts the metal trace to the given one of the sidewalls.

9. The electronic device defined in claim 8 wherein the recess comprises a groove, the plastic antenna trace support structure has an adhesive gap spacer that is configured to separate the plastic antenna trace support structure from an interior surface of the groove by a given gap, and the electronic device further comprises adhesive in the gap that attaches the plastic antenna trace support structure and the metal trace to the groove.

10. The electronic device defined in claim 9 further comprising an opaque masking layer interposed between the adhesive and the inner surface of the groove.

11. The electronic device defined in claim 10 wherein the metal trace has portions forming first and second spring contacts.

12. The electronic device defined in claim 11 further comprising a first spring that presses against the first spring contact and a second spring that presses against the second spring contact.

13. The electronic device defined in claim 12 further comprising a plastic spring biasing structure that presses the first and second springs against the first and second spring contacts.

14. The electronic device defined in claim 13 further comprising a screw that screws the plastic spring biasing structure to the metal housing and that electrically couples the first spring to the metal housing so that the first spring forms a return path for the inverted-F antenna.

15. The electronic device defined in claim 14 further comprising a flexible printed circuit having a signal path shorted to the second spring, wherein the second spring forms a positive antenna feed terminal for the inverted-F antenna.

16. The electronic device defined in claim 15 further comprising an impedance matching circuit mounted on the flexible printed circuit, wherein the first spring is embedded at least partly within the plastic spring biasing structure.

17. The electronic device defined in claim 15 further comprising:
a printed circuit board; and
electrical components mounted to the printed circuit board, wherein the flexible printed circuit has a tail that is coupled to the printed circuit board.

18. The electronic device defined in claim 12 wherein the display comprises an organic light-emitting diode display.

19. The electronic device defined in claim 8 , further comprising a flexible printed circuit cable that electrically connects the metal trace to wireless transceiver circuitry.

20. An electronic device having opposing front and rear faces, comprising:
a metal housing, wherein the metal housing has a rear wall that forms the rear face of the electronic device and has sidewalls;
a display mounted in the housing;
a transparent display cover layer that covers the display and that is attached to the sidewalls of the metal housing, wherein the transparent display cover layer has an interior surface with a recess;
an antenna having an antenna resonating element in the recess and an antenna ground formed from the metal housing, wherein the recess comprises a ring-shaped groove that runs along a periphery of the display and the antenna resonating element runs along some but not all of the ring-shaped groove.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Li Qingxiang
• Schlub Robert W
• De Jong Erik G
• Ouyang Yuehui
• Yong Siwen
• Samardzija Miroslav
• Wang Yiren
• Zhu Jiang

Classifications

• 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

• H01Q1/273

  Adaptation for carrying or wearing by persons or animals · CPC title