TWI613865B - Electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses an electronic device including a near field communication circuit, a housing including a metal portion, and at least one conductive arm. The metal portion and the conductive arm form a current loop for transmitting and receiving the near field communication differential signal group output by the near field communication circuit. The metal portion includes at least one ground point located at the center of the potential of the current loop.

Description

Electronic device

The present invention relates to an electronic device, and more particularly to an electronic device having a near field communication circuit.

At present, more and more mobile communication devices are made of metal. However, in order to prevent wireless communication signals inside the mobile communication device from being obscured by metal, holes or gaps are formed in the corresponding antenna portion of the housing to allow the antenna signals to pass. Holes or gaps, but this will inevitably affect the aesthetic appearance.

The present invention provides an electronic device. The electronic device includes: a near field communication circuit that transmits a near field communication differential signal group including a first differential signal and a second differential signal; and a housing including a conductive portion, the conductive portion has a relative a first side and a second side; two conductive arms, one of the first conductive arms of one of the two conductive arms is coupled to the first side of the conductive portion, and the other end is coupled to the field communication circuit Transceiving the first differential signal, one end of the other of the two conductive arms is coupled to the second side of the conductive portion, and the other end is coupled to the field communication circuit for transmitting and receiving the second differential signal; A conductive arm, the conductive portion and the second conductive arm form a current loop, and the conductive portion includes at least one ground point located at a potential center of the current loop.

The present invention further provides an electronic device. The electronic device includes: a near field communication circuit that transmits a near field communication differential signal group including a first differential signal and a second differential signal; and a housing including a conductive portion, the conductive portion has a relative a first side and a second side, the first side being coupled to the field communication circuit for transmitting and receiving the first differential signal; and a conductive arm having one end coupled to the second side of the conductive portion The other end is coupled to the field communication circuit for transmitting and receiving the second differential signal; wherein the conductive arm forms a current loop with the conductive portion, and the conductive portion includes at least one ground point located at a potential center of the current loop.

In summary, by applying the embodiment of the present invention, the electronic device can use a metal material casing, and the conduction portion of the casing can be used as a part of the current loop, so that the conduction portion does not need to open a gap or a hole, so that the electronic device The appearance can be more beautiful. At the same time, there is no need to set the coil, which saves cost and volume. And since the grounding point is set at the center of the potential of the current loop, the electronic device does not need to increase the balun, which saves cost and volume.

In the following, a plurality of embodiments of the present invention will be disclosed in the drawings. For the sake of clarity, a number of practical details will be described in the following description. However, it should be understood that these practical details are not applied to limit the case. That is to say, in some implementations of this case, these practical details are not necessary. In addition, some of the conventional structures and elements are shown in the drawings in a simplified schematic manner in order to simplify the drawings.

1 is a perspective view of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The electronic device includes a housing 100 and two conductive arms 200 (referred to as a first conductive arm 200a and a second conductive arm 200b, respectively). The housing 100 includes a conductive portion 121. The conductive portion 121 can be made of a metal material or other conductive material. The first conductive arm 200a, the conductive portion 121 and the second conductive arm 200b are sequentially coupled to form a current loop 400 (as shown in FIG. 2). The housing 100 includes a front housing 110 and an opposite rear housing 120. The rear housing 120 includes the aforementioned conductive portion 121. In some embodiments, in conjunction with the outer shape of the housing 100, the two conductive arms 200 can be disposed substantially (ie, mostly or predominantly) in the front housing 110. It may be located on the inner surface or the inner surface of the front case 110, or may be embedded in the front case 110, or may be disposed in the inner space of the case 100 adjacent to the front case 110 as long as the main part of the conductive arm 200 is electrically connected The portion 121 maintains a substantial distance such that the current loop 400 encloses a substantial area to transform the radiation field. For the housing 100 of some embodiments, the spacing between the front housing 110 and the rear housing 120 may be greater than the spacing between the main portion of the conductive arm 200 and the conductive portion 121. The two conductive arms 200 may be disposed substantially at the front housing 110. , but not limited to this.

The electronic device may be an electronic device supporting a near field communication technology such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a remote controller, etc., taking a mobile phone as an example. In general, if the electronic device has a screen 190, one of the screens 190 has a front case 110. If the electronic device is a notebook computer (not shown), the notebook computer is flipped open to have a front cover 110 on one side of the screen, and the back cover 120 on the back cover of the screen. If the electronic device does not have a screen, the normal operation surface is the front case 110, and the surface opposite to the normal operation surface is the rear case 120. For example, the remote control has one side of the button as the front case 110, and the face away from the button is placed. It is the rear case 120.

The material of the conductive arm 200 can be metal (such as copper, aluminum, aluminum alloy, aluminum-magnesium alloy, etc.), indium tin oxide (ITO), gallium-indium-tin oxide (GITO), zinc indium tin oxide ( Zinc-indium-tin oxide (ZITO), conductive powder such as fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO), zinc oxide, aluminum zinc oxide (AZO (Al: ZnO)) or indium zinc oxide (IZO). The embodiment of the present invention does not limit the shape of the conductive arm 200. The conductive arm 200 may be a structure provided for the current loop 400, or a structure having other functions (such as an antenna of another communication circuit, a printed circuit board (PCB)). All or part of a flexible circuit board (FPC), a shielded case, a frame, a conductive trace of a touch screen, and the like.

In some embodiments, the current loop 400 can be disposed adjacent an upper side 130 of the housing 100. In other embodiments, it may be adjacent to other sides (such as the side), but the embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto. If the intensity of the radiation field is sufficient (or the volume of the housing 100 is small), the current loop 400 may also be Located at the middle of the housing 100.

2 is a top plan view of a current loop 400 of an electronic device according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 together, the conductive portion 121 has opposite first side edges 122 and second side edges 123. One end of the first conductive arm 200a is coupled to the first side 122 of the conductive portion 121; one end of the second conductive arm 200b is coupled to the second side 123 of the conductive portion 121 such that the first conductive arm 200a and the conductive portion 121 The second conductive arm 200b is coupled in sequence to form a current loop 400. The current loop 400 is a closed loop that is still open. The two ends of the current loop 400 are respectively provided with feed points 210a, 210b, and the feed points 210a, 210b are not in direct electrical contact. That is, the first conductive arm 200a is provided with a feeding point 210a with respect to one end coupled to the conducting portion 121; the second conductive arm 200b is provided with a feeding point 210b with respect to an end coupled to the conducting portion 121. Further, the first conductive arm 200a and the second conductive arm 200b are extended from the one end of the feeding points 210a and 210b, and are then bent and coupled to the conductive portion 121. The coupling between the conductive portion 121 and the first conductive arm 200a and the second conductive arm 200b is electrically connected, and may be a direct contact connection. However, in some embodiments, the conductive portion 121 is coupled to the first conductive arm 200a and the second conductive arm 200b via a capacitor C or an inductor L (as shown in FIG. 3). The first conductive arm 200a and the second conductive arm 200b may be the same structure, but the embodiment is not limited thereto, and the first conductive arm 200a and the second conductive arm 200b may be different lengths or shapes.

In an embodiment, the near field communication circuit 300 can be integrated into an integrated circuit (IC), and can transmit a near field communication differential signal including a first differential signal S1 and a second differential signal S2. Group (In order to determine the grounding level, the near field communication circuit 300 also has a grounding terminal to connect to the ground, which is not specifically shown here). In this embodiment, the first differential signal S1 is a positive signal; the second differential signal S2 is a negative signal. In an embodiment, the first differential signal S1 may be a negative signal; and the second differential signal S2 may be a positive signal. The feed point 210a of the first conductive arm 200a is coupled to the near field communication circuit 300 to receive the first differential signal S1; the feed point 210b of the second conductive arm 200b is coupled to the near field communication circuit 300 to receive the second difference. Signal S2. The conducting portion 121 includes a grounding point 124, and the grounding point 124 is located at the potential center of the current loop 400, so that the first differential signal S1 and the second differential signal S2 are output by the near field communication circuit 300 through the current loop 400 (or Induction from the current loop 400 inputs the near field communication circuit 300) without the need to add a coil as an antenna, which reduces cost and size. At the same time, because the housing 100 is used as a part of the current loop 400, even if the housing 100 is made of a metal material, the near field communication is not affected. Therefore, the conductive portion 121 of the housing 100 of the embodiment of the present invention does not need to have a slit or a hole.

The potential center is selected by measurement, and the selected condition is that the potential difference between the feed point 210a to the selected ground point 124 and the potential difference between the ground point 124 and the feed point 210b are equal. In some embodiments, more than two equipotential grounding points may also be selected. By selecting the grounding point 124 at the conducting portion 121, it is possible to eliminate the need for an external balun between the near field communication circuit 300 and the current loop 400, thereby reducing cost and volume. Moreover, the symmetric near-field communication differential signal group can reduce the interference of noise.

In this embodiment, the conductive portion 121 is made of a metal material and distributed over the entire rear case 120, that is, a metal back cover. The entirety of the conductive portion 121 may be made of a single metal material. Alternatively, the plurality of portions of the conductive portion 121 may be made of different metal materials. The metal material may be, for example, copper, aluminum, aluminum alloy, aluminum-magnesium alloy or the like. However, in some embodiments, the conductive portion 121 may also occupy only a portion of the rear case 120, for example, may be a metal strip; other portions of the rear case 120 may be made of a non-metal material, such as plastic (such as polycarbonate). , silicone, wood, bamboo and other materials.

3 is a top plan view of a current loop 400 of an electronic device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Compared with the embodiment of FIG. 2, the difference is that the first conductive arm 200a is connected to the conductive portion 121 through the capacitor C; the second conductive arm 200b is connected to the conductive portion 121 through the inductor L. Impedance matching between current loop 400 and near field current loop 400 can be adjusted by providing capacitor C and inductor L. In some embodiments, the first conductive arm 200a can also be connected to the conductive portion 121 through the inductor L, and the second conductive arm 200b can also be connected to the conductive portion 121 through the capacitor C. In other words, the first conductive arm 200a can be connected to the conductive portion 121 through the capacitor C or the inductor L, and the second conductive arm 200b can be connected to the conductive portion 121 through the capacitor C or the inductor L.

4 is a top plan view of a current loop 400 of an electronic device according to a third embodiment of the present invention. Compared to the embodiment of FIG. 3, the electronic device may further comprise a non-near field communication circuit. Here, the non-near-field communication circuit is exemplified by a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) circuit 610 and a mobile communication circuit 620. The wireless fidelity circuit 610 is coupled to one of the conductive arms 200 (ie, the first conductive arm 200a) via the first energy storage component 510; the mobile communication circuit 620 is coupled to the other conductive arm 200 via the other first energy storage component 510 (ie, Second conductive arm 200b). The near field communication circuit 300 is coupled to the first conductive arm 200a and the second conductive arm 200b via the second energy storage component 520, respectively. Here, the first energy storage component 510 can be a capacitor, and the second energy storage component 520 corresponds to an inductor. Since the capacitor can guide the high frequency signal, the inductor can guide the low frequency signal. As long as the near field communication circuit 400 and the non-near field communication circuit use different operating bands, the same conductive arm 200 can be shared for wireless communication. The position of the contact of the wireless fidelity circuit 610 connected to the first conductive arm 200a can be adjusted according to the required current path length (related to its operating frequency); the contact position of the mobile communication circuit 620 connected to the second conductive arm 200b can also be seen. The required current path length (related to its operating frequency) is adjusted.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a current loop 400 of an electronic device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The near field communication circuit 300 shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4 is outside the space surrounded by the conductive arm 200 and the conductive portion 121. However, it is only for the sake of clarity, and the spatial relationship is not limited. As shown in FIG. 5, the near field communication circuit 300 is actually disposed within the housing 100, that is, within the space surrounded by the conductive arm 200 and the conductive portion 121. The embodiment shown in FIG. 5 differs from the previous embodiment in that the electronic device further includes a ferrite sheet 700 disposed in the near field communication circuit 300 (and a non-near field communication circuit ( For example, between the wireless fidelity circuit 610 and the mobile communication circuit 620) and the conductive arm 200, and between the conductive portion 121, the eddy current is generated on the conductive arm 200 and the conductive portion 121.

FIG. 6 is a circuit block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6, the electronic device may include a signal amplifying circuit 820 in addition to the impedance matching circuit 810. The signal amplifying circuit 820 is coupled between the near field communication circuit 300 and the current loop 400, and is located between the near field communication circuit 300 and the impedance batch circuit 810. The signal amplifying circuit 820 can amplify the near field communication differential signal group outputted by the near field communication circuit 300 to increase the intensity of the radiation field converted via the current loop 400 to increase the sensing distance.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of a current loop 400 of an electronic device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, the difference is that the present embodiment has only a single conductive arm 200c (i.e., only the aforementioned second conductive arm 200b without the aforementioned first conductive arm 200a). One end of the conductive arm 200c is coupled to the second side 123 of the conductive portion 121, and the other end has a feeding point 210b coupled to the near field communication circuit 300 to transmit the second differential signal S2. As described above, the coupling between the conductive portion 121 and the conductive arm 200c is electrically connected, and may be a direct contact connection. However, in some embodiments, the conductive portion 121 and the conductive arm 200c may be coupled via a capacitor C (as shown in FIG. 8) or may be coupled through an inductor. The near field communication circuit 300 is also coupled to the first side 122 of the conductive portion 121 to transmit the first differential signal S1. Thereby, the conductive arm 200c can form the current loop 400 as well as the conductive portion 121, and the conductive portion 121 also has a grounding point 124 which is located at the center of the potential of the current loop 400. Here, since the conductive arm 200c is missing, the position of the grounding point 124 is different from that of the embodiment of FIG. 2, and is closer to the second side 123.

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of a current loop 400 of an electronic device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention. The electronic device can also include non-near-field communication circuitry. For example, the non-near-field communication circuit is a touch control circuit 630, which is a control circuit of the touch module of the touch screen. The touch control circuit 630 is coupled to the conductive arm 200c via the first energy storage element 510. The near field communication circuit 300 is coupled to the conductive arm 200c and the conductive portion 121 via the second energy storage component 520, respectively. Here, the first energy storage element 510 is an inductor, and the second energy storage element 520 is corresponding to a capacitor. The conductive arm 200c can be substantially the touch electrode trace of the touch screen.

In summary, by applying an embodiment of the present invention, the metal case 100 can be used, and the conductive portion 121 of the case 100 can be used as a part of the current loop 400, so that the conductive portion does not need to open a gap or a hole. The appearance of the electronic device can be made more beautiful. At the same time, there is no need to set the coil, which saves cost and volume. And since the grounding point 124 is disposed at the center of the potential of the current loop 400, the electronic device does not need to increase the balun, which saves cost and volume. In addition, since the current loop 400 is adjacent to the side of the housing, the user can more intuitively place the side of the housing in the sensing area when using the near field communication function. On the other hand, the radiation field is also adjacent to the side of the housing 100, and can pass through the front and rear sides of the housing 100, allowing the user to use a higher induction success rate than conventional electronic devices. Unlike the conventional near field communication module, which is disposed on the back of the device, it can only be sensed on the back of the device, and since the user is not sure of the actual position of the near field communication module disposed on the back of the device, the induction failure is likely to occur. In addition, the current loop 400 can also be shared with other circuits without the need to additionally provide the conductive arm 200.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present case. Anyone skilled in the art can make various changes and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the case. Therefore, the scope of protection of this case is considered. The scope defined in the patent application is subject to change.

100: housing 110: front case 120: rear case 121: conduction portion 122: first side 123: second side 124: ground point 130: upper side 190: screen 200, 200c: conductive arm 200a: first conductive Arm 200b: second conductive arm 210a, 210b: feed point 300: near field communication circuit 400: current loop 510: first energy storage element 520: second energy storage element 610: wireless fidelity circuit 620: mobile communication circuit 630: touch control circuit 700: ferrite magnetic sheet 810: impedance matching circuit 820: signal amplifying circuit S1: first differential signal S2: second differential signal C: capacitor L: inductor

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 2 is a top plan view of a current loop of an electronic device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic top view of a current loop of an electronic device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a top plan view of a current loop of an electronic device according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a schematic top view of a current loop of an electronic device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a circuit block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 is a schematic top plan view of a current loop of an electronic device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a schematic top plan view of a current loop of an electronic device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

100: housing 110: front case 120: rear case 121: metal portion 123: second side 130: upper side 190: screen 200: conductive arm 200a: first conductive arm 200b: second conductive arm

Claims (10)

An electronic device comprising: a near field communication circuit for transmitting a near field communication differential signal group including a first differential signal and a second differential signal; a housing comprising a conductive portion, the conductive portion having One of the first side and the second side of the second conductive arm; and one of the first conductive arms of the two conductive arms is coupled to the first side of the conductive portion, the first conductive arm The other end is coupled to the near field communication circuit for transmitting and receiving the first differential signal. One of the second conductive arms is coupled to the second side of the conductive portion, and the other end is coupled to the second conductive arm. The near field communication circuit transmits and receives the second differential signal; wherein the first conductive arm, the conductive portion and the second conductive arm form a current loop, and the conductive portion includes at least one ground point, where the ground point is located The center of the potential of the current loop. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the two conductive arms are respectively connected to the conductive portion through a capacitor or an inductor. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising a non-near-field communication circuit, wherein the non-near-field communication circuit is coupled to one of the two conductive arms via a first energy storage component, the first energy storage component is An inductor or a capacitor, the near field communication circuit coupling the current loop via two second energy storage components different from the first energy storage component. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising a signal amplifying circuit coupled between the near field communication circuit and the current loop. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the current loop is disposed adjacent to a side of the housing. An electronic device comprising: a near field communication circuit for transmitting a near field communication differential signal group including a first differential signal and a second differential signal; a housing comprising a conductive portion, the conductive portion having a first side and a second side, the first side is coupled to the near field communication circuit for transmitting and receiving the first differential signal; and a conductive arm having one end coupled to the conductive portion The second side is coupled to the near field communication circuit for transmitting and receiving the second differential signal. The conductive arm forms a current loop with the conductive portion, and the conductive portion includes a grounding point. The location is at the center of the potential of the current loop. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein the conductive arm is connected to the conductive portion through a capacitor or an inductor. The electronic device of claim 6, further comprising a non-near-field communication circuit coupled to the conductive arm via a first energy storage component, the first energy storage component being an inductor or a capacitor The near field communication circuit is coupled to the current loop via two second energy storage elements different from the first energy storage component. The electronic device of claim 6, further comprising a signal amplifying circuit coupled between the near field communication circuit and the current loop. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein the current loop is disposed adjacent a side of the housing.