WO2006032728A1

WO2006032728A1 - Method for packaging radiation elements and a package

Info

Publication number: WO2006032728A1
Application number: PCT/FI2005/050310
Authority: WO
Inventors: Esa Kalistaja; Petteri Annamaa; Pekka PÖYTÄKANGAS; Pekka Virta; Juha Anttila; Jouni Anttila; Pekka HYNÖNEN
Original assignee: Pulse Finland Oy; LK Products Oy
Current assignee: Pulse Finland Oy
Priority date: 2004-09-21
Filing date: 2005-09-07
Publication date: 2006-03-30
Anticipated expiration: 2007-03-21
Also published as: HUP0700305A2; CN101027953B; CN101027953A; FI120023B; FI20041218L; FI20041218A0

Abstract

A method for packaging elements suited for the antenna radiator of small-sized radio devices and a package containing such elements. A plurality of radiators of planar antennas are formed on a dielectric base and the resulting tape (401) carrying the radiators is stacked for packing. This means that the product consists of straight portions on top of each other after stacking. Then the product can be a continuous, plaited tape, or its portions can be separate sheets. The stack is closed into a protective casing (431) for transport. The radiators remain accurately straight in the package during transport, which reduces the problems of managing the characteristics of the antenna in the final product.

Description

Method for packaging radiation elements and a package

The invention relates to a method for packaging elements suited for the antenna radiator of especially small-sized radio devices and a package containing such elements.

Small radio devices, particularly mobile phones, have become mass products which are under hard price competition on the market. The price of such a device is largely determined by its manufacturing costs, and therefore attempts are made to press these costs as low as possible.

This description will deal with the possibility to reduce the manufacturing costs of small-sized radio devices for the part of the antenna. The internal antennas are usually of the planar type, in which case the antenna comprises a planar radiation element, or radiator, and a ground plane. The general manufacturing method of a planar antenna is such that by using the injection moulding technology, for example, a dielectric support frame is formed for the antenna, and a radiator with its feed and short-circuit conductors is made by cutting and bending from a metal sheet. The support frame and the radiator are fastened to each other and the resulting component is fastened to a circuit board, on the surface of which the ground plane of the antenna is. The drawbacks of the method are the high costs required by the production line and a relatively long throughput time in production. A simpler method is to utilize the circuit board technology, for example: a relatively large number of mutually identical radiator patterns is formed on the surface of a circuit board and the board is then cut to pieces. Single radiators as well as their support mechanisms are in this case relatively cheap. However, the assembly of the antenna, the feed and short-circuit conductors included, causes considerably high costs. The circuit board can also be thin and flexible, in which case savings in material costs are achieved.

Additional costs are caused by transport if, like usually, the radio device as a whole is manufactured in a different place than its radiation element. The antenna components comprising the radiator can be packed separately for transport, in which case the additional cost is considerably high. It is also known to manufacture a plurality of radiators on a common tape base, to wind the tape with its radiators onto a reel and close this into a protective package. Such a method is described in the patent publication US 6281842, for example. In it the metal coating of a tape made of flexible circuit board material is partly etched away so that radiator patterns remain on it in succession or by rows. The radiator tape is pressed against a carrier tape of the same width, which has adhesive material on a carrying layer. When the tapes have become glued to each other, the dielectric circuit board base is cut off the radiator tape so that it remains only under and around the metallic radiator patterns in the desired form. The resulting tape carrying the antenna components is wound onto a reel for transport.

Fig. 1 shows the above-mentioned reel containing the antenna components, and its unwinding. The carrier tape 110, some of which has been drawn out from the reel 130, is seen in the figure. On the upper surface of the carrier tape there are mutually identical antenna components in line, such as the successive components 121 and 122. Each antenna component has a dielectric base and a metallic radiation element on its upper surface. In the figure the radiation element has been drawn darker than its base. The antenna components are fastened on the carrier tape by means of said adhesive material. The carrier tape 110 is moved forward along a track 150. The track ends at a relatively steep edge, over which the carrier tape turns downward, and lower it is wound onto a roll 160. The dielectric material and the adhesive material of the antenna components have been chosen so that when the component comes at the edge of the track 150, it does not remain fast on the tape but continues forward on the level of the track. In Fig. 1 the antenna component 121 is just at this stage. The antenna component becoming loose is gripped by a mechanism, which moves it to its final place of mounting. The adhesive material remains mainly on the lower surface of the antenna component, and it is utilized in the mounting of the component.

By using reel packages, savings are achieved in the transport costs of the radiation elements as compared to separate packages. However, a drawback is that the radiators are slightly bent when the tape is wound onto the reel. The bend does not necessarily completely disappear when the radiator already is in the final product, which weakens the electric characteristics of the antenna. In addition, there is a drawback that, in the mounting process of the radiators, the prolongation of the tape carrying them is cumbersome, and it interrupts the process for some time.

An object of the invention is to reduce said drawbacks related to the prior art. The method according to the invention is characterized in what is set forth in the independent claim 1. The package according to the invention is characterized in what is set forth in the independent claim 4. Some preferred embodiments of the invention are set forth in the dependent claims. The basic idea of the invention is the following: A plurality of radiation elements of planar antennas are formed on a dielectric base, and the resulting tape carrying radiation elements is stacked for packaging. This means that after the stacking the product consists of straight portions on top of each other. The product can then be a continuous, pleated tape, or its portions can be separate sheets. The stack is closed into a protective casing for transport.

An advantage of the invention is that the transport of the radiator accounts for a relatively small part of the manufacturing costs of a single antenna, because a large number of radiators can be packed into a common protective casing. In addition, the invention has an advantage that the radiators remain precisely straight during the packaging and transport, which reduces the problems of managing the characteristics of the antenna in the final product. Furthermore, the invention has an advantage that when a plaited tape is used, it can be continued by a tape from the next protective casing without the need to interrupt the process. In addition, the invention has an advantage that the space of the protective casing becomes utilized better as compared to the reel packages, which for its part reduces transport costs. Yet another advantage of the invention is that if additional components of the surface mount type are connected to the radiator in the final product, these can be mounted already when the radiators are being formed. This advantage is also due to that the sheets carrying the radiators are straight.

In the following, the invention will be described in detail. Reference will be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows an example of the packaging of radiators and unwinding a package in production according to the prior art; Fig. 2 shows an example of a tape according to the invention, carrying the radiation elements, before it is stacked;

Fig. 3 shows the stacking of a component tape by pleating;

Fig. 4 shows an example of a package made according to Fig. 3;

Fig. 5a shows the cutting of a component tape into sheets; Fig. 5b shows an example of component sheets, and

Fig. 6 shows an example of a package made according to Figs. 5a and 5b.

Fig. 1 was already dealt with in connection with the description of the prior art. Fig. 2 shows an example of a tape according to the invention, carrying radiation elements, before it is stacked. Such a tape with its radiators is called "component tape" in this description. The component tape 201 thus comprises a carrier tape 210 and a plurality of radiators. In this example, the component tape is intended to be stacked by pleating. In order to facilitate the pleating, the carrier tape 210 has been weakened at fixed distances by transverse perforations. Two consecutive weakening lines, 211 and 212 are seen in Fig. 2. In this example, there are eight radiators in queue on the tape portion between them, the first radiator with the reference number 221 and the eighth with the reference number 228. The radiators have been formed, for example, by removing part of the metal coating of the dielectric carrier tape by etching or laser. The radiators can also be first formed on their own base and then be fastened to the carrier tape with their bases. The carrier tape is of flexible circuit board material, for example.

In the example of Fig. 2, rows of holes have been punched on the edges of the carrier tape. By means of them, the tape can be moved using tractor drive for exactly the desired length both at the different stages of the manufacture of the component tape and at the different stages of the mounting of the radiators.

Fig. 3 presents the principle of stacking the component tape by pleating, a component tape 301 like the one shown in Fig. 2 proceeds along a track 340 belonging to the production line to the stacking apparatus 370. The stacking apparatus recognizes the weakening lines in the tape and folds the tape along them in the opposite directions by turns. The meaning of the weakening lines is that on one hand, the folding takes place at the right lines and on the other hand it succeeds well. After the folding, the tape becomes zigzag-shaped when viewed from the side, as seen from the simplified drawing showing a part of the stacking apparatus as transparent. The zigzag-shaped tape consists of straight portions between the folding lines, such as the consecutive portions P1 and P2. The tape descends into an open, box-like protective casing 331 , into which it is pressed using a suitable force to form a relatively dense stack. The protective casing 331 is drawn as a cross-section in Fig. 3. In the stack the radiators of every other portion between the folding lines are on the upper surface of the portion and the radiators of every other portion on the lower surface of the portion. The pleating can be arranged so that the radiators of the uppermost portion are on its upper surface. The protective casing is finally closed for transport.

Fig. 4 shows an example of a package made according to Fig. 3. In this description and the claims, "package" means the collected component tape and the protective casing together. In the figure the protective casing 431 of the package 430 has been opened for the mounting of the radiation elements so that the top of the casing and the side at which the tail end of the component tape 401 is on the bottom of the casing have been removed. A small extension 415 with no radiators has been left at the lower end of the tape, or the tail end with regard to the mounting process, already during the manufacture stage of the component tape. The extension is against the side wall in the closed protective casing, in which case it becomes visible from the opened protective casing in accordance with Fig. 4. The purpose of the extension is to make it possible to continue the component tape by the next component tape without interrupting the radiator mounting process because of the continuation. This is done simply by joining the upper end, or head end, of the next tape to the extension 415, when the mounting process of the radiators of the tape 401 is under way. For the joining there is an extension also at the head end of the tapes, such as the extension 416 uppermost in Fig. 4.

When the component tape is packaged according to the above description, the portions between the folding lines of the tape are straight in the package. Thus the radiators in it remain entirely planar, which is advantageous with regard to managing the characteristics of the antenna.

Figs. 5a and 5b illustrate the principle of stacking the tape carrying radiation elements as separate sheets. In Fig. 5a there is a component tape 501 seen from above. In this example there are radiators by rows on the tape. There are four radiators in each row, such as the radiator 521 of the row closest to the head end of the tape with regard to its manufacturing process and three radiators beside it in the transverse direction of the tape. Starting from the head end of the tape, after the seventh row of radiators, the first cutting line C1 has been marked in Fig. 5a. The carrier tape 510 is cut along that line, whereby the first component sheet S1 is separated from the component tape. Correspondingly, after the 14th row of radiators, there is the second cutting line C2, and when the carrier tape 510 is cut along that line, the second component sheet S2 is separated from the component tape. In Fig. 5b there are the first S1 and the second S2 component sheet as separate on top of each other. The cutting of the tape is naturally continued, until it has been entirely cut into sheets.

Fig. 6 shows an example of a package made in accordance with Figs. 5a and 5b. The package 630 is seen in it in longitudinal section. The protective casing 631 belonging to the package has been piled full with component sheets. The uppermost component sheet SN is partly out from the casing without the cover in Fig. 6. It can be thought that the last sheet is being placed into the protective casing 631 , after which the casing is closed. Fig. 6 may as well present a situation in which the protective casing has been opened at the place where the antennas are assembled, and the uppermost component sheet SN is under way to the assembly line.

When the radiators are packaged in accordance with the above description so that they are on straight sheets, the radiators remain during the transport and up to the mounting stage absolutely planar. This is advantageous with regard to managing the characteristics of the antenna.

The method and package according to the invention have been described above. The invention is not limited to the cases described only. For example, also when pleating is used, the radiation elements can be on the carrier tape by rows and not only in succession. The shape of the radiation elements, their number and their location pattern on the carrier tape can naturally vary. When sheets are used, the dielectric base of the radiation elements can be flexible or rigid. It is also possible, unlike in Fig. 5a, to cut the sheets first and form the radiators then. As was mentioned already, surface mount components connected to the radiators can be mounted on the component tape before it is packaged. Such a component can be a switch or a capacitor, for example. The inventive idea can be applied in different ways within the limits set by the independent claims 1 and 4.

Claims

1. A method for packaging radiation elements of planar antennas, in which method a plurality of radiation elements are formed on a dielectric base, and a resulting product carrying radiation elements is gathered to a room corresponding to size of a protective casing used in packaging, or packaging room, and closed into the protective casing, characterized in that gathering said product carrying radiation elements to the packaging room takes place by stacking it as straight portions on top of each other.

2. A method according to Claim 1 , characterized in that said product is stacked as straight portions on top of each other by pleating, or folding the product at certain lengths in opposite directions by turns.

3. A method according to Claim 1 , characterized in that said product is stacked as straight portions on top of each other by cutting it into sheets and then piling these.

4. A package (430; 630) for radiation elements of planar antennas, which package comprises a protective casing (331 ; 431 ; 631 ) and in the protective casing a product carrying the radiation elements, which product comprises a plurality of radiation elements on a dielectric base, characterized in that said product carrying radiation elements is a stack by shape, i.e. it consists of straight portions on top of each other (P1 , P2; S1 , S2).

5. A package according to Claim 4, characterized in that said product is a continuous, plaited component tape (401 ), in which case each of said straight portions is a part of the component tape between two consecutive folding lines.

6. A package according to Claim 4, characterized in that said product is a plurality of separate component sheets, in which case each of said straight portions is a single component sheet.

7. A package according to Claim 5, characterized in that at its folding lines (211 , 212) the component tape is weaker than in adjacent areas to facilitate pleating.

8. A package according to Claim 5, characterized in that the portion of the first component tape (401) on a bottom of the package has an extension (415) to fastening upper end of a second component tape to the extension in order to connect the second component tape as a continuation of the first component tape in this way.

9. A package according to Claim 4, characterized in that said dielectric base is made of flexible circuit board.

10. A package according to Claim 4, characterized in that on the dielectric base there are, in addition to the radiation elements, surface mount components having an effect on the operation of the antenna in the final product.