Electronic device having clutch barrel antenna slot

Inventors

Edmonds, Trevor J • Williams, Michael J • Chiotellis, Nikolaos • Barrera, Joel D • Soriano Baliarda, Marc • Yari Boroujeni, Ayoub • Guterman, Jerzy S • Amini, Mahmoud R • Robinson, Kevin M

Assignees

Apple Inc

Abstract

An electronic device such as a laptop computer may have an upper housing and a lower housing. The lower housing may have a clutch barrel. The upper housing may be coupled to the clutch barrel by a hinge. The lower housing may have an upper metal wall separated from the upper housing by a first gap and a lower metal wall separated from the upper housing by a second gap. The clutch barrel may include a conductor. An antenna may be formed from a radiating slot in the conductor. The radiating slot may have a tunnel extending from a first opening to a second opening in the conductor across a diameter of the conductor. The tunnel may be linear or non-linear. The tunnel may have a uniform or tapered width. The radiating slot may convey radio-frequency signals through both gaps regardless of the orientation of the upper housing.

Core Innovation

A laptop computer includes a lower housing having an upper metal wall and a lower metal wall that define an interior volume, and a clutch barrel mounted to the lower housing. The clutch barrel includes a conductor having a first opening and a second opening, with a tunnel extending from the first opening to the second opening through the conductor. The antenna feed is coupled across the first opening in the conductor, and the upper housing is coupled to the clutch barrel by a hinge.

In an open position, the upper housing is separated from the lower housing by a first gap and a second gap, where the antenna includes a radiating slot in the conductor. The radiating slot is configured to radiate through the first gap and the second gap when the upper housing is in the open position, and the radiating slot lies in a curved surface. The conductor can include a corresponding opening, and a cavity or tunnel extends from the radiating slot to the opening across the conductor.

When the upper housing is in the closed position, radio-frequency structures in the upper housing can align with the conductive structures and the openings or cavities of the clutch barrel. The tunnel or cavity can extend through a conductor diameter and has geometries including linear, non-linear, uniform, or tapered configurations. In some configurations, the arrangement avoids overlap between the upper housing and the first opening, the tunnel, or the second opening in the closed position.

Claims Coverage

The provided independent claims comprise three inventive scopes, each centered on a clutch barrel with a conductor having openings and a tunnel or cavity to support an antenna radiating through gaps between upper and lower metal walls, with additional geometry constraints for radiating slot, tunnel, and gap or waveguide alignment.

Across the independent claims, the inventive coverage focuses on a clutch barrel with a conductor having openings and a tunnel or cavity across the conductor, combined with an antenna radiating through spatial gaps created between upper and lower metal walls in a hinge-coupled open or closed laptop configuration, and in some cases with radiating slot geometry including a curved surface and alignment behaviors tied to upper-housing conductive RF structures.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications