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EP-4231447-B1 - ELECTRONIC APPARATUS COMPRISING ANTENNA

EP4231447B1EP 4231447 B1EP4231447 B1EP 4231447B1EP-4231447-B1

Inventors

  • KIM, SUNGSOO
  • CHUN, Woosung
  • BAE, Seyoon
  • SONG, Byoungryoul
  • CHOI, SEUNGBUM
  • CHOI, WONJOON
  • HEO, JOON
  • PARK, SEONGJIN
  • YUN, SUMIN
  • JO, Jaehoon

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20211109

Claims (15)

  1. An electronic device (101, 1501, 2201, 2202, 2204) comprising: a housing (110) comprising a first part (111), a second part (112), and a connecting portion (113) disposed between the first part (111) and the second part (112), wherein the second part (112) is rotatably coupled to the first part (111) via the connecting portion (113); a flexible display (120) forming at least a portion of a front face of the electronic device in a state in which the housing is unfolded, wherein the flexible display is disposed over the first part (111) and the second part (112); a key button (360) disposed in a first area (120a) of a side face (1111) of the first part (111), wherein the key button (360) comprises a plurality of protrusions comprising a first protrusion (3601) and a second protrusion (3602) extending toward inside of the first part (111); and an antenna structure (346) disposed in the inside of the first part (111) with respect to the first area (120a), wherein the antenna structure (346) comprises: a substrate (410) comprising a plurality of layers, a plurality of dome switches comprising a first dome switch (3201) disposed above the substrate to correspond to the first protrusion and a second dome switch (3202) disposed above the substrate to correspond to the second protrusion, and a plurality of conductive patches (332, 334, 336, 338, 340, 1032, 1034, 1036, 1038) disposed in the substrate, and wherein each of the first dome switch and the second dome switch is disposed at a position corresponding to a space between the plurality of conductive patches (332, 334, 336, 338, 340, 1032, 1034, 1036, 1038).
  2. The electronic device (101, 1501, 2201, 2202, 2204) of claim 1, wherein the antenna structure (346) further comprises a dielectric layer (320) disposed between the plurality of dome switches (3220) and the substrate (410), and wherein the plurality of dome switches (3220) are disposed on the dielectric layer to face the plurality of protrusions (3600).
  3. The electronic device (101, 1501, 2201, 2202, 2204) of claim 1, wherein the first dome switch is disposed above the substrate to overlap the first protrusion and the second dome switch is disposed above the substrate to overlap the second protrusion.
  4. The electronic device (101, 1501, 2201, 2202, 2204) of claim 1, wherein the key button (360) extends in a longitudinal direction along the side face (1111), wherein the first protrusion (3601) is disposed closer to a first end of the key button (360) than a second end of the key button (360), and wherein the second protrusion (3602) is disposed closer to the second end than the first end of the key button (360).
  5. The electronic device (101, 1501, 2201, 2202, 2204) of claim 2, wherein the plurality of conductive patches (332, 334, 336, 338, 340, 1032, 1034, 1036, 1038) comprise a first conductive patch (332), a second conductive patch (334, 1034), a third conductive patch (336), a fourth conductive patch (338, 1038), and a fifth conductive patch (340), wherein the first conductive patch (332), the second conductive patch (334, 1034), the third conductive patch (336), the fourth conductive patch (338, 1038), and the fifth conductive patch (340) are spaced apart from each other and arranged in a line, wherein the first dome switch (3201) is disposed at a position corresponding to a space between the first conductive patch (332) and the second conductive patch (334, 1034) and is disposed on the dielectric layer, and wherein the second dome switch (3202) is disposed at a position corresponding to a space between the fourth conductive patch (338, 1038) and the fifth conductive patch (340) and is disposed on the dielectric layer.
  6. The electronic device (101, 1501, 2201, 2202, 2204) of claim 5, wherein the first conductive patch (332) and the second conductive patch (334, 1034) are spaced apart from each other by a first distance (D1), wherein the second conductive patch (334, 1034) and the third conductive patch (336) are spaced apart from each other by a second distance (D2), and wherein the first distance is greater than the second distance.
  7. The electronic device (101, 1501, 2201, 2202, 2204) of claim 6, wherein the third conductive patch (336) and the fourth conductive patch (338, 1038) are spaced apart from each other by the second distance, and wherein the fourth conductive patch (338, 1038) and the fifth conductive patch (340) are spaced apart from each other by the first distance.
  8. The electronic device (101, 1501, 2201, 2202, 2204) of claim 6, wherein the first dome switch (3201) is spaced apart from the first conductive patch (332) and the second conductive patch (334, 1034) by a third distance (D3) shorter than the first distance, when the first dome switch is viewed in a direction toward the inside of the first part.
  9. The electronic device (101, 1501, 2201, 2202, 2204) of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of dome switches (3220) is spaced apart from the plurality of conductive patches (332, 334, 336, 338, 340, 1032, 1034, 1036, 1038).
  10. The electronic device (101, 1501, 2201, 2202, 2204) of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of dome switches (3220) has a rectangular shape or square shape.
  11. The electronic device (101, 1501, 2201, 2202, 2204) of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of dome switches (3220) has a rectangular shape and includes first edges and second edges shorter than the first edges, and wherein each of the plurality of dome switches (3220) is disposed such that the first edges face the plurality of conductive patches (332, 334, 336, 338, 340, 1032, 1034, 1036, 1038).
  12. The electronic device (101, 1501, 2201, 2202, 2204) of claim 2, further comprising: a printed circuit board disposed in the first part (111); and a connection member (512, 612) electrically connecting a respective one of the plurality of dome switches (3220) and the printed circuit board.
  13. The electronic device (101, 1501, 2201, 2202, 2204) of claim 12, wherein the connection member (512, 612) comprises a conductive via that penetrates at least a portion of the substrate and the dielectric layer.
  14. The electronic device (101, 1501, 2201, 2202, 2204) of claim 12, wherein the connection member (512, 612) comprises a flexible printed circuit board, and wherein the flexible printed circuit board extends from a respective one of the plurality of dome switches (3220) to the printed circuit board along a periphery of the dielectric layer and the substrate.
  15. The electronic device (101, 1501, 2201, 2202, 2204) of claim 14, wherein the flexible printed circuit board is spaced apart from the substrate of the antenna structure (346).

Description

[Technical Field] Various embodiments relate to an electronic device including an antenna. [Background Art] With the development of communication devices, electronic devices may include an antenna module capable of fast and high-capacity transmission for the production and transmission of various contents, Internet connection with various things (e.g., Internet of Things (IoT)), or communication connection between various sensors for autonomous driving. For example, the electronic device may include an antenna module configured to radiate mmWave signals (hereinafter, referred to as a "mmWave antenna module"). The mmWave antenna module may be disposed to be adjacent to the outer periphery of the housing of the electronic device in consideration of spherical coverage. For example, the electronic device may include two mmWave antenna modules disposed on the side surface of the housing to form a beam toward the side surface. As another example, an electronic device may include one mmWave antenna module disposed on the side surface of the housing thereof to form a beam toward the side surface, and one mmWave antenna module disposed on the rear surface of the housing to form a beam toward the rear surface. Meanwhile, in consideration of characteristics of a beam formed from a mmWave antenna module, a housing around the mmWave antenna module may include a conductive material and/or a non-conductive material. For example, an mm Wave antenna module disposed on the side surface of the housing may be surrounded by a rear surface cover made of glass and a side surface metal member. The rear surface cover may be bent and extended from the rear surface of the housing to a portion of the side surface. WO 2020/122598 A1 discloses a foldable electronic device. WO 2020/153694 A1 discloses an electronic device with a side key including an antenna. US 2008/074329 A1 discloses a handheld electronic device containing antennas. US 2011/255260 A1 discloses an electronic device having buttons. WO 2017/018793 A1 discloses an antenna device. KR 2007 0074714 A discloses an auxiliary antenna with a built-in personal digital assistants. [Disclosure of Invention] [Technical Problem] Various components such as a volume key, biometric sensors (e.g., a fingerprint recognition sensor), a subscriber identification module (SIM) slot, and a legacy antenna (e.g., an antenna for wireless communication of 4G or less) may be placed on the side surface of an electronic device. For this reason, there are spatial restrictions for arranging mmWave antenna modules in an electronic device, and it may be difficult to ensure spherical coverage required to smoothly perform wireless communication. In order to properly shape a beam pattern formed from a mmWave antenna module, a certain portion of the mmWave antenna module needs to be covered by a metal member and a non-metal member. A rear surface cover that is made of glass and bent and extended from the rear surface to the side surface may have limitations in design to satisfy required beam characteristics, and the rear surface cover having a complicated shape may have problems in terms of processing difficulty and yield degradation. [Solution to Problem] The present invention is set out in the appended claims. [Advantageous Effects of Invention] In an electronic device according to an embodiment, it is possible to arrange an antenna structure without restriction of an arrangement space and to ensure wide spherical coverage through a key button assembly including the antenna structure. In an electronic device according to an embodiment, the shape of a rear surface cover can be simplified, and the degree of freedom in design and the yield of the rear surface cover can be improved. [Brief Description of Drawings] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an electronic device according to an embodiment in an unfolded state.FIG. 1B is a rear view of the electronic device according to an embodiment in the unfolded state.FIG. 1C is a perspective view illustrating the electronic device according to an embodiment in a folded state.FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating a portion of the electronic device according to an embodiment.FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a key button assembly according to an embodiment.FIG. 4A illustrates an antenna structure according to an embodiment.FIG. 4B illustrates an antenna structure according to an embodiment.FIG. 4C illustrates an antenna structure according to an embodiment.FIG. 5A illustrates a first substrate and a second substrate on which dome switches according to an embodiment are disposed.FIG. 5B illustrates examples of shapes of dome switches according to an embodiment.FIG. 5C illustrates an example in which a dome switch according to an embodiment is arranged in another direction.FIG. 6 illustrates a first substrate and a second substrate on which dome switches according to an embodiment are disposed.FIG. 7 illustrates an electronic device according to an embodimen