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EP-4432463-B1 - ELECTRONIC DEVICE

EP4432463B1EP 4432463 B1EP4432463 B1EP 4432463B1EP-4432463-B1

Inventors

  • OHARA KAZUKI

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20221012

Claims (15)

  1. An electronic device (1) comprising: an antenna module (2) that is configured to perform communication at a predetermined communication frequency; and a housing (4) that includes a predetermined surface (51) and a recess (52) provided in the predetermined surface (51), wherein the antenna module (2) is accommodated within the recess (52), a surface direction perpendicular to an antenna surface (20) of the antenna module (2) coinciding with a surface direction perpendicular to the predetermined surface (51), the predetermined surface (51) includes a first region (511) and a second region (512) that are opposite to each other with respect to the recess (52) in a width direction of the antenna surface (20), the housing (4) includes a protrusion (53) having conductivity in the first region, a distal end of the protrusion (53) protrudes further in the surface direction of the antenna surface (20) than the antenna surface (20), and the second region (512) does not protrude further in the surface direction of the antenna surface (20) than the antenna surface (20).
  2. The electronic device according to Claim 1, wherein a distance in the surface direction of the antenna surface between the distal end of the protrusion and the antenna surface is from 0.15 times to 0.40 times inclusive of a wavelength corresponding to the predetermined communication frequency.
  3. The electronic device according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein a distance along the antenna surface between a center of the antenna surface in the width direction and the protrusion is from 0.30 times to 0.8 times inclusive of a wavelength corresponding to the predetermined communication frequency.
  4. The electronic device according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the protrusion extends over an entire length direction of the antenna surface.
  5. The electronic device according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein the second region includes an end of the predetermined surface, and the end of the predetermined surface includes a stepped portion recessed further in a direction opposite to the surface direction of the antenna surface than the antenna surface.
  6. The electronic device according to Claim 5, wherein the stepped portion extends over an entire length direction of the antenna surface.
  7. The electronic device according to Claim 5 or 6, wherein the stepped portion is opposite to the predetermined surface with respect to a bottom surface of the recess.
  8. The electronic device according to any one of Claims 5 to 7, further comprising: a radome that is a dielectric, wherein the radome includes a first portion that covers the antenna surface and a second portion that extends from the first portion to abut on the stepped portion.
  9. The electronic device according to Claim 8, wherein the first portion includes a facing portion parallel to the antenna surface and including a facing region facing the antenna surface, and the facing portion has a uniform thickness.
  10. The electronic device according to any one of Claims 1 to 9, wherein the antenna module includes a plurality of antenna elements, and the plurality of antenna elements are lined up in a row in a length direction of the antenna surface.
  11. The electronic device according to any one of Claims 1 to 10, wherein the antenna module is accommodated within the recess, the antenna surface being outside the recess.
  12. The electronic device according to Claim 11, wherein a distance in the surface direction of the antenna surface between the antenna surface and the predetermined surface is from 0.03 times to 0.05 times inclusive of a wavelength corresponding to the predetermined communication frequency.
  13. The electronic device according to any one of Claims 1 to 12, wherein the housing has conductivity.
  14. The electronic device according to any one of Claims 1 to 13, wherein the predetermined surface is a side surface of the housing, and the width direction of the antenna surface coincides with a thickness direction of the housing.
  15. The electronic device according to any one of Claims 1 to 14, wherein the predetermined communication frequency is included in a frequency bandwidth of 24.250 GHz to 52.600 GHz.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to an electronic device. BACKGROUND ART PTL 1 discloses an antenna module housing structure in which an antenna module constructed by forming an antenna on a substrate is housed in a housing. The housing is made of resin and has a hollow box shape, and side plates having rectangular shapes are formed on surfaces of a hexahedron. An RF antenna module is housed within the side plate positioned in front of the housing by the antenna module housing structure. PTL 2 discloses another antenna module known from the prior art which is integrated into the side plate of a mobile phone housing. Citation List Patent Literature PTL 1: International Publication No. WO 2016/059961PTL 2: US Patent Publication US 2020/365973 A1 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the antenna module housing structure of PTL 1, the RF antenna module radiates millimeter radio waves to a front side of a front surface of the side plate exposed to an outside of the housing by a patch antenna constituting a front direction radiation antenna. In PTL 1, as a method for changing ae radiation direction of the millimeter radio waves, it is conceivable to incline the antenna module with respect to the side plate of the housing. When the antenna module is inclined with respect to the side plate, a distance between the antenna module and the side plate is not uniform. This may contribute to a decrease in antenna performance of the antenna module. The present disclosure provides an electronic device capable of inclining a main radiation direction of an antenna module with respect to a housing without inclining the antenna module with respect to the housing. An electronic device according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes an antenna module that performs communication at a predetermined communication frequency, and a housing that includes a predetermined surface and a recess provided in the predetermined surface. The antenna module is accommodated within the recess such that a surface direction perpendicular to an antenna surface of the antenna module coincides with a surface direction perpendicular to the predetermined surface. The predetermined surface includes a first region and a second region that are opposite to each other with respect to the recess in a width direction of the antenna surface. The housing includes a protrusion having conductivity in the first region. A distal end of the protrusion protrudes further in the surface direction of the antenna surface than the antenna surface. The second region does not protrude further in the surface direction of the antenna surface than the antenna surface. According to the aspect of the present disclosure, the main radiation direction of the antenna module can be inclined with respect to the housing without inclining the antenna module with respect to the housing. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a configuration example of a circuit of an electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment.Fig. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the electronic device in Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a partial perspective view in which a part of a portion indicated by P in Fig. 2 is cut out.Fig. 4 is a diagram in which a radome is omitted in Fig. 3.Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view near an antenna module of the electronic device in Fig. 1.Fig. 6 is a side view near of the antenna module of the electronic device in Fig. 1.Fig. 7 is a diagram in which the radome is omitted in Fig. 6.Fig. 8 is a heat map of antenna gains of the electronic device in Fig. 1.Fig. 9 is a heat map of antenna gains of the electronic device in Fig. 1.Fig. 10 is a heat map of antenna gains of the electronic device in Fig. 1.Fig. 11 is a heat map of antenna gains of an electronic device of a comparative example.Fig. 12 is a heat map of antenna gains of the electronic device of the comparative example.Fig. 13 is a heat map of antenna gains of the electronic device of the comparative example. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT [1. Exemplary embodiment] Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment will be described in detail with appropriate reference to the drawings. However, descriptions more in detail than necessary may be omitted. For example, the detailed description of already well-known matters and the redundant description of substantially identical configurations may be omitted. These omissions are intended to avoid excessive redundancy in the following description, and to facilitate understanding of those skilled in the art. Note that, the inventor(s) of the present disclosure provide the accompanying drawings and the following description to help those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure and thus do not intend to limit the subject matter defined in the appended claims thereby. A positional relationship such as up, down, left, and right is based on a positional relationship illustrated in the drawings unless otherwise specified. Each of the drawings to be describ