Capacitance loaded antenna for ear-worn electronic device
AssigneeAmazon Technologies, Inc.
InventorsAdrian Napoles, Balamurugan Shanmugam
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An electronic device that includes a metal element arranged to at least partially cover a high impedance region associated with an antenna of the electronic device. The metal element presents a capacitive load to the antenna to mimic or replicate a capacitance placed on the antenna by a conductive element, such as a user's finger, coming in contact or close proximity to the antenna area. The capacitive load applied by the metal element tunes the antenna system for a large capacitance to resist antenna de-tuning and radio link interruption caused by the unintended user contact or near contact with the high impedance region of the antenna.
Claims20
An apparatus comprising:
- a housing comprising an inner surface and an outer surface;
- an antenna disposed on a first portion of the inner surface of the housing;
- a touch electrode disposed on the outer surface of the housing in proximity to the antenna;
- and
- a metal element disposed on a first portion of the outer surface of the housing, the first portion of the outer surface at least partially covering the first portion of the inner surface, wherein the metal element applies a first capacitive load to the antenna.
An apparatus comprising:
- a housing comprising an inner surface and an outer surface;
- a printed circuit board (PCB) disposed within the housing;
- an antenna disposed on a first portion of the inner surface of the housing, the antenna to receive a radio signal from a source device, the antenna comprising:
- a first segment extending from a first end coupled to a radio frequency (RF) feed in a first direction to a second end, the RF feed to transmit a signal corresponding to the radio signal to the PCB;
- a second segment extending from the second end of the first segment in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction;
- and
- a third segment extending from a distal end of the second segment in the first direction, the third segment comprising an open end corresponding to a high impedance region of the antenna;
- and
- a metal element disposed on a first portion of the outer surface of the housing, the first portion of the outer surface covering the open end of the third segment of the antenna, wherein the metal element applies a first capacitive load to the antenna structure to resist de-tuning of the antenna structure in response to contact by a conductive element with the housing in the high impedance region of the antenna.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.