US 9,178,278 B2 · Distributed loop antennas with extended tails

Abstract

Electronic devices may be provided with antenna structures such as distributed loop antenna resonating element structures. A distributed loop antenna may be formed on an elongated dielectric carrier and may have a longitudinal axis. The distributed loop antenna may include a loop antenna resonating element formed from a sheet of conductive material that extends around the longitudinal axis. A gap may be formed in the sheet of conductive material. The gap may be located under an opaque masking layer on the underside of a display cover glass associated with a display. The loop antenna resonating element may have a main body portion that includes the gap and may have an extended tail portion that extends between the display and conductive housing structures. The main body portion and extended tail portion may be configured to ensure that undesired waveguide modes are cut off during operation of the loop antenna.

Claims14

Dependent claims

A loop antenna configured to operate in at least one communications band, comprising:

a loop antenna resonating element formed from a sheet of conductive material that is wrapped around an axis to form a conductive loop, wherein the loop antenna resonating element has a main body portion and an extended tail portion, and the main body portion and the extended tail portion are configured so that the loop antenna does not support waveguide modes for signals in the at least one communications band;
a dielectric support structure on which the sheet of conductive material is formed that supports the sheet of conductive material and comprises a wall of dielectric material that extends around the axis to surround a cavity, wherein the wall is characterized by a thickness that has different thickness values at different positions along the axis;
and
an antenna feed structure that that is configured to indirectly feed the loop antenna resonating element, wherein the antenna feed structure comprises a loop-shaped metal trace on the dielectric support structure, and the sheet of conductive material has a ground plane recess adjacent to the loop-shaped metal trace.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Distributed loop antennas with extended tails

Life of this patent

Distributed loop antennas with extended tails

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims14