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Wrist-type wireless instrument and antenna apparatus    
United States Patent5589840   
Link to this pagehttp://www.wikipatents.com/5589840.html
Inventor(s)Fujisawa; Teruhiko (Nagano-ken, JP)
AbstractA wrist-type wireless instrument equipped with an antenna body that is formed on a wrist band is disclosed. The wireless instrument provides a simple compact arrangement within the wireless instrument casing and provides a large antenna gain. The wireless instrument is equipped with first and second wrist band members 21a and 21b respectively connected to each side of a wireless instrument casing 20 containing a wireless instrument circuit. A conductive plate 24 is fixed to the first and second wrist band members 21a and 21b. A slot 25 is formed in the conductive plate 24 so as to extend in the length dimension of the band. A capacitive element 26 is loaded across two divided sections of the conductive plate 24 that are defined by the slot 25, at a position substantially in the middle portion with respect to the length dimension of the conductive plate 24.
   














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Patent Text Patent PDF Print Page Summary File History
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Drawing from US Patent 5589840
Wrist-type wireless instrument and antenna apparatus - US Patent 5589840 Drawing
Wrist-type wireless instrument and antenna apparatus
Inventor     Fujisawa; Teruhiko (Nagano-ken, JP)
Owner/Assignee     Seiko Epson Corporation (Tokyo, JP)
Patent assignment
All assignments
Publication Date     December 31, 1996
Application Number     08/449,482
PAIR File History     Application Data   Transaction History
Image File Wrapper   Patent Term   Fees
Litigation
Filing Date     May 24, 1995
US Classification     343/718 343/767 343/866
Int'l Classification     H01Q 001/12 H01Q 013/10
Examiner     Le; Hoanganh T.
Assistant Examiner    
Attorney/Law Firm     Oliff & Berridge
Address
Parent Case     CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/081,380 filed Jun. 29, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,098.
Priority Data     Nov 05, 1991[JP]3-288763 Jul 19, 1994[JP]6-167095
USPTO Field of Search     343/718 343/702 343/767 343/768 343/866 343/867 343/873 340/573 340/539 340/568 340/693
Patent Tags     wrist-type wireless instrument antenna
   
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 Technical Review Submit all comments and votes
 Claims Submit all comments and votes
 


What is claimed is:

1. A wrist-type wireless instrument comprising:

a casing containing a circuit board;

a wrist band connected to said casing, said casing and said wrist band defining a loop when said instrument is in use;

a conductive plate having a slot and disposed within said casing and said wrist band, said conductive plate configured and disposed so as to function as a slot antenna; and

a capacitive element electrically connected to opposing portions of said conductive plate, said opposing portions being separated by said slot;

wherein said circuit board is arranged so as to be disposed on an inner side of said loop and so as to function as an antenna reflector when said instrument is in use, and wherein said capacitive element is disposed near an approximately central portion of said circuit board.

2. A wrist-type wireless instrument according to claim 1, wherein said capacitive element is comprised of two varactor diodes connected in series.

3. A wrist-type wireless instrument according to claim 1, wherein:

said wrist band comprises first and second band members, said first and second band members being attached to opposite lateral sides of said casing;

said conductive plate comprises first and second plate members, said first and second plate members being disposed within said first and second band members, respectively, said first and second plate members each being divided into upper and lower plate member portions by a slot extending longitudinally from one end of the respective plate member, disposed at or near said casing, to an opposite, free end of the respective plate member;

said casing comprises a first electrical pathway by which the upper portions of said first and second plate members are electrically connected to each other, and a second electrical pathway by which the lower portions of said first and second plate members are electrically connected to each other; and

wherein said capacitive element is electrically connected between said first and second electrical pathways.

4. A wrist-type wireless instrument according to claim 3, wherein said capacitive element is disposed between the circuit board and a display element for displaying information to a user of the wrist-type wireless instrument.

5. A wrist-type wireless instrument according to claim 3, wherein said capacitive element is mounted on a surface of the circuit board.

6. A wrist-type wireless instrument according to claim 3, wherein said capacitive element is comprised of two varactor diodes connected in series.

7. A wrist-type wireless instrument according to claim 1, wherein said conductive plate is configured and disposed so as to function simultaneously as a slot antenna and as a loop antenna.

8. An antenna apparatus for use in a wrist-type wireless instrument, comprising:

a casing containing a circuit board;

a wrist band connected to either side of said casing;

a conductive plate having a slot and disposed within said casing and within said wrist band; and

a capacitive element electrically connected between opposing sections of said conductive plate, said opposing sections being separated by the slot;

wherein said circuit board is disposed on an inner side of a loop formed by said casing and said wrist band when said instrument is in use, said circuit board being located at an approximately central position along the length of said wrist band, and wherein the capacitive element is disposed near an approximately central portion of said circuit board;

said conductive plate functioning as a slot antenna and said circuit board functioning as an antenna reflector.
 Description Submit all comments and votes
 


BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a wrist-type wireless instrument in which an antenna body, unitarily formed with a wrist band, functions as a slot antenna and, in particular, to an antenna apparatus for attaining an improvement in terms of antenna gain.

2. Description Of Related Art

FIG. 1 shows the structure of an antenna body 1, which is an example of the wrist-type wireless instrument in which an antenna body, unitarily formed with a wrist band, functions as a slot antenna. A strip-shaped conductive plate 2 is fastened to a wrist band, and a narrow slot 3 is formed so as to extend along the length dimension of the wrist band, thereby dividing the conductive plate 2 into two sections 2a and 2b. In FIG. 1, the wireless instrument is shown in the state in which it is placed on a person's wrist, i.e., the conductive plate 2 is looped. A capacitive element 4 is electrically connected across the sections 2a and 2b of the conductive plate 2. By appropriately adjusting the capacitance value of this capacitive element 4, it is possible for the antenna to be tuned to a desired frequency. It is desirable that the capacitive element 4 be electrically connected approximately in the central portion with respect to the length dimension of the conductive plate 2 because in this portion the current distribution can be well balanced and a large antenna gain can be obtained. Feeders 5a and 5b, connected to the conductive plate sections 2a and 2b respectively, are connected to a wireless instrument circuit section (not shown).

FIG. 2 shows the radiation pattern of this antenna. The drawing shows the vertical polarization component in the X-Y plane, which is normalized in maximum antenna gain. The radiation is maximum in the direction of the X-axis, which corresponds to the loading direction of the capacitive element 4. This fact indicates that the antenna is functioning as a slot antenna.

However, in this slot antenna for wrist-type wireless instrument, which is unitarily formed with the wrist band, the antenna is restricted to rather small dimensions, so that it is rather difficult to obtain a sufficient level of antenna gain. Thus, with the conventional antenna, it has been difficult to maintain a satisfactory radio communication quality.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made with a view toward solving the above problem. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved antenna structure for a wrist-type wireless instrument or antenna apparatus of the type in which an antenna body, formed unitarily with the wrist band, functions as a slot antenna, wherein the space inside the wireless instrument casing is effectively utilized, thereby providing a simple structure which helps to obtain an antenna gain larger than that in the prior art.

To solve the above problem, the present invention provides a wrist-type wireless instrument that includes a casing containing a circuit board; a wrist band connected to either side of the casing; and a conductive plate having a slot and provided in the casing and in the wrist band, wherein a capacitive element is loaded across conductive sections of a conductive plate that are defined by a slot, wherein the circuit board is arranged on the inner side of a loop for wrist wear that is formed by the casing and the wrist band, and wherein the capacitive element is arranged approximately at the center of the circuit board.

More specifically, it is desirable that the wrist band be comprised of two (first and second) wrist band members that are respectively joined to each side of the casing. It is also desirable that the conductive plate be comprised of two (first and second) conductive plates and two electric paths provided in the casing, the two electric paths and the two conductive plates being respectively provided for the two wrist band members, a slot being formed in each conductive plate so as to extend longitudinally from the end edge of the casing to which the associated wrist band member is joined, thereby dividing each conductive plate into first and second sections.

Additionally, it is desirable that, on the casing side, the ends of the respective first sections of the first and second conductive plates be electrically connected to each other through one of the two electrical paths, the ends of the respective second sections of the first and second conductive plates being electrically connected to each other through the other of the two electrical paths, with the capacitive element being loaded between the two electric paths.

Further, it is desirable that the capacitive element be arranged between a display element for displaying information of the wrist-type wireless instrument and the circuit board. Alternatively, the capacitive element may be surface-mounted on the circuit board.

Further, it is possible for the capacitive element to be comprised of two varactor diodes that are connected in series.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention are described hereafter, with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates the construction of a conventional, prior art wrist-type wireless instrument antenna apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the radiation directivity characteristic of a conventional, prior art wrist-type wireless instrument antenna apparatus;

FIG. 3 illustrates the construction of a wrist-type wireless instrument antenna apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates the operational principle of the wrist-type wireless instrument antenna apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b) are diagrams illustrating antenna characteristics, which depend on the position and arrangement of the capacitive element, of which FIG. 5(a) is a plan view of a wrist-type wireless instrument antenna apparatus and FIG. 5(b) is a side view thereof;

FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b) are diagrams illustrating the operation of the present invention (the antenna characteristic depending on the position of arrangement and the capacitive element), of which portion 6(a) is a plan view of a wrist-type wireless instrument antenna apparatus according to the present invention and FIG. 6(b) is a side view thereof;

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of a wrist-type wireless instrument equipped with a wrist-type wireless instrument antenna apparatus according an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b) are diagrams showing a wrist-type wireless instrument antenna apparatus according an embodiment of the present invention, of which FIG. 8(a) is a cutaway top view showing the structure of a near-casing portion thereof and FIG. 8(b) is a cutaway side view thereof;

FIG. 9 is a cutaway top view showing the structure of a near-casing portion of a wrist-type wireless instrument that is equipped with a wrist-type