JP2024001715A - Electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide an electronic device that is capable of achieving both suitable radio wave transmission and reception performance using an antenna element and suitable cooling performance using cooling fins, and further reducing the size of the casing and improving the degree of freedom in layout. . [Solution] An electronic device 10 includes an oblong resin louver 50 provided on the side surface of a housing, an antenna element 60 provided on the outer surface of the louver 50, and a space between the louver 50 and a blower fan 38. cooling fins 42 arranged at The cooling fin 42 is divided into an antenna overlapping portion 80 that substantially overlaps with the antenna element in the lateral direction when viewed from the side, and antenna non-overlapping portions 82 on both sides of the antenna overlapping portion 80, and the antenna non-overlapping portion 82 is an antenna overlapping portion. It has a protrusion 82a that protrudes further than 80 toward the exhaust direction of the blower fan 38. [Selection diagram] Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to an electronic device having an antenna and a blower fan that exhausts air while blowing air onto cooling fins.

Electronic devices such as notebook PCs (notebook personal computers) are equipped with antennas for various wireless communications such as WWAN (Wireless Wide Area Network) and WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network). It is preferable to provide the antenna element on the side surface of the housing because there is no barrier to transmitting and receiving data to and from the outside (see Patent Document 1).

In addition, a notebook PC is equipped with a heat generating element such as a CPU, and a cooling module is mounted inside the case to absorb heat generated by the heat generating element and radiate the heat to the outside. As a heat dissipation means, for example, heat from a heating element is transferred to cooling fins, and a blower fan is used to blow air to exhaust the heat through an exhaust port (see Patent Document 2). Exhaust ports are often provided with louvers to ensure the strength of the housing, prevent foreign matter from entering, and provide ventilation. The louver is made of, for example, a resin material. Cooling fins are generally made of metal material in consideration of heat conductivity.

Patent No. 6890702 JP2022-059833 Publication

There is a demand for smaller notebook PCs. However, both the antenna element and the exhaust port are sometimes provided on the side of the housing, and the total length of the housing around the four circumferences is limited, so if they occupy a predetermined length range, it will become even more compact. It will be difficult to Furthermore, although it is desirable to be able to reduce the layout space of the antenna element as much as possible, it is difficult to make it extremely compact due to factors such as transmission and reception wavelengths. For this reason, it is being considered to provide the antenna element in the louver. This eliminates the need for the antenna element to occupy a predetermined space by itself, increasing the degree of freedom in layout within the housing.

However, there are cooling fins near the louvers. Since the cooling fins are made of metal, it is desirable that they be separated from the antenna element to some extent so as not to affect the transmission and reception of radio waves. In order to separate the antenna element and the cooling fins, it may be possible to shorten the cooling fins, but this would reduce the cooling capacity. Furthermore, if the cooling fin is simply separated from the antenna element while maintaining a predetermined length to provide a space between the two, a so-called dead space will occur, which goes against the demand for miniaturization.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and can achieve both suitable radio wave transmission and reception performance by the antenna element and suitable cooling performance by the cooling fins, and furthermore, can reduce the size of the casing. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an electronic device that can improve the degree of freedom in layout.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the objects, an electronic device according to an aspect of the present invention includes a flat casing and a horizontally elongated resin part provided on a side surface of the casing. a louver made of wood; a blower fan provided within the housing for exhausting air from the louver; an antenna element provided on a surface of the louver opposite to the blower fan; cooling fins made of a metal material disposed between the antenna element and the blower fan, the antenna element having a shape in which at least a portion thereof extends in the lateral direction, and the cooling fins in the lateral direction in a side view. The antenna is divided into an overlapping portion that substantially overlaps with the antenna element, and non-overlapping portions on both sides of the overlapping antenna portion, and the non-overlapping portion of the antenna is oriented toward the exhaust direction of the blower fan than the overlapping antenna portion. The protrusion protrudes to the vicinity of the louver, and the distance to the antenna overlapping part is less than the distance to the protrusion based on the surface of the louver where the antenna element is provided. It's also getting longer.

According to the above aspect of the present invention, since the protruding portion of the cooling fin protrudes to the vicinity of the louver, an appropriate length is ensured and suitable cooling performance can be obtained. On the other hand, since the distance from the antenna element to the antenna overlap part is longer than the distance to the protruding part, the electromagnetic influence of the cooling fins on the antenna element in this part is reduced, and the antenna element can transmit suitable radio waves. Transmission and reception performance can be obtained. Since the antenna element is provided in the louver, the antenna element itself does not occupy space, allowing for a smaller housing and improved layout flexibility.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view looking down from above on an electronic device according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the casing with the lower cover material removed to expose the inside. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the exhaust structure. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the exhaust structure. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the louver viewed diagonally from above. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing how the louver is attached to the upper cover material. FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing the positional relationship between the antenna element and the cooling fins.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Below, embodiment of the electronic device concerning this invention is described in detail based on drawing. Note that the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view looking down from above an electronic device 10 according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic device 10 is a clamshell notebook PC in which a display casing 12 and a casing 14 are connected by a hinge 16 so as to be relatively rotatable. The electronic device according to the present invention may be a tablet PC, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a portable game machine, or the like other than a notebook PC.

The display housing 12 is a flat box that is thinner than the housing 14. A display 18 is mounted on the display housing 12. The display 18 is composed of, for example, an organic EL (OLED) or a liquid crystal.

Hereinafter, regarding the housing 14 and each component mounted thereon, the front side is referred to as the "front", and the rear side is referred to as the "front", with the display housing 12 opened at a predetermined angle and the display 18 viewed as a reference, as shown in FIG. The side will be referred to as "back," the width direction will be referred to as "left and right," and the thickness direction will be referred to as top and bottom or "vertical." Furthermore, in the description of the exhaust structure 56 that will be described later, the direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the housing 14 will be referred to as "horizontal".

A hinge 16 is connected to the rear end of the housing 14 . The housing 14 includes an upper cover material 20 that forms an upper surface and four circumferential side surfaces, and a lower cover material 22 that forms a lower surface. The housing 14 has an upper cover material 20 and a lower cover material 22 combined to form a flat box. A keyboard 24 and a touch pad 26 are provided on the top surface of the housing 14.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the housing 14 with the lower cover material 22 removed to expose the inside. The cooling module 28 is a cooling device that absorbs and diffuses the heat generated by the heating element 32 mounted on the motherboard 30 inside the housing 14, and further radiates the heat to the outside of the housing 14. The heating element 32 is, for example, a CPU, a GPU, or the like. The motherboard 30 is a printed circuit board on which various semiconductor chips such as a heating element 32 are mounted. The heating element 32 is the largest heating element within the housing 14. The cooling module 28 includes two heat pipes 34 and 36, two blower fans 38 and 40, two cooling fins 42 and 44, and a heat spreader 46. Reference numeral 48 in FIG. 2 is a battery.

The heat pipes 34 and 36 are pipe-shaped heat transport devices. The heat pipes 34 and 36 are arranged in parallel with some parts close to each other or in contact with each other. The heat pipe 34 has one end disposed so as to be able to absorb heat from the heating element 32, and the other end thermally connected to the cooling fins 42. The heat pipe 36 has one end thermally connected to the heating element 32 and the other end thermally connected to the cooling fin 44. A heat transfer material or a heat dissipation material may be interposed between the heating element 32 and the heat pipes 34 and 36. The heat pipes 34 and 36 each have a structure in which a working fluid is sealed in a sealed space formed inside a flat metal pipe, and the working fluid flows while causing a phase change in the sealed space, thereby efficiently distributing heat. transport.

The blowing fans 38 and 40 exhaust and radiate the heat transported by the heat pipes 34 and 36 to the outside from the louvers 50 and 52 via the cooling fins 42 and 44. The louvers 50 and 52 are provided so as to form part of the outer wall of the housing 14. In this embodiment, the louvers 50 and 52 also serve as exhaust ports, but an exhaust port may be provided on the outer wall of the casing 14 and the louvers 50 and 52 may be provided inside the exhaust port.

The blower fans 38 and 40 are arranged near the rear end of the housing 14 and separated into left and right sides. The blower fans 38 and 40 have a flat shape that fits the flat housing 14. The louver 50 is formed at a location corresponding to the exhaust position of the blower fan 38, and the cooling fins 42 are provided between the louver 50 and the blower fan 38. The louver 52 is formed at a location corresponding to the exhaust position of the blower fan 40, and the cooling fins 44 are provided between the louver 52 and the blower fan 40. The cooling fins 42 and 44 may be integrally configured with the blower fans 38 and 40. The edges of the lower surfaces of the blower fans 38 and 40 are surrounded by a sponge material 54. The sponge material 54 contacts the lower cover material 22 and prevents air from flowing back. The blower fans 38 and 40 take in air from air intake ports (not shown) formed in the lower cover material 22.

Next, the configuration of the exhaust structure 56 that blows air from the ventilation fan 38 to exhaust and radiate the heat of the cooling fins 42 from the louvers 50 will be described. Note that the configuration of the exhaust structure 58 (see FIG. 1) that blows air from the ventilation fan 40 and exhausts and radiates the heat of the cooling fins 44 from the louver 52 is the same, so a detailed explanation will be omitted.

As mentioned above, in the description of the exhaust structure 56, the thickness direction of the casing 14 is referred to as "vertical", and the direction orthogonal thereto is referred to as "horizontal". In this example, the "lateral direction" of the exhaust structure 56 is the left-right direction, but when the exhaust from the blower fan 40 is along the left-right direction, the "lateral direction" is the front-back direction of the housing 14.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the exhaust structure 56. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the exhaust structure 56. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the louver 50 viewed diagonally from above. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing how the louver 50 is attached to the upper cover material 20. The exhaust structure 56 includes the above-mentioned blower fan 38, louver 50, and cooling fin 42, and further includes an antenna element 60 provided on the louver 50. The antenna element 60 is shown with dots as appropriate for easy identification.

The louver 50 is a horizontally elongated resin material provided so as to open on the rear side of the housing 14 . The purpose of the louver 50 is to ensure the strength of the casing 14, prevent foreign matter from entering, and provide ventilation for the blower fan 38. The louver 50 is a unit type fixed to the housing 14, and is suitable for providing the antenna element 60 alone. In this embodiment, the louver 50 is formed as a part of the resin material 62. The resin material 62 has a louver 50 at a portion corresponding to the exhaust port of the blower fan 38, but includes a central portion 62a other than that. The louver 50 may be configured independently from the central portion 62a. The louver 50 may be integrated with the louver 52 on the opposite side via the central portion 62a. The louver 50 is basically an integrally molded product made of resin, but it may be formed from a plurality of members depending on molding circumstances.

The louver 50 has an upper wall 64, a lower wall 66, a horizontal wall 68, and a plurality of vertical walls 70. The upper wall 64 abuts the inner surface 20a of the upper cover material 20. The lower wall 66 abuts the inner surface 22a of the lower cover material 22. The entire surface of the upper cover material 20, or at least the portion that contacts the louver 50 and the surrounding portion thereof, is made of metal.

The louver 50 is formed with four screw fixing pieces 72a, 72b, 72c, and 72d. The screw fixing pieces 72a to 72d are parts for fixing the louver 50 to the upper cover material 20 with screws B. The screw fixing pieces 72a to 72d are formed at approximately equal intervals, and the screw fixing pieces 72a and 72b are located at both left and right ends. The screw fixing pieces 72b and 72c also serve as a part of the upper wall 64.

An antenna ground 74 corresponding to the antenna element 60 is provided on the upper wall 64 . The antenna ground 74 is formed at a location including the screw holes of the screw fixing pieces 72b and 72c, and is brought into contact with the upper cover material 20 by the screw fixation to establish electrical conduction. A conductive sponge material 75 is provided in a portion of the antenna ground 74 other than the screw fixing pieces 72b and 72c, and is electrically connected to the upper cover material 20 via the sponge material 75. The sponge material 75 is fixed to the upper wall 64 with, for example, a conductive adhesive tape. A metal exposed portion 20aa without a coating such as paint is formed at the contact portion of the upper cover material 20 with the louver 50, and conduction is possible.

A step portion 66a is formed on the lower wall 66 on the side inside the housing 14. A cover piece 76 (see FIG. 3) is fitted into and fixed to the stepped portion 66a. The plurality of vertical walls 70 are provided across the upper wall 64 and the lower wall 66 to ensure the strength of the louver 50 and the housing 14. The left and right ends of the vertical walls 70 serve as side walls of the louver 50. The plurality of vertical walls 70 are provided in such a number that they do not substantially obstruct the wind from the blower fan 38, and are provided at irregular intervals.

The horizontal wall 68 is provided at an intermediate portion between the upper wall 64 and the lower wall 66 over the entire length of the louver 50 in the horizontal direction. The horizontal wall 68 intersects with a plurality of vertical walls 70. The side of the lateral wall 68 inside the housing 14 forms an acute-angled cross section to reduce wind resistance from the blower fan 38.

The antenna element 60 is provided on the outer surface of the horizontal wall 68 of the louver 50 (that is, the surface opposite to the blower fan 38). The width W1 of the antenna element 60 is determined by the corresponding radio wave frequency and the like. In this embodiment, the width W1 is approximately half the width W2 of the louver 50. The antenna element 60 has a short sub-portion 60b along the vertical wall 70 in addition to a main portion 60a having a width W1 formed along the horizontal wall 68. In other words, at least a portion of the antenna element 60 is provided along the side wall 68. The antenna element 60 is formed of, for example, LDS (Laser Direct Structuring) or metal foil. Reference numeral 78 is a feed line of the antenna element 60.

As shown in FIG. 4, the cooling fins 42 are block-shaped and made of thin metal plates. The cooling fins 42 have a shape corresponding to the air outlet of the air blower fan 38, and include an upper plate 42a, a lower plate 42b, and a plurality of vertical plates 42c provided between these. The vertical plates 42c have their surfaces oriented along the wind from the blower fan 38, and a large number of them are lined up at narrow intervals in the horizontal direction. The lower plate 42b is fixed to the end of the heat pipe 34 by welding or the like.

The cooling fin 42 includes an antenna overlapping portion 80 that substantially overlaps the antenna element 60 in the lateral direction when viewed from the rear (exhaust direction of the blower fan 38), and antenna non-overlapping portions 82 on both sides of the antenna overlapping portion 80. It is divided into The antenna non-overlapping portion 82 has a protruding portion 82a that protrudes more rearward than the antenna overlapping portion 80. The protruding portion 82a protrudes to the vicinity of the louver 50. A space 84 is secured between the antenna overlapping portion 80 and the louver 50.

In other words, the distance L1 to the antenna overlapping portion 80 from the rear surface 50a (see FIG. 3) of the louver 50 where the antenna element 60 is provided is longer than the distance L2 to the protrusion 82a. Any resin member may be provided in the space 84 as long as the shape does not block the wind from the blower fan 38 . The upper part of the protruding part 82a and the space part 84 are covered with the upper cover material 20, and the lower part is covered with the cover piece 76 (see FIG. 3). The antenna element 60 is within the width W3 of the antenna overlapping portion 80 in the lateral direction when viewed from the side.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing the positional relationship between the antenna element 60 and the cooling fins 44. Although the antenna element 60 is fixed to the louver 50, the louver 50 is omitted in FIG. 7 to make it easier to understand the positional relationship between the antenna element 60 and the cooling fins 44. Although FIG. 7 shows the right end of the antenna element 60 and its surrounding area, the left end has a substantially symmetrical structure. As shown in FIG. 7, an appropriate width W4 is secured in the lateral direction between the antenna element 60 and the protrusion 82a.

In the electronic device 10 configured as described above, since the antenna element is provided in the louver 50, the antenna element 60 does not occupy a predetermined space by itself, and the housing 14 can be made smaller. . Furthermore, the degree of freedom in layout within the casing 14 is increased, and for example, the battery 48 can be made larger. Since the antenna element 60 is provided on the side surface of the housing 14, it is suitable for transmitting and receiving data to and from the outside without any barrier.

The antenna non-overlapping portion 82 has a protruding portion 82a that protrudes more than the antenna overlapping portion 80, so that suitable cooling performance can be obtained. The protruding portion 82a protrudes to the vicinity of the louver 50 so that no space is wasted. Since the distance L1 from the rear surface 50a where the antenna element 60 is provided to the antenna overlapping part 80 is longer than the distance L2 to the protruding part 82a, the radio waves from the antenna overlapping part 80 to the antenna element 60 are The influence of transmission and reception can be reduced. In particular, the antenna element 60 is within the width of the antenna overlapping portion 80 in the lateral direction when viewed from the side, and the antenna overlapping portion 80 has little electromagnetic influence on the antenna element 60.

However, depending on conditions such as when the distance L1 can be ensured to be sufficiently long, the antenna element 60 may protrude somewhat from the antenna overlapping portion 80 in the lateral direction when viewed from the side. A metal-free space 84 is secured between the antenna overlapping portion 80 and the louver 50, and an appropriate distance L1 is secured. In this manner, in the electronic device 10, it is possible to achieve both suitable radio wave transmission and reception performance by the antenna element 60 and suitable cooling performance by the cooling fins 42.

It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be freely modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

10 Electronic equipment 14 Housing 20 Upper cover material 22 Louver 22 Lower cover material 32 Heat generating elements 34, 36 Heat pipes 38, 40 Air blower fans 42, 44 Cooling fins 42a Upper plate 42b Lower plate 42c Vertical plates 50, 52 Louver 60 Antenna element 60a Main part 60b Sub part 64 Upper wall 66 Lower wall 68 Horizontal wall 70 Vertical wall 74 Antenna ground 80 Antenna overlapping part 82 Antenna non-overlapping part 82a Projection part 84 Space part

Claims (4)

An electronic device,
A flat casing,
a horizontally oblong resin louver provided on a side surface of the housing;
a blower fan provided in the housing and exhausting air from the louver;
an antenna element provided on a surface of the louver opposite to the blower fan;
a cooling fin made of a metal material, at least a portion of which is disposed between the louver and the blower fan;
has
The antenna element has a shape in which at least a portion thereof extends in the lateral direction,
The cooling fin is divided into an antenna overlapping part that substantially overlaps with the antenna element in the lateral direction when viewed from the side, and antenna non-overlapping parts on both sides of the antenna overlapping part,
The antenna non-overlapping portion has a protruding portion that protrudes more toward the exhaust direction of the blower fan than the antenna overlapping portion,
The protruding portion protrudes to the vicinity of the louver,
An electronic device characterized in that a distance from the surface of the louver on which the antenna element is provided to the antenna overlapping portion is longer than a distance to the protruding portion. The electronic device according to claim 1,
The electronic device is characterized in that the antenna element is within a width of the antenna overlapping portion in the lateral direction when viewed from the side. The electronic device according to claim 1,
The louver is a unit type fixed to the housing,
a plurality of vertical walls extending in the thickness direction of the housing;
a horizontal wall extending in the lateral direction of the housing;
has
An electronic device, wherein at least a portion of the antenna element is provided along the side wall. The electronic device according to claim 1,
An electronic device, wherein a space is ensured between the antenna overlapping part and the louver.

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