JP3902587B2 - Slot antenna device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a slot antenna device, and more particularly to a slot antenna device that operates as a circularly polarized antenna.

  The slot antenna device includes a conductor member made of a metal foil or a metal plate with a slot having a predetermined dimension, and a circuit board on which a high-frequency circuit including an amplifier, an oscillator, and the like is disposed. By feeding power to an appropriate position of the conductor member via power feeding means such as a power feeding line connected to the substrate, the slot can be excited to emit linearly polarized waves. As a conventional example of this type of slot antenna device, one having a configuration in which an antenna portion is provided on one side of a circuit board is widely known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a main part of such a conventional slot antenna apparatus, and shows an antenna section 2 provided on one side of a substrate 1 made of a dielectric or the like. In the figure, a conductor layer 4 having a slot 3 is formed on one surface of a substrate 1, and a power supply line 5 is formed on the other surface of the substrate 1 so as to cross the slot 3 in the width direction. An unillustrated extension portion of the substrate 1 is a circuit portion 6 in which a high-frequency circuit is disposed. The conductor layer 4 and the feeder line 5 are formed by patterning a copper foil or the like, and the linear opening portion surrounded by the conductor layer 4 is a slot 3. The slot 3 has a longitudinal dimension set to about one half of the resonance length λ. The feed line 5 is a microstrip line led out from the circuit unit 6, and the slot 3 can be excited by feeding power to the vicinity of both ends in the width direction of the slot 3 through the feed line 5.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-234615 (page 3-4, FIG. 3)

  By the way, the conventional slot antenna device is generally designed for linearly polarized waves. However, in FIG. 5, another slot extending in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the slot 3 is provided in the vicinity of the slot 3, Is excited with a phase difference of about 90 degrees with respect to the resonance mode of slot 3, a slot antenna device for circular polarization can be obtained. However, since the conventional structure uses the extended portion (one side portion) of the substrate 1 on which the high-frequency circuit is disposed as a region of the antenna portion 2, the antenna portion 2 has a pair of circularly polarized waves. When the slot and the pair of power supply lines are formed, a large space is required in the antenna unit 2, which increases the area of the substrate 1, and thus there is a problem that it is difficult to reduce the size of the entire apparatus. Further, in order to generate a phase difference of about 90 degrees in the resonance mode of the pair of slots, it is necessary to take measures such as incorporating a 90-degree phase difference circuit unit in the power feeding circuit. There was also a problem of accompanying up.

  In order to reduce the size of the device, a configuration in which a high-frequency circuit, a feeder line, and a slotted conductor layer are arranged in each layer of the multilayer substrate is conceivable. Is forced to increase costs.

  The present invention has been made in view of the actual situation of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a circularly polarized slot antenna device that can be easily downsized and manufactured at low cost.

In order to achieve the above-described object, in the slot antenna device of the present invention, a cross-shaped slot in which the first slot and the second slot are orthogonal to each other is opened, and a feed line portion is protruded in the cross-shaped slot. A conductive member and a circuit board on which the high-frequency circuit is disposed and connected to the power supply line portion; and the power supply line portion is continuous with a peripheral portion of the first slot in the first slot. A base end portion to be formed, and an intermediate portion extending continuously through the base end portion and passing through a region where both slots intersect with each other in the longitudinal direction of the first slot . The first slot is excited and the second slot is excited by the intermediate portion traversing the second slot, and the second slot is compared to the resonance mode of the first slot. With a phase difference of about 90 degrees Configured to operate as a circularly polarized antenna by being vibration.

The slot antenna device configured as described above forms a cross-shaped slot by making the first slot and the second slot orthogonal to each other, and the first and second slots are provided via feed line portions protruding in the cross-shaped slot. because they are of performing feeding for two slots, for example, the proximal end portion of the formed continuously towards the said first slot from the periphery of the cross-shaped slot the feed line unit, the first By separating the second slot from the region where the second slot intersects, a phase difference of about 90 degrees can be generated between the resonance mode of the first slot and the resonance mode of the second slot. Therefore, it is possible to manufacture the circularly polarized slot antenna device at low cost without complicating the feeding circuit. In addition, since the cross-shaped slot and the feed line portion are arranged on the same surface, for example, by providing a conductor member including the cross-shaped slot and the feed line portion on the other surface of the circuit board provided with a high-frequency circuit on one side, Miniaturization of the circularly polarized slot antenna device can be promoted at low cost without using a multilayer substrate.

  In the slot antenna device having such a configuration, the conductor member is a metal plate, and a cantilever-like strip portion formed on the metal plate is arranged in a cross-shaped slot to form a feed line portion, and the tip of the strip-like portion The part is preferably connected to the circuit board. As a result, the cruciform slot and the feed line portion can be easily and accurately formed simply by pressing a single metal plate, which can greatly reduce the cost. In this case, it is more preferable to use a shield case for storing the circuit board. That is, by providing the cross-shaped slot and the feed line portion on one surface of the shield case, the one surface also serves as the conductor member, so that a conductor member dedicated to the antenna is not required, and the circularly polarized slot antenna device is provided. It can be manufactured very inexpensively.

  In the slot antenna device having such a configuration, when the closed end portions of the first and second slots are formed wider than the other portions, the closed end portions have the same width as the other portions. Since the resonance frequency is lower than that, the overall size of the apparatus can be easily reduced.

  Further, in the slot antenna device having such a configuration, when the conductor member has a notch portion at a position facing the closed ends of the first and second slots, compared to a case where the notch portion does not exist. This has the advantage of widening the bandwidth.

  The slot antenna device of the present invention feeds power by projecting a feed line portion in a cross-shaped slot formed by orthogonally crossing a first slot and a second slot, and the first slot and the second slot are approximately Since it is operated as a circularly polarized antenna by exciting it with a phase difference of 90 degrees, a small and inexpensive circularly polarized slot antenna device can be obtained without complicating the feeding circuit and employing a multilayer substrate. .

  In particular, when the conductor member having the cross-shaped slot is made of a metal plate and the cantilever-like band-shaped portion formed on the metal plate is arranged in the cross-shaped slot to form a feeder line portion, a single plate By simply pressing the metal plate, the cross-shaped slot and the feed line portion can be formed easily and accurately, so that the cost can be greatly reduced. Furthermore, when a shield case that houses a circuit board is used as the metal plate, a conductor member dedicated to the antenna is not required, and the circularly polarized slot antenna device can be manufactured at a very low cost.

  1 is a perspective view of a slot antenna device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the slot antenna device, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the slot antenna device. FIG.

  A slot antenna device 10 shown in these drawings includes a circuit board 12 on which a high-frequency circuit 11 including an amplifier, an oscillator, and the like is disposed, and a shield case made of a highly conductive metal plate in a housing that houses the circuit board 12. 13, and a cross-shaped slot 14 and a feed line portion 15 are formed on the upper surface plate 13 a of the shield case 13. The cross-shaped slot 14 provided in the upper surface plate 13a is punched into a shape in which the first slot 14a and the second slot 14b having the same longitudinal dimension are orthogonal to each other. The feed line portion 15 has a cantilever-like belt-like portion formed on the upper surface plate 13 a arranged in the cross-shaped slot 14, and the leading end portion of the feed line portion 15 is connected to the feed circuit of the circuit board 12. .

  The arrangement of the feeder line portion 15 in the cross-shaped slot 14 will be described in detail. The intermediate portion 15b that is continuous with the distal end side of the base end portion 15a passes through a region where both the slots 14a and 14b intersect with each other, and is disposed at a position shifted by a predetermined amount toward one closed end side of the slot 14a. One slot 14a extends toward the other closed end. The leading end portion 15c continuous to the leading end side of the intermediate portion 15b is bent downward and soldered to the circuit board 12. That is, the base end portion 15a of the feeder line portion 15 protrudes into the slot 14a from a part of the periphery of the first slot 14a at a substantially right angle, and the first slot 14a is defined by using the base end portion 15a as a feed line. Can be excited. Further, since the intermediate portion 15b of the feeder line portion 15 extends along the longitudinal direction of the first slot 14a, the intermediate portion 15b crosses the second slot 14b in the width direction. Therefore, the intermediate portion 15b is used as a feeder line. The second slot 14b can be excited. Since the intermediate portion 15b is offset with respect to the straight line that bisects the first slot 14a along the longitudinal direction, the intermediate portion 15b is located between both ends in the width direction of the first slot 14a facing each other across the intermediate portion 15b. A potential difference occurs during power feeding.

  When a signal current is supplied from the feeder circuit to the feeder line section 15, the first slot 14a and the second slot 14b are excited to emit linearly polarized waves that are orthogonal to each other, but flow through the proximal end section 15a. Since the phase of the signal current and the phase of the signal current flowing through the intermediate portion 15b are different, the resonance mode of the first slot 14a and the second slot 14b are appropriately selected by appropriately selecting the shape and formation position of the feeder line portion 15. A phase difference of about 90 degrees can be generated between the resonance mode and the resonance mode. Therefore, the slot antenna device 10 can be operated as a circularly polarized antenna that radiates circularly polarized waves from the cross-shaped slot 14.

  Since the high-frequency circuit 11 is covered with the shield case 13, it is shielded from external radio waves and high reliability is ensured. Further, since the bottom plate portion 13b of the shield case 13 functions as a reflector that reflects the radio wave radiated downward from the cross-shaped slot 14, the slot antenna device 10 has good directivity because the radio wave radiated upward is strengthened. Can be expected.

  The shield case 13 is formed with a notch 16 at a position facing the closed ends of the first and second slots 14a and 14b. Since these notches 16 function as capacitors attached to the magnetic field regions (maximum current regions) of the slots 14a and 14b, the current paths in the magnetic field regions can be varied depending on the frequency. Therefore, by providing these notches 16, the bandwidth of the slot antenna device 10 can be expanded.

  As described above, the slot antenna device 10 according to the present embodiment forms the cross-shaped slot 14 by making the first slot 14 a and the second slot 14 b orthogonal to each other, and the feed line portion 15 protrudes into the cross-shaped slot 14. Since the first slot 14a and the second slot 14b are excited with a phase difference of about 90 degrees by providing and supplying power, the power supply circuit can be operated as a circularly polarized antenna without complicating the power supply circuit. Can do. In addition, the slot antenna device 10 uses the shield case 13 that houses the circuit board 12 to form the cross-shaped slot 14 and the feed line portion 15 on the upper surface plate 13a, so that the number of components is very small. The size is also compact. Moreover, the cross-shaped slot 14 and the feed line portion 15 can be easily and accurately formed by pressing. Therefore, the slot antenna device 10 can be manufactured at a very low cost and can be easily downsized.

  FIG. 4 is a plan view of a slot antenna apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention, and portions corresponding to those in FIG. In the slot antenna device 20 shown in FIG. 4, the first and second slots 14a and 14b have a wide portion 14c in which the vicinity of the closed ends is cut out wider than the other portions. It is different from the example. As described above, when the width dimension of each slot 14a, 14b is widened at the closed end portion which is the magnetic field region (maximum current region), the current path length increases, so that the resonance frequency is lowered. Therefore, the longitudinal dimension of each slot 14a, 14b necessary for resonating at a specific frequency can be reduced, and the miniaturization of the entire apparatus can be facilitated.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the base end portion 15a of the feeder line portion 15 is separated by a predetermined amount from the region where the first and second slots 14a and 14b intersect, but the present invention is not limited to this. It is not something. For example, when the longitudinal dimensions of the first and second slots 14a and 14b are different from each other by a predetermined amount, a base end portion 15a extending in the diagonal direction is projected into a region where both the slots 14a and 14b intersect. Since both the slots 14a and 14b can be excited with a phase difference of about 90 degrees, it can be operated as a circularly polarized antenna.

  In each of the embodiments described above, the case where the cross-shaped slot is opened in the metal plate is described. However, the cross-shaped slot and the feed line portion are formed by patterning a metal foil such as copper on the substrate surface. Also good. For example, a metal foil is patterned on the other side of a circuit board provided with a high-frequency circuit on one side to form a cross-shaped slot and a feed line part, and this feed line part is connected to the feed circuit on the circuit board through a through hole. For example, downsizing of the circularly polarized slot antenna device can be promoted at low cost without employing a multilayer substrate.

It is a perspective view of the slot antenna device concerning the example of an embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing of the slot antenna apparatus shown in FIG. It is a top view of the slot antenna apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a plan view of a slot antenna device according to another embodiment of the present invention. It is a principal part top view of the slot antenna apparatus which concerns on a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10,20 Slot antenna apparatus 11 High frequency circuit 12 Circuit board 13 Shield case 13a Top plate 14 Cross-shaped slot 14a 1st slot 14b 2nd slot 15 Feeding line part 15a Base end part 15b Middle part 15c Tip part 16 Notch part

Claims (6)

A cross member formed by orthogonally crossing the first slot and the second slot and a conductor member having a feed line portion projecting from the cross slot and a high-frequency circuit are disposed to dispose the feed line portion. A power supply line portion, a base end portion formed in the first slot continuously with a peripheral edge portion of the first slot, and a base end portion continuous with the base end portion. An intermediate portion extending through a region where both slots intersect with each other in the longitudinal direction of the first slot, and the first slot is excited by the base end portion , and in the second slot The second slot is excited by the crossing intermediate portion, and the second slot is excited with a phase difference of about 90 degrees with respect to the resonance mode of the first slot. Configured to work as Slot antenna apparatus characterized. In the description of claim 1, wherein the cross slot the feed line unit the first and the proximal end of the second slot is formed continuously towards the said first slot from the periphery of the cross A slot antenna device characterized in that the slot antenna device is spaced a predetermined amount from the area to be operated. 3. The conductor according to claim 1, wherein the conductor member is a metal plate, and a cantilever-like belt-shaped portion formed on the metal plate is arranged in the cross-shaped slot to form the feeder line portion. A slot antenna device characterized in that a tip end portion of the portion is connected to the circuit board. 4. The slot antenna device according to claim 3, further comprising a shield case for housing the circuit board, wherein one surface of the shield case also serves as the conductor member. 5. The slot antenna device according to claim 1, wherein closed ends of the first and second slots are formed wider than other portions. 6. 6. The slot antenna device according to claim 1, wherein the conductor member has a notch at a position facing the closed ends of the first and second slots.

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