WEARABLE ANTENNA DEVICE
20200212546 ยท 2020-07-02
Assignee
Inventors
- Shinichirou KODAMA (Tokyo, JP)
- Kenji KOUNO (Tokyo, JP)
- Tomohiro SHIMODA (Kawasaki-shi Kanagawa, JP)
- Kazuaki MUROFUSHI (Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa, JP)
- Hidenori MORIYA (Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa, JP)
- Mitsuno KONDO (Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa, JP)
- Sumio HIRAKU (Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa, JP)
- yUKIO ANDO (Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa, JP)
- Tetsuya NAGATA (Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa, JP)
Cpc classification
H01Q17/005
ELECTRICITY
H01Q1/36
ELECTRICITY
H01Q1/273
ELECTRICITY
International classification
H01Q1/36
ELECTRICITY
H01Q1/52
ELECTRICITY
Abstract
The wearable antenna device includes an antenna partattached to a part of a garment including a body accommodation partthat accommodates a part of a body, and a functional element arranged in a position of the garment in such a way that at least a part of the functional element is opposed to the antenna part with the body accommodation part interposed therebetween. The functional element is another antenna part or an element that performs at least one of reflection, shielding, and absorption of radio waves
Claims
1. A wearable antenna device comprising an antenna part attached to a part of a garment including a body accommodation part configured to accommodate a part of a body, and a functional element arranged in a position of the garment in such a way that at least a part of the functional element is opposed to the antenna part with the body accommodation part interposed therebetween, wherein the functional element is another antenna part or an element configured to perform at least one of reflection, shielding, and absorption of radio waves.
2. The wearable antenna device according to claim 1, wherein one of the antenna part and the functional element is arranged on a front surface side of the garment and the other one of the antenna part and the functional element is arranged on a back surface side of the garment.
3. The wearable antenna device according to claim 1, wherein the antenna part and the functional element are arranged on an inner side, which is a side of the garment that is close to the body.
4. The wearable antenna device according to claim 1, wherein the antenna part and the functional element are arranged in such a way that they closely contact the body accommodated in the body accommodation part.
5. The wearable antenna device according to claim 1, wherein the antenna part and the functional element each include at least one of a conductive thread, cloth, ink, and film, and have flexibility.
6. The wearable antenna device according to claim 1, comprising an attachment/detachment mechanism for a garment configured to attach one or both of the antenna part and the functional element to the garment, wherein the attachment/detachment mechanism for the garment includes at least one of a surface fastener, a fastener, a button, and a snap button.
7. The wearable antenna device according to claim 1, wherein the functional element is an element configured to perform at least one of reflection, shielding, and absorption of radio waves, and a radio wave absorber is provided in the functional element.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
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DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0034] In the following description, example embodiments of the present disclosure will be explained.
[0035] A wearable antenna device according to a first example embodiment of the present disclosure that is schematically shown in
[0036] According to the configuration of this example embodiment, the body part 4 accommodated (inserted) in the body accommodation part 1a located between the antenna part 2 and the functional element 3 functions as a dielectric having frequency characteristics. Specifically, water in the body, which is the main component of the body 4, especially absorbs or attenuates the radio waves.
[0037] Further, when the functional element 3 is an element that performs at least one of reflection, absorption, and shielding of radio waves, the radio waves coming from the direction in which the functional element 3 is located are reflected, absorbed, or shielded by the functional element 3, and are absorbed or attenuated by the body 4 positioned between the functional element 3 and the antenna part 2. Accordingly, the amount of radio waves that reach the antenna part 2 is reduced. As a result, when the antenna part 2 receives the radio waves, the reception level of the radio waves coming from the front side of the antenna part 2 becomes high and the reception level of the radio waves coming from the side of the functional element 3 and the body 4 becomes low, and the difference in the reception level between the both directions becomes large. Accordingly, high directivity reception in the antenna part 2 can be achieved. This point is extremely effective when the antenna part 2 is used as, for example, a radio wave receiving antenna for monitoring radio waves to search for a source of illegal radio waves.
[0038] When the antenna part 2 emits radio waves, the radio waves that travel from the antenna part 2 toward the functional element 3 and the body 4 are absorbed or attenuated by the body 4 and are reflected, absorbed, or shielded by the functional element 3, similar to the example stated above. Therefore, the level of the radio waves that travel from the antenna part 2 toward the functional element 3 and the body 4 becomes low. As a result, the level of the radio waves emitted from the antenna part 2 to the front side becomes high and the level of the radio waves that travel toward the functional element 3 and the body 4 becomes low, and the difference in the level between the both directions becomes large. Accordingly, high directivity transmission in the antenna part 2 is achieved. As described above, high directivity can be achieved in this example embodiment in both the reception and the transmission of the radio waves using the antenna part 2.
[0039] When, in particular, the functional element 3 is a reflective element, the radio waves that have come from the front side of the antenna part 2 and have reached the functional element 3 are reflected by the functional element 3 and the reflected radio waves are made to travel toward the antenna part 2 again. Therefore, it is possible that the reception level or the radiation level of the radio waves in the antenna part 2 may become higher. However, if the radio waves reflected by the functional element 3 may possibly adversely affect the performance of the antenna part 2, the functional element 3 having a function of shielding or absorption, not a function of reflection, is preferably provided.
[0040] Further, when the functional element 3 is an element that functions as another antenna part as well, it is efficient that the body 4 positioned between the antenna part 2 and the functional element 3 function as a dielectric and absorb or attenuate the radio waves. That is, when radio waves are emitted from the antenna part 2, the radio waves propagate toward the front side at a high level, whereas the radio waves propagate toward the functional element 3 at a low level since the radio waves are absorbed or attenuated by the body 4. Accordingly, radio waves emitted from the antenna part 2 on the front side do not have a large influence on the reception and the transmission of radio waves in the functional element 3 that functions as another antenna part. That is, when the functional element 3 transmits radio waves as another antenna part, the radio waves coming from the side of the antenna part 2 (front side) are absorbed or attenuated by the body 4, and therefore radio waves hardly ever reach the functional element 3. As a result, the functional element 3 can emit radio waves to a side opposite to the antenna part 2 without being influenced by the radio waves from the antenna part 2. On the other hand, the radio waves emitted from the functional element 3 and propagating toward the antenna part 2 (front side) are also absorbed or attenuated by the body 4. As a result, the functional element 3 can transmit radio waves with high directivity, similar to the antenna part 2.
[0041] When the functional element 3 receives radio waves as another antenna part, radio waves coming from the antenna part 2 hardly ever reach the functional element 3 since they are absorbed or attenuated by the body 4. As a result, in the functional element 3 that functions as the antenna part, high directivity in which the reception level of the radio waves coming from the side opposite to the antenna part 2 is high and the reception level of the radio waves coming from the side of the antenna part 2 (front side) is high is achieved. When the antenna part 2 receives radio waves and the functional element 3 transmits radio waves, the antenna part 2 is able to perform reception with high directivity, and the functional element 3 is able to perform transmission with high directivity. This can be understood by switching the antenna part 2 and the functional element 3 in the above description.
[0042] When both the antenna part 2 and the functional element 3 receive radio waves, the both elements may perform reception with high directivity. This is because, since at least a part of the antenna part 2 and the functional element 3 are opposed to each other with the body accommodation part 1a and the body 4 interposed therebetween, the radio waves from the side of the functional element 3 are absorbed or attenuated by the body 4 with respect to the antenna part 2, and the radio waves from the side of the antenna part 2 are absorbed or attenuated by the body 4 with respect to the functional element 3.
[0043] As described above, in this example embodiment, transmission and reception of radio waves with high directivity can be performed in the antenna part 2 mainly due to the effect of the body 4, which serves as a dielectric. Since the directivity is high, the influence that the radio waves coming from an undesirable direction have on the antenna part 2 is small, and further undesirable influences on another member that are due to the radio waves from the antenna part 2 are small. Therefore, it becomes possible to increase the size of the antenna part 2. Accordingly, a wearable antenna device with high performance can be formed. When the functional element 3, at least a part of which being opposed to the antenna part 2 with the body accommodation part 1a interposed therebetween, is an element that reflects, absorbs, or shields the radio waves, directivity of transmission and reception of radio waves in the antenna part 2 is further improved and the size of the antenna part 2 can be further increased and the performance thereof can be further improved. On the other hand, when the functional element 3 is an element that functions as another antenna part, the functional element 3 as well as the antenna part 2 are able to perform transmission and reception of radio waves with high directivity mainly due to the effect of the body 4, which serves as a dielectric, whereby it is possible to increase the size of the functional element 3 and to improve the performance thereof. As described above, regardless of whether the antenna part 2 performs transmission or reception, or regardless of whether the functional element 3 performs reflection, absorption, or shielding of radio waves or functions as another antenna part, this example embodiment contributes to improving directivity. Further, the antenna part 2 and electric systems connected thereto are designed considering the frequency characteristics of the body 4 in advance, whereby the body 4 can be efficiently used as a dielectric and further the wearable antenna device having an appropriate performance (in accordance with a required specification) can be easily formed in accordance with actual usage conditions.
[0044] In the example shown in
[0045] In the following description, example embodiments of the wearable antenna device according to the present disclosure will be explained in further detail.
[0046] In this example embodiment, the wearable antenna device includes, similar to that in the aforementioned first example embodiment, the antenna part 2 arranged in a part of the garment 1, and the functional element 3 arranged in a position of the garment 1 in such a way that at least a part of the functional element 3 is opposed to the antenna part 2 with the body accommodation part 1a interposed therebetween. In this example embodiment, a vest is used as the garment 1 in the wearable antenna device. Then, the antenna part 2 is arranged in the front body part of the vest 1, and the functional element 3 is arranged in the back body part. More specifically, as shown in
[0047] In this example embodiment, as shown in
[0048] In this example embodiment, the antenna part 2 and the functional element 3 are mounted on the inner side of the vest 1 (side that is close to the body 4, rear surface), and are located closer to the body accommodated in the body accommodation part 1a than a case in which they are mounted on the outer side (front surface). Further, the vest 1 according to this example embodiment can be fixed in a state in which it closely contacts the body 4 of the user using surface fasteners 15 provided in a side belt part 1b located in the waist part. In this configuration, when the antenna part 2 and the functional element 3 closely contact the body 4 and are held, there is no gap in which radio waves sneak into a part between the antenna part 2 and the functional element 3, and the body 4 that functions as a dielectric. That is, it is possible to maintain a state in which the antenna part 2 and the functional element 3 are electrically separated from each other as much as possible. Accordingly, the antenna part 2 and the functional element 3 can each function independently from each other, and therefore it is highly likely that the effect such as improvement in directivity described above can be obtained. Further, it is possible to increase the size of the antenna part 2 and that of the functional element 3 without much concerning about the possibility that the antenna part 2 and the functional element 3 end up to be electrically connected to each other due to the sneaked radio waves. This greatly contributes to improving the performance of the antenna part 2 and the functional element 3. However, even when the antenna part 2 and the functional element 3 are mounted on the inner side of the vest 1 (the side of the body 4, rear surface), the antenna part 2 and the functional element 3 are each covered with a shirt or a cloth (not shown) in order to prevent the antenna element 8 from directly contacting the body 4 and from being electrically conducted. In this example embodiment, the antenna part 2 and the functional element 3 may be mounted on the outer side (front surface) of the garment (e.g., the vest 1) considering the design and the functionality of the garment. Further, it is possible that the antenna part 2 and the functional element 3 may be held in a state in which they do not closely contact the body 4. Even in this case, the configuration according to this example embodiment is efficient to improve directivity of transmission and reception of radio waves as described above, and to obtain the effects in accordance therewith.
[0049] Further, in this example embodiment, the antenna part 2 is arranged on the front surface side (front side, abdominal side) of the human body when the user wears the garment (vest) 1, and the functional element 3 is arranged on the opposite side thereof, that is, the back surface side (rear side, back side). According to this structure, directivity focuses on the front side of the human body, that is, in the front of the line of sight of the user who wears the vest 1, whereby it becomes extremely easy to search for, for example, a source of radio waves when illegal radio waves are received.
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[0054] The antenna part 2 can be attached to the garment 1 using the surface fasteners 5 and 6, the snap buttons 16 and 17, and the fasteners 18 and 19 according to the first to fifth example embodiments, or various attachment/detachment mechanisms for garments such as buttons (not shown). All of these attachment/detachment mechanisms for garments are generally available easily for a low cost, and work of attaching them, and attaching and detaching work of the antenna part 2 using them may be performed extremely easily. The attachment/detachment mechanism to be actually used can be determined by a user as appropriate. Further, the functional element 3 may be also attached to the garment 1 using a similar attachment/detachment mechanism for a garment.
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[0056] A seventh example embodiment of the wearable antenna device according to the present disclosure schematically shown in
[0057] In the present disclosure, the body accommodation part 1a that accommodates a part of the body is arranged between the antenna part 2 and the functional element 3, and the body 4 accommodated in the body accommodation part 1a functions as a dielectric having specific frequency characteristics. In the present disclosure, the wearable antenna device is designed so as to obtain a desired performance the function of the body 4 as the dielectric, namely absorption or attenuation of radio waves by water, which is a main component of the body 4. Further, directivity of reception and transmission of radio waves in the antenna part 2 is improved by the function as the dielectric of the body 4, whereby the excellent function and performance are achieved as, for example, a wearable antenna device used for monitoring radio waves.
[0058] In the present disclosure, some of the configurations in the aforementioned first to seventh example embodiments may be combined as appropriate.
[0059] While the present disclosure has been explained above with reference to the example embodiments, the present disclosure is not limited to them. Various changes that may be understood by one skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and the details of the present disclosure within the scope of the present disclosure.
[0060] This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-091928, filed on May 2, 2017, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST
[0061] 1 GARMENT [0062] 1A BODY ACCOMMODATION PART [0063] 1B SIDE BELT PART [0064] 2 ANTENNA PART [0065] 3 FUNCTIONAL ELEMENT [0066] 4 BODY [0067] 5, 6 SURFACE FASTENER [0068] 7 BASE [0069] 8 ANTENNA ELEMENT [0070] 15 SURFACE FASTENER (ATTACHMENT/DETACHMENT MECHANISM FOR GARMENT) [0071] 16, 17 SNAP BUTTON (ATTACHMENT/DETACHMENT MECHANISM FOR GARMENT) [0072] 18, 19 FASTENER (ATTACHMENT/DETACHMENT MECHANISM FOR GARMENT) [0073] 20 SNAP BUTTON (ATTACHMENT/DETACHMENT MECHANISM FOR GARMENT) [0074] 21 RADIO WAVE ABSORBER