Communications: radio wave antennas – Antennas – Body-attached or connected
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-04
2001-05-29
Phan, Tho G (Department: 2821)
Communications: radio wave antennas
Antennas
Body-attached or connected
C343S867000, C343S906000, C340S870030, C455S344000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06239759
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
The present invention relates to an antenna connector for providing connection between an antenna in a wrist-band or the like and electronic means within a wrist-watch or the like.
Development work on personal information management systems is going on. Such a system can include a personal information manager—in the form of a wrist-watch—, a computer, and communication means therebetween. The details of the system are not relevant for the present invention, and no further description thereof is therefore given. It is sufficient to note that the personal information manager needs an antenna for its communication with the computer and that the antenna preferably is arranged in the wrist-band of the personal information manager/wrist-watch.
Several solutions to the problem of establishing appropriate connection between the antenna in the wrist-band and the electronic means in the wrist-watch are known. Relevant examples are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,754,285, 5,179,733, 5,235,560, 5,303,421, EP-A-0 126 629, and EP-A-0 631 341.
All these known solutions suffer from disadvantages, such that the antenna is directly connected to the electronic means in the wrist-watch and is susceptible to bending stresses at the use of the device and/or that the antenna can be exposed to tensile stresses at use, which in both cases ultimately can lead to rupture of the antenna. Also, it may be difficult or at least inconvenient to connect the antenna in the wrist-watch, which among other things means that an exchange of the wrist-band can be difficult to perform.
SUMMARY
These and other problems can be obviated by an antenna connector according to the invention, having
a wrist-band contact part for attachment to the wrist-band and connection to the antenna therein and for rotatable arrangement on a wrist-watch pin, and
a wrist-watch contact part for rotatable arrangement on the wrist-watch pin in electric contact with the wrist-band contact part and for connection to the electronic means within the wrist-watch.
By this arrangement rotatable on the per se conventional wrist-watch pin, the antenna itself is not exposed to any stresses, but still the appropriate electric connection can be established.
For the necessary electric insulation of the contact parts from the usually metallic wrist-watch pin and the metallic wrist-watch case, the pin may be provided with a plastic sleeve arrangement, which also can have the purpose of providing mechanical stability, as appears below.
The rotatable arrangement of the contact parts may be attained in that they are provided with loops with an inner diameter corresponding to the outer diameter of the sleeve.
Preferably, the wrist-band contact part has two loops and the wrist-watch contact part one loop, arranged between said two loops in electric contact therewith.
For enhancing the electric contact between the loops a wave washer is preferably arranged around the wrist-watch pin between the loop of the wrist-watch contact part and one of the loops of the wrist-band contact part. This wave washer may be made of gold, which is a material with very good resilient and contact properties. The contact creating surfaces of the loops can also be gold-plated.
As mentioned above, the pin sleeve arrangement can—beside the above mentioned inner sleeve for receiving the loops—preferably have two outer sleeves on the inner sleeve for providing lateral support for the loops.
Electric connection to the electronic means in the wrist-watch could be provided directly from the wrist-watch contact part, but a more versatile solution, for example enabling an easy exchange of the wrist-band, is according to the invention provided in that the wrist watch contact part has a contact pin for contact with an antenna contact socket in an insulating contact socket holder in the case of the wrist-watch.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4586827 (1986-05-01), Hirsch et al.
patent: 4754285 (1988-06-01), Robitaille
patent: 5144325 (1992-09-01), Kurcbart
patent: 5179733 (1993-01-01), Matsui
patent: 5235560 (1993-08-01), Seager
patent: 5303421 (1994-04-01), Goldenberg
patent: 5892455 (1999-04-01), Matsumoto
patent: 5986566 (1999-11-01), Yamamori
patent: 0126629 (1984-11-01), None
patent: 0631341 (1994-12-01), None
Appelkvist Kjell-Otto
Lindahl Richard
Lundqvist Lars
Burns Doane Swecker & Mathis L.L.P.
Phan Tho G
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)
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