Dielectric filter, dielectric duplexer, and communication...

Wave transmission lines and networks – Coupling networks – Wave filters including long line elements

Reexamination Certificate

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C333S134000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06642817

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dielectric filter and a dielectric duplexer which comprise a dielectric block having holes with conductors formed on the surfaces of the holes (hereinafter referred to as inner-conductor holes) and an outer conductor on the outer surface of the dielectric block, and to a communication device using the dielectric filter and the dielectric duplexer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known dielectric filter having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped dielectric block will now be described with reference to
FIGS. 7A and 7B
.
FIG. 7A
is a perspective view of the dielectric filter, and
FIG. 7B
is a leftside elevational view of the same.
In
FIGS. 7A and 7B
, the dielectric filter includes a dielectric block
1
, inner-conductor holes
2
a
,
2
b
,
2
c
, and
2
d
, inner conductors
3
a
,
3
b
,
3
c
, and
3
d
, an outer conductor
4
, input and output (I/O) electrodes
5
a
and
5
b
, and dielectric resonators
6
a
,
6
b
,
6
c
, and
6
d.
Inside the dielectric block
1
, the inner-conductor holes
2
a
to
2
d
, which have the inner conductors
3
a
to
3
c
on the surfaces thereof, form resonators. On the outer surface of the dielectric block
1
, the outer conductor
4
forms a ground electrode. In this manner, the inner-conductor holes
2
a
to
2
d
and the outer conductor
4
form the dielectric resonators
6
a
to
6
d
. On the outer surface of the dielectric block
1
, the I/O electrode
5
a
is formed separate from the outer conductor
4
and is coupled with the dielectric resonator
6
a
(hereinafter referred to as the resonator), and the I/O electrode
5
b
is formed separate from the outer conductor
4
and is coupled with the resonator
6
d
, whereby the dielectric filter is formed.
However, dielectric filters using the known dielectric blocks have the problems described below.
Generally, bandpass filters must obtain a predetermined attenuation far outside the pass band. To this end, an attenuation pole is provided in the attenuation region of the bandpass filters.
In the known dielectric filter, the I/O electrode
5
a
is coupled with the resonator
6
a
and the I/O electrode
5
b
is coupled with the resonator
6
d
. Since the amount of coupling between the resonator
6
a
and the resonator
6
b
, and between the resonator
6
c
and the resonator
6
d
is small, the resonators are not sufficiently capacitively coupled. Therefore, an effective attenuation pole is not obtained. To obtain a sufficient amount of coupling, a capacitor must be provided between the resonator
6
a
and the resonator
6
b
, and between the resonator
6
c
and the resonator
6
d
. Accordingly, the manufacturing costs increase due to the increase in the number of parts, and the reliability deteriorates because of the increase in the number of connections.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5-145302, a dielectric filter in which an attenuation pole is provided in the vicinity of the pass band thereof is disclosed.
The dielectric filter comprises a dielectric block having a plurality of dielectric resonators. The dielectric block has I/O electrodes on the outer surface thereof, which are coupled with the plurality of dielectric resonators. According to this configuration, since the amount of coupling between the plurality of resonators and between the plurality of resonators and the I/O electrodes becomes large, the attenuation region is provided with a pole, making the attenuation curve steeper by forming an attenuation pole near the pass band. Thus, a bandpass filter capable of sufficiently attenuating unwanted signals is provided.
In the above-described dielectric filter, however, the size of the I/O electrodes may vary according to manufacturing tolerances. In such a case, the amount of coupling between the second resonator and the I/O electrode varies, rendering the attenuation characteristics unstable.
Also, when the width of the I/O electrodes (the dimension of the I/O electrodes parallel to the axes of the inner-conductor holes) is large, the Qo factor of the resonators deteriorates, and the insertion loss increases. Further, since the width of the I/O electrodes is fixed, a dielectric filter formed in a certain shape exhibits only one kind of attenuation characteristic. In other words, the dielectric filter is not capable of exhibiting a plurality of attenuation characteristics for achieving desired characteristics.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention provides a dielectric filter and a dielectric duplexer, which exhibit suitable attenuation characteristics and which readily obtain desired characteristics, and provides a communication device using the dielectric filter and the dielectric duplexer.
To this end, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dielectric filter comprising a substantially rectangular parallelepiped dielectric block, a plurality of inner-conductor holes extending from a first main surface to an opposing second main surface of the dielectric block, an inner conductor provided on the surface of each of the inner-conductor holes, an outer conductor formed on outer surfaces of the dielectric block, and I/O electrodes extending from side-surfaces to an undersurface of the dielectric block. The side-surfaces are orthogonal to the direction in which the inner-conductor holes are arrayed in the dielectric block, and the undersurface is a mounting surface for facing a mounting board. The I/O electrodes are separated from the outer conductor. Further, at least one of the I/O electrodes extends across portions of the undersurface of the dielectric block adjacent to at least two of the inner-conductor holes when viewed from the undersurface. The dielectric filter obtained according to this configuration exhibits stable and suitable attenuation characteristics.
In one form of the invention, the width of the one of the I/O electrodes is different between a first region corresponding to the first inner-conductor hole and a second region corresponding to the second inner-conductor hole when viewed from the undersurface. According to this configuration, a dielectric filter is obtained, which readily obtains desired attenuation characteristics.
The width at the first region may be larger than the width at the second region. According to this configuration, a dielectric filter is obtained, which readily obtains desired attenuation characteristics.
The width at the first region may be smaller than the width at the second region. According to this configuration as well, a dielectric filter is obtained, which readily obtains desired attenuation characteristics.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dielectric duplexer comprising the dielectric filter. According to this configuration, the dielectric duplexer exhibits desired characteristics, and stable and suitable attenuation characteristics are achieved.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication device comprising the dielectric filter. According to this configuration, the communication device exhibits suitable communication characteristics.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments of the invention which refers to the accompanying drawings.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5949308 (1999-09-01), Hino
patent: 6052040 (2000-04-01), Hino
patent: 6069542 (2000-05-01), Matsumoto et al.
patent: 2002/0021189 (2002-02-01), Kuroda et al.
patent: 0982792 (2000-03-01), None
patent: 1030400 (2000-08-01), None
patent: 04095401 (1992-03-01), None
patent: 05-145302 (1993-06-01), None

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