This application claims priority of Application No. 109136261 filed in Taiwan on 20 Oct. 2020 under 35 U.S.C. § 119; the entire contents of all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a vehicular radar technology, particularly to a flexible plate-based radar antenna device with a field of view over 160 degrees.

Description of the Prior Art

Vehicular radar technologies are developed to assist drivers in detecting blind spots and promote driving safety, including Packing Assist Systems (PAS), Blind Spot Detection (BSD) systems, Lane change Alert (LCA) systems, and Door Open Warning (DOW) systems. Different vehicular assist systems respectively have different alarm distances. Once the distance between an obstacle and the vehicle is shorter than or equal to the alarm distance, the radar system would generate an alarm signal to warn the driver.

The conventional vehicular radar technologies are used by the vehicular assist systems, such as Packing Assist Systems (PAS), Blind Spot Detection (BSD) systems, Lane change Alert (LCA) systems, and Door Open Warning (DOW) systems. However, the conventional radar technology adopt two independent radar systems, which are respectively installed on two sides of the vehicular bumper. Two radar systems respectively transmit detection signals and receive the reflected detection signals. The detection results are sent to an in-vehicle system. The in-vehicle system calculates the distance between the obstacle and the vehicle and determines whether to send out an alarm signal. Therefore, the dedicated software of the vehicular assist system must be installed in the in-vehicle system. Once the in-vehicle system malfunctions or crashes, the vehicular assist system will fail to work. Thus, the driving safety is affected.

Accordingly, the present invention proposes a flexible plate-based radar antenna device with a field of view over 160 degrees, wherein the motherboard is disposed in the radar antenna device; the antenna board is divided into two antenna boards respectively facing different directions, whereby the shape of the radar device can be designed more flexibly and the abovementioned problems can be solved more effectively. The principles and embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a flexible plate-based radar antenna device with a field of view over 160 degrees, wherein the antenna board of the radar is a flexible plate that is soft and can be stuck to a structure of an arbitrary shape compliantly, whereby the design of the shape of a radar device becomes more flexible.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a flexible plate-based radar antenna device with a field of view over 160 degrees, wherein two antenna boards are disposed in a radar antenna device and respectively faced to different directions, whereby a single radar can have a field of view over 160 degrees.

In order to achieve the abovementioned objectives, the present invention proposes a flexible plate-based radar antenna device with a field of view over 160 degrees, which comprises a support base, two antenna boards, and a circuit board. The support base has an installation surface and two inclined surfaces. The angle between the installation surface and each of the inclined surfaces is assigned as a first angle. The angle between the upward extensions of two inclined surfaces is assigned as a second angle. Two antenna boards are flexible plates. The back surfaces of two antenna boards are respectively stuck onto two inclined surfaces of the support base. At least one set of transmitting antennas and at least one set of receiving antennas are disposed on the front surface of the antenna board, respectively transmitting detection signals and receiving reflection signals from at least one obstacle. The circuit board is electrically connected with connection ends of two antenna boards, controlling the antenna boards to transmit the detection signals and receive the reflection signals.

In one embodiment, the set of transmitting antennas and the set of receiving antennas are patch antenna.

In one embodiment, the second angle ranges between 30 and 50 degrees.

In one embodiment, two antenna boards are bent upward from the connection ends and then bent outward to make the set of transmitting antennas and the set of receiving antennas face upward obliquely and face outward.

In one embodiment, the present invention further comprises a bottom base and a top cover. The circuit board is disposed on the bottom base. The top cover and the bottom base are joined to form an integral body.

In one embodiment, the antenna board is a thin printed circuit board assembled to the circuit board; the installation surface of the support base is connected with the circuit board.

In one embodiment, the circuit board is a printed circuit board; the antenna boards are flexible printed circuit boards; patch antenna are disposed on the antenna boards to function as the set of transmitting antennas and the set of receiving antennas; the circuit board and the antenna boards are fabricated into an integral structure.

In one embodiment, the antenna boards are disposed at two adjacent edges of the circuit board; the installation surface of the support base is connected with the bottom base.

