USOO89221 62B2
`
`(12) United States Patent
`Park et al.
`
`(10) Patent No.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 8,922,162 B2
`Dec. 30, 2014
`
`(54) PORTABLE TERMINAL HAVING A
`WIRELESS CHARGER COIL AND AN
`ANTENNAELEMENT ON THE SAME PLANE
`
`(51) Int. Cl.
`HIM I/46
`H02. 7/00
`(52) U.S. Cl.
`
`(2006.01)
`(2006.01)
`
`(75) Inventors: Jin-Hyoung Park, Gangwon-do (KR):
`
`Ki-Hyun Kim, Gyeonggi-do (KR);
`Kil-Soo Ko, Gyeonggi-do (KR); Se-Ho
`E. E. s: Sung-Kweon
`s
`(73) Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd (KR)
`
`Sc - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - H02. 700 268
`
`. . . . . . . .
`." ... . .
`...
`(58) Ele.of Classification search
`108. 114 115
`See application file for complete search history. s
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`(56)
`
`(*) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 479 days.
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 13/312,359
`
`(22) Filed:
`
`Dec. 6, 2011
`
`(65)
`
`O
`O
`Prior Publication Data
`US 2013/OO38278 A1
`Feb. 14, 2013
`
`O
`O
`Foreign Application Priority Data
`(30)
`Aug. 8, 2011 (KR) ........................ 10-2011-OO78611
`
`3/2011 Partoviet al. ................. 320, 108
`2011/0050164 Ali
`2012/0146576 A1* 6, 2012 Partovi .......................... 320, 108
`* cited by examiner
`Primary Examiner — Edward Tso
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — The Farrell Law Firm, P.C.
`
`ABSTRACT
`(57)
`A portable terminal having a wireless charger coil and an
`antenna element on the same plane is provided, in which a
`shielding member is attached to an inner Surface of an exter
`nal part, a first coil is attached to one Surface of the shielding
`member, facing the inner Surface of the external part, and a
`second coil is attached to the one surface of the shielding
`member, Surrounding the first coil on the same plane.
`15 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets
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`102
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`LOad Switch
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`U.S. Patent
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`Dec. 30, 2014
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`Sheet 1 of 4
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`US 8,922,162 B2
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`U.S. Patent
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`Dec. 30, 2014
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`Sheet 2 of 4
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`US 8,922,162 B2
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`FIG.3
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`U.S. Patent
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`Dec. 30, 2014
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`Sheet 3 of 4
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`US 8,922,162 B2
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`101
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`OMMUnication
`PrOCeSSOr
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`102
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`101
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`145- - -
`143-
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`)
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`- N - 145
`14,
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`149
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`OMMUnication
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`149
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`135
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`133
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`/
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`NFC COil -
`FIG.6
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`Charger IC
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`--
`Battery
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`FIG.7
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`U.S. Patent
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`Dec. 30, 2014
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`Sheet 4 of 4
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`US 8,922,162 B2
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`102
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`133
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`N-147
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`Load Switch
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`Battery
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`Communication
`Processor
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`US 8,922,162 B2
`
`1.
`PORTABLE TERMINAL HAVINGA
`WIRELESS CHARGER COIL AND AN
`ANTENNAELEMENT ON THE SAME PLANE
`
`PRIORITY
`
`This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. S 119(a) to
`a Korean Patent Application filed in the Korean Intellectual
`Property Office on Aug. 8, 2011, and assigned Serial No.
`10-2011-0078611, the contents of which are incorporated
`herein by reference.
`
`10
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
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`1. Field of the Invention
`The present invention relates to a portable terminal, and
`more particularly, to a portable terminal having a secondary
`coil for wireless charging, as well as a plurality of antenna
`elements.
`2. Description of the Related Art
`In general, a portable terminal is a device capable of per
`forming a mobile communication function, an electronic note
`function, Internet access, and a multimedia function, among
`other functions, while being carried by a user. Recently, vari
`ous functions have been integrated in a single mobile com
`25
`munication terminal called a Smartphone.
`Meanwhile, a transport card, a security card, a credit card,
`and the like can be used to make payment or to authenticate a
`user by a Near Field Communication (NFC) function. As
`portable terminals have become a daily commodity, they are
`equipped with the NFC function. Accordingly, a portable
`terminal is provided with an additional antenna for perform
`ing the NFC function. Compared to short-range wireless
`communication, such as BluetoothTM or ZigbeeTM functions,
`the NFC technology provides an advantage of fast commu
`35
`nication setup between communication devices. Despite this
`advantage, the NFC function communicates at a relatively
`low frequency of 13.56 MHz, making it important to be
`within recognition distance to implement the NFC function in
`a portable terminal.
`To supply power to the portable terminal, a detachable
`battery pack or a built-in battery pack is used. A user charges
`the battery pack according to the remaining amount of battery
`power, generally, using a separate charger. To increase user
`convenience, efforts have been made to commercialize wire
`less charging. For wireless charging, inductive coupling
`using a magnetic field, capacitive coupling using an electrical
`field, and radio frequency wave radiation are available.
`Among them, the inductive coupling scheme is suitable for
`wireless charging in terms of power efficiency. According to
`the inductive coupling scheme, a battery pack is wirelessly
`charged by aligning a primary coil of a charger with a sec
`ondary coil of a portable terminal.
`To implement both the NFC function and the wireless
`charging function in a single portable terminal, an NFC
`55
`antenna element taking the form of a loop antenna and a
`secondary coil for wireless charging should be mounted in the
`portable terminal. A shielding body is used to prevent inter
`ference between the antenna element and the secondary coil,
`and to protect from interference caused by the secondary coil
`on other circuits of the portable terminal when the antenna
`element and the secondary coil simultaneously operate. How
`ever, the use of a shielding body for each of the antenna
`element and the secondary coil increases the thickness of the
`portable terminal. Although the secondary coil for wireless
`charging may be utilized as the NFC antenna element, it is
`difficult to achieve both wireless charging efficiency and a
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`recognition distance for NFC. Moreover, since the shielding
`body is usually formed by rolling to be in a planar form, it is
`difficult to fix a spirally wound coil or an antenna element
`having the same structure.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`An aspect of embodiments of the present invention is to
`address at least the problems and/or disadvantages and to
`provide at least the advantages described below. Accordingly,
`an aspect of embodiments of the present invention is to pro
`vide a portable terminal having a structure that facilitates
`mounting of a secondary coil for wireless charging and a Near
`Field Communication (NFC) antenna element, without
`increasing the thickness of the portable terminal.
`Another aspect of embodiments of the present invention is
`to provide a portable terminal having a structure that can
`achieve a sufficient wireless charging efficiency and a suffi
`cient recognition distance for NFC.
`A further aspect of embodiments of the present invention is
`to provide a portable terminal having a structure that facili
`tates fixing of a spirally wound coil or an antenna element
`having the same configuration as the coil.
`In accordance with an embodiment of the present inven
`tion, there is provided a portable terminal in which a shielding
`member is attached to an inner Surface of an external part, a
`first coil is attached to a surface of the shielding member that
`faces the inner Surface of the external part, and a second coil
`is attached to the surface of the shielding member, with the
`second coil Surrounding the first coil on a same plane.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`The above and other objects, features and advantages of
`certain embodiments of the present invention will be more
`apparent from the following detailed description taken in
`conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
`FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a portable ter
`minal according to an embodiment of the present invention;
`FIG. 2 is a plan view of a coil module in the portable
`terminal of FIG. 1;
`FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the coil module of FIG. 2;
`FIG. 4 illustrates mounting of the coil module of FIG. 2 to
`a battery cover of the portable terminal according to an
`embodiment of the present invention;
`FIG. 5 illustrates the portable terminal with which the
`battery cover illustrated in FIG. 4 is combinable;
`FIG. 6 illustrates mounting of the coil module of FIG. 2 to
`the battery cover of the portable terminal according to another
`embodiment of the present invention;
`FIG. 7 illustrates the portable terminal with which the
`battery cover illustrated in FIG. 6 is combinable;
`FIG. 8 illustrates mounting of the coil module of FIG. 2 to
`the battery cover of the portable terminal according to a
`further embodiment of the present invention; and
`FIG. 9 illustrates the portable terminal with which the
`battery cover of FIG. 8 is to be combined.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
`OF THE INVENTION
`
`Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of
`the present invention with reference to the accompanying
`drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals will
`be understood to refer to the same elements, features and
`structures. In addition, a detailed description of a generally
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`US 8,922,162 B2
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`3
`known function and structure of the present invention will be
`avoidedlest it should obscure the subject matter of the present
`invention.
`Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a portable terminal 100 according
`to an embodiment of the present invention includes a shield
`ing member 131 attached to an inner surface of an external
`part such as a battery cover 102 or a housing 101, and a pair
`of coils 133 and 135 attached to the shielding member 131.
`The coils 133 and 135 are mounted on the same plane. The
`shielding member 131 and the coils 133 and 135 are collec
`tively referred to herein as a coil module 103.
`Referring to FIG. 1, the portable terminal 100 is a bar type
`terminal having a touch screen display. While not shown, the
`display, function keys such as Start/End and Select keys, a
`transmitter, and a receiver are installed on a front Surface of
`the housing 101.
`The housing 101 is provided on a rear surface of the por
`table terminal 100, with a battery mounting recess 111 for
`accommodating a battery pack. The battery cover 102 covers
`the battery mounting recess 111. A plurality of terminals 149
`and a camera module 119 are installed at one side of the
`battery mounting recess 111, with the terminals 149 also
`being covered by the battery cover 102. An opening 121
`penetrates through both surfaces of the battery cover 102. The
`camera module 119 is accommodated in the opening 121,
`thereby securing a capturing path. A connector terminal, a
`memory slot, a Volume key, and a camera shutter Switch (not
`shown) may be arranged on a side Surface of the housing 101.
`The coil module 103 is attached to the inner surface of the
`battery cover 102 and connected to circuits of the portable
`terminal 100, for example, a communication circuit or a
`charging circuit via the plurality of terminals 149. As illus
`trated in FIGS. 1-3, the coil module 103 includes the shielding
`member 131 and the coils 133 and 135.
`The shielding member 131 may be formed by injection
`molding, having first and second accommodation grooves
`141 and 142 on a surface thereof. The first and second accom
`modation grooves 141 and 142 are circular in shape and
`recessed into one surface of the shielding member 131. The
`second accommodation groove 142 surrounds the first
`accommodation groove 141, being concentric with the first
`accommodation groove 141. A shielding wall 137 is inter
`posed between the first and second accommodation grooves
`141 and 142.
`A pellet being a mixture of metal powder containing an
`iron (Fe) component and synthetic resin is injection-molded
`into the shielding member 131. The synthetic resin is prefer
`ably Poly Carbonate (PC), Poly Amide (PA), Acrylonitrile
`Butadiene-Styrene (ABS) copolymer, or Nylon. As stated
`above, the shielding member 131 contains the iron compo
`nent which prevents mutual interference between the coils
`133 and 135, and prevents the coils 133 and 135 from impact
`ing circuits within the portable terminal 100, caused by elec
`tronic waves generated from high-frequency waves, low-fre
`quency waves, or power applied to the coils 133 and 135.
`As shown in FIGS. 2-3, the first coil 133 is accommodated
`in the first accommodation groove 141 and the second coil
`135 is accommodated in the second accommodation groove
`142. The first and second coils 133 and 135 are formed by
`spirally winding enamel-insulated conductor wires.
`As the first and second coils 133 and 135 are accommo
`dated in the first and second accommodation grooves 141 and
`142, respectively, and the second coil 135 surrounds the first
`coil 133. Herein, the shielding wall 137 between the first and
`second coils 133 and 135 provides a shielding effect between
`the coils. In other words, the shielding wall 137 shields inter
`ference of electronic waves between the first and second coils
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`133 and 135. The first and second coils 133 and 135 have
`connection ends 143 and 145, respectively, extended from
`one side of the shielding member 131. The connection ends
`143 and 145 are connected to circuits of the portable terminal
`100 via the plurality of terminals 149 provided on the housing
`101.
`When installed, the first and second coils 133 and 135 are
`exposed from one surface of the shielding member 131. How
`ever, the first and second coils 133 and 135 face the inner
`surface of the battery cover 102 when the shielding member
`131 is attached to the battery cover 102, thereby covering the
`first and second coils 133 and 135. Consequently, the first and
`second coils 133 and 135 are covered by the shielding mem
`ber 131 and the battery cover 102.
`One of the first and second coils 133 and 135 may be used
`as a secondary coil for wireless charging and the other coil
`may be used as an NFC antenna element. The coils 133 and
`135 may also be used as antennas for short-range wireless
`communication, e.g. BluetoothTM or terrestrial multimedia
`broadcasting antennas, the embodiments of the present inven
`tion utilize the first coil 133 as a secondary coil for wireless
`charging and utilize the second coil 135 as an NFC antenna
`element.
`For wireless charging, the portable terminal 100 may be
`cradled on a charging cradle (not shown) to align a primary
`coil of a charger with the secondary coil of the portable
`terminal 100 corresponding to the first coil 133. Alternatively,
`the primary coil is movably mounted in the charging cradle
`such that when the portable terminal 100 is positioned on the
`charging cradle, the primary coil is moved to align with the
`portable terminal 100.
`To align the primary coil of the charging cradle with the
`first coil 133 of the portable terminal 100, the shielding mem
`ber 131 may have a protrusion portion 139. The protrusion
`portion 139 protrudes from the first accommodation groove
`141 of the shielding member 131. Since the shielding member
`131 contains the iron component, the protrusion portion 139
`also contains an iron component. That is, because the protru
`sion portion 139 contains a paramagnetic material, i.e. the
`iron component, when the protrusion portion 139 is posi
`tioned within the magnetic field of a permanent magnet, an
`attraction force of the permanent magnet pulls on the protru
`sion portion 139.
`The permanent magnetis attached to the primary coil of the
`charging cradle. When the portable terminal 100 is mounted
`on the charging cradle, the attraction force between the per
`manent magnet and the shielding member 131, particularly
`the protrusion portion 139, aligns the primary coil of the
`charging cradle with the first coil 133 of the portable terminal
`100. Meanwhile, while the protrusion portion 139 contains
`the iron component and thus has a paramagnetic property, the
`protrusion portion 139 may have an additional magnetic por
`tion attached on the first accommodation groove 141 to
`increase the attraction force between the permanent magnet
`of the primary coil and the shielding member 131. Preferably,
`the additional magnetic portion is formed of a paramagnetic
`material.
`FIGS. 4 to 9 illustrate configurations of a portable terminal
`that implements both a wireless charging function and an
`NFC function using the coil module 103, with the first coil
`133 as a secondary coil used for wireless charging and the
`second coil 135 as an antenna element for NFC, by way of
`example.
`FIG. 4 illustrates mounting of the coil module 103 on the
`battery cover 102 of the portable terminal 100 according to an
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`US 8,922,162 B2
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`6
`minal. Since grooves for accommodating the first and second
`coils are formed in a shielding member, spirally wound first
`and second coils can be readily fixed herein. Furthermore, a
`shielding wall being a part of the shielding member isolates
`the first and second coils from each other, thereby preventing
`mutual interference between the first and second coils. As a
`consequence, high power efficiency and a Sufficient recogni
`tion distance can be achieved for the wireless charging func
`tion and the NFC function, respectively.
`While the present invention has been particularly shown
`and described with reference to embodiments thereof, it will
`be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various
`changes in form and details may be made therein without
`departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as
`defined by the following claims.
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`embodiment of the present invention and FIG. 5 illustrates the
`housing 101 to be combined with the battery cover 102 illus
`trated in FIG. 4.
`FIG. 6 illustrates mounting of the coil module 103 on the
`battery cover 102 of the portable terminal 100 according to
`another embodiment of the present invention and FIG. 7
`illustrates the housing 101 to be combined with the battery
`cover 102 illustrated in FIG. 6.
`To implement the wireless charging function and the NFC
`function using the first and second coils 133 and 135, the first
`and second coils 133 and 135 are connected to a communi
`cation processor and a charge Integrated Circuit (IC), respec
`tively. An NFCIC or a Wireless Charger (WC) IC is disposed
`on a connection of the first or second coil 133 or 135 to a
`circuit of the portable terminal 100. These ICs control current
`and Voltage during charging.
`In accordance with the embodiment of the present inven
`tion illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the NFCIC is connected to
`the communication processor of the portable terminal 100
`and to the second coil 135 mounted to the battery cover 102
`via the plurality of terminals 149. The charger IC is installed
`inside the portable terminal 100 and connected to the battery
`pack. In addition, the WCIC is connected to the charger IC
`inside the portable terminal 100 and to the first coil 133
`mounted to the battery cover 102 through the remaining plu
`rality of terminals 149.
`The embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 and in FIGS.
`6 and 7 are substantially identical in configuration, except that
`the WCIC is installed to the battery cover 102 in the latter
`embodiment. Thus further detail of the embodiment illus
`trated in FIGS. 6 and 7 is not repeated herein.
`FIG. 8 illustrates mounting of the coil module 103 on the
`battery cover 102 of the portable terminal 100 according to a
`further embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 9
`illustrates the housing 101 to be combined with the battery
`cover 102 of FIG. 8.
`Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, the first and second coils 133
`and 135 share connection ends 147 and only a pair of termi
`nals 149 are installed on the housing 101. In this case, even
`though power is Supplied and signals are transmitted through
`the shared connection ends 147 and the pair of terminals 149.
`a load Switch may prevent signal or power interference on
`lines. Since more power is supplied through a line during
`wireless charging than during powering of a signal for the
`NFC function, the load switch prevents the wireless charging
`power from influencing the NFC line or the second coil 135.
`As illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 9, those of skill in the art will
`recognize that a rectifier or a charger IC can be selectively
`disposed in connecting the first and second coils 133 and 135
`configured as a secondary coil for wireless charging and an
`antenna element for the NFC function to circuits of the por
`table terminal 100.
`When the wireless charging function and the NFC function
`are implemented using the coil module of the present inven
`tion, approximately 71% power efficiency can be achieved
`during wireless charging and a recognition distance of about
`25 mm can be secured for the NFC function. As the first and
`second coils are positioned on a same plane, the increase of
`the thickness of the portable terminal is minimized and both
`the wireless charging function and the NFC function can be
`implemented in a single terminal.
`As is apparent from the above description, the portable
`terminal according to the present invention has a first coil for
`wireless charging and a second coil for the NFC function on
`the same plane. Therefore, both the wireless charging func
`tion and the NFC function can be implemented in the portable
`terminal without increasing the thickness of the portable ter
`
`What is claimed is:
`1. A portable terminal comprising:
`a shielding member attached to an inner Surface of an
`external part;
`a first coil attached to a surface of the shielding member
`that faces the inner surface of the external part;
`a second coil attached to the Surface of the shielding mem
`ber, wherein the second coil surrounds the first coil on a
`same plane; and
`a load Switch providing a first connection line for connect
`ing the first coil to a battery pack of the portable terminal
`and a second connection line for connecting the second
`coil to a communication circuit of the portable terminal,
`wherein the load switch prevents signal or power interfer
`ence between the first connection line and the second
`connection line.
`2. The portable terminal of claim 1, wherein the first coil is
`a secondary coil for inductive coupling with a charger and the
`second coil is an antenna element.
`3. The portable terminal of claim 1, wherein the first coil is
`an antenna element and the second coil is a secondary coil for
`inductive coupling with a charger.
`4. The portable terminal of claim 1, further comprising a
`battery mounting recess formed on a housing of the portable
`terminal, wherein the external part is a battery cover detach
`ably engaged with the housing, for opening or covering the
`battery mounting recess.
`5. The portable terminal of 1, wherein a battery pack con
`nected to the first coil is accommodated in the portable ter
`minal and the first coil is a secondary coil for inductive
`coupling with a charger, connected to the battery pack.
`6. The portable terminal of claim 1, wherein the second coil
`is a Near Field Communication (NFC) antenna element.
`7. The portable terminal of claim 1, further comprising an
`NFC control circuit built in the portable terminal, wherein
`one of the first and second coils is connected to a communi
`cation circuit of the portable terminal through the NFC con
`trol circuit.
`8. The portable terminal of claim 1, further comprising a
`wireless charging control circuit built in the external part or
`the portable terminal, wherein one of the first and second coils
`is connected to a battery pack of the portable terminal via the
`wireless charging control circuit.
`9. The portable terminal of claim 1, further comprising a
`magnetic piece attached to the Surface of the shielding mem
`ber, in an area surrounded by the first coil.
`10. A portable terminal comprising:
`a shielding member attached to an inner Surface of an
`external part;
`a first coil attached to a surface of the shielding member
`that faces the inner surface of the external part; and
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`US 8,922,162 B2
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`7
`a second coil attached to the Surface of the shielding mem
`ber, wherein the second coil surrounds the first coil on a
`same plane,
`wherein the shielding member comprises:
`a first accommodation groove formed into the Surface of 5
`the shielding member; and
`a second accommodation groove Surrounding the first
`accommodation groove on the Surface of the shield
`ing member,
`wherein the first coil is accommodated in the first 10
`accommodation groove and the second coil is accom
`modated in the second accommodation groove.
`11. The portable terminal of claim 10, wherein the shield
`ing member further comprises a protrusion portion formed of
`a paramagnetic material, Surrounded by the first accommo- 15
`dation groove.
`12. The portable terminal of claim 10, further comprising a
`magnetic piece formed of a paramagnetic material, attached
`to an area Surrounded by the first accommodation groove.
`13. The portable terminal of claim 10, wherein the shield- 20
`ing member further comprises a shielding wall between the
`first and second accommodation grooves.
`14. The portable terminal of claim 10, wherein the shield
`ing member is formed by injection-molding a mixture of an
`iron powder and synthetic resin.
`15. The portable terminal of claim 14, wherein the syn
`thetic resin is one of Poly Carbonate (PC), Poly Amide (PA),
`Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene (ABS) copolymer, and
`Nylon.
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