US2274012A - Antenna - Google Patents

Description

c. SWAYZE' ET AL ANTENNA Filed July 24, 1940 Feb. 24, 1942.

2 Sheets-Sheet l ISnnentors &

4' an 71am? Ylflfazzty M attorneys Feb 24, 1942. c. SWAYZE ETAL ANTENNA Filed July 24, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb-24, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE j i was NA Clare Swayze: and Bertra m A. Schwarz Kokomo, and Millard M. Henry, Anderson, Ind.,

assignorsto General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Micht, a corporation of, Delaware Applicationluly 24, 1940'," Serial No. 347,096 I 8 Claims. (01425 -133) This invention relates to antenna devices'and more particularly to antennas such as would be applicable to automotive vehicles.

With the use of all-steel bodies having metal tops, the problem of providing a suitable antenna has usually resulted in the application to the outer surface of a car at some point antenna means whose position is adjustable. From an appearance standpoint it is always desirable to have the antenna lie in some position closely adjacent the surface of the car so that it will not be too noticeable and detract from the overall appearance, but from the eificient operation standpoint it is much more desirable to have the antenna project at least some distance from the surface so that the radio waves may be better intercepted; The problem has been solved in the present instance by'applying the antenna to the forward front portion of the vehicle top and having its position adjustable from the interior thereof.

Our invention has for one of its objects the provision of a radio antenna which may be easily applied to a vehicle and which does not detract from its appearance and yet may be easily adjusted from the interior thereof to a position of maximum efficiency for radio reception.

. A further object of our invention is to provide an antenna whose position both with respect to the vehicle and the overall length may be altered from within'the vehicle.

With these and other objectsin view, our invention will be best understood by reference to 9 Figure 4 is a sectional view sin'lilar to Figure 3 showing the antenna in its upward instead of downward position; i V

. Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5--5 of'Figure 4; and a Figure 6 is a sectional view taken. on the of Figure 3. Referring now more specifically to the drawings, in Figure l is illustrated a carZ having windline also mounted on the center strip is of the windshield a small; grooved bracket I4 in which the antenna rod rests when in its downward position. By manipulation of apparatus to be described, the antenna may be raised from the position shown in Figure l to that shown in the dotted lines which will be termed the upward or extended ipositon of the'antenna. The outer antenna rod I0 is hollow and houses within it a small telescoping antennarod l2 which may 'be forced therefrom to a distance substantially equal to the length of the rod l0 so that when it acquires its upward position the smaller rod 12 may be projected and the overall length of the antenna approximately doubled. This is all accomplished" by rotation of a single control shaft which extends within the vehicle and is accessible to the operator or driver.

The control for the antenna rods I 0 and. I2 is enclosed within a suitable housing formed of two complementary parts l6 and I8 which form a substantially hollow housing being held together; by a suitable long bolt 20. Thisbolt 20 also, acts as a pivot for a second assembly formed of two parts one of which 22 has a hollowed out portion 24 which is circular, and nested within this portion is a second circular part 26. Both of,these have a circular opening therethrough and through which the bolt 20 passes and acts as a ,pivot and about which they may rotate. The circular portion 26'has cut in its outer surface beveled gear teeth, 28 and also has cut in its outer diameter a radial notch 30 in the portion located within the larger circular member 22.. ,In the memberZB and adjacent the beveled gear teeth .28 there is also cut an axially extendshields 4, and a top 6. Our antenna is mounted on the forward front nose of the top '6 asillus- ;trated generally by the housing 8 an d the an- WEED-al.1001- .I0 projecting therefrom. There is ing notch 32 within which is housed acompressed spring 34 which bears against the side of the housing I8 andtends to press the member, against the member 22 so that there will be-a relativelylarge amount of friction between the i two radial surfaces thereof so that under ;most conditions they will tend to rotate together unless one: of these is stopped by some mechani- 45.

1 In the radial notch 30 there are wound several cal means.

t'urns era stifi wire 36, the outer end of which ejected from the assembly it will cause the inner telescopic rod l2 to be forced outwardly to its extended position and vice versa. If the wire is wound more tightly on the inner member or dru m26, theinner telescopic rod will be retracted within outer sleeve Ill. The inner end of this vehicle.

stiff wire is staked in a radial opening 56 in the member 26 to retain it in position.

Rotatably mounted at right angles to the axis of the bolt 20 is a control shaft 40 whose inner end is trunnioned within the casing 18 at 42 and carries adjacent thereto a matching beveled gear 44, secured thereto by set screw 45, whose teeth mate with the teeth 28 of the member 26. Mounted around the outer periphery of the collar of the gear 44 is a compression spring 46 to maintain the two sets of teeth in contact. Closing the inner surface of the housing formed by the two complementary members l6 and I8 is an insulating plate 48 which completes thehousing and acts as a base and which has mounted adjacent thereto a second insulating plate 50 whose surface matches the surface of the vehicle top 6. v Mounted directly within the top 6 is a third insulating plat 52 whose surface also matches the inner surface of th top 6 and there is also provided -a series of suitable screws 54 which pass through allof these insulating plates and are secured into the base of the members 16 and [8 as best shown in Figure 3. This secures the housing to the roof of the vehicle. These insulating discs have aligned openings there- .through for the passage of shaft 40 and they act as a bearing member for the inner end of the shaft The top 6 is provided with an opening 4| which is larger than shaft 4|] and through which the same passes. This opening is larger so that there will not be any metallic contact of the shaft with the top. It may also be seen by reference to Figure 2 that other supporting brackets within the vehicle have enlarged openr tercepted radiant energy from the antenna support to the housing. This energy is then transmitted through any one of supporting screws 54 and a lead-in conductor 51 may be attached thereto to carry it to a receiver.

7 It will therefore be evident from the above description that the assembly of the members 26 and 22 may be rotated about the bolt 20 as a unit or that member 26 may be rotated with respect to member 22.

as a unit, the antenna assembly will be carried the innerrod 12 will be ejected from the outer 'ings for the passage of shaft 40 so there will be no grounding of the same. I

The circular member 22 has a tangentialopening 58 therein into which extends the inner end of the hollow telescopic rod 1 0 which is maintained in that position by a small set screw 60. This allows the stiff wire 66 to pass from the drum member 26 substantially tangentially so that maximum force will be applied to eject the inner rod 12. of the member22 there is provided a radial groove 62 whose purpose is to index the position of the assembly at a certain predetermined point. Secured to the casing 16 is a spring 64 which has a pointed tip 66 which at a certain point may fall into the groove 62 to give the desired index.

The two portions of the housing l8 and I6 of course do not completely meet because it is necessary to leave a certain distance in order that the antenna rod may movesub'stantially 180 through this slot. However, adjacent the edges thereof in both members .16 and I8 there is provided a small groove '68 within which is maintained vflexible washer means 10 which extend toward each other and bear upon the sides :of the member 22 near its periphery in order substantially to seal this portion against rain or dirt. The shaft 40, as before mentioned, extends within the vehicle and has applied to its inner end a manually operated knob 12 by which the .whole assembly may be actuated. The housing 8 is insulated from the top by the insulating blocks 48, and 52 and the control shaft 40 is spaced from :the metal parts at all points where it passes therethrough; This also applies to the supporting screws 54 in like manner (not shown). The whole assembly is therefore insulated from the Thein'dexing spring 64 also acts as a contactor since it bears against the side of the rotatable antenna means and it conducts the in- On the flat outer radial surface:

telescopic housing Hi to give an-increased length of antenna.

The operation of the whole device will now be described. Assuming that the antenna is in its vdownward position, as shown in Figure 1, the operator or driver .of the vehicle turns the knob 12 which causes rotationzof the shaft 40 and the beveled gear 44. This applies a turning movement to the drum 26. and since the spring 34 "causes drum '26 to .fb pressed tightly against a radial surface of member .22. it causes this to turn with it and the Whole assembly will rotate, bringing the antenna to itsupper position. When it reaches the dotted line position the point 66 of the spring 64 will snap into the groove 62 in the outer surface of the member 22 and arrest any further movement of the same, thus looking it in this position. As the opera-tor turns the knob 12 further in the same direction, since member 22 can no longer rotate, the driving force applied overcomes the friction and causes the drum 26 to now rotate wi-th respect thereto which forces the :steel wire 36 outwardly or 'to unwind fromthe drum and this action of course ejects the rod I2 from the tubular antenna rod III. This movement will cause a substantial doubling of the -.length of the projected antenna. Of 'ourse it may :be left at any desired distance up to the maximum that thedriver wishes to stop.

After the antenna hasbeen utilized as long as desired, if it is again desired to return the same to its inoperative position in which it is not so conspicuous. the operator will rotate the-knob 12 in the opposite direction causing the gears 44 and 28 to force or urge the drum 26 in the opposite direction of rotation. Since the spring point 66 is still engaged in the groove 62, the member 22 .cannot rotate and therefore the rotation of the drum causes the stiff wire 36 to be wound in the groove 36 until the entire length'has been rewound on the drum which retracts the telescopic antenna. At the point -where the antenna is completely retracted the rotational force. of the gears overcomes the action of the spring 66 and causes it to snap out of the slot '62and the as= sembly will then rotate as a unit causing the rod to resume its position in front of the center strip of the windshield. 1

It will thus be evident that'we have provided an antenna whose position and length may both be changed from the interior of the vehicle with a single control so that maximumiefiiciency of operation of the radio may be obtained, and yet the same maybe returned to a substantially .in-

conspicuous location without it "being necessary an arcuate slottherein', rotatable means mou t If the two rotate about the axis within the housing, antenna means mounted on the rotatable means and protruding from the housing through the slot, a second rotatable means mounted within the housing coaxially with the first, the two having substantial areas in contact, spring means for maintaining the two in juxtaposition and manually operated means for driving the second rotatable means whereby the first rotatable means is driven therefrom by friction and the angular position of the antenna means with respect to the housing is changed.

2. In antenna construction, a housing havin an arcuate slot therein, rotatable means mounted within the housing, antenna means mounted on the rotatable means and protruding from the housing through the slot, a second rotatable means mounted within the housing coaxially with the first, the two having substantial areas in contact, spring means for maintaining the two in juxtaposition, manually operated means for driv-,

the housing, a telescopic antenna mounted onthe member and projecting through the slot, a second rotatable member mounted within the housing coaxially with the first and adjacent the same, the two parts having substantial surfaces in contact, means tending to force the two together, indexing means to maintain the first rotating means in given positions and means to drive, the second rotating means whereby such rotation will through frictional engagement with the first rotating means cause the first rotating means to rotate but when the index point is reached then the friction will be overcome and the second rotating means only will rotate.

4. In antenna construction, a housing having a slot therein, a member rotatably mounted in the housing, a telescopic antenna mounted on the member and projecting through the slot, a second rotatable member mounted within the housing coaxially with the first and adjacent the same, the two parts having substantial surfaces in contact, means tending to force the two together, indexing means to maintain the first rotating means in given positions, means to drive the second rotating means whereby such rotation will through frictional engagement with the first rotating means cause the first rotating means to rotate but when the index point is reached then the friction will be overcome and the second rotating means only will rotate, and flexible means wound on the second rotating means and connected to the movable part of the telescopic antenna whereby said continued rotation of the second rotatable means with respect to the first will cause relative motion between the telescoping parts.

5. In antenna construction, a housing having an arcuate slot therein, rotatable means mounted within the housing, a telescopic antenna rod mounted to extend tangentially from the rotatable means, a second rotatable means mounted in the housing in juxtaposition to the first, flexible means connected to a telescoping member of the antenna wound on the second rotatable means, and means to rotate either or both of the rotatable means to turn the antenna to different angular positions with respect to the housing or to cause relative motion between the telescoping parts.

6. In antenna construction for application to a vehicle having a roof and windshield, a housing having an arcuate slot mounted on the roof adjacent the windshield with the plane of the arcuate slot vertical, a telescopic antenna projecting through the slot and rotatably mounted within the housing so that it may assume a position adjacent the windshield or above the roof, a rotatable drum mounted within the housing, flexible means wound on the drum and connected to the telescoping part of the antenna to cause relative motion between the antenna parts, and manual means projecting through an opening in the roof to rotate both the drum and antenna.

7. In antenna construction for application to a vehicle having a roof and windshield, a housing having an arcuate slot mounted on the roof adjacent the windshield with the plane of the slot vertical, a disc rotatably mounted in the housing, a telescopic antenna tangentially secured to the disc, a drum mounted coaxially with the disc and having a substantial area in contact therewith, spring means for maintaining the two in contact whereby rotation of one will tend to cause the other to rotate, fiexible means wound on the drum and connected to a member of the telescopic antenna whereby relative rotation of the drum and disc will cause the telescoping portions to move relatively and manually operated means extending through an opening in the roof to cause either'the drum or the disc to rotate.

8. In antenna construction for application to a vehicle having a roof and windshield, a housing having an arcuate slot mounted on the roof adjacent the windshield with the plane of the slot vertical, a disc rotatably mounted in the housing, a telescopic antenna tangentially secured to the disc, a drum mounted coaxially with the disc and having a substantial area in contact therewith, spring means for maintaining the two in contact whereby rotation of one will tend to cause the other to rotate, flexible means wound on the drum and connected to a member of the telescopic antenna whereby relative rotation of the drum and disc will cause the telescoping portions to move relatively, manually operated means extending through an opening in the roof to cause either the drum or the disc to rotate, said last named means comprising a manually turnable shaft, a gear mounted thereon and gear teeth on a surface of the drum engaging the gear whereby the drum is driven and if the friction between the disc and drum is sufficient the antenna will be rotated through the slot to assume different angular positions with respect to the vehicle and if it is not sufficient the telescopic members Will be moved by relative motion between thetwo.

CLARE SWAYZE. BERTRAM A. SCHWARZ. MILLARD M. HENRY.

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