US3165817A

US3165817A - Method of making a collapsible antenna of wire mesh

Info

Publication number: US3165817A
Application number: US222323A
Authority: US
Inventors: Grady L Teague
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1962-09-10
Filing date: 1962-09-10
Publication date: 1965-01-19
Anticipated expiration: 1982-01-19

Description

G. L. TEAGUE METHOD OF MAKING A COLLAPSIBLE ANTENNA OF' WIRE MESI-I Filed Sept. lO, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet l DN f O51. M3 3% R33 HUEBNER 8 WOR/PE L G. L. TEAGUE Jan. 19, 1965 METHOD OF MAKING A COLLAPSIBLE ANTENNA OF WIRE MESH FiledV Sept. l0. 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet? GRADI L. TEAGUE /NVENmR HUEBNER 8 WORREL .4 TORNEVS United States Patent F 3,165,817 METHOD 0F MAKING A COLLAPSIBLE ANTENNA 0F WIRE MESH Grady L. Teague, Rte. 1, Box 726, Porterville, Calif. Filed Sept. 10, 1962, Ser. No. 222,323 3 Claims. (Cl. 29-1555) This invention relates to a high gain directional antenna of the plane-reilector type and more particularly to such an antenna which can be economically fabricated and assembled for shipment and which presents minimum shipping dimensions.

The present invention is described as an antenna adapted to receive electromagnetic energy of the frequency employed in commercial television broadcasting. Antennas for such a purpose have been previously made in a great variety of forms, many of which are of considerable expense.

Normally, the conventional television antenna comprises a multiplicity of parts which are assembled by bolted connections. Accordingly, a great degree of didiculty usually attends their assembly. Also, their structural design results in large assembled dimensions which precludes their being shipped in a pre-assembled condition.

In addition to being difficult to assemble and not conducive to compact packaging, many previously known antennas are not efficient in reception of ultra high frequency television signals.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an effective antenna of the plane-reflector array type which is readily fabricated at minimum expense.

Another object of the invention is to provide an eilicient screen reflector array type of antenna which is compact in comparison to conventional antennas of such a type and which presents a shipping condition of minimum bulk.

Another object is to provide a screen reiiector array type of antenna which may be shipped in either a preassembled operative condition or in a pre-assembled folded condition thereby minimizing size requirements of the shipping container.

A further object is to provide an economical high gain antenna which provides optimum signal reception even in the ultra high frequency range of commercial television broadcasting.

These, together with other objects, will become more fully apparent upon reference to the following description and accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an antenna of the planereector array type embodying the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation showing the antenna of FIG. l in a folded condition ready for shipment.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a pre-cut blank of screen mesh from which the signal receiving portions of the antenna are fabricated in one form of the invention.

FlG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the antenna screen to which antenna elements have been secured, the elements having been formed from the blank shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, enlarged view in side elevation of one of the spacing elements incorporated in the assembled antenna.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view in side elevation showing another form of bridging Wire used in connecting the signal receiving elements of the antenna of FlG. 1.

Referring particularly to FG. 1 of the drawings, a reector, generally indicated at 1t), is cut at predeter- 3,165,817 Patented Jan. 19, 1965 ICC mined longitudinal and lateral dimensions from commercially available welded wire screen, generally referred to as multi-purpose screen wire. The reliector screen is formed of uniformly spaced longitudinal and transverse wires 11 and 12 which are interconnected by welding or soldering at their intersections 13. In a commercial embodiment of the invention employing such a screen and achieving excellent reception, the screen is cut from such welded wire having the wires 11 and 12 spaced to a form a mesh of one by two inches.

The reflector screen 10 is adapted for mounting in a substantially vertical plane normal to the direction of electromagnetic signals to be intercepted thereby and with the transverse wires 12 disposed substantially parallel to the surface of the earth. A mast 15 connected at vertically spaced points to the screen 1() by means of upper and

lower clamps

16 and 17 fastened by bolts 18, is Well suited for supporting the reector in such a vertical plane. The mast may be readily mounted by commercially available, conventional chimney or roof mounting brackets, not shown, to support the screen in a vertical position at a desired azimuthal direction.

A plurality of dipoles 2li, which constitute signal receiving antenna elements, are supported on the screen in coplanar arrangement by means of individual spacers 21. Each spacer has an inner end 22 foldably connected to the screen and an outer end 23 connected to a respective one of the dipoles 20 at the midpoint thereof. Each of the dipoles is provided with an inner end 24 and an outer end 25. The dipoles are arranged in the aforementioned coplanar manner in transversely opposed pairs 26 wherein the inner ends of the respective dipoles 20 of each of such pairs are spaced at substantially equal lateral separation. The uniform mesh of the screen 10 alfords a ready guide for such spacing in fabricating the antenna as the inner ends 22 of the spacers are connected to the screen.

The dipoles 20 are also arranged in vertically stacked sets 27 having the inner ends 24 of the dipoles of each set interconnected by a phasing wire 2d. It is to be noted that the dipoles of each vertical set are spaced from each other at a distance substantially equal to the spacing between adjacent dipoles of adjacent sets. As in the case of thel transverse spacing of the transversely opposed pairs 26, the vertical spacing of the antenna elements of each vertical set 27 and the spacing of adjacent sets can be readily gauged by the uniform mesh of the reilector screen 1?. This uniform spacing is irnperative to insure proper phasing of the signals received by the antenna elements.

' In the preferred form of the invention, each of the spacers 21 is provided with a mounting base 39 integrally joined to the inner end 22 of each respective spacer. The mounting base'includes elongated foot portions 31 terminating in anchor hooks 32 which are bendable to the position shown thereby anchoring the mounting base to the retiector screen 10. It is to be noted that certain of the foot portions are arranged normal to the longitudinal wires 11 of the, reflector screen 10 while others are arranged substantially normal to the transverse Wires 12. Accordingly, the respective anchor hooks of these foot portions are effective in resisting shifting movement of the mounting bases 30 in either a longitudinal or transverse direction on the screen and insure a maintenance of the optimum relative positions of the dipoles 20 after the antenna has been mounted in a position for use.

Each laterally opposed pair of phasing wires 28 interconnecting the vertically stacked sets of dipoles 27 is supported at its midpoint by respective spacers 35 projectingV substantially normal from the plane of the reflector screen 1d. Each of these spacers 35 comprises an inner end 3d and an outer end 37. The inner end includes a mounting base 38 provided with suitable foldable anchor hooks 39 respectively engaging the longitudinal and transverse wires 11 and 12 of the reector screen. The spacers are provided with a pair of laterally opposed eyelets 49 at their outer ends. The eyelets thereby adapt the spacers to be connected to a respective one of the phasing wires 2S by means of a spade-type terminal lug 45 soldered to the midpoint of each phasing wire. A bolt 46 provides a suitable detachable connection between the spacers 35 and their respective phasing wires 23.

A pair of laterally opposed bridging wires Sil interconnect each set of vertically spaced phasing wires of two vertically spaced stacked sets of dipoles 20. Each bridging wire is formed with an eyelet 51 at opposite ends of the wire thereby adapting them for connection with the terminal lugs 45 of the phasing wires by means of the bolts 46. As shown in FiG. l, the bridging wires are curved away from the individual antenna elements and present a convex configuration to the electromagnetic signal source and a concave configuration to the reector screen. To support the bridging wires in such a position, a bridging spacer 53 is provided with a mounting base 54 secured to the reflector screen thereby supporting the spacer in a position substantially normal to the plane of the screen. The outer end of the spacer terminates in a pair of laterally opposed eyelets 55, thereby adapting it for connection to a pair of terminal lugs 56 soldered at the midpoint of each of the bridging wires 56. The eyelets 55 and the lugs 56 are detachably interconnected by means of respective bolts 57. The individual leads of a twin lead transmission line are also connected at these bolted connections to transmit the signal to a suitable receiver and amplifier, not shown.

The dipoles constituting the antenna elements of each transversely opposed pair 26 and vertically stacked set 27 may be formed readily and economically from a single blank of welded wire mesh similar to that from which the screen 10 is cut. Such a blank is shown in FIG. 3 and indicated by the reference numeral 60. To insure proper alignment of the dipoles 20 in a plane normal to the direction of the signal to be intercepted by the antenna and substantially parallel to the plane of the reiiector screen 10, the blank 60 is cut from screen having a mesh either identical to that of the screen 10 or a mesh which is a multiple of the dimensions of that screen. In one commercial form of the invention, the blank 60 is cut from a screen formed of individual longitudinal and transverse wires of a gauge slightly larger in cross-section than the individual wires 11 and 12 of the screen 10. The Wires of the blank 60 in this commercial form are approximately twelve-gauge wire. By referring to FIG. 3, it may be seen that each vertically stacked set of dipoles 27 and its respective phasing wire 28 are integrally joined by reason of the welded or soldered interconnections of the individual wires of the screen blank 60, and the dipoles are integrally joined to their respective spacers 21. Also, each spacer is integral with its mounting base 30 and the mounting base of one pair of transversely opposed dipoles 2t) is interconnected to insure proper transverse alignment during assembly.

FIG. 4 shows such a pre-cut blank following the bending of the spacers 21 at their proper locations adjacent to the respective mounting bases 30 and the dipoles 20 so that the dipoles will be supported in a coplanar arrangement spaced from the reflector screen 10 at a distance substantially equal to the length of the individual spacers 21. In accordance with contemporary antenna theory, the length of these spacers should be approximately one-fourth of the mean wave length in the range for which the dipoles 2t) have been dimensioned. By utilizing the blank shown in FIG. 3 and bending the individual anchor hooks 39 to their respective positions shown in FIG. 4, the dipoles Z0 are accurately located and dependably positioned on the reflector screen 10.

jl FIG. 5 shows an enlarged View of one of the bridging spacers 53 and having the mounting base of the spacer connected to the retiector screen 10 which is fragmentarily illustrated.

Operation The operation of the described embodiment of the subject invention is believed to be readily apparent and is briey summarized at this point. Although it is not imperative that the individual antenna elements, in the form of the dipoles 20, and their interconnecting phasing lines 28 be cut from a blank of wire screen, as shown in FIG. 3, fabrication and assembly of the antenna of the present invention is facilitated from such a practice and substantial economy of manufacture results therefrom. As an alternative, the dipoles of each vertically stacked set 27 may be integrally joined to a phasing wire 28 of suitable length as by welding or soldering. The respective spacers 21 are also joined by similar methods to provide an integrated structure wherein the antenna elements are maintained in their optimum relative positions following assembly and use of the antenna.

Following the fabrication of the antenna blank substantially in the form shown in FIG. 3, the spacers 21 are bent to right-angular relation to their respective mounting bases 3i). Subsequently the blank 60 is placed on the antenna screen in a selected position and maintained in such position by bending the anchor hooks 39 to engage the longitudinal and transverse wires 11 and 12 of the screen 10. In like manner, the phasing spacers 35 and the bridging spacer S3 are secured to the screen by their respective anchor hooks. By means of the bolts 46, the eyelets of the

spacers

35 and 53 are then connected with the lugs 45 of the respective phasing wires 28 and the terminal eyelets 55 of the bridging wires 56. The mast 15 is subsequently secured to the reector screen by the

clamps

16 and 17. The assembled antenna is then ready for mounting on a suitable structure, such as a chimney or roof, not shown. The transmission line 58 is connected to the terminal lugs 56 of the bridging wires 50 for reception of a signal from a source of electromagnetic radiation. For optimum signal reception, the plane of the reflector screen is disposed substantially normal to the direction of such signals.

To provide a minimum thickness for shipping purposes, the antenna of the present invention is readily folded to the position shown in FIG. 2 by disconnecting the bolted connections between the eyelets 55 of the briding spacer 53 and the terminal lugs 56 of the bridging wires 50. To permit the bridging wires to assume a straightened oondition lying flat and adjacent to the screen 10, the eyelets at one end of the bridging wires 50 are detached from their respective spacer 35. Accordingly, the antenna spacing elements 21 are folded .against the screen so that the antenna elements and the spacers are substantially flush against the screen. Upon subsequent mounting of the antenna for use, these spacers are bent to an extended position shown in FIG. 1, the connections between the bridging terminal 56 and the eyelet at one end of the bridging wires 5) are re-assembled, and the antenna is quickly prepared for operation.

An alternate form of bridiging wire is shown in FIG. 6 which adapts the antenna to be shipped in an assembled condition at la minimum shipping height. As shown in FG. 6, bridging wires 50 curve away from the dipoles 20 immediately adjacent thereto and are convexly curved -towarcl the reflector screen at the portions between a phasing wire and the bridge spacer. It should also be noted that bridging spacer 53 is of substantially the same length as the

spacers

21 and 35, thereby minimizing the shipping height of the assembled antenna.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a high gain directional antenna which is economically fabricated and is shipped in either an assembled operative condition or in a substantially assembled folded condition. The antenna structure of the present invention affords substantial economy of manufacture, reduces shipping space and costs, facilitates assembly to an operative position and makes possible optimum signal reception.

Although the invention has been herein shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices and apparatus.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of making a high gain unidirectional antenna in the form of a plane-reflector array comprising selecting a first elongated metallic reflecting screen having longitudinal and transverse wires arranged in an open mesh; means providing for supporting the screen in a plane substantially normal to the direction of electromagnetic energy intercepted thereby; selecting a second metallic screen having parallel longitudinal and parallel transverse members arranged to an open mesh substantially identical to said tirst screen; cutting selected longitudinal and transverse members of the second screen to form a plurality of antenna elements from selected parallel members yof the second screen and having a plurality of iiexible spacers each being of substantially uniform length and having an outer end portion connected to a respective one of the anntenna elements and having an inner end portion foldably connected to the iirst screen for movement of the elements and the spacers between a retracted position substantially flush against the screen kand an operable position with the elements supported in a coplanar arrangement spaced outwardly from the screen by the spacers; and selecting spaced parallel members of said second screen integral with and interconnecting the antenna elements in phased relationship.

2. The method of making a unidirectional antenna inV the form of a plane-reflector array comprising selecting a first elongated metallic reecting screen having longitudinal and transverse wires arranaged in an open mesh,

the screen being adapted to be supported in a plane subl ments formed by parallel segments of said transverse members, each of said .antenna elements having a longitudinal member joined thereto at the `approximate midpoint of the antenna element :to serve as a spacer; and cutting each of said spacers at a substantially uniform length to provide an inner end portion for foldable connection to the first screen for movement of the antenna elements and the spacers between retracted positionssubstantially flush against the 'first screen and operable positions with the elements supported in a coplanar arrangement spaced outwardly from the first screen by the spacers.

3. The method of making `a unidirectional antenna in the form of a plane-reeotor array comprising selecting a first elongated metallic reflecting screen having longitudinal and transverse wires arranged in an open mesh, the screen being .adapted to be supported Vin a plane substantially normal to the direction of electromagnetic energy to be intercepted thereby; selecting a second metallic screen having longitudinal and transverse members arranged in an open mesh substantially identical to that of said first screen wherein the members are secured in yintersecting groups of respectively parallel members;

of substantially uniform length and having an inner end; Y

and cutting the transverse members respectively connectedto said -spacers at said inner end to provide foldable anchor hooks for connection to the rst screen and permitting movement of the antenna elements and the spacers between retracted positions substantially liush against the screen and 'operable positions with the elements supported in a coplanar arrangement spaced outwardly from the screen by the spacers.

References Cited bythe Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS s/57 Bouchard 343-7818 8/ 63 Bouchard 343--881 HERMAN KARL SAALBACH, Primary Examiner. ELI LIEBERMAN, Examiner.,

Claims

2. THE METHOD OF MAKING A UNIDIRECTIONAL ANTENNA IN THE FORM OF A PLANE-REFLECTOR ARRAY COMPRISING SELECTING A FIRST ELONGATED METALLIC REFLECTING SCREEN HAVING LONGITUDINAL AND TRANSVERSE WIRES ARRANGED IN AN OPEN MESH, THE SCREEN BEING ADAPTED TO BE SUPPORTED IN A PLANE SUBSTANTIALLY NORMAL TO THE DIRECTION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY TO BE INTERCEPTED THEREBY; SELECTING A SECOND METALLIC SCREEN HAVING LONGITUDINAL AND TRANSVERSE MEMBERS ARRANGED IN AN OPEN MESH SUBSTANTIALLY IDENTICAL TO THAT OF SAID FIRST SCFEEN WHEREIN THE MEMBERS ARE SECURED IN INTERSECTING GROUPS OF RESPECTIVELY PARALLEL MEMBERS; CUTTING SELECTED LONGITUDINAL AND TRANSVERSE MEMBERS FROM A PORTION OF SAID SECOND SCREEN TO FORM A PAIR OF TRANSVERSELY SPACED LATERALLY OPPOSED PHASING WIRES HAVING OPPOSITE ENDS INTEGRALLY JOINED TO RESPECTIVE ANTENNA ELEMENTS FORMED BY PARALLEL SEGMENTS OF SAID TRANSVERSE MEMBERS, EACH OF SAID ANTENNA ELEMENTS HAVING A LONGITUDINAL MEMBER JOINED THERETO AT THE APPROXIMATE MIDPOINT OF THE ANTENNA ELEMENT TO SERVE AS A SPACER; AND CUTTING EACH OF SAID SPACERS AT A SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM LENGTH TO PROVIDE AN INNER END PORTION FOR FOLDABLE CONNECTION TO THE FIRST SCREEN FOR MOVEMENT OF THE ANTENNA ELEMENTS AND THE SPACERS BETWEEN RETRACTED POSITIONS SUBSTANTIALLY FLUSH AGAINST THE FIRST SCREEN AND OPERABLE POSITIONS WITH THE ELEMENTS SUPPORTED IN A COPLANAR ARRANGEMENT SPACED OUTWARDLY FROM THE FIRST SCREEN BY THE SPACERS.