PLANAR ARRAY ANTENNA HAVING RADOME OVER PROTRUDING ANTENNA ELEMENTS
First Claim
1. A subarray for a planar array antenna, comprising:
- a ground plane having a rear face and a front face;
a plurality of radiating elements, each of said radiating elements protruding forward of the front face of the ground plane and physically mounted to the ground plane;
a plurality of circuit elements electrically coupled to the radiating elements, and physically mounted to the ground plane and positioned rearward of the rear face of the ground plane;
a dielectric radome supported on the ground plane defining a continuous surface sealed to the ground plane, the continuous surface including a forward wall positioned forward of each of said radiating elements to form an environmental seal surrounding the radiating elements, said radome further having an intermediate wall intermediate at least one pair of adjacent ones of said radiating elements.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A subarray of a planar array antenna has a ground plane having a rear face and a front face, radiating elements, each of the radiating elements protruding forward of the front face and physically mounted to the ground plane; circuit elements electrically coupled to the radiating elements, and physically mounted to the ground plane and positioned rearward of the rear face of the ground plane; and a dielectric radome supported on the ground plane defining a continuous surface sealed to the ground plane. The continuous surface includes a forward wall positioned forward of each of the radiating elements to form an environmental seal around the radiating elements. The radome has an intermediate wall intermediate at least one pair of adjacent ones of the antenna elements.
36 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A subarray for a planar array antenna, comprising:
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a ground plane having a rear face and a front face; a plurality of radiating elements, each of said radiating elements protruding forward of the front face of the ground plane and physically mounted to the ground plane; a plurality of circuit elements electrically coupled to the radiating elements, and physically mounted to the ground plane and positioned rearward of the rear face of the ground plane; a dielectric radome supported on the ground plane defining a continuous surface sealed to the ground plane, the continuous surface including a forward wall positioned forward of each of said radiating elements to form an environmental seal surrounding the radiating elements, said radome further having an intermediate wall intermediate at least one pair of adjacent ones of said radiating elements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A planar array antenna, comprising:
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a plurality of adjacent subarrays; each of said subarrays comprising; a ground plane having a rear face and a front face; a plurality of antenna elements, each extending forward of the front face of the ground plane and physically mounted to the ground plane; a plurality of circuit elements electrically coupled to the antenna elements and physically mounted to the ground plane and positioned rearward of the rear face of the ground plane; and a dielectric radome supported on the ground plane having a continuous surface sealed to the ground plane and positioned forward of each of said antenna elements to form an environmental seal surrounding the antenna elements and having a wall positioned intermediate at least one pair of adjacent ones of said antenna elements; each of said radomes having a radially extending lip adjacent the ground plane and overlapping a radially extending lip of the radome of the adjacent subarray. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. A radome for a subarray of a planar array antenna, the subarray having a plurality of radiating elements protruding forward of a ground plane, the radome comprising:
a continuous, environmentally-protective, rigid dielectric thin member, having; a central section having alternating grooves and pockets shaped to receive the radiating elements and separate adjacent pairs of radiating elements; and a continuous lip, circumscribing and extending radially outward from said central section, said continuous lip lying in a plane for sealing to the ground plane. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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23. A method of manufacturing a planar array antenna, comprising;
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providing a plurality of subarray components, each of said subarray components having; a ground plane having a rear face and a front face; a plurality of radiating elements, each of said radiating elements protruding forward of the front face of the ground plane and physically mounted to the ground plane; a plurality of circuit elements electrically coupled to the radiating elements, and physically mounted to the ground plane and positioned rearward of the rear face of the ground plane; positioning on each of said subarray components, so as to receive each of the radiating elements, a continuous, waterproof, rigid dielectric radome having; a central section having alternating grooves and pockets shaped to receive the radiating elements and separate adjacent pairs of radiating elements; and a continuous lip, circumscribing said central section, said lip lying in a plane for sealing to the ground plane. attaching each of the positioned radomes to the ground plane at least at the lip of the radome to define a plurality of subarrays; and integrating the subarrays into an array, the integrating comprising joining the lips of adjacent ones of said radomes. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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Specification