MODULAR, PREFABRICATED, INTEGRATED COMMUNICATIONS RELAY TOWER

• US 3,768,016 A
• Filed: 06/01/1972
• Issued: 10/23/1973
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/1972
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Company
• Original Assignee: Edmund J. Price, George C. Harper, George R. Townsend
• Inventors: Townsend, George R., Price, Edmund J., Harper, George C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mayer, Albert J.
• Application Number:
  US05/258,852
• Time in Patent Office: 509 Days
• Field of Search: 325/1,8,14,15,120,121,128-130,354,355 343/832,872,874,875,878,879,890,896,898,891 52/73,187,245,247,300
• US Class Current: 455/25
• CPC Class Codes: E04H 12/08 of metal
• CPC Class Codes: E04H 12/085 Details of flanges for tubular masts
• CPC Class Codes: E04H 12/20 Side-supporting means therefor, e.g. using guy ropes or struts
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/155 Ground-based stations H04B7/204 takes precedence

Abstract

An integrated, modular, prefabricated communications relay tower, comprising a plurality of tubular modules prefabricated in a shop facility with the necessary accessory devices therein and assembled in end-to-end relationship at the site of the relay tower to provide a complete integrated, modular relay tower with the necessary accessory devices and electronic equipment therein.

Claims

1. A modular, prefabricated, cylindrical, vertically upwardly extending relay tower for television signals and the like, said tower having a height in the range of from about 80 feet up to several hundred feet, means securing the tower to a foundation, said tower comprising a plurality of substantially similar, cylindrical prefabricated modules having attachment means within their respective opposite ends and secured together interiorly thereof at adjacent ends in vertically stacked, end-to-end relationship, means fixed in said tower for ascending and descending the tower, a substantially flat floor within a topmost cylindrical module of said tower, means securing said floor between adjacent ends of said topmost module and a subadjacent module of said tower, opening means in the floor allowing acCess to and from the top module, an integral, marginal portion of said floor extending outwardly and beyond adjacent outer sides of said topmost module and comprising an annular work platform exteriorly of said tower, a roof secured on top of said topmost module of said tower, including an integral marginal edge thereof extending outwardly beyond the outer sides of the topmost module and of such width as to form a protective overhang, antenna means secured to said topmost module externally thereof beneath said overhang and above said platform, and electronic equipment stored and secured within said top module and operatively connected with said antenna means.

2. A modular, prefabricated relay tower as in claim 1, wherein each module has a radially inturned annular flange on each end thereof, and adjacent modules are secured together by bolts or the like extending through the adjacent flanges of adjacent modules.

3. A modular, prefabricated relay tower as in claim 1, wherein the modules include at least one prefabricated support module and a prefabricated equipment room module secured in situ on the top thereof, and said electronic equipment being secured in the equipment room module.

4. A modular, prefabricated relay tower as in claim 3, wherein the equipment room module has at least a receiver, an amplifier and a transmitter preassembled therein.

5. A modular, prefabricated relay tower as in claim 4, wherein the equipment room module includes a top and bottom closing the ends of the equipment room module, said bottom comprising said floor.

6. A modular, prefabricated relay tower as in claim 2, wherein the modules each comprise a plurality of plates welded or otherwise secured together in a shop facility to form a cylinder.

7. A modular, prefabricated relay tower as in claim 3, wherein the equipment room module is the topmost module in said tower, and said roof is secured on top thereof, an opening through said roof for gaining access to the roof from inside said equipment room module, an upstanding railing around said roof, and a ladder extending from said roof to said platform to gain access from the roof to the platform.

8. A modular, prefabricated relay tower as in claim 3, wherein a plurality of support modules are secured together in vertical, end-to-end relationship, and the means for ascending and descending the tower comprises a stair means preassembled in each support module, the stair means in each support module aligned with the stair means in an adjacent support module.

9. A modular, prefabricated relay tower as in claim 8, wherein the stair means comprises a spiral staircase, and a door means is in the side of the bottom of the tower for gaining access to the interior of the tower and to the staircase.

10. A modular, prefabricated relay tower as in claim 3, wherein the antenna means comprises at least one parabolic reflector secured to the outside of the equipment room module.

11. A modular, prefabricated relay tower as in claim 10, wherein a plurality of equipment room modules are assembled together in end-to-end relationship on the top of a plurality of vertically stacked support modules, and guy cables are connected to the tower to aid in resisting wind force and the like acting on the tower.

12. A modular, prefabricated relay tower as in claim 7, wherein all of said modules have the same diameter, and the tower has a smooth, substantially uniform exterior surface.