Antenna and mounting device and system

• US 5,621,421 A
• Filed: 10/03/1994
• Issued: 04/15/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: The United States of America As Represented By The Secretary of Agriculture
• Original Assignee: United States Department Of Agriculture
• Inventors: Knittle, C. Edward, Kolz, Arvin L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Hoanganh T.
• Application Number:
  US08/316,900
• Time in Patent Office: 925 Days
• Field of Search: 343/892, 343/893, 343/890, 343/891, 343/705, 343/708, 248/538, 248/74.1
• US Class Current: 343/892
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 1/36 adapted to receive antennas or radomes
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/1207 for fastening a rigid aerial element
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/282 Modifying the aerodynamic properties of the vehicle, e.g. projecting type aerials

Abstract

An antenna and mounting device assembly fits on opposite sides of an aircraft to handle radio signals during flight. The antenna has a boom and radiating elements extending normal to the boom. The mounting device includes a first clamping bracket that attaches to the exterior of the aircraft, a pair of spaced arms that are twisted relative to the longitudinal axis of the first clamping bracket to orient the antenna relative to the horizontal and a second clamping bracket that attaches to the antenna.

Claims

1. A mounting device for mounting an antenna to an aircraft for handling radio signals during flight, said device comprising:

first clamping means including an aircraft clamping bracket for gripping an external portion of a strut of an aircraft,

arm means extending out from said first clamping means and having opposite ends, said first clamping means at one of said ends, said arm means including a pair of spaced rigid arms that are twisted along a longitudinal axis in opposite directions through preselected angles to be oriented relative to said first clamping means at a selected fixed angle relative to an axis normal to said first clamping means for positioning said antenna relative to said strut at a selected separation distance from the aircraft and at a preselected limed angle of elevation to the horizontal, and

second clamping means at the other end of said arm means opposite said first clamping means for gripping said antenna.

2. A mounting device for mounting an antenna to an aircraft for handling radio signals during flight, said device comprising:

first clamping means including an aircraft clamping bracket for gripping an external portion of a strut of an aircraft,

arm means extending out from said first clamping means and having opposite ends, said first clamping means at one of said ends, said arm means oriented relative to said first clamping means at a selected angle relative to an axis normal to said first clamping means for positioning said antenna relative to said strut at a selected separation distance from the aircraft and at a preselected angle of elevation to the horizontal, said arm means including a pair of spaced arms that are twisted along a longitudinal axis in opposite directions through preselected angles, and

second clamping means at the other end of said arm means opposite said first clamping means for gripping said antenna, said second clamping means including a pair of second clamping brackets that are disposed by said spaced arms in oppositely facing directions.

3. A mounting device as set forth in claim 2 wherein said aircraft clamping bracket is a generally U-shaped member having a base and spaced side walls extending away from opposite sides of said base.

4. A mounting device as set forth in claim 2 wherein the angle of twist is about 47 degrees.

5. A mounting device as set forth in claim 2 wherein said second clamping means includes a pair of second clamping brackets that fit against and are clamped to said antenna.

6. A mounting device for mounting an antenna having a boom and a plurality of active elements to a wing strut of an aircraft for aerial reception of radio signals by the antenna during flight, said device comprising:

first clamping means including a strut clamping bracket having a base and spaced side walls extending away from said base, said first clamp means being sized to fit around a portion of an aircraft strut around which strap means extend for gripping said strut,

arm means including a pair of spaced first and second arms transverse to and extending out from said first clamping means, said first and second arms each having opposite ends, said first clamping means at one of said ends, said arms being twisted along a longitudinal axis in opposite directions through a preselected angle for positioning said boom relative to said strut at a selected separation distance from the aircraft and at a preselected angle of elevation to the horizontal, and

second clamping means including a pair of second antenna clamping brackets fastened at the other ends of said first and second arms, respectively, for gripping said antenna.

7. A mounting device as set forth in claim 6 wherein said strut clamping bracket is a generally U-shaped member having a base and spaced side walls extending away from opposite sides of said base and wherein said spaced side walls have a plurality of spaced sets of aligned slots in the top edges at intermediate and end positions.

8. A mounting device as set forth in claim 7 wherein said strap means includes a strap disposed in each of said sets of aligned slots, each strap having a clamp to selectively tighten said strap around said base and side walls and wing strut.

9. A mounting device as set forth in claim 6 wherein said each of said second antenna clamping brackets includes a generally U-shaped member having a base and spaced side walls extending away from opposite sides of said base, said side walls having a plurality of notches shaped to conform to and receive a portion of the cross section of the boom, and an opposite clamping bracket with fastening bolts clamping each antenna clamping bracket toward the opposite antenna clamping bracket and against the antenna.

10. An antenna and mounting device assembly for an in flight aircraft comprising:

an antenna,

a mounting device for fastening said antenna to an external portion of a strut of an aircraft, said mounting device including

first clamping means including an aircraft clamping bracket shaped to fit around an external portion of an aircraft for gripping said external portion,

arm means extending out from said first clamping means and having opposite ends, said first clamping means at one of said ends, said arm means including a pair of rigid spaced arms that are twisted along a longitudinal axis in opposite directions through preselected angles to be oriented relative to an axis normal to said first clamping means at a selected fixed angle for positioning said antenna relative to said strut at a selected separation distance from the aircraft and at a preselected fixed angle of elevation to the horizontal, and

second clamping means at the other end of said arm means opposite said first clamping means for gripping said antenna.

11. An assembly as set forth in claim 10 wherein said antenna is of the Yagi type having a boom in the form of a length of conductive tubing, a driven element mounted between the ends of the boom, a director element mounted at one end of the boom and a reflector element mounted at the other end of the boom.

12. An assembly as set forth in claim 11 wherein said driven element is a folded dipole including two parallel spaced conductive rods connected at the ends by two curved conductive end sections, an intermediate section of one of said conductive rods being separated to form spaced ends to provide the feed ends for said driven element.

13. An antenna and mounting device assembly for an in flight aircraft comprising:

an antenna, said antenna being of the Yagi type having a boom in the form of a length of conductive tubing, a driven element mounted between the ends of the boom, a director element mounted at one end of the boom and a reflector element mounted at the other end of the boom,

a mounting device for fastening said antenna to an external portion of a strut of an aircraft, said mounting device including

first clamping means including an aircraft clamping bracket shaped to fit around an external portion of an aircraft for gripping said external portion,

arm means extending out from said first clamping means and having opposite ends, said first clamping means at one of said ends, said arm means oriented relative to an axis normal to said first clamping means for positioning said antenna relative to said strut at a selected separation distance from the aircraft and at a preselected angle of elevation to the horizontal,

second clamping means at the other end of said arm means opposite said first clamping means for gripping said antenna, and

a mounting member for mounting each of said driven, director and reflector elements to said boom, each mounting member being made of a nonconductive material having an oblong base with a recess shaped to conform to a portion of the cross section of said boom to fit against said boom, an offset portion through which an associated element extends and is rigidly secured and a hole through which a bolt fastener extends to which a nut is threaded to clamp said mounting member to said boom.

14. An assembly as set forth in claim 13 wherein said mounting member is a molded material and each said element is molded in said molded material.

15. An assembly as set forth in claim 13 wherein each of said driven, director and reflector elements having two parallel spaced rods, there being a pair of said mounting members for each of said elements with one of said rods of each pair affixed to one of said mounting members of each pair, each pair of mounting members having aligned holes and bolt fasteners extending through each pair of said mounting members with nuts on said bolt fasteners to clamp said mounting members against said boom.

16. An antenna and mounting device assembly for an in flight aircraft having a wing strut comprising:

an antenna having a boom and a plurality of active elements each mounted to the boom by a mounting member for receiving radio signals,

a mounting device for fastening said antenna to a wing strut of an aircraft, said mounting device including

first clamping means including a strut clamping bracket having a base and spaced side walls sized and shaped to fit around a portion of an aircraft strut around which strap means extend for gripping said strut,

arm means including a pair of spaced first and second arms transverse to and extending out from said first clamping means for positioning said antenna relative to said strut, and

second clamping means including a pair of first and second antenna clamping brackets fastened at the ends of said first and second arms respectively, for gripping said antenna,

whereby said antenna will receive radio signals during flight of said aircraft.

17. An assembly as set forth in claim 16 that is constructed with dimensions substantially according to the equation ##EQU2## wherein T is the thickness of said strut, B is the diameter of said boom,

E is the elevation angle of said strut,

D is the depression angle of said boom, and

S is the separation distance for said arms.

18. An assembly as set forth in claim 16 wherein said side walls extend through an arc greater than 180 degrees to firmly secure said mounting device to said strut.

19. An aerial signal reception system for an in flight aircraft having a left side and a right side comprising:

a left side antenna and mounting device assembly mounted to a left side of the aircraft,

a right side antenna and mounting device assembly mounted to a right side of the aircraft,

each said antenna including

a boom to which are attached active elements, the active elements including a folded dipole driven element clamped to the boom intermediate the ends of the boom, a director element clamped to the boom at one end and a reflector element clamped to the boom at the other end,

each said mounting device including

first clamping means including a strut clamping bracket shaped to fit around an external portion of an aircraft around which strap means extend for gripping said external portion,

arm means including a pair of spaced first and second arms transverse to and extending out from said first clamping means, and

second clamping means including a pair of first and second antenna clamping brackets fastened to said first and second arms, respectively, for gripping said antenna to position said antenna relative to said strut for aerial reception of radio signals during flight.

20. An aerial signal reception system as set forth in claim 19 wherein said angle of elevation of said strut to the horizontal is about 30 degrees and said angle of depression of said boom to the horizontal is about 15 degrees.

21. An external aerial signal reception system for an in flight aircraft having a left side wing strut and a right side wing strut comprising:

a left side antenna and mounting device assembly mounted to a left side wing strut,

a right side antenna and mounting device assembly mounted to a right side wing strut,

each said antenna including

a boom to which are attached active elements, the active elements including a folded dipole driven element clamped to the boom intermediate the ends of the boom, a director element clamped to the boom at one end and a reflector element clamped to the boom at the other end,

each said mounting device including

first clamping means including a strut clamping bracket having a base wall and spaced side walls sized and shaped to fit around a portion of an aircraft strut around which strap means extend for gripping said strut,

arm means including a pair of spaced first and second arms transverse to and extending out from said first clamping means, and

second clamping means including a pair of first and second antenna clamping brackets fastened to said first and second arms, respectively, for gripping said antenna to position said antenna relative to said strut for aerial reception of radio signals during flight.