JPH0590818A - Antenna diagnostic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically check the abnormal open circuit of an antenna line and the abnormal short circuit to the earth. CONSTITUTION:An antenna element 1 is electrically earthed when it is stored. A detector means 110 detects an open state even when the element 1 is stored. Otherwise a diagnostic means 120 decides an open fault caused by the discontinuity or the defective connection of an antenna line 100 or a short fault due to the connection secured to the earth when a short fault is detected when the element 1 is extended. These detecting results are shown on a display means 13.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a diagnostic device for an antenna used in a radio device (radio), and more specifically, to check normality and abnormality of an antenna unit including an antenna unit and a feeder line connecting the antenna unit and a radio tuner. It relates to a diagnostic device for an antenna used for checking.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an antenna unit for a wireless device mounted on a vehicle, for example, one shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 is known (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-8712). In FIGS. 6 and 7, reference numeral 1 denotes a telescopic type antenna element, which is mounted in a pipe-shaped antenna main body 3 via an insulating housing pipe 2 so as to be housed and extendable.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a conductive antenna support for attaching the antenna body 3 to a vehicle body panel. The antenna support 4 is fitted on the upper end side of the antenna body 3 and positioned by a stopper 6. Reference numeral 7 denotes an antenna plate fixed to the upper opening end surface of the antenna support 4 facing the vehicle body panel 5, and the upper surface thereof is
A plurality of protrusions 7a are formed to break the coating film on the vehicle body panel 5 and to improve electrical continuity with the vehicle body panel 5. Further, between the antenna plate 7 and the vehicle body panel 5 facing the antenna plate 7, a rust preventive rubber 8 for preventing rusting of the electrical contact portion between the vehicle body panel 5 and the protrusion 7a is interposed.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a cylindrical antenna mounting base which is inserted into the antenna support 4 through the antenna mounting hole 5a formed in the vehicle body panel 5.
Has an inclined flange portion 9a facing the edge of the antenna mounting hole 5a from the outside. The flange portion 9a is provided with a waterproof and dustproof seal member 10 that is in pressure contact with the vehicle body panel 5, and the antenna At the insertion end of the mounting base 9, a cylindrical stepped portion 9b that fits around the outer circumference of the antenna is formed.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a head portion 11a that abuts on an upper opening edge of the antenna mounting base 9 and a cylindrical portion 11b that is connected to the head portion 11a and is inserted into the antenna mounting base 9.
This is a nut for mounting an antenna having
On the inner wall surface of the first cylindrical portion 11b, a female screw 13 that is screwed with a male screw 12 formed on the outer periphery of the upper end portion of the antenna body 3 is formed. Further, 14 is water from the gap between the antenna top 1a of the antenna element 1 and the nut head 12a,
A resin sealing member that prevents dust from entering.

In the conventional antenna unit thus constructed, when the nut 11 screwed into the male screw 12 of the antenna body 3 is tightened, the antenna support 4, which is integrated with the antenna body 3, along with the tightening operation, The antenna mounting base 9 holding the nut 11 and the nut 11 moves relative to each other in the directions of arrows A and B in FIG.
By reducing the distance between the inclined flange portion 9a of the antenna mounting base 9 and the body panel 5, the body panel 5 is pinched from both inside and outside via the rust preventive rubber 8 and the seal member 10. This fixes the antenna to the vehicle body panel 5.

On the other hand, when the nut 11 is tightened until the antenna can be stably fixed to the vehicle body panel 5,
The protrusion 7a of the earth plate 7 penetrates the rust preventive rubber 8, and the tip thereof breaks the coating layer of the vehicle body panel 5 and reaches the bare metal layer. As a result, the ground plate 7 and the vehicle body panel 5
The antenna body 3 can be electrically connected to the vehicle body panel 5, that is, the antenna body 3 can be grounded.

[0008]

However, in the conventional radio using such an antenna, the antenna line such as the feeder line from the antenna to the radio tuner section is disconnected, or the connector is not properly connected to open. Even if it becomes a state, or the antenna line falls to the ground and becomes a short state, it does not have a function to diagnose these abnormalities, so it takes a lot of time and labor to diagnose these antenna abnormalities. was there.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an antenna diagnostic device capable of automatically checking for an abnormal open and an abnormal short of an antenna line.

[0010]

The present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 which is a diagram corresponding to the claims. The present invention relates to an antenna unit 25 having a structure in which the antenna element 1 is electrically grounded when the antenna element 1 is housed. The detecting means 110 for detecting whether the antenna element 1 and the antenna line 100 including the line connecting the antenna element 1 and the radio tuner section 20 are short-circuited or open with respect to the electrical ground, and the detecting means 110 are When it is detected that the antenna element 1 is open when the antenna element 1 is stored, and when it is detected that the antenna element 1 is short-circuited when the antenna element 1 is extended, the antenna line 100 is detected based on this detection signal.
Is provided with a diagnostic means 120 for diagnosing that is in an abnormal open state or an abnormally shorted state with the ground, and a display means 130 for displaying the diagnostic result of the diagnostic means 120.
The above object can be achieved.

[0011]

When the detecting means 110 detects that the antenna element 1 is open regardless of whether it is housed or detects that the antenna element 1 is shorted regardless of the extension of the antenna element 1, the diagnosis incorporating this detection signal is performed. Means 12
A value of 0 diagnoses that the antenna line 100 has an open abnormality due to a disconnection, a poor connection, or the like, or is connected to the ground to cause a short abnormality. Then, by displaying the diagnosis result on the display unit 150, the abnormality of the antenna can be easily diagnosed.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of a radio circuit having an antenna diagnostic function and an antenna unit. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 20 denotes a radio tuner section, and a speaker 22 is connected to an output side of the tuner section 20 via an amplifier circuit 21. An antenna unit 25 is connected to the input side of the tuner section 20 via a switching contact 23a of an antenna check relay 23 and a feeder line 24, which will be described later.

The control circuit 26 controls the tuner section 20 and the amplifier circuit 21 and diagnoses the antenna line, and is composed of a microcomputer. The control circuit 26 is connected with a keyboard 27 for inputting a radio-on command, a switching command for AM / FM, etc., and a display 28 for displaying a result of diagnosing an antenna, etc., and further includes a tuner section 20 and an amplifier circuit 21. It is connected.

A drive motor 29 for accommodating and extending the antenna element 1 is provided at the output port Pa of the control circuit 26.
The ON / OFF relay 30 is connected. The base of the driving transistor 31 of the antenna check relay 23 is connected to the output port Pr of the control circuit 26, and the relay 23 is connected between the collector of the transistor 31 and the ground. Further, the output signal of the comparator 32 for detecting the state of the antenna line is input to the input port Pn of the control circuit 26.
At one input terminal of the comparator 32, the voltage dividing resistor R1,
A reference voltage set by R2 and Zener diode ZD is applied, and the other input terminal is divided by resistors R3 and R3 connected in series between the power supply terminal 33 and the make-side contact b of the relay switching contact 23a. Voltage is applied.

3 and 4 show an antenna unit 25.
3 is a cross-sectional view and an exploded perspective view of FIG. This FIG. 3 and FIG.
6, the same parts as those in FIGS. 6 and 7 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. The parts different from those in FIGS. 6 and 7 will be mainly described. 6 and 7 in this embodiment.
The difference is that the waterproof and dustproof seal member 14A of the antenna top 1a is formed to have a length to be buried in the antenna mounting nut 11, and the outer diameter of the antenna top 1a is set to the nut 1.
It is larger than the opening of No. 1 and the antenna top 1a contacts the nut 11 when the antenna element 1 is stored so that the antenna element 1 is grounded.

Next, the operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the case where the antenna unit 25 and the feeder line 24 are normal will be described. When the radio is off, the antenna is in the stowed state, so the antenna top 1
As shown in FIG. 2, a is in contact with the antenna mounting nut 11. Therefore, the antenna element 1 has the nut 1
1 → antenna main body 3 → antenna support 4 → antenna plate 7 → body panel 5 is grounded.

In this state, when the radio ON key on the keyboard 27 is operated (step S1), the ON signal is taken into the control circuit 26, and the control circuit 26 is set to the antenna diagnosis mode. Along with this, a signal is sent from the output port Pr of the control circuit 26 to turn on the transistor 31 to excite the relay 23 (step S2). As a result, the switching contact 23a of the relay 23 is switched and connected to the make contact b side.

Here, since the antenna line including the antenna unit 25 and the feeder line 24 is normal, by connecting the switching contact 23a to the make contact b,
The series circuit of the resistors R3 and R3 is grounded via the feeder line 24 and the antenna unit 25. Therefore, C
The potential Vc at the point is Vc = 12 (V) × (R3 / 2R3)
= 6 (V). At this time, since the potential at the point D is set to the reference voltage of 8V by the Zener diode ZD, the output of the comparator 32 becomes "Lo". This "Lo" signal is taken into the control circuit 26 from the input port Pn, and the antenna line is not in an open state due to a poor connection of the connector or the like by making the determination of Pn = Lo shown in step S3 of FIG. I understand.

In step S3, the control circuit 26 sets Pn = L
If o is determined, an antenna up signal is output from the output port Pa, and the relay 30 is excited for a predetermined time to start the drive motor 29 and automatically extend the antenna element 1 shown in FIG. 3 (step S4). ). At this time, the top 1a of the antenna is separated from the nut 11 and the antenna element 1 is no longer grounded, so that the potential at the point C becomes the power supply voltage 12V. Therefore, the output of the comparator 32 becomes "Hi", and this "Hi" signal is input to the control circuit 26 from the input port Pn. The control circuit 26 determines whether Pn = Hi shown in step S5 of FIG. That is, since it can be seen that the antenna line is not in the short state, it is finally determined that the antenna line is normal, the process proceeds to step S6, and the transistor 3
1 is turned off to degauss the relay 23 and return to the normal radio mode.

Next, the case where the feeder line 24 is broken or the connector with the antenna is defectively connected will be described. In this case, Pn = L in step S3
It is determined that it is not o. Therefore, the make contact b does not drop to the ground potential and the potential at the point C is held at the power supply voltage 12V, so that the output of the comparator 32 continues to be in the "Hi" state. As a result, the control circuit 26 executes the process shown in step S7 so that the feeder line 24 (antenna line) between the antenna element 1 and the tuner unit 20 can be opened due to the disconnection of the feeder line 24, the poor connection of the connector, or the like. A display to that effect is displayed on the display 28.

On the other hand, in step S5, Pn = Hi
When it is determined that it is not, the feeder line 24 is short-circuited with the ground. In this case, although the antenna element 1 is extended and the antenna top 1a is separated from the nut 11, the output of the comparator 32 remains held at "Lo". As a result, the control circuit 26, which has determined this, executes a process to the effect that the feeder line 24 (antenna line) is short-circuited in step S8, and displays a display to that effect on the display unit 28. When the processing in steps S7 and S8 is completed, step S6
Then, the relay 23 is demagnetized to shift to the normal radio mode. When the radio off key is operated, the radio is turned off and the antenna element 1 is automatically stored.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the radio is turned on, the control circuit enters the antenna diagnosis mode, and the storage and extension of the antenna element can be easily determined from the presence or absence of contact between the antenna top and the nut. At the same time, from the output state of the comparator after the radio-on operation and the output state of the comparator 32 after the antenna extension, it is possible to easily self-determine whether the antenna line is abnormally open or abnormally shorted with respect to the ground while observing the display. Along with this, it is possible to easily discriminate a short-circuited or open failure portion of the antenna line.

In the case of the processing procedure of FIG. 5, if the antenna is not correctly housed when the radio is turned on, the process proceeds from step S3 to step S7 and an abnormal display is displayed. Therefore, when the radio is turned on, the antenna is first extended, and in that state Pn = Hi is determined to detect an abnormal short circuit when the antenna is extended, and then the antenna is housed to determine whether Pn = Lo. It is also possible to detect an abnormal open when the antenna is housed and then further extend the antenna to enter the radio mode. According to such a processing procedure, the state of the antenna can be reliably diagnosed regardless of the state of the antenna when the radio is turned on. Also,
When the radio is turned on, the control circuit 26 may give an antenna element storage command to the drive motor 29 prior to the antenna diagnosis mode to cause the storage operation, and then the antenna diagnosis mode may be entered. In this way, the same effect as that of the above-mentioned note can be obtained. In the above embodiment, the case where the antenna is stored and extended by the drive motor has been described, but the same can be applied to the case of the manual method. For example, antenna top 1
When the antenna element is pulled out manually from the antenna housed state in which a is electrically connected to the vehicle body, the antenna element becomes open, and this can be done by detecting this. Further, when the antenna is manually stored and extended, the state of the antenna can be easily diagnosed by sequentially displaying on the display unit 28 of the radio a display instructing the operation in the case of the manual operation. Furthermore, the diagnostic mode is entered for a certain period of time not only immediately after the radio is turned on, but also in a specific mode such as multiple pressing of keys on the keyboard, for example, when the radio on / off key is pressed while holding the AM / FM switching key. By doing so, even in the case of a transient failure condition, it is possible to enter the diagnostic mode from the radio mode and perform a quick check.

In the above embodiment, the feeder line 24 is the antenna line 100 and the control circuit 26 is the judging means 12.
0, the display 28 displays the display means 130, and the comparator 3
2 constitutes the detection means 110, respectively.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, the antenna element is electrically grounded through the antenna unit when the antenna is housed.
Detecting the housing and extension of the antenna element, and detecting that the antenna element is open despite being housed, or that the antenna element is short even though it is extended When an error is detected, it is possible to diagnose and display that there is an open abnormality due to a disconnection or poor connection in the antenna line, or a short abnormality by connecting the ground. You can easily check the abnormal open of.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an antenna diagnostic device corresponding to a claim of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an antenna unit according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the antenna unit according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure for diagnosing an antenna in this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional antenna unit.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional antenna unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Antenna Element 1a Antenna Top 3 Antenna Main Body 4 Antenna Support 5 Body Panel 7 Antenna Plate 9 Antenna Mounting Base 11 Antenna Mounting Nut 14A Sealing Material 20 Tuner Section 23 Relay 24 Feeder Wire 25 Antenna Unit 26 Control Circuit 27 Keyboard 28 Indicator 32 Comparator 100 Antenna Lines 110 Detecting Means 120 Diagnostic Means 130 Display Means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An antenna unit having a structure in which the antenna element is electrically grounded when the antenna element is housed, and an antenna line including the antenna element and a line connecting the antenna element and a radio tuner section is electrically connected. Detecting means for detecting whether it is short-circuited or open with respect to the ground, and when the detecting means detects that it is open when the antenna element is stored, and that it is short-circuited when the antenna element is extended And a display unit for displaying the diagnosis result of the diagnosis unit, when the antenna line is abnormally open or is abnormally short-circuited with the ground based on the detection signal. An antenna diagnostic device characterized by: