Disclosure of Invention
The primary purpose of the invention is to provide a downward inclination angle control device which has compact structure, high response speed and high control precision.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an antenna employing the downtilt control apparatus, so as to reduce the size of the antenna and improve the accuracy of downtilt adjustment.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:
a downtilt control device for connecting a plurality of phase shifters and selectively realizing the control of the phases of the phase shifters comprises a fixing mechanism, an input mechanism, a transmission mechanism, an output mechanism and a direction control mechanism, wherein,
the fixing mechanism comprises a base, end covers and a partition board, wherein the base and the end covers are arranged at two ends of the control device, and the partition board is used for separating the control device into an upper selective driving module and a lower selective driving module from the middle part of the control device;
the input mechanism, the transmission mechanism and the output mechanism are respectively provided with a branch mechanism in the lower selection driving module and the upper selection driving module,
the input mechanism comprises an input shaft for accessing external power, and an upper driving gear and a lower driving gear which are sleeved on the input shaft, respectively belong to an upper selection driving module and a lower selection driving module and synchronously rotate along with the input shaft;
the transmission mechanism comprises an upper planetary gear and a lower planetary gear which are respectively meshed with the upper driving gear and the lower driving gear and respectively belong to the upper selective driving module and the lower selective driving module;
the output mechanism comprises a plurality of output shafts which are uniformly distributed and are correspondingly connected to the plurality of phase shifters, each output shaft is provided with an output gear on two sides of the partition plate, and the output gears can be correspondingly meshed with the upper planetary gears and the lower planetary gears;
the direction control mechanism is used for controlling the working states of the lower selection driving module and the upper selection driving module: when the input shaft rotates, the lower planet gear of the lower selection driving module performs the selection switching or driving operation on the output shaft, and the upper planet gear of the upper selection driving module performs the other operation of the selection switching and driving operation;
the direction control mechanism comprises two groups of unidirectional control units which are respectively arranged on the upper selection driving module and the lower selection driving module, and the two groups of unidirectional control units are arranged on the upper selection driving module and the lower selection driving module in a mode of opposite control modes, so that when the input shaft rotates in one rotation direction, the upper selection driving module and the lower selection driving module execute different operations.
Each group of unidirectional control units comprises two unidirectional bearings with inner rings capable of unidirectional rotation relative to the outer rings, and the two unidirectional bearings are arranged in a mode that opposite surfaces can rotate in opposite directions.
The transmission mechanism further comprises a lower planet carrier and a lower annular gear which belong to the lower selective driving module, and an upper planet carrier and an upper annular gear which belong to the upper selective driving module, wherein the upper annular gear and the lower annular gear are respectively meshed with the upper planet gears and the lower planet gears and are respectively fixedly connected with the inner rings of the corresponding unidirectional bearings, and the upper planet carrier and the lower planet carrier are respectively connected with one ends, far away from the corresponding annular gears, of the upper planet gears and the lower planet gears and are respectively fixedly connected with the inner rings of the corresponding unidirectional bearings.
Preferably, the base, the end cover and two opposite sides of the partition board are respectively provided with a containing groove for containing the unidirectional bearing and fixing the outer ring of the unidirectional bearing, the unidirectional bearing is arranged in the containing groove, and the unidirectional bearings arranged in the two containing grooves of the partition board are arranged in the same rotation direction of opposite surfaces.
Preferably, the inner ring of the unidirectional bearing is provided with a positioning groove, the planet carrier and the inner gear ring are both provided with a boss, and the boss is provided with a positioning strip which is clamped with the positioning groove.
Preferably, the one-way bearing outer ring is provided with a positioning groove, and positioning strips which are clamped with the positioning grooves of the outer ring are formed on the inner walls of the accommodating grooves of the base, the partition plate and the end cover.
Preferably, a structure for preventing relative rotation is arranged between the input shaft and the upper driving gear and between the input shaft and the lower driving gear.
Preferably, the upper driving gear and the lower driving gear are respectively provided with a hexagonal prism-shaped through hole penetrating through two ends, the input shaft penetrates through the hexagonal prism-shaped through hole, and the part of the input shaft in the hexagonal prism-shaped through hole is provided with a hexagonal prism shape matched with the input shaft.
Further, limiting pieces for fixing the axial position of the output gear are arranged at two ends of the output shaft.
Preferably, the limiting piece comprises a jacking block which is arranged between the output gear and the base and sleeved on the output shaft.
Preferably, a plug post which is convenient for plugging with the phase shifter connecting component is arranged at one end of the output shaft penetrating out of the end cover.
In addition, the invention also provides an antenna which comprises the downtilt angle control device and a plurality of phase shifters correspondingly connected with a plurality of output shafts.
Compared with the prior art, the scheme of the invention has the following advantages:
the downward inclination angle control device adopts the unidirectional bearing to control the rotation direction, and has the characteristics of quick response and high control precision; in addition, the lower dip angle control device has simpler and more compact structure because the auxiliary shaft is not needed to be adopted for assisting in realizing the switching and the driving.
Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
Detailed Description
Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like or similar reference numerals refer to like or similar elements or elements having like or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below by referring to the drawings are illustrative only and are not to be construed as limiting the invention.
Fig. 1 to 2 collectively show a downtilt control apparatus 1000 (hereinafter referred to as "control apparatus") of the present invention, which is suitable for use in antennas, particularly multi-beam antennas, for connecting with a plurality of phase shifters (not shown) in the antennas to control the phase adjustment of the movers, thereby achieving control of the downtilt of a plurality of beams.
The control device 1000 employs an input shaft 11 to receive external power (such as power provided by a motor), and selectively switches and drives between the plurality of phase shifters by rotating in a first rotational direction (such as clockwise) and a second rotational direction (accordingly, counterclockwise), thereby controlling the plurality of phase shifters.
The control device 1000 comprises an upper selection driving module 20 and a lower selection driving module 10 which are mutually connected and are both connected with the input shaft 11, wherein the two selection driving modules 20 and 10 respectively realize selection switching and driving when the input shaft 11 rotates in one rotation direction, and the selection switching and driving operations are exchanged between the two modules 20 and 10 when the input shaft 11 rotates in the other rotation direction, namely, the switching and driving operations of the upper selection driving module 20 and the lower selection driving module 10 are staggered: when the upper selection driving module 20 performs a driving operation, the lower selection driving module 10 performs a switching operation; in contrast, the upper selection driving module 20 performs a switching operation, and the lower selection driving module 10 performs a driving operation.
The control device comprises a fixing mechanism 1, an input mechanism 2, a transmission mechanism 3, an output mechanism 4 and a direction control mechanism 5, wherein the fixing mechanism 1 comprises a base 11 and an end cover 12 which are respectively arranged at two ends, and a partition 13 which divides the control device 1000 into an upper selection driving module 20 and a lower selection driving module 10 from the middle. The input mechanism 2, the transmission mechanism 3, the output mechanism 4 and the direction control mechanism 5 are arranged in two selective driving modules, and the upper layer selective driving module and the lower layer selective driving module cooperate with each other to realize the selection, switching and driving functions of the control device 1000.
Preferably, the input mechanism 2 includes the input shaft 21 passing through the base 11 and the partition 13 and rotatably abutting against the end cover 12, and a lower driving gear 22 and an upper driving gear 23 both connected to the input shaft 21 and synchronously rotating therewith, the lower driving gear 22 being disposed between the partition 13 and the base 11, and the upper driving gear 23 being disposed between the partition 13 and the end cover 12.
The transmission mechanism 3 includes an upper transmission mechanism and a lower transmission mechanism, one of which performs revolution switching operation when the input shaft rotates, and the other performs driving operation.
The upper transmission mechanism comprises an upper planetary gear 32 meshed with the upper driving gear 23, an upper annular gear 36 meshed with the upper planetary gear 32 and an upper planetary carrier 34 for mounting the upper driving gear 23 and the upper planetary gear 32, wherein the upper planetary carrier 34 is arranged on one side of the upper planetary gear 32, which is opposite to the upper annular gear 36, and the upper planetary carrier 34 is used for ensuring that the upper driving gear 23 and the upper planetary gear 32 are always meshed.
The lower transmission mechanism comprises a lower planet wheel 31 meshed with the lower driving gear 22, a lower annular gear 35 meshed with the lower planet wheel 31 and a lower planet carrier 33 for mounting the lower driving gear 22 and the lower planet wheel 31, wherein the lower planet carrier 33 is arranged on one side of the lower planet wheel 31 opposite to the lower annular gear 35, and the lower planet carrier 33 is used for keeping the lower driving gear 22 and the lower planet wheel 31 meshed all the time.
The output mechanism 4 comprises a plurality of output shafts 41 for being connected to a plurality of phase shifters in a one-to-one correspondence, and output gears 42 and 43 are respectively arranged at the positions of the output shafts 41 between the partition plate 13 and the base 11 and between the partition plate 13 and the end cover 12. A plurality of output shafts 41 are evenly distributed around the locus defined by the ring gears (including the lower ring gear 35 and the upper ring gear 36), and the output gears 42, 43 can mesh with the respective planet gears 31, 32. Correspondingly, the base 11 is provided with a plurality of supporting holes 111 for rotatably supporting one end of the output shaft 41 therein, and the partition 13 and the end cover 12 are respectively provided with a plurality of yielding holes (not numbered) for penetrating the other end of the output shaft.
The direction control mechanism 5 comprises two sets of unidirectional control units respectively arranged on the upper selection driving module and the lower selection driving module, the two sets of unidirectional control units are respectively connected with the upper transmission mechanism and the lower transmission mechanism to control the upper planetary gear 32 of the upper transmission mechanism to revolve around the upper driving gear 23 along the track defined by the upper annular gear 36 so as to be meshed with the output gear of the output shaft 41 to be driven in a position-selecting manner, and the lower planetary gear 31 of the lower transmission mechanism rotates around the rotating shaft (namely the mounting shaft) thereof to drive one output shaft meshed with the lower planetary gear 31 to output torque; and otherwise, the rotation of the upper planet wheel is controlled to drive the output shaft to output torque, and the revolution of the lower planet wheel is controlled to switch and select the output shaft.
Preferably, each set of unidirectional control units includes two unidirectional bearings with identical structures, and for convenience of description, four unidirectional bearings of the two sets of unidirectional control units are respectively defined as a first unidirectional bearing 54, a second unidirectional bearing 53, a third unidirectional bearing 52 and a fourth unidirectional bearing 51, wherein the first unidirectional bearing 54 and the second unidirectional bearing 53 are distributed in the upper selection driving module 20, and the third unidirectional shaft 52 and the fourth unidirectional bearing 51 are distributed in the lower selection driving module 10.
The first one-way bearing 54 and the second one-way bearing 53 are respectively arranged at two ends of the upper selective transmission mechanism in a manner that the opposite faces rotate in opposite directions (the direction that the inner ring rotates relative to the outer ring), the third one-way bearing 52 and the fourth one-way bearing 51 are respectively arranged at two ends of the lower selective transmission mechanism in a manner that the opposite faces can rotate in opposite directions, and the opposite faces of the second one-way bearing 53 and the third one-way bearing 52 can rotate in the same direction.
The base 11, the end cover 12 and the partition plate 13 are respectively provided with a containing groove 112 for containing the one-way bearing and fixing the outer ring of the one-way bearing, two opposite sides of the partition plate are respectively provided with one containing groove, so that the two opposite sides of the partition plate are respectively provided with a second one-way bearing 53 and a third one-way bearing 52, and the first one-way bearing 54 and the fourth one-way bearing 51 are respectively arranged in the containing grooves on the end cover and the base.
The structure of the one-way bearing and its mating relationship with the fixed mechanism, the transmission mechanism are illustrated with a fourth one-way bearing 51 according to the illustrated relationship of fig. 2. Preferably, each one-way bearing, such as the outer ring 512 of the fourth one-way bearing 51, is provided with a positioning groove 514, and the inner side wall of the accommodating groove 112 is provided with a positioning strip 113 matched with the positioning groove, so that when the positioning strip is clamped into the positioning groove, the outer ring of the one-way bearing is fixed with the base, the end cover and the partition plate, and relative rotation of the outer ring of the one-way bearing is avoided.
Specifically, the inner ring of the first one-way bearing 54 is fixedly connected with the upper planet carrier, the second one-way bearing 53 is fixedly connected with the upper inner gear ring, the inner ring of the third one-way bearing 52 is fixedly connected with the lower planet carrier, and the fourth one-way bearing 51 is fixedly connected with the lower inner gear ring.
The inner ring of the unidirectional bearing is matched with the planet carrier and the annular gear, so that relative rotation between the inner ring of the unidirectional bearing and the planet carrier and the annular gear is avoided.
Preferably, the inner ring of the unidirectional bearing is also provided with a positioning groove, the planet carrier and the inner gear ring are respectively provided with a boss (such as a boss 311 of the lower planet carrier), and positioning strips matched with the positioning groove are formed on the bosses so as to realize anti-rotation design by the mutual matching of the positioning strips and the positioning groove.
In other embodiments, the planet carrier and the ring gear may also be configured with an anti-rotation feature with the inner race of the one-way bearing via a tight fit.
In addition, the input shaft, the lower driving gear 22 and the upper driving gear 23 are also arranged in an anti-rotation manner, for example, through holes in the driving gears are in a regular hexagonal prism shape, and corresponding parts of the input shaft 21 are in a regular hexagonal prism shape, so that relative rotation between the input shaft 21 and the upper and lower driving gears 23 and 22 is avoided in the rotation process of the input shaft 21.
In order to prevent the output gears 42, 43 from moving axially along the output shaft 41 to influence the meshing of the planetary gears 31, 32 with the output gears, and further ensure the accuracy of power transmission, both ends of the output mechanism are also provided with limiting members for fixing the axial positions of the output gears. The limiting piece comprises a jacking block 44 which is arranged between the output gear and the base and sleeved on the output shaft 41.
In addition, in order to facilitate the connection of the control device with the phase shifter, a plug post which is convenient for plugging with a phase shifter connecting component is arranged at one end of the output shaft 41 penetrating out of the end cover 12.
The working principle of the downtilt angle control device of the present invention is described below with the surface of the unidirectional bearing facing the base as the front surface.
When the input shaft 21 rotates clockwise, the driving gear (including the upper driving gear 23 and the lower driving gear 22) rotates clockwise, the lower planetary gear 31 rotates counterclockwise, and further drives the lower ring gear 35 engaged with the lower planetary gear and the inner ring of the fourth one-way bearing 51 fixedly connected with the lower ring gear 35 to rotate counterclockwise, however, the inner ring of the fourth one-way bearing 51 cannot rotate counterclockwise relative to the outer ring, and the position of the lower ring gear 35 is locked, so that the lower planetary gear 31 revolves clockwise around the lower driving gear 22 along the track defined by the lower ring gear 35, and at the same time, the lower planetary gear 31 drives the lower planet carrier 33 and the inner ring of the third one-way bearing 52 fixedly connected with the lower planet carrier 33 to rotate clockwise, thereby performing a selective switching operation on the output shaft 41; the upper planet wheel 32 rotates anticlockwise, so that the inner ring of the upper annular gear meshed with the upper planet wheel and the inner ring of the second one-way bearing 53 fixedly connected with the upper planet wheel are driven to rotate anticlockwise, the inner ring of the second one-way bearing 53 can rotate relative to the outer ring due to the fact that the rotation directions of the inner ring of the second one-way bearing 53 and the inner ring of the fourth one-way bearing 51 are opposite, and meanwhile, the upper planet wheel rotates around the rotating shaft of the upper planet wheel due to the fact that the upper planet wheel cannot rotate due to the fact that the upper planet wheel is locked by the first one-way bearing 54, and output torque is output to rotation of an output shaft meshed with the upper planet wheel.
Similarly, when the input shaft 21 rotates counterclockwise, the lower planetary gear 31 drives the input shaft 41 engaged therewith to rotate the output torque, in the course of which the upper planetary gear 32 revolves around the upper drive gear 23 to selectively switch the output shaft.
It will be appreciated that the output shaft 41 of the present invention is cooperatively disposed with the lower and upper planetary gears 31, 32 such that when one of the planetary gears is performing a switching operation, the other planetary gear drives one of the output shafts engaged therewith to rotate an output torque. The downward inclination angle control device has the advantages of high power transmission response speed, high efficiency and more accurate control because the unidirectional bearing is adopted to realize the control of the rotation direction. Meanwhile, as no corresponding auxiliary shaft is needed, the control device is smaller in size and more compact in structure, and is beneficial to reducing the size of the control device and miniaturizing the antenna.
The invention also relates to an antenna (not shown) adopting the downtilt angle control device, which comprises a plurality of phase shifters, and the output shaft is correspondingly connected with the phase shifters. The downward inclination angle control device is smaller in size, so that the miniaturization of the antenna is facilitated; the downtilt angle control device has high control precision, so that the antenna downtilt angle is more convenient and accurate to adjust, and the radiation index is more excellent.
The foregoing is only a partial embodiment of the present invention, and it should be noted that it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and adaptations can be made without departing from the principles of the present invention, and such modifications and adaptations are intended to be comprehended within the scope of the present invention.