DE8405642U1 - Automotive antenna - Google Patents

Description

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1· The invention relates to a device for the reception of electromagnetic waves in halls or in the field, in which a strip attached to a power strip, a carrier film made of insulating material and a

« arranged in flat electrical conductors.

In a known motor vehicle innovation of this type, the antenna is preferably mounted on a pane of glass, particularly on the inside or on a pane of glass between the windows. However, it can also be mounted in other locations, for example inside the car or on the dashboard, provided the vehicle does not have a metal casing that forms a complete Faraday cage. The disadvantage of this state of the art technology is that the antenna can only be mounted in certain locations, for example on or in the windshield or on the dashboard. These locations are either unfavorable for reception (dashboard) or require a high level of installation effort (embedding between the

Such as the windshield wiper) and/or impair the field of vision, even if the specified measures, such as keeping the entire vehicle and the protective clothing in place, are taken to keep the impairment to a minimum.

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The object of the invention is to create a motor vehicle antenna that can be easily attached to a location on the vehicle that appears particularly suitable to the vehicle owner, without the attached antenna impairing the appearance of the vehicle and/or the driver's view.

This task is solved in a motor vehicle antenna of the type mentioned at the beginning in that the strip is designed as a decorative strip that can be glued to the outside of the motor vehicle, in which the conductor-free side of the carrier film is provided with a self-adhesive layer and an insulating layer is applied to the conductor-bearing side of the carrier film, which encapsulates the conductor, which is set back from the edges of the carrier film, if necessary up to a connection area for an antenna cable.

2S Further embodiments of the invention are indicated in paragraphs 2 to 4.

The decorative antenna according to the invention can be attached to the vehicle at any time, even retrospectively, without any problems and without any accidents, even by an inexperienced layman. Practically any surface of the vehicle is suitable for gluing the strip antenna, for example the painted surface of a door, but also the outer surface of a rubber or plastic trim strip or a

Bumper. The connection of the new antenna to

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A cable for connecting to the antenna input of the car radio or an additional antenna amplifier is unproven, especially when attaching the strip antenna to a vehicle door. You can

t Run the flexible strip around a car body edge, for example, into the door frame and attach the connection cable to the conductor, for example using a clamping device.

The new antenna is also more cost-effective than a conventional antenna. If it is used instead of a decorative strip that would otherwise be used, further cost advantages arise. And not least, another advantage of the decorative strip antenna is that it is

Its function as an antenna does not have to be recognizable as such, since its optical appearance can be designed in the manner of previous decorative strips.

The invention solves these problems almost in one fell swoop. Since decorative strips are regularly placed horizontally on

Vehicle, the special suitability of the "decorative strip antenna" for DKW reception is almost self-evident. It is particularly well suited to receiving horizontally polarized ultra-traffic waves. Since decorative strips are usually attached to at least both sides of the vehicle, optically desirable but not disturbing antennas can be attached to both sides of the vehicle in a simple manner, which results in a further improvement in the reception properties, since one of the two sides of the vehicle is usually always in a favorable wave incidence area. Finally, a decorative antenna can also be attached transversely to the direction of travel, for example on the trunk lid, which makes the

Reception performance can be increased even further.

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In this context, it is possible to connect a meter panel of individual antennas to an electronic circuit that selects the antenna best suited for interference-free reception and inserts it into the antenna input of the

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»Like the prior art, the invention attempts to use special measures such as transparent conductors and metal conductors to keep the interference as low as possible, so that one can speak of a "lethal radial antenna ^" . Rather, the strip antenna is converted and converted into a deflector. In this design, a new structure had to be chosen, with

IS where the conductor is protected against external influences and, due to its technical quality necessary for the reception properties, is designed in such a way that it does not affect the decorative properties of the strip.

Blne particularly advantageous design of the decorative strip

is seen in the fact that the conductor consists of a thin,

Screen print on the carrier film applied sole of Conductive silver. Such decorative strips can be

() can be produced particularly economically, and the same machines (screen printing machines) can be used to apply the conductor on the one hand and, if necessary, the colors that determine or vary the optical bond on the other. This also applies to the insulating layer, which according to a further feature of the invention can consist of an insulating varnish applied by screen printing to the carrier film equipped with the conductor. A very resistant varnish that hardens under 07 radiation can be used in a particularly advantageous manner.

A further feature of the invention is provided

that the width of the conductor is at least slightly smaller than the width of the carrier film and the width of the insulating layer. This leads to a complete embedding of the conductor, even in its band area, in the two layers of the decorative strip that protect it all around.

You are completely free to choose the decorative design. The insulation layer itself, a layer underneath or above it (foil or varnish) can be used as a colour decoration. Since screen printing in particular is hardly

pattern limitations," the decorative strip can have virtually any desired look.

A further advantageous feature of the invention is that the insulating layer is shorter in the longitudinal direction of the carrier film than this and thus forms an uninsulated section of the conductor on the decorative strip. This uninsulated section of the conductor is used to be led to the interior of the vehicle and it provides the section required for the electrical connection of an antenna cable.

( The decorative strip according to the invention should further be characterized by an effective conductor length of at least 90 cm.

Tests have shown that a rod- or strip-shaped

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Antenna of approx. 80 to 100 cm provides the greatest signal-to-noise ratio and thus the best reception properties, especially for VHF reception. In this context, an advantageous design of a decorative strip is characterized by a narrow interruption in the conductor. This is useful if the vehicle surface to be covered with the decorative strip is longer than 80 to 100 cm. If, for example, a decorative strip according to the invention is to be glued onto a 120 cm wide vehicle door, where the conductor itself is visible, the interruption in the conductor limits the effective antenna length to approx. 90 cm, while the remaining, electrically ineffective conductor strip continues the decorative strip appearance and thus serves to bridge the excess length. Since a conductor interruption in the tenth of a millimeter range is completely sufficient from an electrical point of view, it is not noticeable to the eye at all.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the drawings. In the figures:

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of a car equipped with the "decorative strip antenna" according to the invention,

Fig. 2 is a schematic representation of a decorative strip antenna in plan view and

Fig. 3 is an example of a layered structure of a decorative tire antenna.

The car 10 shown in Fig. 1 is equipped on both sides with decorative strips 11, 12, 13 and 14, which

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are glued to the outer surface of the body. From an optical and aesthetic point of view, the decorative strips here have the task of giving the vehicle a "waist" so to speak. Such vehicle equipment with conventional decorative strips is known. In the exemplary embodiment, it is assumed that the strips or strip sections 11, 13 and 14 are conventional decorative strips. On the other hand, the decorative strip 12 is intended to be a decorative strip designed as a receiving antenna according to the invention, which in the case shown is attached to the driver's door 15. An analogous antenna strip is also expediently provided on the outer surface of the passenger door.

Fig. 2 shows a qualitative view of an antenna decorative strip. In the case shown, it consists of a carrier film 16 made of flexible, preferably - but not necessarily - transparent plastic. The carrier film 16 is provided with an adhesive layer, e.g. a double-sided adhesive film, on the back side not visible in Fig. 2. A conductor 17 is applied to the opposite surface of the carrier film 16, preferably printed using silver conductive paste using a screen printing process. Above this, in turn, an insulating layer designated 18 is provided, which can be an adhesive-coated plastic film, for example, but also and preferably an insulating lacquer layer applied using a screen printing process. The width 19 of the insulating layer 18 in the embodiment shown in Fig. 2 is greater than the width 20 of the conductor 17 and slightly less than the width 21 of the carrier film 16. It is very advantageous if, for the complete encapsulated protection of the conductor 17, the dimension 19 is at least

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is slightly larger than the width 20 of the conductor 17, but the insulating layer 18 can be as wide (dimension 19) as the carrier foil 16 (dimension 21).

The decorative strip according to Fig. 2 also shows a narrow interruption 22 in the conductor 17 of, for example, 2/10 mm. This interruption can be taken into account directly when printing the conductive silver layer for the conductor 17 or can be created later in a simple manner by partially destroying the conductor 17. The purpose of the interruption 22 is to limit the effective length 23 of the antenna conductor 17 to the optimal dimension of about 90 cm.

Fig. 2 also shows that in the example shown, the insulating layer 18 ends at a distance 24 of several millimeters from the edge of the strip. This results in a non-insulated conductor section 25 to which a cable 27, in particular a coaxial cable, can be connected, e.g. with the help of a terminal 26, to connect the strip antenna to an antenna amplifier or directly to the car radio. After the terminal connection, the conductor sections that are still free are insulated, e.g. with an insulating varnish.

The arrangement of the decorative strip antenna 12 shown schematically in Fig. 2 on, for example, the driver's door 15 of the car 10 can be imagined as follows: the end region 24 and an insulated strip section around the front edge of the door 28» where it is attached to the body are folded over by up to 180° or more so that the connection section 2g of the antenna lies in the door fold. The cable 27 can then be guided through the pillars, as is usually the case with other electrical wiring.

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Fig. 3 illustrates, again by way of example, a possible planar structure of the decorative strip antenna according to the invention. Here, 16 is the carrier film, 17 the conductor and 18 the insulating film. 29 denotes a layer of adhesive material, which can be, for example, a thin film that is glued to both surfaces. 30 denotes a protective film, e.g. made of paper, which serves to protect the outside of the adhesive layer 29, which serves as the fastening layer 31, and is removed before the decorative strip antenna is applied. The other binding in Fig. 3 with 32, 33 and 34 permanent dye strips applied to the tinted surface of the oleosphere 18.

As can be seen in Fig. 3, there are a wide variety of optical design options. If one imagines that the colored strips 32 to 34 are not present, the leather strip 17 itself serves as a decorative strip, provided that the insulating layer 18 is transparent. It is of course also possible to divide the single-strand conductor 17 shown in Fig. 3 into several longitudinal strips in order to obtain a different line pattern. It is also possible to use a homogeneously colored or, for example, strip-shaped colored coating instead of a transparent insulating layer 18. Depending on whether the insulating layer 18 is transparent or not, the additionally applied colored stripes 32, 33, 34 together with the (non-transparent) insulating layer 18 form a stripe pattern or - if the insulating layer 18 is transparent - with the conductor

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It is also possible to arrange a layer of color, e.g. in the manner of strips 32, 33 and 34 between the conductor 17 and the then transparent insulating layer 18. Of course, one does not have to rely on the strip-shaped formation of the layers of color 32 or 33 or 34; instead, one could also print documents, for example.

It is also possible to provide the carrier foil 16 as a slitted surface of the strip. In such a case, for example, the "insulating layer" 18 can be provided with an adhesive on its surface facing away from the conductor 17, now forming the fastening surface.

Deviating from the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, a decorative strip antenna could alternatively or additionally be arranged, for example, on the trunk lid and/or on the hood.

The decorative strip antenna according to the invention is also useful if the vehicle owner does not want a decorative strip arrangement 11, 12, 13 and 14, but the vehicle has, for example, decorative strips of the type designated 35 and 36. The decorative strip antenna, which in practical use can have a width 21 (Fig. 2) of 10 mm, for example, can also be glued without problems to the decorative or protective strip 35 made of rubber or plastic, for example. In such a case, it can be expedient to connect the cable to the conductor through one of the body holes, which usually serve to engage the pins for fastening such strips 35 or 36 to the vehicle skin.

Claims (1)

COHAUSZ & FLORACK PATENT LAW OFFICE
SCHUMANNSTR. 97 D-4(WO DÜSSELDORF I Tetetorc «KID 683346 - TeteSnc J02TD 6780871 - Telex: 8586513 cop d DeUn» W COHAUSZ · »pL-ing. R XNAUF · OpUpg. H a COHAUSZ · DipMng. &agr; H WERNER · Dt «et rat a REDIES 10.06.1988 KN/So 44244G speech 1. Motor vehicle antenna for receiving electromagnetic waves, in particular in the VHF range, in the form of a strip that can be glued to the outer skin of a motor vehicle and has a carrier film made of insulating material and a flat electrical conductor arranged thereon, characterized in that the strip (11, 12, 13, 14) is designed as a decorative strip that can be glued to the outside of the outer skin of the motor vehicle, in which the conductor-free side of the carrier film (16) is provided with a self-adhesive layer and an insulating layer (18) is applied to the conductor-bearing side of the carrier film (16), which encapsulates the conductor (17) set back from the edges of the carrier film (16), if necessary, up to a connection area (25) for an antenna cable (27). 2. Motor vehicle antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that the SS conductor (17) consists of screen-printed silver conductive paste. 3* Motor vehicle antenna according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the insulating layer (18) consists of insulating varnish. &iacgr;t'-'.'it&Pgr; S "V .· 361 26.07.1988 KN/So 44244G Motor vehicle antenna according to one of claims 1 to 3» with a colour decorative layer, characterized in that the layer (32, 33, 34) arranged below or above the insulating layer (18) represents the decorative layer.