JP2011061526A - Vehicular roof-mounted antenna - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicular roof-mounted antenna easily attachable, having high strength of a base plate, and stabilized in an antenna characteristic. <P>SOLUTION: This vehicular roof-mounted antenna installed on a vehicle body includes: a base plate 10; a circuit board; an earth terminal 20; a boss part 30; and a projection part 40. The base plate 10 includes a through-hole 11 for passing cables 15, 16 therethrough. The earth terminal 20 includes a cable crimp part 21 for previously crimping the cables thereto, a projecting part 22 electrically connected to the circuit board, and a crimping hole 23 for being crimped to the base plate. The boss part 30 penetrates the crimping hole 23. The projection part 40 is formed for bending and guiding the projecting part to the circuit board side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle roof mount antenna, and more particularly to a structure for assembling a vehicle roof mount antenna to a base plate of a cable.

  A vehicle roof mount antenna is generally provided on a vehicle roof, and includes antennas for AM / FM radio, cellular phone, GPS, and the like.

  For example, a base plate of a vehicle roof mount antenna is provided with a through-hole through which a cable such as a wire harness passes. For example, after passing a coaxial cable through the through-hole, an earth terminal is caulked to an outer conductor of the coaxial cable, and grounding is performed. There is a structure in which the terminal is caulked to the base plate.

  In the case of the vehicle roof mount antenna having such a structure, when the cable is passed through the through hole of the base plate, there is a problem that the conductor of the cable hits the base plate and the stranded wire of the cable is scattered. If the stranded wire is broken and part of it is cut, the stability of the antenna characteristics can be adversely affected.

  In addition, when the cable is caulked to the ground terminal, the base plate sometimes gets in the way. In addition, the assembly process requires two caulking processes: caulking the cable to the ground terminal and caulking the ground terminal to the base plate, increasing the number of assembling processes and two caulking facilities in the factory assembly line. Was needed.

  As a solution to such a problem, for example, there is a cable mounting structure disclosed in Patent Document 1. This is intended to facilitate cable installation work. A fixing bracket is caulked and fixed to the cable in advance, and the fixing bracket is fixed to a through-hole having a rectangular cross section through which the fixing bracket provided on the base plate passes. After passing, the fixing bracket is rotated 90 degrees so that the support piece of the fixing bracket is locked in the support groove of the base plate.

JP 2002-329559 A

  When the vehicle roof mount antenna is attached to the vehicle roof, the vehicle roof mount antenna is fixed to the vehicle fool by tightening a nut to a screw boss provided on the base plate. For this reason, since strength is required for the base plate, it is necessary to set the through hole through which the cable passes to a minimum size. However, for example, the one disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a wide width because the fixing bracket is provided with a support piece protruding left and right, and the through-hole is large to allow this to pass. Furthermore, since the base plate disclosed in Patent Document 1 is provided with a through hole through which the fixing bracket passes and a support groove for locking the fixing bracket, the strength of the base plate may be lowered. In particular, recently, the base plate has been made of aluminum, and ensuring the strength has become more important. Further, when downsizing the base plate, it is necessary to further reduce the through hole, and the large fixing bracket for the cable can be a problem.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that the ground line, which is the outer conductor of the coaxial cable, be connected to the circuit board in the shortest distance together with the base plate. Furthermore, it is preferable that the ground line is securely connected to the circuit board. However, in the one disclosed in Patent Document 1, the circuit board is screwed to the base plate, and the ground line is connected to the circuit board via the base plate and the screw. For this reason, since the ground depends on the screws for fixing the circuit board to the base plate, the ground level of the circuit board varies and the antenna characteristics may not be stable.

  In view of such circumstances, the present invention is intended to provide a vehicle roof mount antenna that can be easily assembled, has a base plate strength, and has stable antenna characteristics.

  In order to achieve the above-described object of the present invention, a vehicle roof mount antenna according to the present invention includes a base plate having a through-hole through which a cable passes, a circuit board disposed on the base plate, and a cable to which the cable is caulked in advance. An earth terminal having a caulking portion, a convex portion electrically connected to the circuit board, and an earth terminal caulking portion for caulking to the base plate, and a boss portion disposed on the base plate and penetrating the earth terminal caulking portion; And a projecting portion disposed on the base plate for bending and guiding the convex portion of the ground terminal to the circuit board side.

  Here, the earth terminal may have a hole or a notch for concentrating the bending stress on the bent portion of the convex portion.

  The earth terminal has a protruding portion on both sides of the protruding portion, and the protruding portion has a first protruding portion for bending the protruding portion, and the protruding portion by sandwiching the protruding portion together with the first protruding portion. It may consist of a 2nd protrusion part for demarcating the bending angle.

  Further, it may be provided with a cable projection for bending and guiding the tip of the cable disposed on the base plate and previously caulked to the cable caulking portion of the ground terminal to the circuit board side.

  Further, the circuit board may include a connection hole that is positioned so that the convex portion of the ground terminal passes therethrough.

  Further, the circuit board may have a cutout portion that receives the tip of a cable that is caulked to the earth terminal.

  Furthermore, the method for assembling the vehicle roof mount antenna according to the present invention includes a step of providing a base plate having a through hole through which a cable passes, a cable caulking portion to which the cable is caulked in advance, a convex portion to be bent later, and a base plate. A process of passing an earth terminal having an earth terminal caulking part for caulking through a through hole of the base plate, a process of passing a boss part arranged on the base plate into the earth terminal caulking part, and a projecting part arranged on the base plate The process of pressing the ground terminal to the base plate side and the process of caulking the boss part that penetrates the ground terminal caulking part so that the convex part of the ground terminal comes into contact with and is bent and guided to the circuit board side to be placed later And the circuit board on the base plate Is intended to includes the steps of location, the steps of electrically connecting the projections and the cable of the grounding terminal to the circuit board, the.

  Here, the pressing process and the caulking process are performed with one pressing tool, and the pressing tool includes a first pressing portion having a pressing surface for pressing the ground terminal and a caulking hole into which the boss portion is inserted. The second pressing portion having a caulking surface for caulking the boss portion from the caulking hole may be performed in a series of steps of pressing and caulking.

  The roof mount antenna for a vehicle according to the present invention has advantages that it is easy to assemble, has the strength of the base plate, and stabilizes the antenna characteristics.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining a state of an earth terminal caulked to a base plate of a vehicle roof mount antenna according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view for explaining the configuration of the base plate of the vehicle roof mount antenna of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view for explaining the configuration of the ground terminal of the vehicle rule mount antenna of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a plan view for explaining another configuration of the ground terminal of the vehicle rule mount antenna of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a perspective view for explaining a state in which the circuit board is arranged on the base plate in the vehicle roof mount antenna of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the flow of the pressing process of the vehicle roof mount antenna of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a plan view for explaining still another configuration of the ground terminal of the vehicle roof mount antenna of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a perspective view for explaining the structure of the resin base plate of the vehicle roof mount antenna of the present invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described together with illustrated examples. FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining a state of an earth terminal caulked to a base plate of a vehicle roof mount antenna according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view for explaining the configuration of the base plate of the vehicle roof mount antenna of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view for explaining the configuration of the ground terminal of the vehicle rule mount antenna of the present invention. In the figure, the same reference numerals denote the same parts.

  As illustrated, the vehicle roof mount antenna of the present invention mainly includes a base plate 10 and a ground terminal 20. As will be described in detail later, as shown in FIG. 5, a circuit board 50 for an antenna is disposed on the base plate 10, and then a housing or the like is attached thereto. Therefore, the base plate 10 is provided with a circuit board fixing boss portion 48 for fixing the circuit board 50 at a predetermined position.

  The base plate 10 is made of, for example, a conductor and has a through hole 11 through which a cable passes. The base plate 10 is provided with a screw boss 12 that is inserted into a hole in the vehicle roof and is tightened with a nut from the vehicle interior side. The screw boss 12 has a hollow structure, and is formed so that a cable can pass therethrough. The through hole 11 may be formed substantially integrally with the center hole of the screw boss 12.

  Here, in the illustrated example, the power supply cable 15 and the coaxial cable 16 are shown. The power cable 15 supplies driving power for the circuit board, and the coaxial cable 16 serves as a signal line between the antenna body and a receiving device (not shown) provided on the vehicle interior side. . In the illustrated example, two cables, ie, a power cable and a coaxial cable are shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a single cable can be obtained by superimposing power on a signal line. Also good.

  The ground terminal 20 is caulked to such a cable in advance. At the time of assembly, the ground terminal 20 to which the cable is caulked is inserted into the through hole 11 from the screw boss 12 side, and pulled out to the upper side of the base plate 10. Therefore, the through-hole 11 should just be a hole which the earth terminal 20 passes at least. For this reason, the fall of the intensity | strength of a baseplate by providing a through-hole can be suppressed to the minimum.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the ground terminal 20 has a cable caulking portion 21. In the illustrated example, the cable caulking portions 21 are provided on both sides of the ground terminal 20 in order to caulk the two cables of the power cable 15 and the coaxial cable 16. Further, in the illustrated example, cable caulking portions 21 are formed so that each cable is caulked at two locations. For example, in the case of the coaxial cable 16, the outermost coating of the coaxial cable may be caulked at one location of the cable caulking portion 21, and the outer conductor serving as a ground line may be caulked at the other location.

  The earth terminal 20 has a convex portion 22. The convex portion 22 is a portion that is electrically connected to the circuit board, and is a portion that is formed in a convex shape from the earth terminal 20. Before the earth terminal 20 is assembled to the base plate 10, the convex portion 22 is flush with the plate-like earth terminal 20 as shown in FIG. 3. And the convex part 22 protrudes in convex shape toward the longitudinal direction of a cable. When such a plate-like earth terminal 20 is assembled to the base plate 10, the convex portion 22 is bent toward the circuit board. A hole 25 for concentrating bending stress is provided in a portion where the convex portion 22 is bent. Thereby, the dimensional accuracy of the position to be bent is improved.

  Furthermore, the earth terminal 20 has a caulking hole 23 as an earth terminal caulking portion. The caulking hole 23 is a hole for caulking the ground terminal 20 to the base plate 10. In the example shown in FIG. 3, two caulking holes 23 are formed. A boss portion 30 described later disposed in the base plate 10 passes through the caulking hole 23, and the ground terminal 20 is caulked to the base plate 10 by caulking the boss portion 30.

  In the illustrated example described above, the hole 25 for concentrating the bending stress formed in the convex portion 22 and the caulking hole 23 for caulking the earth terminal 20 to the base plate 10 are shown. The shape is not limited to the illustrated example. For example, as shown in the plan view for explaining another configuration of the ground terminal in FIG. 4, the ground terminal 20A is provided with a notch 26 for concentrating bending stress, or as a ground terminal caulking portion. A caulking notch 24 may be provided. Thus, the earth terminal of the present invention may have a shape that can concentrate bending stress at a position where it can be bent or a shape that can be caulked.

  Referring back to FIG. 2, the vehicle roof mount antenna of the present invention has a boss portion 30 disposed on the base plate 10. The boss portion 30 penetrates the caulking hole 23 provided in the earth terminal 20. The boss portion 30 may be integrally formed with the base plate 10. When the ground terminal 20 is assembled to the base plate 10, the ground terminal 20 is caulked to the base plate 10 by passing the boss portion 30 through the caulking hole 23 and then caulking the boss portion.

  Further, a protrusion 40 is disposed on the base plate 10. The protruding portion 40 is arranged to bend and guide the convex portion 22 of the earth terminal 20 to the circuit board side. When the protrusion 22 is bent by the protrusion 40, the protrusion 22 is guided upward, that is, toward the circuit board. The protrusion 40 may be formed integrally with the base plate 10. Thus, the arrangement position and shape of the protrusion 22 of the earth terminal 20, the arrangement position of the hole 25, and the arrangement position of the protrusion 40 are determined so that the protrusion 22 is bent.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view for explaining a state in which the circuit board is arranged on the base plate in the vehicle roof mount antenna of the present invention. As shown in the figure, after the ground terminal 20 is assembled to the base plate 10, the circuit board 50 is disposed on the base plate 10. The circuit board 50 is fixed on the base plate 10 using a circuit board fixing boss 48 and a circuit board fixing screw 49 provided on the base plate 10 and electrically connected, as shown in the example of the figure. Is done.

  The circuit board 50 is provided with a connection hole 51 that is positioned so that the convex portion 22 of the earth terminal 20 passes therethrough. The circuit board 50 is provided with a notch 52 for receiving the ends of the cables 15 and 16 that are caulked to the earth terminal 20. Electrical connection is made by soldering the projections 22 and the cables 15 and 16 led to the connection holes 51 and the notches 52, respectively.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and the like, the base plate 10 is provided with a cable protrusion 45. The cable projecting portion 45 is provided for bending and leading the ends of the cables 15 and 16 which are caulked in advance to the cable caulking portion 21 of the earth terminal 20 to the circuit board 50 side. That is, without the cable protrusion 45, the cable tip is directed in the direction of the surface of the base plate 10, but by providing the cable protrusion 45, the direction of the cable tip is changed in the direction of the circuit board 50. It is configured. As a result, the end of the cable is naturally guided to the notch 52 provided in the circuit board 50, and the soldering operation becomes easier.

  In the vehicle roof mount antenna of the present invention, it is possible to connect the ground terminal and the circuit board in the shortest distance by raising the ground terminal vertically as described above. Furthermore, the circuit board can be reliably grounded without relying only on the circuit board fixing screw. Therefore, variations in ground level are reduced, and antenna characteristics are stabilized.

  Here, the process of assembling each component of the vehicle roof mount antenna of the present invention configured as described above will be described. First, cables such as the power cable 15 and the coaxial cable 16 are caulked to the ground terminal 20 in advance. Then, the ground terminal 20 in this state is passed through the through hole 11 of the base plate 10. More specifically, the ground terminal 20 is inserted from the screw boss 12 side of the base plate 10. Then, the boss portion 30 disposed in the base plate 10 is passed through the caulking hole 23 of the ground terminal 20 drawn to the surface side of the base plate 10.

  Next, the earth terminal 20 is pressed toward the base plate 10 side. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the flow of the pressing process of the vehicle roof mount antenna of the present invention. In the figure, the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 1 to 3 denote the same components. FIG. 6A shows a state where the earth terminal 20 is being pressed by the pressing tool 60. FIG. 6B shows a state in which the earth terminal 20 is completely pressed by the pressing tool 60. As shown in FIG. 6 (a), first, the pressing tool 22 is arranged so that the protrusion 22 of the earth terminal 20 abuts on the protrusion 40 disposed on the base plate 10 and is bent and guided toward the circuit board disposed later. The ground terminal 20 is pressed by the first pressing portion 61 having 60 ground terminal pressing surfaces. The first pressing portion 61 has a caulking hole 63 that matches the position of the boss portion 30, and the boss portion 30 is configured to be inserted into the caulking hole 63. Therefore, the 1st press part 61 is comprised so that only the ground terminal 20 can be pressed, without pressing the boss | hub part 30. FIG.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the ground terminal 20 is completely pressed toward the base plate 10 by the first pressing portion 61 of the pressing tool 60, the convex portion 22 is bent at 90 degrees. In the illustrated example, the example of bending at 90 degrees is shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it may be bent at an arbitrary angle according to the position of the connection hole of the circuit board.

  Thereafter, the boss portion 30 is caulked by the second pressing portion 62 having a caulking surface for caulking the boss portion 30, and the earth terminal 20 is caulked to the base plate 10. The caulking portion 64 of the second pressing portion 62 is arranged in accordance with the arrangement position of the boss portion 30 and is configured to be inserted into the caulking hole 63. Thereby, the second pressing portion 62 can caulk the boss portion 30 via the caulking hole 63.

  Here, the first pressing portion 61 and the second pressing portion 62 are connected by an elastic body 65 such as a spring. The elastic body 65 may be adjusted so as to be biased with a force stronger than the force by which the convex portion 22 of the earth terminal 20 is bent. When the pressing tool 60 is pressed, the first pressing portion 61 first presses the ground terminal 20. When the pressing is completed, the convex portion 22 is bent, and the ground terminal 20 is in surface contact with the base plate 10, the second pressing portion 62 is pressed with a force stronger than the urging force of the elastic body 65. As a result, the second pressing portion 62 caulks the boss portion 30, and the earth terminal 20 is caulked to the base plate 10.

  By using the pressing tool 60 configured in this way, the process of pressing the earth terminal 20 and the process of caulking the boss part 30 can be performed in series.

  Thereafter, the circuit board is arranged on the base plate, and the convex portions and the cables are electrically connected to the circuit board by soldering or the like, and the assembly is completed.

  Thus, according to the vehicle roof mount antenna of the present invention, assembly is easy. In the prior art, after passing the cable through the base plate, it was necessary to caulk the ground terminal to the cable, or caulking the ground terminal to the base plate, which was difficult to assemble by the factory line. It becomes easy to assemble.

  Next, still another configuration of the ground terminal of the vehicle roof mount antenna of the present invention will be described. FIG. 7 is a plan view for explaining still another configuration of the ground terminal of the vehicle roof mount antenna of the present invention. FIG. 7A shows a state before the convex portion is bent, and FIG. ) Shows a state in which the convex portion is bent and fitted to the base plate. In the figure, the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 1 to 3 denote the same components. As shown in FIG. 7A, the earth terminal 20 </ b> B of this example has a protruding portion 28 on both sides of the convex portion 22.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7B, the first protrusion 41 and the second protrusion 42 are arranged on the base plate 10. The first protrusion 41 has a function similar to that of the protrusion 40 shown in FIG. 2 and the like, and is used to bend the protrusion 22. And the 2nd protrusion part 42 demarcates the bending angle of the convex part 22 by pinching the overhang | projection part 28 with the 1st protrusion part 41. As shown in FIG. The first protrusion 41 and the second protrusion 42 may be integrally formed with the base plate 10.

  When the ground terminal 20 </ b> B having such a configuration is pressed against the base plate 10, the protruding portion 22 is bent while the protruding portion 28 is fitted between the first protruding portion 41 and the second protruding portion 42. Therefore, since the overhang | projection part 28 is inserted | pinched between the 1st protrusion part 41 and the 2nd protrusion part 42, the convex part 22 will be reliably bend | folded by the set angle to the circuit board side.

  The base plate of the above-described vehicle roof mount antenna of the illustrated example has been described as being made of a conductor. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the base plate may be made of, for example, a resin. FIG. 8 is a perspective view for explaining the configuration of the resin base plate of the vehicle roof mount antenna of the present invention.

  With the recent increase in electric vehicles and the like, there is an increasing demand for lighter vehicles, and there is also a need for lighter antennas. Therefore, in the vehicle roof mount antenna of the present invention shown in FIG. 8, weight reduction is achieved by using a resin base plate 10a instead of a base plate made of aluminum or the like. The structure of the protrusions and the like disposed on the resin base plate 10a for guiding the ground terminal by bending it toward the circuit board is the same as that of the base plate of FIG.

  In the vicinity of the antenna body of the coaxial cable 16, a vehicle body fastening portion 18 for grounding the cable to the vehicle body is provided. In order to ground the ground line of the coaxial cable 16 to the vehicle body, the coaxial cable is caulked at the vehicle body fastening portion 18 to electrically connect the ground line and the vehicle body fastening portion 18, and the vehicle body fastening portion 18 is connected to the vehicle body. By screwing to the vehicle body, the vehicle body and the ground line of the coaxial cable 16 have the same potential.

  In the vehicle roof mount antenna of the present invention, it is possible to use a resin base plate as described above. This makes it possible to reduce the weight further.

  It should be noted that the vehicle roof mount antenna of the present invention is not limited to the illustrated example described above, and it is needless to say that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Base plate 11 Through-hole 12 Screw boss | hub 15 Power supply cable 16 Coaxial cable 18 Car body fastening part 20 Ground terminal 21 Cable crimping part 22 Convex part 23 Crimping hole 24 Crimping notch 25 Hole part 26 Notch part 28 Overhang part 30 Boss part 40 Protruding part 41 First projecting part 42 Second projecting part 45 Cable projecting part 48 Circuit board fixing boss part 49 Circuit board fixing screw 50 Circuit board 51 Connection hole 52 Notch part 60 Pressing tool 61 First 1 pressing part 62 second pressing part 63 caulking hole 64 caulking part 65 elastic body

Claims (8)

A vehicle roof mount antenna installed on a vehicle body, the vehicle roof mount antenna comprising:
A base plate having a through hole through which the cable passes;
A circuit board disposed on the base plate;
An earth terminal having a cable caulking portion to which the cable is caulked in advance, a convex portion electrically connected to the circuit board, and an earth terminal caulking portion for caulking to the base plate;
A boss portion disposed on the base plate and penetrating the ground terminal caulking portion;
A protrusion disposed on the base plate for bending and guiding the convex portion of the ground terminal toward the circuit board;
A roof mount antenna for a vehicle, comprising:   2. The vehicle roof mount antenna according to claim 1, wherein the ground terminal has a hole or a notch for concentrating a bending stress at a portion where the convex portion is bent. antenna. The vehicle roof mount antenna according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the ground terminal has a protruding portion on both sides of the convex portion,
The projecting portion includes a first projecting portion for folding the projecting portion and a second projecting portion for defining a folding angle of the projecting portion by sandwiching the projecting portion together with the first projecting portion. The vehicle roof mount antenna.   The roof mount antenna for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: a tip of a cable disposed on the base plate and caulked in advance to a cable caulking portion of an earth terminal toward the circuit board side. A roof mount antenna for a vehicle, comprising a protruding portion for a cable to be bent and guided.   5. The vehicle roof mount antenna according to claim 1, wherein the circuit board includes a connection hole that is positioned so that a convex portion of the ground terminal passes therethrough. Roof mount antenna.   6. The vehicle roof mount antenna according to claim 1, wherein the circuit board has a cutout portion that receives a tip of a cable that is caulked to an earth terminal. Mount antenna. A method for assembling a vehicle roof mount antenna, the method comprising:
Providing a base plate having a through hole through which the cable passes;
A process of passing an earth terminal having a cable caulking part to which the cable is caulked in advance, a convex part to be bent later, and an earth terminal caulking part for caulking to the base plate through the through hole of the base plate;
The process of passing the boss part arranged on the base plate through the ground terminal caulking part,
The process of pressing the ground terminal to the base plate side so that the protrusion of the ground terminal is brought into contact with the projecting portion disposed on the base plate and bent and guided to the circuit board side disposed later,
The process of caulking the boss part penetrating the earth terminal caulking part,
Placing the circuit board on the base plate; and
Electrically connecting the protrusion of the ground terminal and the cable to the circuit board;
A method for assembling a vehicle roof mount antenna.   8. The method of assembling a vehicle roof mount antenna according to claim 7, wherein the pressing step and the caulking step are performed by a single pressing tool, and the pressing tool includes a pressing surface and a boss portion for pressing the ground terminal. It consists of a first pressing part having a caulking hole to be inserted and a second pressing part having a caulking surface for caulking the boss part from the caulking hole, and a process of pressing and caulking is performed in series. A method for assembling a vehicle roof mount antenna.