JP2013121049A - Antenna assembly for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an antenna assembly for a vehicle which has a waterproof structure, reduces the assembly hours, and prevents cracks in solder at a connection part between an antenna element and an amplifier substrate.SOLUTION: An antenna assembly 10 has: antenna elements 11, 12 formed by thin plates that are made of an aluminium material and may be soldered; an amplifier substrate 23 where waterproof treatment is performed by a resin mold 22 and fixed to an antenna base 21; a wire harness 17 connecting the amplifier substrate 23 with a connector 18; and the antenna base 21 supporting those components. The amplifier substrate 23 is soldered to the antenna elements 11, 12. The two antenna elements 11, 12 respectively have nail interference parts 14 to 16 at tips. The respective nail interference parts 14 to 16 fit into through holes 25 to 28 provided at the antenna base 21.

Description

  The present invention relates to a structure of a vehicle antenna assembly that is mounted inside a vehicle exterior product.

  The vehicle is equipped with various radio receivers such as a radio, a digital television, and a GPS, and is equipped with an antenna corresponding to each frequency. In general passenger cars, it is not preferable to install these antennas outside the passenger compartment from the viewpoint of aesthetics and the space to arrange them. Therefore, antennas are installed in the interior space of resin exterior parts such as air spoilers, bumpers and trunk lids for passenger cars. The space is shared and the appearance of passenger cars is improved. Furthermore, since radio waves for digital television broadcasting and the like are directional, diversity reception is often performed by a plurality of antenna elements, and the number of antenna elements tends to increase.

  When an antenna is arranged on such a vehicle exterior product, waterproofness is required to prevent intrusion of rain, dust, and the like. Therefore, in Patent Document 1, a thin metal plate antenna element and an amplifier substrate that amplifies a signal received by the antenna element are collectively surrounded by a protective film of the bag-shaped film, and the air in the bag-shaped film is deaerated. A technique is disclosed in which an antenna element and an amplifier board are waterproofed by covering and closely contacting each other. This technology makes it possible to make the antenna element and the amplifier board waterproof. However, since the metal thin plate element is covered with a bag-like film, vehicles such as air spoilers, bumpers, and trunk lids with adhesive bags are used. It is necessary to fix to the flat interior space of the exterior product. When there is no flat part, the antenna element may bend and performance may be deteriorated. Therefore, an example of waterproofing by covering only the amplifier substrate with a resin cover is shown in FIG.

  The vehicle antenna assembly shown in FIG. 5 includes antenna elements 111 and 112, an amplifier board 120, a waterproof cover 117 that waterproofs the amplifier board 120, a wire harness 114 that connects the amplifier board 120 and the connector 115, and an antenna base that supports them. 116. The two antenna elements 111 and 112 are respectively fixed to the antenna base 116 with four screws 113, the amplifier board 120 is soldered to the fixed antenna elements 111 and 112, and the wire harness 114 extending from the amplifier board 120 is provided. It is connected to the connector 115. The waterproof cover 117 is fixed to the antenna base 116 by three screws 119 and a plurality of connecting portions are waterproofed by seals 118. The antenna assembly 111 and 112 can be reliably supported by the antenna assembly having such a structure.

JP 2011-35540 A

  However, in the configuration of the conventional example shown in FIG. 5, brass tin-plated steel plates are used for soldering and rust prevention functions, and screw fastening is performed at four locations for the antenna elements 111 and 112 and at three locations for the waterproof cover 117. Compared with the antenna of Patent Document 1, the number of assembling steps and the cost are high. Therefore, if the structure is such that the entire amplifier substrate 120 is covered with a resin mold instead of the waterproof cover 117 and is fixed to the antenna base 116, the heat shrinkage occurs between the resin antenna base 116 and the metal antenna elements 111 and 112. Since the amount is different, stress may concentrate on the soldering location and cause solder cracking. Moreover, in order to prevent solder cracking, a material having better solder wettability than a brass tin-plated steel sheet must be used, and it is difficult to reduce costs.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle antenna assembly that has a waterproof structure, can reduce the number of assembling steps, and does not cause solder cracking at the connection portion between the antenna element and the amplifier board.

  To achieve the above object, a vehicle antenna assembly according to the present invention includes an amplifier board fixed to one end of an antenna base and a plate-like antenna element arranged to extend to the other end of the antenna base. An antenna element having one end electrically connected to the amplifier substrate and a fitting portion that is fitted to the antenna base at the other end, and the fitting portion is fitted to the other end of the antenna base. However, the antenna element is displaced to allow deformation in the longitudinal direction of the antenna element. With this configuration, the number of screws for assembling the antenna element to the antenna base is reduced.

  In the vehicle antenna assembly according to the present invention, the fitting portion of the antenna element is a crank-shaped plate formed so as to enter an elongated hole formed in the vicinity of the other end of the antenna base. The antenna element is held by surface contact with both surfaces of the back surface.

  In the vehicle antenna assembly according to the present invention, the fitting portion of the antenna element is a hook-shaped plate formed so as to sandwich the other end of the antenna base, and is point-contacted to both the front and back surfaces of the antenna base. Alternatively, the antenna element is held by line contact.

  By using the vehicle antenna assembly according to the present invention, it has a waterproof structure and can reduce assembly man-hours by reducing screws for assembling, and soldering a connecting portion with an antenna element amplifier board There is an effect that cracks do not occur. Further, it is not necessary to use a material with better wettability of solder than a brass tin-plated steel sheet in order to prevent solder cracking, and there is an effect that an aluminum material that can be soldered at low cost can be used.

It is a top view showing the state where the antenna unit for vehicles concerning the embodiment of the present invention was attached to the lower half casing of the air spoiler. It is a top view of the antenna assembly for vehicles concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining an example of the assembly method of the vehicle antenna assembly which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the cross section of the nail | claw interference part of the vehicle antenna assembly shown in FIG. It is a top view of the vehicle antenna assembly in a prior art example.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as an embodiment) will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a rear portion of the vehicle 1 and shows a state in which the vehicle antenna unit 20 is attached to the lower half casing 9 of the air spoiler 2. The air spoiler 2 is disposed above the taillight 7 and above the tailgate 8 and has a space inside by resin molding. The air spoiler 2 is formed by adhering an upper half casing (not shown) and the lower half casing 9 of FIG. 1, and in the manufacturing process of the air spoiler 2, the radio antenna assembly 4 constituting the vehicle antenna unit 20 and the terrestrial digital broadcast are transmitted. Two television antenna assemblies 5 and 6 for receiving are attached.

  The radio antenna assembly 4 is disposed near the center rear portion of the lower half casing 9 and extends in the width direction of the vehicle 1, and the output of the radio antenna assembly 4 is output by the branch substrate 31 to the TV antenna assembly 6. Connected to the connector. The television antenna assembly 5 is arranged on the left side of the lower half casing 9 in the front direction of the vehicle (the vehicle left side), and the television antenna assembly 6 is arranged on the right side of the vehicle, thereby enabling diversity reception by two antenna assemblies. Yes.

  The radio waves received by these vehicle antenna units 20 are amplified by the amplifier board in each antenna assembly, and input to the audio device via the wire harness. Next, the antenna assembly will be described.

  FIG. 2 shows an antenna assembly 10 for a vehicle antenna assembly in which an amplifier board is waterproofed and fixed to an antenna base 21 by a resin mold 22. FIG. 3 shows a method for assembling the vehicle antenna assembly. One of the characteristic matters in this embodiment is that the screws 113 and 119 used for fixing the antenna elements 111 and 112 and the waterproof cover 117 shown in FIG. Further, one of other characteristic matters is that the material of the antenna elements 111 and 112 shown in FIG. 5 is changed from a brass tin plated steel plate to a thin aluminum plate that can be soldered. First, the structure of the antenna assembly 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The antenna assembly 10 shown in FIG. 2 includes antenna elements 11 and 12 formed of a thin aluminum plate that can be soldered, an amplifier board 23 that is waterproofed by a resin mold 22 and fixed to an antenna base 21, and the amplifier. It has a wire harness 17 that connects the board 23 and the connector 18 and an antenna base 21 that supports them. The amplifier board 23 is soldered to the antenna elements 11 and 12, and the wire harness 17 extending from the amplifier board 23 is connected to the connector 18. On the other hand, the two antenna elements 11 and 12 have claw interference portions 14 to 16 at their tips, and the claw interference portions 14 to 16 are fitted into long through holes 25 to 28 provided in the antenna base 21. ing. Therefore, the antenna elements 11 and 12 are fixed to the antenna base 21 by the claw interference portions 14 to 16 and the resin mold 22 without using the screws 113 and 119 of FIG.

  Next, an example of an assembly method of the antenna assembly 10 will be described with reference to FIG. For assembly, after the antenna elements 11 and 12 and the wire harness 17 are soldered to the amplifier board 23, the nail interference portions 14 to 16 of the antenna element are inserted into the through holes 28 of the antenna base 21, and the surface of the antenna elements 11 and 12 is assembled. And assembled so that both sides of the back surface are in contact with the antenna base 21. Here, for example, the claw interference portions 14 are fitted into the through holes 28 to interfere with each other, and interference forces (friction forces) are generated due to the interference. Next, the amplifier substrate 23 is fixed to the antenna base 21 by so-called direct molding in which a resin is injected by covering a molding die that covers the amplifier substrate 23. When the injection of the resin is completed, the mold is removed. By this work, the antenna elements 11 and 12 are connected to the amplifier substrate 23 by soldering, and the amplifier substrate 23 is fixed to the antenna base 21 by the resin mold 22. On the other hand, the claw interference portions 14 to 16 are interference-fixed to be freely displaceable by receiving interference due to surface friction with the antenna base 21. For this reason, the thermal contraction difference generated between the antenna elements 11 and 12 and the antenna base 21 can be absorbed by the displacement of the claw interference portions 14 to 16, and stress concentration on the solder portion 24 can be prevented. In addition, interference fixation shows the state which interference force generate | occur | produces by mutually interfering and is being fixed by interference force, and there exists an effect that the assembly | attachment screw | screw conventionally required is unnecessary.

  The claw interference portions 14 to 16 that are interference-fixed so as to be freely displaceable need to be set so that interference fixation is weaker than the strength of the antenna elements 11, 12 and the antenna base 21. When used for 11 and 12, the interference force was too high and good displacement was lost. Further, since the brass tin-plated steel plate is difficult to be plastically deformed, a gap is generated between the antenna elements 11 and 12 and the antenna base 21. Thus, the antenna element is made of an aluminum material, and the interference fixing is held while a part of the claw interference portions 14 to 16 is plastically deformed, thereby realizing a reduction in the clearance of the contact portion and weak interference force. In other words, if a gap is generated in the nail interference portions 14 to 16, abnormal sounds such as a hitting sound and a dragging sound are generated. Thus, it was difficult to fix the interference well. In contrast, a solderable aluminum material is easily deformed plastically by itself, and has an antioxidant layer and a solderability imparting layer plated with nickel or tin on the surface, and this antioxidant layer has a weak interference force. Realized. Furthermore, the solderability imparting layer has solder wettability equivalent to that of a conventional brass tin-plated steel sheet.

  FIG. 4 shows a cross section of the claw interference portion 13 (fitting portion) of the vehicle antenna assembly shown in FIG. FIG. 4A shows a cross section taken along the line AA in FIG. 3, and FIG. 4B shows a cross section in another embodiment. In FIG. 4A, the claw interference portion 13 of the antenna element 11 bent in a crank shape is in surface contact with both the front surface and the back surface of the antenna base 21. On the opposite side of the claw interference portion 13, the antenna element 11 and the amplifier substrate 23 are connected by the solder portion 24, and the amplifier substrate 23 fixed to the antenna base 21 by the resin mold 22 is disposed.

  The claw interference portion 13 of the antenna element 11 shown by the broken line in FIG. 4 is shaped so that the crank portion at the tip is lifted, and is further folded by α ° with respect to the right angle. This folding increases the interference force with the back surface of the antenna base 21 and, if the interference force is too high, reduces the interference force by plastic deformation of the claw interference portion 13 as in the antenna element 11 shown by the solid line. Yes.

  FIG. 4B shows a cross-section in another embodiment, and when the difference in thermal contraction of the antenna element is large, an example in which the end portion of the antenna base is fixed by being sandwiched between hook portions at the interference portion. Is shown. On the hook-shaped plate, it is possible to form a point contact or line contact nail interference portion in which the interference force is more stable and difficult to change compared to the surface contact so as to absorb the heat shrinkage difference.

  As described above, by using the vehicle antenna assembly according to the present embodiment, it has a waterproof structure, and can reduce the assembly man-hour by reducing screws for assembly, and the antenna element amplifier board and It is possible to prevent solder cracking of the connecting portion. Further, it is not necessary to use a material with better solder wettability than a brass tin-plated steel sheet in order to prevent solder cracking, and an aluminum material that can be soldered at low cost can be used. In this embodiment, the solderable aluminum material used is “SAPlate” (registered trademark) manufactured by Toyo Kohan Co., Ltd., but is not limited to this, and is a lightweight material having an equivalent function. Inexpensive materials may be used.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle, 2 Air spoiler, 4 Radio antenna assembly, 5, 6 Television antenna assembly, 7 Taillight, 8 Tailgate, 9 Lower half casing, 10 Antenna assembly, 11, 12, 111, 112 Antenna element, 13, 14 , 15, 16 Claw interference part, 17, 114 Wire harness, 18, 115 connector, 20 Vehicle antenna unit, 21, 116 Antenna base, 22 Resin mold, 23, 120 Amplifier board, 24 Solder part, 25, 26, 27 , 28 Through hole, 31 Branch board, 113, 119 screw, 117 Waterproof cover, 118 Seal.

Claims (3)

An amplifier board fixed to one end of the antenna base;
An antenna element having a plate-like antenna element arranged to extend to the other end of the antenna base, one end of which is electrically connected to the amplifier board, and a fitting portion that fits into the antenna base is formed at the other end. ,
Have
A vehicular antenna assembly, wherein the fitting portion is displaced while fitting with the other end of the antenna base to allow deformation in the longitudinal direction of the antenna element. The vehicle antenna assembly according to claim 1,
The fitting portion of the antenna element is a crank-shaped plate formed so as to enter a slot formed in the vicinity of the other end of the antenna base, and the antenna element is brought into surface contact with both the front and back surfaces of the antenna base. An antenna assembly for a vehicle, characterized in that The vehicle antenna assembly according to claim 1,
The fitting portion of the antenna element is a hook-shaped plate formed so as to sandwich the other end of the antenna base, and holds the antenna element by making point contact or line contact with both the front and back surfaces of the antenna base. A vehicle antenna assembly characterized by the above.

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