JP4402857B2 - Method for manufacturing antenna - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an antenna used for transmission and reception of communication signals such as microwaves, for example, UHF, and more specifically, a plurality of through holes are provided at appropriate intervals in the axial direction of the boom, and the through holes are provided. On the other hand, the present invention relates to an antenna manufacturing method in which a pipe-shaped antenna element is fixed in a penetrating state.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, in each of the plurality of through holes, a boom having a plurality of through holes oriented in a direction perpendicular to the boom axis at positions that are separated from each other by an appropriate interval in the boom axial direction. A method of manufacturing an antenna by penetrating pipe-shaped antenna elements and fixing these antenna elements to a boom is widely known (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-11001).
In the conventional fixing means, a metal hollow tube made of a plastic material is inserted into the tube of the antenna element, and is positioned around the boom axis, and the rod-shaped jig is inserted into the hollow tube from both sides. By inserting the tip and applying pressure from both sides, the inlet of the hollow tube is deformed in the radial direction, and the deforming action expands the entire circumference of the tube wall inside the boom in the antenna element, thereby penetrating the boom. Means are used to fix the antenna element to the boom by being brought into pressure contact with the inner edge of the hole.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In this conventional antenna manufacturing method, the degree of expansion of the tube ports at both ends of the hollow tube is larger than the degree of expansion at the center of the hollow tube, and inevitably the hole in the tube wall inside the boom in the antenna element. The wall of the tube near the edge is locally expanded radially with a sharp angle. As described above, when a part of the tube wall is locally expanded, there is a problem of lack of durability such that the tube wall is repeatedly subjected to repeated bending loads due to use over time. Further, since one hollow tube is required as a consumable for one antenna element, there is a problem that the cost of parts increases and the production cost increases.
Therefore, in order to save the consumables, means for mechanically expanding the tube wall near the hole edge in the tube wall in the boom in the antenna element without using the consumables is also disclosed. However, the formation of the bulging portion by such known mechanical means sharply and locally damages the tube wall near the hole edge, and in this respect, metal fatigue is caused by repeated bending load, resulting in durability. There was a problem that would be missing.
[0004]
The antenna manufacturing method of the present application is provided in order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.
An object of the present application is to provide a method for manufacturing an antenna in which an antenna element is fixed to a boom so that the fixing means cannot be seen from the outside and can be fixed in a beautiful appearance. It is.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing an antenna in which the fixed portion of the antenna element located in the boom can be softly expanded evenly around the entire circumference, and a portion that is partially weakened is avoided as much as possible. It is something to try.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an antenna manufacturing method capable of reducing the production cost without using consumable parts.
Another object is that the expansion member formed of a resilient material used to uniformly bulge the entire circumference of the tube wall located at the fixed portion of the antenna element located in the boom is a portion on both sides of the expansion member. It is intended to provide a method of manufacturing an antenna which is formed so as to have a large elastic deformation and can form a soft bulging portion for fixing with a slight stroke of pressure.
Other objects and advantages will be readily apparent from the drawings and the following description associated therewith.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The method for manufacturing an antenna according to the present invention relates to a boom having a plurality of through-holes oriented in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the boom at positions spaced apart at an appropriate interval in the direction of the axis of the boom. In the method of manufacturing an antenna by passing a pipe-shaped antenna element through each of a plurality of through holes and fixing each of these antenna elements to a boom, the fixing means is elastic in the tube of the antenna element. Insert the expansion member made of material, position it with the boom axis as the center, press the expansion member with a hook-shaped jig from both sides to elastically deform the expansion member and expand it in the radial direction, By expanding the entire circumference of the tube wall inside the boom in the antenna element in the radial direction by an expansion action, and pressing the antenna element against the inner edge of the through hole of the boom Applying means for fixing the antenna element to the boom, and means for further removing both sides of the rod-shaped jig, it is obtained by so applying means to recover the expansion member which is reduced in diameter by elastic deformation action.
[0006]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, drawings showing embodiments of the present invention will be described. 1 to 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a known antenna used for transmission / reception of a communication signal (including an image signal) such as a microwave. Reference numeral 2 denotes a hollow boom 3 having a round or square cross section formed of aluminum or synthetic resin, which is usually mounted on a mast established on a building and directed in the direction of transmission / reception of communication. Be placed. In the axial direction of the boom 2, a plurality of through-holes 4 are provided at positions spaced at an appropriate interval in terms of high frequency, each directed in a direction perpendicular to the axial line of the boom 2, as shown in FIG. Arbitrary plural pipe-shaped antenna elements 8 are mounted. In manufacturing, a pipe-shaped antenna element (antenna element) 8 is passed through each of the plurality of through-holes 4 as shown in FIGS. 2 (A) to 2 (B). The antenna is manufactured by fixing 8 to the boom 2 respectively.
The number of antenna elements 8 to be mounted on the boom and the types of elements, for example, elements for waveguide, reflection, and radiator may be appropriately selected according to signals to be transmitted and received as is generally known. .
[0007]
Next, the fixing means after the antenna element 8 has penetrated the through hole 4 in the boom 2 will be described. The means for fixing the antenna element 8 to the through hole 4 is as shown in FIG. 2B by inserting the antenna element 8 through the through hole 4 in FIG. Next, as shown in FIG. 2C, the expansion member 16 is inserted into the tube of the antenna element 8 of FIG. The expansion member 16 is shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, and is formed of an elastic material such as urethane resin (synthetic resin / synthetic rubber) or hard rubber. The shape is changed by adding, and it is made of an elastic material as a material utilizing the property of restoring to its original shape by leaving external force. As shown in FIG. 2C, the expansion member 16 is positioned in the tube of the antenna element 8 at a position centered on the axis of the boom 2. As a means for inserting the expansion member 16, a hook-shaped jig 24 may be used.
[0008]
Next, the expansion member 16 is pressurized with a hook-shaped jig 24 from both sides as shown in FIG. In that case, the length of the bowl-shaped jig 24 is longer than the length of the antenna element 8. The expansion member 16 is elastically deformed by being pressed from both sides at the tip of the hook-shaped jig 24, and at the same time, the dimension 18 in the length direction is reduced, and at the same time, the expansion member 16 expands uniformly in the radial direction. If the length dimension 18 of the expansion member 16 is previously formed larger than the inner diameter dimension 5 of the boom, when it is compressed, it expands inside the boom 2 as shown in FIG. The entire circumference of the tube wall 8a in the boom in the antenna element 8 is expanded in the radial direction, and the tube wall 8a of the antenna element is expanded evenly and gently on the edge 4a of the through hole. Then, the tube wall 8a of the antenna element is brought into close contact with the inner peripheral surface and the inner side surface of the hole edge 4a of the through hole, and is gently pressed. By applying such means, the antenna element 8 can be fixed and integrated with the boom 2 with less damage.
The dimensions of the general boom and antenna element are as follows: the inner diameter 5 of the boom 2 is 20 mm, the inner diameter of the through hole is 8.2 mm, the outer diameter 11 of the antenna element is 8 mm, and the inner diameter 10 of the antenna element is 7 mm. The outer diameter 17 of the expansion member is: 7 mm or less, and the total length 18 of the expansion member is a reasonable dimension of about 23 to 30 mm depending on the properties of the elastic member.
[0009]
After the antenna element 8 is fixed and integrated with the boom 2, the hook-shaped jigs 24 on both sides are moved backward from FIG. 2A to FIG. 2B to remove them.
After removing the hook-shaped jigs 24 on both sides, the expansion member 16 that has expanded due to the elastic deformation is reduced in diameter and returned to its original shape, so that the outer dimension 17 corresponds to the inner dimension of the antenna element. Becomes smaller. Therefore, it collects through the inside of an antenna element using compressed air or a rod-like body. Since the expansion member 16 once used by this collection operation can be used again, the member cost is reduced and the production cost is reduced.
In the description of the above embodiment, the means for fixing one antenna element to the boom and collecting the expansion member 16 used for the fixing operation has been described. When mounting 8, a corresponding number of antenna elements 8 are simultaneously inserted into the large number of through holes 4 of the boom 2, and the expansion members 16 are simultaneously inserted into the respective antenna elements 8. The expansion member 16 may be pressurized and expanded simultaneously in parallel, and an operation of fixing a large number of antenna elements 8 to the boom 2 simultaneously may be performed. In that case, for example, an automatic machine called a robot may be used to perform the work efficiently, or the work of sequentially attaching one antenna element 8 to the boom 2 may be performed as described above. You may repeat sequentially according to the procedure.
[0010]
Next, the expansion member 16f shown in FIGS. 3C and 3D, which is an example different from the expansion member 16 shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B in terms of the configuration, will be described.
The expansion member 16 formed of the elastic material is entirely formed of the same elastic material, but the expansion member 16f is a member 22 formed of the same elastic material as that of the expansion member 16 on both sides. Is used, and the vicinity of the hole edge 4a in the tube wall 8a in the boom in the antenna element 8 is expanded in the radial direction by utilizing the expansion action caused by the elastic deformation of the elastic material 22 arranged on both sides thereof. is there. The member 21 in the central part thereof is made of a hard member compared to the members 22 on both sides, for example, a metal having a relatively large specific gravity compared to the members on both sides, or a hard synthetic resin material. Adjacent ones are integrated using an arbitrary joining means, for example, an adhesive. With this configuration, even when the rod-shaped jig 24 is inserted from both sides and the expansion member 16f is pressurized, the compression stroke is reduced and the members on both sides expand greatly, and the tube wall 8a of the antenna element has a gently curved surface. The work of expanding and pressing the tube wall 8a of the antenna element to the hole edge 4a of the through hole is efficiently performed.
[0011]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the expansion member 16 formed of an elastic material is inserted into the tube of the antenna element 8, and the expansion member 16 is positioned around the axis of the boom 2. 24, the expansion member 16 is elastically deformed to expand in the radial direction, and the entire circumference of the tube wall 8a in the boom in the antenna element is expanded in the radial direction by the expansion action. Since the antenna element 8 is fixed to the boom 2 by being brought into pressure contact with the inner edge 4a of the boom through hole 4, the fixing portion of the antenna element 8 to the boom does not appear outside. The appearance can be beautifully finished.
[0012]
Furthermore, in the present invention, since an elastic material that expands evenly around the entire circumference is used as the expansion member 16, it can be expanded evenly around the inner wall of the antenna element 8 without creating a local weak part. It can be brought into pressure contact with the hole edge 4a on the inner side of the through hole, and there is an effect that a fixed portion having durability against repeated bending load can be formed.
[0013]
Furthermore, in the present invention, after finishing the fixing operation of the antenna element 8 to the hole edge 4a of the through hole, means for removing the hook-shaped jigs 24, 24 on both sides, and the expansion member reduced in diameter by the elastic deformation action Since the means for collecting 16 is provided, the expansion member 16 can be reused, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced by reducing the material.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining an assembly state of an antenna element with respect to a boom.
FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway view for explaining an assembly state of the antenna element with respect to the boom, (A) shows a state just before the antenna element is inserted into the boom, and (B) shows the antenna element. The state just before inserting an expansion member is shown, (C) shows the state just before pressurizing the expansion member inserted in an antenna element, and (D) shows the state where it has pressurized. (E) shows the state when the pressurization is completed.
3A and 3B are a cross-sectional view and a side view of the expansion member of the first embodiment, and FIGS. 3C and 4D are a cross-sectional view and a side view of the expansion member of the second embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Antenna, 2 ... Boom, 3 ... Hollow part of boom, 4 ... Through-hole, 5 ... Inside diameter of boom, 8 ... Element of antenna, 9 ... Hollow , 10 ... inner diameter, 11 ... outer diameter, 12 ... outer dimensions of the bulge of the element, 16 ... expansion member (expansion member), 19 ... full length after compression , 20 ... outer diameter after compression, 21 ... hard part, 22 ... expansion part, 24 ... saddle-shaped jig, 25 ... external dimensions.

Claims (2)

Pipes are connected to each of the plurality of through-holes with respect to a boom having a plurality of through-holes oriented in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the boom at positions spaced apart at an appropriate interval in the boom axial direction. In the method of manufacturing an antenna by passing through the antenna elements in a shape and fixing these antenna elements to the boom, respectively,
The means for fixing is to insert an expansion member formed of a resilient material into the tube of the antenna element, position it around the axis of the boom, and press the expansion member from both sides with a hook-shaped jig. The expansion member is elastically deformed and expanded in the radial direction, and the expansion action causes the entire circumference of the tube wall inside the boom in the antenna element to expand in the radial direction and press the inner edge of the through hole of the boom. A method for manufacturing an antenna, comprising: means for fixing an antenna element to a boom; and means for removing hook-shaped jigs on both sides; and means for collecting an expansion member reduced in diameter by elastic deformation. As the expansion member formed of the elastic material, a member formed of the elastic material is arranged on both sides, and the expansion element by elastic deformation of the elastic material arranged on both sides is used in the antenna element. 2. The method of manufacturing an antenna according to claim 1, wherein the vicinity of the hole edge in the tube wall in the boom is radially expanded.

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