JP5367404B2 - Radar device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a maintenance including a repair to be carried out while executing an operation of detecting a target, in order to improve the maintenance of workability in a simple configuration. <P>SOLUTION: In the configuration, first to fourth antennas 12-15 are disposed at an antenna setting section 11 of a station house 10 such that their azimuth axes can be adjusted independently through a drive section 17, and a variable setting is carried out such that when any one of the first to fourth antennas 12-15 breaks down, azimuth axes of the antennas other than the broken antenna cover the whole circumference of a radar space in cooperation with others, and their beam scanning angles are variably set so as not to interfere in covering areas, and the target is detected by searching the whole circumference of the radar space. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a radar apparatus that detects a target such as an aircraft in a target radar space using a plurality of antennas.

  In general, as this type of radar apparatus, there is known a rotary type system in which a single antenna is rotatably installed and a target is detected by performing beam scanning of the target radar space using this rotary type antenna. It has been. Such a rotary radar device has a mechanical mechanism such as a rotating mechanism, so that the reliability is inferior and the maintenance inspection is very troublesome in relation to the detection operation. Has inconvenience.

  Therefore, a plurality of phased array antennas, which are required to have a mechanical mechanism such as a rotating mechanism as compared with the rotary radar device, are arranged corresponding to the target radar space, and the plurality of phased arrays are provided. There has been proposed a phased array type in which a target radar space is scanned with an antenna to detect a target (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP-A-3-225287

  However, in the above-mentioned phased array type radar apparatus, if one phased array antenna breaks down and maintenance inspection is necessary, it is possible to search the radar space by operating a normal phased array antenna. Since it is difficult to search a part of the radar space set for the failed phased array antenna, there is a problem that the operation is hindered.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to achieve maintenance inspection including repair while executing the operation of target detection with a simple configuration so as to improve maintenance inspection workability. An object of the present invention is to provide a radar device.

The present invention provides a mounting structure in which a plurality of aerial wire installation portions having radio wave shielding doors that can be opened and closed corresponding to a radar space are radially separated from each other with a radio wave shielding wall interposed therebetween, and Based on the status information of the plurality of antennas that are installed in the plurality of antenna installation portions of the mounting structure and that have different antenna areas with adjustable azimuth axes and that scan different coverage areas of the radar space. In the state where the inspection is determined, the azimuth axis of the antenna outside the inspection is switched and set, and the beam scanning angle is switched and set so that the radar coverage does not interfere with each other. The radar apparatus is configured to include a control unit that scans the entire space.

  According to the above configuration, when maintenance inspection is required due to a malfunction of the antenna, the azimuth axis of the antenna other than the malfunctioning antenna is adjusted so that the radar space can be covered, and the coverage of each other The beam scanning angle is variably set so as to prevent interference, and the target is detected. As a result, maintenance inspection and replacement including repair of a failed antenna can be performed while continuing operation of target detection, and simplification of maintenance inspection work can be realized.

  As described above, according to the present invention, a radar apparatus capable of realizing maintenance and inspection including repair while executing target detection operation with a simple configuration and improving maintenance and inspection workability. Can be provided.

It is the perspective view which showed the external appearance structure of the radar apparatus which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is the top view which showed typically arrangement | positioning of the antenna of FIG. It is the top view which showed an example of the maintenance mode of the antenna of FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a part of the maintenance work procedure of FIG. It is the block diagram which showed the diameter control system of the 1st thru | or 4th antenna of FIG. It is the flowchart shown in order to demonstrate the normal operation procedure of FIG. It is the flowchart shown in order to demonstrate the maintenance mode of FIG. It is the perspective view which showed the external appearance structure of the radar apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is the top view which took out and showed the principal part in the normal operation state of the radar apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. FIG. 10 is a plan view showing an arrangement configuration in the maintenance mode of FIG. 9.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a radar apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. A station building 10 constituting an attachment structure is formed, for example, in a two-story structure whose outer wall has radio wave shielding characteristics. Then, on the second floor portion of the station building 10, the aerial line installation portions 11 are provided radially at predetermined intervals so as to correspond to, for example, four locations and a 360 ° radar space (FIG. 1). (For convenience of illustration, not shown, see FIG. 2).

  In the aerial line installation unit 11, phased array type first to fourth aerial lines 12 to 15 each have an azimuth axis having an angular interval of, for example, 90 ° with respect to the radar space, and It is arranged radially so that the covered area does not interfere. The first to fourth antennas 12 to 15 are formed by the antenna unit 16 and the azimuth axis adjustment drive unit 17, respectively, and each antenna unit 16 can adjust the azimuth axis via the azimuth axis adjustment drive unit 17. Installed.

  These first to fourth antennas 12 to 15 are operated in such a manner that the interval between the azimuth axes is set to an angle of 90 ° (deg) via each drive unit 17 (see FIG. 2). For example, when the third antenna 14 is inspected and maintained, with the first antenna 12 fixed, the azimuth axis of the second antenna 13 is moved clockwise in FIG. The azimuth axis of the fourth antenna 15 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 3A via the drive unit 17 (see FIG. 3A). As a result, the first, second, and fourth antennas 12, 13, and 15 have their azimuth axis intervals set to an angle of 120 ° (deg), and the first, second, and fourth antennas 12, 13 are set. , 15 is variably set to the operation mode during maintenance in which the third antenna 14 is inspected and maintained.

Here, at the time of maintenance, as the angle θ for changing the azimuth axis of the second and fourth antennas 13 and 15, the entire covered area that is the entire circumference of the radar space is installed with respect to the CA and radar space. Let n be the number of antennas θ = (CA / n−1) − (CA / n) (1)
It is calculated based on the following formula.

  That is, this radar system is composed of the four aerials of the first to fourth aerials 12 to 15 and the total coverage is 360 °, so that the second and fourth aerials 13 and 15 are adjusted. The angle to be adjusted is 30 ° from the above (1). In this state, the first, second, and fourth antennas 12, 13, and 15 are variably set so that the coverage thereof corresponds to the entire circumference of the radar space as will be described later.

  In addition, the antenna installation section 11 is provided with a shield door 111 made of a radio wave shield material that can enter and exit on the back side thereof, and a shield wall 112 made of a radio wave shield material is provided on both sides of the shield door 111, respectively. , And projecting so as to form a partition wall between adjacent antenna installation portions 11. This shielding wall 112 is adjacent to the first and second antennas 13 and 15 (first to third) of the first antenna 12 (second to fourth antennas 13 to 15) installed in the antenna installation unit 11. Between the antennas 12 to 14) and the second and fourth antennas 13 and 15 (first to third antennas 12 to 14) adjacent to each other at the time of maintenance and inspection to be described later. Prevents radio waves from entering inside.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the station 10 is provided with a vehicle entrance / exit 101 on the first floor portion, and a maintenance hatch 102 is provided between the ceiling of the first floor portion and the floor of the second floor portion. A traveling crane 18 and a winder 19 for maintaining the aerial line are provided on the second floor portion of the station building corresponding to the aerial line installation unit 11 and the hatch 102. As a result, when the first to fourth aerial lines 12 to 15 are carried into and out of the aerial line installation unit 11, the vehicle 20 enters the station building 10 through the vehicle entrance / exit 101, and the traveling crane 18 and the winding The machine 19 is operated to carry in the aerial wire installation unit 11 directly from the vehicle 20 through the hatch 102 or to the vehicle 20 directly.

  Here, the control system of the first to fourth antennas 12 to 15 will be described with reference to FIG. That is, the transmission unit 21 and the reception unit 22 are connected to the antenna units 16 of the first to fourth antennas 12 to 15, respectively, and the control unit 23 is connected to the transmission unit 21 and the reception unit 22. The antenna units 16 of the first to fourth antennas 12 to 15 each transmit a transmission beam generated by the transmission unit 21 based on a command signal from the control unit 23 in a desired coverage (beam scanning angle) in the radar space. The reflected wave reflected by the target is received and output to the control unit 23 via the reception unit 22.

  Further, for example, a display unit 24 is connected to the control unit 23, and detection information for detecting a target based on a reflected wave input via the reception unit 22 or first to fourth antennas 12 to 15 described later. The failure information and the like are output to the display unit 24 and displayed. The status information input / output terminals of the control unit 23 are connected to the antenna units 16 and the drive units 17 of the first to fourth antennas 12 to 15, respectively. Based on each status information, the presence / absence of maintenance / inspection is determined, and the control is switched to the maintenance (maintenance / inspection) mode while selectively performing normal operation.

  For example, when the control unit 23 detects a failure of the third antenna 14 among the first to fourth antennas 12 to 15 based on the status information and determines that maintenance inspection is necessary, first, the control unit 23 Stop operation. In this state, the control unit 23 fixes the azimuth axis of the first antenna 12 as described above, and rotates the azimuth axes of the second and fourth antennas 13 and 15 by 30 ° so that the entire radar space can be rotated. It is variably set to cover the circumference (see FIG. 3 (a)), and each coverage (beam scanning angle) is set from 90 ° shown in FIG. 2 to 120 ° shown in FIG. 3 (b). Set to cover the entire circumference of the radar space.

  The first, second, and fourth aerials 12, 13, and 15, for example, equalize the respective coverage areas, thereby equalizing the detection performance of the entire circumference of the radar space, and extending over the entire circumference of the radar space. Equal target detection is possible.

  Here, the antenna installation part 11 in which the third antenna 14 is installed is outside the coverage area of the antenna unit 16 of the first, second and fourth antennas 12, 13, 15 and the first, second and fourth antennas are provided. Maintenance inspections including repair of the third antenna 14 are performed while the target detection operation is performed on the entire circumference of the radar space using the antennas 12, 13, and 15.

  Next, a maintenance inspection procedure during normal operation in which the target is detected using all of the first to fourth antennas 12 to 15 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. First, during normal operation, the interval between the azimuth axes of the antenna portions 16 of the first to fourth antennas 12 to 15 is set to 90 °, and the coverage is set to 90 ° without interfering with each other. The target in the entire circumference of the radar space is detected (step S1).

  In this normal operation state, the control unit 23 monitors the operation status based on the status information from the first to fourth antennas 12 to 15 (step S2), and in step S3, the first to fourth antennas 12 to 12 are monitored. The presence or absence of 14 abnormalities is determined. If NO is determined in step S3, the process returns to step S1 and normal operation is continued. In step S3, for example, if the third antenna 14 has an abnormality and it is determined YES that there is an abnormality, the process proceeds to step S4 to determine whether or not the operation can be continued.

  If NO, which is difficult to continue operation in step S4, is determined, the process proceeds to step S5, the operation of the third antenna 14 is stopped, and the azimuth axis of the first antenna 12 is fixed and the both sides ( Drive the drive units 17 of the second and fourth antennas 13 and 15 located on the left and right), and switch the azimuth axis interval of the antenna unit 16 from 90 ° in four units during normal operation to 120 ° in three units. Set. In step S6, the coverage of each antenna unit 16 of the first, second, and fourth antennas 12, 13, and 15 is switched from 90 ° to 120 °, and beam scanning is performed at each of them to perform the entire circumference of the radar space. Is detected (step S7).

  Next, the process proceeds to step S8, where it is determined whether or not the maintenance of the third antenna 14 has been completed and the restoration has been completed. If NO is being repaired, the process proceeds to step S7, where the first, first The operation in the maintenance mode using the second and fourth antennas 12, 13, and 15 is continued. In step S8, if it is determined that the restoration of the third aerial 14 has been completed, the process proceeds to step S9, where the initial azimuth axis intervals of the first to fourth aerials 12 to 15 are 90 ° in the initial four units. And the process proceeds to step S10. In step S10, the coverage of each antenna unit 16 of the first to fourth antennas 12 to 15 is switched to 90 ° again, and the routine returns to step S1 for normal operation.

  If YES in step S4, it is determined that the operation can be continued, the process proceeds to step S11, the failure information is displayed on the display unit 24, the process returns to step S1, and the target detection by the normal operation is continued. In this case, for example, the repair of the failed part is performed during regular maintenance.

  Next, a maintenance mode that is periodically performed while continuing the operation will be described with reference to FIG. That is, when the maintenance mode is set in the normal operation state, the maintenance mode operation unit of the display unit 24 is selected, and an antenna for repair including maintenance inspection is selected (steps S20 and S21).

  For example, when performing maintenance inspection including repair of the third antenna 14, the driving of the third antenna 14 is stopped and the azimuth axis of the first antenna 12 is fixed on both sides (left and right). The driving units 17 of the second and fourth antennas 13 and 15 that are positioned are driven, and the interval between the azimuth axes of the antenna unit 16 is switched from 90 ° in four units during normal operation to 120 ° in three units. (Step S22). And then. In step S23, the coverage of the antenna unit 16 of the first, second, and fourth antennas 12, 13, and 15 is switched from 90 ° to 120 °. Is detected (step S24).

  In step S25, the third antenna 14 is repaired. In step S26, the operation of the third antenna 14 is checked. In step S27, whether the third antenna 14 is normal is determined. If NO is determined, the process returns to step S25 to continue the repair. Then, if it is determined YES in step S27 that the third antenna 14 has become normal, the process proceeds to step S28, where, for example, the maintenance mode end arranged on the display unit 24 is selected and operated.

  Next, the process proceeds to step S29, and the interval between the azimuth axes of the first to fourth antennas 12 to 15 is switched to 90 ° by the initial four units. In step S30, the coverage of each antenna unit 16 is again changed. The maintenance mode is terminated after switching to 90 °, and the operation is shifted to normal operation using four units (step S31).

  As described above, the radar apparatus installs the first to fourth antennas 12 to 15 on the antenna installation unit 11 of the station 10 so that the azimuth axis can be adjusted independently via the drive unit 17. When any one of the fourth to fourth antennas 12 to 15 fails, the azimuth axis of the antenna other than the failed antenna is variably set so as to cover the entire circumference of the radar space in cooperation. The beam scanning angle is variably set so that the interference does not interfere, and the target is detected by searching the entire circumference of the radar space.

  According to this, maintenance inspection and replacement including repair of a failed antenna can be performed while continuing the operation of target detection, so that the maintenance inspection can be simplified.

  In addition, although the said embodiment demonstrated the case where it comprised so that the 1st thru | or 4th antennas 12-15 might be exposed and installed in the antenna installation part 11 of the station building 10, it does not restrict to this, For example, As shown in FIG. 8, the radome 25 can be configured to cover the first to fourth antennas 12 to 15 installed in the antenna installation unit 11, and further excellent effects are expected.

  In the above embodiment, the first to fourth antennas 12 to 15 are arranged radially around the station 10 so that the target can be detected in the entire circumference of the station. The present invention is not limited to this, and can also be applied to a radar system that uses two or more antennas.

  For example, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, when two antennas 26 are used, an antenna installation part 27 is provided in an attachment structure such as a station building, and a radio wave shield is provided at an intermediate part of the antenna installation part 27. A shielding wall 271 is provided with a material. And in this aerial line installation part 27, two aerial lines 26 are arranged side by side with the shielding wall 271 in between. These two antennas 26 are installed such that the antenna unit 262 can adjust the azimuth axis via the driving unit 261 for adjusting the azimuth axis.

  With the above configuration, during normal operation, as shown in FIG. 9, the antenna portions 262 of both antennas 26 are installed with an azimuth axis of 60 °, the coverage is set to 60 °, and the radar of 120 ° A target is detected in the radar space by being opposed to the space.

  When one of the two antennas 26 breaks down and the maintenance is inspected, for example, as shown in FIG. 10, the other other antenna 26 is connected to the counterclockwise in FIG. The azimuth axis is adjusted so that the central axis can be changed from the normal operation state by the calculated angle of 60 ° from the above (1). At the same time, the coverage of the aerial line 26 is set to 120 °, and the target is detected all around the radar space using this one unit.

  In this operational state, one maintenance inspection of the antenna 26 is performed. At this time, radio waves transmitted / received by the other aerial line 26 are prevented from entering one aerial side by the shielding wall 271, and one side can be maintained and inspected while operating.

  Also in this embodiment, the maintenance / inspection procedure in normal operation and the maintenance / inspection procedure in the regular maintenance mode are substantially the same as those in the embodiment using the first to fourth antennas 12 to 15 described above. Done.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention at the stage of implementation. Further, the above embodiments include inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of disclosed constituent elements.

  For example, even if some constituent requirements are deleted from all the constituent requirements shown in the embodiment, the problem described in the column of the problem to be solved by the invention can be solved, and the effect described in the effect of the invention can be obtained. In such a case, a configuration in which this configuration requirement is deleted can be extracted as an invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Station, 101 ... Vehicle doorway, 102 ... Maintenance hatch, 11 ... Aerial line installation part, 111 ... Shielding door, 112 ... Shielding wall, 12 ... 1st antenna, 13 ... 2nd antenna, 14 ... 3rd 15 ... 4th antenna, 16 ... antenna unit, 17 ... driving unit, 18 ... traveling crane, 18 ... winding machine, 20 ... vehicle, 21 ... transmitting unit, 22 ... receiving unit, 23 ... control unit, 24 ... display unit, 25 ... radome, 26 ... antenna, 261 ... drive unit, 262 ... antenna unit, 27 ... antenna installation unit, 271 ... shielding wall.

Claims (2)

A mounting structure in which a plurality of antenna installation parts having radio shielding doors that can be opened and closed corresponding to the radar space are separated by radio waves across the radio shielding wall and provided radially,
The each of the plurality of antenna installation portion of the mounting structure is installed, a plurality of antenna azimuth axis scanning different area coverage of the radar space having a freely antenna unit adjustment,
Based on the status information of the multiple antennas, the presence or absence of inspection is determined, and after checking the inspection, the azimuth axis of the non-inspected antenna is switched and the beam scanning angle does not interfere with each other's radar coverage. Control means for switching and setting, and scanning the entire radar space,
A radar apparatus comprising: Before Kisora in line, the radar apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least two corresponding to the radar space, characterized in Rukoto disposed.

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