JPH02121503A - Plane antenna - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To change the beam tilting direction without using a variable phase shifter to a feeder to improve the antenna gains by changing the arrangement space every prescribed number of plane antenna elements. CONSTITUTION:The rectangular patch type antenna elements 2 serving as the plane antenna elements are arranged almost equidistantly on the surface of a film type substrate 1. For instance, four of these elements 2 which are set parallel to a Y axis are connected in series to each other via a feeder 3a. Thus four element trains are formed almost equidistantly toward an X axis in parallel to the Y axis. One of both ends of each element string is connected to a feeding point 4 via a feeder 3b. While the reinforcing members 6 are stuck onto the rear surface of the substrate 1 at the positions corresponding to those four elements 2 respectively. Each of these members 6 is made of a slip-shaped plate member having its width slightly larger than the width of the element 2 and its length larger than the length of the element train. When a rod 7 is moved down toward the Y axis, the members 6 move in the direction where the spaces are reduced among these members 6. Then the substrate 1 is deformed into a wave shape and the arrangement space of the plane antenna elements are reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a planar antenna, and particularly to a variable beam tilt type planar antenna.

(Prior Art) As a conventional variable beam tilt type planar antenna, for example, the one shown in FIG. 3 is known.

In FIG. 3, a rectangular batch type antenna element 3, which is a planar antenna element, is mounted on the surface of a non-flexible printed circuit board 31.
A plurality of element rows (four rows in the illustrated example) are arranged in parallel, each consisting of a predetermined number of element rows (four in the illustrated example) connected in series by a feeder line 33, and each element column has a feed point 34 at one end and a feed point 34 at the other end. A terminating resistor 35 is provided at each of the terminals. Then, each feeding point has a variable phase shifter 3
6 to the main feed point 37.

That is, in this variable beam tilt planar antenna, the tilt direction of the beam is varied by changing the feeding phase to each element row, and thus to the rectangular batch antenna elements 32, using the variable phase shifter 36. .

In addition to the above-mentioned rectangular batch type, the planar antenna element also includes the rectangular batch type.
It is well known that there are various types such as circular batch type and line type.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, since the above-mentioned conventional variable beam tilt planar antenna uses a variable phase shifter, there is a problem in that the antenna gain decreases due to loss caused by the variable phase shifter. There is.

The present invention has been made in view of these conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a planar antenna with a novel configuration in which the tilt direction of a beam can be varied without using a variable phase shifter.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the planar antenna of the present invention has the following configuration.

That is, the planar antenna of the present invention is a planar antenna in which a plurality of planar antenna elements are arranged on the surface of a film-like substrate or on the joint surface of two film-like substrates, and includes:
The planar antenna is attached to the rear surface of the film-like substrate or one side of the bonded substrate at a position corresponding to a location where each predetermined number of the planar antenna elements are arranged, and has a width larger than or equal to the size of the planar antenna element. and a reinforcing member whose length is equal to or longer than the arrangement length of a corresponding predetermined number of planar antenna elements;
The present invention is characterized by comprising: a mechanism for moving each reinforcing member in a direction in which the distance between the reinforcing members becomes narrower within substantially the same plane; and;

(Function) Next, the function of the planar antenna of the present invention configured as described above will be explained.

When each reinforcing material moves in the direction where the distance between the reinforcing materials becomes narrower, the film-like substrate or bonded substrate deforms into a wave shape.
The arrangement interval of the planar antenna elements becomes narrower, and the tilt direction of the beam changes.

In short, the planar antenna of the present invention can vary the beam tilt direction without using a variable phase shifter, and has the effect of improving antenna gain.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a planar antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a film-like substrate, and this film-like substrate is made of an easily deformable film-like material formed into a substantially rectangular shape, such as a so-called flexible printed circuit board. Assuming that the transverse direction of the substrate 1 is the X axis and the longitudinal direction is the Y axis, on the surface of the film substrate 1, there are, for example, four rectangular patch antenna elements 2 which are planar antenna elements in the X axis direction and four rectangular patch antenna elements 2 in the Y axis direction. For example, four rectangular patch antenna elements 2 parallel to the Y axis are connected to the feeder line 3a.
are connected in series to form four element rows that are parallel to the Y axis and arranged at approximately equal intervals in the be. Note that a terminating resistor 5 is provided at the other end of each element row.

Then, reinforcing materials 6 are attached to the back surface of this film-like substrate 1 at positions corresponding to the arrangement areas of the four element rows. In the illustrated example, the reinforcing member 6 is made of a strip-shaped plate material whose width is slightly larger than the width of the rectangular patch antenna element 2 and whose length is relatively longer than the element array. That is, on the back surface of the film-like substrate 1, four reinforcing members 6 having equal lengths and equal widths are substantially parallel to the Y-axis, and both ends thereof are aligned, and are defined by the arrangement spacing of four element rows in the X-axis direction. The reinforcing members are attached at predetermined intervals, and the back surface of the film-like substrate 1 is exposed between adjacent reinforcing members. In this state, it is placed on the surface of the base 10.

The base 10 is made of a substantially similar plate material larger than the film-like substrate 1, and restriction plates 12 are fixedly arranged on both sides of the base 10 in the Y-axis direction in parallel to the X-axis. These two restriction plates 12 are made of a plate material whose length is approximately equal to the length of the film-like substrate 1 in the transverse direction, and are arranged so that the opposing sides thereof are in sliding contact with the corresponding end surfaces of the four reinforcing members 6. . That is, the four reinforcing members 6 are movable only in the X-axis direction.

Bins 9a and 9b are respectively erected on the right end side of the center of the base 10 and near the right end side of the restriction plate 12.
, 9b, one ends of rods 8a and 8b are each rotatably supported. Rod 8a, 8b
is made of a plate longer than the length of the film-like substrate 1 in the transverse direction, and both are kept in a parallel state to form the bins (9a, 9b).
The other ends of the rod 7 are rotatably connected to both ends of the rod 7 so that the rod 7 can be rotated above the surface of the film-like substrate 1 in a plane substantially parallel to the fulcrum. And rod 8a
, 8b has four oblong holes as shown in Figure 1(a).
Bottles 11 are provided at both ends of the reinforcing material 6, penetrating the film-like substrate 1 from the surface side thereof, and erected therein. In consideration of operability, the rods 8a and 8b are normally arranged on both ends of the reinforcing member 6 in a state slightly inclined with respect to the X axis. They are arranged with a slight shift every 6.

In the above configuration, when the rod 7 is moved downward in the Y-axis direction in the figure, the rods 8a and 8b are urged to rotate counterclockwise about the bins 9a and 9b, and the oval hole and the bin 11
A force is applied to each reinforcing member 6 by the engagement. Reinforcement material 6 is Y
Movement in the axial direction is restricted by the restriction plate 12, and movement is possible only in the X-axis direction. Therefore, each reinforcing member 6 moves to the right in the figure in the X-axis direction. Then, the element rows corresponding to each reinforcing material 6 also move together in the same direction.

Since this movement is approximately proportional to the distance between the bins (9a, 9b) and the bin 11, each element row moves while maintaining equal intervals in the X-axis direction. At this time, since the film-like substrate 1 between the reinforcing members 6 is unreinforced and deformable, this portion protrudes toward the surface and deforms into a convex shape, as shown by A in FIG. 1(b), for example. The spacing between each element row becomes narrower.

Next, the operation of changing the tilt direction of the beam when the interval between the element rows of the rectangular patch antenna element 2 is changed in this manner will be described. Figures 2(a) and 2(b) are 2
Two adjacent rectangular patch antenna elements 2 in one element row are extracted and shown. Figure 2(a)
2(b) shows the state before changing the interval, and FIG. 2(b) shows the state after changing the interval.

In FIG. 2(a), each rectangular patch antenna element 2
is connected to the power supply point 4 by a power supply line 3b. When a high frequency signal is applied to this feeding point 4, since the lengths of the feeding lines 3b to each rectangular patch antenna element 2 are different, each rectangular patch antenna element 2 is excited with a different phase.

At this time, the combined radiation direction 13a of these two rectangular patch antenna elements 2 is a direction in which the radio waves radiated from the respective rectangular patch antenna elements 2 are in phase. In other words, the direction is such that the sum LI L2+L3 of the difference in length LI L2 of the feeder line 3b and the difference in length of the radio wave propagation path is an integral multiple of the wavelength. Note that the radiation direction 13a is a direction inclined at an angle 14a from the vertical direction.

In FIG. 2(b), even when the distance between the two rectangular patch antenna elements 2 changes, t+, tz, Li
Although the length of the rectangular patch antenna element 2 does not change, the distance between the rectangular patch antenna elements 2 changes, so the vertical direction 15 and the radiation direction 13
The angle 14b formed with b is a different angle from that in FIG. 2(a).

Therefore, as the interval between the rectangular patch antenna elements 2 changes, the tilt direction of the beam changes.

In addition, when changing the spacing between the element rows, in order to maintain the desired performance, the thickness of the majority of the rectangular patch antenna elements 2 must be 1/8 or less of the free space wavelength of the frequency used by the planar antenna. It is desirable to maintain the plane in a plane with .

In the embodiments described above, the planar antenna element was arranged on the surface of a film-like substrate, but in actual use, there is a risk of performance deterioration due to oxidation, etc., so two film-like substrates are bonded together. , a planar antenna element may be disposed on the joint surface.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, the planar antenna of the present invention is capable of changing the arrangement interval for each predetermined number of planar antenna elements, so it can be used without inserting a variable phase shifter into the feed line. The direction of beam tilt can be changed.

That is, unlike the conventional method using a variable phase shifter, the variable beam tilt type planar antenna according to the present invention does not use a variable phase shifter, and therefore has the effect of improving antenna gain.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a planar antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1(a) is a front view seen from the direction of the main lobe;
FIG. 2B is a side view, FIG. 2 is a perspective view for explaining the beam tilt operation, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a conventional variable beam tilt type planar antenna. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Film-like substrate, 2... Rectangular batch type antenna element, 3a, 3b... Feeding line, 4... Feeding point, 5... ...Terminal resistor, 6...Reinforcement material, 7.8a, 8b...
...Rod, 9a, 9b...Bin, 10
...Base, 11 ...Bin, 1
2...Limiting plate, 13a, 13b...Radiation direction, 36...Variable phase shifter. Agent: Yoshihiro Yahata, patent attorney
Figure Interval Knowledge Before (a) Ranjin Mukai Remains (b) Hime, Celtic Rui /) Seikarizu J! A, 2. The town of the traditional town 'Jōbi; Munarutariko 50 Aretega no L
Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] A planar antenna comprising a plurality of planar antenna elements disposed on the front surface of a film-like substrate or on a bonded surface of two film-like substrates; is affixed at a position corresponding to a predetermined number of planar antenna elements on one side thereof, has a width greater than or equal to the size of the planar antenna element, and has a length corresponding to the predetermined number of planar antenna elements. What is claimed is: 1. A planar antenna comprising: reinforcing members having a length equal to or longer than the arrangement length; and a mechanism for moving each reinforcing member in a direction in which the distance between the reinforcing members becomes narrower within substantially the same plane.