JPH04903A - Horn antenna - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce volume to be housed by composing a horn, which is connected to a waveguide, and whose diameter is made gradually large of a flexible material and making the horn stretchable by fitting supporters, which are stretched in the direction of extending the horn, on the outside. CONSTITUTION:A flexible horn 3 forming a cone-shaped horn 1A composed of the flexible material such as a mesh woven by conductor yarn is combined through a corn-shaped conductor wall 4 to a circular waveguide 2. Near the outside of the horn 3, plural stretchable supporters (three supporters in the figure) 5 are provided in the direction of extending the horn 3. The horn 3 is combined to the supporters 5 by plural fixtures (three fixtures in the figure) 5a having radial arms. When using this horn antenna, the horn 3 is extended by the supporters 5 and the fixtures 5a and when the antenna is not used, the horn 3 is folded up by the supporters 5 and the fixtures 5a.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is used as a primary horn of a reflector antenna or as a static horn antenna, and particularly relates to a space-use or large-sized horn antenna.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, there is a device of this type as shown in FIG. This is shown in "Antenna Optics Handbook, edited by the Institute of Electronics and Communication Engineers, P2S5. Published October 30, 1980, Ohmsha." In the figure, 1 is a conical horn and 2 is a circular waveguide. .

Incidentally, the conical horn 1 is set to have a shape whose diameter gradually increases.

Next, the operation will be explained. The conical horn 1, which has a flare length and an aperture diameter, guides the fed waveguide mode so that the wave surface at the aperture becomes a curved surface. The circular waveguide 2 guides the excited waveguide mode and supplies power to the conical horn 1 .

Therefore, electromagnetic waves propagate in a region surrounded by the conductor wall 4 in a plane perpendicular to the propagation direction, and a spherical wave with one point F as the phase center is radiated.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Since the conventional horn antenna is configured as described above, when the conical horn 1 is required to have a high gain at a low operating frequency, it is difficult to satisfy the electrical performance. Large apertures and long flare lengths are required. Therefore, one dimension becomes large, and there is a problem that, for example, in the case of space use, there is a limit to the capacity that can be loaded on a rocket, so it cannot be applied.

This invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to obtain a horn antenna whose dimensions can be reduced according to storage capacity when not in use, and which can be expanded into a predetermined shape when in use. There is.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A first horn antenna of the present invention includes a waveguide, a horn whose diameter is gradually larger than that of the waveguide, and a horn near the outer periphery of the horn. A mounting body for attaching the horn to a support that is located along the extension direction of the horn and is extendable and retractable in the longitudinal direction;
Almost the entire horn is made of a flexible material such as mesh.

Further, in the second horn antenna of the present invention, the horn is divided into a plurality of parts perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and a smaller horn element can be stored in a larger one of the divided horn elements. , the above-mentioned mounting body is provided on a predetermined horn body.

[Function] The first horn antenna is made of a flexible material such as mesh, and almost the entire horn can be removed from the body and folded, and the support can be contracted and stored compactly.

The second horn antenna can be stored compactly by shrinking the strut and storing the smaller horn element in the larger horn element.

[Embodiment of the Invention] A first embodiment of the invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the overall configuration when the conical horn of the present invention is used as the primary horn of a multi-reflector antenna, and shows the case of transmission using a Cassegrain antenna, which is a type of multi-reflector antenna. In the figure, LA is the conical horn of the present invention, which is made of a conductor wall 4 made of a conical conductor plate extending from the tip of the circular waveguide 2, and a flexible material such as a mesh woven with a conductor system. The flexible horn 3 extends from the tip of the conductor wall 4 and has a shape that gradually increases in diameter. 5
5a is a column that is provided on three sides around the outer circumference of the horn IA along the extension direction of the horn IA and is expandable and contractible in the longitudinal direction; , for example, as shown in FIG. 2, the base end 3a, center 3b, and tip 3c of the flexible horn 3
It holds the outer periphery of. 5b is an auxiliary line for stretching the flexible horn 3; 6 is a main reflector; 7 is a double reflector; 8 is a support column connecting the opening side of the horn IA and the double reflector fi7;
9 is a sanitary structure.

With the above configuration, when using the horn IA of the present application, the support 5 is extended, the flexible horn 3 is stretched, and the second
By setting the state as shown in the figure, a predetermined electrical performance can be obtained.

Also, when not using the horn IA, first see Figure 3 (
As shown in FIG. 3(b), the flexible horn 3 can be removed from the body 5a and folded, and the support column 5 can be contracted to be stored compactly as shown in FIG. 3(b).

FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) are external views showing the second embodiment of the present invention. In the figures, IB is the horn of this second embodiment, and this is the conductor wall 4 of the first embodiment. The horn is formed by extending from the tip of the conductor wall 4 a split horn]-3 which is set in a shape such that its diameter gradually increases and is divided into two parts perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. As a result, Figure 4 (
As shown in b), the smaller horn element h2 (horn element h3 as a conductor wall) is housed in the larger horn element hi (h2) of the horn element divided by shrinking the support 5. By doing so, it can be stored compactly.

According to the second embodiment, the horn element h3 serves as a conductor wall and the horn element h+ is divided into two parts.

Although the horn is shown divided into three parts by h2, it can be stored more compactly if it is divided into more parts.

In each of the above embodiments, a conical horn using a circular waveguide as the feeding waveguide is shown, but the present invention can also be applied to a pyramidal horn using a rectangular waveguide. Further, although the case of a Cassegrain antenna is shown as a double-reflector antenna, it can also be applied to a Gregorian antenna or other radiation type antennas.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the horn is formed almost entirely from a flexible material such as mesh, or is formed by dividing the horn, so that when not in use, the size can be adjusted according to the storage capacity. A horn antenna can be obtained that can be made smaller and can be expanded into a predetermined shape when used.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 are a schematic diagram of the overall configuration, an external view, an explanatory diagram of the operation, and a fourth embodiment of the horn antenna of the present invention.
The figure is an operational explanatory diagram showing a second embodiment of the horn antenna of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a conventional horn antenna. LA, IB...conical horn, 2...circular waveguide, 3...
... Flexible horn, 4... Conductor wall, 5... Support, 5a... Mounting on body, 13... Split horn, )l
lt) 12+h3...Horn body. Agent Patent attorney Jun Miyazono - Figure 1 a b (b) 1B5 yen/#L wide-7 13, split horn hl, 112. h3 + go waste

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A waveguide, a horn whose diameter is gradually larger than that of the waveguide, and a horn located near the outer periphery of the horn and along the extension direction of the horn in the longitudinal direction. What is claimed is: 1. A horn antenna comprising: a support that is expandable and retractable; and a mounting body for attaching the horn to the support, the horn being substantially entirely made of a flexible material such as mesh. (2) A waveguide, a horn whose diameter is gradually larger than that of the waveguide, and a horn located near the outer periphery of the horn and along the extension direction of the horn in the longitudinal direction. The horn is divided into a plurality of parts at right angles to the longitudinal direction, and the horn is divided into a plurality of parts at right angles to the longitudinal direction. A horn antenna characterized in that a smaller horn element is housed and the above-mentioned mounting body is provided on a predetermined horn element.