JPH05199026A - Mount structure of automobile antenna - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the antenna not projected to the outside of a car body and not giving any effect onto the visual field. CONSTITUTION:A print dipole antenna 7 and its matching device 8 printed and formed on a printed circuit board 6 are fitted to a subframe 5 of a soft top by fixing the printed circuit board 6 with a double-sided tape. Moreover, a connector 9 connecting to the matching device 8 is mounted to the printed circuit board 6 and a feeding cable 10 made of a coaxial cable is extended from the connector 9 along the frame 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle antenna mounting structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional vehicle antenna used for a radio or other communication device mounted on a vehicle, there is a rod antenna 1 as shown in FIG. When operating the communication device, the rod antenna 1 is extended to the outside of the vehicle body for use, and when the communication device is not used, it is shortened and stored in the vehicle body.

[0003]

However, such a conventional antenna has the following problems because it is projected and extended to the outside of the vehicle body to be exposed during use. (1) A noise source such as wind noise while traveling. (2) When the vehicle is washed or stored in the garage, it may be damaged due to forgetting to store the antenna. (3) It may not match the overall design of the car and spoil the appearance. (4) It is necessary to perform a process for mounting the antenna on the outer plate of the vehicle body, and an extra step is added to the waterproofing of this portion during automobile manufacturing.

As a countermeasure against this, there is a antenna in which a window glass is embedded, for example, but even if the antenna is made as thin as possible, the visual field is affected to some extent. Therefore, in view of the above conventional problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a mounting structure for an automobile antenna that does not project to the outside of the vehicle body and does not affect the visual field.

[0005]

Therefore, according to the present invention, an antenna is built in a portion forming a ceiling in a developed state of a soft top of an automobile, and a power supply cable to the antenna is arranged along the frame of the soft top. It was used as a car antenna.

[0006]

Since the antenna is built in the portion forming the ceiling of the soft top, it does not project outside the vehicle body. Moreover, since it is the uppermost portion of the vehicle body, good antenna characteristics can be obtained.

[0007]

1 and 2 show an embodiment of the present invention applied to a vehicle equipped with a soft top. A sub-frame 5 made of insulating resin is fixed by bolts and nuts and stretched in the left-right direction at the front end of a frame 4 that supports the seat 3 made of an insulator and forms both sides of the soft top. The sheet 3 is shown separately in FIG. 1 for easy understanding.
The printed dipole antenna 7 formed by printing on the printed circuit board 6 and its matching device 8 are attached to the sub-frame 5 by fixing the printed circuit board 6 with a double-sided tape. A connector 9 connected to the matching unit 8 is further attached to the printed circuit board 6, and a power feeding cable 10 formed of a coaxial cable extends from the connector 9.

The power supply cable 10 is routed along the frame 4 and taken out from the hinge portion 20 with the vehicle body 21 into the vehicle interior. During this time, the power supply cable 10 is fixed to the sub-frame 5 with the adhesive tape 11, and is fixed to the frame 4 with the clamps 12 at required intervals. Further, a cable length adjuster 13 is provided at an appropriate position while being routed along the frame 4.

3 to 5 show a cable length adjuster 13
Shows the details of. In the cable length adjuster 13, two sliders 17 each having a clamp portion 27 are slidably incorporated in a rail 14 having a C-shaped cross section provided with stoppers 15 at both ends.
6 are connected. The clamp portion 27 of the slider 17 is attached to both sides of the bent portion of the power supply cable 10 that is partially bent.

As described above, the antenna built-in soft top 18 to which the printed dipole antenna 7 is attached is folded to the rear part of the vehicle body as shown in FIG. The printed dipole antenna 7 is located in a portion forming the automobile ceiling as in b). The process of folding the frame 4 from the expanded state to the stored state is shown in FIG. In the figure, (a) shows the expanded state and (f) shows the stored state. In the unfolded state of the soft top, the print dipole antenna 7 is located at the uppermost portion of the vehicle body, and even in the retracted state, the mounting portion of the frame for the print dipole antenna 7 is located above the vehicle body surface.

In the above-mentioned expansion and storage, in the cable length adjuster 13, the elastic force of the tension spring 16 for urging the two sliders 17 toward each other is used to change the distance between the sliders 17 to change the feeding cable. 10
The extension length of is adjusted automatically.

Since this embodiment is constructed as described above, regardless of whether the softtop is expanded or stored,
The influence of the radio wave shield by the vehicle body is avoided, and good antenna characteristics are obtained. In addition, the cable is prevented from being cut due to excessive tension due to fluctuations in the extension length of the power supply cable due to the expansion and storage of the soft top.

Since the print dipole antenna 7 is housed in the frame 4 and the antenna is not exposed to the outside of the vehicle body, the antenna does not become a noise source and there is no risk of damage. Moreover, it does not become a protrusion different from the design of the whole car, and the aesthetics are not spoiled. Further, there is also an advantage that it is not necessary to perform processing for mounting the antenna on the outer panel of the vehicle body, and the number of steps in the vehicle body manufacturing line is reduced. Further, it does not obstruct the visual field during driving as compared with the window glass antenna. Furthermore, since the antenna is a printed dipole antenna formed on a printed circuit board, it has advantages that it is thin, does not take up space, is easy to handle, and can be easily attached with a double-sided tape.

It should be noted that the upper and lower surfaces of the printed dipole antenna 7 are reversed between the retracted state of the soft top and the deployed state, but the antenna characteristics do not change. Further, in the stored state, the power feeding cable 10 is partially bent, but since the coaxial cable is used, its characteristics do not change.

In this embodiment, the printed circuit board on which the antenna is formed is mounted on the subframe. However, the invention is not limited to this, and the antenna may be directly formed on the subframe, or the frame may be made of an insulating resin. It is also possible to directly form the antenna on the same frame.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the antenna is built into the soft top so that it is not exposed to the outside of the vehicle body, it does not become a noise source, there is no fear of damage, and the overall design of the automobile is improved. It has no effect. Moreover,
It does not affect the visual field. Further, there is no need to perform processing for mounting the antenna on the outer panel of the vehicle body, so that the process can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing details of an antenna.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a cable length adjuster.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a cable length adjuster.

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a developed and stored state of a soft top.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a process of convolving a frame.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Rod Antenna 3 Sheet 4 Frame 5 Subframe 6 Printed Circuit Board 7 Printed Dipole Antenna 8 Matching Device 9 Connector 10 Power Supply Cable 11 Adhesive Tape 12 Clamp 13 Cable Length Adjuster 14 Rail 15 Stopper 16 Pull Spring 17 Slider 18 Soft Top 20 Hinge Part 21 Car body 27 Clip section

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An antenna is built in a portion forming a ceiling in a developed state of a soft top of an automobile, and a power feeding cable to the antenna is routed along a frame of the soft top. Car antenna mounting structure.