JPH11340705A - Non-contact type variable phase shifter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a stable linear phase change amount, to eliminate the generation of noise and IM, etc., and to simplify a structure. SOLUTION: In this non-contact type variable phase shifter 10, a fixed substrate 22 is arranged on a ground conductor plate 12, a movable substrate 24 movable in a moving direction is arranged on it holding an insulator 20 there between and the ground conductor plate 14 is arranged on it further. A strip line 16 composed of an intermittent pattern is formed on a dielectric substrate 17 on the fixed substrate 22 and the strip line 18 composed of the intermittent pattern is formed on the lower surface of the dielectric substrate 19 in the movable substrate 24. Both strip lines are oppositely arranged across the insulator 20, and by shifting the position of overlapping with each other, a strip line length to be continuous in terms of a high frequency is changed and a phase is continuously and linearly varied.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a non-contact type variable phase shifter, and more particularly, to a non-contact type variable phase shifter used for measuring microwave band and quasi-microwave charged waves, or used for communication equipment and radar. It relates to a variable phase shifter.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, variable phase shifters have been used in radio wave measuring instruments for microwave bands, communication devices, radars, and the like.
For example, FIG. 4 shows a conventional dielectric-insertion-type variable phase shifter, in which (a) is a partially cut-away sectional view, and (b) is a sectional view taken along line AA of (a). It is shown.

A conventional variable phase shifter 50 has two input / output connectors 52a and 52b, an inner conductor 54 forming a triplate line connecting the two input / output connectors 52a and 52b, and positions above and below the inner conductor 54 (FIG. 4).
(B)), and a dielectric 58 inserted in a pair of gaps between the inner conductor 54 and the outer conductor 56, and the dielectric 58 in a direction perpendicular to the line. And a driving rod 60 for changing the relative position of the dielectric 58 with respect to the inner conductor 54. FIG. 4B shows a state in which the dielectric 58 is moved to the gap between the inner conductor 54 and the outer conductor 56. When the driving rod 60 is displaced, the gap between the inner conductor 54 and the outer conductor 56 is changed. Since the ratio occupied by the dielectric 58 changes, the effective permittivity between the input / output connectors 52a and 52b changes. As described above, when the effective dielectric constant of the line changes, the length of the electric line through which microwaves are input from one input / output connector and output from the other changes, and as a result, the phase of the output signal changes. Can be. In addition, the conventional variable phase shifter other than the above-described ones transmits an electrical signal by mechanically contacting the intermittent inner conductor of the opposing dielectric, thereby changing the range of the mechanical contact portion. In some cases, the phase is changed linearly.

[0004]

However, in such a conventional variable phase shifter, as shown in FIG. 4, by displacing the driving rod 60, the inner conductor 54 and the outer conductor 56 are connected to each other. The ratio of the dielectric 58 occupying the gap is changed to change the effective permittivity between the input / output connectors 52a and 52b, so that the structure becomes complicated and the stability (linearity) of the phase change amount becomes poor. In addition, the characteristic impedance of the transmission line is likely to be disturbed, and the frequency band is narrow. Also, in a variable phase shifter that changes the phase by mechanically contacting the intermittent inner conductor of the opposing dielectric and changing the range of the mechanical contact portion, a potential difference is applied to the contact portion. In such a case, noise and intermodulation (hereinafter referred to as IM) occur, and there is a problem that communication and the like cannot be performed. An object of the present invention is to provide a non-contact type variable phase shifter which can obtain a stable linear phase change amount, does not generate noise or IM, and can simplify the structure.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fixed substrate having a strip line connected to an input / output connector and intermittently disposed on a dielectric substrate. A movable substrate having a strip line intermittently disposed on a dielectric substrate so as to connect the strip line of the fixed substrate at a high frequency; and a strip line of the fixed substrate and a strip line of the movable substrate. And an insulator interposed between the fixed substrate and the movable substrate so that the fixed substrate and the movable substrate are non-contactable and movable, and a triplate formed by the fixed substrate, the movable substrate, and the insulator. It is formed with a structure. According to this, the fixed substrate having the respective strip lines and the movable substrate are arranged to face each other, and a simple triplate structure in which an insulator is sandwiched between the fixed substrate and the movable substrate is used. Is non-contact, there is no risk of noise or IM, etc.
Since the connection is performed at a high frequency, the phase can be continuously and linearly changed by moving the movable substrate with respect to the fixed substrate and changing the strip line length on the dielectric substrate through which the microwave passes. . According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the non-contact type variable phase shifter according to the first aspect, a length of the strip line connected to the fixed substrate by sliding the movable substrate with respect to the fixed substrate. Is provided. According to this,
By sliding the movable substrate to an arbitrary position with respect to the fixed substrate by the substrate driving means, the length of the strip line connected in high frequency can be freely changed, and a desired phase change amount can be obtained.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a configuration diagram of a vertical section of a non-contact type variable phase shifter 10 in the present embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a configuration diagram in which a partial cross section of FIG. 2 (a) shows a strip line 1 on the movable substrate side.
FIG. 8B shows a pattern example of the strip line 16 on the fixed substrate side, and FIG.
FIG. 1B is a B-direction arrow diagram of FIG.
FIG. 4B is a diagram in which the length of the strip line connected in a high frequency manner is shortened by moving the movable substrate to the right side of the drawing, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a case where a movable substrate is moved to the left side of the drawing to increase the length of a strip line connected at a high frequency.
First, the non-contact type variable phase shifter 10 of the present embodiment has the configuration shown in FIG.
1A, a fixed substrate 22 is disposed on a ground conductor plate 12, and a movable substrate 24 that is movable in the left-right direction (moving direction) of the paper surface with an insulator 20 interposed therebetween is disposed thereon. The ground conductor plate 14 is arranged in a triplate structure. As shown in FIG. 1B, the fixed substrate 22 is formed by forming a strip line 16 having an intermittent pattern on a dielectric substrate 17. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a pattern example of the strip line 16.
(B), and as shown in the figure, the strip line 16 has two J-shaped patterns 16a, 16
b is arranged intermittently. Further, as shown in FIG. 1B, the movable substrate 24 is formed by forming a strip line 18 having an intermittent pattern on a lower surface of a dielectric substrate 19. This strip line 18
2A is a plan view showing an example of the pattern, and as shown in FIG. 2A, the strip line 18 is formed in a U-shape in accordance with the interval between the above-mentioned intermittent strip lines 16a and 16b. The strip line length can be changed by shifting the overlapping position of the two.

As shown in FIG. 3, input / output connectors 30a and 30b are connected to the fixed board 22, and matching stubs MS are provided on the strip lines 16a and 16b of the fixed board 22 as necessary. To Next, after arranging the insulator 20 on the fixed substrate 22, the movable substrate 24 on which the strip line 18 is formed is arranged so that the strip lines face each other with the insulator 20 interposed therebetween.
Further, although not shown in FIG. 1 in the present embodiment,
A substrate driving mechanism is provided as substrate driving means for moving the movable substrate 24 in the horizontal direction on the paper. Here, the substrate driving mechanism is a mechanism (for example, a mechanism using a rack and a pinion) that converts a rotary motion by an external knob into a linear motion (moving direction of the movable substrate). When the movable substrate 24 is rotated by an arbitrary angle in the rotation direction (right rotation, left rotation), the movable substrate 24 is moved relative to the fixed substrate 22 by a predetermined amount in the left-right direction in FIG. Can be moved relatively. Although the substrate driving mechanism in the present embodiment is operated manually, the driving of the movable substrate may be automatically controlled using a motor driving unit or the like.

Hereinafter, the operation will be described. As described above, the non-contact type variable phase shifter 10 of the present embodiment has the configuration shown in FIG.
As shown in (1), the strip lines 16a, 16b of the fixed board 22 are connected to the input / output connectors 30a, 30b. Since the strip lines 16a and 16b are formed in an intermittent pattern, microwaves do not pass between the input and output connectors 30a and 30b as they are.
Here, the strip line 16a, via the insulator 20,
The strip line 16b and the strip line 18 are arranged to face each other.
For this reason, the overlapping part becomes a kind of capacitor,
Although not contacted in terms of direct current, strip lines 16a, 16b and 18 which are continuous in terms of high frequency such as microwaves are formed. Accordingly, noise, IM, and the like as in the above-described conventional example, which have made mechanical contact, are not generated, and communication can be performed without any trouble. Also, as shown in FIG. 3, the strip lines 16a, 16a in a state where the fixed substrate 22 and the variable substrate 24 are overlapped with each other.
Looking at the overlapping patterns b and 18, when the movable substrate 24 was moved in the direction of the arrow R (right direction on the paper), the strip line length was short, and the movable substrate 24 was moved in the direction of the arrow L (left direction on the paper). It can be seen that the strip line length in this case becomes longer. Since the length of the strip line length can be linearly changed according to the amount of movement of the movable substrate 24 with respect to the fixed substrate 22, a desired phase amount can be easily obtained.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the fixed substrate 22 on which the intermittent strip lines 16a and 16b are formed and the movable substrate 24 on which the intermittent strip lines 18 are formed are opposed to each other. However, the structure was simplified because of the triplate structure in which an insulator was interposed therebetween. Further, according to the present embodiment, both strip lines 16a, 16b, 18 sandwiching the insulator are provided.
Does not generate noise or IM because it is non-contact in terms of direct current, but because it is connected in terms of high frequency, it changes the length of the strip line by changing the length of the overlapped portion of the two strip lines. , The phase can be varied continuously and linearly. Further, according to the present embodiment,
Since the movable substrate can be slid to an arbitrary position with respect to the fixed substrate by the substrate driving means for moving the movable substrate 24, the length of the strip line connected in high frequency can be freely changed to obtain a desired phase. The amount of change can be obtained.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the structure can be simplified, noise and IM can be prevented from occurring, and the phase can be continuously and linearly varied.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, a desired phase change amount can be obtained by freely changing the length of the strip line connected in a high frequency manner.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a configuration diagram of a vertical cross section of a non-contact type variable phase shifter according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a configuration diagram in which a partial cross section of FIG.

2A is a diagram illustrating a pattern example of a strip line on a movable substrate side, and FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating a pattern example of a strip line on a fixed substrate side;

FIG. 3 is a view in the direction of the arrow B in FIG. 1A, in which the movable substrate is moved to the right in the drawing to reduce the length of the strip line connected in a high-frequency manner. ,
(B) is a diagram in which the length of the strip line connected in a high frequency manner is increased by moving the movable substrate to the left side of the drawing.

4A and 4B are diagrams showing a conventional dielectric-insertion-type variable phase shifter, in which FIG. 4A is a partially cutaway sectional view, and FIG. 4B is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. .

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Non-contact variable phase shifter 12, 14 Ground conductor plate 16, 16a, 16b Strip line 17 Dielectric substrate 18 Strip line 19 Dielectric substrate 20 Insulator 22 Fixed substrate 24 Movable substrate 30a, 30b Input / output connector MS Matching stub

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A fixed substrate connected to an input / output connector and having a strip line intermittently arranged on a dielectric substrate, and a fixed substrate mounted on the dielectric substrate so as to connect the strip line at a high frequency. A movable substrate having a strip line intermittently arranged, and a strip line of the fixed substrate and a strip line of the movable substrate are arranged to face each other, and the fixed substrate and the movable substrate are in non-contact and movable. A non-contact type variable phase shifter, comprising: a fixed plate, the movable substrate, and the insulator, and a triplate structure. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a substrate driving unit that slides the movable substrate with respect to the fixed substrate to change a length of a strip line to be connected at a high frequency. Non-contact type variable phase shifter.