MX2010008827A - Remote electrical tilt antenna with motor and clutch assembly. - Google Patents

Abstract

RET antenna with motor and clutch assembly that is operative to mechanically disengage the DC motor and drive unit (also called the gear-motor unit) from the phase shifter adjustment shaft during a manual tilt operation. Disengaging the gear- motor unit removes the drag of the motor and the high gear ratio gear box from the phase shifter control rod making it easier to manually turn the phase shifter control knob. In addition, the clutch disengages the gear-motor without disengaging the position detector from the phase shifter control rod so that position calibration is not lost during manual tilt adjustment. When the manual tilt operation is completed, the mechanical tilt clutch enables the gear-motor unit to be reliably re-engaged with the phase shifter control rod for motorized electrical tilt operation without having to re¬ calibrate the position detector.

Description

REMOTE ELECTRIC TILTING ANTENNA WITH ENGINE ASSEMBLY . ! AND CLUTCH I 1! i í! ! | 'Í > i 1 I FIELD OF THE INVENTION i i This invention refers to: the field of telephony base station antennas! cellular or mobile and, more particularly, it refers to an antennae of the base station of inclination , i! ! . remote electric i (RET) icon an engine and clutch assembly i ¡¡ which disengages the tilt motor to facilitate the Í i: manual tilt adjustment. ! 'j i i! ! | 1: i BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION I 'i; ! Antennas with tilt functionality 1 i l i variable electric (VET) are known in the art. These i! antennas, which are often used in cellular networks, allow the operation of 1 ad, ores1 of the network to tilt the beam signaling direction of elevation of an antenna when doing 1 i manually a button or move a tree on the outside of the , j: 1 i antenna. The knob or tree | connects to phase changers i '· i inside the antenna 'to convert the rotation or translation . j i tree mechanics! ! ! ein phase changes in the training network ¡'I: of radiofrequency beams inside the antenna. The changes i: in phase between the, radiating elements inside the antenna ! ? cause the transmitted beam 1 from the antenna to tilt towards : 'i j up or down 'with respect to the alignment site mechanics of the 'irit''ena. IUn! Example of a station antenna i 'i! '! cellular base that jd muesjtra! VET technology is represented in US 7,068.23; 6, j which is incorporated for reference.

The control of the VET antenna is controlled from i. 1 ! ' remote location, eliminating the expense of hiring a ¡'I installer to scale the tower and manually adjust the !: i! ! ' i '! ! < i I: |: I! electric tilt of the antenna beam.

With the majority of the RET antennas, the electromechanical actuator is! connects to the VET antenna on or near the adjustment mechanism of manual inclination of the antenna. With the rjET actuator, the inclination of the antenna it can no longer be adjusted manually. To adjust manually ! 'I' ' the inclination of the antenna, the RET actuator must be removed or physically separated from the antenna to that the actuator j is removed. A calibration sequence must be executed to recall the antenna actuator | .: 1 i before the remote operation can be restored ! 1 i! j adequate ¡L An improvement in | The standard RET antenna design is represented in | the US 7,286,092, which is incorporated to i reference. In this design, the electromechanical actuator is inserted inside a curtain antenna without blocking the access to the adjustment mechanism; manual inclination of the antenna.

With the RET actuator engaged, the inclination of this antenna can be adjusted manually using a key? i! 10mm to turn; the tilt adjustment mechanism. In this design, the lI: laIve ne ne cesita to overcome the mechanical resistance of the | Phase changers, plus the mechanical resistance of the motorcycle R !? In this design, the motor is not separated from the transfer chain during a manual tilt operation. : i ,. i I A transmission unit with a low ratio of M 1! Gears are required to allow manual tilt adjustment with the RET driver installed. The drive unit of the gear ratio allows the motor and drive unit J to rotate manually with a relatively low transmission torque. If a transmission unit with a high ratio of M gear, it would be very difficult to adjust the tilt manually and eil! effort; high torque required to manually retro-boost the motor and unit j; I i; transmission could! potentially breaking the teeth of i '1 Plastic on the tree give transmission of the inclination indicator. ! i One problem with using low gear ratio transmission units, however, is that a CD motor with higher torque is required to generate ! : 'I enough torque to operate the RET actuator during the remote jingling operation. The high CD motor I i 1 1 phase that makes it easier to manually turn the knob on 1 fa'se changer control. In addition, the clutch disengages i! the gear motor 'without disengaging the detector position of the control arm of the phase changer of mode i 'i i i that the calibration jde position is not lost during the adjustment of i.i.i.i.i.i.i.i.i.i.i.i.i.tion .1 When the operation of i i i i is completed manual tilt, the mechanical tilt clutch i i allows the unit jde: gear motor to return to easily engage with the 1 i-changer control rod: phase for the operation of motorized electric tilt !:! i! without having to recalibrate the position detector.

! ' I i; The invention can be practiced in an antenna of base station pa! ra! a: telecommunication system that ! -! ? ! Set up for remote electric tilt! ("RET") and adjust of inclination marmjal. The base station antenna can be 1 ! ! an antenna of a single or multiple beams with elements of '1 i i single or double polarization. In a preferred embodiment, the f! 1 ] Base station antenna includes three antenna arrays I 1 i ' of double polarization supported within an enclosure of common antenna. Typically, a phase changer can 1 I used to control the signaling direction of a '1 i antenna element i of i a single or double polarization i '; I associated In some cases, j one of the antenna elements it serves as a pivot point 1 for the beam inclination and, i 1 j . ? í 1; i For this reason, you do not need to have a phase changer ! ' ? ' associated. The characteristics of a simple array of antennas will be described cbmo | representative of each provision for convenience of description, it is understood that the antenna may include multiple arrangements, antenna elements of a single or double polarization as a matter of i design option ^. The antennas also include a wide range of other features that have been omitted from the control to manually direct the control device ! i facilitate manual adjustment of the propagation direction of the ,! I 1! make. Similarly, the manual connection of the cover operates the clutch to re-engage the motor unit of gears with e (l control device to allow the electromechanical adjustment of! the direction of propagation of make , i! , i l; More specifically, the clutch can include a mechanism of † symbol ^ loaded by moving spring selectively a transmission gear unit inside and out of coupling with a connected control gear operatively to the control device. The piston mechanism loaded by the spring I can include a slide that 'I; Supports the unit: gear motor that is clutched Sliding way! inside1 of a guide frame inside the M:! antenna. The control device may include a jumper rod rotating control to adjust the propagation direction of the i1 ¡!; beam, and the manual beam tilt mechanism can disposition, the removable cover connects selectively to the enclosure of a! n|tIena 1para; cover the knob of a] usté de ! I 'I '! ! inclination. To 'operate it clutch, the removable cover ! |! 1 includes a colla- ge ¡configured to be inserted manually into i! the arltine enclosure to push the plunger mechanism loaded by the wheel with a spring deflection of the mechanism to move the transmission gear in : i coupling with the control gear when the cover v i i! connect to the | antenna. The plunger mechanism ! ' i 1; loaded by dock | it is also configured to move under the I I spring deflection | of the mechanism to disengage the I i: control gear transmission gear when the removable cover collar is manually removed from the ! i 1! antenna enclosure.1 i! ! The antenna 'can also include an indicator of I! i! i tilted led! operatively by the control rod located at least partially outside the antenna enclosure visually indicating a tilt adjustment associated with the direction of! beam propagation. In this case, the '| I? removable cover11 can include a viewing tube that allows access to the tilt indicator when the removable cover attaches to the antenna enclosure and covers the tilt indicator .: In view of the above, it will be appreciated that the present invention provides a cost RET antenna cash that includes a mechanical clutch that separates an engine of low c'orriénté CD, under torque of the Tilt adjustment mechanism to allow adjustment of i 'i' manual inclination: of the, antenna. The RET antenna also Allows electromechanical and manual tilt adjustment without I; i lose calibration of antenna tilt. The specific techniques, and structures to increase particular modalities of the invention, and consequently I 1! i ' achieve the advantages described in the above, they will become G ¡' apparent from the following detailed description of ! 1 1 i the modalities and the appended figures and the claims.

I I! 1 i BRIEF! DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES i 'i' '| The figure; 1 is a conceptual illustration of an i i " side view of a remote electric tilt antenna with a motor assembly1! and clutch for easy adjustment I of manual inclination.

FIGURE 2 is a conceptual illustration of a Front view of a remote electric tilt table of tri-band with a motor and clutch assembly for ! ! facilitate the manual inclination aiusté. ! i; '; FIGURE 3 is a conceptual illustration of an i. i front view of the. i '1 remote electric tilt antenna! i '! ' I tri-band inclination indicator removed for manual tilt adjustment. 1 r! 1 : FIGURE 4 is a conceptual block diagram of the 'i!; engine assembly! and tilt antenna clutch ; i 1 i Remote electric cdn the i engine in the clutch position.

The figure.' 5 is a conceptual block diagram of the motor and clutch assembly of the remote electrical tilt antenna with the jmotpr in the disengaged position.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the lower part of a? ! Ante1na? Tri-band showing the cable connectors, the beam tilt indicators, i i '> i I I the manual adjustment rods', and the indicator covers. i · FIGURE] 7 is a perspective view of a 1 í! cover of the illustirative indicator.

FIGURE 8p, is one: perspective view of an assembly I i i i of engine and clutch; illustrative for an antenna of i,? i I remote tri-band electrical tilt.

! | I! í FIGURE | 9 is a front view of an assembly of i; i? illustrative motor and clutch for a remote electric tilt antenna. ! ' '< ; 1 i! ! FIGURE 10 is a perspective view of the front of a guide frame for an assembly of '1 í t i illustrative engine and clutch for a tilt antenna ; < , 'i remote electrical, i; the manual adjustment. With the CD motor and transmission unit disconnected; of the transmission shaft of I! I i phase changer, 1 manual tilt operation is ! I 1! 1 possible without retrdLive \ the CD motor and the drive |! ' j 1 transmission. As' result;, the units of transmission of I '' 1! high gear ratio i or low current DC motors 1 I \ .

Can you use, | complying with the objective design of the i i 1! invention. eleven ' I: |! The tilt indicator cover is insured i 'j 1: to the body of the, antenna? f? a stretch of cord to avoid adequate without climbing I lai tower. Another modality of this ! i 1 invention could .aI; s1er pr1esi: onar and keep pressed or rotate and maintain a feature of the antenna to disengage ! . i '! the CD motor and the transmission unit during a accidental operator to re-engage the transmission engine, although I will also require an antenna during an operation inclination is undesirable from a climbing perspectives includes a CD motor and a transmission unit (also called the gear motor, shown in Figure 4 and the ! I ': Figure 5) allows j the remote control over the inclination electric power. The transmission unit is a box of changes to a |lit'ai gear ratio that translates the motor rotation give low high torque rotational speed of greater, lower torque speed of eng: rail: of the transmission rotated by the engine. -? 1 i In this particular example, a relatively small number of elements of ^ antennas and associated phase changers are shows in each vertical layout to illustrate the design ; i i conceptual, but any arrangement of any size | I í 1! it can unfold. ' For example, a tri-band antenna Typical height of 2.7 meters could include 7 elements of antennas for the lowest frequency and 17 elements of antennas for the highest frequency band. As an alternative design, the: central antenna element can serve as the electric tilt pivot point and, for this reason, you can not have an associated phase changer ! ' for electric tilt. ! In more detail, such networks of !; ! í distribution of energy, filters, connection systems to i 'i 1 ground, 'RET communication equipment, etc., have not been I ' illustrated to avoid obscuring the figure.

In this particular antenna, the changers of phase of a unique plastic device (corresponding to a 'i frequency band operation of the antenna) are operated by i 1 1? a control rod for the common phase changer. The part I The bottom of the control rod of the phase changer is 1 i! : extends beyond the lower part of the enclosure 22 of . i i; antenna, when I read a beam inclination indicator 32 a visual. A manual adjustment knob 34a allows a manually rotate operator, 1st changer control rod phase to 'adjust the electrical tilt of the corresponding provision. A cover 36a of the indicator i i;; covers indicator i32 a beam inclination and knob 34a 1 i 1 i I! [ of manual adjustment to protect them from the weather. As described r? '' antenna elements usually vary from arrangement to ¡I 1 arrangement depending on the frequency band, although show aligned in FIGURE 2 to simplify the conceptual illustration !. The RET control unit is operational to control the electric inclination of the i 'i! three vertical dispositions ^ 12aj-c ', although usually i i; : but not necessarily in a coordinated way. The i indicators 32a-c beam inclination, knobs 34a-c ? '! : of manual adjustment i and the covers 36a of the indicator are in: 1 p1arte11 in front of the antenna enclosure 22. i! As shown in FIGURE 3, cover 36a of the indicator ¡I ': i | \ ¡; can to access the adjustment knob 34a manual for the m'anuíal aijuiste of inclination of the beam of the I! 'i 12th session ia|siociad1a. As indicated previously, the i i! : removal of the cover 36a of the disengaging indicator from i| I 1! mechanical way l engine! from! RET beam inclination for the arrangement 12a c ^ e j antennas from the control rod of the phase changer1, to facilitate the manual rotation of the | | I: I! control rod. L cover 36a of the indicator is connected from I! ' operative way the antenna enclosure 1 22 by a strap 38a so that the indicator cover does not move and to help indicate the operator to replace the indicator cover, and then re-engage the i i motor: I I of inclination, with the, completion of manual adjustment of | 1 i ¡J i i i; ; i I i i ' 1 ! ! I maximum depth, through the lower part of the enclosure i '! I '! '1 í! I of the antenna is i give approximately 6 inches (14.2 cm). The i 1! height of the, n1 or aintenai is displayed and may vary : | I! I considerably for different modalities. For example, A typical tri jhaz antenna can be approximately 8 i I; 1 feet 10 inches i (2.7 meters) high. This view shows the i. j! I I 'I dome 20, the plane 14 > back and the antenna enclosure 22. 'i; The lower part of the enclosure carries six cable connectors represented by cable connector 24 listed. Each shows indicator 32 of! Bending tilt, knob 34 of manual adjustment, and the cover 36 of the indicator located . i. ! 1 ! under the antenna enclosure 22. The manual adjustment knob 34 1 1 i '' is connected to the connecting rod 43 of: phase changer control, which I 'i; i 11 i 1! it carries the control gear 44. The position sensor 46 is driven by the position gear 48, which is 'i! I clutch with the 4'4 control gear. In this view, the ! ! engine 62, the 64 gearbox and the 66 gear i transmission is 'sampled' in the disengaged position. He I housing 50 of the spring is also shown in FIGURE 8.

FIGURE 9 is a front view of an assembly 40 .. I i of engine and illustrative clutch. The indicator of 32 beam inclination carried in the control rod 43 of phase changer jes visible in this perspective view.

This view shows the control module 44, the detector 46 of position, and in j position 48, which will be clutch with control gear ¾4. The slide 60, the engine 62, the box 64 'd' e changes, the gear 66 of ! i 1; transmission and the splice i 68 are shown in position I disengaged The spring housing 50 and the springs 52a-b '::! 1 í of return will be shown on tagged dock 52b. He guide pin 69 at the top of gear 66 of ! í '[ transmission, a cable joint 70 that connects the bottom of the motor unit ide gears to the slide, and the i. I i! Engine mount 80 are also shown in FIGURE 9. ! ' eleven ! The figure! 10 it is a perspective view of the side frontal and fig 'ur;' a '! 11 is a perspective view of the back side of the guide frame 41, which includes the slot 1 i 42 of the guide in which the slide is moved. The frame And the guide includes? I 41 d a mounting plate 72, which includes ! i a receptacle 74 of the position indicator, a receptacle 75 i 'i i i of accommodation of |. spring, and a crank receptacle 76 of of assembly of furniture, assembly plate 80 and the connection 68 i. j they are also shown in FIGURE 13. The guide frame 41 and the slide 60 M | are f: preferably open from plastic injection molded. '

Claims (1)

1. manually the control device to tilt the direction of beam propagation; Y an operating clutch to engage the unit gear motor of the control device to facilitate manual adjustment of the direction of beam propagation and beam propagation, where the position detector remains operatively connected to the control device during! Eil aj! Ust? E manual and electromechanical of the direction of beam propagation so that the calibration of beam inclination is not lost during adjustment manual and electromechanical information on the propagation direction of the make. i | '| 3. The antenna of: compliance with the claim I i i 1, is also characterized because it comprises a cover í [ removable configured to connect selectively to the antenna to avoid access to the tilting mechanism beam manual, where the manual removal of the cover : I? i operates the clutch to disengage the motor unit from i gears control device to facilitate the manual adjustment of the direction of propagation of the beam, and in where the manual connection of the cover operates the clutch r I 1 to re-embed the gear motor unit with the device; ide control to allow adjustment electromechanical left the beam propagation direction. 4. The antenna in accordance with the claim . | ! ! 3, characterized in that the clutch comprises a mechanism piston loaded by spring that moves selectively a gear unit and transmission inside and outside of 1 l; coupling with a control gear connected in a way operative to the control device. . !:! 'i 5. The antenna in accordance with the claim 4, is characterized because the piston mechanism loaded by Dock comprises sliding member that supports the motor unit control comprises a connecting rod r the propagation direction of The mechanism of manual beam inclination comprises ¡I 1 a tilt adjustment knob connected to the connecting rod , I i! I control to manually turn the control rod. 8. The antenna; de1 Confidence with the claim 7, is caract, eri · zai piorqu'e: l '' i 1 I the antenna loija inside an enclosure; ! | I i I the control extends through the enclosure of I: I antenna; ? the tilt adjustment knob is connected to the ; ' I! control rod! outside and near the antenna enclosure. 9. The "nitena" of conformity with the claim ! | ? 1 8, it is characterized because the removable cover is connected from ! i 1 i ' selective way 'to the antenna enclosure to cover the tilt adjustment knob. 10. The jantena of conformity with claim 9, is characterized 'because:! ! ' i 1! the removable cover 1 comprises a collar ' eleven ! configured to be inserted manually into the enclosure of I antenna to push! the spring-loaded plunger mechanism against a spring deviation of the mechanism to move the inc inar the address in! beam propagation; ! ' I! i '! | I' I ! i I 1 the control device, 1 the gear motor unit, the manual beam inclination mechanism, and the clutch as associated with a first array of antennas, further comprises one or more additional antenna arrays similarly equiped 1sop! from an enclosure of . i. ! .; common antenna. i I I i '' 17. The antenna of the base station in accordance with ' " 1 ! '' j 1! Claim 16 is characterized in that the antenna comprises three arrays of dual polarization antennas supported within 'of! a common antenna enclosure. 11 i 1 ' 18. The antenna in accordance with the claim 1 15, characterized because: 'i M:: the clutch comprises a piston mechanism loaded by spring that selectively moves a unit : i transmission gear in and out coupling with a control gear operably connected to the control device; the spring-loaded piston mechanism comprises a slide which supports the gear motor unit; Y the mechanism . spring loaded plunger further comprises a guide frame that slidably engages ¾: i; the slide that 'supports the gear motor unit. i 'i' r i; 19. The 'antenna1 of compliance with the claim I|! 1 ! 18, is characterized because: i ¡'1 1 1 The antenna is housed inside an enclosure; G the control device comprises a connecting rod I I i control that rotates to adjust the propagation direction of the ! | I make; 1 I The mechanism and manual beam initiation comprise a tilt adjustment knob connected to the connecting rod. ! '; 1 i control to manually turn the control rod; the control is! extends through the enclosure of ' eleven antenna; ' eleven i the tilt adjustment knob is connected to the i, I · control rod outside and.ceijca of the antenna enclosure; 'I' ' The removable cover is selectively connected to the receiver of the antenna to cover the knob. I 1 í