US2645315A

US2645315A - Antenna support tower and method of erecting and operating same

Info

Publication number: US2645315A
Application number: US172220A
Authority: US
Inventors: Russel E Frushour
Original assignee: SOUTH BEND LATHE WORKS
Current assignee: SOUTH BEND LATHE WORKS
Priority date: 1950-07-06
Filing date: 1950-07-06
Publication date: 1953-07-14
Anticipated expiration: 1970-07-14

Description

July 14, 1953 Filed July 6. 1950 R. E. FRUSHOUR ANTENNA SUPPORT TOWER AND METHOD OF ERECTING OPERATING SAME 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 14, 1953 R. E. FRUSHOUR ANTENNA SUPPORT TOWER AND METHOD 0F ERECTING AND OPERATING SAME 4 Filed July 6,. 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet. 2

INVENTOR.

I, 15/ 9116 an I l July 14, 1953 Filed July 6, 1950 aa g 92 R. FRUSHOUR ANTENNA SUPPORT TOWER AND METHOD OF ERECTING AND OPERATING SAME 4 Sheets-Sheet3 94 l j a? f a? INVENTOR.

' R. E. FRUSHOUR ANTENNA ,SUPPORT'TOWER AND METHOD ,OF ERECTING AND ormm'mc SAME 4 Sheets-s 4 INVENTOR. I

' Patented July 14, 1953 ANTENNA sUePonT Towns AND METHOD OF ERECTING AND OPERATING SAME Russel E. Frushour, South Bend, 11111., assignor to South Bend Lathe Works, South Bend, Ind.,

a corporation of Indiana Application July 6, 1950, Serial No. 172,220

17 Claims. 1

My invention relates to antenna support towers and the method of erecting and operating same and is particularly concerned with but not limited to towers for television antennae.

In the present state of television broadcasting it is necessary to provide an elevated antenna for a receiving set located more than a few miles from the broadcasting station or stations to which .it will be tunedif satisfactory reception is to be attained. The onlytowers now available for this purpose require a skilled crew to erect them and have no provision for lowering the antenna for inspection and repair. An electric motor is commonly mountedon top of the tower adjacent the base of the antenna mast ior rotating this, mast to bring its antenna into different angular positions to receive more effectively the broadcasts from different broadcasting stations.

Whenever it becomes necessary or desirable to inspect or repair the antenna, the antenna rotating mechanism, or the leads connected with either the antenna or its rotatingmechanism, a

man must climb the tower and effect any necessary changes or repairs while'perched on the top thereof. "This is a hazardous procedure requiring skill and experience beyond'that of-the ordinary householder and this service is customarily performed by a trained repairmanwho charges steeplejack rates for climbing the tower.

The cost of installing and maintaining tele- ,vision receiving equipment is thus greatly inan additional load which the roof was not designed to support and vibration of the antenna in a high wind is apt to damage the roof and create leaks therein. Furthermore, inspection and repair of such an antenna isa dangerous undertaking and the act-oi walking or climbing over a roof to effect such inspection and repair often results in damage to'the roof.

An object of my invention is to provide a new and improved antenna support tower which is simple and inexpensive and may be easily erected by one man withoutspecial training. l l

Another obiect of'my invention isto provide a new and improved antenna support tower which may be easily operated by one man to lower the antenna for inspection or repair and thereafter return the antenna to elevated position.

Another object of my invention is to provide an antenna support tower having new and improved means for raising and lowering the same.

Another object of my invention is to provide a new and improved antenna support tower having antenna rotating means which may be operated by a person on the ground.

Another object of my invention is to provide a new and improved method of erecting an antenna support tower or the like. Anotherobject of my'i-nvention is to provides.

new and improved method of lowering and raising an antenna support tower or the like.

Another object of my invention is to provide novel anchoring means for an antenna support Fig. 3 is a top perspective view on an enlarged scale of the base plate; i 30 Fig. 4 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale of the anchoring means;

Fig. -5 is a vertical sectional view on an en,- larged scale of the lower portion of the-tower showing the sections in collapsedposition;

Fig. 6 is a continuation of Fig. 5 showing the upper portion of the tower;

Figs. '7, 8, and 9 together constitute a sectional view like that of Figs. 5 and 6 except that the sectionsof the tower are shown in extended position;

10 is a partial vertical sectional view-showing the manner of erecting the tower;

Fig. 1-4 is aperspective view of a hoist tube link;

Fig. 15 is a perspective view of a bottom link; Fig. 16 is a perspective view showing a hoist tube link supported on a bottom tube link; and Fig. 17 is a perspective view of a second form of hoist tube link.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings wherein 3 I have illustrated in erected position an antenna support tower incorporating my invention, it will be seen that in this particular embodiment of my invention the tower has four telescopic sections A, B, C, and D. The section D is provided with a stud E adapted to receive the mast F of a television antenna which maybe of any conventional or suitable type. The tower in erected position rests upon a base plate G and is held in upright position by guy wires indicated generally by the letter H and attached at their lower ends to a suitable anchoring means I. A sleeve J normally surrounds the lower end of the base section A but is movable to the dotted line position shown in Fig. l for a purpose which I shall presently describe.

The base G is shown in Fig. 3 and comprises a triangular plate of sheet metal or other suitable material having a cup-like depression 22 centrally located therein and downwardly turned corners 24. For a tower which is approximately 41 feet to the base of the aerial, I have found that the depression 22 can be quite shallow; that is, on

the order of three-fourths of an inch, so that the plate G can be readily pressed into the ground by merely stepping thereon.

While any suitable anchoring means may be used for the lower ends of the guy wires H, I have i found that the particular anchoring means shown 4 in Fig. 4 is inexpensive, easy to drive into the ground, and especially effective in supporting the tower in upright position. This anchoring means is indicated generally by the reference character I and comprises a pair of pins or stakes 26 each terminating in a pointed end 28 and having an eye 30. These pins orstakes may be cheaply made of heavy wire or other suitable material and can be readily driven into the ground in the angular relationship shown so that the two eyes or heads 30 are adjacent each other with the shanks of the stakes forming an inverted V. The

I are parts of a continuous cut-away view of the ,tower in collapsed position, it will be seen that the base section A comprises an outer or base tube 32 having a plug 34 secured in the lower end thereof by screws 36 or in any other suitable manner. A collar 38 is attached to the upper end of tube 32 and has four bores 40 equidistantly spaced about its periphery to receive the upper ends of one set of the guy wires H. As best shown in Fig. 13, the tube is provided with a removable .part 42 indicated in dotted lines in that figure.

This removable part is formed by cutting tube 32 along curved lines 44, diametrically opposite vertical lines 46 and horizontal line 48. A portion of the lower end of removable part 42 is cut away as indicated in Fig. 13 to provide a slot 53 for a purpose hereinafter explained.

Within the tube 32 is the slightly smaller tube 52 of section B having a collar 54 attached to the upper end thereof. The lower end of tube 52 rests on plug 34 in the collapsed position of the tower and has a cross-bore 56.

The tube 58 of section C is telescoped in tube 52 and has a collar B0, and tube 62 of section D is telescoped in tube .58 and has a collar 64. An antifriction bearing 66 is interposed between the smallest tube and its collar so that this tube can rotate freely. The

shown in Figs. 7 and 16,

4 antenna receiving stud E is secured in tube 62 by bolts 68 and a lock ring 10 is attached to stud E by pin 12.

It will be understood that the

telescopic tubes

32, 52, 58, and 62 are fully slidable relative to each other and that a set of four guywires is attached to each of

thecollars

38, 54, 63, and 64.

The stud E is of suitable size to be inserted in the lower end of an antenna mast which may be secured to the stud in any manner, for example,

by passing bolts or cotter pins through holes 14 in stud E and corresponding holes in the antenna mast.

The split sleeve J surrounds the lower end of the largest tube when the tower is erected and holds firmly in place removable part 42 and other I shall now describe my novel method and means for raising and'lowering the tower but first wish to call attention to the preliminary steps of pressingthe base plate G into the ground by stepping thereon and driving the anchors into the ground in the manner heretofore described. The anchors are arranged in a circle about the base as shown in Fig. 2. With the tower sections fully telescoped as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the lower end of the tower is inserted in cup 22 and the four guy wires attached to collar 38 are secured to anchors I firmly to hold the collapsed tower in upright position. Sleeve J is moved to upper position and part 42 of base tube 32 is removed. I

A rod 82 is next inserted in the cross-bore 56 of tube 52 and raised to theposition shown in Fig. 10 therebyvraising sections B, C, and- D and the antenna supported thereon. While holding rod 82 with one hand, the operator inserts a hoist tube link 84 with the other. hand. This link is of the'same diameter and thickness as tube 52.

The rod 82 is lowered to permit the tube 52 to rest on link 84 whereupon rod 82 is withdrawn and inserted in cross-bore 86 in link 84. Again aged.

This step by step raising of sections B, C, and D continues until section B nears the upper limit of its movement. At this point the half section 88a of a special bottom link 88 is inserted as A complete bottom link 88 is shown in Fig. 15 and consists of two

half sections

88a and 88b. This bottom link is preferably longer than the links84, and the half section 88a thereof is so placed in base tube 32 that the open side of section 880. faces the openll'lg in the tube 32. The section B is now fully extended and the guy wires attached to collar 54 are secured to anchors I to assist in holding the.

tower upright.

Next a series of links 90 (Figs. 7 and 8) are inserted. These links are identical with links 84 except that links 90 are of the same diameter as tube 58. Since this tube is held in elevated position by section B, no lifting of sections C and D occurs until enough links 90 have been inserted an end of rod 82 may be inserted to bring the first one into engagement with'the lower end of tube 58. As tube 58 approaches its upper limits another half 92a of a bottom section 92 is inserted. The bottom section 92 is like the bottom section 88 except of smaller diameter and shorter so that the joints between links 90 are slightly offset with respect to the joints between links 84. The guy wires of collar 60 are now attached firmly to the anchors I and add additional support to the tower.

A third set of links 94 is next inserted. These links are preferably made in the form of spools by flaring out the ends of a tube to form flanges 96 of the same diameter as the outside of the small tube 62. These flanges 96 are rounded in an axial direction to facilitate sliding of the spools in tube 58 and links 95. Each link 94 has a rodreceiving cross-bore 98. Enough links 94 must be inserted to bring the topmost link into contact with tube 62 before tenna carried thereby are raised. As section D approaches its limit, a solid cylinder 15 nserted into tube 32 and half-

sections

88a and 92a. This cylinder is shorter than half-sections 92a whereby the joints between links 94 areoffset with respect to the joints between the other links since links 84, iii], and 94 are of the same length. The guy wires attached to the topmost collar are now made fast to the anchors I.

To complete the erection of the tower the halfsections 92b and 88?) are inserted in tube 32 in the order named and then part 42 of tube 32 is put in place. Sleeve J may now be lowered and clamp part 42, the complementary tightened to portion of tube 32, and the halves of

links

88 and 92 firmly about the cylinder I00 and add rigidity and strength to the lower part of the tower.

Another important feature of my invention lies in the provision of method and means for rotating the antenna to any desired position. It will be noted (Figs. 7 and 12) that slot 50 provided by the cut-away portion of part 42 coincides with slots [62 and H14 formed by the similar cut-away portions of half-sections 38b and 92b respectively and thatthese slots are in horizontalalignment with the four bores I 06 of cylinder 00. By raising sleeve J just enough to uncover these slots, in a bore and moved to turn cylinder I 00. This turning movement is transmitted through the frictional engagementoi the driving flanges 9B of spools It will be seen from the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings that I have provided a simpleand inexpensection D and the an- 6 be readily accomplished by a person on the ground. Experience has shown that where the to the base of the antenna mast.

While I have illustrated and described a particular embodiment of my invention in which the tower is composed of four telescopic sections, it is to be understood that my invention is not so by a single individual.

Another advantage of my novel construction and method of operation lies in the fact that it is not essential to raise a larger inner section to its maximum height before the next smaller inner section can be raised. In other words, Where it within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: 1. A tower of the class described comprising a plurality of telescopic sections including an end holding said inner section in. extended position, each supporting link being of such size that it can be inserted into said outer section plurality of independent links supporting said inner section, said last-named links forming a column located in said first-named inner section and the supporting links therefor, said second-named links also'being of a size for insertion through said opening in the outer section.

2. A tower of the class described comprising an outer section having a removable wall part adjacent its lower end, a first inner section telescoped in said outer section, a first series of independent supporting links holding said inner section in extended position,

Of' links extending second inner section,

1 in extended position,

all of said links being of a size for insertion through said open in the bottom links or the three series being of different heights and the other links all being. of the same height whereby the joints in each series of links are offset from the joints in the other two series of links.

. 4. A tower of the class described comprising an outer section having a removable wall part adiacent .its lower end to provide an opening, a first inner section telescoped in said outer section, a first series of independent supporting links holding said inner section in extended position, a second inner section telescoped in said first inner section, a second series of independent supporting links holding said second inner section in extended position, said second series of links extending through said first series of links and into said first inner section, a third inner section telescoped in said second inner section, and a third series of independent supporting links holding said third inner section in extended position, all of said links being of a size for insertion through said opening, the bottom link of said first and second series being longitudinally divided into halves.

5. A tower of the class described comprising an outer section having a closed lower end and a removable wall section immediately thereabove, an inner section slidable in said outer section, said inner section having a lower end adapted to be engaged and lifted by a tool inserted through an opening formed by the removal of said wall section, and a plurality of independent links holding said inner section in elevated position,

each of said links being of a size to permit insertion and removal through said opening, certain of said links having means engageable by a tool inserted through said opening for raising said links and said inner section.

6. A tower of the class described comprising an outer section having a removable wall section adjacent its lower end, a first inner section telescoped in said outer section, a first series of independent supporting links holding said inner section in extended position, a second inner section telescoped in said first inner section, a second series of independent said second inner section in extended position, said second series of links extending through said first series of links and into said first inner section, a third inner section telescoped in said a third series of independent supporting links holding said third inner section all of said links being of a size for insertion through an opening formed by the removal of said wall section, and means for rotating said third series of links and the inner section supported thereon.

'7. A tower of the class described comprising an outer section having a removable wall part to provide an opening adjacent its lower end, a first inner section telescoped in said outer secsupporting links holding tion in extended position,

tion, a first series of independent supporting links holding said inner section in extended position, a second inner section telescoped in said first inner section, a second series of independent supporting links holding said second inner secsaid second series of links extending through said first series of links and into said first inner section, a third inner section telescopedin said second inner section, a third series of independent supporting links holding said third inner section in extended position, all of said links being of a size for insertion through said opening, the bottom links of the three series being of different heights and the other links all being of the same height whereby the joints in each series of links are offset from the joints in the other two series of links, and, a sleeve slidable on said outer section to hold said removable part in said opening when said sleeve is in one position and to permit removal of said removable part when said sleeve is in a different position.

8. A tower of the class described comprising an outer section having a removable wall part adjacent its lower end, a first inner section telescoped in said outer section, a first series of independent supporting links holding said inner section in extended position, a second inner section telescoped in said first inner section, a second series of independent supporting links holding said second inner section in extended position, said second series of links extending through said first series of links and into said first inner section, a third inner section telescoped in said second inner section, and a third series of independent supporting links holding said third inner section in extended position, all of said links being of a size for insertion through an opening formed by the removal of said wall part, the bottom link of said first and second series being longitudinally divided into halves, the bottom link of said third series being solid, and a sleeve for encircling and compressing said part and said half links about said solid link.

9..A tower of the class described comprising an outer section having a removable wall part adjacent its lower end, a first inner section telescoped in said outer section, a first series of independent supporting links holding said inner section in extended position, a second inner section telescoped in said first inner section, a second series of independent supporting links holding said second inner section in extended position, said second series of links extending through said first series of links and into said first inner section, a third inner section telescoped in said second inner section, and a third series of independent supporting links holding said third inner section in extended position, all of said links beingof a size for insertion through an opening formed by the removal of said wall part, the links of said'third series being in the form of spools.

10. A tower of the class described comprising an outer section having a removable wall section adjacent its lower end, a first inner section telescoped in said outer section, a first series of independent supporting links holding said inner section in extended position, a second inner section telescoped in said first inner section, a second series of independent supporting links holding said second inner section in extended position, said second series of links extending through said first series of links and into said first inner section, a third inner section telescoped in said second inner supporting described comprising opening adjacent its lower end, a first inner section telescoped in said outer section, a first series of independent supporting links holding said inner section in extended position, a second inner section telescoped in said first inner section, a second series of independent supporting links holding said second inner section in extended position, said second series of links extending through said first series of links and into said first inner section, a third inner section telescoped in said second inner section, and a third series of independent supporting links holding said third inner section in extended position, all of said links being of a size for insertion through said opening, the bottom link in the first and second series being longitudinally divided into halves and having a horizontal slot, and means extending through said slot to engage and rotate said third series of links and the section supported thereon.

12. A tower composed of an outer section and a plurality of inner sections in telescopic relasection, each supporting column comprising a plurality of independent links, said outer section having an opening adjacent its base through which said links may be inserted and removed.

13. A tower composed of an outer section and a plurality of inner sections in telescopic relaa supporting column for each inner section, each supporting column comprising a plurality of independent links, said outer section having an opening adjacent its base through and means for rotating the innermost column and inner section supported thereon without rotating the remainder of the tower.

14. That method of extending a tower composed of telescopic sections which comprises the steps of raising an inner section, laterally inserting a supporting member therebeneath, lowering the raised section into engagement with the inserted member, raising the inserted member, laterally inserting a second member therebeneath,

of links are offset in the other a supporting column for each innerv ing members for a V which sald links may be inserted and removed, I

v ber therebeneath,

and lowering the raised member into engagement with the last inserted member.

15. That method of extending a tower consisting of several telescopic members which includes raising the second largest section, inserting latlowering the first inserted member into engagement with the last inserted member, repeating the last two steps until the second largest section has been raised to the desired elevation, and inserting through the largest section and the lowermost supporting member of the second largest section a plurality of supportsmaller section.

RUSSEL E. FRUSHOUR.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS