US2693333A

US2693333A - Antenna for vehicle mounting

Info

Publication number: US2693333A
Application number: US228882A
Authority: US
Inventors: William J Race; Smardo Frank
Original assignee: Motorola Inc
Current assignee: Motorola Solutions Inc
Priority date: 1951-05-29
Filing date: 1951-05-29
Publication date: 1954-11-02
Anticipated expiration: 1971-11-02

Description

NOV- 2, 1954 w J RACE ETAL 2,693,333

ANTENNA FOR VEHICLE MOUNTING Filed May 29, 1951 Zy ENTORS. b62772 AZQCQ, BY Fran/56772Q 'Q United States Patent Oflice ANTENNA FOR VEHICLE MOUNTING William J. Race, Franklin Park, and Frank Smardo, Chicago, Ill., assignors to Motorola, Inc., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application May 29, 1951, Serial No. 228,882 1 Claim. (Cl. 248-43) This invention relates to antenna mountings and more particularly to a mounting structure for supporting an antenna on the wall of a vehicle or the like at a selected angle to the wall.

In mounting an antenna on a vehicle wall, the contour of the wall at the point of mounting is frequently such that the antenna must lie at an acute angle to the wall in order to extend in the desired vertical direction. In mountings heretofore proposed for this purpose, it has generally been necessary to obtain access to both sides of the wall, such as a portion of the cowl or tender, in order to assemble the antenna thereon. This is frequently very diflicult and awkward, making the mounting of the antenna an expensive and troublesome operation.

It is accordingly one of the objects of the present invention to provide an antenna mounting in which the antenna can be assembled and mounted on the wall from one side only thereof and will be securely held at any desired angle relative to the wall.

According to one feature, the antenna mounting is held on one side of the wall by a mounting member so shaped that it can be tilted and slipped through a mounting opening in the wall and will then tilt back to a position to engage the Wall.

In the preferred construction, the mounting member is formed of a channel shaped member with convexly curved, flanged surfaces to seat on a shoulder on the antenna rod in any one of a plurality of angular positions.

According to another feature of the invention, a mounting ring ying at one side of the wall is formed with lugs to extend through the mounting opening and to engage the mounting member on the other side of the wall so that the parts can be adjusted to the proper location from the accessible side of the wall.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will be more readily apparent when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a partial perspective view of an automobile having an antenna embodying the invention mounted thereon;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view in side elevation showing the parts in section in disassembled position;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged partial section view showing the parts in assembled position; and

Fig. 4 is a partial section view along the line 44 of Fig. 3.

As shown in Fig. 1, the antenna may be mounted on any desired portion of a vehicle body indicated generally at having a cowl 11 and fenders 12. In the installation shown, the antenna is mounted on the cowl at one side of the body and it will be seen that at this portion of the body the cowl slopes both laterally and forwardly and is curved. Therefore, in order that the antenna mast indicated at 13 may project in a vertical direction, it is necessary that the mounting engage an angular portion of the body wall and support the mast at an angle thereto.

As shown in Fig. 2, the portion of the body wall on which the antenna is mounted is indicated at 14 as lying at an acute angle to the horizontal. To mount the antenna, an opening 15 is formed in the body wall as by drilling or the like. It is desired to maintain this opening relatively small and of just sutlicient size to enable the antenna parts to be inserted therethrough from the 2,693,333 Patented Nov. 2, 1954 outside of the body without requiring any direct access to the interior of the body.

The antenna, as shown, includes a supporting rod formed of a base portion 16 and an upper portion 17 which are telescoped together and rigidly connected by a ring or pin. It will be apparent that the two rod portions could be formed integrally but they are preferably made separate for convenience of manufacture. The lower end of the base portion 16 is connected to a cable 18 which may extend to a receiving set in the vehicle. Additionally the base portion 16 has pressed thereon an insulating collar 19 which supports a sleeve 21 formed with a laterally projecting annular shoulder 22. The upper portion 17 of the rod is exteriorly threaded, as indicated at 23, and terminates in an extension 24 of reduced size on which the lower section 25 of the mast 13 is secured. The mast section 25 is preferably tubular, as shown, to receive upper sections telescopically so that the mast can be extended for use or can be retracted when it is not in use.

To secure the antenna rod at the lower side of the wall, a mounting member 26 is provided. This member, as shown, is channel shaped in section and has its web cut out in its central portion to provide an enlarged opening through which the antenna rod may extend loosely. At the ends of the channel shaped member, the web connects the side flanges to form an integral unit. Preferably the side flanges extend upward in the central portion of the member as indicated at 27 to extend through the mounting opening 15 to hold the member centered lengthwise in the opening.

The lower edges of the side flanges of member 26 are arcuately curved as indicated at 28 and are adapted to rest on the shoulder 22 or on the lock washer 29 supported thereon as shown. Due to the curvature of the flanges, the member 26 may rest against the lock washer or the shoulder 22 in any one of a plurality of angular positions and will not tend to tilt or slip on the shoulder. This enables the antenna to be held securely in any desired angular position relative to the vehicle wall.

t the upper side of the wall an annular mounting ring 31 is provided which fits around the antenna rod. Preferably the lower edge of the mounting ring is recessed to receive a sealing washer 32 formed of rubber or the like which will fit tightly against the vehicle wall and seal it against ingress of moisture or foreign materials. mounting ring 31 terminates at its upper edge in a concave annular surface 33 and at its lower edge is provided with a pair of downwardly projecting lugs 34 which are adapted to extend through the mounting opening and overlie the sides of hte mounting member 26, as best seen in Figure 4.

The ball shaped mounting member 35 fits over the antenna rod above the mounting ring and has its lower surface in a convex spherical form to seat against the and moisture seepage between the ball and the mounting ring is prevented. The ball is held trim washer 36 which seats against its upper end and which is engaged by a nut 37 threaded into the threaded portion 23 of the antenna rod.

To assemble the antenna, the cable 18 and the lower end of the antenna rod with the are inserted through the opening shown in Figure 2. The mounting member 26 may then be inserted over the rod and tilted thereon to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. This member is narrower than the mounting opening 15 so that when tilted it can he slipped lengthwise through ends will engage the inner surface of the wall beyond the opening. Thereafter the mounting ring, sealing washer and ball member may be inserted and adjusted on the antenna rod and drawn up tight by the nut 37. At this time, the mounting member 26 will be drawn tightly against the inner surface of the wall and the mounting ring and sealing washer will be drawn tightly against the outer surface of the wall with the ball member tightly engaging the mounting ring, Preferably the mounting member is turned to a position such that it will be tilted lengthwise but will be substantially horizontal widthwise when it engages the wall. Therefore the antenna can be held in the desired vertical position during the tightening operation and when the nut 37 is fully tightened, the parts will be clamped securely together to hold the antenna rod and mast rigid on the wall. It will be noted that the

lugs

27 and 34 extending through the mounting opening insure proper positioning of the parts relative to each other and relative to the mounting opening, so that the entire assembly can be put together very simply and adjusted so there is no possibility of an incorrect positioning of the parts. Furthermore, all of the parts can be assembled from the outside of the vehicle Wall so that the antenna can be mounted very quickly and easily without the necessity of obtaining access to the interior of the wall.

While one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail, it will be understood that this is illustrative only and is not to be taken as a definition of the scope of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claim.

We claim:

An antenna mounting for supporting an antenna on a wall having an opening therein including in combination, an elongated structure adapted to extend through the opening in the wall, said elongated structure having a circular cross-section, and having a shoulder portion and a threaded portion spaced to lie on opposite sides of the wall, an elongated channel-shaped mounting member having a pair of substantially parallel side flanges and an interconnecting web portion, said web portion having an elongated aperture therein to receive said structure, said elongated aperture in said web portion being substantially longer than the width of said mounting member and being substantially longer than the diameter of said elongated structure to render said mounting member tiltable on said structure so as to enable said member to slip lengthwise through the opening in the wall, said 4 side flanges each having an arcuately curved edge adapte to engage said shoulder portion and enable said mounting member to be positioned with respect to said shoulder portion in any one of a plurality of angular positions with the ends of said web portion engaging one side of the wall adjacent the opening, an annular mounting ring for receiving said structure and adapted to engage the other side of the wall around the opening, at least one lug projecting from said annular ring and adapted to extend through the opening in the wall adjacent the outer surface of a corresponding one of said side flanges of said channel-shaped member to engage said corresponding side flange and permit positioning of said channelshaped member by adjustment of said ring, an annular mounting member having an opening therein to receive said structure, said annular mounting ring and said annular mounting member having engaging surfaces of generally spherical configuration so that said annular mounting member may be positioned in any one of a plurality of angular positions with respect to the wall and yet maintain surface contact with said annular mounting ring, and a fastening member threaded on said threaded portion of said structure and engaging said annular mounting member for drawing said annular mounting member and said shoulder means towards one another so that said channel-shaped mounting member and said mounting ring tightly engage the opposite sides of the wall adjacent the opening therein rigidly to hold said structure on the wall at a selected angle thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,197,052 Newhall Sept. 5, 1916 1,896,679 Olson Feb. 7, 1933 1,992,431 Key Feb. 26, 1935 2,252,671 Ludwig Aug. 12, 1941 2,454,897 Trowbridge Nov. 30, 1948 2,499,137 Friedborg et al Feb. 28, 1950 2,524,534 Morris Oct. 3, 1950 2,536,053 Grashow Jan. 2, 1951