WO2022116617A1

WO2022116617A1 - Antenna and radome therefor

Info

Publication number: WO2022116617A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/117002
Authority: WO
Inventors: 肖飞
Original assignee: 京信通信技术(广州)有限公司; 京信射频技术(广州)有限公司
Priority date: 2020-12-04
Filing date: 2021-09-07
Publication date: 2022-06-09
Also published as: CN112701465B; CN116914422A; CN112701465A; EP4258473A1

Abstract

The present application discloses an antenna and a radome therefor. The radome is an integrally formed structure, and comprises a bottom cover and a face cover; the bottom cover and the face cover comprise a same base material; the bottom cover is dense; the face cover is adapted to transmit a signal radiated by an antenna, comprises two wall surfaces and a wall center defined by the two wall surfaces, and transitions from loose to dense from the wall center thereof to the two wall surfaces thereof. The radome has a loose structure, and thus is convenient for an antenna to radiate signals; the hollow feature of the loose structure caused by foaming can reduce loss of signals and improve the transmittance of the signals radiated by the antenna.

Description

Antenna and its radome

This disclosure claims the priority of the Chinese patent application with the application number 202011403466.8 and the invention title "Antenna and its radome" filed with the China Patent Office on December 04, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated in this disclosure by reference.

technical field

The present disclosure belongs to the field of communication antennas, and in particular relates to a radome and a related antenna.

Background technique

In the 5G era, the mainstream technology of base station antennas is Massive MIMO active antennas, active and passive integrated antennas, and ultra-multi-system integrated passive antennas. For the radiating element/array of each subsystem in the base station antenna system, the boundary conditions become more and more complicated, and the technical difficulty of electrical performance design becomes more and more difficult.

The radome is an important part of the base station antenna. It not only protects the internal components of the antenna device, but also the dielectric properties of its structure and materials have a direct impact on the transmission efficiency and transmission quality of the antenna signal.

As we all know, the radome is an optically dense medium relative to air. When the radiating element of the antenna radiates the signal, it needs to radiate the signal through the radome. Therefore, when electromagnetic wave signals such as antenna signals are radiated to the radome, there must be problems such as refracted waves and reflected waves generated on the surface of the radome, which affect the radiation of electromagnetic wave signals.

Therefore, the structure of the radome and the dielectric properties of the material have a direct impact on the transmission of the antenna signal. The smaller the dielectric constant of the radome, the smaller the refractive index of the transmitted wave, and the smaller the influence on the antenna pattern parameters; the smaller the reflected wave, the smaller the reflection loss of the electromagnetic wave; the smaller the dielectric loss factor, the smaller the impact on the transmitted wave The heat loss is also smaller. Therefore, under the condition of satisfying mechanical strength and weather resistance, the smaller the dielectric constant and dielectric loss factor of the radome, the better.

However, because the radome requires good mechanical strength and the difficulty in the manufacturing process, the wall of the existing radome is a solid structure, and the dielectric constant and dielectric loss factor of the radome with a solid structure are relatively large, which makes the electromagnetic wave radiation loss. larger. At the same time, the current radomes in the 2G, 3G, and 4G eras are mostly made of FRP, rigid PVC and other composite materials. Although they can meet the mechanical properties and weather resistance requirements of the radome, it is difficult to take into account the low dielectric requirements for electrical losses, etc. Moreover, the density of the above materials is relatively high, which further increases the weight of the radome, which ultimately results in a heavier antenna as a whole, which is inconvenient for installation.

At the same time, when multiple antenna systems work at the same time, especially the Massive MIMO active antenna, the heat loss makes the working environment temperature of the antenna components much higher than that in the 2G, 3G, and 4G eras, which affects the temperature resistance of the radome. put forward higher requirements.

CN103407018B Patent Announcement proposes a radome to partially solve the above problems. Although it has a lower dielectric constant and a lower dielectric loss factor, the radome uses a single-layer glass fiber hollow fabric blank for the radiation surface. The main body is molded from a prepreg sheet obtained by prepreg with resin. The glass fiber hollow fabric blank is located in the middle of the radiation surface, and the hollow fabric is used to reduce the blocking of the antenna radiation signal, improve the dielectric properties and reduce the dielectric loss, but pass the glass fiber hollow fabric blank and the prepreg sheet. The structure of the prepared radome is unstable, and the transmission of the antenna radiation signal is still affected at the boundary between the glass fiber hollow fabric blank and the prepreg sheet. In addition, the multi-material mixing process itself still has room for improvement in terms of cost and process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

(1) Technical problems to be solved

In the prior art, although the radome can meet the requirements of mechanical properties and weather resistance, it is difficult to take into account the requirements of low dielectric loss and the like. In addition, the density of materials used in the existing radome is relatively high, which makes the radome heavier, resulting in a heavier antenna as a whole, which is inconvenient for installation.

(2) Technical solutions

The primary purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a radome with good electrical performance and easy production.

A secondary object of the present disclosure is to provide an antenna compatible with the aforementioned radome.

In order to meet the primary purpose of the present disclosure, the present disclosure adopts the following technical solutions:

It is suitable for the primary purpose of the present disclosure to provide a radome, which is an integrally formed structure, including a bottom cover and a face cover;

The bottom cover and the face mask comprise the same base material;

The bottom cover is compact;

The mask is suitable for transmitting antenna radiation signals, and includes two walls and a wall defined by the two walls. From the middle of the wall to the two walls, the transition from bulky to dense.

Further, the mask has foaming characteristics, and the structural change thereof is determined by the size and/or density of the foamed particles formed by the foaming.

Specifically, the size and/or density of the foam particles varies linearly from the wall to the two wall surfaces.

Further, the face mask forms a bulky portion, a transition portion and a dense portion in sequence from its wall to any one of its wall surfaces, the density of the bulky portion is smaller than the density of the transition portion, and the density of the transition portion is smaller than the density of the transition portion. the density of the dense portion.

Specifically, the bulky portion, the transition portion, and the dense portion are in a linear gradient transition relationship in density.

Preferably, in the cross section of the mask, the area of the bulky portion accounts for 30%-60%, the transition portion accounts for 30%-40%, and the dense portion accounts for 30%-40% of the area. 10%-30%.

Preferably, the bulking portion and the transition portion have foaming characteristics, the foaming rate of the bulking portion is 30%-60%, and the foaming rate of the transition portion is 20%-40%.

Preferably, the overall density of the radome is less than or equal to 0.90g/cm3; the overall density of the mask is 0.5g/cm3～0.80g/cm3, the dielectric constant is less than or equal to 2.00, and the dielectric loss is less than or equal to 0.003; the overall density of the bottom cover is 1.05g/cm3 to 1.0g/cm3.

Further, the face mask and the bottom cover are fused with each other, and at the fusion interface, the bulky part and the transition part of the mask bulge toward the bottom cover.

Preferably, the bulking portion and the transition portion are in a relationship of increasing density toward the bulging portion of the bottom cover.

Further, the dense portion constitutes a solid crust, and the thickness of the solid crust is 0.10-0.50 mm.

Preferably, the mask and the bottom cover are fused with each other, and at the fusion interface, the bottom cover forms a depression for receiving the bulging part of the mask.

Further, at the fusion interface, the depression is U-shaped, and the material in the space defined by the depression is bulky.

Preferably, the bulging portion is in a linear gradient relationship in density from the face mask to the bottom cover.

Further, the mask and the bottom cover are merged at the radiation boundary of the radome.

Preferably, the density of the dense portion is the same as the density of the bottom cover.

Preferably, the base materials of the face mask and the bottom cover are of the same thermoplastic material, wherein the base material of the face mask is foamed by a foaming agent.

Specifically, glass fibers are added to the base materials of the face mask and the bottom cover.

Preferably, the thermoplastic material is preferably resin or resin alloy.

In order to meet the secondary purpose of the present disclosure, the present disclosure adopts the following technical solutions:

In order to meet the secondary purpose of the present disclosure, an antenna is provided, which has a metal reflector and a radiating element mounted on the metal reflector, the antenna also has the radome, and the metal reflector of the antenna is fixed on the metal reflector. In the space defined by the mask and the bottom cover of the radome, the mask is used to transmit the signal of the radiation unit.

(3) Beneficial effects

First of all, the present disclosure reflects the overall advantages of the radome from the structural features of the bottom cover of the radome and the mask: on the one hand, the mask is suitable for transmitting antenna radiation signals, and the mask is in a shape from the middle of its wall to its two wall surfaces. There is a transition from bulky to dense. The bulky structure provides better signal transmission effect than the dense structure, so that the mask has stronger signal transmission performance and reduces the dielectric constant and dielectric loss of the mask. The two wall surfaces are dense and can form a crust, which is beneficial to protect the mask from being disturbed by the external environment, ensure mechanical strength, and prevent the structures within the two wall surfaces from being eroded. Therefore, the mask can also exhibit more stable mechanical properties while ensuring signal transmission properties. On the other hand, as a one-piece molded part, while the mask obtains these advantages, the advantages of the bottom cover are also ensured at the same time - because the bottom cover is processed into a dense shape, it has higher strength, ensuring that the radome is suitable for construction. assembly.

Secondly, the improvement of the mask in the present disclosure also brings advantages in other aspects: the bottom cover and the face mask of the radome of the present disclosure are both integrally formed on the basis of the same base material, wherein the entire mask is obtained by one-time molding of the mask The effect of the transition from bulky to dense inside, without the interaction and interference between multiple materials and multiple components, therefore, on the one hand, the honeycomb-like structure formed by the bulking maximizes the hollow effect of the mask, It can not only effectively ensure the external force resistance performance of the mask, reduce the overall density and quality of the radome, but also effectively heat insulation and improve the temperature resistance of the radome; Continuous production will inevitably reduce the large-scale production cost of the radome.

In addition, the radome of the present disclosure can better meet the application requirements of antennas under 5G communication conditions on the basis of obtaining the advantages of low dielectric constant, low dielectric loss, low density, high temperature resistance, good mechanical properties, etc. Especially for MIMO-based antennas with multi-array radiating elements, the application of the radome of the present disclosure to these antennas can achieve better comprehensive performance.

Additional aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will be set forth in part in the following description, which will become apparent from the following description, or may be learned by practice of the present disclosure.

Description of drawings

1 is a cross-sectional view of a radome of the present disclosure, showing a cross-sectional structure of the radome.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the antenna of the present disclosure, wherein the radome is cut away, and the internal structure of the antenna is shown.

FIG. 3 is a partial structural view of the cross section of the mask of the radome of the present disclosure, and is an enlarged view of part q in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 4 is a partial schematic view of the fusion interface of the face mask and the bottom cover of the radome of the present disclosure, and is an enlarged view of part p in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a state in which the antenna of the present disclosure is installed on a pole.

FIG. 6 is a rear view of the antenna of the present disclosure after adding a mounting plate.

7 is a perspective view of the structure of the radome mold of the present disclosure, showing its overall inner and outer contours.

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view along the A-A direction of the radome mold shown in FIG. 7 .

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of the adjustment section of the radome mold of the present disclosure, and is an enlarged view of part 69 in FIG. 8 .

FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view in the direction B-B of the radome mold shown in FIG. 7 .

FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view along the C-C direction of the radome mold shown in FIG. 7 .

FIG. 12 is a horizontal plane directional diagram presented by the first simulation group when the radome of the present disclosure is used for simulation comparison.

FIG. 13 shows the vertical plane pattern of the first simulation group when the radome of the present disclosure is simulated and compared.

Fig. 14 is a graph of the variation of gain with frequency presented by the first simulation group when the radome of the present disclosure is simulated and compared.

FIG. 15 shows the horizontal plane pattern of the second simulation group when the radome of the present disclosure is simulated and compared.

FIG. 16 shows the vertical plane pattern of the second simulation group when the radome of the present disclosure is simulated and compared.

FIG. 17 is a graph showing the variation of gain with frequency in the second simulation group when the radome of the present disclosure is simulated and compared.

FIG. 18 is a schematic flowchart of a typical embodiment of the disclosed radome forming method.

Detailed ways

The following describes in detail the embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain the present disclosure and not to be construed as a limitation of the present disclosure.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the singular forms "a", "an", "the" and "the" as used herein can include the plural forms as well, unless expressly stated otherwise. It should be further understood that the word "comprising" used in the specification of the present disclosure refers to the presence of the stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements and/or components, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, Integers, steps, operations, elements and/or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof. It will be understood that when we refer to an element as being "connected" or "coupled" to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may also be present. Furthermore, "connected" or "coupled" as used herein may include wirelessly connected or wirelessly coupled. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes all or any element and all combination of one or more of the associated listed items.

It will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that, unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It should also be understood that terms, such as those defined in a general dictionary, should be understood to have meanings consistent with their meanings in the context of the prior art and, unless specifically defined as herein, should not be interpreted in idealistic or overly formal meaning to explain.

Those skilled in the art should know that: although the various embodiments of the present disclosure are described based on the same concept to show commonality with each other, unless otherwise specified, these embodiments can be independently implemented . Similarly, for the various embodiments disclosed in the present disclosure, they are all proposed based on the same inventive concept. Therefore, the concepts expressed in the same way, and the concepts that are appropriately transformed for convenience even though the concept expressions are different, should be regarded as equivalent. understand.

A radome 20 disclosed in the present disclosure, referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , the radome 20 includes a face cover 21 and a bottom cover 22 . The face cover 21 and the bottom cover 22 are integrally formed.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the mask 21 includes two walls and a wall defined by the two walls. From the wall to the two walls, there is a transition from bulky to dense. This transition structure is due to the base of the mask 21 . The material is foamed and the expansion space is limited in the direction of the two walls, and is finally formed by heating and setting.

The bulky structure formed by the bulky part of the mask 21 is mainly reflected by the size of the air bubbles in the mask 21 and the density of the bubbles. In theory, the larger the bubbles, the more bulky the mask 21, and vice versa, the denser; The denser the grains, the more bulky the mask 21, and vice versa. The face mask 21 is divided into a bulky part 23 , a transition part 24 and a dense part 25 according to the size of the air bubbles and the density of the bubbles in the direction from the wall to any one of the walls. The size of the bubbles and/or the density of the bubbles in the bulking part 23 is larger than the size of the bubbles and/or the density of the bubbles in the transition part 24, and the denser The portion 25 is of solid structure and forms the skin of the mask 21 .

Correspondingly, the density of the bulky portion 23 is lower than the density of the transition portion 24 , and the density of the transition portion 24 is lower than the density of the dense portion 25 . Therefore, the bulking portion 23, the transition portion 24 and the dense portion 25 are densified in sequence, and the bulky effect inside the mask 21 is caused by foaming, showing a honeycomb-like structure, and this bulking effect can effectively avoid blocking the transmission of signals. , the overall dielectric properties of the mask 21 are improved, and the mechanical strength of the material itself can still be strengthened through the honeycomb-like tissue. Further, when the dense portion 25 forms a skin, since there are basically no air bubbles, its mechanical strength is maximized in the interior of the mask 21, so that the mask 21 can obtain good structural stability, which is beneficial to maintain the structural stability of the mask 21. . The transition portion 24 provides a natural transition relationship between the bulky portion 23 and the dense portion 25, avoiding the sudden change from bulky to dense inside the mask 21, and the uniformly organized internal structure of the mask 21 can weaken the internal stress of the mask 21 , so as to avoid affecting the stability of the internal structure of the mask 21 .

In general, due to natural foaming, the size and/or density of the air bubbles between the bulky part 23 , the transition part 24 and the dense part 25 of the mask 21 are linearly graded according to different foaming characteristics The transition relationship, that is, the relationship between the bulky part 23, the transition part 24 and the dense part 25 is a linear gradient transition relationship in density. The skin; the closer it is to the middle of the wall, the larger and denser the bubbles are, and the less and sparser the material is. However, in some embodiments, due to some additional interference, such as the effect of the blowing agent itself or the ambient temperature, this transition relationship may not guarantee a strict linear coherence. Those skilled in the art should understand that for such a transition Relative to the microscopic structure, such a difference should still be regarded as a linear gradual transition relationship without affecting the claim of the present disclosure to its due protection scope.

Based on the above understanding, referring to FIG. 3 , the size and density of the air bubbles between the bulking portion 23 , the transition portion 24 and the dense portion 25 are linearly and gradually transitioned. However, since the dense portion 25 is a solid structure, the size and density of the gas bubbles are mainly reflected between the bulky portion 23 and the transition portion 24 . From the middle of the wall to any wall surface of the bulking portion 23, the size of the bubbles of the bubbles gradually changes from large to small, and the density of the bubbles gradually changes from dense to sparse.

In some embodiments with better performance obtained through actual measurement, on the cross-section of the mask 21, the area of the bulky portion 23 accounts for 30%-60% of the cross-section of the mask 21, and the area of the transition portion 24 accounts for 30%-60% of the cross-section of the mask 21. 30%-40% of the cross section of the mask 21, and the dense portion 25 occupies 10%-30% of the cross section of the mask 21. Although the present disclosure recommends the production of related products according to this proportional relationship, these recommendations should not be used to limit the scope of protection covered by the entire inventive spirit of the present disclosure.

Similarly, in other partial embodiments, it is recommended to control the thickness of the solid skin formed by the dense portion 25 within the range of 0.10-0.50 mm, which can be compatible with the balance between the mechanical properties and electrical properties of the mask 21 .

In some preferred embodiments, the bubbles in the bulking portion 23 and the transition portion 24 of the mask 21 are formed by foaming with a foaming agent, and the foaming rate of the bulking portion 23 is 30%-60%. , the foaming rate of the transition portion 24 is 20%-40%, and accordingly, the prepared radome 20 can have better overall performance.

It can be understood that the mask 21 has a foaming feature due to foaming, and a hollow honeycomb-like structure can be roughly seen on the cross-section of the mask 21. This hollow structure can minimize the obstruction to signal transmission, reduce the dielectric constant of the mask 21 and Dielectric loss factor, thereby improving the dielectric performance of the mask 21 . Further, the size of the bubbles and the density of the bubbles change linearly from the middle of the wall to the two walls, and finally a crust is formed on the two walls, so that strong mechanical structural properties can be obtained, so that the mask The structure of 21 is stable and not prone to internal fractures.

The bottom cover 22 is a solid structure, that is, a solid structure, without foaming. The bottom cover 22 and the face mask 21 are integrally formed, and the bottom cover 22 and the face mask 21 are fused with each other to form a fusion interface 26, so that the bottom cover 22 and the face mask 21 are formed between the bottom cover 22 and the face mask 21. Fusion connection.

Referring to FIG. 4 , at the fusion interface 26 , the bulging part 23 and the transition part 24 of the mask 21 bulge toward the bottom cover 22 . A substantially "U"-shaped depression is formed on the bottom cover 22 , and the depression is used to receive the bulging part of the face mask 21 . Therefore, the material of the bulging portion in the space defined by the depression is also bulky. Since the face mask 21 bulges toward the bottom cover 22 , it can be understood that the bulging part must also have a linear gradient relationship in density from the face mask 21 to the bottom cover 22 , which is specifically expressed as the bulging part of the face mask 21 . 23 and the transition portion 24 extend toward the bottom cover 22 from the contact point between the face cover 21 and the bottom cover 22, the size of the bubbles gradually decreases, the density of the bubbles gradually sparse, and the corresponding , the density of the material is increasing.

The face shield 21 and the bottom cover 22 are both made of the same base material, and the base material can be a single material, such as resin or resin alloy, or a combination of multiple materials, such as resin/resin. Alloy plus glass fiber, etc. In general, the base material of the bottom cover 22 and the face mask 21 can be exactly the same. Materials such as carbon fiber can also be appropriately mixed into the base material corresponding to 22. Since the face mask 21 forms a skin on its wall surface, it can be understood that the density of the solid dense portion 25 of the face mask 21 is the same or approximately the same as the density of the bottom cover 22 .

In general, the base materials of the face shield 21 and the bottom cover 22 are mainly thermoplastic materials, preferably resins and/or resin alloys, or glass fibers can also be added. The base materials of the face shield 21 are mixed before molding. A foaming agent is added to realize the foaming of the mask 21 during the molding process, and the foaming agent is used for foaming to form the bulky structure of the mask 21 of the radome 20 . Preferably, the foaming agent used for foaming is a volatile material, which is only used for foaming to form the bulky structure of the mask 21, and does not have chemical influences on the substrate.

Specifically, one or more combinations of ASA resin, PC resin, PMMA resin alloy, PP resin and ABS resin alloy may be selected as the thermoplastic material in the face mask 21 and the bottom cover 22 . The preferred ones are: ASA resin+PC resin, ASA resin+PMMA resin alloy, ASA resin+ABS resin alloy, PC resin alloy+ABS resin alloy, PMMA resin alloy+ABS resin alloy, PMMA resin alloy+PC resin, ASA resin +PC resin+PMMA resin alloy, ASA resin+PC resin+ABS resin alloy, ASA resin+ABS resin+PMMA resin alloy, ABS resin alloy+PC resin alloy+PMMA resin alloy, ASA resin+PC resin+PMMA resin alloy+ ABS resin alloy and other thermoplastic materials. The above-mentioned materials are all low-density materials, which can effectively reduce the weight of the radome 20 and facilitate transportation and installation in harsh terrain. At the same time, the above-mentioned materials are also materials with strong weather resistance, so as to maintain the radome 20 in harsh environments. Structural stability, especially high temperature resistance.

Further, an appropriate amount of ultraviolet absorber UV can be added to the base material on this basis, so that the radome 20 made of the above materials is not only structurally stable, but also absorbs ultraviolet rays, prevents the radome 20 from being oxidized, and prolongs its service life.

Further, when the cross-sectional size of the radome 20 is relatively large, an appropriate amount of glass fibers may be added to the base materials of the face shield 21 and the bottom cover 22 to improve the overall mechanical properties of the radome 20, such as strength, rigidity and hardness, etc.

Preferably, in the base material of the face mask 21, the thermoplastic material accounts for 60%-100%, the foaming agent accounts for 1%-40%, or can also include 0%-40% of the glass fiber. In the base material of the bottom cover 22, the thermoplastic material accounts for 60%-100%, or may further include the glass fiber in the proportion of 0%-40%.

Still further, the glass fibers in the base material of the bottom cover 22 in the foregoing embodiments can be replaced with carbon fibers. Since carbon fiber is a semiconductor, in the electromagnetic environment, it can produce a conductor effect, that is, the bottom cover 22 of the radome 20 can function as a metal reflector of the antenna, so as to improve the forward radiation capability of the signal through the mask 21 .

The dielectric constant and dielectric loss factor of the radome 20 made of the above materials are much smaller than those of the radome 20 made of conventional materials. The following are the radomes 20 made of the above materials and the radomes made of conventional materials 20 simulation comparison.

This simulation comparison is carried out twice, using Mc to represent the conventional FRP material, and Mx to represent the material used in this application. Among the two kinds of radomes 20, the thickness of the radome 20 made of Mc is 3mm, its dielectric constant is 3.8, and the dielectric loss factor is 0.008; the thickness of the radome 20 made of Mx is 3mm, and its dielectric The electric constant is 1.8 and the dielectric loss factor is 0.003.

The effects of Mc and Mx cover materials on the antenna radiation performance are compared by simulation; in the 2515MHz~2675MHz frequency band and the 3300MHz~3600MHz frequency band, the high, medium and low frequency points in the corresponding sub-band are selected for simulation and comparison, and only the radome is changed. The dielectric constant and loss tangent value of 20, the boundary conditions in the simulation model are not modified. The four-port 65-degree directional plate antenna (antenna one) and the four-port 65-degree ESC antenna (antenna two) in the 3300MHz-3600MHz frequency band are selected as reference antennas respectively.

The first group of simulation comparisons is in the frequency band of 2515MHz to 2675MHz, using antenna 1 as the working antenna. The simulation comparison results can be seen in the horizontal plane pattern in Figure 12, the vertical plane pattern in Figure 13, and the graph of the gain versus frequency in Figure 14.

The specific results are shown in Table 1 below:

Table 1: The first group of simulation comparison material data comparison table

It can be seen from Table 1 that the 3dB wave width change of the face mask 21 of the Mx material radome 20 on the vertical plane is less than or equal to 0.5 degrees, the 3dB wave width on the horizontal plane is more converged to 65°, the gain is increased by about 0.1 ~ 0.19dBi, the axial cross The polarization ratio and ±60° cross polarization are better.

The second group of simulation comparisons is in the (3300-3600) MHz frequency band, using antenna 2 as the working antenna. The simulation comparison results can be seen in the horizontal plane pattern in Figure 15, the vertical plane pattern in Figure 16, and the gain versus frequency curve in Figure 17. picture.

The specific results are shown in Table 2:

Table 2: The second group of simulation comparison material data comparison table

It can be seen from Table 2 that the 3dB wave width of the face mask 21 of the Mx material radome 20 in the vertical plane is less than or equal to 0.3 degrees, and the 3dB wave width in the horizontal plane is more converging to 65°, and the gain of the Mx material radome 20 is higher than that of the about 0.2-0.3dBi, the axial cross-polarization ratio is equivalent, and the ±60° cross-polarization is better.

It can be seen from the two tables that compared with the Mc material, the Mx material mainly has a change in the gain index, and the antenna change value in different working frequency bands has a certain difference. The increase is about 0.2-0.3dB, the variation of the vertical beam width of the antenna is less than or equal to 0.5°, and the half-power beam width of the horizontal plane converges by about 4-7°. The axial cross-polarization ratio and the ±60° cross-polarization are improved to varying degrees.

The radome 20 made of Mx material can improve the beam width of the horizontal plane, make it more convergent, and increase the antenna gain by about 0.2dB (the variation rules of different types of antennas are inconsistent, mainly depending on the boundary conditions of the antenna), and other radiation indicators are not deteriorated.

It can be seen that the dielectric constant and dielectric loss factor of the radome 20 made of the materials disclosed in the present disclosure are better than the dielectric constant and dielectric loss factor of the radome 20 made of conventional materials, which can improve the Transmittance of the signal.

Please refer to FIG. 1 again, in the radome 20, the face shield 21 and the bottom cover 22 are bounded by the radiation boundary line of the antenna, and the radiation boundary line can be flexibly defined by those skilled in the art according to the conditions of the specific application of the antenna, For example, the dummy line 01-03 in FIG. 1 can be regarded as the radiation dividing line. After being demarcated by the radiation boundary line of the radome 20, the mask 21 corresponds to the radiation surface of the radome 20. For example, the part 01-04-03 in FIG. 1 can be considered to correspond to the radiation surface; The bottom cover 22 corresponds to the non-radiating surface of the radome 20. For example, the parts 01-02-03 in FIG. 1 may be considered to correspond to the non-radiating surface.

The face cover 21 of the radome 20 corresponds to the radiation direction of the antenna, that is, the radiation surface. For the radiation surface, the dielectric constant and dielectric loss factor of the radiation surface should be as low as possible to ensure low loss and high wave transmittance to the antenna signal, so a bulky structure is required.

In the present disclosure, the radiation surface adopts an advanced foaming process to realize the structure form of foaming and skinning. Compared with the hollow glass bead method and the 3D hollow material, the foaming process is more uniform, and the consistency of the antenna radiation performance is improved. sex.

The dielectric constant of the radiating surface of the present disclosure is less than or equal to 2.00, and the dielectric loss factor is less than or equal to 0.003, which truly realizes low dielectric, low loss, and high wave transmission, effectively reduces the influence of the radome 20 on signal transmission efficiency and transmission quality, and greatly reduces the Reduce the difficulty of antenna design.

The bottom cover 22 of the radome 20 corresponds to the non-radiating direction of the antenna, that is, the non-radiating surface. Corresponding to the non-radiating surface, the non-radiating surface does not affect the radiation performance of the antenna signal, and does not need to have the same radiation performance as the radiating surface, but needs to meet the requirements of mechanical performance, so a solid structure is required.

The non-radiating surface of the radome 20 adopts a solid structure. Compared with the radiating surface using hollow glass beads or a foamed structure, its strength is higher and more stable, so that the overall strength of the radome 20 is guaranteed, and the radome 20 is realized. Overall high strength.

In a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, the overall density of the radome 20 is less than or equal to 0.90 g/cm 3 ; the overall density of the mask 21 is 0.5 g/cm 3 to 0.80 g/cm 3 , and the dielectric constant is less than or equal to 2.00 , the dielectric loss is less than or equal to 0.003; the overall density of the bottom cover 22 is 1.05g/cm3˜1.40g/cm3. Therefore, the comprehensive density of the radiating surface is 0.50g/cm3～0.80g/cm3, the comprehensive density of the non-radiating surface is 1.05～1.40g/cm3, and the overall comprehensive density of the radome 20 can be ≤0.90g/cm3, which realizes the overall low density of the radome 20. Density creates conditions for the lightweight of antennas in the 5G era.

The base material used for the radome 20 has the characteristics of high temperature resistance and weather resistance. The radome 20 achieves good high temperature resistance through the high temperature resistance characteristics of the material, and the thermal deformation temperature can reach 110°C, which fully meets the requirements of active products or active and passive integrated products with large heat generation. The radome 20 improves the weather resistance of the antenna through the weather resistance properties of the material, and especially has excellent UV resistance. Therefore, the radome 20 formed by the selection of materials in the present disclosure is beneficial to prolong the service life of the antenna, and can better protect the antenna.

It can be seen that, compared with the conventional radome 20, the radome 20 of the present disclosure has the characteristics of low dielectric and low loss. The radome 20 can increase the average gain of the 5G antenna by 0.2 to 0.3 dB, which improves the coverage of the antenna. To obtain the same gain as the conventional radome 20, the input power can be reduced by about 4.5-6.5%, thereby reducing energy consumption.

In a further embodiment, the radome 20 further includes an antenna mounting structure, see FIG. 2 , FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 , the antenna mounting structure includes an upper mounting plate 27 , a lower mounting plate 28 , an upper bracket assembly 29 , a lower Bracket assembly 30 and support base 31 .

The upper mounting plate 27 is mounted on the upper end of the bottom cover 22 , and the lower mounting plate 28 is mounted on the lower end of the bottom cover 22 relative to the upper mounting plate 27 . The upper bracket assembly 29 is connected to the upper mounting plate 27 , and the lower bracket assembly 30 is connected to the lower mounting plate 28 . The other ends of the upper and lower bracket assemblies 30 are respectively connected with a holding rod 34 or other fixed structures. Specifically, the upper and lower bracket assemblies 30 are hinge structures.

The upper mounting plate 27 and the lower mounting plate 28 are respectively connected to the support base 31, and the support base 31 is also used for fixedly connecting with the reflector 32 of the antenna to support the reflector 32. The reflector 32 is used for The radiating element 33 for installing the antenna.

The present disclosure also discloses an antenna including the above-mentioned radome 20 .

The antenna further includes a reflector 32 and a radiation unit 33 mounted on the reflector 32. The reflector 32 is fixed in the space defined by the face cover 21 of the radome 20 and the bottom cover 22, so The mask 21 faces the radiation unit 33 and is used to transmit signals transmitted or received by the radiation unit 33 . The reflector 32 is connected and fixed to the support base 31 . The reflecting plate 32 is made of metal material.

The present disclosure discloses a radome mold 60 for manufacturing the radome 20 as described above.

Referring to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 , the radome mold 60 includes a mold head 61 and a shaping mold 62 .

The die head 61 includes a die sleeve 63 and a die core 64 , the die core 64 is disposed in the die sleeve 63 , and the die core 64 is coaxially sleeved with the die sleeve 63 . The mold sleeve 63 cooperates with the mold core 64 to form an annular mold cavity, which is used for molding the radome 20 after injection. The annular mold cavity includes an upper mold cavity 65 and a lower mold cavity 66 , the upper mold cavity 65 is used for forming the face mask 21 of the radome 20 , and the lower Molding of the bottom cover 22 .

The die head 61 is also provided with an upper injection channel 67 and a lower injection channel 68, and the upper injection channel 67 communicates with the upper mold cavity 65 to inject material into the upper mold cavity 65; The material channel 68 communicates with the lower mold cavity 66 to inject material into the lower mold cavity 66 . The upper material injection channel 67 further includes an upper material injection channel injection port 79 disposed on the mold sleeve 63, and material injection is performed for the upper material injection channel 67 through the upper material injection channel injection port 79; The lower injection channel 68 further includes a lower injection channel injection port 80 disposed on the mold sleeve 63 , and the lower injection channel 68 is injected through the upper injection channel injection port 79 .

In some preferred embodiments, the radome mold 60 includes a plurality of upper injection channels 67 , and the plurality of upper injection channels 67 are evenly distributed along the upper mold cavity 65 . The material channel 67 can keep the material injected into the upper mold cavity 65 relatively uniformly, so that after the material containing the foaming agent is injected into the upper mold cavity 65, it can be evenly distributed in the upper mold cavity 65 Inside. Correspondingly, since each of the plurality of upper injection channels 67 is provided with an upper injection channel injection port 79 , each upper injection channel injection port 79 is also uniformly disposed on the mold sleeve 63 corresponding to the upper mold cavity 65 .

In a typical embodiment of the present disclosure, two upper injection channels 67 are provided. Because the upper mold cavity 65 has a symmetrical structure in its cross-section, the upper mold cavity 65 can be divided into left and right sides that are symmetrical with the center axis of the upper mold cavity 65 as the boundary. On both sides, the two upper injection channels 67 are respectively arranged on both sides of the central axis, so that each upper injection channel 67 is correspondingly injected into the upper mold cavity 65 on its corresponding side. The material injected from the two upper injection channels 67 can be naturally and completely fused and connected in the middle of the upper mold cavity 65, while the filling in the direction of the lower mold cavity 66 is controlled by the appropriate amount and speed, plus the lower injection material channel 68. Under the joint action of equal control, it can be ensured that the lower mold cavity 66 is mainly injected by the lower injection channel 68, the upper mold cavity 65 is mainly injected by the upper injection channel 67, and the upper injection channel 67 and the lower injection channel. 68 together are responsible for sufficient dosing of the entire radome 20 . It should be pointed out that although the present disclosure recommends setting the upper injection channel 67 according to this structure, this specific embodiment should not be used to limit the protection scope that should be covered by the entire inventive spirit of the present disclosure.

In general, in order to allow the upper injection channel 67 to directly inject material into the upper mold cavity 65, the upper injection channel 67 radially penetrates the mold sleeve in the form of a pipe from the injection port 79 of the upper injection channel. 63 is directly connected to the upper mold cavity 65, so that the upper mold cavity 65 of the same die head 61 can be injected through the upper injection channel 67; The injection port 80 of the lower injection material channel 68 is opened in the axial direction, and axially penetrates into the annular mold cavity defined by the mold sleeve 63 and the mold core 64 in the form of a cylindrical or conical pipe, so as to pass through the cavity. The lower injection material channel 68 is used to inject material into the lower mold cavity 66 .

Continuing to refer to FIG. 8, it can be seen that the axial direction of the upper injection channel injection port 79 of the upper injection channel 67 and the axial direction of the lower injection channel injection port 80 of the lower injection channel 68 are substantially perpendicular to each other. It helps to avoid mixing of the material injected through the injection port 79 of the upper injection channel and the material injected through the lower injection channel 68, and supplemented by the control of the injection speed and flow, so that the two-part injection can be made. The materials perform their respective functions and are used to fill the upper mold cavity 65 and the lower mold cavity 66 respectively.

The upper injection channel 67 and the lower injection channel 68 are in communication with each other. In the process of filling the upper mold cavity 65 through the upper injection channel 67, if the injection speed is insufficient, theoretically The upper injection channel 67 can be supplemented with material through the lower injection channel 68 (when the material injected into the upper mold cavity 65 and the lower mold cavity 66 is the same), so as to remedy the unformed mold base.

Generally, the diameter of the injection port 79 of the upper injection channel is smaller than the diameter of the injection port 80 of the lower injection channel. During injection, the pressure and speed of the material injected through the injection port 79 of the upper injection channel are greater than the pressure and speed of the material injected through the injection port 80 of the lower injection channel, so that when the injection When the material in the material channel 68 has a tendency to flow into the upper material injection channel 67, it will be pressed down by the material injected from the injection port 79 of the upper material injection channel with a relatively large pressure and speed, thereby making the lower material injection channel 67 press down. The material in the injection channel 68 cannot enter the upper injection channel 67, so that the material sources of the upper mold cavity 65 and the lower mold cavity 66 are provided by different channels respectively. In the actual production process, the balance between the two can be flexibly adjusted by the construction personnel according to the specific position of the radiation boundary line of the radome 20 .

Correspondingly, since the injection port 79 of the upper injection channel is smaller than the injection port 80 of the lower injection channel, it is possible to control the amount of material injected into the upper injection channel 67 per unit time compared to the injection into the lower injection channel. The number of 68 is less, so that the material flowing into the upper mold cavity 65 with a large injection pressure cannot enter the lower mold cavity 66, thereby realizing the above-mentioned material between the upper and lower parts of the annular mold cavity. balance.

The mold core 64 of the mold head 61 includes a distribution head 70 and a molding column 71 connected to each other. The diverting head 70 is used for diverting the material injected through the lower injection material channel 68 into the lower mold cavity 66 . The molding column 71 is used to cooperate with the mold sleeve 63 to define the upper mold cavity 65 and the lower mold cavity 66 of the annular mold cavity.

In some preferred embodiments, the cross-section of the distribution head 70 is tapered, and the cone bottom of the distribution head 70 is connected to the molding column 71 . The cone-shaped diverter head 70 is convenient for diverting the material injected through the injection port 80 of the lower betting material channel, and the material entering from the injection port is relatively uniformly dispersed to its periphery through its conical surface, so that the material can pass through. After the splitting head 70 is split, it is distributed as evenly as possible to the lower mold cavity 66 with a wider space. The conical head of the conical diverting head 70 is facing the injection port of the lower injection material channel 68 , so that the conical surface of the diverting head 70 guides the diversion of the material.

Based on the above disclosure, it can be further known that because the upper injection channel 67 is communicated with the lower injection channel 68, and the lower injection channel 68 is located on the side opposite to the diverter head 70, the upper injection channel 67 can directly Material is injected into the upper cavity 65, that is to say, in the extrusion direction of the axis of the extrusion radome 20 of the mold, the upper injection channel 67 is further behind the lower injection channel 68. Therefore, the lower injection The channel 68 will be communicated with the upper injection channel 67 behind the distribution path of the diverter head 70, so as mentioned above, in the production stage, it is necessary to adjust the difference between the upper injection channel 67 and the lower injection channel 68 respectively. Pressurization/flow rate/flow rate can achieve a reasonable balance of the materials used in the upper mold cavity 65 and the lower mold cavity 66 .

Along the axial direction of the mold, the upper mold cavity 65 is provided with an adjustment section 69 at a local position in the axial direction, that is, the passage where the material of the upper mold cavity 65 travels. Referring to FIG. 9 , the adjustment section 69 is formed between the mold core 64 and the mold sleeve 63 . Specifically, the adjustment section 69 may be provided on the inner wall of the mold core 64 and/or the outer wall of the mold sleeve 63 at corresponding positions. The bosses 690 are provided to reduce the material passage space of the upper mold cavity 65 at the corresponding positions of the bosses 690 . Since the mold core 64 is mainly responsible for forming the upper mold cavity 65 together with the mold sleeve 63 by its molding column 71 , when the boss 690 needs to be installed on the mold core 64 , it can be directly set at the molding column 71 . . The arrangement of the bosses 690 makes the radial dimension of the molding column 71 slightly increase at the corresponding position, or the radial dimension of the mold sleeve 63 at the corresponding position becomes smaller, so as to naturally increase the thickness of the upper mold cavity 65 (Cavity thickness, cavity thickness for short) becomes smaller at the corresponding position, so as to reduce the material passage space of the upper mold cavity 65 . The length of the boss 690 in the axial direction should not be greater than half of the axial length of the entire upper mold cavity 65, so that the material entering the upper mold cavity 65 passes through the narrow passage space defined by the boss 690 and enters a larger area without the boss 690. After the passage space, there is still enough travel space for foaming.

When the material flowing in through the upper injection channel 67 flows through the adjustment section 69, the channel space of the adjustment section 69 is narrower than the channel space through which the material flowed before. The pressure of the material flow is continuously increased, and the temperature inside the die head 61 is relatively low, so that the material flow cannot be foamed in the adjustment section 69 inside the die head 61 and before. However, as the material continues to pass through the adjustment section 69 under pressure, the cavity thickness of the upper mold cavity 65 increases, and the material passage space becomes more spacious, so that the material flow pressure decreases sharply. The temperature of the rear section of 65 gradually increases (due to the heating and radiation of the shaping die 62), so that under the dual action of the temperature rise and the rapid release of the pressure, the material containing the foaming agent entering the rear section of the upper mold cavity 65 immediately begins to develop. Bubble.

It can be seen that the setting of the adjustment section 69 has a certain adjustment effect on the foaming effect of the control material. Therefore, by flexibly setting the radial height and/or axial length of the boss 690 of the adjustment section 69, or even by adjusting its shape, etc., the foaming timing and foaming effect of the material can be effectively influenced, so that it can adapt to Customized molds are provided for the radome 20 with different foaming requirements.

The mold sleeve 63 is specifically matched with the molding column 71 of the mold core 64 to form the annular mold cavity, and the annular mold cavity can be in the form of a closed rectangular annular cavity, a closed circular annular cavity, and a closed elliptical cavity. An annular cavity or a cavity similar to the closed rectangular annular cavity, closed circular annular cavity, and closed elliptical annular cavity. Based on the above description, it can be understood that the cross section of the annular mold cavity is a closed rectangle, a closed circle or a closed ellipse, or the cross section of the annular mold cavity is approximately a closed rectangle, a closed circle or a closed ellipse. .

The shaping mold 62 includes an inner mold 72 and an outer mold 73 . The outer mold 73 and the inner mold 72 cooperate with each other to define a shaping cavity 74 . The upper cavity 65 of the annular cavity is connected to the shaping cavity 74 . Correspondingly, the material injected into the upper mold cavity 65 through the upper injection channel 67 , and the preliminary molded part formed by extrusion in the upper mold cavity 65 is continuously pushed into the shaping cavity 74 . , and the preliminary molded part is further heated through the shaping cavity 74 to form the final molded part of the radome 20 .

The outer mold 73 is annular, the size of the annular contour defined by the inner wall of the outer mold 73 is not smaller than the size of the outer contour of the annular cavity formed by the mold sleeve 63, and the size of the outer contour of the inner mold 72 Therefore, the overall cavity thickness of the shaping cavity 74 jointly defined by the outer mold 73 and the inner mold 72 is sufficient to accommodate the output from the annular mold cavity of the die head 61. Preliminary molding of the mold.

It can be understood that the cavity thickness of the shaping cavity 74 is not less than the cavity thickness of the upper mold cavity 65 , so that the shaping cavity 74 receives the material extruded from the upper mold cavity 65 . Preferably, the cavity thickness of the shaping cavity 74 is equal to the cavity thickness of the upper mold cavity 65 , so as to strictly control the molding consistency between the preliminary molded part and the final molded part of the radome 20 .

In order to further save material, considering that the material of the corresponding part of the lower mold cavity 66 does not need to be heated, therefore, in the cross section, the size of the inner mold 72 can only be set to correspond to the size of the upper mold cavity 65, while the size of the lower mold cavity can be set. Section 66 is left blank. In this case, between the inner mold 72 and the outer mold 73, at the lower mold cavity 66 of the bottom cover 22 corresponding to the radome 20, there is no need to form a cavity similar to the size of the shaping cavity 74 just to accommodate the bottom cover 22. Therefore, when the inner mold 72 is heated, it is difficult to conduct the heat directly to the bottom cover 22 to avoid useless work.

In the shaping die 62 , the inner die 72 can be fixedly installed relative to the die head 61 , and the outer die 73 can be moved relative to the die head 61 and the inner die 72 , so that the radome 20 is finally formed. Then demould.

The radome 20 further includes a temperature control assembly, and the temperature control assembly includes a temperature control oil pipe 75 arranged on the inner mold 72 and/or the outer mold 73 of the shaping mold 62 , and the temperature control oil pipe 75 is used for circulating temperature control. The oil is used to heat the inner mold 72 and/or the outer mold 73, thereby heating the preliminary molded part of the radome 20 entering the molding cavity 74 by heat transfer, and also radiating heat to the upper mold cavity 65 to accelerate the foaming and the foaming of the material therein. forming.

Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11 , the temperature control oil pipe 75 is axially arranged through the inner mold 72 , and the temperature control oil flowing through the temperature control oil pipe 75 can transfer the heat of the temperature control oil to the The inner mold 72, the inner mold 72 transmits and radiates the heat it receives into the shaping cavity 74 and/or the upper mold cavity 65, so as to successively heat the material entering the upper mold cavity 65 and the shaping cavity 74, and the upper mold cavity 65 The foaming of the material is accelerated, and the molding of the mask 21 is accelerated in the molding cavity 74 . The mold sleeve 63 is provided with a temperature control oil inlet 76 , see FIG. 8 , through which temperature control oil can be injected into the temperature control oil pipe 75 . The temperature control oil pipe 75 extends from the temperature control oil inlet 76 to the inner mold 72 to introduce temperature control oil into the inner mold 72 for heating.

In order to make the shaping cavity 74 evenly heated, the temperature control oil pipe 75 is uniformly and integrally arranged in the inner mold 72 . At the same time, in order to save the space and manufacturing cost of the inner mold 72, a temperature control oil pipe 75 is provided. The temperature control oil pipe 75 first extends along the axial direction of the inner mold 72, and then folds back and extends in the opposite direction, thereby uniformly heating all parts. The inner mold 72 is heated, and the material of the shaping cavity 74 is heated uniformly.

In an alternative embodiment, the temperature control oil pipe 75 is disposed inside or outside the outer mold 73 , and the temperature control oil pipe 75 is disposed along the axial direction of the outer mold 73 . The heat of the temperature control oil in 75 is transferred to the shaping cavity 74 by means of heat transfer to heat the material in the shaping cavity 74, and the same effect can be achieved.

In a further alternative embodiment, the temperature control oil pipe 75 can be provided in both the outer mold 73 and the inner mold 72 at the same time, so as to have a stronger heating effect.

Based on the above understanding, it can be understood that the temperature control oil of the present disclosure can be input into the mold from the outside to heat the mold, and the temperature control assembly can further include an oil delivery pipe, which is communicated with the temperature control oil pipe 75 and can pass through the oil delivery pipe. The temperature control oil is input into the temperature control oil pipe 75 , and the temperature control oil in the temperature control oil pipe 75 acts on the shaping cavity 74 through heat transfer, and can radiate to the upper mold cavity 65 to a certain extent.

In addition to the implementation of heating through a temperature control component, an electric heating component can also be used to achieve the same effect. For example, in some embodiments, the radome mold 60 further includes an electric heating component, and the electric heating component includes a heating element for heating the inner mold 72 and/or the outer mold 73 to heat the inner mold 72 and/or the outer mold 73. The heat is conducted to the shaping cavity 74 and even the upper mold cavity 65 by means of heat transfer. The heating element is heated by electricity, and the heating element can be arranged on the inner mold 72 and/or the outer mold 73 in the same way.

Preferably, the radome mold 60 further includes a thermal insulation pad 77 , see FIG. 8 , the thermal insulation pad 77 is used to insulate the direct heat transfer between the mold core 64 and the inner mold 72 . The heat insulating pad 77 is in the shape of a sheet, and the heat insulating pad 77 is fixed between the molding column 71 of the core 64 of the die head 61 and the inner die 72 of the setting die 62 to block the inner die 72 directly transfers heat to the molding column 71, thereby preventing the molding column 71 from being directly heated.

Therefore, the inner mold 72 and/or the outer mold 73 are suitable for adopting excellent thermal conductors, so that they are suitable for heat transfer, and the heat of the temperature control oil pipe 75 is transferred to the shaping cavity 74 to shape the radome 20 . The mold core 64, especially the molding column 71 therein, should be made of poor thermal conductors, so as to avoid premature influence on the material in the annular mold cavity by means of direct heat transfer. In addition, as mentioned above, the radiated heat received in the upper mold cavity 65 promotes the foaming of the material therein, which facilitates the molding of the radome 20 . Therefore, this kind of material selection and structure is a relatively reasonable design.

Correspondingly, the die head 61 of the radome mold 60 is further provided with a support plate 78 , and the support plate 78 is used to fix the die head 61 so that the die head 61 can work stably.

From the above description about the radome mold 60 , those skilled in the art should understand that the aforementioned radome 20 can be manufactured through the radome mold 60 . Wherein, the upper mold cavity 65 and/or the shaping cavity 74 of the annular mold cavity of the radome 20 are formed by injection molding to form the face mask 21 of the radome 20, and the lower mold cavity 66 of the annular mold cavity is injected with materials. The bottom cover 22 of the radome 20 is formed from the material. The radome 20 is injected into the corresponding two parts of the material from the upper injection channel 67 and the lower injection channel 68 respectively, and the material is pushed into the annular mold cavity, wherein the corresponding part of the mask 21 is in the upper mold cavity 65 of the annular mold cavity , under the control of the adjustment section 69, it is properly foamed, and then it is released from the annular mold cavity to become a preliminary molded part. The preliminary molded part immediately enters the molding cavity 74, and the mask 21 is heated and further shaped to obtain the final molding. pieces.

It can be understood that through the mold of the present disclosure, the radome 20 can be integrally formed by co-injecting materials from multiple injection channels, and cooperate with each other to process the integrally formed radome 20, which can be formed at one time without complicated links, and is especially suitable for mass production. The effect is self-evident.

The radome mold 60 of the present disclosure also has the following advantages:

First, the radome mold 60 of the present disclosure is suitable for injection molding, and can be co-extruded through multiple injection channels. Compared with compression molding, the radome mold 60 of the present disclosure is more compatible with radomes 20 of various lengths. Unified production is especially suitable for producing longer radomes 20, so that the length of the radome 20 is not limited by the size of the radome mold 60, even if the axial length of the radome 20 is longer, it can also be produced in one piece. radome 20 . On the other hand, compared with the radome mold 60 for compression molding, the radome mold 60 for injection molding is also suitable for large-scale continuous production to obtain economies of scale.

Secondly, the radome mold 60 of the present disclosure includes an annular mold cavity for forming the radome 20 , and the annular mold cavity includes an upper mold cavity 65 and a lower mold cavity 66 that communicate with each other. The channel 67 injects material into the upper mold cavity 65 of the annular mold cavity, and injects the material into the lower mold cavity 66 of the annular mold cavity through the lower injection material channel 68 on the die head 61, so as to manufacture the antenna respectively. The cover 20 has a face cover 21 and a bottom cover 22 with different structures, so that radomes 20 with different internal structures can be manufactured on the basis of integral molding on the same mold, so as to reduce the use of production tools and save production costs.

Thirdly, the radome mold 60 of the present disclosure has a simple structure and is convenient for production and processing, thereby reducing the overall manufacturing cost of the radome 20 . At the same time, the utilization rate of the radome mold 60 is high, thereby reducing the marginal cost of producing the radome 20 .

The present disclosure also discloses a radome molding method, which is suitable for manufacturing the aforementioned radome 20 based on the aforementioned radome mold 60 and related materials.

Referring to FIG. 18 , in a typical embodiment of a radome forming method of the present disclosure, it includes the following steps:

Step S11, prepare two parts of materials, wherein the first part of the material contains a foaming agent, and the second part of the material does not add a foaming agent:

The first part of the material is mixed with a foaming agent, which is used to manufacture the face cover 21 of the radome 20; the second part of the material is not added with a foaming agent, and is used to manufacture the bottom of the radome 20. hood 22.

The first part of the material and the second part of the material are completely or mostly the same except that the foaming agent is added during mixing before the first part of the material is formed, so that the integrally formed material can be The same material between the face cover 21 and the bottom cover 22 of the radome 20 facilitates efficient material selection and production, and facilitates mutual fusion, maintaining the structural stability of the fusion place between the face cover 21 and the bottom cover 22 of the radome 20 .

Specifically, the first part of the material and the second part of the material have fluid properties in the processing stage, and the first part of the material and the second part of the material are molded by the radome mold 60 to form the radome 20 . For the description of the specific material selection of the first part of the material and the second part of the material, reference may be made to the above description of the material selection of the base material of the radome 20 , which is not repeated here to save space. It is particularly pointed out that, compared with the second part of the material, a foaming agent for foaming is added in the production process, and the first part of the material is injected into the upper mold cavity 65 of the radome mold 60 or When extruded into the shaping cavity 74 , the foaming agent in the first part of the material plays a foaming role to make the radome 20 form a bulky structure.

The two parts of materials prepared in this step can be respectively contained in the relevant hoppers, and enter the injection channel of the mold through a controlled injection mechanism (not shown). It will be understood that the control of the feeding mechanism will have an effect on the speed of the feeding. This injection mechanism can adopt a common type without affecting the realization of the inventive spirit of the present disclosure.

In step S12, the injection is controlled at a preset speed, and the two parts of material are injected into the annular cavity formed by the radome mold through the upper injection channel and the lower injection channel of the radome mold, so that the two parts of material are injected. The material correspondingly passes through the upper and lower mold cavities of the annular mold cavity to form the preliminary shaped parts of the radome:

The control of the injection speed can be implemented by controlling the injection mechanism, which can be controlled manually or automatically by the machine. For the latter, the running program and parameters of the machine can be set in advance. , those skilled in the art can flexibly implement by themselves according to the related content disclosed in the present disclosure.

The first part of the material is injected into the upper mold cavity 65 of the annular mold cavity through the upper injection channel 67 of the radome mold 60 to form a preliminary shaped part of the face shield 21 of the radome 20 . At the same time, the second part of the material is injected into the lower mold cavity 66 of the annular mold cavity through the lower injection channel 68 of the radome mold 60 to form the bottom cover 22 of the radome 20 . Preliminary shaping piece, the preliminary shaping piece of the face mask 21 and the preliminary shaping piece of the bottom cover 22 are fused with each other at the boundary between the upper mold cavity 65 and the lower mold cavity 66 to form the preliminary shaping piece of the radome 20 .

Specifically, the speed at which the first part of the material is injected into the upper mold cavity 65 is the first injection speed, and the first part of the material is injected from the injection port 79 of the upper injection channel into the upper mold at the preset first injection speed. Injection channel 67 , the first part of the material flows from the upper injection channel 67 through the adjustment section 69 and then flows to the upper mold cavity 65 , until the first part of the material is evenly distributed in the upper mold cavity 65 After the preliminary shaping, a preliminary shaping part of the mask 21 of the radome 20 is formed.

Since the channel space of the adjustment section 69 is smaller than the channel space before and after it, when the first part of the material flows from the upper injection channel 67 to the adjustment section 69, the flow of the first part of the material will be blocked, and the material will be injected outside Under the continuous action of the pressure, the pressure of the first part of the material in the upper injection channel 67 is continuously increased, and the internal temperature of the die 61 is low, so that the first part of the material cannot be foamed in the upper injection channel 67 .

At the adjustment section 69, due to the pressure accumulated at the inlet of the adjustment section 69 for the first part of the material, after the first part of the material enters the adjustment section 69, the flow rate of the first part of the material will increase, and the flow rate of the first part of the material will increase. The pressure and temperature remain unchanged, so that when the first part of the material flows through the regulating section 69, the first part of the material still cannot foam. The first part of the material flows through the adjustment section 69 and begins to foam, and the foaming process will be disclosed later, which is not listed here for the time being. After the first part of the material flows through the adjusting section 69 , the first part of the material can be evenly distributed in the upper mold cavity 65 and preliminarily solidified to form a preliminary shaped part of the mask 21 .

The speed at which the second part of the material is injected into the lower cavity 66 is set as the second injection speed, and while the first part of the material is injected into the upper cavity 65, the second part is also injected at the preset second injection speed. The material is injected into the lower injection material channel 68 from the injection port 80 of the lower injection material channel, and after the diversion by the diverting head 70, the second part of the material material flows into the lower mold cavity 66 uniformly, so that the second part of the material material flows into the lower mold cavity 66 uniformly. The material is evenly distributed in the lower mold cavity 66 and is to be preliminarily solidified to form a preliminary shaped part of the bottom cover 22 .

The preliminary shaped part of the face mask 21 and the preliminary shaped part of the bottom cover 22 are fused with each other at the boundary between the upper mold cavity 65 and the lower mold cavity 66 to form the preliminary shaped part of the radome 20 .

Because the upper mold cavity 65 and the lower mold cavity 66 receive the first part of the material and the second part of the material through the upper injection channel 67 and the lower injection channel 68 respectively, and the two are required according to the electrical performance requirements of the radome 20 The mutual integration is carried out at the radiation boundary of the antenna to which it is applied. Therefore, when implementing this step, whether it is manual feeding or machine feeding, the first injection speed and The second injection speed prevents the first part of the material from being squeezed into the lower cavity 66 and the second part of the material from being squeezed into the upper cavity 65, so as to ensure that the mask 21 and the bottom cover 22 of the antenna are just in the correct position The positions of the two fuse with each other, of course, as for the blending of the materials where the two fuse with each other, it is within the normal range.

Step S13, control foaming according to the preset temperature, when the preliminary shaped part passes through the shaping cavity of the radome mold, the part formed by the upper mold cavity is heated and foamed:

The two parts of the material are continuously pushed toward the entire annular mold cavity, and after forming the preliminary shaped part of the radome 20 in the annular mold cavity, they are extruded into the shaping die 62 .

For the mask 21, after the first part of the material forms the preliminary shaped part of the mask 21 in the upper mold cavity 65, the preliminary shaped part of the mask 21 is extruded into the shaping cavity 74, and the shaping cavity 74 with a higher temperature can be used for the mask. 21 of the preliminary shaped parts were heated and foamed.

By injecting temperature control oil into the temperature control oil pipe 75 of the temperature control assembly, which is arranged on the inner mold 72 and/or the outer mold 73, the temperature control oil transfers heat to the inner mold 72 and/or the outer mold 73, thereby increasing the setting cavity 74. The temperature of the mask 21 extruded to the shaping cavity 74 is heated, and the foaming agent in the first part of the material is heated and rapidly foamed, which promotes the forming of the bulky structure of the mask 21. For the specific heating method of the temperature control component to the shaping cavity 74 , please refer to the description of the temperature control component in the above-mentioned radome mold 60 , which will not be repeated here. In another embodiment, the inner mold 72 and/or the outer mold 73 may be heated by an electrical heating assembly.

Relatively speaking, the part of the first part of the material of the preliminary shaping piece of the mask 21 that is in contact with the cavity wall of the shaping cavity 74 has a tendency to expand and flow out to the cavity wall of the shaping cavity 74, but is blocked by the cavity wall, so that this part of the material is The pressure of the material rises sharply, and the foaming trend on both sides is stopped. That is to say, the part of the first part of the material in contact with the cavity wall of the shaping cavity 74 cannot be foamed due to excessive pressure, so a dense crust is formed on the two walls of the mask 21; The part of the material that is not in contact with the cavity wall of the shaping cavity 74 (the first part of the material of the preliminary shaping part of the mask 21 located within the two walls), under the action of heating and foaming and pressure, the material in the material The foaming agent foams and expands rapidly, thus forming a bulky structure.

The pressure in the wall of the preliminary shaping piece is the smallest, so that the part of the material is foamed to the highest degree by the blowing agent; the pressure of the first part of the material is higher as it is closer to the cavity wall of the shaping cavity 74, so that this part of the material has a higher pressure. The greater the degree of resistance to foaming of the material, the lower the degree of foaming, and the less foaming or even no foaming. At the same time, the temperature of the cavity wall of the shaping cavity 74 is higher than that of the cavity, and under the influence of the high temperature, the first part of the material will naturally form a skin on the cavity wall. The mask 21 thus formed transitions linearly from the bulky shape to the dense shape from the middle wall to the two wall surfaces.

Before the preliminary molded part enters the shaping cavity 74 for heating and foaming, when it is still in the annular mold cavity, it has already been affected by the heat radiation of the shaping cavity 74 and starts to be foamed in the early stage. Specifically, after the first part of the material flows through the adjustment section 69, the first part of the material quickly enters the wider passage space from the narrow passage space, and its pressure is suddenly released and becomes smaller. Under the double influence of the reduced pressure and the enlarged channel space, the flow rate is reduced. Under the action of both the pressure and the flow rate, the foaming agent in the first part of the material will play a role to initially foam. Moreover, since the shaping cavity 74 is communicated with the upper mold cavity 65, when the temperature control component heats the shaping cavity 74, the heat of the shaping cavity 74 will be radiated to the upper mold cavity 65 to heat the first part of the material close to the shaping cavity 74. It also accelerates the foaming of the first part of the material in the upper mold cavity 65 to some extent. Therefore, when the preliminary molded part is extruded from the annular die cavity to the shaping cavity 74, the mask 21 thereof already has preliminary foaming characteristics.

In the same way that the two walls of the shaping cavity 74 hinder the foaming, in the upper mold cavity 65, the cavity wall of the upper mold cavity 65 also blocks the first part of the material, so that the material close to the cavity wall cannot be effectively foamed. The material that is not close to the cavity wall of the upper mold cavity 65 is foamed, so as to facilitate the subsequent formation of two-sided skinning in the shaping cavity 74 .

In practice, the construction personnel can flexibly set the heating effect of the temperature control component as required, so as to adjust the final foaming effect by controlling the heating temperature of the shaping cavity 74 and obtain the finished radome 20 that meets the desired parameter requirements.

Step S14, demoulding is performed to obtain the final molded part of the radome 20:

The preliminary shaped part of the mask 21 that is continuously extruded forward to the shaping cavity 74, after the entire shaping cavity 74 is processed, the foaming is completed, and it is rapidly solidified and formed, so it can be demolded, and the result of the demoulding is the antenna. The final form of the cover 20. As for the determination of the axial length of the radome 20 , in one embodiment, it can be determined on the feeding side. When the material of a given length is satisfied, the feeding is stopped, and the shaping die that is fixedly engaged with the die head 61 will be stopped. The outer mold 73 of 62 is moved away from the die head 61 to be demolded, and the final molded part of the radome 20 is taken out to obtain a radome 20 with a determined length; in another embodiment, the feed side Continuous injection production, and after the cavity 74 is shaped, at the end of the extruding direction of the radome 20, a cutting device is set to cut the final molded part according to a given length, thereby obtaining radomes 20 of equal length. .

After the molding process, efficient production of the radome 20 can be achieved, which is beneficial to reduce the production cost of the radome 20, and ensure that the radome 20 obtains the expected better electrical performance.

The radome 20 forming method of the present disclosure also has the following advantages:

First, in the method for forming the radome 20 of the present disclosure, the integrally formed radome 20 is manufactured by the injection molding method, and only the radome mold 60 suitable for injection can be used to manufacture the radome 20 . The radome 20 is produced by injection molding, and the restriction on the radome mold 60 is small, and a large-scale radome 20 can be produced. In addition, the radome 20 is produced by injection molding, the process is simple, and it is convenient for mass production of the radome 20, resulting in large-scale benefits and lower production costs. Secondly, in the radome forming method of the present disclosure, two parts of materials are prepared, and the two parts of materials are divided into a first part of materials containing a foaming agent and a second part of materials without a foaming agent, and the first part of the materials is divided into two parts. The material is injected into the upper mold cavity 65 of the radome mold 60 through the upper injection channel 67 of the radome mold 60 , and the second part of the material is injected into the antenna through the lower injection channel 68 of the radome mold 60 at the same time. In the lower cavity 66 of the cover mold 60 , the first part of the material and the second part of the material are fused with each other at the boundary between the upper cavity 65 and the lower cavity 66 to form a preliminary shaped part of the radome 20 . After that, the preliminary shaped part of the radome 20 is extruded into the shaping cavity 74 of the mold, the temperature of the shaping cavity 74 is controlled, the preliminary shaped part of the radome 20 is heated and foamed to form the final shaped part of the radome 20, and the mold is demolded The final form of the radome 20 is removed. From the above description, it can be seen that the production steps of the method for forming the radome 20 of the present disclosure are simple, and it is convenient to control each step, thereby reducing production risks and production costs, and improving production efficiency. Thirdly, through the method for forming the radome 20, after the preliminary shaped part of the mask 21 of the radome 20 is extruded into the shaping cavity 74, the temperature of the shaping cavity 74 is controlled, and the preliminary shaped part of the mask 21 is heated to promote the first part of the material. The foaming of the material forms the structure of the mask 21 suitable for transmitting signals.

The present disclosure also discloses a molding control device, the molding control device includes a control unit, and the control unit is used for controlling a molding method of the radome 20 to manufacture the radome 20 . The control unit controls and drives the corresponding components to execute the method for forming the radome 20 to manufacture the radome 20 . The control of the injection speed of the feeding mechanism (not shown), the adjustment of the heating effect of the temperature control component, etc., can be controlled by the control unit to further improve the automation degree of the device.

Those skilled in the art should understand the process of forming the radome 20 of the present disclosure through the disclosure of the present disclosure. Using the radome mold 60, the first part of the material and the second part of the material are injected into the upper mold cavity 65 and the lower mold cavity respectively. In step 66 , the injection speed of the two parts of the material is controlled to form a preliminary shaped part of the radome 20 . After the preliminary shaped part of the radome 20 is extruded, the temperature of the shaping cavity 74 is controlled, and the preliminary shaped part of the face mask 21 of the radome 20 enters the shaping cavity 74 to be heated and foamed to form the final shaped part of the mask 21, and then complete The radome 20 is converted from a preliminary shape to a final shape. The steps of the method are simple, and it is convenient to control each step of the method, thereby saving the manufacturing cost of manufacturing the radome 20 .

To sum up, the present disclosure proposes a series of supporting solutions around the improvement of the radome, which are suitable for comprehensively providing necessary technical support for the radome industry chain.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various operations, methods, steps, measures, and solutions discussed in the present disclosure may be alternated, modified, combined, or deleted. Further, other steps, measures, and solutions in the various operations, methods, and processes that have been discussed in this disclosure may also be alternated, modified, rearranged, split, combined, or deleted. Further, steps, measures, and solutions in the prior art with various operations, methods, and processes disclosed in the present disclosure may also be alternated, modified, rearranged, decomposed, combined, or deleted. The above are only some embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be pointed out that for those skilled in the art, without departing from the principles of the present disclosure, several improvements and modifications can be made. It should be regarded as the protection scope of the present disclosure.

Industrial Applicability

In the antenna and its radome provided by the present disclosure, by setting the structure of the mask to transition from a bulky shape to a dense shape from the middle of its wall to its two wall surfaces, the bulky structure has better signal transmission effect than the dense structure, The dense shape of the two walls can form a skin, which makes the mechanical properties of the mask more stable. In addition, the bottom cover is processed into a dense shape and has higher strength, which ensures that the radome is suitable for construction and assembly, and has strong industrial practicability.

Claims

A radome is characterized in that it is an integrally formed structure, comprising a bottom cover and a face cover;

The bottom cover and the face mask comprise the same base material;

The bottom cover is compact;

The mask is suitable for transmitting antenna radiation signals, and includes two walls and a wall defined by the two walls. From the middle of the wall to the two walls, the transition from bulky to dense.
The radome of claim 1, wherein the mask has foaming characteristics, and the structural change thereof is determined by the size and/or density of the foamed particles formed by the foaming.
The radome of claim 2, wherein the size and/or density of the bubbles varies linearly from the wall to the two walls.
The radome according to claim 1, wherein a bulky portion, a transition portion and a dense portion are formed in sequence from the wall of the face shield to any one of its wall surfaces, and the bulky portion has a lower density than the transition portion. The density of the transition portion is smaller than the density of the dense portion.
The radome of claim 4, wherein the bulky portion, the transition portion, and the dense portion are in a density linear gradient transition relationship.
The radome according to claim 4, characterized in that, in the cross section of the mask, the area of the bulky portion accounts for 30%-60%, and the area of the transition portion accounts for 30%-40%. %, the area ratio of the dense part is 10%-30%.
The radome of claim 4, wherein the bulky portion and the transition portion have foaming characteristics, the bulking portion has a foaming rate of 30%-60%, and the transition portion has a foaming rate of 30%-60%. The foaming rate is 20%-40%.
The radome according to claim 4, wherein the overall density of the radome is less than or equal to 0.90g/cm3; the overall density of the mask is 0.3g/cm3～0.50g/cm3, and the dielectric constant is less than or equal to 0.90g/cm3. or equal to 2.00, the dielectric loss is less than or equal to 0.003; the overall density of the bottom cover is 1.05g/cm3˜1.40g/cm3.
The radome according to claim 4, wherein the mask and the bottom cover are fused with each other, and at the fusion interface, the bulky part of the mask and the transition part are directed toward the bottom cover bulge.
9. The radome of claim 9, wherein the bulging portion and the transition portion are in a relationship of increasing density toward the bulging portion of the bottom cover.
The radome of claim 4, wherein the dense portion forms a solid crust, and the solid crust has a thickness of 0.10 to 0.50 mm.
The radome of claim 1, wherein the face shield and the bottom cover are fused with each other, and at the fusion interface, the bottom cover forms a recess for receiving the bulging part of the face shield.
The radome of claim 12, wherein, at the fusion interface, the recess is U-shaped, and the material in the space defined by the recess is bulky.
14. The radome of claim 13, wherein the bulging portion has a linear gradient relationship in density from the face mask to the bottom cover.
The radome according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the face shield and the bottom shield merge at a radiation boundary of the radome.
The radome of claim 1, wherein the density of the dense portion is the same as the density of the bottom cover.
The radome according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the base materials of the face mask and the bottom cover are of the same thermoplastic material, wherein the base material of the face mask is foamed with a foaming agent.
The radome of claim 17, wherein glass fibers are added to the base materials of the face shield and the bottom cover.
The radome of claim 17, wherein the thermoplastic material is preferably resin or resin alloy.
An antenna with a metal reflector and a radiation unit mounted on the metal reflector, characterized in that the antenna further has the radome according to any one of claims 1-19, the metal reflector of the antenna It is fixed in the space defined by the face shield and the bottom cover of the radome, and the face shield is used for transmitting the signal of the radiation unit.