1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adjusting mechanism for adjusting rotary angle, and more particularly, to an adjusting mechanism for adjusting rotary angle of an antenna module and a related antenna system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For receiving signals generated by a satellite effectively, an antenna module includes an adjusting mechanism for adjusting rotary angle of the antenna module according to a position of the satellite relative to the ground. A conventional adjusting mechanism for adjusting an elevation and an azimuth of the antenna module relative to the satellite includes a sheath and a rotating structure. The sheath sheathes on a supporting tube, and the rotating structure is disposed on an end of the sheath (for example, the rotating structure is disposed on top of the sheath), so that the conventional adjusting mechanism can adjust the elevation and the azimuth of the antenna module relative to the supporting tube and the satellite. However, volume of the conventional adjusting mechanism is huge, so that the conventional adjusting mechanism has drawbacks of expensive cost and complicated assembly. Thus, design of an adjusting mechanism of simple structure having low transportation cost and low manufacturing cost is an important issue of the antenna industry.
The present invention provides an adjusting mechanism for adjusting rotary angle of an antenna module and a related antenna system for solving above drawbacks.
According to the claimed invention, an adjusting mechanism includes a bracket. The bracket includes a base, a first supporting portion disposed on a first lateral side of the base, and a second supporting portion disposed on a second lateral side of the base. The pivot hole is formed on the first supporting portion. The adjusting mechanism further includes a clamp disposed by a side of the base and located in a position corresponding to the first supporting portion and the second supporting portion for clamping a supporting tube, and at least one bridging component connecting to a lateral surface of the clamp. A pivot hole is formed on the bridging component. The adjusting mechanism further includes a pivoting component passing through the pivot hole on the first supporting portion and the pivot hole on the bridging component so that the first supporting portion pivots relative to the bridging component. An aim of the adjusting mechanism is that the antenna module can pivot relative to the supporting tube via the clamp within great range, and can further pivot along the pivot hole on the bridging component within tiny range after the clamp is fixed on the supporting tube by a fixing component set.
According to the claimed invention, the first lateral side and the second lateral side are two opposite lateral sides of the base.
According to the claimed invention, the adjusting mechanism further includes a fine tuning screw module, two ends of the fine tuning screw module being respectively disposed on the bridging component and the first supporting portion.
According to the claimed invention, the fine tuning screw module includes two locking component sets, and a screw rod passing through the two locking component sets for adjusting a distance between the two locking component sets so as to pivot the first supporting portion relative to the bridging component. The two locking component sets are respectively installed on the bridging component and the first supporting portion.
According to the claimed invention, each locking component set includes a nut and a screw having a side hole. The screw passes through the bridging component or through the first supporting portion and locking on the nut.
According to the claimed invention, a slide slot is formed on the first supporting portion, and the adjusting mechanism further comprises a guiding component passing through the slide slot and disposed on the bridging component for guiding the first supporting portion to pivot relative to the bridging component.
According to the claimed invention, the adjusting mechanism includes a plurality of bridging components respectively connecting to the lateral surface of the clamp facing the first supporting portion and the second supporting portion. A pivot hole is formed on each bridging component. The adjusting mechanism further includes two pivoting components respectively passing through the pivot holes on the first supporting portion, the second supporting portion and the plurality of bridging components, so that the first supporting portion and the second supporting portion pivot relative to the plurality of bridging components.
According to the claimed invention, a slide slot is formed on the second supporting portion, and the adjusting mechanism further comprises a guiding component passing through the slide slot and disposed on the bridging component pivoting to the second supporting portion for guiding the second supporting portion to pivot relative to the corresponding bridging component.
According to the claimed invention, the bracket further includes a third supporting portion and a fourth supporting portion. The clamp is located between the third supporting portion and the fourth supporting portion.
According to the claimed invention, the adjusting mechanism further includes a supporter pivoting to the third supporting portion and the fourth supporting portion for supporting an antenna module, and a fine tuning screw module disposed between the supporter and the third supporting portion for adjusting an angle between the supporter and the bracket.
According to the claimed invention, an antenna system includes a supporting tube, an antenna module, and an adjusting mechanism installed on the supporting tube and connected to the antenna module for adjusting an angle between the antenna module and the supporting tube. The adjusting mechanism includes a bracket. The bracket includes a base, a first supporting portion disposed on a first lateral side of the base, and a second supporting portion disposed on a second lateral side of the base. The pivot hole is formed on the first supporting portion. The adjusting mechanism further includes a clamp disposed by a side of the base and located in a position corresponding to the first supporting portion and the second supporting portion for clamping a supporting tube, and at least one bridging component connecting to a lateral surface of the clamp. A pivot hole is formed on the bridging component. The adjusting mechanism further includes a pivoting component passing through the pivot hole on the first supporting portion and the pivot hole on the bridging component so that the first supporting portion pivots relative to the bridging component. An aim of the adjusting mechanism is that the antenna module can pivot relative to the supporting tube via the clamp within great range, and can further pivot along the pivot hole on the bridging component within tiny range after the clamp is fixed on the supporting tube by a fixing component set.
The bracket of the adjusting mechanism of the present invention includes the base and the four supporting portions. The four supporting portions are respectively disposed on four lateral sides of the base, which means the bracket can be a U-shaped structure, and the U-shaped structure can be connected to the lateral surface of the clamp via the bridging component for minimizing the volume of the adjusting mechanism. It should be mentioned that the structure of the bracket is not limited to the U-shaped structure of the above-mentioned embodiment. For example, the bracket can be a square structure or a polygon structure. The present invention improves connection between the bracket and the clamp, so that the angle of the antenna module relative to the supporting tube (the elevation and the azimuth) can be adjusted as the volume of the adjusting mechanism is minimized. Therefore, the adjusting mechanism of the present invention has advantages of easy assembly and easy operation, and manufacturing cost and transportation cost of the adjusting mechanism are decreased effectively.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
Please refer to
Please refer to
The adjusting mechanism 16 can further include a fine tuning screw module 32. Two ends of the fine tuning screw module 32 are respectively disposed on the bridging component 28 and the first supporting portion 22. The fine tuning screw module 32 can include two locking component sets 34 and a screw rod 36. Each locking component set 34 can include a nut 341 and a screw 343 having a side hole. The screw 343 passes through the bridging component 28 (or the first supporting portion 22) and is locked on the nut 341, and the screw rod 36 passes through the screw 343 of the locking component set 34. The screw rod 36 can be rotated to move one of the locking component sets 34 toward the other of the locking component sets 34 along a thread on the screw rod 36, so as to adjust a distance between the two locking component sets 34 for pivoting the first supporting portion 22 relative to the bridging component 28. In addition, a slide slot 223 can be formed on the first supporting portion 22, the adjusting mechanism 16 can further include a guiding component 38 passing through the slide slot 223 and disposed on the bridging component 28, so as to guide the first supporting portion 22 to pivot relative to the bridging component 28 along a track on the slide slot 223.
For strengthening structural intensity of the adjusting mechanism 16, as shown in
The adjusting mechanism 16 is connected to the antenna module 14, and pivots the antenna module 14 relative to the clamp 26 along a horizontal plane via the first supporting portion 22 and the second supporting portion 24 of the bracket 18 and the bridging component 28. Furthermore, the bracket 18 can further include a third supporting portion 40 and a fourth supporting portion 42. The third supporting portion 40 and the fourth supporting portion 42 can respectively be disposed on a left side and a right side of the base 20, and the clamp 26 can be disposed by the base 20 and be located between the third supporting portion 40 and the fourth supporting portion 42. The adjusting mechanism 16 can further includes a supporter 44 pivoting to the third supporting portion 40 and the fourth supporting portion 42. As shown in
Comparing to the prior art, the adjusting mechanism of the present invention can adjust the azimuth and the elevation of the antenna module relative to the supporting tube. The bracket of the adjusting mechanism of the present invention includes the base and the four supporting portions. The four supporting portions are respectively disposed on four lateral sides of the base, which means the bracket can be a U-shaped structure, and the U-shaped structure can be connected to the lateral surface of the clamp via the bridging component for minimizing the volume of the adjusting mechanism. It should be mentioned that the structure of the bracket is not limited to the U-shaped structure of the above-mentioned embodiment. For example, the bracket can be a square structure or a polygon structure. The present invention improves connection between the bracket and the clamp, so that the angle of the antenna module relative to the supporting tube (the elevation and the azimuth) can be adjusted as the volume of the adjusting mechanism is minimized. Therefore, the adjusting mechanism of the present invention has advantages of easy assembly and easy operation, and manufacturing cost and transportation cost of the adjusting mechanism are decreased effectively.
Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
100105960 A | Feb 2011 | TW | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
4819006 | Whitesides et al. | Apr 1989 | A |
5941497 | Inoue et al. | Aug 1999 | A |
5969692 | Ishizuka | Oct 1999 | A |
5971345 | Khalaf | Oct 1999 | A |
6031508 | Ishizuka et al. | Feb 2000 | A |
6222504 | Oby | Apr 2001 | B1 |
6232928 | Zimmerman et al. | May 2001 | B1 |
6456258 | Bragg et al. | Sep 2002 | B1 |
6535177 | Dhellemmes et al. | Mar 2003 | B1 |
6657598 | Tulloch | Dec 2003 | B2 |
6664937 | Vermette et al. | Dec 2003 | B2 |
6739561 | Herzog | May 2004 | B2 |
6864855 | Fujita | Mar 2005 | B1 |
7046210 | Brooker et al. | May 2006 | B1 |
7050012 | Chen | May 2006 | B2 |
7113144 | Lin et al. | Sep 2006 | B2 |
7164391 | Lin et al. | Jan 2007 | B2 |
7374137 | Staney | May 2008 | B2 |
7385564 | Zihlman | Jun 2008 | B2 |
7439930 | Bury | Oct 2008 | B2 |
7883065 | Nelson | Feb 2011 | B2 |
7954777 | Bohm et al. | Jun 2011 | B2 |
8020824 | Pan | Sep 2011 | B2 |
8052107 | Yang et al. | Nov 2011 | B2 |
20020196195 | Vermette et al. | Dec 2002 | A1 |
20040169114 | Dierkes | Sep 2004 | A1 |
20050056743 | Ware et al. | Mar 2005 | A1 |
20090061761 | Yang et al. | Mar 2009 | A1 |
20090267860 | Peng | Oct 2009 | A1 |
20100259462 | Yeh | Oct 2010 | A1 |
20100309090 | Grice et al. | Dec 2010 | A1 |
20100314514 | Nelson | Dec 2010 | A1 |
20110193764 | Shen | Aug 2011 | A1 |
20120212393 | Lee et al. | Aug 2012 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20120211624 A1 | Aug 2012 | US |