Patent Grant
10541465
The present invention generally relates to antennas for receiving broadcast signals such as television signals, and more specifically relates to television antennas for receiving digitally formatted broadcast signals.
Conventional indoor TV antenna systems generally include two separate antennas for respective VHF and UHF reception. The antenna for receiving the VHF bands employs a pair of telescopic elements forming a dipole with each of the elements having a maximum length of from four to six feet (1.5 to 2.5 meters). The two elements usually are mounted to permit the elements to be spread apart to increase or shorten the dipole length and those elements are commonly referred to as “rabbit ears”. The indoor UHF antenna typically is a loop having a diameter of about seven and a half inches (20 centimeters).
One problem associated with the conventional indoor antenna systems is that the physical dimension of the VHF dipole is undesirably long for the ordinary setting in a living room and that the length as well as the direction of the dipole elements may need to be adjusted depending upon the receiving channels. The second problem is that the performance of such conventional indoor VHF/UHF antennas changes in response to changes of the physical conditions around the antenna elements. For example, it is difficult for a user to make proper adjustment of the antennas since a human body coming into contact with an antenna changes the electromagnetic conditions associated with the antenna elements. The third problem is that the conventional indoor antenna systems do not always provide a sufficient signal level for good reception.
Most indoor television antennas include either two telescopic antenna elements, forming a dipole antenna or as a monopole antenna with one ground reflector element, or a printed circuit board with conductive patterns defining a planar antenna, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,269,672 (Tinaphong, et al.), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, or a thin film with a conductive circuit path printed thereon to define a flexible planar antenna, such as disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0054705 (Tinaphong, et al.), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
As mentioned previously, with a conventional “rabbit ears” antenna, the user must adjust the two telescopic antenna elements by length or direction in order to tune the antenna for best reception of broadcast television signals.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an antenna for the reception of digitally formatted television broadcast signals.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an indoor television antenna which is omni-directional and, therefore, needs no adjustment for receiving a broad range of television broadcast signals.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a television antenna which receives VHF and UHF television broadcast signals as well as having the capability of receiving and rebroadcasting WiFi signals using a WiFi repeater or WiFi range extender, so that a consumer may watch live streaming video content.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a television antenna which overcomes the inherent disadvantages of conventional television antennas.
In one form of the present invention, a television antenna is constructed with three poles or antenna elements. Each antenna element is situated on a support housing that defines an internal cavity in which associated circuitry for the antenna elements, including a ground plane, is situated. Two antenna elements are preferably in the form of end fed helical antenna elements, which are provided for receiving broadcast television signals in the VHF band, and the third antenna element is preferably in the form of a modified coaxial sleeve antenna, which is provided for receiving broadcast television signals in the UHF band. Preferably, the two VHF band antenna elements are mutually coupled to provide an omni-directional antenna pattern for receiving broadcast signals, and the UHF antenna element is also electromagnetically coupled to the VHF antenna elements. All three antenna elements, when disposed in a vertically upright position on the housing of the antenna, provide omni-directional reception of broadcast television signals in both the VHF band and the UHF band.
In another form of the present invention, the television antenna may further include two additional antenna elements for receiving WiFi signals so that the antenna of the present invention provides a WiFi Access Point (AP), or alternatively a WiFi repeater or WiFi range extender circuit, whereby a user who connects the antenna of the present invention to his monitor or television, especially a “smart” television, may watch live streaming video content. Each of the WiFi antenna elements is preferably formed as a combination of helix antenna and coaxial sleeve antenna. The WiFi repeater or WiFi extender circuit, if included, rebroadcasts or retransmits the signals received by the WiFi antennas to extend the range of the WiFi signals.
Each of the antenna elements (VHF, UHF and WiFi) is preferably mounted on the top surface of the housing and is positionable thereon in either a first state, where it may be folded for compactness when not in use to a horizontal position to rest on or come in close proximity to the top surface of the supporting housing, or in a second state, where it may be selectively locked into place in a vertical position, extending upwardly and perpendicularly from the top surface of the antenna housing, for reception of broadcast television and WiFi signals. Of course, it should be realized that the antenna elements may be positioned elsewhere on the housing, for example, on the lateral side walls of the housing and may be raised to a vertical position for good signal reception or lowered against the side walls or top wall to be substantially planar with the housing when the antenna is not in use or is being stored, or is being shipped by the manufacturer in a substantially flat package.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
Referring initially to
Mounted on the top surface 6 of the housing 4 of the antenna 2 are three spaced apart antenna elements 14, at least in the first form of the television antenna 2 being currently described. More specifically, the antenna elements 14 are mounted on the top surface 6 of the housing 4 in proximity to a first lateral side wall 16 of the housing 4. Each of the antenna elements 14 is mounted to the housing 4 through a hinge or pivot coupling 18 so that each antenna element 14 may be folded downwardly, against or in close proximity to the top surface 6 of the housing 4 in a horizontal state to provide the television antenna 2 with a compact form for shipping or when not in use. When the television antenna 2 is being used, each antenna element 14 may be pivoted on its coupling 18 to a vertical state, perpendicular to the top surface 6 of the antenna housing 4, for reception of broadcast television signals in the VHF and UHF bands. The VHF frequency band to which the antenna 2 is responsive is from about 174 MHz to about 216 MHz, and the UHF frequency band to which the antenna 2 is responsive is from about 470 MHz to about 698 MHz.
The three antenna elements 14 are preferably mounted in proximity to the first lateral side wall 16 of the antenna housing 4 so that, when folded over the top surface 6 of the housing 4, the antenna elements 14 extend up to or slightly beyond the opposite second lateral side wall 20 of the antenna housing 4.
The antenna elements 14 are preferably arranged linearly and spaced apart from one another along or near the first lateral side wall 16 of the antenna housing 4 on the top surface 6 thereof. A first VHF antenna element 14a is situated in proximity to one corner 22 of the housing 4, the UHF antenna element 14b is situated in proximity to another corner 24 of the antenna housing 4 laterally opposite the first corner 22 where the first VHF antenna element 14a is situated, and a second VHF antenna element 14c is situated in the middle of the length of the first lateral side wall 16 of the antenna housing 4 between the first VHF antenna element 14a and the UHF antenna element 14b.
The preferred structure of the VHF antenna elements 14a, 14c will now be described, and reference should be had to
An even more preferred form of each VHF antenna element 14a, 14c is shown in
The cable 32 passes through a lower section of shrink tubing 34 within the antenna element cover 30 which extends from into the pivot coupling 18 to near or into the beginning of the helically wound coil 26. This first shrink tubing 34 preferably has an inner diameter of about 5 millimeters and a length of about 45 millimeters, and provides support for the coaxial cable 32 within the antenna element cover 30.
The outer insulative sheath and shield of the coaxial cable 32 are terminated about one-fifth (⅕) to about one-quarter (¼) up the length of the antenna element cover 30, and the inner insulative cover of the cable 32 is removed slightly above where the shield and outer sheath are terminated to expose the inner conductor of the coaxial cable 32, which is electrically connected to the lowermost end of the helically wound coil 26. For protection, a second shrink tubing 36 covers the terminated end of the coaxial shield and extends up to and over the connection of the inner conductor and the helically wound coil 26, the second shrink tubing 36 having an inner diameter of about 1.5 millimeters and a length of about 16 millimeters.
The radiating coil 26 is preferably a pre-formed torsion spring made from bronze and having Part No. C5191 W-H, manufactured by Yangzhou Donva Electronic Spring Co., Ltd. of China. The helically wound coil 26 is preferably about 84 millimeters in length and about 80 millimeters in diameter, and has about 45.5 turns of wire.
A third shrink tubing 38 extends axially within the helically wound coil 26 and acts as a support form for the coil 26. Preferably, this third shrink tubing 38 has an inner diameter of about 2.5 millimeters and a length of about 105 millimeters.
Preferably, the two VHF antenna elements 14a, 14c are spaced apart from each other a distance of about 77 millimeters so that there is mutual coupling between them. The mutual coupling between the VHF antenna elements 14a, 14c provides the television antenna 2 of the present invention with an omni-directional signal reception antenna pattern, as can be seen from
The UHF antenna element 14b of the television antenna 2 of the present invention is preferably formed as a modified coaxial sleeve antenna, and reference should be had to
In a typical coaxial sleeve antenna, the shield of the coaxial cable extends through the bore of the sleeve and is terminated at the top axial end of the sleeve, where the sleeve extends downwardly therefrom and acts as a radiating element. The inner conductor of the coaxial cable normally extends axially to the sleeve through the top end of the sleeve and beyond the top end by a selected distance, the inner conductor acting as a second radiating element.
The UHF antenna element 14b of the present invention is different in structure from a conventional coaxial sleeve antenna. The coaxial shield of the cable 32 is grounded on the printed circuit board 12 at the ground plane 13 thereon and extends upwardly into the open axial bottom end of the sleeve or tube 40 and axially at least partially along the length thereof without touching the sleeve or tube 40, the shield still being encased by the outer, non-conductive protective layer of the coaxial cable 32. The inner conductor of the coaxial cable 32 continues through the bore of the sleeve or tube 40 until it reaches the top closed axial end of the sleeve 40 to which it is electrically connected. Prior to its reaching the top closed end of the sleeve 40, the coaxial shield and outer insulative covering are terminated (i.e., sections above this point are removed), with the inner conductor and the inner insulative covering continuing upwardly through the sleeve bore. The insulative layer of the inner conductor is only removed at the cable end where the inner conductor is connected to the top closed axial end of the sleeve or tube 40 so that the inner conductor does not touch the inner side wall of the sleeve 40 as it passes through the bore thereof to the top closed end of the sleeve 40 to which it is connected. Thus, with this preferred form of the UHF antenna element 14b, the outer shield of the lower portion of the coaxial cable 32, below the sleeve 40, acts as a first lower vertical radiating element, and the sleeve 40 to which the inner conductor is connected acts as a second upper vertical radiating element. Accordingly, the UHF antenna element 14b is end fed at the printed circuit board 12 to which the coaxial cable 32 is connected, and the ground plane 13 formed as copper cladding on the printed circuit board 12 below the antenna element 14b and to which the outer shield of the coaxial cable 32 is connected acts as a reflective element and forms part of the structure of the UHF antenna element 14b.
An even more preferred form of the UHF antenna element 14b is shown in
The cable 32 passes through a lower section of shrink tubing 44 within the UHF antenna element cover 42 which extends from into the pivot coupling 18 to near or into the open bottom end of the radiating sleeve 40. This first shrink tubing 44 preferably has an inner diameter of about 5 millimeters and a length of about 30 millimeters, and provides support for the coaxial cable 32 within the antenna element cover 42. The coaxial cable 32 passes, intact, through most of the axial length of the bore of the sleeve 40.
About 27 millimeters from the closed top end of the sleeve 40 is where the coaxial shield and outer protective sheath of cable 32 are terminated. For protection and strength, a second shrink tubing 46 covers the terminated end of the coaxial shield and outer sheath and extends upwardly therefrom, the length of the second shrink tubing 46 being about 10 millimeters and the inner diameter thereof being about 1.5 millimeters. The inner conductor and its inner insulative covering of the coaxial cable 32 continues upwardly therefrom. Near the top end of the sleeve 40, the inner protective insulative covering is stripped away to expose the inner conductor, which is soldered to the closed top end of the sleeve 40 on the inside surface thereof.
The sleeve 40 is made from a brass tube preferably in accordance with ASTM Standard No. C27000 and JIS Standard No. C2700. The sleeve 40 has an inner diameter of about 5.2 millimeters, and an axial length of about 71 millimeters, from its open bottom end to its closed top end. The sleeve 40 serves as a radiating element to which the inner conductor of the coaxial cable 32 is connected.
A third shrink tubing 48 is fitted over the top closed end of the sleeve 40 and extends therefrom to near the top free end of the antenna element cover 42 and within the bore thereof, and provides rigidity and support to the components of the antenna element 14b within the outer cover 42. This third shrink tubing 48 preferably has an inner diameter of about 5 millimeters and a length of about 60 millimeters.
The UHF antenna element 14b is spaced apart from the middle VHF antenna element 14c a distance of about 77 millimeters and from the first VHF antenna element 14a a distance of about 154 millimeters so that there is mutual coupling between the VHF antenna elements 14a, 14c and the UHF antenna element 14b. This provides the television antenna 2 of the present invention with omni-directionality, as can be seen from the signal reception antenna patterns shown in
The two VHF antenna elements 14a, 14c and the UHF antenna element 14b are electrically connected to a VHF/UHF combiner and impedance matching circuit 50 situated on the printed circuit board 12 within the internal cavity of the housing 4 of the television antenna 2, the combiner and impedance matching circuit 50 being shown schematically in
In yet a second form of the present invention, the television antenna 2 may include a WiFi Access Point (AP) circuit, or a WiFi repeater or WiFi range extender circuit, carried on the same or different printed circuit board 12 as that used for the VHF/UHF combiner and impedance matching circuit 50 and situated within the internal cavity of the antenna housing 4. The WiFi AP circuit or WiFi repeater or WiFi range extender circuit is connected to two vertical antenna elements 14d, 14e (i.e., the fourth and fifth antenna elements) also mounted on the top surface 6 of the antenna housing 4.
More specifically, and as shown in
The advantage of including the WiFi antenna elements 14d, 14e and their related circuits on the same antenna housing 4 as the VHF and UHF antenna elements 14a-14c is clearly evident. The VHF and UHF antenna elements 14a-14c receive the “over-the-air” television signals. By having a built-in WiFi AP (Access Point), or WiFi repeater or WiFi range extender, provided by the television antenna 2 of the present invention, this will help solve problems for consumers who depend on a strong WiFi signal in their home or office so that they may be able to watch live streaming video content or broadcast television signals.
The two WiFi antenna elements 14d, 14e preferably would be structured as a combined helical antenna and coaxial sleeve antenna (but possibly could take on the structure of the modified coaxial sleeve antenna described previously). More specifically,
The inner conductor of the coaxial cable 32 passes through an opening in the top end of the sleeve 90 and extends axially therefrom for about another 84 millimeters to the top free end of the antenna element 14d, 14e (not including the outer cover 94), and the diameter of the inner conductor over this section is about 1.2 millimeters.
At about 10 millimeters above the top end of the sleeve 90, the inner conductor is formed as a helix 92. This helical section 92 has an axial length of about 25.0 millimeters and an inner diameter of about 5.5 millimeters. The inner conductor continues from the top end of the helical section 92 in an axial direction within the outer cover 32 for about another 49 millimeters to the free end of the WiFi antenna element 14d, 14e, not including the outer cover 94.
The frequency range of the WiFi antenna elements 14d, 14e is preferably about 2.4 GHz to about 2.49 GHz, and about 4.9 GHz to about 5.9 GHz. The impedance of the antenna elements 14d, 14e is about 50 ohms, and the voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) is about 2:1. The radiation pattern is omni-directional, and the peak gain is about 8 dBi at about 2.4 GHz, and 10 dBi at about 5.66 GHz. Polarization is linear. Preferably, the connector 96 used for connecting the coaxial cable 32 for the WiFi element 14d, 14e to the WiFi printed circuit board is an Ipex plug connector.
As with the VHF and UHF antenna elements 14a-14c, the two WiFi antenna elements 14d, 14e are spaced apart from each other a distance of about 81 millimeters, so that they are mutually coupled and, together, provide an omni-directional signal receiving antenna pattern.
The output of each of the two WLAN controller circuits 64, 66 is provided to an AP/router network processor circuit 68 (for example, Part Number RTL8198U manufactured by Realtek Semiconductor Corp. of Taiwan), and the output of the AP/router network processor circuit 68 is provided to an output port or connector on the antenna housing 4, which accepts a compatible connector of a cable to provide WiFi signals received by the WiFi antenna elements 14d, 14e and processed by the WiFi circuitry to a television or monitor to which the opposite end of the cable is connected. Alternatively, the WiFi signals may be provided on the same cable 60 that carries the VHF and UHF signals to the television or monitor.
As also shown in
The television antenna 2 of the present invention may also include an amplifier circuit 78, either situated on a printed circuit board 12 within the internal cavity of the antenna housing 4, or situated in an external housing and connected by appropriate coaxial cables to the output connector 76 of the television antenna 2. An AC-to-DC power supply 80 provides a DC voltage to not only the amplifier circuit 78 but also a WiFi DC supply circuit 82, which may include a step down voltage converter for providing a DC voltage to the various electrical components of the WiFi circuit. The AC-to-DC power converter circuit 80 also preferably includes a filter circuit 84, or FM trap, to block FM interference and provide a clean and regulated DC voltage to the circuitry of the television antenna 2.
As mentioned previously, the television antenna 2 of the present invention may include a WiFi extender or repeater circuit for rebroadcasting WiFi signals received by the WiFi antenna elements 14d, 14e. Two such circuits are shown in
The circuit shown in
The WiFi antenna elements 14d, 14e are electrically coupled to high pass filter circuits 90. The filtered signal from the high pass filter circuit 90 of the dual band WiFi antenna element 14d or 14e is provided to a diplexer and combiner circuit 62. A first output signal from the diplexer and combiner circuit 62 is provided to a first WLAN a/n/ac controller circuit 64 which operates in accordance with IEEE Standard 802.11a, 802.11n and 802.11ac. A second output signal from the diplexer and combiner circuit 62 is provided to one input of a second WLAN b/g/n controller circuit 66, which operates in accordance with IEEE Standard 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11n. The filtered signal from the other high pass filter circuit 90 connected to the single band WiFi antenna element 14d, 14e is provided to a second input of the second WLAN b/g/n controller circuit 66. The output signals from the first WLAN controller circuit 64 and the second WLAN controller circuit 66 are provided to the inputs of an AP/router network processor circuit 68. A combination of the first WLAN controller circuit 64 and the AP/router network processor circuit 68 may be embodied as Part No. RTL8871AM manufactured by Realtek Semiconductor Corp. of Taiwan. The AP/router network processor circuit 68 is powered by a WiFi DC supply circuit 82 in the same manner as the television antenna circuit shown in
The television antenna 2, with or without a WiFi Access Point or WiFi repeater or WiFi range extender, is easy to operate and requires no adjustment by the user other than to raise the various antenna elements 14a-14e to an upright, vertical position. There is no adjustment to the antenna elements 14a-14e required, other than to place the elements in a vertical position, and the mutual coupling between the antenna elements 14a-14e provides omni-directional reception of “over-the-air” (broadcast) high definition television signals and omni-directional WiFi signal reception and a WiFi Access Point or WiFi repeater or WiFi extender, all in the same television antenna 2. Also, all of the antenna elements 14a-14e may be folded flat onto or near the top surface 6 of the antenna housing 4 for compact storage when not in use, so that the antenna 2 of the present invention may be received by a smaller package for shipping from the manufacturer to the retailer and for display on the retailer's merchandise shelves.
Although illustrative embodiments of the present invention have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawing, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiments, and that various other changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.
This application is related to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/254,012, filed on Nov. 11, 2015, and entitled “Omni-Directional Television Antenna With WiFi Reception Capability”, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference and on which priority is hereby claimed.
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