This disclosure relates to antennas. More specifically, this disclosure relates to antennas and antenna casings for utility meter pit lids.
Utility meters such as residential water meters may be placed underground in a meter box. Some meter boxes include metal lids and metal bodies. Utility meters may include wireless communication capability to send and receive wireless communications with a remote communication device, enabling remote reading of meters, such as in an automatic meter reading or advanced meter infrastructure (AMR/AMI) system. However, wireless transmissions from utility meters with wireless capability are blocked by the lids and bodies of meter boxes, especially metal lids, making communication between the meter and the remote communication device difficult.
Disclosed is a pit lid antenna assembly including an antenna having an upper section and a lower section; and an antenna casing having a casing wall having an inner surface, the inner surface defining a first antenna slot, the first antenna slot sized to accept a portion of the lower section of the antenna.
Also disclosed is a pit lid antenna assembly including an antenna; and an antenna casing housing the antenna and having a casing wall defining a connection hole; and an adapter casing attached to the antenna casing and including a locking tab, the locking tab having a plug sized to fit within the connection hole to attach the adapter casing to the antenna casing.
Also disclosed is a method of installing an antenna assembly in a meter pit including mounting an antenna casing onto a pit lid, the antenna casing housing an antenna and including a casing wall, the casing wall extending below the pit lid and defining a connection hole; attaching a radio unit to adapter casing, the adapter casing including a locking tab having a plug; attaching the adapter casing to the antenna casing by snapping the plug of the locking tab into the connection hole.
Various implementations described in the present disclosure may include additional systems, methods, features, and advantages, which may not necessarily be expressly disclosed herein but will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. It is intended that all such systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within the present disclosure and protected by the accompanying claims.
The features and components of the following figures are illustrated to emphasize the general principles of the present disclosure. Corresponding features and components throughout the figures may be designated by matching reference characters for the sake of consistency and clarity.
Disclosed is a pit lid antenna assembly and associated methods, systems, devices, and various apparatus. The antenna assembly includes antenna casing and an antenna housed within the antenna casing. It would be understood by one of skill in the art that the disclosed pit lid antenna assembly is described in but a few exemplary embodiments among many. No particular terminology or description should be considered limiting on the disclosure or the scope of any claims issuing therefrom.
One embodiment of a pit lid antenna assembly 1000 is disclosed and described in
The antenna assembly 1000 includes an antenna casing 100, an adapter casing 110, a radio unit 120, a top cap 130, an upper washer 150, a lower washer 160, and a nut 170. The radio unit 120 includes radio housing 125 containing a radio antenna (not shown). The radio antenna is connectable to a utility meter, typically a water meter in a meter pit having a pit lid.
As shown in
As shown in
The casing body 720 includes a casing top plate 722 and casing side wall 724 extending downwards from the casing top plate 722. The casing top plate 722 also defines an access window 726 therethrough for visual access to identifying information shown on the radio unit 120, though the access window 726 is not present in various embodiments. The peripheral wall 716 extends upward from the casing top plate 722. The casing side wall 724 includes an inner surface 792 and forms a plurality of snap fit arms 728a,b,c,d,e,f spaced evenly along the casing side wall 724. There are six snap fit arms 728a,b,c,d,e,f in the current embodiment, though any number of snap fit arms 728, including no snap fit arms 728, may be present in various embodiments. The snap fit arms 728a,b,c,d,e,f taper in a downward direction from the casing top plate 722, though each of the snap fit arms 728a,b,c,d,e,f may not taper in various embodiments or may taper in an upward direction. Each snap fit arm 728a,b,c,d,e,f includes a lower end 786a,b,c,d,e,f and a snap fit rib 788a,b,c,d,e,f (b shown in
In the current embodiment, the fastening extension 730 is extends from the snap fit arm 728b of casing side wall 724 of the casing body 720. In various embodiments, the fastening extension 730 is positioned in various locations on the casing body 720 including any of the snap fit arms 728a,b,c,d,e,f. In various embodiments, the fastening extension 730 is not present. The fastening extension 730 includes an extension base 732 and a fastening plate 734. The extension base 732 is connected to the snap fit arm 728b and the fastening plate 734 extends downward and to one side of the extension base 732. The fastening extension 730 also includes a pair of fastener plugs 736a,b extending outward from the fastening plate 734.
Each fastening plug 736a,b includes a fastener bore 738a,b, respectively, defined therethrough and through the fastening plate 734. The fastener bores 738a,b are sized to accept a pair of fasteners (not shown) for connection with the radio unit 120. The radio unit 120 includes a fastening plate 122 (shown in
The first locking tab 712 includes a first lever portion 752 and a first plug 756, and the second locking tab 714 includes a second lever portion 754 and a second plug 758. The first plug 756 includes a first chamfer 772 and a first plug outer surface 776, and the second plug 758 includes a second chamfer 774 and a second plug outer surface 778. The intersection of the first lever portion 752 and the first plug 756 defines a first groove 762 facing downward towards the casing body 720 and sized to accept the first catch lip 282, and the intersection of the second lever portion 754 and the second plug 758 defines a second groove 764 facing downward towards the casing body 720 and sized to accept the second catch lip 284. The first lever portion 752 and the second lever portion 754 are each connected to the peripheral wall 716 and are bendable between each end of the first slit 742 and the second slit 744, respectively, relative to the peripheral wall 716 to bring the first plug outer surface 776 of the first plug 756 and the second plug outer surface 778 of the second plug 758 inward of the outer surface 718 of the peripheral wall 716.
As shown in
The first plug 756 and the second plug 758 thereby slide upwards along the axial direction 900 into the first guide slot 512 and the second guide slot 514, respectively. The first plug outer surface 776 and the second plug outer surface 778 thereby contact the inner surface 230 of the casing wall 210 within the first guide slot 512 and the second guide slot 514, respectively, and slide upwards along the axial direction 900 within the first guide slot 512 and the second guide slot 514, respectively, towards the first connection hole 212 and the second connection hole 214, respectively. The first lever portion 752 and the second lever portion 754 bias the first plug 756 and the second plug 758, respectively, against the inner surface 230. The first guide slot 512 and the second guide slot 514 thereby act to guide the first plug 756 of the first locking tab 712 and the second plug 758 of the second locking tab 714 towards the first connection hole 212 and the second connection hole 214, respectively.
When the first plug 756 and the second plug 758 reach the first connection hole 212 and the second connection hole 214, respectively, the first plug outer surface 776 and the second plug outer surface 778 clear the first guide slot 512 and the second guide slot 514, respectively, and first lever portion 752 and the second lever portion 754 push outward on the first plug 756 and the second plug 758, respectively, because the first lever portion 752 and the second lever portion 754 are flexed inward and exert an outward force on the first plug 756 and the second plug 758, respectively. The first plug 756 and the second plug 758 then enter into the first connection hole 212 and the second connection hole 214, respectively, “snapping” into the first connection hole 212 and the second connection hole 214, respectively. Once the first plug 756 and the second plug 758 enter the first connection hole 212 and the second connection hole 214, the adapter casing 110 may then be moved downward along the axial direction 900 relative to the antenna casing 100, which engages the first catch lip 282 with the first groove 762 of the first plug 756 and engages the second catch lip 284 with the second groove 764 of the second plug 758. This engagement holds the first locking tab 712 and the second locking tab 714 in place, attaching the adapter casing 110 to the antenna casing 100 and preventing accidental separation of the antenna casing 100 from the adapter casing 110.
To disconnect the adapter casing 110 from the antenna casing 100 in the current embodiment, the adapter casing 110 must be moved upward along the axial direction 900 to disengage the first groove 762 and the second groove 764 from the first catch lip 282 and the second catch lip 284, respectively. The first plug 756 and the second plug 758 may thereafter be pushed inward to an inward position such that the first plug 756 and the second plug 758 are removed from the first connection hole 212 and the second connection hole 214. While holding the first plug 756 and the second plug 758 in an inward position, the insertion portion 710 of the adapter casing 110 may then be removed from the casing wall 210 of the antenna casing 100 by moving the antenna casing 100 apart from the adapter casing 110 along the axial direction 900. The first plug 756 and the second plug 758 thereby slide downwards in the first guide slot 512 and the second guide slot 514, respectively, until the first plug 756 and the second plug 758 are clear of the bottom edge 218 of the casing wall 210.
The first chamfer 772 of the first plug 756 and the second chamfer 774 of the second plug 758 assist in moving the first plug 756 and the second plug 758 into the first guide slot 512 and the second guide slot 514, respectively, both during insertion of the insertion portion 710 into the casing wall 210 and during removal of the insertion portion 710 from within the casing wall 210.
The laminated disc 1130 is a clear polyester film in the current embodiment, though various materials, either clear or opaque, such as polyimide, are present in various embodiments. Laminated disc 1130 is circular in the current embodiment, though the laminated disc 1130 includes different shapes in various embodiments, such as a square, rectangle, ellipse, or triangle, and the disclosure of a circular disc should not be considered limiting. The laminated disc 1130 encloses the first radiant element 1116 and the second radiant element 1126, thereby extending in the same horizontal plane as the first radiant element 1116 and the second radiant element 1126 in the current embodiment. The laminated disc 1130 also includes a tab 1132 in the current embodiment which may assist in lifting the laminated disc 1130 off of the top surface 222.
The laminated disc 1130, the first radiant element 1116 of the first antenna wire 1110, and the second radiant element 1126 of the second antenna wire 1120 are located in an upper section 1170 of the antenna 1100. The first coupling coil 1118 of the first antenna wire 1110 and the second coupling coil 1128 of the second antenna wire 1120 are located in a lower section 1180 of the antenna 1100.
Upon insertion of the radio unit 120 into the adapter casing 110, the radio antenna housing extension 1824 is inserted through the upper opening 784 of the adapter casing 110 into the casing wall 210 of the antenna casing 100. An upper end 1834 of the radio antenna housing extension 1824 is thereby placed adjacent to the antenna 1100, with the first coupling coil 1118 and the second coupling coil 1128 positioned on opposite sides of the radio antenna housing extension 1824. The radio antenna may thereafter be inductively coupled to the antenna 1100 through the first coupling coil 1118 and the second coupling coil 1128.
In the current embodiment, the radio unit 120 is a Mueller Mi.Node radio module (DCOM3), though other radio units 120 are present in various embodiments and the present disclosure should not be limited to the Mueller Mi.Node radio module. When the radio unit 120 broadcasts signal through the radio antenna, the signal may be blocked by the pit lid 600 of a meter pit or another barrier. The antenna assembly 1000 acts to extend the transmission beyond the barrier by inductively coupling the antenna 1100 to the radio antenna. When the radio unit 120 is placed in the adapter casing 110 connected to the antenna casing 100, the first coupling coil 1118 and the second coupling coil 1128 couple into the “outer edge” of the reactive section of the near-field or near the area were the reactive field turns into radiative field in the near-field, typically between 2.8″ and 4.5″ from near-field origin on the Mi.Node radio module (DCOM3) operating industrial, scientific and medical (“ISM”) 900 MHz band, though other ranges may be present in various embodiments for different radio modules or for the Mi.Node radio module (DCOM3). The signal is then transmitted from the first radiant element 1116 and the second radiant element 1126 on the other side of the pit lid 600 or other barrier. In the current embodiment, the flat configuration of the first radiant element 1116 and the second radiant element 1126 create an omnidirectional and vertically-polarized signal pattern.
One should note that conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or “may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are in any way required for one or more particular embodiments or that one or more particular embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.
It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments are merely possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the present disclosure. Any process descriptions or blocks in flow diagrams should be understood as representing modules, segments, or portions of code which include one or more executable instructions for implementing specific logical functions or steps in the process, and alternate implementations are included in which functions may not be included or executed at all, may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by those reasonably skilled in the art of the present disclosure. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment(s) without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the present disclosure. Further, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover any and all combinations and sub-combinations of all elements, features, and aspects discussed above. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of the present disclosure, and all possible claims to individual aspects or combinations of elements or steps are intended to be supported by the present disclosure.
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