Technical Field

The invention relates to an integrated antenna mechanism with an automatic folding structure that positions and fixes the antenna elements at desired points in space

In particular, the invention relates to an integrated antenna mechanism used in on- platform direction finding systems, comprising a direction-finding antenna array operating in at least one frequency band, and having an automatic folding and unfolding structure with the antenna lying on the platform while the sub-band antenna arrays are closed by applying a driving force from a point.

Prior Art

Direction-finding antenna arrays are frequently used on land/air/sea platforms. Depending on the conditions of use, fixed (non-removable) or removable antennas are usually designed. While antennas used on the platform can be designed to be fixed when they are small in size, antennas with long and large antenna array diameters (in low frequency bands) are designed to be dismountable due to limitations during navigation.

In the present art, the antenna array arms are manually closed and brought parallel to the antenna body. This causes loss of time and labor.

During the search in the present art, reference CN206040923U was found. The application relates to a portable direction-finding antenna for use in communications. CN208208961 U relates to a foldable direction-finding antenna.

The applications in the present art do not include at least one sliding part that moves on the antenna body with a slide mechanism to open and close the antenna arms, at least one folding rod that allows all antennas to be closed at the same time, at least one drive rod connected on one side to said sliding part and on the other side to the ground, and at least one actuator that pushes and pulls the sliding part of the drive rod to open and close the entire antenna.

As a result, due to the above-mentioned problems and the inadequacy of the existing solutions, it has been deemed necessary to make an improvement in the relevant technical field. Purpose of the Invention

The invention is inspired by existing situations and aims to solve the above-mentioned problems.

The main purpose of the invention is to enable the integrated antenna mechanism to be folded/unfolded automatically by applying a driving force from a point to position and fix the antenna elements at desired points in space. With the invention, the outer diameter, which is on the basis of meters in the open state for low frequency bands, can be reduced to centimeters when folded and lying on the vehicle. In the exemplary invention, the diameter of the mechanical structure of the sub-band antenna array, which is approximately 2 m in the open state, is reduced to 40 cm when folded and laid on the vehicle. Thus, while exceeding platform mobility constraints is prevented, human factor- induced assembly/positioning errors during the installation phase are eliminated, and direction-finding system performances, which are directly related to antenna positions, are improved thanks to repeatable antenna array positions.

The purpose of the invention is to provide an antenna mechanism that minimizes the installation time.

Description of Figures

Figure 1 is a closed view of the integrated antenna mechanism of the invention.

Figure 2 is a 45°open view of the integrated ante nna mechanism.

Figure 3 is a fully open view of the integrated antenna mechanism.

Figure 4 is a detailed view of the antenna array-2 arm.

Figure 5 is a detailed view of the antenna array-1 arm.

Description of Part References

1 . Antenna body 9. Antenna array -2

2. Slide mechanism 10. Rotation part -1

3. Sliding part 11 . Rotation part -2

4. Radome mechanism 12. Rotation part -3

4.1. Antenna array-3,4 13. Connecting rod

5. Arm-1 14. Folding rod

6. Arm-2 15. Drive rod

7. Hinge 16. Actuator

8. Antenna array -1

Detailed Description of Invention

In this detailed description, the preferred embodiments of the invention are described solely for the purpose of a better understanding of the subject matter and without limiting effect.

In its most general form, the invention relates to an integrated antenna mechanism to be used on the platform, which does not require disassembly and assembly, which includes at least one antenna array that can be folded I unfolded integrated with an automatic tilt I lift mechanism.

Figure 1 shows antenna array-1 (8), antenna array-2 (9) and antenna array-3,4 (4.1 ), which is located inside the radome mechanics (4). Antenna array-1 (8) and antenna array- 2 (9) can be switched off and on, while antenna array-3,4 (4.1 ) is located in radome mechanics (4) due to its small size.

In the invention, while the antenna is transformed from the open configuration to the closed configuration, while the antenna is tilted parallel to the ground with the actuator (16) the antenna array-1 (8) and antenna array-2 (9) are driven from a single point and folded onto the antenna body (1 ). On the integrated antenna mechanism, there are circularly arranged antenna array elements operating in at least one frequency band. In the invention, antenna array-1 (8) and antenna array-2 (9) are folded while antenna array- 3,4 (4.1 ) remains stationary.

The integrated antenna mechanism with automatic installation, at least one antenna body (1 ) that holds the antenna parts together and provides a connection interface to the platform, a slide mechanism (2) that provides linear movement of the parts between each other, antenna array-1 (8) and antenna array-2 (9) that transmit electromagnetic waves, arm-1 (5) and arm-2 (6) for movable connection to the antenna body (1 ), at least one sliding part (3) for opening and closing the antenna arms-1 ,2 (5,6) by moving up and down with said sliding mechanism (2) on said antenna body (1 ), including antenna array- 3,4 (4. 1 ) and protecting said antenna array-3,4 (4. 1 ) from external effects, at least one antenna radome mechanism (4) mounted on the antenna body (1 ), at least one hinge (7) mounted on one side on the antenna body (1 ) and on the other side on the arm-1 (5) and arm-2 (6), allowing the arm-1 ,2 (5,6) to be folded on the antenna body (1 ) between 0°and 90° angles, at least one rotation part-1 (10), arti culated at both ends, mounted on one side on the antenna body (1 ) and on the other side on the antenna array-1 (8) and movable by the arm-1 (5) to move the antenna array-1 (8) so that the antenna array-1 (8) is parallel to the antenna body (1 ), at least one rotation part-2 (1 1 ), articulated at both ends, mounted on one side on the antenna body (1 ) and on the other side on the antenna array-2 (9), which is moved by the arm-2 (6) to move the antenna array-2 (9) so that the antenna array-2 (9) is parallel to the antenna body (1 ), at least one rotation part (12) connected on one side to the arm-1 (5) and arm-2 (6) and on the other side to the antenna array-1 (8) and antenna array-2 (9), which allows the antenna array-1 (8) and antenna array-2 (9) to be folded onto the arm-1 (5) and arm-2 (6), a connecting rod (13) connecting the sliding parts (3) to each other by means of screws contained therein, at least one folding rod (14), one side of which is connected to the sliding part (3) and the other side of which is connected to the arm-1 (5) and arm-2 (6) to enable the antenna array-1 (8) and antenna array-2 (9) to be closed at the same time, at least one drive rod (15), articulated at both ends, connected on one side to the sliding part (3) and on the other side to the ground, which allows the antenna body (1 ) to move by applying pushing and pulling forces, and at least one actuator (16) positioned on the antenna body (1 ), which allows the antenna to be tilted and lifted, pushing and pulling the sliding part (3) of the drive rod (15) to open and close the entire antenna by means of a motor.

When the antenna is in the off state as shown in Figure 1 , the antenna body (1 ) fixed on the actuator (16) moves along with the actuator (16) as the actuator (16) rotates around the z-axis. With the upward movement of the antenna body (1 ), the drive rod (15) pulls the sliding part (3) downward in the -x direction and allows it to slide on the slide mechanism (2) in the -x direction. As a result of the antenna rotating in the z-axis, the arm-1 (5), which is connected to the antenna body (1 ) by hinges (7) and connected to the sliding part (3) by the folding rod (14), starts to open so that it is always parallel to the antenna body (1 ). When the arm-1 (5) is unfolded, the rotation part-1 (10) of the antenna array-1 (8) connected to the antenna body (1 ) drives the rotation part-3 (12) to unfold the antenna array-1 (8). The opening is realized by rotation of each connection point around its z-axis. With the movement of the sliding part (3) to which antenna array-1 (8) is connected, the connecting rod (13) drives the sliding part (3) to which antenna array-2 (9) is connected, so that the antennas of antenna array-2 (9) are switched on together with the antennas of antenna array-1 (9), always parallel to the antenna body (1 ). Figure 2 shows the antenna in the 45-degree open state and Figure 3 shows the antenna in the fully open state. Closing the open antenna and laying it on the platform is the opposite of the process described above.

The number of antenna arrays (frequency bands) and the number of antenna elements in each array can be changed. In the design given as an example of the invention, there are four different antenna arrays operating in 4 different frequency bands, each consisting of 7 antenna elements.