Communications: radio wave antennas – Antennas – With support for antenna – reflector or director
Patent
1987-11-10
1989-03-07
Sikes, William L.
Communications: radio wave antennas
Antennas
With support for antenna, reflector or director
343915, 343DIG2, H01Q 934
Patent
active
048110337
ABSTRACT:
The invention is a system for automatically controlling the surface contour of a deployable and restowable antenna 11 having a mesh reflector surface 26 supported by a circular, folding hoop 12 affixed to a central, telescoping column 14. The antenna 11, when deployed, forms a quad-aperture reflector with each quadrant A-D of the mesh surface 26 shaped to provide an offset parabolic RF reflector.
The hoop 12 is supported and positioned by quartz support cords 12 attached to the top 22 of column 14 and by lower graphite hoop control cords 23 that extend between the hoop 12 and base 24 of the column 14. The antenna 11, an RF reflective surface 26, is a gold plated molybdenum wire mesh supported on a graphite cord truss structure that includes the hoop control cords and a plurality of surface control cords 27 attached at selected points on the surface 26 and to the base 24 of column 14. The contour of the three-dimensional surface 26 of the antenna 11 is controlled by selectively adjusting the lengths of the surface control cords 27 and the graphite hoop control cords 23 by means of novel actuator assemblies 56 that automatically sense and change the lengths of the lower hoop control cords 23 and surface control cords 27 to control the contour of the surface 26 of the antenna 11.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3739538 (1973-06-01), Rubin
patent: 4352113 (1982-09-01), Labruyere
patent: 4587777 (1986-05-01), Vasques et al.
NASA Contractor Report No. CR-3558, "LSST (Hoop/Column) Maypole Antenna Development Program", Parts 1 and 2, dated Jun. 1982.
Ahl Elvin L.
Miller James B.
Adams Harold W.
Glenn Charles E. B.
Johnson Doris J.
Manning John R.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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