Communications: radio wave antennas – Antennas – With vehicle
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-18
2001-08-07
Phan, Tho (Department: 2821)
Communications: radio wave antennas
Antennas
With vehicle
C343S725000, C343S878000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06271797
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to antennas and more particularly to an antenna mount incorporating an antenna for use in the Global Positioning System (GPS).
2. Background of Related Art
GPS has become of critical importance in navigation of aircraft and many land vehicles, such as military vehicles. A GPS antenna is preferably mounted externally to a vehicle and is typically mounted in a separate housing. For certain applications, particularly for military ground vehicles, the antenna mount must be a rugged mount which can withstand substantial forces on the antenna, such as occurs in contact with trees or other structures. Many military tracked vehicles are armor plated and typically are provided with only two standard openings in the structure for antenna placement. With the proliferation of communication and navigational equipment in military vehicles, this limited number of openings is inadequate. Furthermore, armor plated vehicles cannot be readily modified to accommodate additional antenna mounts.
Known antenna mounts for military vehicles and the like, typically include a housing having an upper portion extending external to an outer wall of the vehicle and mounting a flexible antenna, while a lower portion of the housing extends through the vehicle wall for connecting the antenna to radio apparatus. Combination mounts for a GPS antenna in combination with a standard radio frequency (RF) antenna are known from the prior art. However, such mounts have to be especially designed and replace existing antenna mounts. Such replacement is costly, time consuming and typically changes the profile of the antenna mount to a significant extent. Furthermore, known combination antenna mounts are not designed to be rugged mounts that can withstand the forces on the antenna structure that is required for armored military vehicles.
It is desirable, therefor, to provide a rugged antenna housing for a GPS antenna. However, it is also desirable to provide a rugged GPS antenna structure without making further openings the exterior walls of the vehicle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, a standard rugged antenna mount for supporting an RF antenna, having an upper part extending external to an outer wall of a vehicle and a lower part extending through an existing antenna mount opening in the wall, is modified by the addition of at least one ring disposed exterior to the wall of the vehicle and incorporating a GPS antenna. In accordance with one specific aspect of the invention, the ring comprises a spacial area specifically adapted to mount the GPS antenna. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the ring comprises the first and second rings, disposed adjacent one another, and each having an extended area and a cavity in the extended area for housing the GPS antenna.
Advantageously, in accordance with the present invention, the ring disposed between the upper part of the RF antenna housing and the lower part of the RF antenna housing contains a GPS antenna which may be connected to GPS read-out equipment through an opening in the lower part of the antenna housing disposed internal to the vehicle. Furthermore, the ring containing the GPS antenna may be added to a standard rugged antenna mount by simply adding the ring mounting the GPS antenna, without any significant change to the standard rugged antenna mount. The ring may be attached to a standard rugged antenna mount by means of screws extending through a rim portion of the antenna mount.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5456442 (1995-10-01), Sutton et al.
patent: 5489912 (1996-02-01), Holloway
patent: 5610620 (1997-03-01), Stites et al.
patent: 5650792 (1997-07-01), Moore et al.
patent: 5706015 (1998-01-01), Chen et al.
patent: 5757327 (1998-05-01), Yajima et al.
patent: 5900840 (1999-05-01), Yajima
patent: 6023245 (2000-02-01), Gomez et al.
patent: 6031499 (2000-02-01), Dichter
patent: 295 00 961 U (1998-05-01), None
patent: 0 862 239 A1 (1998-09-01), None
patent: 0 881 701 A1 (1998-12-01), None
patent: 2318217 (1998-04-01), None
International Search Report, PCT/US 00/10417, Dated Aug. 2000.
Nguyen Hoang
Phan Tho
R. A. Miller Industries, Inc.
Rader, Fishman, Grauer & McGarry
LandOfFree
Combination antenna mount does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Combination antenna mount, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Combination antenna mount will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2449939