Communications: radio wave antennas – Antennas – Buried underground or submerged under water
Reexamination Certificate
2003-02-07
2004-11-30
Tran, Thuy Vinh (Department: 2821)
Communications: radio wave antennas
Antennas
Buried underground or submerged under water
C343S793000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06825813
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to antennas. More particularly, the present invention relates to antenna assemblies having a deformable portion that may be fixed within a gap or crevice, particularly a gap or crevice formed between two opposing edges of an closure. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to low profile antennas having a deformable portion for use in roadways, sewer manholes, and other applications where a low profile and a deformable portion are desirable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The collection of data from sanitary or storm sewer networks, air handling systems, and other underground or enclosed systems or networks having access apertures, and/or closures, has become increasingly common and useful. For example, in an underground sewer network, flow monitors may be used to collect data such as depth, volume, velocity, and/or other measurable parameters in a certain location. When such monitors are used, it is often desirable to collect the data in a central location, such as a remote computer or data collection system, so that data from multiple monitors can be analyzed, stored, processed, compared, and/or presented to a user. Because of the impracticality of connecting monitors that may be located throughout such a sewer or other network to a central processor via direct wiring, it is desirable that such monitors transmit their data to a remote computer through a wireless communications medium.
The application of wireless technology to transmit and/or receive data from and/or deliver data to flow monitors within enclosed systems requires a suitable antenna for reception and/or transmission. Typically, the monitors are installed in the interior of enclosed systems or networks near an aperture or closure which provides access to the interior of the enclosed system or network. For example, sewer flow monitors are typically installed in a sewer network inside or near manholes in order to provide easy access to the monitor for installation, maintenance, and repair. Thus, the monitor may communicate with a remote unit outside the network via a wireless transmitter that is also located near or within the manhole. However, if the transmitter's antenna is mounted so that the antenna is below the manhole's cover, substantial losses in signal strength, such as radio frequency (RF) energy losses, will result from factors such as signal attenuation and the fact that the antenna is mounted below the ground plane.
One solution to the problem of antenna placement is to mount the antenna above the ground, outside of the manhole. However, conventional antennas normally require a mast or pole type of mounting. Thus, conventional antennas have an elevation that renders them undesirable for use in many locations, such as roadways and sidewalks, where vehicular and/or pedestrian traffic will flow. Examples of such antennas may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,877,703, to Bloss et al. Such antennas are subject to abuse from, and may be damaged by, roadway traffic, such as cars, trucks, buses, and other vehicles, as the traffic drives over them, directly placing substantial loads on the antenna. Other roadway vehicles such as snowplows can cause even more damage to an antenna that is raised above the roadway.
In addition, many such antenna installations require modification to the manhole cover, such as the drilling of a hole, or cutting a groove in a manhole cover or roadway surface, to connect the above-ground antenna to the underground flow meter, or require positioning the antenna within an existing groove of the roadway surface and affixing the antenna therein with a sealant. An example of the latter method is found in published U.S. Patent Application No. US-2002-0180656-A1, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Such holes and grooves are generally large, as they are also used as a means to secure the antenna to the manhole and/or to connect the antenna to equipment below the manhole cover, such installation processes are costly and time-consuming, and the installation of multiple antennae requires multiple installation procedures.
Typical antenna assemblies found in current practice are not suitable for installation within an existing gap or crevice in the outer surface of the enclosed system or network. Such a crevice is found commonly in an aperture or closure which may be opened to provide access to the interior of the enclosed system or network, such as the crevice between a manhole cover and the surround in which the cover is seated during normal traffic use. Typical antenna assemblies are not sufficiently flexible or deformable to resist the stresses placed on an antenna positioned within such a crevice. Apertures into enclosed systems typically have closures, such as a cover that fits closely around its periphery within a surround, and abuts to an inner seating rim or lip of the surround that prevents the cover from falling into, or otherwise penetrating, the enclosed system. A manhole cover, for example, is a heavy iron or steel disk that sits within such a surround. The heavy weight and hard-edged surface of the manhole cover puts a great deal of mechanical stress on an apparatus pinched between the cover and the surround, particularly the inner lip portion of the surround. Since a conventional antenna assembly is not deformable or elastic, a conventional antenna assembly cannot resist this stress when the cover is removed from or inserted into the surround, and will tend to break under the stress. Furthermore, conventional antenna assemblies are not suitable for the harsh environmental conditions often found around apertures into, or closures of, enclosed systems, such as the street environment around manhole covers.
Elan Industries, Inc., Hickory Hills, Ill. (www.elanindustries.com), discloses a copolymer manhole cover that includes an integral antenna and cable. This application requires retrofitting an existing manhole with the new cover. Hence, the Elan product requires that the size and shape of a manhole be known in advance of using the device. Since the existing manhole cover is replaced, this process is wasteful. As the antenna is not separable from the manhole cover, another new manhole cover must be employed, or the old cover must be saved and stored, if the antenna is to be removed from the manhole. Furthermore, the Elan product is not readily deformable to fit the variety of gap and crevice sizes and shapes that is found in the field; it must be custom-fabricated for each application. Elan does not disclose an antenna assembly that may be fixed in a gap or crevice that is not a manhole. The Elan product contains only a single antenna, thus making the installation of multiple antennae potentially complicated and costly.
Antennae, and antenna assemblies, having some degree of flexibility can be found in the patent literature. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,656 discloses an expansion band antenna formed of a woven conductive material that may expand and contract. U.S. Pat. No. 5,742,259 discloses a helical wire antenna that is flexible with respect to its long axis as a spring. U.S. Pat. No. 5,949,384 discloses an antenna apparatus having a wire loop within an elastic sheath that may be collapsed into smaller loops. U.S. Pat. No. 6,337,663 discloses a rigid printed circuit antenna having an elastic connector for connecting with the main board of a communication device. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,501,945 discloses a cellular phone having an antenna assembly that includes an elastic conductor that makes electrical contact between a circuit board and a metallic coating on the interior of the phone to provide an insulating envelope. However, none of these antennae and antenna assemblies has the durability, deformability, and elastic qualities required for the application of providing an antenna assembly that may be installed in a crevice of an aperture into, or closure of, an enclosed system or network, which requires flexibility and deformability in multiple dimensions, impact resista
Cullie Eugene C.
Pecora, Jr. Ronald A.
ADS Corporation
Gromada James A.
Katten Muchin Zavis & Rosenman
Tran Thuy Vinh
Villacorta Gilberto M.
LandOfFree
Deformable antenna assembly for mounting in gaps and crevices does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Deformable antenna assembly for mounting in gaps and crevices, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Deformable antenna assembly for mounting in gaps and crevices will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3349724