JPH09199924A - Antenna rotation mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) 【Abstract】 PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: In the conventional structure of the rotating mechanism of the antenna using the slip ring, it is necessary to frequently replace the brush of the slip ring and to clean dust and the like due to abrasion of the brush. There was a drawback that it was troublesome. SOLUTION: The elevation angle rotation mechanism is configured such that a main shaft is connected to an arm that holds an antenna, a hinge is provided in an intermediate portion between the antenna and the main shaft, and the main shaft is moved up and down to make the antenna center in the elevation direction. Further, the elevation angle rotation mechanism section is coupled to the azimuth angle rotation mechanism section via the geared radial bearing, and the gear section of the geared radial bearing is rotated by the drive motor to move the elevation angle rotation mechanism section to a predetermined position. By rotating the motor in the azimuth direction at a speed, it is possible to directly connect to a drive motor or the like without using a slip ring.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an antenna rotating mechanism for rotating a parabolic antenna used in a weather radar or the like in an azimuth direction and an elevation angle direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A meteorological radar is generally equipped with a parabolic antenna for transmitting and receiving microwaves in order to observe conditions such as clouds around the meteorological radar. It obtains the necessary information by rotating it in a predetermined direction at a predetermined speed. Elevation is a range of angles, for example
It is configured so that it can be arbitrarily set in the range of 0 ° to 45 °.

A conventional antenna rotating mechanism will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 9 is a central sectional view of a conventional antenna rotating mechanism. Conventionally, this type of rotation mechanism is shown in FIG.
As shown in, the elevation angle rotation mechanism unit 40 and the azimuth angle rotation mechanism unit 5
It is composed of two rotation mechanism parts of 0. The elevation angle rotation mechanism unit 40 is a mechanism unit that rotates the antenna 1 in the elevation angle direction, is fixed to an upper portion of a main shaft 52 provided in the azimuth angle rotation mechanism unit 50, and is rotated in the azimuth direction along with the rotation of the main shaft 52. It is configured to rotate at a predetermined speed, for example, 60 rpm.

Reference numeral 51 shown in FIG. 9 is an azimuth housing which is installed on the base 28 and has a hollow main shaft 52 at its center.
It is held rotatably in the azimuth direction by a tapered roller bearing 53 provided on the upper portion of the azimuth housing 51.

A slip ring 54 is provided at an intermediate portion of the main shaft 52 for electrically connecting the drive motor and the elevation detector included in the elevation rotation mechanism 40 from the outside. The slip ring 54 is a rotary ring 55 fixed to the main shaft 51, a brush holding metal fitting 56 fixed to the azimuth housing 51, and a brush attached to the brush holding metal fitting 56 corresponding to the rotary ring 55. And 57. The brush 57 keeps a predetermined pressing force by its spring pressure and rotates the ring 5.
Good electrical connection is secured even when the main shaft 51 rotates 360 ° or more in contact with the No. 5 connector.

[0006]

However, in the structure of the conventional antenna rotation mechanism in which the elevation angle rotation mechanism unit is separately provided on the azimuth angle rotation mechanism unit, the drive provided to the elevation angle rotation mechanism unit from the outside is provided. Can not be wired directly to the motor, etc. Therefore, a signal and electric power to the elevation angle rotation mechanism section need to be provided with a slip ring on the main axis of the azimuth angle rotation mechanism section, and electrical connection by the rotation ring and the brush must be adopted.

Further, in order to improve the electrical connection, it is necessary to bring the brush into contact with the rotating ring while maintaining an appropriate pressure. The rotating ring and brush both wear due to sliding.

However, since the rotating ring is fixed to the main shaft and is not easily replaced, the brush which is easily replaced is formed so as to be worn more. Therefore, there has been a drawback that frequent replacement of the brush and cleaning of dust and the like due to abrasion require maintenance and inspection.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a rotating mechanism for an antenna that does not require a slip ring to secure an electrical connection in order to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an elevation angle rotation mechanism section in which a main shaft is connected to an arm holding an antenna, and a hinge is provided at an intermediate portion between the antenna and the main shaft. By rotating the antenna in the elevation direction around the hinge by moving the main axis up and down,
Further, the elevation rotation mechanism is connected to the azimuth rotation mechanism via the gear radial bearing, and the gear of the gear radial bearing is rotated by the drive motor to move the elevation rotation mechanism at a predetermined speed in the azimuth direction. By making it rotate, the wiring can be directly connected to the drive motor or the like without the slip ring.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an antenna rotating mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a central sectional view of an antenna rotating mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is related to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an arm portion, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a spindle holding metal fitting portion according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a radial bearing portion with a gear according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a drive portion of a spindle according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an elevation angle detection portion of a spindle according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an elevation housing according to an embodiment of the present invention. Is.

In FIG. 1, 1 is an antenna and 2 is an antenna 1.
Is an azimuth angle rotation mechanism section for rotating the antenna 1 in the arrow A direction, that is, the azimuth angle, and 3 is an elevation angle rotation mechanism section for rotating the antenna 1 in the arrow B direction, that is, the elevation angle direction.

The structure of the elevation angle rotating mechanism 3 will be described below. Antenna holding arms 15a and 15b are fixed to the back surface of the antenna 1 shown in FIG.

The rotary shaft 25 is provided in the rotary shaft hole 31 shown in FIG.
a and 25b are inserted and fixed, and the rotary shafts 25a and 25b are rotatably inserted into the rotation holes 32 provided in the elevation housing 30 shown in FIG. Reference numeral 5 shown in FIG. 4 denotes a spindle holding metal fitting, in which the rotary shafts 26a and 26b are planted in holes provided at the same center of the main spindle holding metal fitting 5, and the respective ends of the rotary shafts 26a and 26b are shown in FIG. As shown in FIG.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a tapered roller bearing 27 is inserted into a bearing hole 5a provided at the center of the main shaft holding metal fitting 5, and the main shaft 4 is inserted into this tapered roller bearing 27 so that it can rotate in the azimuth direction. Held in. The main shaft 4 is further slidable in the vertical direction by a thrust bearing 21 installed in a rotary shaft hole 5b provided at the center of the lower part of the elevation housing 30 and a thrust bearing 22 installed in the lower part of the azimuth housing 29. Held in.

As shown in FIG. 6, a rack 16 is fixed to the main shaft 4, and a gear 10 of an elevation angle rotary motor 7 fixed to an azimuth housing 29 meshes with the rack 16. Further, as shown in FIG.
The pin 23 is inserted into the elongated hole 11a of the arm 11. The arm 11 is connected to the elevation angle detector 9 via the rotary shaft 24, and rotates with the vertical movement of the main shaft 4. The shaft 24 rotates and the elevation angle can be detected.

Next, the structure of the azimuth angle rotation mechanism section 2 will be described below. The azimuth housing 29 shown in FIG. 2 is installed on the base 28, and the fixed portion 12c of the radial bearing 12 with gears is fixed to the upper portion thereof as shown in FIG. Further, the bottom surface 36 of the elevation angle housing 30 is brought into contact with the elevation angle rotation mechanism portion mounting surface 12b, and the elevation angle rotation mechanism portion 3 is held by a bolt or the like.

Further, a gear 6a provided on the azimuth rotation motor 6 fixed to the azimuth housing 29 meshes with the gear portion 12a. As shown in FIG. 2, the gear portion 12a meshes with a gear 8a provided on the azimuth detector 8 fixed to the azimuth housing 29.

With the above structure, the electrical connection from the outside is made to the azimuth angle rotation motor 6, the elevation angle rotation motor 7, the azimuth angle detector 8 and the elevation angle detector 9 by the wiring 17 through the connector 33 shown in FIG. Each is directly connected.

Next, the paths of radio waves transmitted and received will be described. Radio waves transmitted and received by the antenna 1 shown in FIG.
One end is connected to the rotary joint 14 and the other end is connected to the rotary joint 14 which is provided on one end of the antenna 1 and the other end of which is concentric with the rotary shaft 25a and rotates in the elevation direction. A waveguide 35 whose end is connected to a rotary joint 13 which is provided concentrically with the main shaft 4 and which rotates in the azimuth direction and whose one end is further connected to this rotary joint 13
And is led to an external signal processing device.

The rotation operation of the antenna 1 will be described below. When the azimuth rotation motor 6 shown in FIG. 5 is driven, the gear portion 12a rotates via the gear 6a, the elevation angle rotation mechanism portion 3 rotates 360 °, and the antenna 1 rotates in the azimuth direction.

The rotation angle can be detected by rotating the gear 8a of the azimuth detector 8 with the rotation of the gear portion 12a. The rotation in the elevation direction is performed by driving the elevation rotation motor 7 so that the rack 16 moves up and down via the gear 10 in accordance with the rotation direction thereof, and at the same time, the main shaft 4 and the rotation shafts 26a and 26b shown in FIG. By sliding up and down in the elongated hole 19 shown, the arms 15a and 15b rotate about the rotating shafts 25a and 25b, and the elevation angle of the antenna 1 rotates by a predetermined α °.

As shown in FIG. 7, the rotation angle of the rotary shaft 24 is detected by the elevation angle detector 9 as the pin 23 slides up and down in the slot 11a as the main shaft 4 moves up and down. be able to.

[0024]

As is apparent from the above-described embodiment, the antenna rotation mechanism of the present invention does not require a slip ring, and has the effect of making maintenance and inspection extremely easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rotating mechanism of an antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a central cross-sectional view of the rotating mechanism of the antenna according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an arm portion according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a spindle holding metal fitting portion according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a radial bearing portion with a gear according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a central portion of the main shaft according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the elevation angle detector portion of the main shaft according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an elevation angle housing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a central cross-sectional view of a rotating mechanism of an antenna according to a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Antenna 2 Azimuth Rotation Mechanism 3 Elevation Rotation Mechanism 4 Spindle 5 Spindle Holding Bracket 5a Rotation Shaft Hole 5b Rotation Shaft Hole 6 Azimuth Rotation Motor 6a Gear 7 Elevation Rotation Motor 8 Azimuth Detector 8a Gear 9 Elevation Detection 10 gears 11 arms 12 radial bearings with gears 12a gears 12b elevation angle rotation mechanism attachment surface 13 rotary joint 14 rotary joint 15a arm 15b arm 16 rack 17 wiring 18 balancer 19 slotted hole 20 waveguide 21 thrust bearing 22 thrust bearing 23 pin 24 rotary shaft 25a rotary shaft 25b rotary shaft 26a rotary shaft 26b rotary shaft 27 taper roller bearing 28 base 29 azimuth housing 30 elevation angle housing 31 rotary shaft hole 32 rotary shaft hole 33 connector 34 waveguide 35 waveguide 36 bottom surface 40 Elevation rotation Mechanism part 50 Azimuth rotation mechanism part 51 Azimuth housing 52 Spindle 53 Tapered roller bearing 54 Slip ring 55 Rotating ring 56 Brush holding bracket 57 Brush

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rotating mechanism for an antenna, comprising a rotating mechanism for azimuth and elevation directions, wherein a main shaft is connected to an arm holding the antenna, and a fulcrum is provided at an intermediate portion between the antenna and the main shaft, An elevation angle rotation mechanism unit that rotates the antenna in the elevation angle direction about the fulcrum by moving it up and down, and the elevation angle rotation mechanism unit is fixed to a gear unit of a geared radial bearing including a gear unit and a holding unit, and the holding unit Part is fixed to the azimuth rotation mechanism part, the gear part and the gear of the drive motor fixed to the azimuth rotation mechanism part are meshed, and the elevation rotation mechanism part is driven at a predetermined speed by driving the drive motor. An azimuth rotation mechanism unit that rotates in an azimuth direction, and an antenna rotation mechanism.