Electrically adjustable antenna shift mechanism

Abstract

The present invention relates to the technical field of positioning equipment, and specifically discloses an electrically adjustable antenna shift mechanism, comprising: a shift mechanism, including a shift slider and a shift transmission mechanism; a phase shift transmission mechanism, including a phase shift transmission shaft and a phase shift motor; a plurality of phase shift positioning mechanisms, each of which is arranged in sequence along the moving path of the shift slider; the phase shift positioning mechanism includes a clutch assembly, a phase shift slider for connecting with a phase shifter, and a phase shift screw assembly for driving the phase shift slider to move; the clutch assembly includes a clutch gear and an elastic element; the shift slider is used to drive the clutch gear to squeeze the elastic element, so that the phase shift screw assembly is connected to the phase shift transmission shaft through the clutch gear; the elastic element is used to drive the clutch gear to move toward the shift slider, so that the phase shift screw assembly is disconnected from the phase shift transmission shaft. The present invention provides an electrically adjustable antenna shift mechanism, which can use a phase shift motor to drive multiple phase shift sliders.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of positioning equipment, and in particular to a shift mechanism for an electrically adjustable antenna. Background Art

[0002] Generally, base stations are equipped with antennas, and several phase shifters are arranged inside the antennas. Different phase shifters correspond to different frequency bands. By adjusting the phase shifters to different positions, the signal of the base station antenna can cover different areas. At present, the position of the phase shifter is mainly adjusted electrically using a positioning device. The positioning device generally includes a phase shifter slider fixedly connected to the phase shifter, a phase shifter guide rod slidably connected to the phase shifter slider, a phase shifter screw threadedly connected to the phase shifter slider, and a phase shifter motor driving the phase shifter screw to rotate. When the phase shifter motor is working, the phase shifter screw rotates so that the phase shifter slider slides back and forth along the phase shifter guide rod, thereby adjusting the position of the phase shifter.

[0003] At present, each positioning device of base station antennas on the market is responsible for driving a phase shifter. However, with the popularization of 5G, antennas have rapidly developed in the direction of multi-band and miniaturization in recent years, and there are more and more phase shifters in antennas. The traditional technical solution of one phase shift motor driving one phase shift slider will make the antenna large and bulky, which can no longer meet the current development needs of the antenna industry.

[0004] Therefore, it is necessary to improve the existing position adjustment device to solve the problem that one phase shifting motor can only adjust one phase shifting slider. Summary of the invention

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide an electrically adjustable antenna shift mechanism that can use a phase shift motor to drive multiple phase shift sliders.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides an electrically adjustable antenna shift mechanism, comprising:

[0007] A shift mechanism, the shift mechanism comprising a shift slider and a shift transmission mechanism for driving the shift slider to move;

[0008] A phase-shift transmission mechanism, the phase-shift transmission mechanism comprising a phase-shift transmission shaft and a phase-shift motor for driving the phase-shift transmission shaft to rotate;

[0009] A plurality of phase shifting and adjusting mechanisms, each of which is arranged in sequence along the moving path of the shift slider; each phase shifting and adjusting mechanism comprises a clutch assembly, a phase shifting slider for driving the phase shifter to shift phase, and a phase shifting screw assembly for driving the phase shifting slider to move; the clutch assembly comprises a clutch gear that can move in a direction parallel to the phase shifting screw assembly and an elastic element for resetting the clutch gear;

[0010] The shift transmission mechanism drives the shift slider to move so that the shift slider pushes the corresponding clutch gear or disengages from the clutch gear. The shift slider pushes the clutch gear to move in a direction parallel to the phase-shift screw assembly and pushes the elastic element, and the phase-shift screw assembly and the phase-shift transmission shaft are meshed; the shift slider disengages from the clutch gear, so that the elastic element drives the clutch gear to reset, thereby disengaging the clutch gear from at least one of the phase-shift screw assembly and the phase-shift transmission shaft.

[0011] Preferably, the phase shifting and positioning mechanism further comprises a phase shifting guide rod, which is slidably connected to the phase shifting slider and is arranged parallel to the phase shifting screw rod assembly.

[0012] Preferably, the phase-shift screw assembly comprises an upper screw and a lower screw parallel to each other, wherein the upper screw is located above the lower screw; the upper screw and the lower screw are both threadedly connected to the phase-shift slider;

[0013] When the shift slider squeezes the elastic element through the clutch gear, both the upper screw rod and the lower screw rod are transmission-connected to the phase-shift transmission shaft through the clutch assembly.

[0014] Preferably, it also includes:

[0015] A base plate, on which the shift mechanism, the phase shift transmission mechanism and all the phase shift adjustment mechanisms are fixed.

[0016] Preferably, the shift transmission mechanism includes a shift guide rod slidably connected to the shift slider, a shift screw threadedly connected to the shift slider, and a shift motor for driving the shift screw to rotate; the shift guide rod is arranged in parallel with the shift screw.

[0017] Preferably, the shift transmission mechanism is further provided with a shift joint fixed on the base plate, one end of the shift joint is transmission-connected to the shift screw via a shift transmission shaft, and the other end is provided with a shift interface fixedly connected to the output shaft of the shift motor.

[0018] Preferably, the phase-shift transmission mechanism is further provided with a phase-shift joint fixed on the base plate, one end of the phase-shift joint is transmission-connected to the phase-shift transmission shaft, and the other end is provided with a phase-shift interface fixedly connected to the output shaft of the phase-shift motor.

[0019] Preferably, a main bevel gear is provided at a position on the phase-shift transmission shaft corresponding to each clutch assembly.

[0020] The beneficial effects of the present invention are: providing an electrically adjustable antenna shift mechanism, wherein a plurality of phase shift adjustment mechanisms are arranged in sequence along the moving path of the shift slider, and the shift transmission mechanism moves the shift slider to different positions, so that the shift slider can squeeze different clutch components. The phase shift motor drives the phase shift transmission shaft to rotate continuously: when the clutch component is pressed down by the shift slider, the corresponding phase shift screw assembly realizes transmission connection with the phase shift transmission shaft through the pressed clutch gear, and the phase shift screw assembly rotates, thereby driving the phase shift slider to slide, and finally realizing the position adjustment of the phase shifter on the phase shift slider. For the clutch gear that is not pressed down by the shift slider, the elastic element lifts the clutch gear in the direction close to the shift slider, so the corresponding phase shift screw assembly and the phase shift slider will not move, and the position of the phase shifter on the phase shift slider remains unchanged. Therefore, the electrically adjustable antenna shift mechanism provided in this embodiment can use a phase shift motor to perform separate position adjustment on multiple phase shift sliders, and each phase shift slider is fixed with a phase shifter, so the position adjustment of multiple phase shifters can be realized by using a phase shift motor, which not only reduces the volume of the equipment, but also reduces the manufacturing cost. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative labor.

[0022] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of the electric adjustment antenna shift mechanism provided in the embodiment;

[0023] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a phase-shifting transmission mechanism provided in an embodiment;

[0024] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a phase shifting and adjusting mechanism when the upper clutch is squeezed provided in an embodiment;

[0025] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the phase shifting and adjusting mechanism when the upper clutch is not squeezed provided in an embodiment.

[0026] In the figure:

[0027] 1. Bottom plate;

[0028] 2. Shift mechanism; 201. Shift slider; 202. Shift screw rod; 203. Shift joint; 2031. Shift interface; 204. Shift transmission shaft; 205. Shift guide rod;

[0029] 3. Phase-shift transmission mechanism; 301. Phase-shift transmission shaft; 3011. Main bevel gear; 302. Phase-shift joint; 3021. Phase-shift interface;

[0030] 4. Phase shifting and adjusting mechanism; 401. Clutch assembly; 4011. Upper clutch; 4012. Lower clutch; 4013. Clutch gear; 4014. Clutch shaft; 4015. Elastic element; 402. Phase shifting slider; 403. Phase shifting guide rod; 404. Phase shifting screw assembly; 4041. Upper screw rod; 4042. Lower screw rod; 4043. Upper circular gear;

[0031] 5. Vertical board;

[0032] 6. Transfer shaft;

[0033] 701, intermediate circular gear; 702, secondary bevel gear. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] In order to make the purpose, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the embodiments described below are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0035] In the description of the present invention, it is to be understood that when a component is considered to be "connected" to another component, it may be directly connected to the other component or there may be a centrally disposed component. When a component is considered to be "disposed on" another component, it may be directly disposed on the other component or there may be a centrally disposed component.

[0036] In addition, terms such as "long", "short", "inside" and "outside" indicating directions or positional relationships are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings and are only used to facilitate the description of the present invention. They do not indicate or imply that the device or component referred to must have this specific direction or operate with a specific direction structure, and should not be understood as a limitation of the present invention.

[0037] The technical solution of the present invention is further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and through specific implementation methods.

[0038] See also Figure 1 to Figure 4 The present embodiment provides an electrically adjustable antenna shift mechanism, comprising a base plate 1, on which a shift mechanism 2, a phase shift transmission mechanism 3 and a plurality of phase shift adjustment mechanisms 4 are fixedly mounted.

[0039] The shift mechanism 2 includes a shift slider 201 and a shift transmission mechanism for driving the shift slider 201 to move. Preferably, the shift transmission mechanism includes a shift guide rod 205 slidably connected to the shift slider 201, a shift screw rod 202 threadedly connected to the shift slider 201, and a shift motor for driving the shift screw rod 202 to rotate; the shift guide rod 205 is arranged in parallel with the shift screw rod 202. Specifically, the shift slider 201 can be made to slide left and right by controlling the forward and reverse rotation direction of the shift motor.

[0040] The phase-shift transmission mechanism 3 includes a phase-shift transmission shaft 301 and a phase-shift motor for driving the phase-shift transmission shaft 301 to rotate.

[0041] The phase shifting and adjusting mechanisms 4 are arranged in sequence along the moving path of the shifting slider 201. Each of the phase shifting and adjusting mechanisms 4 includes a clutch assembly 401, a phase shifting slider 402 for driving the phase shifter to shift phase, a phase shifting guide rod 403 slidably connected to the phase shifting slider 402, and a phase shifting screw assembly 404 for driving the phase shifting slider 402 to move. The phase shifting guide rod 403 is arranged parallel to the phase shifting screw assembly 404. By controlling the phase shifting motor to rotate forward and reverse, the phase shifting slider 402 can slide forward and backward, thereby adjusting the position of the phase shifter.

[0042] The clutch assembly 401 is located between the phase-shift screw assembly 404 and the phase-shift transmission shaft 301, and includes a clutch gear 4013 that can move in a direction parallel to the phase-shift screw assembly 404 and an elastic element 4015 that resets the clutch gear 4013; the shift slider 201 is used to drive the clutch gear 4013 to squeeze the elastic element 4015, so that the phase-shift screw assembly 404 is connected to the phase-shift transmission shaft 301 through the clutch gear 4013; the elastic element 4015 is used to drive the clutch gear 4013 to move toward the shift slider 201, so that the phase-shift screw assembly 404 is disconnected from the phase-shift transmission shaft 301. Specifically, the shift transmission mechanism 3 drives the shift slider 201 to move so that the shift slider 201 pushes the corresponding clutch gear 4013 or disengages from the clutch gear 4013. The shift slider 201 pushes the clutch gear 4013 to move in a direction parallel to the phase-shift screw assembly 404 and pushes the elastic element 4015, and the phase-shift screw assembly 404 is meshed with the phase-shift transmission shaft 301; the shift slider 201 disengages from the clutch gear 4013, so that the elastic element 4015 drives the clutch gear 4013 to reset, thereby causing the clutch gear 4013 to disengage from at least one of the phase-shift screw assembly 404 and the phase-shift transmission shaft 301.

[0043] In this embodiment, the axial directions of the phase shift screw assembly 404 and the shift screw 202 are perpendicular to each other; the axial directions of the phase shift transmission shaft 301 and the shift screw 202 are parallel to each other. Optionally, the phase shift adjustment mechanism 4 can be one, two, three or even more, which is not limited in this embodiment.

[0044] The shift mechanism of the electrically adjustable antenna provided in this embodiment has several phase shifting and adjusting mechanisms 4 arranged in sequence along the moving path of the shift slider 201. The shift transmission mechanism moves the shift slider 201 to different positions, so that the shift slider 201 can squeeze different clutch assemblies 401. The phase shifting motor drives the phase shifting transmission shaft 301 to rotate continuously: when the clutch assembly 401 is pressed down by the shift slider 201, the corresponding phase shifting screw assembly 404 realizes transmission connection with the phase shifting transmission shaft 301 through the pressed clutch gear 4013, and the phase shifting screw assembly 404 rotates, thereby driving the phase shifting slider 402 to slide, and finally realizing the position adjustment of the phase shifter on the phase shifting slider 402. For the clutch gear 4013 that is not pressed down by the shift slider 201, the elastic element 4015 pushes the clutch gear 4013 toward the direction close to the shift slider 201, so the corresponding phase shifting screw assembly 404 and the phase shifting slider 402 will not move, and the position of the phase shifter on the phase shifting slider 402 remains unchanged. The electrically adjustable antenna shift mechanism provided in this embodiment can use one phase shifting motor to perform individual position adjustment on multiple phase shifting sliders 402. Each phase shifting slider 402 is fixedly connected to a phase shifter, so one phase shifting motor and one shifting motor can be used to achieve position adjustment of multiple phase shifters, which not only reduces the size of the device, but also reduces the manufacturing cost.

[0045] In this embodiment, the phase-shift screw assembly 404 includes an upper screw 4041 and a lower screw 4042 which are parallel to each other, and the upper screw 4041 is located above the lower screw 4042; the upper screw 4041 and the lower screw 4042 are both threadedly connected to the phase-shift slider 402. The clutch assembly 401 includes an upper clutch 4011 and a lower clutch 4012, and the upper clutch 4011 is located above the lower clutch 4012; when the shift slider 201 squeezes the elastic element 4015 through the clutch gear 4013, the upper screw 4041 is connected to the phase-shift transmission shaft 301 through the upper clutch 4011; the lower screw 4042 is connected to the phase-shift transmission shaft 301 through the lower clutch 4012. Specifically, the shape of the shift slider 201 can be controlled so that the shift slider 201 squeezes the upper clutch 4011 and the lower clutch 4012 at the same time. When the elastic element 4015 lifts the clutch gear 4013, the upper screw rod 4041 is disengaged from the upper clutch 4011, and the lower screw rod 4042 is disengaged from the lower clutch 4012. Thus, the upper screw rod 4041 and the lower screw rod 4042 are rotated synchronously.

[0046] It is understandable that using two synchronously rotating screws to drive the phase-shifting slider 402 can make the sliding of the phase-shifting slider 402 more stable. Of course, in some other embodiments, the phase-shifting screw assembly 404 can also include one, three, four, five or even more screws; the screws can also be arranged in a horizontal straight line, a vertical straight line, a triangle or a rectangle, etc., which is not limited in this embodiment.

[0047] In this embodiment, a main bevel gear 3011 is provided at a position corresponding to each clutch assembly 401 on the phase-shift transmission shaft 301. When a clutch assembly 401 is pressed down by the shift slider 201, the corresponding main bevel gear 3011 will engage with the pressed clutch assembly 401 and then drive the corresponding phase-shift screw assembly 404, while the main bevel gear 3011 corresponding to the clutch assembly 401 that is not pressed down remains in an idling state.

[0048] Specifically, a vertical plate 5 is fixed on the bottom plate 1, and the ends of the upper screw rod 4041 and the lower screw rod 4042 are both rotatably connected to the vertical plate 5 through bearings. Taking the upper screw rod 4041 and the upper clutch 4011 as an example, an upper circular gear 4043 is fixed on the upper screw rod 4041, and the upper circular gear 4043 is located on the side of the vertical plate 5 close to the shift slider 201. The vertical plate 5 is also provided with a transfer shaft 6, and the axis of the transfer shaft 6 is parallel to the axis of the upper screw rod 4041. The other end of the transfer shaft 6 is rotatably connected to the transfer circular gear 701, and the side of the transfer circular gear 701 close to the main bevel gear 3011 is provided with a slave bevel gear 702 meshing with the main bevel gear 3011, and the slave bevel gear 702 is coaxial with the transfer circular gear 701 and fixedly connected. The upper clutch 4011 is located between the transfer circular gear 701 and the upper circular gear 4043. A clutch shaft 4014 is provided on the vertical plate 5, a clutch gear 4013 is sleeved on the clutch shaft 4014, and an elastic element 4015 is located between the clutch shaft 4014 and the clutch gear 4013. The clutch gear 4013 can slide relative to the clutch shaft 4014 along the axis, and can also rotate relative to the clutch shaft 4014 around the axis.

[0049] See also Figure 3 When the shift slider 201 squeezes the clutch gear 4013, the clutch gear 4013 meshes with the intermediate circular gear 701 and the upper circular gear 4043 respectively. When the phase-shift transmission shaft 301 drives the main bevel gear 3011 to rotate, the main bevel gear 3011 drives the upper screw rod 4041 to rotate in sequence through the slave bevel gear 702, the intermediate circular gear 701, the clutch gear 4013 and the upper circular gear 4043;

[0050] See also Figure 4When the shift slider 201 leaves the clutch gear 4013, the elastic element 4015 pushes the clutch gear 4013 out, and the power transmission between the intermediate circular gear 701 and the upper circular gear 4043 is interrupted, and the upper screw rod 4041 does not rotate, so the phase shift slider 402 can be kept stationary. It can be understood that the lower screw rod 4042 is also meshed with the intermediate circular gear 701 through the lower clutch 4012, and its structure is similar to that of the upper clutch 4011, so it is not described in detail.

[0051] In some other embodiments, a plurality of transmission gears may be provided between the intermediate circular gear 701 and the clutch gear 4013 , and between the upper circular gear 4043 and the clutch gear 4013 .

[0052] Optionally, the shift transmission mechanism is further provided with a shift joint 203 fixed on the base plate 1, one end of the shift joint 203 is transmission-connected to the shift screw 202 via a shift transmission shaft 204, and the other end is provided with a shift interface 2031 fixedly connected to the output shaft of the shift motor. Specifically, the shift transmission shaft 204 and the shift screw 202 can be rotated in turn by inserting the output shaft of the shift motor into the shift interface 2031, thereby realizing the position adjustment of the shift slider 201.

[0053] Correspondingly, the phase-shift transmission mechanism 3 is further provided with a phase-shift joint 302 fixed on the base plate 1, one end of the phase-shift joint 302 is in transmission connection with the phase-shift transmission shaft 301, and the other end is provided with a phase-shift interface 3021 fixedly connected with the output shaft of the phase-shift motor. Specifically, by inserting the output shaft of the phase-shift motor into the phase-shift interface 3021, the phase-shift transmission shaft 301, the clutch gear 4013 squeezed by the shift slider 201, and the corresponding phase-shift screw assembly 404 can be rotated in sequence, thereby realizing the position adjustment of the phase-shift slider 402.

[0054] The electric antenna shift mechanism provided in this embodiment has the following advantages:

[0055] ① One phase shifting motor and one shifting motor can be used to individually adjust the positions of any number of phase shifting sliders 402, which not only reduces the size of the device but also reduces the manufacturing cost;

[0056] ② The upper screw rod 4041 and the lower screw rod 4042 are arranged in layers, which effectively saves width space. The clutch gear 4013 is placed in the center, so that the upper and lower screw rods share a clutch gear 4013 to realize transmission with the phase-shifting transmission shaft 301, which is beneficial to reduce the number of main bevel gears 3011 and improve the reliability of the whole machine.

[0057] The electric antenna shift mechanism provided in this embodiment has a phase shift adjustment mechanism 4 corresponding to each gear position arranged in layers and horizontally, which reduces the external dimensions. In terms of layers and width, it can be infinitely expanded in theory to meet the use of more phase shifters. In this embodiment, the shift slider 201 squeezes the elastic element 4015, and the elastic element 4015 drives the clutch gear 4013 to slide back and forth, and finally realizes the transmission connection between the phase shift screw assembly 404 and the phase shift transmission shaft 301. This solution uses a screw to shift gears, and works more stably and reliably at high and low temperatures.

[0058] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit the same. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments may still be modified, or some of the technical features may be replaced by equivalents. However, these modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. An electrically adjustable antenna shift mechanism, characterized in that: include: A shift mechanism, the shift mechanism comprising a shift slider and a shift transmission mechanism for driving the shift slider to move; A phase-shift transmission mechanism, the phase-shift transmission mechanism comprising a phase-shift transmission shaft and a phase-shift motor for driving the phase-shift transmission shaft to rotate; A plurality of phase shifting and adjusting mechanisms, each of which is arranged in sequence along the moving path of the shift slider; each phase shifting and adjusting mechanism comprises a clutch assembly, a phase shifting slider for driving the phase shifter to shift phase, and a phase shifting screw assembly for driving the phase shifting slider to move; the clutch assembly comprises a clutch gear that can move in a direction parallel to the phase shifting screw assembly and an elastic element for resetting the clutch gear; The shift transmission mechanism drives the shift slider to move so that the shift slider pushes the corresponding clutch gear or disengages from the clutch gear. The shift slider pushes the clutch gear to move in a direction parallel to the phase-shift screw assembly and pushes the elastic element, and the phase-shift screw assembly and the phase-shift transmission shaft are meshed; the shift slider disengages from the clutch gear, so that the elastic element drives the clutch gear to reset, thereby disengaging the clutch gear from at least one of the phase-shift screw assembly and the phase-shift transmission shaft.

2. The electrically adjustable antenna shift mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: The phase shifting and positioning mechanism further comprises a phase shifting guide rod, which is slidably connected to the phase shifting slider and is arranged parallel to the phase shifting screw rod assembly.

3. The electric antenna shift mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: The phase-shift screw assembly comprises an upper screw and a lower screw parallel to each other, wherein the upper screw is located above the lower screw; the upper screw and the lower screw are both threadedly connected to the phase-shift slider; When the shift slider squeezes the elastic element through the clutch gear, both the upper screw rod and the lower screw rod are transmission-connected to the phase-shift transmission shaft through the clutch assembly.

4. The electric antenna shift mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: Also includes: A base plate, on which the shift mechanism, the phase shift transmission mechanism and all the phase shift adjustment mechanisms are fixed.

5. The electric antenna shift mechanism according to claim 4, characterized in that: The shift transmission mechanism comprises a shift guide rod slidably connected to the shift slider, a shift screw rod threadably connected to the shift slider, and a shift motor for driving the shift screw rod to rotate; the shift guide rod is arranged in parallel with the shift screw rod.

6. The electrically adjustable antenna shift mechanism according to claim 5, characterized in that: The shift transmission mechanism is also provided with a shift joint fixed on the base plate, one end of the shift joint is transmission-connected to the shift screw through a shift transmission shaft, and the other end is provided with a shift interface fixedly connected to the output shaft of the shift motor.

7. The electrically adjustable antenna shift mechanism according to claim 4, characterized in that: The phase-shift transmission mechanism is also provided with a phase-shift joint fixed on the bottom plate, one end of the phase-shift joint is transmission-connected to the phase-shift transmission shaft, and the other end is provided with a phase-shift interface fixedly connected to the output shaft of the phase-shift motor.

8. The electrically adjustable antenna shift mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: A main bevel gear is arranged at a position on the phase-shift transmission shaft corresponding to each clutch assembly.

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