Multi-frequency antenna and frequency-selective phase-shifting device thereof

Abstract

The present invention provides a frequency-selective phase-shifting device, in which a driving gear is fixedly provided on a connecting rod assembly on a transmission nut through the phase-shifting mechanism; the transmission screw drives the transmission nut to move linearly to drive the driving gear to align and mesh with the phase-shifting gear of any phase-shifting assembly, that is, the phase-shifting assembly corresponding to an antenna of a certain frequency band is selected. The driving gear is driven to rotate through the connecting rod assembly to drive the phase-shifting gear of the phase-shifting assembly to rotate, so as to drive the phase-shifting assembly to perform phase shifting, so as to perform phase adjustment operation on the antenna of the frequency band corresponding to the phase-shifting assembly. Therefore, the purpose of controlling the phase shifting of antenna frequency band signals corresponding to multiple phase-shifting racks is achieved. The present invention also provides a multi-frequency antenna comprising the frequency-selective phase-shifting device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of mobile communications, and in particular relates to a multi-frequency antenna and a frequency selection and phase shifting device thereof. Background Art

[0002] As the number of mobile communication terminal users continues to increase, the demand for network capacity of sites in mobile cellular networks is increasing. At the same time, it is required to minimize the interference between different sites or even between different sectors of the same site, that is, to maximize network capacity and minimize interference. To achieve this goal, it is usually achieved by adjusting the downtilt angle of the antenna beam on the site.

[0003] Among the two ways to adjust the beam downtilt angle, mechanical downtilt and electronic downtilt, electronic downtilt has obvious advantages and is the current mainstream and future development trend. The control of electrical downtilt angle is mainly divided into two categories: internal and external, among which internal control is the current and future mainstream.

[0004] However, the motor used to drive the phase shifter in the traditional transmission device still corresponds to the transmission mechanism of the phase shifter one by one, the number of motors has not been reduced, and the number of driving circuits and motors in the control module has not been reduced. If the frequency band of the antenna continues to increase, the transmission system structure will become more complex and bulky, affecting the reliability of the multi-frequency antenna.

[0005] The applicant has implemented relevant technical solutions to the above problems, but there is still room for improvement in terms of stable control and simple operation. In particular, for the situation of controlling multiple devices with one device, there is still much room for improvement in the relevant structure. Summary of the invention

[0006] The first object of the present invention is to provide a frequency-selective phase-shifting device with stable control and simple operation.

[0007] Another object of the present invention is to provide a multi-frequency antenna.

[0008] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

[0009] The frequency-selective phase-shifting device provided by the present invention comprises phase-shifting components corresponding to a plurality of frequency bands arranged side by side, a frequency-selecting mechanism which is controlled by a driving torque to select a phase-shifting component of one of the frequency bands, and a phase-shifting mechanism which is controlled by a driving torque to implement phase-shifting control on the selected phase-shifting component, wherein the frequency-selecting mechanism comprises a transmission screw which is axially arranged parallel to the arrangement direction of the plurality of phase-shifting components and a transmission nut which is threadedly arranged with the transmission screw; the phase-shifting mechanism comprises a connecting rod assembly arranged on the transmission nut, on which a driving gear is fixed; the transmission screw drives the transmission nut to move linearly to drive the driving gear to align and mesh with the phase-shifting gear of any phase-shifting component, and the driving gear rotates to drive the phase-shifting gear to rotate, so as to drive the phase-shifting component to implement phase-shifting.

[0010] Furthermore, the phase shifting assembly includes a phase shifting screw and a phase shifting member threadedly mounted on the phase shifting screw, and the phase shifting gear is fixedly mounted on the phase shifting screw.

[0011] Furthermore, the connecting rod assembly includes a plurality of connected triangular connecting rods arranged in sequence along the axial direction of the phase-shifting screw, an output shaft is provided on the triangular connecting rod arranged at one end of the connecting rod assembly, and the driving gear is fixed on the output shaft.

[0012] Furthermore, the sub-rods of two adjacent triangular connecting rods are pivotally connected to each other in a one-to-one correspondence through sliding blocks.

[0013] Furthermore, an input shaft is provided on the triangular connecting rod arranged at the other end of the connecting rod assembly, the input shaft is connected to the first motor, and one end of the transmission screw is connected to the second motor.

[0014] Furthermore, the phase shifting mechanism also includes a fixed seat, the fixed seat is fixedly connected to the transmission screw, and the connecting rod assembly is arranged on the fixed seat.

[0015] Furthermore, the frequency-selective phase-shifting device also includes a support base, and the support base is used to support the phase-shifting screw, the frequency-selective mechanism and the phase-shifting mechanism.

[0016] Furthermore, the phase-shifting gear and the phase-shifting screw are integrally formed.

[0017] Furthermore, the frequency-selective phase-shifting device is provided with two rows of phase-shifting components, and the two rows of phase-shifting components are arranged on both sides of the axial direction of the transmission screw, and the two rows of phase-shifting components are staggered.

[0018] The present invention also provides a multi-frequency antenna, comprising a plurality of phase shifting components corresponding to a plurality of frequency bands, and the above-mentioned frequency-selective phase shifting device, each of the phase shifting components having a corresponding phase shifting component in the frequency-selective phase shifting device and being linked therewith.

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the advantages of the present invention are as follows:

[0020] The present invention provides a frequency-selective phase-shifting device, in which a driving gear is fixed on a connecting rod assembly on a transmission nut through the phase-shifting mechanism; the transmission screw drives the transmission nut to move linearly to drive the driving gear to align and mesh with the phase-shifting gear of any phase-shifting assembly, that is, the phase-shifting assembly corresponding to a certain frequency band antenna is selected. The connecting rod assembly drives the driving gear to rotate to drive the phase-shifting gear of the phase-shifting assembly to rotate, so as to drive the phase-shifting assembly to perform phase shifting, so as to perform phase adjustment operation on the antenna of the frequency band corresponding to the phase-shifting assembly. Therefore, the purpose of controlling the phase shifting of antenna frequency band signals corresponding to multiple phase-shifting racks is achieved.

[0021] In addition, the frequency selection and phase shifting device of the present invention has a simple structure, the frequency selection mechanism and the moving mechanism are combined ingeniously and reasonably, the operation is simple, and the phase adjustment is stable.

[0022] Additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will be given in part in the following description, which will become obvious from the following description, or may be learned through practice of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] The above and / or additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and easily understood from the following description of the embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0024] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the frequency-selective phase-shifting device provided by the present invention;

[0025] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the connecting rod assembly of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the middle triangular connecting rod structure of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the end triangular connecting rod structure of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] Embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although certain embodiments of the present invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the present invention can be implemented in various forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments described herein, which are instead provided for a more thorough and complete understanding of the present invention. It should be understood that the drawings and embodiments of the present invention are only for exemplary purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0029] The term "including" and its variations used herein are open inclusions, i.e., "including but not limited to". The term "connected" may be directly connected or indirectly connected through intermediate components (elements). The term "one embodiment" means "at least one embodiment"; the term "another embodiment" means "at least one other embodiment"; the term "some embodiments" means "at least some embodiments". The relevant definitions of other terms will be given in the following description.

[0030] It should be noted that the concepts such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the present invention are only used to distinguish between devices, modules or units, and are not used to limit these devices, modules or units to be different devices, modules or units, nor are they used to limit the order or interdependence of the functions performed by these devices, modules or units.

[0031] The present invention provides an antenna frequency selection and phase shifting device, such as Figure 1 As shown, the frequency-selective phase-shifting device includes phase-shifting components 1 corresponding to multiple frequency bands arranged side by side, a frequency-selecting mechanism 2 which is controlled by a driving torque to select a phase-shifting component 1 in one frequency band, and a phase-shifting mechanism 3 which is controlled by a driving torque to perform phase-shifting control on the selected phase-shifting component 1.

[0032] A plurality of phase shifting assemblies 1 are arranged side by side. In one embodiment, the phase shifting assembly 1 includes a phase shifting screw 11 and a phase shifting member 12 screwed with the phase shifting screw 11, and the phase shifting screw 11 and the phase shifting member 12 constitute a screw transmission mechanism. The phase shifting gear 10 is fixed to the end of the phase shifting screw 11. The phase shifting member 12 is used to connect with a phase shifting component of an external phase shifter (not shown in the drawings). The antenna frequency selection phase shifting device provided by the present invention has a plurality of phase shifting assemblies 1 and a plurality of corresponding phase shifting members 12, and the plurality of phase shifting members 12 are respectively connected with phase shifting components of external phase shifters of different frequency bands.

[0033] When the phase-shifting gear 10 rotates, the phase-shifting gear 10 drives the phase-shifting screw 11 to rotate. Since the phase-shifting member 12 and the phase-shifting screw 11 constitute a screw transmission mechanism, when the phase-shifting screw 11 rotates circumferentially, the phase-shifting member 12 does not rotate circumferentially in the same direction as the phase-shifting screw 11, and the phase-shifting member 12 moves linearly along the axial direction of the phase-shifting screw 11 corresponding to the circumferential rotation direction of the phase-shifting screw 11. The phase-shifting member 12 further drives the phase-shifting component of the external phase shifter connected thereto to move, so as to realize the phase adjustment operation of the external phase shifter. Therefore, by controlling the rotation direction and the number of rotations of the phase-shifting screw 11, the movement direction and displacement of the phase-shifting member 12 can be controlled to control the displacement of the phase-shifting component of the phase shifter of the corresponding frequency band, so as to achieve the purpose of controlling the phase adjustment of the phase shifter of the frequency band. The phase-shifting gear 10 can be integrally formed with the phase-shifting screw 11, or it can be fixedly arranged at the end of the phase-shifting screw 11 as an independent accessory.

[0034] In other embodiments, the phase shifting assembly 1 may also be composed of a phase shifting gear and a phase shifting rack. The phase shifting rack is used to connect with the phase shifting component of the external phase shifter. When the phase shifting gear is meshed with the phase shifting rack, the phase shifting gear stays at the same position and rotates, and the phase shifting rack can be driven to move along its length direction in a straight line corresponding to the rotation direction of the phase shifting gear, so as to drive the phase shifting component of the external phase shifter connected thereto to move, thereby achieving the purpose of controlling the phase modulation of the phase shifter in this frequency band.

[0035] The frequency selection mechanism 2 comprises a transmission screw 21 axially arranged parallel to the arrangement direction of the plurality of phase shifting components 1 and a transmission nut 22 threadedly arranged with the transmission screw 21 .

[0036] The transmission nut 22 is sleeved on the transmission screw 21. The gear hole of the transmission nut 22 is a threaded hole, and the threaded hole matches the transmission screw 21, so that the transmission nut 22 and the transmission screw 21 form a transmission screw mechanism. When the transmission screw 21 rotates circumferentially, the transmission nut 22 does not rotate circumferentially but is driven by the transmission screw 21 to move linearly along the axial direction of the transmission screw 21 in the same direction as the rotation direction of the transmission screw 21. The transmission nut 22 moves within the position range of the plurality of phase shifting assemblies 1 corresponding to the transmission screw 21.

[0037] The phase shifting mechanism 3 includes a connecting rod assembly 31 disposed on the transmission nut 22 , and a driving gear 32 is fixedly disposed on the connecting rod assembly 31 .

[0038] Combination Figure 2 As shown, the connecting rod assembly 31 includes a plurality of connected triangular connecting rods 310 arranged in sequence along the axial direction of the phase-shifting screw 11, and an output shaft 3111 is provided on the triangular connecting rod 310 arranged at one end of the connecting rod assembly 31, and the driving gear 32 is fixed on the output shaft 3111. Among two adjacent triangular connecting rods 310, the three sub-rods 312 of one triangular connecting rod are respectively pivotally connected with the three sub-rods 312 of the adjacent triangular connecting rod through the slider 4.

[0039] Specifically, in some embodiments, the connecting rod assembly 31 is connected by three triangular connecting rods 310, including a central triangular connecting rod 3101 and two end triangular connecting rods 3102 located on both sides of the central triangular connecting rod 3101. Figure 3 As shown, the middle triangular connecting rod 3101 includes three sub-rods 312 extending outward from the same center, and connecting posts 313 arranged on both sides of the ends of the sub-rods 312. Figure 4As shown, the difference between the end triangular link 3102 and the middle triangular link 3101 is that only one side of the end of each sub-rod 312 of the end triangular link 3102 is provided with a connecting column 313, and a torque transmission shaft 311 is also provided at the center of the end triangular link 3102. Two adjacent triangular links 310 are connected by a slider 4, and connecting circular holes 41 are respectively provided at both ends of the slider 4. The connection relationship of the connecting rod assembly 31 is as follows: the connecting column 313 of a sub-rod 312 of the end triangular link 3102 is inserted into one of the connecting circular holes 41 of the slider 4, and the connecting column 313 of a sub-rod 312 of the middle triangular link 3101 is inserted into another connecting circular hole 41 of the slider 4. The three sub-rods 312 of the end triangular link 3102 are pivotally connected to the three sub-rods 312 of the middle triangular link 3101 by three sliders 4 respectively. At the same time, the three connecting columns 313 on the other side of the middle triangular connecting rod 3101 are pivotally connected to the triangular connecting rod 3102 at the other end through three sliding blocks 4.

[0040] The torque transmission shaft 311 of the end triangular connecting rod 3102 at one end serves as the input shaft 3110 of the torque input of the connecting rod assembly 31, and the torque transmission shaft 311 of the end triangular connecting rod 3102 at the other end serves as the output shaft 3111 of the torque output of the connecting rod assembly 31. When the input shaft 3110 receives the transmission torque, the input shaft 3110 drives the end triangular connecting rod 3102, the end triangular connecting rod 3102 drives the middle triangular connecting rod 3101 through the slider, and the middle triangular connecting rod 3101 drives the other end triangular connecting rod 3102 through the link slider 4, and finally transmits the torque to the output shaft 3111.

[0041] In other embodiments, the connecting rod assembly 31 may also include two or more middle triangular connecting rods 3101 .

[0042] The phase shift mechanism 3 also includes a fixed seat, which is fixedly connected to the transmission screw 21, and the connecting rod assembly 31 is arranged on the fixed seat. The output shaft 3111 of the connecting rod assembly 31 passes through the fixed seat of the transmission nut 22, and the driving gear 32 is fixedly arranged at the end of the output shaft 3111, so that the driving gear 32 of the phase shift mechanism 3 is located at one end of the fixed seat of the transmission nut 22 close to the phase shift assembly 1, and the connecting rod assembly 31 of the phase shift mechanism 3 is located at the other end of the fixed seat of the transmission nut 22. When the transmission screw 21 rotates, the transmission screw 21 drives the transmission nut 22 to move linearly, and the transmission nut 22 drives the driving gear 32 to move in the same direction at the same time, so as to align and mesh with the phase shift gear 10 of any phase shift assembly 1. When the driving gear 32 meshes with the phase shift gear 10 of one of the phase shift assemblies 1, by driving the connecting rod assembly 31 to rotate, the connecting rod assembly 31 drives the driving gear 32 to rotate to drive the phase shift gear 10 to rotate, thereby driving the phase shift assembly 1 to implement phase shifting.

[0043] In other embodiments, the phase shifting assembly 1 includes a phase shifting rack, and the transmission nut 22 drives the driving gear 32 to move in the same direction at the same time, and can mesh with any phase shifting rack. By driving the connecting rod assembly 31 to rotate, the connecting rod assembly 31 drives the driving gear 32 to rotate to drive the phase shifting rack to perform the phase shifting operation.

[0044] The frequency-selective phase shifting device further includes a first motor 5 and a second motor 6. The first motor 5 is connected to the input shaft 3110 of the connecting rod assembly 31, outputs a first driving torque to the connecting rod assembly 31, and controls the number of rotations and the direction of rotation of the input shaft 3110.

[0045] The second motor 6 is connected to one end of the transmission screw 21, outputs a second driving torque to the transmission screw 21, and controls the number of rotations and the direction of rotation of the transmission screw 21. When it is necessary to perform a phase shift operation on a target phase shift component 1 corresponding to a certain frequency band of the frequency selective phase shifting device, the second motor 6 is driven to output a driving torque to the transmission screw 21, so that the transmission screw 21 rotates, and then the transmission nut 22 constituting a screw transmission mechanism with the transmission screw 21 moves along the transmission screw 21. When the transmission nut 22 drives the driving gear 32 to move to the position of the target phase shift component 1 and meshes with the phase shift gear 10 of the target phase shift component 1, the second motor 6 is stopped from being driven, and the frequency selection operation of the frequency selective phase shifting device is completed.

[0046] Then the first motor 5 is driven, and the first motor 5 drives the input shaft 3110 of the connecting rod assembly 31 to rotate. The connecting rod assembly 31 transmits the driving torque of the first motor 5 to the output shaft 3111 of the connecting rod assembly 31. The output shaft 3111 drives the driving gear 32 to rotate, and the driving gear 32 further drives the phase-shifting gear 10 meshing therewith to rotate.

[0047] The phase-shifting gear 10 further drives the phase-shifting screw 11 fixedly connected thereto, so that the phase-shifting member 12 moves along the phase-shifting screw 11. When the displacement of the phase-shifting member 12 reaches the displacement required for the phase shifter of its corresponding frequency band, the driving of the first motor 5 is stopped. This step completes the phase adjustment of the phase shifter of the corresponding frequency band of the target phase-shifting component 1. The frequency-selective phase-shifting device determines the rotation direction of the second motor 6 and the time for outputting the second driving torque according to the position of the target phase-shifting component 1 corresponding to the antenna frequency band to be selected in the multiple phase-shifting components 1 and the displacement direction of the transmission nut 22 required.

[0048] The direction and displacement of the phase shifter 12 are determined according to the phase adjustment requirements of the target phase shifting assembly 1, thereby determining the rotation direction and time of the first motor 5 to output the first driving torque.

[0049] The frequency selection and phase shifting device further comprises a support base, which is used to support the phase shifting screw 11 , the frequency selection mechanism 2 and the phase shifting mechanism 3 .

[0050] In other embodiments, the frequency-selective phase-shifting device may also be provided with two rows of phase-shifting components 1, which are arranged along the axial direction of the transmission screw 21 and distributed on both sides of the transmission screw 21, and the two rows of phase-shifting components are staggered. In the process of the driving gear 32 moving along the transmission screw 21, it can only mesh with one of the phase-shifting gears 10 of one row of phase-shifting components 1 at a time. The number of phase-shifting racks 1 can be set according to the specific requirements of the antenna frequency-selective phase-shifting device, and is not limited here.

[0051] In the above embodiment, the frequency selection phase shifting device is provided with only one driving gear 32. In other embodiments, two driving gears 32 may be provided in the phase shifting mechanism 3. The two driving gears 32 share the fixing seat of the transmission nut 22, and only one driving gear 32 is meshed with the phase shifting gear 10 at a time. In this regard, those skilled in the art can flexibly change different embodiments according to the creative spirit of the present invention, and will not be elaborated on.

[0052] The present invention further provides a multi-frequency antenna, which includes multiple phase shifting components corresponding to multiple frequency bands and the above-mentioned frequency-selective phase shifting device, each phase shifting component has a corresponding phase shifting component in the frequency-selective phase shifting device and is arranged in linkage therewith.

[0053] In summary, the present invention optimizes the frequency selection and phase shifting device required for phase modulation, has a simple structure, and can more stably and easily realize the phase modulation control of any frequency band signal in the multi-frequency antenna, meeting the requirements of having a simple and lightweight frequency selection and phase shifting device as the frequency band of the antenna continues to increase, thereby improving the reliability of the multi-frequency antenna.

[0054] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and an explanation of the technical principles used. Those skilled in the art should understand that the scope of the invention involved in the present invention is not limited to the technical solution formed by a specific combination of the above technical features, but should also cover other technical solutions formed by any combination of the above technical features or their equivalent features without departing from the above inventive concept. For example, the above features are replaced with the technical features with similar functions invented in the present invention (but not limited to) to form a technical solution.

Claims

1. A frequency-selective phase-shifting device, comprising phase-shifting components corresponding to a plurality of frequency bands arranged side by side, a frequency-selecting mechanism for selecting a phase-shifting component of one frequency band under the control of a driving torque, and a phase-shifting mechanism for performing phase-shifting control on the selected phase-shifting component under the control of a driving torque, characterized in that: The frequency selection mechanism includes a transmission screw axially arranged parallel to the arrangement direction of the plurality of phase shifting components and a transmission nut threadedly arranged with the transmission screw, the phase shifting component includes a phase shifting screw and a phase shifting member threadedly arranged with the phase shifting screw, and the phase shifting gear is fixedly arranged on the phase shifting screw; The phase shifting mechanism comprises a connecting rod assembly arranged on a transmission nut, a driving gear is fixedly arranged on the connecting rod assembly, the connecting rod assembly comprises a plurality of connected triangular connecting rods arranged in sequence along the axial direction of the phase shifting screw, an output shaft is arranged on the triangular connecting rod arranged at one end of the connecting rod assembly, and the driving gear is fixedly arranged on the output shaft; The transmission screw drives the transmission nut to move linearly to drive the driving gear to align and mesh with the phase-shifting gear of any phase-shifting assembly. The driving gear rotates to drive the phase-shifting gear to rotate, so as to drive the phase-shifting assembly to perform phase shifting.

2. The frequency-selective phase shifting device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The sub-rods of two adjacent triangular connecting rods are pivotally connected in a one-to-one correspondence through sliding blocks.

3. The frequency-selective phase shifting device according to claim 1, characterized in that: An input shaft is provided on the triangular connecting rod arranged at the other end of the connecting rod assembly. The input shaft is connected to the first motor, and one end of the transmission screw is connected to the second motor.

4. The frequency-selective phase shifting device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The phase shifting mechanism further comprises a fixing seat, the fixing seat is fixedly connected to the transmission screw, and the connecting rod assembly is arranged on the fixing seat.

5. The frequency-selective phase shifting device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The frequency-selective phase-shifting device further comprises a support base, and the support base is used to support the phase-shifting screw, the frequency-selective mechanism and the phase-shifting mechanism.

6. The frequency-selective phase shifting device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The phase-shifting gear and the phase-shifting screw are integrally formed.

7. The frequency-selective phase shifting device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The frequency-selective phase-shifting device is provided with two rows of phase-shifting components, which are arranged on both sides of the axial direction of the transmission screw, and the two rows of phase-shifting components are staggered.

8. A multi-frequency antenna, comprising a plurality of phase shifting components corresponding to a plurality of frequency bands, characterized in that: It comprises the frequency-selective phase-shifting device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, and each of the phase-shifting components has a corresponding phase-shifting component in the frequency-selective phase-shifting device and is arranged in linkage therewith.

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