Ridged waveguide to rectangular waveguide adaptor useful for feeding phased array antenna

A microwave waveguide adaptor comprising:

• a rectangular waveguide input/output port;
• a ridged waveguide input/output port;
• a non-resonant cavity disposed between and physically connecting said input/output ports;
• and
• a parallel conductor transmission line structure passing through said non-resonant cavity and electrically interconnecting said input/output ports;
• wherein said input/output ports each have respective E and H plane dimensions and wherein the E-plane dimension of one port is oriented differently than the E-plane dimension of the other port.

A microwave waveguide adaptor comprising:

• a first metallic structure having an opened cavity therewithin of a length substantially less than one wavelength and a rectangular aperture through one wall of the cavity;
• a second metallic structure having an I-shaped aperture therein and tapered continuations of the most closely spaced walls of the I-shaped aperture extending therefrom;
• said first and second metallic structures being mechanically and electrically affixed together;
• said second structure electrically closing said opened cavity except for said aperture;
• and
• said tapered wall continuations extending through and across the length of said cavity as a parallel conductor TEM transmission line while remaining electrically separated from walls of the cavity and with narrowed ends thereof being respectively connected to opposing ones of the most closely spaced walls of the rectangular aperture.

A microwave waveguide adaptor comprising:

• a first metallic structure having an opened cavity therewithin and a rectangular aperture through one wall of the cavity;
• a second metallic structure having an I-shaped aperture therein and tapered continuations of the most closely spaced walls of the I-shaped aperture extending therefrom;
• said first and second metallic structures being mechanically and electrically affixed together;
• said second structure electrically closing said opened cavity except for said aperture;
• and
• said tapered wall continuations extending through and across said cavity with narrowed ends thereof being respectively connected to opposing ones of the most closely spaced walls of the rectangular aperture;
• wherein the distance between said apertures is no more than about one-fourth wavelength of the RF fields to be propagated therethrough.

A microwave adaptor for coupling RF energy travelling in one form of waveguide to RF energy travelling in another form of waveguide, said adaptor comprising:

• a first waveguide I/0 port having an E-plane disposed between first and second walls;
• a second waveguide I/0 port having a E-plane disposed between third and fourth walls;
• an electrically short, non-resonant, cavity located between said first and said second waveguide I/0 ports having a length substantially less than one wavelength;
• and
• a pair of tapered walls extending from said first waveguide I/0 port to said second waveguide I/0 port through said cavity while remaining out of contact with conductive walls defining said cavity for coupling RF energy in a parallel conductor transmission line TEM mode from one of said waveguide I/0 ports to the other of said waveguide I/0 ports along said tapered walls, each of said tapered walls having a narrow end and a wide end, said wide ends being coupled to said first and second walls of said first waveguide I/0 port, respectively, and said narrow ends being coupled to said third and said fourth walls of said second waveguide I/0 port, respectively, thereby providing a balanced parallel conductor TEM transmission line between said first waveguide I/0 port and said second waveguide I/0 port.

A microwave twist adaptor for coupling RF energy in one form of waveguide to another form of waveguide while imparting a spatial rotation to a longest dimension of the plane of the waveguide, said adaptor comprising:

• a first waveguide I/0 port having a first and second wall formed therein and adapted to connect to a first waveguide type wherein the E-field of RF travelling in the first waveguide extends between said first and second walls;
• a second waveguide I/0 port having a third and a fourth wall formed therein and adapted to connect to a second waveguide type wherein the E-field of RF travelling in the second waveguide extends between said third and fourth walls;
• a non-resonant cavity formed by conductive walls between said first and second waveguide I/0 ports;
• and
• a pair of parallel conductive tapered walls extending between said first and second waveguide I/0 ports without contacting the cavity walls for coupling RF energy from one of said I/0 ports to the other of said I/0 ports in a parallel conductor transmission line TEM mode, while changing the spatial orientation between said E-fields of the first waveguide and second waveguides respectively, each of said tapered walls having a wide end and a narrow end, a wide end of a first tapered wall being coupled to said first wall and a wide end of the second tapered wall being coupled to said second wall, the narrow end of said first tapered wall being coupled to said third wall and the narrow end of said second tapered wall being coupled to said fourth wall.

A microwave twist adaptor for coupling RF energy between a ridged waveguide and a rectangular waveguide and for simultaneously imparting a 90 degree spatial twist thereto, said adaptor comprising:

• a ridged waveguide I/0 port adapted to couple to a ridged waveguide and having a first and second wall between which the E-field of said RF energy extends;
• a rectangular waveguide I/0 port adapted to couple to a rectangular waveguide and having a third and fourth wall between which the E-field of said RF energy extends;
• an enclosed non-resonant cavity defined by conductive walls and extending between said rectangular waveguide I/0 port and said ridged waveguide I/0 port;
• and
• tapered wall means defining a parallel conductor TEM transmission line located within a central portion of said cavity and unconnected with the cavity walls for coupling RF energy between the ridged waveguide and the rectangular waveguide through said cavity, said tapered wall means including a pair of elements each being of a generally triangular shape, one of said elements extending between a top wall of said rectangular waveguide and a wall of said ridged waveguide, and a second element extending between a bottom wall of said rectangular waveguide and another wall of said ridged waveguide, said elements carrying RF energy in a parallel transmission line TEM mode.