Universal microwave waveguide joint and mechanically steerable microwave transmitter
AssigneeRaytheon Company
InventorKenneth W. Brown
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A universal joint comprising a pair of circular waveguide ball-joints and a slip-joint allows for simultaneous 3-axis rotation and 3-dimensional translation between an antenna and a stationary source. As such, the universal joint does not have to be physically aligned with the azimuth, and elevation, rotation axis of the antenna and mounted on the gimbal support, greatly simplifying the antenna steering mechanism. The universal joint allows the antenna to be mass-balanced in relation to the azimuth and elevation axis without adding any additional counter weights, thus reducing the size and power requirements of the azimuth and elevation rotation drive systems. Additional ball-joints may be provided to increase the allowed range of motion of the antenna.
Claims19
A mechanically steerable microwave transmitter, comprising:
- a stationary source of a beam of microwave radiation in a first waveguide mode;
- an antenna for receiving the beam of microwave radiation in a second waveguide mode and transmitting free-space radiation;
- a gimbal support that supports the antenna, said gimbal support being operable to rotate the antenna about azimuth and elevation axes through the center of mass of the antenna;
- a first microwave waveguide mode converter coupled to the beam source that converts the first waveguide mode of the beam to a circular axial symmetric waveguide mode;
- a second microwave waveguide mode converter coupled to the antenna that converts the circular axial symmetric waveguide mode of the beam to the second waveguide mode;
- and
- a universal joint that is physically decoupled from the gimbal support, said universal joint connected between the first and second mode converters alone a waveguide axis that is offset from both the antenna's azimuth and elevation axes to route the beam of microwave radiation in the circular axial symmetric waveguide mode from the first mode converter to the second mode converter, said offset of the waveguide axis acting as a lever arm that is fixed to said antenna such that 2-axis rotation of the antenna acts through the lever arm to produce 6-axis motion, said universal joint comprising a circular waveguide slip-joint allowing for 1-dimensional translation along the waveguide axis and first and second circular waveguide ball-joints each allowing for 3-axis rotation around and orthogonal to the waveguide axis, said universal joint fixed at said first mode converter and allowing 3-axis rotation and 3-dimensional translation between the antenna and the stationary source at the connection to the second mode converter to accommodate the e six-axis motion.
A microwave waveguide joint, comprising:
- a first waveguide mode converter converts a first waveguide mode of a beam of microwave radiation to a circular axial symmetric waveguide mode;
- a second waveguide mode converter converts the circular axial symmetric waveguide mode of the beam to a second waveguide mode;
- and
- a universal joint comprising a circular waveguide slip-joint allowing for 1-dimensional translation along a waveguide axis and first and second circular waveguide ball-joints each allowing for 3-axis rotation around and orthogonal to the waveguide axis, said universal joint connected between the first and second mode converters along the waveguide axis to route the beam of microwave radiation in the circular axial symmetric waveguide mode from the first mode converter to the second mode converter allowing 3-axis rotation and 3-dimensional translation between the first mode converter and the second mode converter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.