U.S. patent number 3,774,219 [Application Number 05/266,440] was granted by the patent office on 1973-11-20 for twist around antenna.
Invention is credited to Robert J. Cella.
United States Patent |
3,774,219 |
Cella |
November 20, 1973 |
TWIST AROUND ANTENNA
Abstract
An antenna for use in television or radio receivers which is
affixed to the receiver in such a manner that the antenna
intercepts radio waves and directs them into the receiver, this
antenna is characterized by its ability to be positioned in an
optimum manner for reception without having to move the set or
receiver, a flexible segment, and telescopic end which permits the
antenna to be extended and moved about freely.
Inventors: |
Cella; Robert J. (Charlestown,
MA) |
Family
ID: |
23014603 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/266,440 |
Filed: |
June 26, 1972 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
|
85919 |
Nov 3, 1970 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
343/702; 343/901;
267/168 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01Q
1/084 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H01Q
1/08 (20060101); H01q 001/24 () |
Field of
Search: |
;267/168
;343/882,883,702,901 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Lieberman; Eli
Parent Case Text
This invention is a continuation-in-part of patent application Ser.
No. 85919 filed Nov. 3, 1970, now abandoned, by the same inventor,
entitled "Twist Around Aerial,"
Claims
I claim:
1. A twist around antenna comprising in combination with a
television or radio receiver, an antenna having,
a plurality of interfitting sections which are telescopically
fitted to be retracted or extended, and
a lower section with means for selectively including said antenna
in any desired position for better reception on the receiver,
said inclining means including interfitted coils which coact
frictionally to resist movement of each other whereby the antenna
remains where placed.
2. A twist around antenna according to claim 1 wherein said
interfitted coils consist of a first stiff spring and a second mild
steel coil with limited ability to retain a rigid attitude.
3. A twist around antenna according to claim 2 wherein said mild
steel coil has surface shaped to conform to said first coil whereby
a greater frictional resistance to movement is created.
Description
This invention relates to antennas and more particularly to
antennas which are used on home television or radio receivers. The
device will naturally have some commercial application, however its
prime application is that of the consumer receiver.
Radio waves from transmission stations are usually sent out
vertically polarized, that is the electro-magnetic wave is straight
up and down, however, occasionally radio waves in some rare
instances are launched horizontally polarized, that is parallel
with the earth surface. Accordingly antennas on receivers are
usually straight up and down in order to receive the signal at its
highest strength. It is obvious that if the radio wave is
vertically polarized and the antenna horizontal, the amount of
energy that would be intercepted by the antenna would be close to
zero and theoretically, at least, the receiver could not receive
the program material through these radio waves. Accordingly, the
antenna must be placed in line with the received radio waves in
order to get the best and strongest signal. Radio waves as they
strike steel bodies and other objects on the earth and also when
they bounce off ionized clouds or changes in the atmosphere the
waves may become skewed; and accordingly, as far as the receiver is
concerned, the radio waves are no longer vertically polarized, but
skewed a few degrees off the vertical to as far down as
90.degree..
At the same time, if we were to look at the receiver from the top
and refer to the radio station to which the receiver were tuned, we
would note that the receiver could be located at any angle from the
transmission stations up to 360.degree.. Accordingly, if the
receiver is a television set which can not be moved easily, the
antenna must be able to turn through these skewed angles and
additional 180.degree., that is if the polarization deviates
15.degree. from the normal and the television set is located
90.degree. in the horizontal plane one position of the antenna
would be optimum. Again if the television set were at 180.degree.
another angle would be optimum. It can be readily seen, owing to
the antenna, to be functional an antenna must be able to swing
readily to adopt a position at least inclusive of a top half of a
sphere.
Prior art devices have directed their attention to providing such
an antenna, however, the universal joint was often employed and
seems to be standard of the industry. The universal joint works in
this manner: the antenna is first turned through an angle from the
normal and then the unit is rotated through a ball joint. It is
quite difficult to obtain the optimum signal strength from the
radio station with this two step process, for one the user may have
to make several corrective movements while zeroing in the optimum
position. With the present invention, means is provided whereby the
antenna can be twisted around and it will stay wherever placed.
Moreover, it can be bent to the position which is optimum for the
given radio station an amount of skew for the given polarized radio
wave. The user, once familiar with the different radio stations,
and the amount of polarization skew that attend the structures that
surround his home or location will be able to twist the antenna to
the optimum spot to obtain virtually perfect reception. Moreover,
if it is a radio station of unknown location, optimum signal can be
searched out much more readily than can be done with the prior art
devices.
With a universal joint, (most commonly used in the prior art
antenna). the joint after a while becomes very loose and the
antenna tends to slip or fall out of adjustment. With the present
invention no adjustments are provided, frictional contact of a
certain segment in the antenna permits the antenna to be placed
where optimum signal strength is obtained and it will remain there
and will do so year after year with no adjustments.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide means
for twisting an antenna to receive optimum signal strength from any
given radio station.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an antenna
which can be located at optimum signal strength requiring no
adjustments.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an antenna
which does not slip out of optimum signal strength areas.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an
inexpensive twist around antenna having no adjustments.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention
will be better understood from the following detailed
specifications, especially when read in conjunction with the
attached drawings of which:
FIG. 1 is a twist around antenna.
FIG. 2 is a spring component of the twistable segment of the
antenna.
FIG. 3 is a frictional component of the twist around segment of the
antenna.
FIG. 4 shows the interrelationship of the frictional component and
the spring component of FIGS. 2 and 3.
Referring to FIG. 1, we see twist around antenna 11. The antenna
has the much familiar telescopic sections 12 which go as in and out
as indicated by arrows 13. This extends the antennas so that
various wave lengths will be better received, shorter waves being
received better by one segment of the antenna where the longer
waves would be better received by having the antenna totally
extended. In addition to a telescopic segment, there is a segment
14 which we will refer to as the twist around component of the
antenna and will go into greater detail as we proceed. The bottom
of the antenna is fixed to a receiver 20 at section 19. Washers 21
and 22 hold the antenna ridged to the top surface 19 by means of
nut 23 which is tighted when the antenna is installed in the
receiver. A lead 24, extends into the receiver to the proper
section wherein the radio waves are amplified and reproduce the
program in the radio or television set.
Up until this point, the antenna looks and acts very much like the
conventional antenna we find in any receiver or television set,
especially those which are portable. These television sets are
tuned to the Very High Frequency signals for which such an antenna
is designed to receive. Ultra-high Frequency or UHF is not intended
to be received through such an antenna and a different type of
antenna which is a closed loop may be required.
Segment 14 permits the antenna to swing through arc 15. The antenna
11 once in a given location will remain there and if the radio
signals are skewed by that amount the antenna will intercept the
radio waves and produce a maximum signal. Therefore, if the antenna
is held by ones hand and twisted through an arc 15, the antenna can
then be bent or rotated around until the optimum signal is
intercepted. If more angle is required the antenna is just bent a
bit further. When the optimum signal is found the user merely lets
go of the antenna and the antenna stays right where put.
Referring to FIG. 2, it shows spring 30 of hardened steel and
relatively stiff. No matter where the spring is bent, once released
it will return to an upright position. Such springs are well-known
in the art and will not be gone into in detail here. The only
requirement of such a spring is that it be sufficiently rugged and
sufficiently stiff to assume a rigid position from wherever it is
released. The diameter of the spring, in the present application
was selected to be three quarters (3/4) of an inch. A 3 inch
segment of the spring has been utilized consisting of 15 turns. The
diameter of the spring material was one-eighth (1/8) of an inch.
Many, many other sizes, shapes and combinations would also be found
acceptable.
Referring to FIG. 3, we see frictional component 32. Again the
frictional component 32 is of steel, but not of the same grade. The
steel in this case has to be soft, mild steel and so shaped that it
provide a maximum amount of contact with spring 30 when they are
intercoiled. The material in this case is so flexible that it will
slump wherever placed. This coil is very loose material and unlike
the coil 30 is very sloppy and would not stand up on its own under
any circumstances. It is usually of a mild steel of a very soft
grade. Its dimensions had to be those of coil 30 so that the
elements interreact as will be spoken of in detail in subsequent
paragraphs.
Referring now to FIG. 4, a portion of coil 30 and coil 32 are
frictionally in contact by way of surface 34. The dotted section
shows how the coils move with respect to one another and stay
(because of the frictional contact) where they are put. What
happens is this, coil 30 which is very stiff, if acting alone,
would be twisted in this application to a point where the signal
strength were optimum; however, the spring being so stiff, would
snap up to its normal position once released. The soft, mild steel
coil 32, when intercoiled with the stiff coil 30 causes the two
coils to be frictionally in contact with one another, therefore
when the antenna is twisted with the two coils to a given position
the intergripping of the two coils by way of the surface contact 34
causes the sloppy coil 32 to restrain coil 30 from returning to its
original position. The sloppy coil 32 asserts no force on its own
other than as a restraint. The two surfaces between the stiff coil
are wedged in very tightly, almost like that of a vice. Accordingly
the frictional contact is maximized because the coil above a given
segment of an element 32 is forced against the coil immediately
below it causing frictional contact to be maximized. Accordingly,
the interwoven coils prevent the stiff coil 30 from returning to
its original position and a new action is therefore produced, which
action is completely different from the two coils acting
independently, in one case the stiff coil will cause the antenna to
return immediately to the normal position. The sloppy coil would
not hold the antenna in an upright position at all. With the two
coils interacting, the antenna is caused to remain exactly where
placed thereby receiving a maximum signal strength from a given
radio station.
Although I have described my invention with reference to specific
apparatus I do not wish to be limited thereby, I merely wish to be
limited by the appended claims of which:
* * * * *