US2756955A - Support for rotor-driven antenna - Google Patents

Description

y 1956 J. P. CHADOWSKI ETAL 2,756,955

SUPPORT FOR ROTOR-DRIVEN ANTENNA 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 24. 1953 INVENTORS JOSEPH R CHAOOWSK/ y a FELIX WEISS A 7' TOR/VE Y5 United States Patent SUPPORT FOR ROTOR-DRIVEN ANTENNA Joseph P. Chadowski, Cleveland, Ohio, and Felix Weiss, Newton Center, Mass., assignors to Cornell-Dubilier Electric Corporation, South Plainfield, N. .l., a corporation of Delaware Application July 24, 1953, Serial No. 370,091

Claims. (Cl. 248-45) This invention relates, as indicated, to a rotor-driven antenna.

It has heretofore been necessary, in connection with rotor-driven television antennas and the like, to completely dismantle the antenna whenever it became necessary to remove the driving motor or rotor for repair or replacement purposes. The reason for this was that the drive or rotor was, in one way or another, more or less permanently assembled with the antenna as a unitary part thereof.

This created a condition in which the antenna became useless until the driving motor or rotor was repaired or replaced, and imposed a serious disadvantage, both from the standpoint of the delays involved as well as the labor and cost of dismantling of the antenna.

The present invention has as its primary object the provision of a rotor-driven antenna for television purposes and the like, in which the driving motor or rotor and gears and other driving elements associated therewith are housed as a unit which can be easily and quickly removed for repair or replacement purposes, without, in any way, disturbing the antenna or rendering it useless during the period of repair or replacement.

Another object of the invention is to provide an antenna and rotor arrangement which is assembled with each other by a simple coupling and pin device which enables the driving motor to be removed from the assembly in a matter of seconds or minutes, without affecting the utility of the antenna proper.

A further object of the invention is to provide an antenna and rotor arrangement which is mounted on a single mast, thereby eliminating the need for separate masts or supports for the motor and antenna.

A still further object of the invention is to provide means for preventing rotation of the antenna during periods of use when the driving motor is not being used or assembled with the antenna.

Other objects and advantages of our invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Fig. l is a front elevational view, showing the invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view, of the parts shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. l, and

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view, taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the invention will be seen to comprise a tubular supporting mast 1, of any desired height or length, which may be rigidly supported in any conventional manner, as on the ground, on a roof, on a chimney, or on a tower.

Secured to the mast 1, as by means of mast clamps 2, and nuts 3, is a bracket or antenna mast support 4, which is preferably made as a unitary casting consisting 2,756,955 Patented July 31, 1956 "ice of vertically spaced portions 5 and 6, which are rigidly interconnected by a column 7 of T-shaped cross-section. The portions 5 and 6 have bolts 8 extending rearwardly therefrom which pass through the clamps 2 and have the nuts 3 secured to the ends thereof.

The portions 5 and 6 of the bracket 4 are formed to provide collars 9 and 10 respectively.

Disposed within the collar 9 is an antenna mast supporting sleeve 11 having an annular flange 12 at its upper end, whereby the sleeve 11 is supported for rotation on a thrust bearing 13. A sleeve bearing 14 is interposed between the sleeve 11 and the inner wall of the collar 9, the bearing 14 taking the lateral or side thrust of the sleeve 11 during rotation of the latter. The sleeve 11 is retained against axial displacement vertically from the collar 9 by means of a split retaining ring 15 which is disposed in an annular groove 16 in the lower end of the sleeve 11 and underlies the lower ends of the bearing 14 and collar 9. The sleeve 11 is also provided with three circumferentially-spaced locking screws 17 which extend radially through the flange 12, and are provided with lock nuts 18 for locking the screws in adjusted position. The function of these screws 17 will presently be described.

Disposed within the collar 10 is an antenna supporting sleeve 19 having an annular flange 20 at its upper end, whereby the sleeve 19 is supported for rotation on a thrust bearing 21. A sleeve bearing 22 is interposed between the sleeve 19 and the inner wall of the collar 10, the bearing 22 taking the lateral or side thrust of the sleeve 19 during rotation of the latter. The sleeve 19 is retained against axial displacement from the collar 10 by means of a split retaining ring 23 which is disposed in an annular groove 24 in the lower end of the sleeve 19 and underlies the lower ends of the bearing 22 and collar 10. The sleeve 19 is also provided with three circumferentially-spaced locking screws 25 which extend radiallythrough the flange 20 and are provided with lock nuts 26 for locking the screws in adjusted position. The function .of the screws 25 will be presently described.

The sleeve 19 is closed at the bottom, as at 27, and rising centrally from the bottom 27 is a conical element 28, which serves as a support for the tubular antenna mast 29, which may be of various diameters up to substantially the internal diameters of the sleeves 11 and 19. Due to the conicity of the element 28, the lower end of the mast 29 is automatically centered with respect to the sleeves 11 and 19. Intermediate portions of the mast 29 are centered with respect to the sleeves 11 and 19 by means of the screws 17 and 25, which screws, after centering the mast, are locked in position by the lock nuts 18 and 26.

The bottom 27 of the sleeve 19 is provided with a downwardly extending axial extension 30, which is provided at its lower end with a diametrically-extending slot 31, the purpose of which will be presently explained.

Secured to the mast 1, as by means of a mast clamp 32 and nuts 33, is a rotor housing 34, which has bolts 35 extending rearwardly therefrom, which pass through the clamp32 and have the nuts 33 secured to the ends thereof. The rotor housing 34 encloses a rotor motor and suitable driving or reduction gears for rotating the antenna mast 29 through the intermediary of a drive shaft 36 and coupling 37. The rotor motor and driving or reduction gears are not shown, since these may be conventional, the housing 34, the rotor motor, the driving gears, and the shaft 36 constituting, for the purposes of the present invention, a single drive unit.

The coupling 37 has an opening or recess 38 in its upper end for reception of the extension 30, and is provided with a pin 39 extending diametrically across the opening or recess 38, the pin normally extending through J thev slot 31 to establish a driving connection between the coupling and extension 30. The coupling 37 is also provided in its lower end with a diametrically-extending slot 40 into which a tenon-like extension 41 of the shaft 35ext'endsto establish a driving connection between the shaft 36 and the coupling 37.

It will be readily understood from the aforesaid description that the antenna mast 29 is rotated by the drive unit through the shaft '36, extension 41, coupling 37, extensionlatl', sleeves'1'9and 11 and screws 25 and 17.

When it is desired torrepair or replace the drive unit, it is only necessary to remove the nuts 33 and clamp 32, and then slip the drive unit downwardly, so as to remove the shaft. 36 from the coupling 37, the coupling then falling awayfrom the extension 3%. This can be done in a matter" of seeonds or minutes, and without, in any way,'-nisturbin the'antenna mast 29 or its supporting parts. I'n'oth'er words, the antenna mast and antenna remain in use pendingrepair or replacement'of the drive unit and do not require dismantling. The utility of the antenna is not in any way 'aifected, and labor costs incidental t'o dismantling of the antenna mast and the antenna supported thereby are entirely eliminated.

In order to prevent the antenna mast 29 from being rotated by the wind, after the drive unit has been removed for-repair or replacement purposes, we have provided a wedge member 42 which is loosely mounted on a screw 43 which extends through the column 4, and has a slot 44 for reception of a screw driver. The member 42 is normally out of contact with the mast 29, so as not to interfere with rotation of the mast by the drive unit. When the drive unit is removed, the screw 43 is adjusted to bring the member 42 into wedging engagement with the mast 29', thereby preventing the mast from being rotated by the wind.

It is to be understood that the form of our invention, herewith shown and described, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention, or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. In combination, a vertical supporting post, an antenna supporting mast spaced from and parallel with said post, means secured to said post for supporting said m'ast'for rotation, said means including a casting clamped to 'said post and having vertically-spaced bearing collars, sleeves'journ'alled for rotation in said collars, the sleeve in'thelower collar having a wall across its lower end, said mast resting upon said well in said sleeve, a driving motor mounted, on said post, a driving shaft connection between said motor and said lower sleeve, said sleeves having flanges at their upper ends resting on the respective collars whereby the mast is supported by the post independently of the driving motor.

2. The combination, as defined in claim 1, including screws extending radially through said flanges and bearing against said mast, said screws being adjustable for centralizing said mast with respect to said sleeves.

3. The combination, as defined in claim 2, including a member threadedly mounted on said casting and adjustable relatively to said mast to bear against said mast for preventing rotation of said'mast, when desired.

4. In combination, a vertical supporting post, an antenna supporting mast spaced from and parallel with said post, means secured to said post for supporting said mast for rotation, said means including a member clamped to said post and having atleast one bearing collar, a sleeve journalled for rotation in said collar, mast-supporting means provided on said sleeve, a driving motor, a bracket carried by said motor'and mounted on said post independently of said mast-supporting means,

a driving shaft connection between said motor and said sleeve, and means for supporting said sleeve on said collar, whereby the mast is supported by the post independently of the driving motor.

' 5. In combination, a vertical supporting post, a vertical antenna-supporting mast disposed in horizontallyspaced relationship to said post and parallel thereto, a support member secured to said post, rotatable means carried by said support member for engaging said mast to maintain said mast against downward displacement relatively to said support member and for rotating said mast, a rotary motor drive unit having a driving connection engageable with said means to effect rotation thereof, a bracket integral with said drive unit, and means for r'eleasably securing said bracket to said post independently of said support member to normally maintain said drive unit against displacement relatively to said support member, said drive unit and bracket being bodily movable along said post to disconnect the driving connection fromsaid first-named means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,391,202 Tellander et al. Dec. 18, 1945 2,499,011 Weeks Feb. 28, 1950 2,566,897 Koenig Sept. '4, 1951 2,578,151 Ronfeldt Dec. 11,1951 2,630,835 Russell Mar. 10, 1953 2,650,051 Za'robsky et al. Aug. 25; 1953 2,676,486 La'zan Aprf27, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 463,261 Canada Feb. 21, 1950 678,793 Great Britain Sept. '10, 1952

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