JPH0812974B2 - Array antenna - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an array antenna in which a plurality of antenna elements are arranged on an element array substrate having an arbitrary shape, and more particularly to improvement of a feeding structure for each antenna element.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an array antenna in which a printed circuit board is used as a power supply circuit board, in the planar type, the size of the power supply circuit board is increased and the circuit pattern is increased due to the increase in the size of the antenna or the density of elements. Densification is attempted. However, in any case, it has become difficult to manufacture a single substrate.

When manufacturing a power feeding circuit board having a special three-dimensional curved surface shape such as a spherical curved surface or an elliptic curved surface, the following two methods are roughly classified. The first is a method in which the whole is manufactured from a single flat substrate, and is patterned at the time of flattening to form a curved surface, and the second is a method in which a curved substrate is manufactured from the beginning and then patterned.

However, in the above-described method for manufacturing a curved substrate, since the power feeding circuit is a high frequency circuit, various mechanical precision problems occur, and it is extremely difficult to satisfy the required values for electrical performance. . That is, in the first method, there arises a problem in the uniformity of the substrate thickness due to the partial slack or elongation that occurs during the curved surface processing, and in the second method, the accuracy of patterning on the curved substrate is increased. Problems are likely to occur. In particular, these problems become remarkable when the size of the circuit board is increased and the density of the circuit pattern is increased.

[0005]

As described above, in the conventional array antenna, in order to increase the size of the feeding circuit board and the density of the circuit pattern in accordance with the size increase of the antenna or the density increase of the element array. However, it has become difficult to manufacture a single substrate, and particularly in the case of a curved substrate, problems are likely to occur in mechanical accuracy and electrical performance.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and can be applied to an increase in the size of a power supply circuit board and an increase in the density of circuit patterns regardless of whether it is a flat type or a curved type. It is an object of the present invention to provide an array antenna that can sufficiently satisfy mechanical accuracy and electrical performance.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, an array antenna according to the present invention has a shape along an array surface of a plurality of antenna elements and is connected to each antenna element to input / output a signal path. Has a power feeding portion on which a power feeding circuit pattern forming a printed wiring is formed, and each of the power feeding portions forms a power feeding surface by connecting a plurality of substrates on which a part of the power feeding circuit pattern is formed, and on the lower surface thereof. The present invention is characterized in that a lower substrate connecting the upper substrates is laminated, and further, a power supply circuit pattern for electrically connecting the joined upper substrates is formed on the lower substrate. .

[0008]

In the array antenna having the above structure, a plurality of substrates are connected to each other to form a feeding surface to cope with an increase in the size of the antenna. Particularly, in the case of a curved array antenna, a combination of substrates having a relatively small curvature is used. Accuracy is improved and patterning is facilitated. Furthermore, the upper substrate is connected by the lower substrate to give mechanical strength, and a power supply circuit pattern for electrically connecting the upper substrates connected to the lower substrate is formed to sufficiently satisfy the electrical performance. Let

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

FIGS. 1A and 1B show the configuration of the present invention when applied to a power supply section of a planar array antenna. FIG. 1A is an exploded perspective view, and FIG. 1B is a sectional view of FIG. Is. 1
Is a power supply board of the first layer, and 2 is a power supply board of the second layer. The first layer substrate 1 is configured by connecting substrates 11 to 14 which are divided into four in a cross shape. The second layer substrate 2 is the first layer substrate 1
The divided substrates 11 to 14 are connected to each other so that the divided substrates 21 to 23 are connected to each other.

Although not shown in detail, a dielectric substrate 3 for arranging antenna elements is arranged above the first layer power supply substrate 1. This board 3 is divided into four, like the power supply board 1, and a copper foil for shielding is attached to the surface thereof. A power feeding circuit pattern for feeding power to the antenna element in the corresponding region is formed on the front surface of the power feeding substrate 1, and a copper foil for shielding is attached to the back surface of the power feeding circuit pattern 1 in an insulating state from a pattern described later. .

Further, a dielectric substrate 4 is provided between the first layer substrates 11 to 14 and the second layer substrates 21 to 23 so as to separate them from each other for a predetermined distance and to have a certain strength. To be done. This dielectric substrate 4 has the same area as that of the power feeding substrate 1, and similarly has a four-division structure.

On the other hand, a power supply circuit pattern for electrically connecting and supplying power to the divided first layer substrates 11 to 14 is formed on each surface of the second layer substrates 21 to 23.
A copper foil for shielding is attached to the back surface in an insulating state from the above pattern. A signal input / output connector 5 is attached to the back surface of the substrate 22 at the center of the second layer.

That is, in the above structure, the power feeding board 1 of the first layer is realized by connecting the four relatively small boards 11 to 14, so that the antenna can be easily increased in size. Further, since the pattern is formed on the multi-layer surface, the pattern density of each layer can be reduced and the patterning can be facilitated. In other words, the overall pattern density can be increased, which can contribute to an increase in the number of antenna elements.

Further, since the first layer substrates 11 to 14 are joined by the second layer substrates 21 to 23, mechanical strength can be provided, and the second layer substrates 21 to 23 have the first layer substrate. Since the pattern for electrically connecting the divided substrates 11 to 14 is formed, the deterioration of the electrical performance due to the division is extremely small.

The dielectric substrates 3 and 4 for shielding and reinforcing need not necessarily have the same structure as the power feeding substrate 1, and may be divided at a position different from the substrate 1, for example. In this case, the connection between the power supply boards 1 can be made stronger.

2A and 2B show the configuration of the present invention when applied to a power supply unit of a curved array antenna. FIG. 2A is an exploded perspective view, and FIG. 2B is a sectional view of FIG. Is. 6
Is a first-layer power supply board, and 7 is a second-layer power supply board. The first layer substrate 6 has a special three-dimensional curved surface shape, and has a cross shape of 4
It is configured by joining the divided substrates 61 to 64.
The second-layer substrate 7 is divided into three along the first-layer substrate 6 so as to connect the divided substrates 61 to 64, respectively.
It is configured by connecting 1 to 73.

Although not shown in detail, a dielectric substrate 8 for arranging antenna elements is arranged above the first layer power supply substrate 6. This board 8 is divided into four, like the power supply board 6, and a copper foil for shielding is attached to the surface thereof. A power feeding circuit pattern for feeding power to the antenna elements in the corresponding region is formed on the front surface of the power feeding substrate 6, and a copper foil for shielding is attached to the back surface of the power feeding circuit pattern 6 in an insulating state from a pattern described later. .

Further, a dielectric substrate 9 is provided between the first layer substrates 61 to 64 and the second layer substrates 71 to 73 to separate them from each other for a predetermined distance and to have a certain strength. To be done. This dielectric substrate 9 has the same area as that of the power feeding substrate 6 and is similarly divided into four parts.

On the other hand, a power supply circuit pattern for electrically connecting and supplying power to the divided first layer substrates 61 to 64 is formed on each surface of the second layer substrates 71 to 73.
A copper foil for shielding is attached to the back surface in an insulating state from the above pattern. The signal input / output connector 10 is attached to the back surface of the substrate 72 at the center of the second layer.

That is, the above-described structure is realized by connecting the relatively small four substrates 61 to 64 to each other, as in the planar type shown in FIG. Since a substrate having a relatively small curvature can be used, the mechanical accuracy can be improved. Further, since the pattern is formed on the multi-layer surface, the pattern density of each layer can be reduced and the patterning can be facilitated. In other words, the overall pattern density can be increased, which can contribute to an increase in the number of antenna elements.

Furthermore, since the first layer substrates 61 to 64 are joined by the second layer substrates 71 to 73, mechanical strength can be provided, and the second layer substrates 71 to 73 have the first layer substrate. Since the pattern for electrically connecting the divided substrates 61 to 64 is formed, the deterioration of the electrical performance due to the division is extremely small.

The dielectric substrates 8 and 9 for shielding and reinforcing need not necessarily have the same structure as the power feeding substrate 6, and may be divided at a position different from the substrate 6, for example. In this case, the connection between the power supply boards 6 can be made stronger.

In each of the above embodiments, the case of two layers has been described, but it is possible to increase the number of divisions by further increasing the number of layers. Of course, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, regardless of whether it is a flat type or a curved type, the size of the feeding circuit board is increased,
It is possible to provide an array antenna which can cope with high density of circuit patterns and can sufficiently satisfy mechanical accuracy and electrical performance.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an array antenna according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 6 ... 1st layer electric power feeding board, 11-14, 61-64 ... 1st layer division board, 2, 7 ... 2nd layer electric power feeding board, 21-23,
71-73 ... 2nd layer division board, 3, 4, 8, 9 ... Dielectric board, 5, 10 ... Connector.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Ohira Nakata, 1 Komukai Toshiba-cho, Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Komu Factory, Toshiba Corporation (72) Noriaki Miyano Komukai-Toshiba, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Town No. 1 In stock company Toshiba Komukai factory (72) Inventor Atsushi Tanaka No. 1 Komukai Toshiba town, Kouki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Stock company Toshiba Komukai factory (56) Reference JP-A-3-182103 ( JP, A) JP-A-63-125004 (JP, A) Actual Kaihei 2-77915 (JP, U)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An array antenna having a power feeding section, which has a shape along an array surface of a plurality of antenna elements and has a power feeding circuit pattern which is connected to each antenna element and forms a signal input / output path and is printed and wired, Each of the power feeding units forms a power feeding surface by connecting a plurality of substrates on which a part of the power feeding circuit pattern is formed, and a lower substrate that connects an upper substrate is stacked on the lower surface of the substrate and is joined to the lower substrate. Was
Form a power supply circuit pattern that electrically connects the upper substrates
An array antenna which is characterized in that 2. The array antenna according to claim 1, wherein the lower substrate is formed with a power supply circuit pattern for electrically connecting the upper substrates connected to each other.