JP3520472B2 - Directional coupler with coupling degree adjustment function - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a directional coupler.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An example of a conventional directional coupler is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 9 (1999) -96.
-261612. In the directional coupler, the coupling degree is fixed at a constant value, and it is difficult to adjust the coupling degree.

Another example of a conventional directional coupler is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-59. The directional coupler allows the degree of coupling to be adjusted.

[0004]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the actual Kaihei 3-5
Since the directional coupler disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 9 has a narrow range of adjustment of the coupling degree, it cannot handle a special case where a strict coupling degree tolerance is required. In particular, when the coupling is loosely about 40 dB, it is impossible to perform fine adjustment. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare many kinds of directional couplers and appropriately select and use them. Therefore, the cost becomes high.

Further, in the case of loose coupling, the component tolerance of the directional coupler has a great influence on the degree of coupling, but the component tolerance largely depends on the experience of the operator, and this also causes a high cost. There is.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a directional coupler in which the degree of coupling can be easily and repeatedly adjusted.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a directional coupler capable of adjusting the coupling degree over a wide range.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a directional coupler capable of fine adjustment even in the case of loose coupling.

[0009]

According to one aspect of the present invention, a support member, a main line extending on a first shaft and supported by the support member, and a support member extending on a second shaft are provided. A sub-line rotatably supported with respect to the second axis, the sub-line having a conductive specific portion disposed substantially parallel to the main line with a separation distance, The specific portion has a peripheral surface that changes the separation distance according to the rotation of the sub line, and the specific portion is attached to the second shaft.
A directional coupler is obtained which is characterized in that it extends on an eccentric axis which is eccentric to it .

[0010]

In that case, the peripheral surface of the specific portion may be cylindrical with the eccentric axis as the center.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a support member,
A main line extending on a first axis and supported by the support member;
With respect to the second axis, extending on a second axis and extending to the support member.
And a sub line rotatably supported, the sub line,
Are arranged substantially parallel to the main line with a separation distance
Has a conductive specific portion, and the specific portion is the sub-wire.
Has a peripheral surface that changes the separation distance according to the rotation of the road.
However, the peripheral surface of the specific portion is a non-cylindrical shape.
A featured directional coupler is obtained.

In that case, the specific portion may extend on the second axis.

The peripheral surface of the specific portion has a first portion along a cylindrical shape and a flat second portion, and the first and second portions are adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction. Good.

The specific portion has a substantially H-shaped cross section.
May be.

The specific portion may have a polygonal cross section.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, the support portion is
Material and a main wire extending on a first axis and supported by the support member
And a second shaft extending to the support member and the second shaft to the second shaft.
A sub line rotatably supported with respect to the sub line,
The tracks are arranged substantially parallel to the main line with a separation distance.
An electrically conductive specific portion, the specific portion being
A peripheral surface that varies the separation distance according to the rotation of the sub line
And further fixedly connected to the specific portion and
Having a connector rotatably supported by a support member
A directional coupler characterized by is obtained .

The connector includes a metal member fixedly coupled to the specific portion, an insulating member fixedly holding the metal member, and a tube fixedly holding the insulating member and rotatably supported by the supporting member. It may also include a member.

Each of the support member and the tubular member may be electrically conductive. The cylindrical member has a groove on the outer peripheral surface.
And the support member has a set screw for engaging the groove.
You can do it.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, the support
Material and a main wire extending on a first axis and supported by the support member
And a second shaft extending to the support member and the second shaft to the second shaft.
A sub line rotatably supported with respect to the sub line,
The tracks are arranged substantially parallel to the main line with a separation distance.
An electrically conductive specific portion, the specific portion being
A peripheral surface that varies the separation distance according to the rotation of the sub line
And the sub-line is electrically connected to the specific portion.
Directional coupler characterized by having an electronic component
Is obtained .

[0021]

[0022]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First, a directional coupler according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 5, the directional coupler shown in the drawing has a box-shaped conductive housing or support member 30 and a main line supported by the support member 30 extending on the first shaft 31. Three
2 and a sub line 34 supported by the support member 30 on the second shaft 33. Both the first and second shafts 31 extend in the axial direction and are parallel to each other with a space therebetween.

The support member 30 integrally has a pair of end walls 35 opposed to each other in the axial direction, and a side wall 36 defining a space between the end walls 35. A main hole 37 and a sub hole 38 are formed in each end wall 35 at positions facing each other in the axial direction.

A pair of connectors 39 acting as so-called main ports are connected to both ends of the main line 32 in the axial direction.
Each connector 39 has a central conductor 4 connected to the main line 32.
1 and an outer conductor 43 that surrounds the outside of the center conductor 41 with an insulator 42 in between. The outer conductor 43 is inserted and fixed in the main hole 37, and thereby electrically connected to the support member 30. Thus, the center conductors 41 of the pair of connectors 39 are electrically connected to each other via the main line 32, and the outer conductors 43 are electrically connected to each other via the support member 30. A transmission line (not shown) is connected to each pair of connectors 3.

The sub line 34 has a conductive specific portion or eccentric member 44 which is disposed substantially parallel to the main line 32 at a distance. A pair of connectors 45 and 46 acting as so-called auxiliary ports are fixedly coupled to both ends of the eccentric member 44. These connectors 45 and 46 are rotatably supported by the pair of end walls 35 of the support member 30. Therefore, the sub line 34 is rotatable with respect to the support member 30 with respect to the second shaft 33.

The eccentric member 44 extends on an eccentric shaft 47 which is eccentric with respect to the second shaft 33. The peripheral surface of the eccentric member 44 is cylindrical with the eccentric shaft 47 as the center. Therefore, the peripheral surface of the eccentric member 44 changes the separation distance according to the rotation of the sub line 34. Here, this directional coupler is called an eccentric type directional coupler.

Referring also to FIGS. 10 and 11, one connector 45 is a metal member 51 as a central conductor fixedly coupled to one end of the eccentric member 44, and an insulating member made of plastic or the like holding the metal member 51 fixedly. It includes a member 52 and a tubular member 53 made of metal and fixedly holding the insulating member 52 and serving as an outer conductor. Eccentric member 44 and metal member 51
The space between and is fixed by press fitting. Between the metal member 51 and the insulating member 52, and between the insulating member 52 and the tubular member 5
Although fixed to 3 by press-fitting or adhesion, they may be engaged in the axial direction and the rotational direction due to unevenness.

The other connector 46 includes a metal member 61 as a central conductor fixedly coupled to the other end of the eccentric member 44,
An insulating member 62 made of plastic or the like that holds and holds the metal member 61, a metal tubular member 63 that serves as an outer conductor that holds and holds the insulating member 62, and a terminating resistor for impedance matching connected to the metal member 61. And electronic components 64 such as. Eccentric member 44 and metal member 6
1 and 1 are fixed by press fitting. Metal member 61
The insulating member 62 and the insulating member 62, and the insulating member 62 and the tubular member 63 are fixed by press fitting or adhesion.
The concavities and convexities may engage in the axial direction and the rotational direction.

The tubular members 53 and 63 are rotatably inserted into the auxiliary holes 38 of the end wall 35 of the support member 30. In the sub line 34 assembled to the support member 30 in this manner, the metal members 51 and 61 of the connectors 45 and 46 are eccentric members 44.
Are electrically connected to each other via. Also, the connector 4
The tubular members 53, 63 of 5, 46 are electrically connected to each other via the support member 30 and also to the outer conductor 43 of the connector 39 connected to the main line 32. A transmission line (not shown) is connected to the connectors 45 and 46, respectively.

Further, the tubular member 6 of the other connector 46.
A groove 65 for receiving a flat-blade screwdriver for rotationally driving is formed in 3. Therefore, the connector 4
Rotating 6 is relatively easy.

The operation of the above-described directional coupler will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 (a)-(d). Where the second
E is the amount of eccentricity of the eccentric shaft 47 from the shaft 33.

First, in FIG. 12A, the eccentric shaft 47 has a second
Is on the opposite side of the first shaft 31 from the shaft 33. In this state, the peripheral surface of the eccentric member 44 is farthest from the peripheral surface of the main line 32. At this time, the distance between the peripheral surface of the eccentric member 44 and the peripheral surface of the main line 32 is D. In the state of FIG. 12B in which the eccentric member 44 is rotated 90 degrees clockwise with respect to the second shaft 33, the separation distance is slightly shortened. In the state of FIG. 12C in which the eccentric member 44 is further rotated 90 degrees in the clockwise direction with respect to the second shaft 33, the separation distance becomes (D-2E). Further, the eccentric member 44 is rotated 90 degrees clockwise with respect to the second shaft 33 in FIG.
In the state of (d), the separation distance is slightly extended. When the eccentric member 44 further rotates 90 degrees clockwise with respect to the second shaft 33, the state shown in FIG. 12A is restored.

After all, when the eccentric member 47 is rotated with respect to the second shaft 33, its peripheral surface approaches or separates from the peripheral surface of the main line 32, and the coupling degree is adjusted. Therefore, by rotating the eccentric member 47, the coupling degree can be finely and widely adjusted.

A modification of the above-described directional coupler will be described with reference to FIG. Similar parts are designated by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In the illustrated directional coupler, the sub line 3
One connector 45 as the other connector for
A connector 71 having a structure similar to that of is used. That is, the connector 71 has a metal member 72 fixedly coupled to the eccentric member 44, an insulating member 73 made of plastic or the like that holds the metal member 72 fixed, and an insulating member 73 fixedly held and rotatable to the support member 30. And a metal cylindrical member 74 which is supported by the above and serves as an outer conductor.

A pair of flat portions 76 facing each other in the radial direction are provided on the flange portion 75 of the tubular member 74. According to this structure, it is possible to easily drive the tubular member 74 to rotate by sandwiching the flat portion 76 with a wrench or the like.

Next, a directional coupler according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15. Similar parts are designated by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In the illustrated directional coupler, the sub line 34
Has a conductive profiled member 79 which acts as a specific member and is arranged substantially parallel to the main line 32 at a distance. The deformed member 79 corresponds to the eccentric member 44 described above, and a pair of connectors 45 and 46 are fixedly coupled to both ends thereof.

Further, the deformed member 79 extends on the second shaft 33 with a certain shape, and its peripheral surface is non-cylindrical. Specifically, the peripheral surface of the deformed member 79 has a first portion 81 along the cylindrical shape and a flat second portion 82 circumferentially adjacent to the first portion 81. That is, the deformed member 79 is formed by processing a cylindrical member so that the cross section thereof has a substantially D shape. Therefore, this directional coupler is called a D-shaped type directional coupler.

The cross section of the deformed member 79 may be substantially H-shaped or polygonal such as triangular or quadrangular.

Referring to FIGS. 16A and 16B, FIG.
The operation of the directional couplers of FIGS. 4 and 15 will be described.
Here, the processing amount of the deformed member 79 is C.

First, in FIG. 16A, the second portion 82 is on the opposite side of the first shaft 31 when viewed from the second shaft 33. In this state, the peripheral surface of the deformed member 79 is closest to the peripheral surface of the main line 32. At this time, the distance between the peripheral surface of the odd-shaped member 79 and the peripheral surface of the main line 32 is D. In the state of FIG. 16B in which the deformed member 79 is rotated 180 degrees clockwise with respect to the second shaft 33, the second portion 82 faces the main line 32, and the separation distance is (D + C).

After all, when the deformable member 79 is rotated with respect to the second shaft 33, the peripheral surface thereof approaches or separates from the peripheral surface of the main line 32, and the coupling degree is adjusted. Therefore, the coupling degree can be adjusted by rotating the deformable member 79.

A modification of the directional coupler of FIGS. 14 and 15 will be described with reference to FIG. Similar parts are designated by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In the illustrated directional coupler, as in the directional coupler of FIG. 13, a connector 71 having a structure equivalent to that of the one connector 45 is used as the other connector for the sub line 34. There is. Since the connector 71 has already been described with reference to FIG. 13, the description thereof will be omitted here.

Some examples of a structure for fixing one connector 45 for the sub line 34 to the support member 30 will be described with reference to FIGS. 18 and 19 together with FIG.

In FIGS. 5 and 18, a ring-shaped V groove 83 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the tubular member 53 of the connector 45. On the other hand, the support member 30 includes a set of set screws 84. The set screw 84 is engaged with the V groove 83. With this structure, the connector 45 is rotatable with respect to the support member 30, but is locked in the axial direction. Further, after finely adjusting the degree of coupling, the set screw 84 is tightened to fix the connector 45 to the support member 30.

Instead of the V groove 83 and the set screw 84, a U groove 85 and a set screw 86 as shown in FIG. 19 may be used.

Although not described, the other connector 46 or 71 is also fixed to the support 30 with a similar structure.

The results of the evaluation test will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the case of the eccentric type directional coupler, it was found that the coupling degree changes so as to draw a sine curve with respect to the rotation angle of the sub line. Therefore, fine adjustment of the coupling degree can be easily performed in the vicinity of the trough or crest of the sine curve.

Similarly, in the case of the D-shaped directional coupler, the degree of coupling changes with respect to the rotation angle of the sub line, so that the degree of coupling can be finely adjusted in the same manner.

[0054]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide a directional coupler in which the degree of coupling can be easily adjusted and can be repeated many times and even in the case of loose coupling over a wide range.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a directional coupler according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a front view of the directional coupler of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a right side view of the directional coupler of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a left side view of the directional coupler of FIG.

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VV of FIG.

6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG.

7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VII-VII of FIG.

8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the directional coupler shown in FIGS. 1-8.

10 is an exploded perspective view of a sub line included in the directional coupler shown in FIGS. 1-8. FIG.

11 is a sectional view taken along line XI-XI of FIG.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the directional coupler shown in FIGS. 1-8.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 5 in a modification of the directional coupler of FIGS. 1-8.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view of the directional coupler according to the second embodiment of the present invention, similar to FIG.

15 is a sectional perspective view similar to FIG. 9 of the directional coupler of FIG.

16 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the directional coupler of FIG. 14. FIG.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a modification of the directional coupler of FIG.
It is a sectional view similar to FIG.

FIG. 18 is a schematic explanatory diagram for explaining a first example of a structure for fixing a sub line to a support member.

FIG. 19 is a schematic explanatory diagram for explaining a second example of the structure for fixing the sub line to the support member.

FIG. 20 is evaluation test data showing the relationship between the coupling degree and the sub line position angle of the directional coupler of the present invention.

21 is a graph in which the evaluation test data of FIG. 20 is plotted.

[Explanation of symbols]

30 Support member 31 First axis 32 main lines 33 Second axis 34 Sub track 39 connector 41 center conductor 42 insulator 43 outer conductor 44 Eccentric member 45 connector 46 connector 47 Eccentric shaft 51 Metal member 52 Insulation member 53 Cylindrical member 61 Metal member 62 Insulation member 63 Cylindrical member 64 electronic components 71 connector 72 Metal member 73 Insulation member 74 Cylindrical member 79 Deformed member 81 First part 82 Second part 83 V groove 84 set screw 85 U groove 86 set screw

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Mizunobu 1-21-2-2, Gengenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Nihon Aviation Electronics Industry Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-11-74709 (JP, A) JP-A-62-122303 (JP, A) JP-A-62-176302 (JP, A) Actually developed 51-92032 (JP, U) US Patent 3169219 (US, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01P 5/18 H01P 5/04 605

Claims (12)

(57) [Claims] 1. A support member, a main line extending on a first axis and supported by the support member, and a second line extending on a second axis and rotatably supported by the support member with respect to the second axis. A sub-line, the sub-line having a conductive specific portion arranged substantially parallel to the main line with a separation distance, the specific portion according to the rotation of the sub-line. It has a peripheral surface that changes the separation distance , the specific portion,
A directional coupler which extends on an eccentric shaft which is eccentric with respect to the second shaft . 2. The directional coupler according to claim 1 , wherein the peripheral surface of the specific portion has a cylindrical shape centered on the eccentric axis. 3. A support member and the support extending on a first shaft.
The main line supported by the member and the support extending on the second axis
Sub line rotatably supported by a member about the second axis
And the sub-line has a separation distance from the main line.
Have specific conductive parts that are arranged substantially parallel to each other.
However, the specific portion is separated according to the rotation of the sub line.
A directional coupler having a peripheral surface for varying an inter-distance, wherein the peripheral surface of the specific portion is non-cylindrical. 4. The directional coupler according to claim 3 , wherein the specific portion extends on the second axis. 5. The peripheral surface of the specific portion has a first portion along a cylindrical shape and a flat second portion.
And second portions claim are adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction 3
A directional coupler as described in. 6. The specific portion has a substantially H-shaped cross section.
Directional coupler of claim 3 that. 7. The directional coupler according to claim 3 , wherein the specific portion has a polygonal cross section. 8. A support member and the support extending on a first shaft.
The main line supported by the member and the support extending on the second axis
Sub line rotatably supported by a member about the second axis
And the sub-line has a separation distance from the main line.
Have specific conductive parts that are arranged substantially parallel to each other.
However, the specific portion is separated according to the rotation of the sub line.
A directional coupler having a peripheral surface for changing an inter-distance and further having a connector fixedly coupled to the specific portion and rotatably supported by the support member. 9. The connector includes a metal member fixedly coupled to the specific portion, an insulating member fixedly holding the metal member, a fixing member holding the insulating member, and rotatably supported by the supporting member. The directional coupler according to claim 8 , further comprising: 10. The directional coupler according to claim 9 , wherein each of the support member and the tubular member is electrically conductive. 11. The cylindrical member has a groove on its outer peripheral surface,
11. The directional coupler of claim 10, wherein the support member has a set screw that engages the groove . 12. A support member and a support extending on a first shaft.
The main line supported by the holding member and the support extending on the second axis.
A sub-member rotatably supported by the holding member with respect to the second axis.
And a sub line, wherein the sub line has a separation distance from the main line.
With specific conductive parts arranged substantially in parallel
However, the specific portion is separated according to the rotation of the sub line.
A directional coupler having a peripheral surface for varying an inter-distance, wherein the sub line has an electronic component electrically connected to the specific portion.