JP7549486B2 - Vehicle-mounted antenna device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an in-vehicle antenna device.

A known vehicle-mounted antenna device that is attached to the exterior panel of an automobile body houses an antenna and other components in an internal space formed by an antenna base that is fixed to the exterior panel of the automobile body and an antenna cover that is attached to the antenna base (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

The vehicle-mounted antenna device in Patent Document 1 has a long front-to-back design with tapered front and top to reduce air resistance while driving. It is called the "shark fin antenna" type because its appearance when attached to the vehicle roof is reminiscent of a shark's dorsal fin.

The antenna base of the vehicle-mounted antenna device has a fastening protrusion that protrudes toward the inside of the vehicle through an insertion hole opened in the vehicle body exterior panel. A metal mounting part (also known as a capture fastener) with a claw portion is attached to the fastening protrusion. The vehicle-mounted antenna device is fixed to the vehicle body exterior panel by sandwiching the vehicle body exterior panel between the antenna base and the mounting part and fastening the mounting part to the fastening protrusion with a bolt. The antenna base is also electrically connected to the vehicle body exterior panel via the mounting part.

JP 2010-021856 A

The mounting hole in the exterior panel of the vehicle body for mounting the vehicle-mounted antenna device is rectangular in top view, with its long or short side aligned with the front-to-rear direction of the vehicle body. The outer dimensions of the fastening protrusion of the vehicle-mounted antenna device are set slightly smaller than the dimensions of the mounting hole so that an operator can smoothly insert the fastening protrusion into the mounting hole.

The outer dimensions of the fastening protrusion are set smaller than the dimensions of the mounting insertion hole, so there is a gap between the mounting insertion hole and the fastening protrusion. When a mounting part is fastened to the fastening protrusion with a bolt, there is a possibility that the fastening protrusion will rotate together. If it rotates together, the fore-and-aft direction of the antenna base will be misaligned from the fore-and-aft direction of the mounting insertion hole (the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle) by the amount of the gap. The appearance of the vehicle-mounted antenna device is determined by attaching an antenna cover to the antenna base. As a result, the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle-mounted antenna device may become misaligned from the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle body.

One example of the objective of the present invention is to propose a technology that prevents an in-vehicle antenna device from being mounted in a direction that is different from the specified direction on the exterior panel of the vehicle body.

An aspect of the present invention is an in-vehicle antenna device that includes an antenna unit and a base having a fastening part on which at least a portion of the antenna unit is placed and which is fastened to a vehicle exterior panel by a rotational action of a fastener, and the fastening part is provided on the base in a state offset in the direction of rotation of the fastener with respect to a predetermined direction of the vehicle exterior panel before the rotational action of the fastener.

According to this aspect, the fastening portion is provided in a state where it is offset in the direction of rotation by the fastener with respect to the predetermined direction of the vehicle body exterior plate. Therefore, misalignment due to co-rotation during fastening is offset, and the base does not misalign with the predetermined direction of the vehicle body exterior plate, or even if it does misalign, it is suppressed to a level that is not noticeable to the naked eye. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the vehicle-mounted antenna device from being attached to the vehicle body exterior plate in a misaligned state from the predetermined direction of the vehicle body exterior plate.

1 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of the configuration of an in-vehicle antenna device according to an embodiment; FIG. 4 is a bottom view showing an example of the configuration of a metal base in the embodiment. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the relative direction relationship between the metal base and the mounting insertion hole when the metal base is mounted in the embodiment (part 1). FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram (part 2) showing the relative direction relationship between the metal base and the mounting insertion hole when the metal base is mounted in the embodiment.

Below, examples of preferred embodiments are described, but the embodiments are not limited to the following aspects. Each figure shows three orthogonal axes to indicate a common direction. The three orthogonal axes are a right-handed system with the positive Z-axis direction being the upward direction. The front of the vehicle-mounted antenna device (the side that faces forward when attached to the vehicle body) is the positive X-axis direction, the left is the positive Y-axis direction, and the upward is the positive Z-axis direction.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of the configuration of an in-vehicle antenna device 10 according to the present embodiment.
The vehicle-mounted antenna device 10 has an outer case 12, an outer pad 14, an inner case 16, an antenna section 17 (capacitive loading element 18, helical element section 19), a substrate 20, an inner pad 22, a metal base 30, a seal 40, a temporary fastening holder 50, a washer 60, and a bolt 70. The washer 60 and the bolt 70 are fasteners.

The outer case 12 is a radio wave transparent synthetic resin part that is responsible for the external design of the vehicle-mounted antenna device 10. The outer case 12 is designed on the assumption that the vehicle-mounted antenna device 10 will be installed so that its front-to-rear direction coincides with the front-to-rear direction of the vehicle body.

Specifically, the outer case 12 is designed as a hollow body that is long in the front-to-rear direction, slopes low from the rear to the front, and has a so-called shark fin shape with both left and right sides tapered upward, and opens downward.

The outer pad 14 is longer from front to back than from left to right, and the front to back direction of the outer pad 14 is set to match the front to back direction of the outer case 12. The outer pad 14 has a central space in the center through which part of the inner case 16 can be inserted. The outer pad 14 is placed over the lower outer edge of the inner case 16 while the inner case 16 passes through the central space.

The inner case 16 is a synthetic resin part that serves as a structure for three-dimensionally arranging the capacitive loading element 18 in the internal space of the outer case 12. The inner case 16 has a size and shape that allows it to be inserted into the internal space of the outer case 12. The inner case 16 is designed as a hollow body that opens downward, and contains in its internal space a part of the antenna section 17 and the substrate 20 so as to cover them.

The board 20 mounts electronic components related to the antenna unit 17, such as an amplifier circuit that amplifies received and transmitted signals. A connector 21 protrudes from the underside of the board 20 for electrical connection to an antenna connection cable on the vehicle body side.

The inner pad 22 is a ring-shaped elastic member made of elastomer, rubber, or the like. The inner pad 22 is sandwiched between the lower edge of the inner case 16 and the metal base 30 to seal the gap between the inner case 16 and the metal base 30, preventing water from entering the internal space of the inner case 16.

The metal base 30 is a metal part that serves as a foundation (base) for mounting the vehicle-mounted antenna device 10 to the vehicle body, and is a part that is attached to the outer surface of the vehicle body exterior panel.
The metal base 30 is longer in the front-rear direction than in the left-right direction, and the front-rear direction of the metal base 30 is set to match the front-rear direction of the outer case 12. Fastening protrusions 32 (fastening portions) for attaching the temporary fastening holder 50 and the washer 60 are protruded from the lower surface of the metal base 30. The metal base 30 may be a base portion made only of metal, or may be a base portion having a resin portion and a metal portion.

The temporary fastening holder 50 is a part that is attached to the fastening protrusion 32 and temporarily fastens the metal base 30 to the exterior panel of the vehicle body. The temporary fastening holder 50 is made of, for example, an elastic synthetic resin.

The washer 60 is a part that is fastened to the fastening protrusion 32 by a bolt 70, and is a fastener that fastens the metal base 30 to the exterior panel of the vehicle body. The washer 60 has three upward-facing claws 62.

Figure 2 is a bottom view showing an example of the configuration of the metal base 30. The bottom surface of the metal base 30 faces the top surface of the body exterior plate. To make the explanation easier to understand, in addition to the metal base 30, Figure 2 also shows the mounting insertion hole 8 of the body exterior plate, the connector 21, and the bolt 70.

The metal base 30 has, on its underside, a fastening protrusion 32, a connector insertion hole 34 for inserting the connector 21, three seats 36 corresponding to the claws 62 of the washer 60, and a fitting groove 38 for fitting the seal 40. The connector insertion hole 34 has an overall rectangular shape. The fastening protrusion 32 and the connector insertion hole 34 are located inside the mounting insertion hole 8 of the vehicle body exterior panel when viewed from below.

The fastening protrusion 32 protrudes downward from approximately the center of the underside, and has a screw hole 33 for a bolt 70 at its tip. When the fastening protrusion 32 is inserted into the mounting hole 8 of the vehicle body exterior plate, the cross section of the hole is rectangular when viewed from below, and the dimensions of the fastening protrusion 32 when viewed from below are set to be smaller than those of the mounting hole 8.

If the reference direction of the fastening protrusion 32 is the front-rear direction Lt, the front-rear direction Lt intersects with the front-rear direction Lb of the metal base 30 at the screw hole 33 and is shifted in the corotation direction Rt (clockwise in the example of FIG. 2) by an angle that offsets a predetermined assumed corotation angle θ that may occur in corotation that is assumed when the vehicle-mounted antenna device 10 is attached. In other words, the front-rear direction Lt of the fastening protrusion 32 is shifted in the corotation direction Rt with respect to the front-rear direction Lb of the metal base 30 by the predetermined assumed corotation angle θ, with the screw hole 33 as the axis.

The three seating surfaces 36 are flat surfaces provided on the left, right, and rear of the fastening protrusion 32. When the washer 60 is fastened to the fastening protrusion 32 in a predetermined position, the claws 62 and the seating surfaces 36 face each other in a one-to-one relationship with the vehicle exterior plate in between.

Next, the installation of the vehicle-mounted antenna device 10 on the vehicle body will be described.
The front-rear direction Ls of the mounting insertion hole 8 of the vehicle body exterior plate is aligned with the front-rear direction Lc of the vehicle body, and is parallel to the X-axis in Fig. 2. In the vehicle-mounted antenna device 10 before being mounted on the vehicle body, the temporary fastening holder 50 and the washer 60 are lightly fastened together with the bolt 70 to the lower end of the fastening protrusion 32.

As shown in FIG. 3, the worker brings the fastening protrusion 32 close to the mounting insertion hole 8 from above without removing the temporary fastening holder 50 and the washer 60, and pushes it in until the bottom surface of the metal base 30 hits the top surface of the vehicle exterior plate. When pushing in, the fastening protrusion 32 is pushed in so that its front-rear direction Lt is aligned with the front-rear direction Ls of the mounting insertion hole 8. The pushing operation causes the temporary fastening holder 50 to elastically deform as the fastening protrusion 32 passes through the mounting insertion hole 8, and finally the connector 21, the temporary fastening holder 50, and the washer 60 protrude into the vehicle. When the temporary fastening holder 50 passes through the mounting insertion hole 9, the deformation of the part that was partially elastically deformed is released. When the elastic deformation is released, the temporary fastening holder 50 abuts against the periphery of the mounting insertion hole 8 from the inside of the vehicle, putting the metal base 30 in a temporary fastening state. In addition, in FIG. 3, the angle (assumed corotation angle θ) between the front-rear direction Lt, which is the reference direction of the fastening protrusion 32, and the front-rear direction Ls of the mounting insertion hole 8 is drawn larger than in FIG. 2 to make it easier to understand.

Next, the worker further tightens the bolt 70 from this provisionally fastened state, completely fastening the washer 60 to the fastening protrusion 32 and completing the fixing work.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the fastening protrusion 32 rotates in the corotation direction Rt with the fastening of the bolt 70, the fastening protrusion 32 is shifted by an assumed corotation angle θ (an angle geometrically estimated from the shapes and dimensions of the fastening protrusion 32 and the mounting insertion hole 8) with respect to the mounting insertion hole 8. Note that in FIG. 4, the angle (assumed corotation angle θ) between the front-rear direction Lt, which is the reference direction of the fastening protrusion 32, and the front-rear direction Ls of the mounting insertion hole 8 is drawn larger than in FIG. 2 to make it easier to understand.

The fastening protrusion 32 and the metal base 30 are integral, and the fore-and-aft direction Lb of the metal base 30 is aligned with the fore-and-aft direction La of the outer case 12, so this twist causes the metal base 30 to the outer case 12 to shift in the corotation direction Rt by an assumed corotation angle θ. This offsets the shift due to corotation, and the fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle-mounted antenna device 10 (the same as the fore-and-aft direction La of the outer case 12) can be aligned with the fore-and-aft direction Lc of the vehicle body.

[Summary]
The disclosure of the present specification according to the above-mentioned embodiments can be summarized as follows.

The disclosed aspect of the present invention is an in-vehicle antenna device that includes an antenna unit and a base having a fastening part on which at least a portion of the antenna unit is placed and which is fastened to a vehicle exterior panel by a rotational action of a fastener, and the fastening part is provided on the base in a state offset in the direction of rotation of the fastener with respect to a predetermined direction of the vehicle exterior panel before the rotational action of the fastener.

According to this aspect, the fastening portion is provided in a state where it is offset in the direction of rotation by the fastener with respect to the predetermined direction of the vehicle body exterior plate. Therefore, misalignment due to co-rotation during fastening is offset, and the base does not misalign with the predetermined direction of the vehicle body exterior plate, or even if it does misalign, it is suppressed to a level that is not noticeable to the naked eye. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the vehicle-mounted antenna device from being attached to the vehicle body exterior plate in a misaligned state from the predetermined direction of the vehicle body exterior plate.

The offset angle relative to the specified direction is an angle that offsets the co-rotation angle of the base when fastened.

This makes it possible to better prevent the vehicle-mounted antenna device from being installed in a direction that is different from the specified direction on the exterior panel of the vehicle body.

Reference Signs List 8: mounting insertion hole 10: vehicle-mounted antenna device 12: outer case 30: metal base 32: fastening protrusion 34: connector insertion hole 70: bolt

Claims (4)

An antenna portion;
a base having a fastening portion on which at least a portion of the antenna portion is placed and which is fastened to an exterior panel of a vehicle body by a rotational movement of a fastener;
Equipped with
the fastening portion is provided on the base in a state in which the fastening portion is offset in a rotation direction by the fastening tool with respect to a predetermined direction of the vehicle body exterior panel before a rotation operation by the fastening tool ,
The fastening portion and the base are integral with each other .
Vehicle-mounted antenna device. The offset angle with respect to the predetermined direction is an angle that offsets the co-rotation angle of the base when fastened.
The vehicle-mounted antenna device according to claim 1 . The fastening portion is inserted into a mounting insertion hole of the vehicle body exterior panel and is rotatable within the mounting insertion hole.
3. The vehicle-mounted antenna device according to claim 1 or 2. After the base comes into contact with the vehicle body exterior panel, the fastening portion is fastened to the vehicle body exterior panel by a rotational motion of the fastener.
The vehicle-mounted antenna device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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