JPS5952385B2 - transmitting device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement in a transmitting device capable of simultaneously transmitting laser beams and radar waves.

That is, it has been known to use a transmitting device that uses both laser beams and radar waves to detect a distant target and to track or guide the movement of the target.

This type of transmitter is effective for precise detection and tracking of relatively short-range targets when using laser beams;
When using radar waves, it is relatively far away.

This is convenient for capturing targets at a distance. by the way,
Conventional transmitters integrate a laser beam transmitting system and a radar wave transmitting system, but are of the type that can be used in combination with a parabolic antenna or Cassegrain antenna of the radar transmitting system, and in that case, the laser beam transmitting system and the radar wave transmitting system are integrated. The transmission system was installed in the transmission space for radar transmission power. However, the laser beam transmitting system itself generates a large amount of heat, and it has been a problem how to cool the laser beam transmitting system.

At the same time, in a transmitter that shares laser beams and radar waves, in order to obtain a shared effect, both transmission systems must be driven and controlled as a unit and the transmission direction must be changed, so the problem is how to miniaturize the system. It was hot.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and relates to an improvement in a transmitting device that can provide an effective cooling effect for a laser beam transmitting system.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a transmitting device according to the present invention, in which a radar device 1 includes a radar signal source 11 that generates a radar signal and an array that receives the radar signal from the radar signal source 11 and sends out radio waves. It is composed of an antenna 12.

This radar device 1 is well known, and has an array antenna 12.
is a box-shaped antenna made of a metal material such as copper, and usually has slits arranged in a grid on the front surface, from which radio waves are sent out to form a predetermined beam.
On the other hand, the laser beam oscillation source 2 is attached directly to the box made of copper or the like constituting the array antenna 12, and its attachment position is provided between the slits.

The laser beam from the laser beam oscillation source passes through the optical system 3,
The beam is controlled to have a predetermined beam spread, and is transmitted in the same direction as the radar wave transmission direction.

Further, this transmitting device includes a control circuit 4 that drives and controls the transmission directions of radar waves and laser beams.

As described above, in the transmitting device of the present invention, as a result of attaching the laser beam oscillation source 2 on the front surface of the metal box of the array antenna for radar transmission, the heat generated by the laser beam oscillation source 2 is transmitted through the array antenna 12. Heat can be dissipated, the device can be miniaturized by integration, and it can have good temperature characteristics as a shared device.

That is, the ambient temperature where the antenna is installed is -40° to 50°
℃, the temperature due to the heat generated by the laser beam oscillation source 2 is 70℃.
80° to 80°, the heat generated by the laser beam oscillation source 2 is dissipated (air-cooled) using the large surface area of the antenna, thereby providing a sufficient heat dissipation effect. FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the device of the present invention, and the differences from FIG. 1 are as follows.
While Figure 1 only includes the transmission system,
Figure 2 shows that a receiving system is further added to the transmitting system. Therefore, the same components as those in FIG. 1 will be described with the same reference numerals. That is, the radar signal from the radar transmitting/receiving circuit 13 is supplied to the array antenna 12, and the antenna 1
Radar waves are sent out from 2 in the direction of arrow A.

On the other hand, the laser beam oscillation source 2 is directly attached to a box made of metal that forms the array antenna 12, and the laser beam is transmitted through the optical system 3 in the same direction as the five radar waves indicated by the arrow B.
Light is sent towards.

Therefore, reflected radar waves and reflected laser beams from the target are received via the array antenna 12 and the light receiving optical system 5, respectively, and then received by the transmitting/receiving circuit 13 and the laser beam receiver 6.

Since the reflected signals from the target received by the transmitting/receiving circuit] 3 and the laser beam receiver 6 each contain positional information such as the azimuth and elevation directions of the target, the signal processing circuit 7
As is well known in the art, position information is detected, and a direction error signal between the target position and the signal transmission direction of the laser beam transmission system and the radar transmission system is derived and supplied to the control circuit 8. Therefore, the control circuit 8 derives and controls the transmitting mechanism control signal of the transmitting device according to the present invention in the same manner as in FIG.

In addition, the array antenna 12 in FIGS. 1 and 2 is referred to as a so-called planar type.

Further, it is advantageous for the device of the present invention to use a semiconductor laser oscillator as the laser beam oscillation source 2 in order to reduce the size and weight of the device. Furthermore, the optical systems 3 and 5 may be of the so-called refractive type or Fresnel lens type. Next, FIG. 3 shows a modified example of the transmitting device according to the present invention, and the same components as in FIG.
The difference is that the antenna is formed by a parabolic antenna 15 equipped with a radiator 14, and the laser beam oscillation source 2 is attached closely to the parabolic antenna 15 so that the parabolic antenna 15 also serves as a heat sink for the laser beam oscillation source 2. This is what I did. FIG. 4 shows still another modification of the device of the present invention.
This is a configuration in which a receiving system is further added to the configuration shown in the figure.

The configuration of the addition of the receiving system corresponds exactly to that shown in Figure 2, so a detailed explanation will be omitted, but in short, the laser beam oscillation source is attached closely to the antenna made of metal, and the heat generated by the laser beam oscillation source is eliminated. The feature is that it uses an antenna to dissipate heat. As described above, in the device of the present invention, the laser beam oscillation source is integrated with the antenna of the radar transmitter, and the heat generated by the laser beam oscillation source can be radiated through the antenna, thereby realizing miniaturization.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing one embodiment of the transmitting device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of another embodiment of the transmitting device according to the present invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are respectively diagrams of the transmitting device according to the present invention. FIG. 11: radar signal source, 12: antenna, 2: laser beam oscillation source.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A radar signal source that derives a radar signal, an antenna made of metal that receives radar signals from this signal source and sends out radar waves in a predetermined direction, and a laser beam oscillation that is closely attached to the metal part of this antenna. A transmitting device includes a source and an optical system that transmits laser light from the laser light oscillation source.