A portable and collapsible supporting structure for a multi-element quad antenna comprising a horizontal telescopic boom upon which are mounted several sets of folding spreader arms radiating from the boom, each arm being pivotally connected to it. Each set of spreader arms can be immobilized in a common angular position with the boom, whereby several quadrangular loops may be hung between said spreader arms. The boom is supported by a multi-element mast. The mast itself rests on the hollow cylindrical base which doubles as a sheath for the storage and transporation of the various dismantled elements of the structure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The "cubicle quad" or, simply, "quad" antenna, is well known among those 
skilled in the art of radio communication and consists of a pair of square 
loops, one quarter wavelength on a side or one-wavelength around the 
periphery, one loop being driven and the other used as a parasitic 
reflector. Its gain is roughly comparable with that of a three-element 
yagi antenna of ordinary design. Three-elements arrangements have also 
been used in which the first loop is called the director, the central loop 
connected to the feed line is called the radiator, and the third loop is 
called the reflector. The principal advantages of the quad antenna are 
seen in the fact that it is light in weight, relatively inexpensive to 
build, and requires shorter elements than the standard antenna. For 
instance, in the fourteen megacycle band the normally required 
thirty-three feet (9.9 meters) yagi array may be replaced by a quad having 
a width of only eighteen feet (5.4 meters) and boom length of only twelve 
feet (3.6 meters). However, the quad has the disadvantage of requiring a 
very cumbersome structural frame. To this day its application to portable 
or mobile radio installations has been rather limited. What is needed is a 
portable supporting structure for a quad antenna which can be quickly and 
easily assembled or disassembled. Such a device would be ideal for field 
use by military personnel, police, fire fighters, not to mention ham radio 
enthusiasts. A self-deploying version of such an antenna would find 
application in the space exploration program. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The principal object of this invention is to provide a portable and 
collapsible radio quad antenna. 
Another object of this invention is to provide a quad antenna which can be 
easily and quickly assembled and disassembled. 
A further object of the invention is to provide a collapsible quad antenna 
which can be stored into a light and compact package for transportation. 
Another object of the invention is to provide quad antenna frame which can 
be made from inexpensive materials and components. 
An additional object of this invention is to provide a collapsible 
supporting frame for a radio quad antenna which can be extended to include 
multiple elements. 
It is also the object of this invention to provide a collapsible supporting 
frame upon which can be strung various quad elements forming a multiband 
radio antenna. 
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a quad radio antenna 
frame which can be rotated both in the horizontal and vertical directions 
in order to optimize the polarization and directionality of the antenna. 
These and other purposes are achieved by a portable and collapsible 
supporting structure for a multi-element quad antenna formed by a 
horizontal, telescopic boom upon which are mounted several sets of folding 
arms pivotally connected to the boom. Each set of arms can be immobilized 
in a common angular position with the boom whereby several quadrangular 
loops may be hung between said arms. The boom is supported by a 
multi-element mast and the mast itself rests on a cylindrical base which 
is also used as a storage compartment for the various elements of the 
antenna.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
Referring now to the drawing and in accordance with the invention, there is 
shown in FIG. 1 a first embodiment 1 of the invention supporting a three 
elements quad antenna. The structure 1 is remarkable in that it is made of 
various elements which can be disassembled, or folded, then stowed, into 
the base enclosure 12 for storage or transportation as illustrated in FIG. 
2. The cylindrical base 12 is closed at the bottom and has four small rods 
13 projecting horizontally outward from the base 12. The rods 13 are 
designed to improve the stability of the structure 1 while the antenna is 
in use. These rods 13 can be extracted from their nesting holes 16 and 
stored in the enclosure 12 with the other elements of the structure. The 
removable led 14 on top of the enclosure 12 has a hole 15 in its center 
designed to receive a mast 3. The mast 3 is made of two interlocking 
elements 9 and 10. The upper element 10 supports a boom 2 which is 
orthogonally engaged around its upper tip 34. The boom 2 comprises two 
elements 17 and 18 which are coaxially engaged into one another as 
specifically illustrated in FIG. 6. Two sets of matching transversal holes 
35 and 36 can be used alternately to mount the boom 2 on the tip 34 of the 
upper mast element 10. The holes 35 and 36 being orthogonal to one 
another, the boom 2 can be conveniently rotated in order that the 
polarization of the antenna matches the polarization of the transmitter. 
The first embodiment 1 supports three antenna loops 5, 6 and 7. The first 
loop 5 is called the director and is usually oriented toward the 
transmitting station. The second loop 6 constitutes the driven element of 
the antenna or radiator and is connected through a coaxial cable 8 to a 
transceiver. The third loop 7 acts a parastic reflector. Each loop is 
supported by a set four spreader arms 4. Each set of spreader arms 4 
converge toward a supporting hub plate 20 concentrically and orthogonally 
engaged around the boom 2. As more specifically illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 
5, each hub plates is formed by a flat square element 20 having an 
indentation 27 at each corner. The end 26 of a spreader arm 4 is pivotally 
attached into each indentation 27 by a pin 28. It can now be understood 
that each set of spreader arms 4 can be rotated around the hub plate 20 to 
various angular positions with the boom 2. 
As illustrated in FIG. 9, a barrier 19 located across the lower part of 
each indentation 27 limits the travel of the lower end 26 of the spreader 
arm 4. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, straps 21 connected to each spreader arm 
4 at point 22 are also connected to the end 25 of a tension stick 24. The 
tension stick 24 has its opposite end engaged into the extremity of the 
boom 2. An alternate mode of attachment for the straps 21 is illustrated 
in the left portion of FIG. 6. This latter type of attachment is more 
particularly applicable to the elements supporting the driven loop 6 
located near the center of the boom 2. In such cases, a loop 33 at the end 
of each strap 21 is engaged around the spreader arm 4 and hence kept into 
place by a pin 31 inserted through the spreader arm 4. In both cases, the 
strap 21 tends to hold the spreader arms 4 their maximum angular position 
with the boom 2 which is allowed by the barrier 19. The positioning of the 
driven loop 6 along the boom 2 may be adjusted by sliding the tubular 
element 38 along the half boom section 17. A pin 32 is used to immobilize 
the tubular element 38 on the boom 2. An alternate device for immobilizing 
the spreader arms 4 in a orthogonal position with the boom 2 is 
illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11. A U-shaped bracket 29 has a hole 30 in the 
middle of its base 39 which is engaged on the spreader arm 4. The width of 
the bracket 29 corresponds to the thickness of the supporting plate 20. 
The bracket 29 can be slid downward toward the plate 20 until it rests 
across the identation 27, thus immobilizing the spreader arms 4. FIG. 7 
illustrates a second embodiment of the invention supporting a two elements 
antenna. When not in use, the spreader arms 4 can be collapsed to a folded 
position as illustrated in FIG. 8. The loops wires (not illustrated) fold 
back along the boom 2. 
A third embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13. In 
this third embodiment, the boom 2 comprises a right tubular member 41 and 
a left tubular member 42 mounted in either side of a yoke 40 supported by 
the mast 3. Slidingly engaged into the outer end of each tubular elements 
41 and 42, is a spreader rod 45 which acts in the same manner as a tension 
stick 24 of the first embodiment 1 to hold the spreader arms 4 to their 
maximum angular position with the boom, by means of connecting straps 21. 
The inward end of each tubular element 41, 42, is engaged around a 
horizontal pin 43 or 44 projecting from each side of the yoke 40, and 
nests into a circular cavity 49 surrounding the yoke pin 43 or 44. Upon 
engagement with the tubular element 41 or 42, the pin 43 or 44, pushes the 
spreader rod 45 or 46 outward, thus forcing the spreader arms 4 to their 
maximum angular position with the boom. A tie strap 48 connects the anchor 
points 47 on each of the two tubular elements 41 and 42, thus immobilizing 
the structure. 
A fourth embodiment 50 of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 15. 
In this configuration 50, each set of spreader arms 4 is immobilized in a 
angular position with the boom whereby the spreader arms 4 delineate the 
lateral edges of a pyramid having its apex on the boom 2. A plurality of 
antenna loops of various sizes can be hung at different intervals across 
the spreader arms. In this illustration, loops 51 and 52 form a first 
antenna. The smaller loops 53 and 54 constitute a second antenna with a 
higher frequency response. The arm supporting hub plate 20, as illustrated 
in FIG. 15, has additional identations 55 which facilitate the storage of 
the various elements when they are collapsed and bundled together in the 
enclosure as shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 16 illustrates a fifths embodiment of 
the invention in which the pyramid formed by the spreader arms 4 is 
surrounded with a metallic cloth 57 to form a microwave horn 56 around the 
bipole antenna element 58. 
While I have described the preferred embodiments of my invention and 
suggested various modifications thereto, other embodiments may be 
implemented and other changes can be made without departing from the 
spirit of my invention and from the scope of the appended claims.