Patent Publication Number: US-11658383-B2

Title: Antenna mounting assembly of base station antenna

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present invention claims priority from and the benefit of Chinese Utility Model Application No. 202022498451.6, filed Nov. 3, 2020, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure relates to the field of base station antennas in general. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to an antenna mounting assembly of a base station antenna. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     An antenna mounting assembly is used to pivotally mount an antenna to a pole of an antenna tower, so that the tilt angle of the antenna relative to the ground can be adjusted to adjust the main signal coverage areas. More and more electronic components such as filters and remote radio heads have been mounted on the rear portion of the antenna according to market requirement. These electronic parts not only increase the weight of the antenna itself, but also cause the antenna to withstand greater wind load due to its increased size. Therefore, the antenna mounting assembly also bears increasing torque from the antenna accordingly. 
     The antenna mounting assembly includes two pivoting arms for allowing the antenna to pivot relative to the pole, and a pole clamp connecting the pivoting arms to the pole. Up to now, the two pivoting arms have been designed to be maintained at a fixed angle by the friction generated by the tightening of bolts and nuts. However, the increase in torque makes it difficult to fix the angle by friction, especially under severe conditions (such as in strong wind). In addition, the increase in torque also causes the pole clamp to be easily twisted. 
     On the other hand, it is necessary to loosen the nut from the bolt when adjusting the angle between the two pivoting arms. However, the loosened nut is easy to come off the bolt to fall on the ground. This brings a lot of trouble to the antenna operation. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure provides an antenna mounting assembly which can overcome at least one of the above-mentioned defects in the prior products. 
     As a first aspect, embodiments of the present invention are directed to an antenna mounting assembly of a base station antenna. The antenna mounting assembly is configured to pivotally mount an antenna to a pole, and comprises: a pole clamp configured to clamp the pole; and a first pivoting arm and a second pivoting arm, a first end portion of the first pivoting arm being pivotally connected to a radome body of the antenna, a second end portion of the second pivoting arm being pivotally connected to the pole clamp, and an opposing second end portion of the first pivoting arm being pivotally connected to an opposing first end portion of the second pivoting arm through a pivoting portion. One of the second end portion of the first pivoting arm and the first end portion of the second pivoting arm is provided with a guide post, and the other is provided with a guide groove. The guide post is configured to pass through the guide groove and is capable of moving along the guide groove. The guide groove includes two side walls radially opposite to each other. One side wall of the two side walls is provided with a plurality of toothed portions and the other side wall is provided with a smooth surface. The guide post can be placed between adjacent toothed portions of the plurality of toothed portions. 
     Other features and advantages of the subject technology of the present disclosure will be set forth in the description below, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the subject technology of the present disclosure. The advantages of the subject technology of the present disclosure will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written specification and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings. 
     It should be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the subject technology of the present disclosure as claimed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A plurality of aspects of the present disclosure will be better understood after reading the following specific embodiments with reference to the appended drawings. In the appended drawings: 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective view of a mounting assembly set according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIGS.  2 A and  2 B  are an assembly perspective view and a distribution exploded perspective view of an upper mounting assembly; 
         FIGS.  3 A and  3 B  are a plan view and a sectional view of a pivoting arm of the upper mounting assembly; and 
         FIGS.  4 A and  4 B  are perspective views of different examples of a washer of the upper mounting assembly; and 
         FIG.  5    is a perspective view of a retaining clip of the upper mounting assembly. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     The present disclosure will be described below with reference to the appended drawings, and the appended drawings illustrate several embodiments of the present disclosure. However, it should be understood that the present disclosure may be presented in many different ways and is not limited to the embodiments described below; in fact, the embodiments described below are intended to make the disclosure of the present disclosure more complete and to fully explain the protection scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. It should also be understood that the embodiments disclosed in the present disclosure may be combined in various ways so as to provide more additional embodiments. 
     It should be understood that in all the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals and signs denote the same elements. In the accompanying drawings, the dimensions of certain features can be changed for clarity. 
     It should be understood that the words in the specification are only used to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical terms and scientific terms) used in the specification have the meanings commonly understood by those skilled in the art. For brevity and/or clarity, well-known functions or structures may not be described further in detail. 
     The singular forms “a”, “an”, “the” and “this” used in the specification all include plural forms unless clearly indicated. The words “comprise”, “contain” and “have” used in the specification indicate the presence of the claimed features, but do not exclude the presence of one or more other features. The word “and/or” used in the specification includes any or all combinations of one or more of the related listed items. The words “between X and Y” and “between approximate X and Y” used in the specification shall be interpreted as including X and Y. The words “between approximate X and Y” and “from approximate X to Y” used in the specification means “between approximate X and approximate Y” and “from approximate X to approximate Y”, respectively. 
     In the specification, when it is described that an element is “on” another element, “attached” to another element, “connected” to another element, “coupled” to another element, or “in contact with” another element, etc., the element may be directly on another element, attached to another element, connected to another element, coupled to another element, or in contact with another element, or an intermediate element may be present. In contrast, if an element is described “directly” “on” another element, “directly attached” to another element, “directly connected” to another element, “directly coupled” to another element or “directly contacting” another element, there will be no intermediate elements. In the specification, a feature that is arranged “adjacent” to another feature, may denote that a feature has a part that overlaps an adjacent feature or a part located above or below the adjacent feature. 
     In the specification, words expressing spatial relations such as “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “right”, “front”, “rear”, “top”, and “bottom” may describe the relation between one feature and another feature in the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that, in addition to the orientations shown in the accompanying drawings, the words expressing spatial relations further include different orientations of a device in use or operation. For example, when a device in the accompanying drawings rotates reversely, the features originally described as being “below” other features now can be described as being “above” the other features. The device may also be oriented in other directions (rotated by 90 degrees or in other orientations), and in this case, a relative spatial relation will be explained accordingly. 
       FIG.  1    is a perspective view of a mounting assembly set  1  according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in the drawing, the mounting assembly set  1  is used to pivotally mount an antenna  2  to a pole  3 , and includes an upper mounting assembly  4  and a lower mounting assembly  6  which are separated from each other. The upper mounting assembly  4  is used to pivotally connect a vertical upper part of the antenna  2  to the pole  3 , and the lower mounting assembly  6  is used to pivotally connect a vertical lower part of the antenna  2  to the pole  3 . 
       FIGS.  2 A and  2 B  are an assembly perspective view and a partial exploded perspective view of the upper mounting assembly  4 . The upper mounting assembly  4  includes a pivoting arm  41 , a pivoting arm  42 , and a pole clamp  43  connected end to end. The pole clamp  43  firmly clamps the pole  3 , and the pivoting arms  41  and  42  pivotally connect a radome body of the antenna  2  to the pole clamp  43 . The pivoting arm  41  include two connecting plates  411  aligned in parallel with each other and spaced apart, and a web plate  412  connecting the two connecting plates  411 . Similarly, the pivoting arm  42  include two connecting plates  421  aligned in parallel with each other and spaced apart, and a web plate  422  connecting the two connecting plates  421 . 
     A first end portion of each connecting plate  411  of the pivoting arm  41  is connected to an upper protruding portion  21  on the radome body of the antenna  2  through a pivoting portion, an opposing second end portion is connected to a first end portion of a corresponding connecting plate  421  of the pivoting arm  42  through the pivoting portion, and an opposing second end portion of the connecting plate  421  is connected to the pole clamp  43  through the pivoting portion. The pivoting portion can be provided in various forms, and description will be made below taking the connecting plates  411  and  421  as an example. However, it should be understood that the pivoting portion can be applied to pivotal connections between other components. In one form of pivoting portion, a pivot hole is provided in both the second end portion of the connecting plate  411  and the first end portion of the connecting plate  421 , and an additional pivot can pass through the two aligned pivot holes to pivotally connect the connecting plate  411  and the connecting plate  421  together. In another form of pivoting portion, one of the second end portion of the connecting plate  411  and the first end portion of the connecting plate  421  is provided with a pivot hole while the other is provided with a pivot, and the pivot passes through the pivot hole to pivotally connect the connecting plate  411  and the connecting plate  421  together. 
     A guide post  413  protruding outward is provided on the outer surface of each connecting plate  411  of the pivoting arm  41 . The guide posts  413  are respectively located between the pivot hole (or pivot) of the first end portion and the pivot hole (or pivot) of the second end portion of the connecting plate  411 , and are closer to the pivot hole (or pivot) of the second end portion. An arc-shaped guide groove  423  is provided in each connecting plate  421  of the pivoting arm  42  around the pivot hole (or pivot) of the first end portion. The two connecting plates  411  of the pivoting arm  41  are positioned between the two connecting plates  421  of the pivoting arm  42 , and the guide posts  413  on the connecting plates  411  respectively pass through the guide grooves  423  on the connecting plates  421  to extend outward. When the pivoting arms  41  and  42  pivot around the pivoting portion, the guide post  413  can move along the guide groove  423  within the guide groove  423 . 
     In some embodiments, the two connecting plates  421  of the pivoting arm  42  may also be positioned between the two connecting plates  411  of the pivoting arm  41 , and the guide post  413  may extend inward from the inner surface of the connecting plate  411  of the pivoting arm  41  and pass through the guide groove  423  on the connecting plate  421 . In some embodiments, the guide post may be provided on the connecting plate  421  of the pivoting arm  42  instead of the connecting plate  411  of the pivoting arm  41 , and the guide groove may be provided on the connecting plate  411  of the pivoting arm  41  instead of the connecting plate  421  of the pivoting arm  42 . In some embodiments, the pivoting arms  41  and  42  may include one guide post and one guide groove only on one connecting plate instead of including two guide posts and two guide grooves on two connecting plates, respectively. 
     As shown in  FIG.  3 A , the guide groove  423  is configured to pass through a through groove of the connecting plate  421  and is in a substantially elongated circular arc shape surrounding the pivot hole (or pivot) of the first end portion of the connecting plate  421 . The guide groove  423  includes a radially inner side wall and a radially outer side wall opposite to each other. A continuous toothed portion  424  is provided on the entire radially inner side wall. After the angle between the pivoting arms  41  and  42  is adjusted, the guide post  413  can be placed between the adjacent toothed portions  424  to be fixed in position in the guide groove  423 . This can prevent the guide post  413  from sliding relative to the guide groove  423  under any severe conditions (such as in strong wind) to cause a change in the angle between the pivoting arms  41  and  42 . The teeth of the toothed portion  424  may be provided to have various different cross-sectional shapes, such as a triangle, a trapezoid, and a circular arc. The radially outer side wall of the guide groove  423  is provided with a smooth surface. When the angle between the pivoting arms  41  and  42  needs to be adjusted, the guide post  413  can move away from the toothed portion  424  and approach the radially outer side wall or directly abut against the radially outer side wall. The guide post  413  can move along the smooth outer surface of the radially side wall without being interfered by the toothed portion  424 , thereby facilitating the adjustment of the angle between the pivoting arms  41  and  42 . 
     In some embodiments, the toothed portion may be provided on a part of the radially inner side wall (for example, the central part of the radially inner side wall) instead of the entire radially inner side wall. In some embodiments, the toothed portion may be provided on the radially outer side wall instead of the radially inner side wall, and the smooth surface may be provided on the radially inner side wall instead of the radially outer side wall. 
     As shown in  FIGS.  2 A and  2 B , the guide post  413  may include a bolt  414 , a nut  415 , and a washer  416 . The bolt  414  is used to guide the connecting plate  411  to pivot in the guide groove  423  relative to the connecting plate  421 , and the nut  415  and the washer  416  are used to tighten the bolt  414  on the connecting plates  411  and  421 . The bolt  414  includes a screw rod and a head portion at an end portion of the screw rod. The head portion abuts against the connecting plate  411 , and the screw rod passes through the through hole on the connecting plate  411  and the guide groove  423  on the connecting plate  421  and is then screwed into the washer  416  and the nut  415 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  4 A , the washer  416  includes a main body  417  with a central hole, and a flange  418  protruding outward around the central hole. The flange  418  may surround the screw rod of the bolt  414  and be placed between adjacent toothed portions  424  of the guide groove  423  to prevent the bolt  414  from sliding relative to the guide groove  423  to cause a change in the angle between the pivoting arms  41  and  42  on one hand, and to prevent the screw rod of the bolt  414  from directly contacting the toothed portion  424  and damaging the screw thread on the other hand. 
     When the angle between the pivoting arms  41  and  42  needs to be adjusted, the nut  415  is loosened from the bolt  414 , and the washer  416  and the nut  415  are spaced apart from the connecting plate  421  so that the bolt  414  can move in the guide groove  423 . After the angle between the pivoting arms  41  and  42  is adjusted, the flange  418  of the washer  416  is placed around the bolt  414  and between the adjacent toothed portions  424  of the guide groove  423 , and the nut  415  is tightened on the bolt  414  to make the connecting plates  411  and  421  fit closely and to fix the angle between the pivoting arms  41  and  42 . 
     The nut  415  and the washer  416  are two separate parts. In some embodiments, as shown in  FIG.  4 B , the nut  415  and the washer  416  may be integrally formed, and the nut  415  may be located on a side of the main body  417  that is opposite to the flange  418 . 
     As shown in  FIGS.  2 A and  2 B , an retaining clip  44  may be clamped on the screw rod of the bolt  414  and located on the outer side of the nut  415  to prevent the nut  415  from coming off the bolt  414  due to looseness. As shown in  FIG.  5   , the retaining clip  44  includes an opening portion  441  and a surrounding portion  442  connected to each other. The opening portion  441  allows the screw rod to enter or exit the surrounding portion  442 , and the surrounding portion  442  is clamped on the screw rod to prevent the nut  415  from coming off the screw rod. The retaining clip  44  may be formed by bending a slender wire, or may be formed by a perforated sheet material. 
     The surrounding portion  442  has a through hole at its center, and the screw rod may be placed in the through hole. The diameter of the through hole is set to be greater than the diameter of a bottom portion of a thread and smaller than the diameter of a top portion of the thread of the screw rod, so that the surrounding portion  442  can be clamped between two adjacent threads of the screw rod. The opening portion  441  includes two opposing arms  443 . The two arms  443  have elasticity so that they can be switched between an initial state and an opened state. In the initial state, the two elastic arms  443  are in contact with each other or spaced apart with a minimum distance smaller than the diameter of the screw rod to prevent the screw rod placed in the surrounding portion  442  from escaping from the surrounding portion  442  in a direction transverse to its central axis. In the opened state, the two elastic arms  443  can be opened apart from each other with a distance greater than the diameter of the screw rod to allow the screw rod to enter and exit the surrounding portion  442 , and return to the initial state under the action of elastic force after the screw rod passes through. In some embodiments, the retaining clip  44  may also be applied to other places in addition to the guide post  413 , such as the pivot between the pivoting arm  41  and the pivoting arm  42 , to prevent the nut on the pivot from coming off. 
     As shown in  FIGS.  2 A and  2 B , the pole clamp  43  includes two clamping jaws  431  and  432  opposite to each other, and a connecting piece  433  connected to the clamping jaw  431 . The two clamping jaws  431  and  432  are used to clamp the pole clamp  43 , and the connecting piece  433  is used to pivotally connect the pivoting arm  42  to the clamping jaw  431 . The clamping jaws  431  and  432  include elongated main bodies  434  and  435 , and the main bodies  434  and  435  have substantially U-shaped cross sections. Two free arms of the U shape abut against the pole  3 . Reinforcing pieces  437  and  438  are provided between the two free arms of the clamping jaws  431  and  432  respectively to increase the strength of the entire clamping jaws and prevent the clamping jaws from deforming and failing under any extreme loading conditions. The clamping jaws  431  and  432  are respectively provided with at least two through holes at the bottom of the U-shaped main bodies, and bolts can pass through the through holes to connect the clamping jaws  431  and  432  together on both sides of the pole  43 . The connecting piece  433  is fixed to the clamping jaw  431  by welding, screws, etc., and is provided with protrusions protruding outward at both ends of the connecting piece. The protrusions may be connected to the second end portion of the connecting plate  421  through various types of pivoting portion described above. 
     As shown in  FIG.  1   , the lower mounting assembly  6  includes a pole clamp  63 . The structure of the pole clamp  63  is substantially the same as the structure of the pole clamp  43 . The pole clamp  63  includes two clamping jaws  631  and  632  opposite to each other, and a connecting piece  633  connected to the clamping jaw  631 , and the connecting piece  633  is provided with protrusions protruding outward at both ends of the connecting piece. The protrusions may be connected to a pair of lower protruding portions on the radome body of the antenna  2  through various types of pivoting portion described above. 
     The guide groove of the upper mounting assembly according to the present disclosure has two opposing surfaces, where one of the two surfaces has a toothed portion and the other is a smooth surface. When adjusting the angle between the two pivoting arms, the smooth surface may be used to allow the guide post to move through the guide groove. When fixing the angle between the pivoting arms, the toothed portion on the other side may be used to keep the guide post stationary relative to the guide groove. 
     The bolt of the upper mounting assembly according to the present disclosure are provided with a washer having a flange. The flange is placed between adjacent toothed portions of the guide groove to prevent the bolt from sliding relative to the guide groove to cause a change in the angle between the connecting plates on one hand, and to prevent the bolt from directly contacting the toothed portion and damaging the screw thread on the other hand. 
     A retaining clip is clamped on the bolt of the upper mounting assembly according to the present disclosure. The retaining clip is clamped on the screw rod of the bolt and is located on the outer side of the nut to prevent the nut from coming off the bolt due to looseness. 
     The clamping jaws of the pole clamp of the upper mounting assembly according to the present disclosure are provided with a reinforcing piece to increase the strength of the entire clamping jaws and prevent the clamping jaws from deforming and failing under any extreme loading conditions. 
     Although the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure have been described, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that a plurality of variations and changes can be created and made to the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure without essentially departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, all variations and changes are included in the protection scope of the present disclosure defined by the claims. The present disclosure is defined by the attached claims, and equivalents of these claims are also included.