Patent Publication Number: US-6222501-B1

Title: Attaching mechanism for GPS antenna

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/138, 558, filed on Aug. 24, 1998 now U.S. Pat. NO. 6,067,057, herein incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an attaching mechanism for a GPS (global positioning system) antenna which is used for attaching the GPS antenna to a portable personal computer. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     The GPS system having been spread as a positioning system requires a GPS antenna for receiving radio wave transmitted from satellites. High-grade calculation function is required in order to accurately calculate the current position on the basis of the signals received by the GPS antenna. If such a calculation can be performed by a personal computer, in particular, a portable personal computer such as a note book personal computer, the field to which the GPS system can be applied will be spread rapidly. 
     In general, the GPS antenna is disposed with reference to the horizontal plane so as to optimize the receiving sensitivity thereof The GPS antenna to be mounted on a vehicle is disposed most suitably at the time of mounting it on the vehicle since the horizontal plane is defined by the vehicle body. In contrast, the portable GPS antenna is always required to adjust its position with respect to the horizontal plane. 
     In a system where the signal received by a GPS antenna is subjected to calculation processing by a portable personal computer, there arises a problem as to where the GPS antenna is to be disposed. That is, since an operator operates a key board disposed on the front side of a display panel in a state that the display panel is opened, there is no place where the GPS antenna is to be disposed. This is a problem to be obviated by the present invention. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an object of the present invention is to provide an attaching mechanism for a GPS antenna which can be detachably attached to the display panel of a personal computer and easily define the horizontal plane thereof 
     In order to achieve the aforesaid object, there is provided an attaching mechanism for a GPS antenna which comprises: a clip for gripping a plate-shaped member and having a shaft supporting member; a shaft in which one end thereof is supported by the shaft supporting member; and a base member fixed to the other end of the shaft and on which a GPS antenna is mounted. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     In the accompanying drawings: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an attaching mechanism for a GPS antenna according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the attaching mechanism for a GPS antenna of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the assembled state of the attaching mechanism for a GPS antenna of FIG. 1; 
     FIGS.  4 (A) and  4 (B) are diagrams showing the arrangement of an attaching mechanism for a GPS antenna according to the second embodiment of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the arrangement of an attaching mechanism for a GPS antenna according to the third embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the entire arrangement of an attaching mechanism for a GPS antenna according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a reference numeral  10  denotes a portable personal computer,  11  is a key board,  12  is a display panel in an opened state,  13  is a slot for inserting a PCMCIA (Personal Card Memory International Association) card therein,  20  is the GPS antenna,  21  is an antenna cable,  22  is the PCMCIA card having a received signal processing circuit effecting demodulation or the like of the received signal. The cable  21  is disposed between the antenna  20  and the card  22  so as to connect therebetween, and the card  22  is inserted into the slot  13  upon usage of the GPS antenna  20 . 
     A reference numeral  30  denotes the attaching mechanism for the GPS antenna according to the first embodiment of the present invention,  31  is a clip for gripping or holding the upper end of the display panel  12  of the personal computer  10 ,  32  is a shaft whose one end is supported by the clip  31 ,  33  is a planer base plate fixed at the other end side of the shaft  32 . In use, the base plate  33  is rotated around the shaft  32  and adjusted so as to be level. The GPS antenna is disposed on the base plate  33 . 
     In this manner, since the attaching mechanism is arranged in a manner that the base plate  33  can rotate around the shaft  32 , the base plate  33  can be kept to be level in accordance with the open angle of the display panel  12  of the personal computer  10 . 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the attaching mechanism  30  for a GPS antenna according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the assembled state of the attaching mechanism. As shown in the figures, the clip  31  is formed by a pair of supporting members  31 A,  31 B and a U-shaped spring  31 C. At the center portion of each of the pair of the supporting members  31 A,  31 B, a convex portion  31 E is formed so as to provide a semicircular recess portion  31 D serving as the center of the rotation therebetween. The spring  31 C is disposed between the pair of supporting members  31 A,  31 B as shown in FIG.  4 . 
     A rectangular recess  33 A is formed on the base plate  33  and a steel plate  33 B is provided thereon. This metal plate  33 B is used so as to attract a magnet for antenna attachment provided at the bottom portion of the GPS antenna  20 . A bearing portion  33 C is formed at the lower portion of the base plate  33  so that the shaft  32  passes therethrough. A stud  32 A is formed integrally with the shaft  32 . Screws  33 D are screwed from the base plate  33  side into screw holes  32 B formed in the stud  32 A thereby to integrate the stud with the base plate  33 . A reference numeral  33 F denotes through holes for passing the screws  33 D therethrough. 
     The shaft  32  thus integrated with the base plate  33  is inserted into the pair of the semicircular-shaped recess portions  31 D of the clip  31  so that the rotation position of the shaft relative to the clip  31  can be adjusted manually in accordance with the rotation torque utilizing the elasticity of the spring  31 C and the friction of the material. Such a rotation torque serves as the gripping force for keeping the leveling of the base plate  33  even when the GPS antenna  20  is placed thereon. However, the base plate  33  can be rotated and its angle can be adjusted by manually applying force of some extent thereto. 
     FIGS.  4 (A) and  4 B) are diagrams showing the arrangement of the attaching mechanism for a GPS antenna according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The attaching mechanism  30  for a GPS antenna according to this embodiment is arranged in a manner that a shaft supporting portion  31 F is integrated with a clip  31  and a base plate  33  is integrated with a shaft  32  in advance. A spherical member  32 C is integrally provided at the tip portion of the shaft  32 . The spherical member is pressed into the shaft supporting portion  31 F. The shaft supporting portion  31 F includes a spherical recess portion  31 G and a plurality of notched portions  31 H into which the spherical member  32 C provided at the tip portion of the shaft  32  is pressed and held therein. Accordingly, also in this embodiment, the base plate  33  can be rotated around the shaft  32  and its angle can be adjusted. 
     According to this type of the attaching mechanism, since the shaft  32  protrudes to the direction perpendicular to the recess portion  31 G of the clip  31 , the clip  31  can be attached to an arbitrary position of the upper end portion of the display panel  12  of the personal computer  10 . 
     FIG. 5 is a side view showing the arrangement of the attaching mechanism for a GPS antenna according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The attaching mechanism for a GPS antenna according to this embodiment is such a type that a base plate  33  and a shaft  32  are integrally formed by resin material and the shaft  32  is inserted into the aforesaid circular recess portion of the clip  31 . This type of the attaching mechanism is advantageous in a point that the number of constituent parts is minimum among the aforesaid embodiments. 
     As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide such an attaching mechanism for a GPS antenna which can be detachably attached to the display panel of a personal computer and define the horizontal plane thereof easily.