Patent Publication Number: US-2010117921-A1

Title: Organic connecting apparatus of receiving set for a car

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to an integrated connection apparatus for the receivers of a car. 
     In particular, the present invention relates to an integrated connection apparatus for the receivers of a car that enables a plurality of receivers and relevant antennas to be connected through a single cable so as to enable the video/audio functions of the car, so that the connection of wiring can be performed more conveniently and quickly during the installation of the receivers and the antennas and the interior of the car can be kept neat. 
     BACKGROUND ART  
     Recently, devices having various functions, such as a radio/audio listening and viewing function, a road guidance function using a Global Positioning System (GPS), a Division Multiple Access (CDMA) mobile communication function, and a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) television viewing function, are separately installed in a car for use that is performed while the car is either moving or at rest. 
       FIG. 1  is a circuit diagram showing the construction of the prior art connection of the receivers of a car. 
     Referring to this drawing, the above-described devices having their respective functions receive radio waves from external broadcasting stations, satellites, base stations and the like, and perform their intended functions. Accordingly, in order to receive radio waves transmitted from the outside, the devices are equipped with their respective receivers  1 . In order to improve the efficiency of the reception of radio waves, the receivers  1  are provided with antennas  2  which are installed inside and/or outside a car. 
     The antennas  2  are installed inside and/or outside the car at locations at which the antennas  2  can receive radio waves most effectively, and are respectively connected to the receivers  1  of the devices via their respective cables  3 . In particular, since the antennas  2  for respective devices have different configurations for receiving radio waves, the respective receivers  1  require corresponding antennas  2 . 
     In the above construction, in the installation of the receivers  1  and the antennas  2  in a car, the receivers  1  are generally disposed or fixedly mounted under the driver&#39;s seat or front passenger&#39;s seat of the car, and the antennas  2  are mounted on the upper frame of the driver&#39;s seat or front passenger&#39;s seat or on the outside of a car body. In particular, when a plurality of receivers  1  is provided (a plurality of receivers is installed for the performance of various functions), the receivers  1  are generally collected and fixedly mounted in the dashboard of the driver&#39;s seat side or front passenger&#39;s seat side of a car, or under a seat. 
     In the state in which the receivers  1  and the antennas  2  are installed in the car as described above, the receivers  1  and antennas are electrically connected through respective cables in a 1:1 correspondence. That is, each receiver  1  and each antenna  2  are connected to each other through a dedicated cable  3 . When a plurality of receivers  1  and a plurality of corresponding antennas  2  are provided, a plurality of cables  3  is required to connect the receivers  1  to the antennas  2 . 
     DISCLOSURE  
     Technical Problem  
     According to the construction of the prior art connection between receivers and antennas, when a plurality of receivers is installed in a car, receivers are connected to the respective antennas through dedicated cables, with the result that a plurality of cables must be deployed and arranged. Accordingly, the above-described construction has problems in that a process of connecting a plurality of receivers to their antennas through cables inside a car is very inconvenient and the appearance of the interior of a car is deteriorated by the plurality of cables after making the connection using the cables. 
     In particular, the above-described cable is configured to be extended by disposing connectors at one or more locations depending on the distance between the receivers and the antennas. As a result, when one or more connectors are disposed in each of the cables, there are problems in that the wiring in the car is more complicated and time and economic losses are incurred due to construction of the plurality of connectors. 
     The present invention was devised to solve the above problems. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an integrated connection apparatus that integrates radio wave signals (hereinafter referred to as “signals”) received through a plurality of antennas, transmits an integrated signal to a receiver side, divides the signal, and provides resulting signals to respective target receivers, thereby enabling signals to be transmitted to a plurality of receivers through a single cable. 
     Technical Solution  
     In order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention has the following constructions. 
     The present invention provides a construction in which two or more receivers are installed in the car, a number of antennas equal to the number of the receivers are installed, and the receivers and the antennas are electrically connected to each other, including an antenna filtering unit connected to the plurality of antennas and configured to filter radio wave signals, received through the respective antennas, for respective frequency bands; an integrated cable connected to the filtering unit, and configured to provide a path for collecting signals obtained through filtering and transmitting the signals to a receiver side; and a receiver filtering unit connected to the integrated cable, and configured to classify the signals, transmitted through the integrated cable, into signals suitable for the respective receivers and transmit them. Furthermore, in the present invention, a power unit is provided in a signal dividing circuit so as to supply power used to operate the receiver, and the power unit includes a power cable installed in the integrated cable so as to supply power from the car. 
     Furthermore, in the present invention, a power unit is provided in a signal dividing circuit so as to supply power used to operate the receiver, and the power unit includes a power cable installed in the integrated cable so as to supply power from the car. 
     Preferably, a coaxial cable capable of transmitting various information through a single cable is used as the integrated cable. Furthermore, each filtering unit is installed and cased in a single box. 
     With regard to additional construction, the antenna filtering unit is provided with an integrating circuit for receiving filtered signals and integrating the signals into an integrated signal, whereas the receiver filtering unit is provided with a signal dividing circuit for dividing the transmitted integrated signal into a plurality of signals before the integration. 
     Advantageous Effects  
     According to the present invention having the above-described construction, the connection of a plurality of receivers for performing various functions to respective antennas is implemented using a single cable, and thus a process of connecting the receivers to the respective antennas can be easily performed. Furthermore, the present invention has an advantage in that the neat appearance of the interior of a car can be achieved by the single cable. 
     In particular, the present invention has an advantage in that, through the use of the single cable, low manufacturing costs and rapid manufacturing work can be realized during the manufacturing of connectors. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
         FIG. 1  is a circuit diagram showing the construction of the prior art connection of the receivers of a car; 
         FIG. 2  is a circuit diagram of a connection apparatus for the receivers of a car according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional view of the integrated cable of the connection apparatus according to the present invention; and 
         FIG. 4  is a circuit diagram of another embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS OF PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS  
       
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
             
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
                 10: receiver 
                 20: antenna 
               
               
                   
                 30: antenna filtering unit 
                 40: integrated cable 
               
               
                   
                 50: receiver filtering unit 
                 60: power unit 
               
               
                   
                 70: integrating circuit 
                 80: dividing circuit 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Best Mode 
     Embodiments of the present invention to which the above-described construction is applied will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG. 2  is a circuit diagram of a connection apparatus for the receivers of a car according to the present invention, and  FIG. 3  is a circuit diagram of the filtering unit of the connection apparatus according to the present invention. 
     Referring to the drawings, the connection apparatus according to the present invention is configured such that two or more receivers  10  are installed in a car, a number of antennas  20  equal to the number of receivers  10  are installed, and the receivers  10  are electrically connected to the antennas  20 . For this purpose, the connection apparatus includes an antenna filtering unit  30 , an integrated cable  40 , a receiver filtering unit  50 , and a power unit  60 . Here, although two receivers  10  are illustrated in the drawing, there may be provided two or more types of receivers chosen from among a plurality of types of terminals, which are exemplified by a radio receiver, a GPS terminal, a CDMA terminal, and a DMB terminal. 
     The antenna filtering unit  30  is electrically connected to the antennas  20 . The antenna filtering unit  30  is configured to classify radio wave signals, received through the antennas  20 , according to frequency bands and then pass them therethrough in order to enable use of the radio wave signals for respective functions of the various receivers  10 . 
     In order to perform filtering for respective frequency bands, it is apparent that the filtering unit  30  is divided into a High Pass Filter (HPF), a Low Pass Filter (LPF), and a Band Pass Filter (BPF). It is well known that the filtering unit  30  is constructed by connecting capacitors and coils in circuit form. 
     The integrated cable  40  is connected at both ends thereof to the antenna filtering unit  30  and the receiver filtering unit  50 , and transmits various radio wave signals passed through the antenna filtering unit  30 . Accordingly, a coaxial cable capable of transmitting various signals via a single cable is adopted as the integrated cable  40 . 
     The integrated cable  40  is constructed by disposing respective conductive wires  41  for transmitting signals around the same axis and placing insulators  42  between the respective conductive wires  41  and a covering  43  in the outermost portion of the integrated cable  40 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . Here, the conductive wires  41  are provided for two antennas  20 , two receivers  10  and the power unit  60  because two types of antennas  20  and two types of receivers  10  are illustrated in the drawing. 
     In this case, the power unit  60  is a construction for supplying the power of the generator or battery of the car to the respective receivers  10 . The power unit  60  includes a filtering unit  61  (or a power supply) for supplying power having appropriate voltage and current. 
     It is apparent that the above-described integrated cable  40  eliminates an electrical inference factor between radio wave signals because power and radio wave signals are separated from each other by the insulators  42  disposed between the respective conductive wires  41 . In this regard, since radio wave signals obtained through the filtering of the antenna filtering unit  30  have different frequency bands, the electrical interference within the integrated cable  40  can be more reliably prevented. 
     The receiver filtering unit  50  is configured to filter the radio wave signals and power transmitted via the integrated cable  40  so that the transmitted radio wave signals and power can be provided to relevant receivers  10 . That is, the receiver filtering unit  50  is a construction for classifying the radio wave signals and power for the use of the receivers  10  and the supply of power and inputting them. 
     The receiver filtering unit  50  also classifies the radio wave signals and power for an HPF, an LPF and a BPF, like the antenna filtering unit  30 . The receiver filtering unit  50  is formed of capacitors and coils in circuit form. 
     In the above-described construction, the receiver filtering unit  50  and the antenna filtering unit  30  are each contained and cased in a single box C (a casing, such as a distribution box in which a circuit is included). Here, the two boxes C each include the power filtering unit  61  (see  FIGS. 3 and 4 ). Using this construction, the circuits can be hidden in the interior of the car, and thus a neat appearance can be provided to the interior of the car. 
     Another embodiment  
       FIG. 4  is a circuit diagram of another embodiment according to the present invention. 
     As is shown in this drawing, in a connection apparatus according to this other embodiment, an integrating circuit  70  for integrating filtered signals after radio wave signals received through antennas  20  have been filtered, is provided in an antenna filtering unit  30 . Meanwhile, a dividing circuit  80  for receiving integrated signals via an integrated cable  40  and dividing the signals into original radio wave signals is provided in a receiver filtering unit  50 . 
     In this case, circuits for passing only signals having specific frequency bands therethrough using capacitors and coils are used as the filtering units  30  and  50 , as in the previous embodiment. The integrated cable  40  using the coaxial cable is formed of an integrated conductive wire  41  for transmitting integrated radio wave signals, and includes conductive wires  41  for transmitting radio wave signals and a conductive wire  41  for transmitting power. 
     It is preferred that the integrating circuit  70  be implemented using a typical Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) circuit. Furthermore, it is preferred that the dividing circuit  80  is implemented using a typical convolution circuit for dissolving signals. 
     It is apparent that a separate coaxial conductive wire  41  is formed in the integrated cable  40  because, in the connection apparatus to which the integrating circuit  70  and the dividing circuit  80  are applied, the power unit  60  transmits power signals different from radio wave signals. 
     The above-described construction of another embodiment enables the integrated cable  40  to be manufactured at low costs, and enables a connector for the integrated cable  40 , which is generally extended one or more times, to be fabricated in a simple structure.