Patent Publication Number: US-11038253-B1

Title: Satellite antenna azimuth adjustment assembly

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a satellite antenna, and more particularly to a satellite antenna azimuth adjustment assembly. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     In order to adjust a satellite antenna to a good receiving angle, an angle adjustment mount is connected between the satellite antenna and a stand for adjusting an elevation angle (a vertical angle) of the satellite antenna and an azimuth angle (a horizontal angle) of the satellite antenna. The angle adjustment mount substantially has a base, a support, and an adjusting bracket. The base is mounted on the stand. The support is mounted on a rear of the satellite antenna. The adjusting bracket is connected with the base and the support. The adjusting bracket and the support are connected with each other via an elevation angle adjustment mechanism, and the adjusting bracket and the base are connected with each other via an azimuth angle adjustment mechanism. Thus, an orientation angle between the satellite antenna and the stand can be adjusted for receiving good satellite signals. 
     The azimuth angle adjustment mechanism mounted between the base and the adjusting bracket substantially comprises a horizontal leadscrew unit connected with the base and the adjusting bracket. A relative length of the leadscrew unit connecting between the base and the adjusting bracket can be adjusted by rotating the leadscrew unit, whereby the adjusting bracket is pivoted at a horizontal angle relative to the base. However, an adjustment space of the leadscrew unit is limited because of the arrangement thereof. 
     To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide a satellite antenna azimuth adjustment assembly to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The main objective of the invention is to provide a satellite antenna azimuth adjustment assembly having simple structures. An azimuth angle of the satellite antenna can be adjusted easily by the satellite antenna azimuth adjustment assembly. 
     A satellite antenna azimuth adjustment assembly comprises a base, an adjusting bracket, an adjustment component, and a support. The base has a connecting mount, a top plate fixed on a top of the connecting mount, and a positioning opening formed through the top plate at a position near an edge of the top plate. The adjusting bracket is connected to the top plate of the base at a rotatable angle and has a bottom plate abutting the top plate of the base and connected with the top plate of the base by a vertical pivot disposed in the connecting mount and multiple fasteners disposed around the connecting mount, a connecting hole formed through the bottom plate of the adjusting bracket and disposed at a position outside the top plate of the base, a slide groove being an arced groove aligning with the positioning opening of the base, and two ears formed at opposite sides of the bottom plate. The adjustment component is rotatably connected with the adjusting bracket and has an adjusting shaft mounted in the connecting hole of the adjusting bracket and a positioning head spaced from the adjusting shaft at an interval and mounted in the slide groove of the adjusting bracket and the positioning opening of the base. The support is pivotably connected with the ears of the adjusting bracket at a front of the adjusting bracket. 
     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a satellite antenna azimuth adjustment assembly in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the satellite antenna azimuth adjustment assembly in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of the satellite antenna azimuth adjustment assembly in  FIG. 1 , wherein the support thereof is omitted; 
         FIG. 4  is an operational top view of the satellite antenna azimuth adjustment assembly in  FIG. 3  showing that a horizontal angle is being adjusted; 
         FIG. 5  is a side view of the satellite antenna azimuth adjustment assembly in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  is an operational side view of the satellite antenna azimuth adjustment assembly in  FIG. 5  showing that a vertical angle is being adjusted; 
         FIG. 7  is an operational perspective view of the satellite antenna azimuth adjustment assembly in  FIG. 1  connected with an antenna and a stand. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1 to 3, and 7 , a satellite antenna azimuth adjustment assembly in accordance with the present invention has a base  10 , an adjusting bracket  20 , an adjustment component  30 , and a support  40 . 
     The base  10  is applied for mounting on a stand and has a connecting mount  11 , a top plate  13 , and a positioning opening  15 . The connecting mount  11  is a C-shaped clamping tube and is applied for mounting and clamping the stand. The top plate  13  is rectangular in shape and is fixed on the top of the connecting mount  11  by welding. The positioning opening  15  is formed through the top plate  13  at a position near an edge of the top plate  13 . The positioning opening  15  may be recessed in the edge of the top plate  13 , or the positioning opening  15  is formed through the top plate  13  and transversely extends to the edge of the top plate  13  to form a side opening in the edge of the top plate  13 . 
     The adjusting bracket  20  is connected to the top plate  13  of the base  10  at a rotatable angle and has a bottom plate  21 , a connecting hole  26 , a slide groove  28 , and two ears  23 . 
     The bottom plate  21  abuts the top plate  13  and is connected with the top plate  13  via a vertical pivot  225  disposed in the connecting mount  11  and multiple fasteners  245  disposed around the connecting mount  11 . The top plate  13  has a base pivot opening  12  aligning with the vertical pivot  225  and formed through the top plate  13 . The bottom plate  21  has a first pivot opening  22  aligning with the vertical pivot  225  and formed through the bottom plate  21 . The vertical pivot  225  may be a rivet, is inserted in the first pivot opening  22  and the base pivot opening  12 , and joints the base  10  and the adjusting bracket  20  by riveting. The top plate  13  and the bottom plate  21  respectively have multiple fastening openings  14  and multiple fastening arced grooves  24 . The fastening openings  14  respectively surround the fasteners  245 , and the fastening arced grooves  24  respectively align with the fastening openings  14  and respectively surround the fasteners  245 . The vertical pivot  225  is located at the center of the surrounding fastening arced grooves  24 . Each fastener  245  is mounted in the fastening opening  14  and the fastening arced groove  24 . When the adjusting bracket  20  is pivoted at an angle relative to the base  10 , the fastening arced groove  24  is moved relative to the fastener  245 . 
     In the embodiment, the top plate  13  has four fastening openings  14  arranged around the base pivot opening  12  at angular intervals and disposed around the connecting mount  11 . The bottom plate  21  has four fastening arced grooves  24  respectively aligning with the fastening openings  14 . In another embodiment, the fastening openings  14  may be formed in the bottom plate  21  and the fastening arced grooves  24  may be formed in the top plate  13 , or some of the fastening openings  14  are formed in the top plate  13  and the others are formed in the bottom plate  21 , and the fastening arced grooves  24  are respectively formed in the bottom plate  21  and the top plate  13  and respectively align with the fastening openings  14 . Each fastener  245  may be a pair of a square-neck bolt and a nut. A square-neck portion of each square-neck bolt may be engaged with the fastening arced groove  24  or the fastening opening  14  to prevent the bolt from rotating while fastening. 
     When adjusting a relative horizontal angle between the base  10  and the adjusting bracket  20 , the fasteners  245  are slightly loosened to rotate the adjusting bracket  20  relative to the base  10 . After adjusted, the fasteners  245  are fastened to prevent the adjusting bracket  20  from rotating relative to the base  10  after positioning. 
     The connecting hole  26  is formed through the bottom plate  21  of the adjusting bracket  20  at a position outside the top plate  13  of the base  10  and near the positioning opening  15 . The slide groove  28  is an arced groove aligning with the positioning opening  15 . The adjustment component  30  is rotatably connected with the adjusting bracket  20  and has an adjusting shaft  35  and a positioning head  33 . The adjusting shaft  35  is mounted in the connecting hole  26 . The positioning head  33  is spaced from the adjusting shaft  35  at an interval and is mounted in the slide groove  28  and the positioning opening  15 . The adjusting shaft  35  has a head  351  formed on an end of the adjusting shaft  35  and is connected with a nut opposite the head  351 . The head  351  abuts on the top of the bottom plate  21 . The nut is disposed at the bottom of the bottom plate  21 , and a spring washer and a flat washer may be disposed between the nut and the bottom plate  21 . The head  351  may have an adjusting recess  352  recessed in the end of the head  351 . The adjusting recess  352  may be a hexagon socket or a hexalobular socket, and a hexagon wrench or a hexalobular wrench can be inserted in the adjusting recess  352  to rotate the adjusting shaft  35  to drive the positioning head  33  to relatively slide along the slide groove  28 . The head  351  may be a hexagon head. The adjustment component  30  may be disposed near the rear of the bottom plate  21  of the adjusting bracket  20 . The bottom plate  21  may have a segment protruding from the rear edge of the top plate  13 , which does not cover the top plate  13 , and the connecting hole  26  is formed in the segment. 
     The two ears  23  are formed at opposite sides of the bottom plate  21  by bending from the bottom plate  21 . The two ears  23  may be bent upwardly from the opposite sides of the bottom plate  21 . The support  40  is pivotably connected with the ears  23  at the front of the adjusting bracket  20 . The support  40  has two connecting arms  42  respectively abutting the ears  23 , each connecting arm  42  is connected with the ear  23  abutting the connecting arm  42  by a horizontal pivot  425  mounted through the connecting arm  42  and the ear  23 . The ears  23  each have a respective second pivot opening  232 , the second pivot openings  232  of the ears  23  aligning with each other and formed through the ears  23  at positions near the front of the bottom plate  21 . The connecting arms  42  each have a respective support pivot opening  422 , the support pivot openings  422  of the connecting arms  42  aligning with the second pivot openings  232 . The connecting arms  42  are respectively connected with the ears  23  by a horizontal pivot  425  mounted in the second pivot opening  232  and the support pivot opening  422 . The ears  23  may each have a respective fixing hole  234 . The connecting arms  42  may each have a respective fixing arced groove  424  being an arced groove, the horizontal pivot  425  is located at the center of the surrounding fixing arced grooves  424 , and the fixing arced grooves  424  align with the fixing holes  234 . A fastening component  235  is mounted in the fixing hole  234  of the ear  23  and the fixing arced groove  424  of the connecting arm  42  abutting the ear  23  for fastening the support  40  and the adjusting bracket  20  after adjusting a vertical angle of the support  40  relative to the adjusting bracket  20 . 
     The support  40  and the adjusting bracket  20  may be connected with a lead screw unit  50 . The lead screw unit  50  has a threaded rod  51  and a rod seat  53 . The rod seat  53  is pivotally connected with the adjusting bracket  20  at the rear of the adjusting bracket  20 . The threaded rod  51  is mounted through and connected with the rod seat  53  and has an end connected with the support  40  at a position above the support pivot opening  422 . With reference to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , a length of the threaded rod  51  connecting between the rod seat  53  and the support  40  is adjusted to drive the support  40  to pivot relative to the adjusting bracket  20 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , when rotating the adjusting shaft  35 , the positioning head  33  is moved relative to the slide groove  28  of the adjusting bracket  20 . Because the position of the positioning opening  15  of the base  10  is fixed, the adjusting shaft  35  of the adjustment component  30  will be moved relative to the positioning opening  15  to drive the adjusting bracket  20  being rotated relative to the base  10 . Thus, the azimuth angle of the satellite antenna is adjusted. After adjusted, the position the adjusting bracket  20  is secured by fastening the fasteners  245 . Preferably, the adjustment component  30  has a pointer  32  and the bottom plate  21  has scale marks  215  at corresponding angular positions for indication of the adjusted angle. 
     With such arrangement, the base  10  and the adjustment component  30  are stacked and connected with the adjusting bracket  20 , and the size of the adjustment component  30  is small, so that an adjustment space of the adjustment component  30  may not be limited by other components. The vertical pivot  225  jointing the base  10  and the adjusting bracket  20  may be directly defined in a center of the base  10  to prevent the gravity center of the satellite antenna being displaced relative to the stand while adjusting the azimuth angle of the satellite antenna. The satellite antenna azimuth adjustment assembly has simple structures and can be easily assembled. An azimuth angle of the satellite antenna can be adjusted easily by the satellite antenna azimuth adjustment assembly.