Patent ID: 8610639

Claim:
A surface-independent, conformal antenna for mounting to an exterior of an enclosure having a mounting surface with an edge, comprising: a ground plane having an outer perimeter; an antenna element having a floating portion and a non-floating portion, wherein the non-floating portion is affixed in a generally parallel orientation above an end of the ground plane, and the floating portion extends beyond the outer perimeter of the ground plane; a housing including a top portion and a bottom portion, the housing sized to generally encapsulate the ground plane and the antenna element, the bottom portion of the housing including a major flat surface oriented generally parallel with the ground plane and a projection that protrudes from the major flat surface along a direction perpendicular to the ground plane, the projection being situated in a vicinity of the floating portion; wherein the major flat surface defines an opening in the housing sized to accept a feeder line electrically coupled to the antenna element; and wherein the major flat surface and the projection are further oriented such that, when the major flat surface is situated against the mounting surface in a mounting configuration, the projection is situated beyond the edge of the mounting surface; wherein the antenna operates consistently and independently of a material of the mounting surface.