Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

Stephen R Wilson

Trevor Stanley Bird

Mark Andrew Sprey

Warren J Hancock

Ian J McInnes

A feed transport device for moving a feed within a non-planar focal surface defined by a satellite communications antenna, comprises first and second non-linear rails, and a feed transport unit comprising a feed support member for supporting the feed, and first and second slidable members slidably mounted on said first and second rails respectively to permit each slidable member to slide along the length of its respective rail, wherein one end of the feed support member is pivotally attached, not necessarily about a single pivot axis, to the first slidable member, the other end of the feed support member is both slidably and pivotally, again not necessarily about a single axis, attached to the second slidable member, and the first and second rails are shaped and positioned to maintain the feed in, or near to, said focal plane during movement of the feed support member along the first and second rails. The feed support is provided with transverse sliding rail and a gimbal allows rotation about two perpendicular axes. The shape and position of the first and second rails and the orientation of the feed support member are chosen so as to ensure that the minimum of adjustment of the feed by the servos is required as the feed is moved along the length of the focal surface.

Growing community of inventors

Melbourne, Australia

Stephen R Wilson