Harris Corporation

William F Croswell

Timothy Earl Durham

James Joseph Rawnick

Robert C Taylor

Ronald J Hash

Anthony Mark Jones

Bobby J Boan

Charles W Kulisan

Anthony M Jones

An antenna includes antenna elements, an antenna feed assembly and at least one integrated circuit adjacent the antenna feed assembly on a side thereof opposite the antenna elements. The at least one integrated circuit is connected to the antenna elements via the antenna feed assembly. The antenna feed assembly includes a conductive base plate spaced from the antenna elements, and has feed openings therein. Spaced apart conductive posts are integrally formed with the conductive base plate as a monolithic unit, and extend outwardly therefrom toward the antenna elements. Each conductive post has at least one passageway therethrough aligned with at least one respective feed opening to define at least one antenna feed passageway. A respective elongated feed conductor extends through each antenna feed passageway.

Array antenna including a monolithic antenna feed assembly and related methods

A phased array antenna includes a substrate having a first surface, and a second surface adjacent thereto and defining an edge therebetween. A plurality of dipole antenna elements are on the first surface, and at least a portion of at least one dipole antenna element is on the second surface. Each dipole antenna element includes a medial feed portion and a pair of legs extending outwardly therefrom. Adjacent legs of adjacent dipole antenna elements on the first and second surfaces include respective spaced apart end portions having predetermined shapes and relative positioning for providing increased capacitive coupling between the adjacent dipole antenna elements.

Phased array antenna with edge elements and associated methods

An array of radiating elements including a first set of antenna elements in an array configuration and a second set of antenna elements in an array configuration. The first set of antenna elements is positioned below the second set of antenna elements with the first set acting as an effective ground plane for the second set. The first set of antenna elements are aligned in a first planar grid pattern of spaced rows and columns and the second set of antenna elements are aligned in a second similar grid pattern rotated at a 45 degree angle relative to the first grid pattern. The array can be configured for wideband operation by having the first band of frequencies adjacent to the second band of frequencies. The array can include a dielectric material interposed between the first plurality of antenna elements and the second plurality of antenna elements.

Enhanced bandwidth dual layer current sheet antenna

The invention concerns an array of radiating elements. A first plurality of antenna elements in a first plane in an array configuration is configured for operating on a first band of frequencies. A second plurality of planar antenna elements in an array configuration is configured for operating on a second frequency band, the second plurality of antenna elements is also positioned in the first plane. A first effective ground plane is provided for the first plurality of antenna elements and a second effective ground plane is provided for the second plurality of antenna elements. A first spacing between the first plurality of elements and the first effective ground plane is different from a second spacing between the second plurality of elements and the second effective ground plane. According to one embodiment, the second plurality of elements are adjacent to one another in a unitary cluster that is disposed within the first plurality of elements.

Enhanced bandwidth single layer current sheet antenna

A waveguide-fed horn structure includes a constraining mechanism having an extremely high degree of dimensional stability over a wide thermal range. The constraining mechanism comprises a composite graphite honeycomb structure that forms a support backing for the waveguide feed and for the conductive surface sections of the horn radiator. The conductive surface of the horn radiator is supported on a first section of graphite epoxy laminate while a second section of graphite epoxy laminate supports the honeycomb backing and is bonded to the first section of laminate, thereby effectively surrounding the feed-horn structure with a thermally tolerant, physical distortion constraining support. The graphite epoxy support provides sufficient mass and mechanical stiffness to prevent performance degrading distortion of both the waveguide feed and the horn radiator surface in spite of the severe transient thermal conditions encountered in a spaceborne environment, thereby maintaining structural integrity of the components of the structure during extreme thermal cycling conditions (full sun to no sun).

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Melbourne, FL, United States of America

William F Croswell