The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 16, 1993
Filed:
Aug. 26, 1991
David A Whelan, Chatsworth, CA (US);
John Fraschilla, Redondo Beach, CA (US);
Hughes Aircraft Company, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Abstract
An asymmetrical notch radiating element comprising a metal or metal-clad dielectric substrate into which a tapered slot or notch is disposed. The direction of the axis of the tapered slot lies along any preselected axis and is not constrained to be collinear with the normal to the aperture of the element. An asymmetrical antenna array comprises a plurality of asymmetrical notch radiating elements as described above. Each of the plurality of radiating elements is disposed such that the apertures of each of the elements are substantially coplanar and are at an angle relative to the notch axis. The present antenna uses asymmetric slot lines to control the antenna's electrical performance. The precise slot dimensions are chosen to optimize radiation and reduce scattering. The asymmetric flared notch allows optimization of the transmit gain in a direction that is not necessarily normal to the array surface. The asymmetrical notch radiator is designed for use in phased array antennas where reduced radar cross section and wide bandwidth are essential, or in conformal arrays, where the surface normal and array axis are not collinear. The normally high specular radar reflection from the antenna radiators, that lies along the array normal, no longer points in the same direction as the peak antenna gain. This allows the design of a low radar cross section array antenna that does not suffer poor gain due to its reduced cross section.