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:
Dec. 03, 2013
Filed:
Apr. 05, 2011
Robert J. Marshall, Longmont, CO (US);
Robert J. Marshall, Longmont, CO (US);
FIRST RF Corporation, Boulder, CO (US);
Abstract
The present invention is directed to an antenna system comprising two rigid portions, an electrical conductor located between the two rigid portions, and a connector that extends between the two rigid portions and: (a) allows the position of one of the rigid portions relative to the other rigid portion to be altered when a force is applied to one of the rigid portions, such as when one of the rigid portions encounters an obstacle, and (b) maintains the altered position until a subsequent force is applied. In one embodiment, the connector comprises a ball-and-socket joint with the spring force produced by the socket causing sufficient frictional force between the ball and socket so that the position relationship of the ball to the socket is maintained when only gravity is being applied to the rigid portions and the connector but allowing the positional relationship to be altered when an additional force is applied. In another embodiment, the connector is comprised of multiple ball-and-socket links that each provide a limited angular range of motion and cumulatively allow an angular range of motion that is the sum of the limited angular ranges of motion associated each of the links.