US2491713A - Radio aerial for use on vehicles - Google Patents

Description

1949 c. M. CARINGTON ETAL 2,491,713

RADIO AERIAL FOR USE ON VEHICLES Filed Oct. 15, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ll 5% I ll E 1 51 1 1% 56515 INVENTORS CHARLES MQLYNEUXCARINGTON GEORGE Wn LIAM SHOOBERT A WALTER JONATHAN PICKETT Dec. 20, 1949 c. M. CARINGTON ETAL ,4

' RADIO AERIAL FOR USE ON VEHICLES Filed Oct. 15, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 CHARLES MOLYNEUX CARINGTON GEORGE WILLIAM SHOOBERT a WA TER JONATHAN PICKETT 21%. W WM? Patented Dec. 20, 1949 RADIO AERIAL Fifi USE ON VEHICLES Charles Melyneux Earington, George William Shoobcrt, and Walter Jonathan Pickett, London, England, assignors to K. L. G. Sparking Plugs Limited, London, England, a British comp any Application October 13, 1947, Serial No. 779,507 In Great Britain dune 25, 1946 This invention relates to radio aerials for use on vehicles and has for its object to provide an improved construction whereby the making of the electrical connections with it is facilitated, the mounting on or attachment to the vehicle is also facilitated, and the aerial can be readily adjusted to an extended or receiving position or swung down into a stored position.

According to the present invention a radio aerial assemblage for a motor vehicle comprises an insulating base on which the aerial is mounted. and which constitutes the attachment to the vehicle, a pair of electrical terminals mounted on the base, an electrical connection from one of said terminals to the aerial and a second electrical connection from the other terminal adapted to engage the body of the vehicle.

Preferably the insulating base is formed with a socket, and said terminals have each a spring finger extending across said socket to make electrical connection with the core and sheathing respectively Of a screened cable inserted in the socket.

According to another feature of this invention a radio aerial assemblage as above set forth is used in combination with a screened cable having a metal ferrule on the sheathing to be engaged by one of said spring fingers, and a nipple on the core to be engaged by the other of said spring fingers. The nipple may be formed with a shoulder to be engaged by a spring finger and to be retained thereby in the socket.

The invention also concerns other novel fea tures in the mechanical construction and arrangement of the assemblage, and of the mounting of the aerial rod on the assemblage by a resiliently controlled joint which permits displacement of the aerial in the event of it fouling, say, a garage roof, without damage.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate one embodiment of this invention,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the assemblage, partly in section,

Figure 2 is a plan of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is an elevation in central section to a larger scale, and

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line 44 of Figure 3.

In the construction illustrated, the aerial assemblage is mounted on a metal panel of a vehicle indicated at It in Figures 1, 2 and 3. A hole is made in the panel to receive a block of insulating material H which lies mainly on one side of the panel It, but has an extension-piece l2 passing through the hole and engaging a sec- 2 Claims. (Cl. 250-33) nd block of insulating material !3. These two clocks have coaxial bores and are mounted on a sleeve M which is screw-threaded at one end [5 and has a disc-like member l6 secured on its other end. A nut I! when screwed on to the sleeve I4 clamps the two blocks H and 13 on to the panel ill and thereby secures them rigidly thereon. A soft packing member I8 may be interposed between the block II and the panel to lo assist in making a weathertight joint on the outer side of the panel.

A shaft 59 extends through the sleeve [4 and is rotatable therein, and on the outer end 2c of this shaft there is secured on it an aerial rod which extends radially from the shaft. A metal block 2! is secured on the end of the shaft and is formed with a recess 22 to receive a conical member 25 which is formed with an annular seating it which is of substantially circular cross-section. A tubular member 25 is formed with a cooperating seating to engage the annular seating 26, and it is resiliently held in engagement therewith by means of a spring 25 which presses it thereon. The spring is seated at one end on an internal shoulder 21, and at its other end on a block 28 which is slidable within the tube 25 but is anchored to the portion 23 by a flexible steel cable 29. With this construction 1 the tube 25 is normally held firmly in engagement with the seating 24, but it can be displaced by rocking on the seating against the compression of the spring 26. At the upper end of the tube 25 there is mounted an extension tube 30 (see Figure 1) and this latter contains a tele scopically adjustable rod 3! which is frictionally retained in an extended or retracted position by a suitable shaping of its inner end 32.

The part 23 is locked in the part 2| by a retaining screw 33 (see Figure 3), and there are also mounted on this part two locating studs 35 which are adapted to engage teeth 35 formed on the member it so as to retain the shaft, and therefore the aerial rod in. any angular position to which it may be adjusted, in particular an extended or receiving position or in a stored position. In order to permit disengagement of the studs 34 from the teeth 35, the shaft Iii is movable axially against the action of a spring 36 (see Figures 1 and 2) located between the nut ll and a bush 3'! secured on the shaft and carryingahandle 0r knob 38 by which the shaft can be moved endwise and rotated.

The aerial rod including the parts 25, 23 and 2! are all made of metal and are mounted on the metal shaft [9 so that they are electrically connected together, and the electrical connection from the aerial to the lead-in wire is effected in the following manner as shown particularly in Figures 2 and 4. The lead-in wire is constituted by a screened cable comprising a central core or conductor 39 surrounded by insulation is and an outer sheath 4! or a screen of braided metal wire. There may also be an outside insulating covering 42 around the metal sheath. To reduce the electrical capacity between the conductor 39 and the sheath M, the conductor is made of very small diameter, preferabl being so line that it cannot be conveniently attached to a screw terminal in the ordinary way. It is therefore secured at its end in a nipple 53 (see Figure 4) which is an inwardly directed shoulder M and this end is mounted in an insulating tube 55. In order to provide good electrical contact with the metal sheath 4!, this is opened out over a metal tube 45 and a ferrule 46 is provided around it, the sheath 4| preferably being soldered to the parts 45 and it, and these parts are also se cured to the insulating tube 56 so that the end of the cable provides two exposed contacts, namely the nipple 43 and the ferrule which. are spaced apart longitudinally on it. The insulating block 53 is provided as shown in Figure 2 with two slots 4?, 18 and in the slot il there is located a spring finger 49 to engage the nipple 43 at the shoulder 44. It thereby makes electrical contact therewith and prevents the cable from being withdrawn until the spring finger is depressed clear of the shoulder. This spring linger 4! is formed integrally with a washer El (see Figures 2 and 3), the washer 5i being clam ed between the insulating block i3 and a metal washer 52 by the nut i'i so that electrical conneotion is provided from the aerial rod through the shaft i9, sleeve 55, washer 5i and finger 49 to the conductor 39 of the lead-in wire.

The slot 38 receives a similar spring finger which engages the ferrule it, and is formed integrally with a washer 54% (see Figure 3) which is clamped between the block 13 and the panel it so as to make electrical contact with the panel, thereby providing an earth connection to the vehicle as a whole.

It will'be seen that the above construction provides an aerial rod or mast which can be adjusted to an upright position for receiving, or swung down into a stored position when not in use. In the event of the aerial mast fouling an obstruction when erected, it can rock on its annular seating thereby avoiding damage to the mast; but such rocking movement compresses the spring 26 so that the mast returns automatically to its proper position when freed from the obstruction. Furthermore the electrical connections to the aerial are made simply by inserting the screened lid into engagement with the two spring fingers and respectively. It can be disengaged therefrom simply by depressing the spring finger. Finall the whose assemblage is readily secured in place on the vehicle since it is necessary only to make the necessary hole in the panel to and clean the surface thereof so that the Washer 55 can make electrical contact with it. The slc e with the block ii and packing It on it is inserted in place and the block [3 is then threaded on the sleeve and the nut il screwed up to mount the whole assemblage securely in place.

We claim:

1. A radio aerial assemblage for a vehicle comprising in combination a metal sleeve screwthreaded at one end and provided with a radial shoullder at its other end, an insulating block on said sleeve located against said shoulder, a second insulating block on said sleeve formed with parallel axially extending slots and with a transverse bore opening into said slots, a metal washer between said insulating blocks, a springfinger on said washer extending along one of said slots across the said transverse bore, a second spring-finger in the other of said slots extending from the said transverse bore to the other end of said second insulating block, a second metal washer on said sleeve in electrical connection with said second finger, a nut screwed on said sleeve and engaging said second washer, a single-core insulated cable, a metal screening sheath thereon, a nipple secured on the end of the core of said cable, a metal ferrule secured on said sheath, an insulating tube separating said ferrule and said nipple, said cable-end being adapted to enter said transverse bore and effect engagement of said ferrule with one of said spring fingers of said nipple with the other of said spring-fingers, a shaft rotatable in said sleeve, means for locking said shaft in any of a plurality of angular settings and an aerial rod secured on said shaft and extending laterally therefrom.

2'. A radio aerial assemblage for a motor vehicle comprising in combination an insulating base adapted to be mounted in a panel of the vehicle, a metallic elbow member mounted on said insulating base by a threaded member passing through said. base, first engaging means formed on said elbow member, an elongated hollow metallic member, second engaging means on said elongated hollow metallic member, said first second engaging means being adapted to engage each other and when engaged to support the elongated hollow metallic member with its axis substantially at right angles to the axis of the threaded member, resilient means within said elongated hollow metallic member and a flexible cable attached at one end to the aforesaid elbow member and at the other end to the aforesaid resilient means, whereby said cable and said resilient means strain the aforesaid first and second engaging means to remain in engagement.

CHARLES MO-LYNEUX CARINGTON. GEORGE WILLIAM .SHOOBERT. WALTER JONATHAN PICKETT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the

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