Mechanical actuators for a wireless telecommunication antenna mount

{
  "publication_number": "US11811129B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Mechanical actuators for a wireless telecommunication antenna mount",
  "abstract": "A remotely controllable antenna mount for use with a wireless telecommunication antenna provides both mechanical azimuth and mechanical tilt adjustment using AISG compatible motor control units and AISG control and monitoring systems to remotely adjust the physical orientation of the antenna. The mount control units are serially interconnected with existing AISG antenna control units (ACU's) which adjust internal electronic tilt of the antenna. The present solution provides the ability to both physically aim the antenna to adjust coverage area and also adjust the signal phase to fine tune the quality of the signal.",
  "claims": [
    "1. An actuator assembly for remote positioning of a wireless telecommunication antenna comprising: a mast; an antenna to mast mounting bracket; a lower pivot mount comprising a housing, a bearing receiving a lower end of said mast, and a mounting clamp; an upper rotational drive assembly comprising a housing, a geared drive hub rotatably mounted in the housing and extending through said housing to receive an upper end of said mast, a mounting clamp, a worm gear configured to drive said geared drive hub, a reversible motor configured to drive said worm gear, an arcuate target vane having opposing ends defining rotational end of travel positions, a target vane sensor, a position encoder associated with the motor shaft and configured to detect rotations of the motor shaft when said drive hub is rotating between the rotation end of travel positions; and a controller associated with the motor, the target vane sensor and the position encoder for selectively driving rotation of the mast to predetermined azimuth positions.",
    "2. The actuator assembly of claim 1 wherein said target vane sensor is a hall effect sensor and said arcuate target vane is a magnetic material.",
    "3. The actuator assembly of claim 1 wherein said motor and said worm gear are mounted on a carriage removably secured within the housing.",
    "4. The actuator assembly of claim 2 wherein said motor and said worm gear are mounted on a carriage removably secured within the housing.",
    "5. The actuator assembly of claim 1 wherein said antenna to mast mounting bracket comprises a downtilt bracket having a lower pivoting bracket arm and an upper extension arm bracket.",
    "6. The actuator assembly of claim 5 wherein said upper extension arm bracket includes a downtilt drive assembly comprising: a housing pivotably secured to said mast; a piston arm mounted in the housing and having a distal end extending through said housing, said distal end being configured to pivotably secure to said antenna; a drive nut at a proximal end of the piston arm; a threaded drive rod engaged for rotation with the drive nut; a reversible motor configured to reversibly drive said threaded drive rod and linearly actuate the piston arm; a linear target vane associated with said piston arm and having opposing ends defining linear end of travel positions, a linear target vane sensor, a position encoder associated with the motor shaft and configured to detect rotations of the motor shaft when said piston arm is actuated between the linear end of travel positions; and a controller associated with the motor, the linear target vane sensor and the position encoder for selectively driving linear extension and retraction of the piston arm to predetermined angular downtilt positions.",
    "7. The actuator assembly of claim 6 wherein said sensor is a hall effect sensor and said target vane is a magnetic material.",
    "8. The actuator assembly of claim 6 wherein the linear target vane is mounted longitudinally to said piston arm and said linear target vane sensor is mounted within said housing.",
    "9. The actuator assembly of claim 7 wherein the linear target vane is mounted longitudinally to said piston arm and said linear target vane sensor is mounted within said housing.",
    "10. An actuator assembly for remote positioning of a wireless telecommunication antenna comprising: a mast; a lower pivoting antenna to mast bracket; and an upper downtilt drive assembly comprising: a housing pivotably secured to said mast; a piston arm mounted in the housing and having a distal end extending through said housing, said distal end being configured to pivotably secure to said antenna; a drive nut at a proximal end of the piston arm; a threaded drive rod engaged for rotation with the drive nut; a reversible motor configured to reversibly drive said threaded drive rod and linearly actuate the piston arm; a linear target vane associated with the piston arm and having opposing ends defining linear end of travel positions, a linear target vane sensor, a position encoder associated with the motor shaft and configured to detect rotations of the motor shaft when said piston arm is actuated between the linear end of travel positions; and a controller associated with the motor, the linear target vane sensor and the position encoder for selectively driving linear extension and retraction of the piston arm to predetermined angular downtilt positions.",
    "11. The actuator assembly of claim 10 wherein said sensor is a hall effect sensor and said linear target vane is a magnetic material.",
    "12. The actuator assembly of claim 10 wherein the linear target vane is mounted longitudinally to said piston arm and said linear target vane sensor is mounted within said housing.",
    "13. The actuator assembly of claim 11 wherein the linear target vane is mounted longitudinally to said piston arm and said linear target vane sensor is mounted within said housing."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The instant invention relates to wireless telecommunication (T/C) systems. More specifically, the invention relates to a wireless T/C antenna mounts and their methods of operation.\n\nOver the last 20 years, the use of cellular phones as a primary means of communication has exploded worldwide. In order to provide coverage area and bandwidth for the millions of cell phones in use, there has also been a huge increase in the number of T/C transmitter/receiver antenna installations (T/C installations) and the number of T/C transmitter/receiver antennas (antennas) mounted on those T/C installations. In most cases, the antennas are mounted on towers, monopoles, smokestacks, buildings, poles or other high structures to provide good signal propagation and coverage. There are literally hundreds of thousands of T/C installations in the U.S., with each installation carrying multiple antennas from multiple carriers.\n\nReferring to FIGS. 1 - 3, each tower or installation 10 has an associated base station 12, which includes power supplies, radio equipment, interfaces with conventional wire and/or fiber optic T/ C system nodes 14, microwave links, etc. The base station node(s) 14, in turn, have a wireless or wired connection to each carrier's Network Operations Center (NOC) 16 to monitor and control the transmission of T/C signals to and from the antennas 18 and over the carrier's network.\n\nAt each tower installation, each carrier will typically have three separate antennas 18 oriented 120° apart to serve three operational sectors of its service area.",
  "cpc": [
    "H01Q 1/1228",
    "H01Q 1/125",
    "H01Q 1/246",
    "H01Q 3/06"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "H01Q 1/12",
    "H01Q 1/24"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Radiarc Technologies LLC"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Arthur P. Clifford",
    "Stephen Holmes"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2022-09-19",
  "publication_date": "2023-11-07",
  "grant_date": "2023-11-07",
  "priority_date": "2016-07-11",
  "application_number": "US-202217933344-A",
  "family_id": "85798166",
  "cited_by_count": 4,
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}