Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
The present invention rela-tes to the connection and dis-
connection cf waveguides and is particularly concerned with micro-
wave interfaces on items of equipment which need to be rapidly
connected and disconnected, such as radar and other military
equipment.
Hitherto, detachable waveguide connections have been
made by bolting together flanged mating surfaces of the wave-
guides. This procedure which generally involves the tightening
or untightening of a number of nuts and bolts, is time consuming
and awkward, particularly when the connection is not easily
accessible. However, it has hitherto been believed that a tight
bolted flange connection is necessary in order to ensure low power
losses at the mating interface and to ensure that dirt and mois-
ture are excluded.
We have found that a satisfactory connection with suf
ficiently low losses can be achieved without using a tightly
locked mating interface.
According to the present invention, there is provided a
two part slidably detachable waveguide connector wherein a first
waveguide portion slidable in the axial direction is carried by
one part and biassed away from said part by spring means, a
second waveguide portion arranged to mate in alignment with said
first waveguide portion is carried by the other part and a tubular
outer sleeve is carried by either part and, when the connector
parts are attached, slidably locates said waveguide portions and
surrounds their mating interface.
-2a-
Said connector may be incorporated in an arrangement
further comprising guide means distinct from said connector which
in use slidably locate the connector parts and align them when
they are separated. Thus one of the waveguide connector parts
may be mounted on the rear of the casing on a piece of equip-
ment arranged to be rack-mounted and the other waveguide connec-
tor part is then mounted at a corresponding position on the
rack, so that the connector parts can be mated simply by sliding
the equipment into the rack and held in position by frictional
engagement between the equipment and the rack. Any slight
initial mismatch in the positions or orientations of the
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connector parts may be accommodated by providing an
alignment taper on the engaging surfaces of either or both
of the connector parts. However the waveguide portions
should be a close sliding fit in the outer sleeve in order
to ensure their mating faces accurately abut one another,
and thereby ensure low electrical losses at the interface.
Normally any strain on the connector caused by slight
initial misalignment will be taken by the flexible casing
of the equipment~or the rack.
The~invention is however also applicable to
multiple bayonet connectors as used in military applications,
for example.
Preferably the outwardly biassed waveguide por-
tion is mounted on one (male)part of the connector and the
tubular guide is incorporated in the other (female)part of
the connector. The connector may incorporate a shutter over
the recessed mating surface of the female part of the conn-
ector which is opened by a coarse alignment pin on the male
connector part when the parts are brought together.
One of the mating surfaces (which are preferably
planar) may be provided with a groove surrounding the
inner surface of the waveguide. The groove acts as a
waveguide choke at the connector interface and thereby
reduces the mismatch in impedance between the connector
parts (which is inherent in all waveguide and transmission
line discontinuities) and hence any power losses which
might otherwise occur.
In most cases the lengths of waveguide connected
by the connector will be rectangular in cross section and
will need to be rotationally aligned about their common
axis. One length of waveguide may be gripped within the
tubular guide and the tubular outer sleeve(which may suitably
by circular in cross-section) in turn may be aligned by
means of a pin mounted on the body of the associated
1;~18428
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CQnneCtor part which engages an axial slot in its
surface. The bodies of the connector parts may
be relatively aligned by means of a dowel pin projecting
from one body into a hole in the other~
Embodiments of the invention will now be
described by way of example with reference to Figures
1 to 7 of the accompanying drawings, of which:
Figure 1 is an axial sectional elevation of one
part of a connector for use in an arrangement in
accordance wi-th the invention;
Figure 2 is a plan view taken on Figure 1;
Figure 3 is an axial sectional elevation of
another connector part suitable for fitting to that
shown in Figures 1 and 2;
Figure 4 is a plan view taken on Figure 3;
Figure 5 is a sectional elevation showing the
connector parts of Figures 1 to 4 in a schematic
arrangement in accordance with the invention,
and
Figure 6ais a~axial section of one part of a
bayonet connector for use in an arrangement in accordance
with the invention,
Figure 6b is an axial section of a corresponding
connector part aligned with the connector part of
Figure 6a, and
Figure 7 is an axial section showing the
connector parts of Figures 6a and 6b locked together.
Similar parts are indicated by corresponding reference
numberals throughout the drawings.
Referring first to Figures 1 and 2, the connector
part shown comprises a guide tube 1 integral with a
supporting flange 2 and a tubular insert member 3 which is
a sliding fit in the guide tube. A rectangular section
waveguide 4 is brazed to the inner wall of insert member 3
so as to lie flush with a flat mating surface 9 of the
latter. Supporting flange 2 is provided with four holes
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5 and tubular insert member 3 is similarly provided with
four threaded holes 6 (Figure 2) on its flange portion
so that the supporting flange 2 and tubular insert member
3 can be bolted to a common supporting plate (not shown)
5 which i.s thus clamped between them. ~uide tube 1 is
provided with a tapered alignment surface 7 to enable
the corresponding male part of the connector (shown in
Figures 3 and 4) to be inserted into guide tube 1.
The corresponding male part of the connector com-
prises a tubular waveguide portion 10 (Figure 3)
provided with a flat mating surface 11. A section of
waveguide 12 is brazed to the inside wall of waveguide
portion 10 and lies flush with surface 11. A tapered
alignment surface 13 is provided on the perimeter of
surface 11, enabling waveguide portion 10 to be slid into
the guide portion 1 of the female connector part shown
in Figures l and 2. Waveguide portion 10 is slidingly
supported by a supporting flange 14 and biassed outwardly
by a spring 15 which acts on a ring 16 which is in turn
held in place by a clip 17. Outward movement of
waveguide portion 10 is limited by an annular stop 18,
and a pin 19 projects into an axial slot 20 to ensure
rotational alignment of waveguide portion 10 with flange
Figure 5 shows an arrangement incorporating the
connector parts of Figures 1, 2 and 3, 4 mounted on the
rear of an equipment casing 21 and a vertical member 22
of a rack respectively. Shelves 23 and 24 of the rack
co-operate with the casing 21 to guide the two parts of the
connector into mating engagement as shown when the equip-
ment is slid into the rack as indi.cated by arrow A, the
extent of this travel being limited by one or more stops
25. Spring 15 acts against frictional engagement between
casing 21 and shelf 23 to force mating surfaces 11 and 9
into close contact. Waveguide section 12 need not be
particularly flexible but it should be long enough to allow
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reasonable freedom of movement of waveguide portion 10
in the direction of arrow A. The connection may be
broken simply by withdrawing the equipment from the rack
in the opposite direction to arrow A. It will be
5 apparent that the invention includes within its scope
similar arrangements in which mating surface 9 rather
than mating surface 11 is outwardly spring biassed or in
which guide tube 1 is integral with waveguide portion 10
and co-operates with a male connector part mounted on
the equiprnent casing.
Figure 6a shows a connector part comprising a
waveguide portion 10 slidably mounted within a guide tube
1. A rectangular section of waveguide 12 is fitted
into waveguide portion 10 and is rotationally aligned
15 by a pin 19 which engages a longitudinal slot 20. A guide
bushing 25 mounted via a carrier member 26 on guide tube
1 is a sliding fit around waveguide portion 10. A rotat-
able locking collar 27 is slidably mounted on a carrier
26 and is spring biassed away from the direction of
20 engagement by means not shown. Waveguide portion 10 is
provided with a flat mating surface 9 and is biassed
outwardly by a spring 15.
The corresponding connector part shown in
Figure 6b is fixed to an equipment casing 21 (by means
25 not shown) and comprises a tube 28 within which is
mounted a waveguide portion 10' from a flange 29. A
rectangular waveguide section 12 ' runs to waveguide port-
ion 10' from the interior of the equipment casing.
Dowel pins 30 ensure rotational alignment of the wave-
30 guide portion 10 with tube 28.
The locking collar 27 is provided with a bayonetslot 31 and tube 28 is provided with a corresponding
locking portion 32. The connector parts may be inter-
locked as shown in Figure 7 by rotating collar 27 to
35 align locking portion 28 with its bayonet slot 31 and
then further rotating collar 27 to prevent withdrawal,
1~18 ~28
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The connector parts are rotationally aligned relative to
each other by longitudinal ribs (not shown) in carrier
member 26 which engage in corresponding slots (not shown)
in the inside surface of tube 28.
