Radio frequency component and method of making same

1. An electrical component, comprising:

a hollow tubular structure, including a series of axially spaced apart rings, and

at least one outer perimeter housing member interconnecting said rings for defining an internal configuration of said hollow tubular structure for electrical purposes;

wherein said rings and said housing member each include inter-engageable elements for helping secure mechanically said rings and housing member together to facilitate final assembly of the electrical component, said inter-engageable elements include a plurality of mortises formed on said rings and a plurality of tenons formed on said housing member.

2. The electrical component according to claim 1 , wherein said rings are circular.

3. The electrical component according to claim 1 , wherein said rings include a single segment.

4. The electrical component according to claim 1 , further comprising:

one or more ribs, each rib engaging said rings for securing said housing member to said rings.

5. The electrical component according to claim 1 , wherein said housing member is a band.

6. The electrical component according to claim 1 , wherein said housing member is a skin sheet.

7. The electrical component according to claim 1 , wherein said each circular band comprises a doubler, said each circular band being formed from a flat band comprising two ends, the doubler joining the two ends.

8. The electrical component according to claim 1 , wherein said at least one outer perimeter housing member comprises carbon fiber reinforced polymer.

9. A method of assembling an electrical component, comprising:

a) mounting a housing member to a ring using inter-engaging means to form an assembly;

b) adding an additional ring to said assembly using inter-engaging means;

c) adding an additional housing member to said assembly using inter-engaging means; and

d) repeating steps b) and c) until a desired assembly length is achieved.

10. The method according to claim 9 , further comprising:

cutting out said rings and a plurality of housing member elements from one or more generally flat blanks, each of said rings and said housing member elements having an inter-engaging means on each end; and

deforming said housing member elements to form housing members.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein said deforming forms a closed loop.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein said closed loop is secured by a doubler.

13. The method according to claim 9 , wherein said inter-engaging means includes mortises formed on said rings and tenons formed on opposing ends of said housing member elements.

14. The method according to claim 9 , further comprising:

g) attaching one or more ribs to an outer surface of said assembly.

15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein said ribs are attached to said assembly using inter-engaging slots formed on said ribs and on appendages of said rings.

16. An electrical component, comprising:

A hollow tubular structure, including a series of axially spaced apart rings,

at least one outer perimeter housing member interconnecting said rings for defining an internal configuration of said hollow tubular structure for electrical purposes; and

one or more ribs, each rib engaging said rings for securing said housing member to said rings;

wherein said rings and said housing member each include inter-engageable elements for helping secure mechanically said rings and housing member together to facilitate final assembly of the electrical component, said rings include appendages, said appendages having slots for inter-engaging corresponding slots on said ribs.

17. A method of assembling an electrical component, comprising:

cutting out a plurality of rings, a plurality of ribs, and a plurality of housing member elements from one or more generally flat blanks, each of said rings and said ribs having an inter-engaging means;

mounting at least one rib of the plurality of ribs to a ring of the plurality of rings to form an assembly;

mounting one or more rings of the plurality of rings to said assembly by securing each of said one or more rings to said at least one rib using said inter-engaging means;

deforming said housing member elements to form housing members; and

mounting at least one housing member to external perimeters of said rings.

18. The method according to claim 17 , further comprising:

mounting at least one additional rib upon said assembly for securing said housing members to said assembly.

19. The method according to claim 18 , wherein said mounting at least one additional rib includes engaging said at least one additional rib to appendages of said rings protruding through said housing members.

20. The method according to claim 17 , wherein said housing member is a skin.

21. An electrical component, comprising:

a hollow tubular structure comprising a plurality of ring members; and

a plurality of circular band members;

wherein:

the ring members are spaced apart by the circular band members along a center axis of the tubular structure;

a plurality of mortises on one of said members and a plurality of tenons on the other one of said members;

the circular band members define an internal configuration of the hollow tubular structure, the internal configuration of the hollow tubular structure including an electrically-conductive surface, each circular band member having a pair of opposite side edges along the center axis so that each side is proximate to a ring member;

the mortises and the tenons are inter-engaged.

22. The electrical component according to claim 21 , wherein said each circular band comprises carbon fiber reinforced polymer.