3D printed miniaturized quadrifilar helix antenna
The present invention provides an antenna miniaturized topology that is based on the implementation of a conductive loading on a quadrifilar helix antenna. This may be achieved by connecting the tip of the four helical arms to end members which may be circular planar conductors. The miniaturization of the antenna may be further enhanced by incorporating a dielectric material in the space between the four arms.
1. A quadrifilar helix antenna comprising:
a plurality of arms each having a first end and an opposingly located second end;
a ground plane;
a plurality of conductive members;
each of said arms and conductive members have a non-conductive substrate and a conductive outer layer; and
each second end of an arm connected to a conductive member.
2. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 1 wherein said conductive members are planar disks.
3. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 2 wherein said arms are connected to said planar disks at the center of said disks.
4. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 2 wherein said arms are connected to said planar disks at a position offset from the center of the disk.
5. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 2 wherein said arms are connected to the edges of said planar disks.
6. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 1 wherein said ground plane is conical in shape.
7. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 1 wherein said arms define an interior space and a dielectric material is located in said interior space.
8. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 7 wherein said dielectric material is spaced apart from said arms.
9. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 8 wherein said dielectric material forms a housing comprised of panels.
10. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 9 wherein said panels form inner and outer walls.
11. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 10 wherein said walls form a stepped configuration.
12. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 1 wherein each of said arms are helical in configuration.
13. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 12 wherein said outer conductive layer is an adhesive copper wrapping having a thickness at least ten times thicker than the copper skin depth at the antenna's resonant frequency.
14. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 1 wherein the antenna maintains a left handed circular polarized behavior over the entire operational bandwidth.
15. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 1 wherein the antenna realizes a maximum gain of 6.4 dB with an axial ratio below 3 dB across the full operation bandwidth and the total beamwidth.
16. A quadrifilar helix antenna comprising:
a plurality of arms each having a first end and an opposingly located second end, said arms form an interior space;
a conical ground plane;
a plurality of conductive members, said conductive members are planar disks;
each second end of an arm connected to a conductive member;
each of said arms and conductive members have a non-conductive substrate and a conductive outer layer; and
a housing made of dielectric material located in said interior space.
17. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 16 wherein said housing is spaced apart from said arms.
18. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 17 wherein said housing includes panels that form inner and outer walls.
19. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 18 wherein said walls form a stepped configuration.
20. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 16 wherein said arms are connected to said planar disks at the center of said disks.
21. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 16 wherein said arms are connected to said planar disks at a position offset from the center of the disk.
22. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 16 wherein said arms are connected to the edges of said planar disks.
23. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 16 wherein each of said arms are helical in configuration.
24. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 16 wherein the antenna maintains a left handed circular polarized behavior over the entire operational bandwidth.
25. The quadrifilar helix antenna of claim 16 wherein the antenna realizes a maximum gain of 6.4 dB with an axial ratio below 3 dB across the full operation bandwidth and the total beamwidth.