Microwave antenna

Claim 2

A suspended line feed type planar array antenna, charac­terized by a substrate (3) sandwiched between a pair of conductive plates (1, 2), each of said plates (1, 2) having a plurality of spaced openings (4, 5) defining radiation elements, a plurality of said openings (4, 5) having at least one excitation probe (8, 9) on said substrate (3), means (7) for connecting signals received at said at least one excitation probe (8, 9) to a suspended line in phase with each other, a holding portion (13) for holding said substrate (3) formed on said conductive plate (1, 2) around each of said plurality of openings (3, 4) and a groove portion (14) of wide width formed on said conductive plates (1, 2) between said adjacent openings (3, 4), wherein a plurality of said suspended lines are located in parallel to each other commonly within some of said groove portions (14).

Claim 3

Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said openings (3, 4) are circular and said holding portion (13) around each of said openings (3, 4) for holding said substrate (3) is annular.

Claim 4

Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said conductive plates (1, 2) have a rectangular shape and have said holding portion (13) on the outer peripheries thereof.

Claim 5

Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, charac­terized in that said means for connecting comprises suspended line connecting means (7) for connecting a plurality of said excitation probes (8, 9) to a feed point (12).

Claim 6

Apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that said feed point (12) is located at an aperture, and another holding portion (13a) of said conductive plate (1, 2) is provided around said aperture.

Claim 7

Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, charac­terized in that a line width of a portion (10) where a single suspended line (7) is independently provided has an increased width.

Claim 8

Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, charac­terized by a feed portion (24) of a waveguide structure provided on the rear surface of said antenna and a converter structure (31, 32) attached to the rear surface of said antenna, said feed portion (24) and said converter (31, 32) being integrally formed into a thin single physical unit.

Claim 9

Apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that said feed portion (24) is located centrally on the array.

Claim 10

Apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 8, charac­terized in that a filter (27) is provided between said feed portion (12) and said suspended line (7).

Claim 11

Apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that said filter is a bandpass filter (27) of a suspended line configuration.

Claim 12

A suspended line feed type planar array antenna, characterized by a substrate (3) sandwiched between a pair of conductive plates (1, 2), each of said plates (1, 2) having a plurality of spaced openings (4, 5) defining radiation elements, a plurality of said openings (4, 5) having a pair of excitation probes (8, 9) formed perpen­dicular to each other in a common plane, on said substrate (3), in alignment with said openings (4, 5), means for connecting signals received at said pair of excitation probes (8, 9) to a suspended line (7) in phase with each other, a holding portion (13) for holding said substrate (3) formed on said conductive plate (1, 2) around each of said plurality of openings (4, 5) and a groove portion (14) of wide width formed on said conductive plates between said adjacent openings (34), wherein a plurality of said suspended lines (7) are located in parallel to each other commonly within some of said groove portions.

Claim 13

A suspended line feed type planar array antenna, characterized by a substrate (3) sandwiched between a pair of conductive plates (1, 2), each of said plates (1, 2) having a plurality of spaced openings (4, 5) defining radiation elements, a plurality of said openings (4, 5) having a pair of excitation probes (8, 9) formed perpen­dicular to each other in a common plane, on said substrate (3), in alignment with said openings (4, 5), means for connecting signals received at said pair of excitation probes (8, 9) to a suspended line (7) in phase with each other, a holding portion (13) for holding said substrate (3) formed on said conductive plate (1, 2) around each of said plurality of openings (4, 5) and a groove portion (14) of wide width formed on said conductive plates between said adjacent openings (34), wherein a plurality of said suspended lines (7) are located in parallel to each other commonly within some of said groove portions.