Releasable magnetic antenna mount with anti-rotation feature

Abstract

The assembly disclosed herein is to attach a mast used by an off-road vehicle to the off-road vehicle itself using a mount assembly and a base assembly. The mount assembly is formed for the most part from non-magnetic materials is attached to an off-road vehicle by a ferromagnetic bolt at its proximal end. The base assembly is inserted into the mount assembly's open distal end the base assembly having a magnet attached to its proximal end that attracts the ferromagnetic bolt in the mount assembly and an opening at its distal end to receive an adapter that is connected to a mast. The proximal end of the base assembly having a surface effect that is received by the ferromagnetic bolt to prevent base assembly from rotating within the mount assembly.

Claims

1. An assembly to connect a mast to an off-road vehicle, the assembly comprising: a mount assembly comprising: a casing being cylindrical, hollow, formed from non-magnetic materials, closed at its proximal end except for a circular opening, and open at its distal end; and a bolt, formed from ferromagnetic material, that passes through said circular opening of said casing to secure said mount assembly to said off-road vehicle; and a base assembly comprising: a cylinder formed from non-magnetic materials and of a diameter less than the inner diameter of said casing with a first cavity at its proximal end and a second cavity at its distal end, and a channel connecting said first and second cavities; a magnet sized to fit into said first cavity and having a passage in its center; an adapter sized to fit into said second cavity having a tapped hole in its proximal end and an opening to receive the mast at its distal end; and a screw that passes through said passage and said channel to mate with said tapped hole in said adapter; the proximal end of said base assembly insertable into distal end of said mount assembly to releasably couple the two assemblies by a magnetic connection between said magnet and said bolt; wherein a head of the screw is configured with a size and shape adapted to fit within a recess formed in a head of said bolt, preventing rotation of the base assembly thereby.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and accompanying drawings, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 shows the assembly of the present invention as attached to a panel.

(3) FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of the present invention.

(4) FIG. 3 shows a sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the cylinder within the base assembly of the present invention.

(5) FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

(6) FIG. 5 shows a sectional view of an alternate embodiment of the cylinder within the base assembly of the present invention.

(7) FIG. 6 shows a sectional view of an alternate embodiment of the present invention.

(8) FIG. 7 shows the assembly of the present invention as attached to an off-road vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(9) The following description of the preferred embodiment(s) is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.

(10) The present invention is for an assembly that may be used to releasably attached a mast to an off-road vehicle. The mast may be a radio antenna, whip to hold a flag or pennant, or a shaft containing an array of light emitting diodes (LEDs). The present invention consists of two major components, a mount and a base. The mount is securely attached to the off-road vehicle and the mast is securely attached to the base. The mount and the base are releasably attached to each other either by a vacuum or a magnetic connection or by both a vacuum and a magnetic connection. If the existing mast needs to be replaced because of mechanical or electrical defect, the mast may be easily removed by breaking the vacuum and/or magnetic connection between the mount and the base. A new working mast that is attached to a base may then be inserted into the mount and secured to the mount by a vacuum and/or magnetic connection.

(11) FIG. 1 shows assembly 10 of the present invention attached to panel 12 of an off-road vehicle 70 (as shown in FIG. 7). Above panel 12 is found mount assembly 20 with base assembly 40 inserted within with only adapter 54 being visible. Visible in FIG. 1, as part of mount assembly 20, is casing 22, the threaded portion of bolt 24, and nut 30. Visible in FIG. 1 as part of base assembly 40 is solely adapter 54. Base assembly 40 forms a close fit with casing 22 thus creating, to a certain degree, a vacuum fit with mount assembly 20. Base assembly 40 also contains a magnet so that a magnetic connection may be formed between base assembly 40 and mount assembly 20. Mast 14 is inserted into adapter 54 and secured to adapter 54 by friction fit or by an adhesive. Mount assembly 20 contains bolt 24 that passes through panel 12 and is secured to panel 12 by nut 30. A washer and/or lockwasher may be interposed between nut 24 and panel 12 strengthen the attachment between mount assembly 20 and panel 12.

(12) FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of assembly 10 that comprises mount assembly 20 and base assembly 40.

(13) The main component of mount assembly is casing 22 which is cylindrical, hollow, and fabricated from materials that are nonmagnetic. The bottom of casing 22 has within it a threaded hole whereby bolt 24 may be threaded therethrough. Alternate embodiments of casing 22 may dispense with the threading for bolt 24. The threaded portion of bolt 24 extends beyond the bottom of casing 22 so that it may pass through a hole in the panel of the off-road vehicle 70. Nut 30, along with washer 26, then secures casing 22 to the off-road vehicle by threading nut 30 from the opposing side of the hole. Nut 30 may be in the form of a lock nut or a lockwasher may be used in combination with washer 26 to prevent nut 30 from loosening due to vibratory action present while the off-road vehicle 70 is in motion.

(14) The main component of base assembly 40 is cylinder 42. Cylinder 42 is fabricated from materials that are nonmagnetic with an outer diameter that is slightly less than the inner diameter of casing 22 creating a pop sound when cylinder 42 is quickly removed from casing 22. Cylinder 42 further contains two inner cylindrical cavities along and about its longitudinal axis as shown in FIG. 3. First cavity 50, at the bottom, receives magnet 48 and second cavity 52, at the top, receives adapter 54. Between these two cavities and connecting them is channel 44. Magnet 48 has at its center a hole to allow for passage of screw 46. Adapter 54 is comprised of lower shaft portion 56 and upper receiver portion 58. Shaft portion 56 has at its bottom tapped hole 60 with threading that matches the threading of screw 46. Screw 46 will secure magnet 48 and adapter 54 to cylinder 42 by passing through the hole in magnet 48 and channel 44 and then being threaded into tapped hole 60. An adhesive coating may be applied to the threaded portion of screw 46 to prevent screw 46 from loosening due to vibratory forces present when the off-road vehicle 70 is on motion. FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of assembly 10 taken along the longitudinal axis of assembly 10. Assembly 10 is symmetrical along its longitudinal axis. To prevent base assembly 40 from rotating while the off-road vehicle 70 is in motion, the head 62 of the screw 46 should be of a size and shape to fit into a recess 64 in the head 66 of the bolt 24 as bolt 24 will not rotate due to being secured by nut 30. The head 62 of the screw 46 typically would be hexagon as shown in FIG. 2. Other head shapes, such as triangular, rectangular, or some other multi-sided shape, will also function to prevent base assembly 40 from rotating while the off-road vehicle 70 is in motion. For example, the head 62 of the screw 46 may be in the shape of a hexagon that will be received by a recess 64 in the head of bolt 24 that is also in the shape of a hexagon.

(15) FIG. 5 shows an alternate embodiment of assembly 10 wherein cylinder 42 and adapter 54 are combined into a single component-cylinder 42a. In this embodiment magnet 48 is secured to cylinder 42a by threading screw 46 into tapped channel 44 while mast 14 is inserted into second cavity 52. FIG. 6 shows a sectional view of assembly 10 with cylinder 42a.

(16) Thus, there has been shown and described an embodiment of a novel quick-disconnect assembly 10 for use by off-road vehicles to attach a mast to the frame of the off-road vehicle 70 (as shown in FIG. 7). As is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of the present invention are not limited by the particular details of the examples illustrated herein, and it is therefore contemplated that other modifications and applications, or equivalents thereof, will occur to those skilled in the art. The terms having and including and similar terms as used in the foregoing specification are used in the sense of optional or may include and not as required. Many changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications of the present invention will, however, become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and the accompanying drawings. All such changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the invention which is limited only by the claims.