Microwave/millimeter wave ground plane
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates, in general, to ground planes and, more particularly, to ground planes for microwave/millimeter wave devices and antennas. 
     Presently, many electrical devices or antenna circuits are mounted to a printed wire board (PWB) that is in turn mounted to a chassis. The chassis will often function as a ground for the circuits on the PWB. Often this mounting will cause the printed wire board to be buckled, or oil canned, thereby not providing an even ground throughout the device. For many electrical devices this is not a concern because of the low operating frequencies. However, in the microwave/millimeter wave area a constant, uniform ground is necessary for efficient operation of the devices. The oil canning, or buckling, can cause a poor, nonuniform ground to develop thereby degrading the performance of the circuits attached to the PWB. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a microwave/millimeter wave ground plane that overcomes the above deficiencies. 
     A further object of the present invention is to provide a microwave/millimeter wave ground plane that will provide a uniform ground for a microwave/millimeter wave circuit. 
     Still another object of the present invention is to provide a microwave/millimeter wave ground plane that will not be adversely effected by oil canning, or deformation, of the PWB. 
     The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention are provided by the microwave/millimeter wave ground plane described herein. 
     A particular embodiment of the present invention consists of a microwave/millimeter wave ground plane comprising a conductive foil placed between the PWB and the chassis. The foil is deformed to provide a plurality of raised areas such that if oil canning does occur, the deformed areas will continue to maintain contact with the PWB and chassis. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a prior art microwave/millimeter wave ground plane; 
     FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of a microwave/millimeter wave ground plane; 
     FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of a microwave/millimeter wave ground plane embodying the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a top view of the ground plane of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is a method of manufacturing the ground plane shown in FIG. 3; and 
     FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of a microwave/millimeter wave ground plane embodying the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Referring now to FIG. 1 a partial cross-sectional view of a prior art microwave/millimeter wave ground plane is illustrated. In FIG. 1 a PWB 10 is mounted to a chassis 11 by fasteners 12. Chassis 11 and/or metalization on PWB 10 will provide the ground in this case. As shown in FIG. 1, PWB 10 can become slightly deformed between fasteners 12 causing an open area 13 to develop. At open area 13, the ground, chassis 11, is separated from PWB 10 thereby providing a poor, nonuniform ground for the microwave/millimeter wave devices and circuits that may be contained on PWB 10. 
     FIG. 2 shows an intermediate attempt at a solution by the inventors in their search for a uniform ground plane. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the microwave/millimeter wave ground plane shown in FIG. 1 with the addition of a conductive foil 14. The elements that are the same in FIG. 2 as in FIG. 1 are identified by the same number with the addition of a prime. The result of the addition of foil 14 was to somewhat reduce area 13&#39; but it was not eliminated. Therefore, the problem still existed even with the foil. 
     FIG. 3 shows a partial cross-sectional view of a foil 15 embodying the present invention. Foil 15 has been formed to contain a plurality of deformations. The deformations illustrated in FIG. 3 are of a triangular shape, however, it should be noted here that the deformations could be of various shapes and need not be continuous. A top view of foil 15 is shown in FIG. 4. As shown the deformations are contained throughout foil 15. 
     A process by which foil 15 can be generated is illustrated in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 shows foil 15 placed between a rubber sheet 16 and a screen 17. Screen 17 is the type of mesh screen that may be found covering windows and doors. The screen is pressed into foil 15 by rollers 18. The pressure exerted on foil 15 by this process is such that foil 15 is deformed but is not torn. It should be noted here that this is but one means of processing foil 15 and that other methods may be used, such as placing sand paper over foil 15 and impressing the design. In addition, it should be noted that the pattern in foil 15 is not required to be a uniform pattern. 
     Referring now to the partial cross-sectional diagram of FIG. 6, a microwave/millimeter wave ground plane embodying the present invention. The elements in FIG. 6 that are the same as those in FIG. 1 are numbered the same with the addition of a double prime (&#34;). FIG. 6 shows foil 15 disposed between PWB 10&#34; and chassis 11&#34;. As shown, the deformations in foil 15 serve to maintain a uniform contact between PWB 10&#34; and chassis 11&#34; even in area 13&#34;. Since the foil is light and deformable, the areas about connectors 12&#34; do not effect the coupling of PWB 10&#34; to chassis 11&#34;. 
     Thus, it is apparent to one skilled in the art that there has been provided in accordance with the invention, a device and method that fully satisfies the objects, aims and advantages set forth above. 
     It has been shown that the present invention provides a microwave/millimeter wave ground plane that has a uniform ground and is not adversely effected by deformations. 
     While the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alterations, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations in the appended claims.