Weapon

Abstract

Abstract 813,278. Torpedoes. CLEVITE CORPORATION. Aug. 2, 1956 [Aug 18, 1955], No. 23846/56. Class 9(2) An automatically steered torpedo has a liquid filled chamber 22 in the nose closed by a resilient diaphragm 24 and within the chamber a frame 16 is pivotally suspended to hang vertically for any position of the torpedo, an electro-acoustic transducer 25 being pivoted on the frame. In addition, a spring-biased bellows 36 between the frame and the transducer and responsive to changes in hydrostatic pressure transmitted through the diaphragm to the enclosed liquid controls the position of the transducer. The torpedo is made in separable sections, the cast body, 13 of the nose having two projections 14, 15 (not shown) in which are fixed rocker arms 17 each having at the inner end a knife edge 20 supporting the frame 16. The diaphragm 24 is of neoprene or rubber and is secured to a metal annulus 23 fastened to the body 13 to form a chamber filled with a liquid such as castor oil. Piezoelectric plates 26, which may be Z-cut ammonium dihydrogen phosphate crystal plates arranged in an elliptical pattern, make up the transducer which has a window 27 and a back-plate 28 secured to a bracket 29 pivoted in the frame 16. Frame 16 also carries a bracket 35 in which the corrugated metal bellows 36 is mounted with its free end bearing against a leaf spring 37 attached to the plate 28. A compression spring 38 surrounding the bellows opposes compression of the bellows, which is so arranged that the transducer is orientated at about 3 degrees to the horizontal when the torpedo is in shallow water i.e. when first launched. At greater depths, the increase in pressure on diaphragm 24 causes compression of the bellows, so that the transducer is titled clockwise to direct its beam away from the seabed and avoid unwanted reflections. Conversely, as the torpedo nears the surface the transducer is tilted anti-clockwise to cut out reflections from the surface.

Inventors

• 👤 Williams Alfred Leslie Warwick
• 👤 John M Heinrich

Bibliographic Details