Directional transducer system

Claim 2

In combination: a transducer circuit including a plurality of transducer sections responsive to radiant energy and spatially arranged for providing signals in response to the direction of an object from which such energy is radiated, said circuit providing interconnections among said sections for combining said signals into a plurality of combined signals; means for compressing said combined signals to permit a multiplexing of said combined signals having a reduced bandwidth, said compressing means comprising: a plurality of voltage divider circuits, one of said voltage divider circuits being provided for each of said combined signals; a plurality of matched gain transistors, each of said transistors being connected to respective ones of said voltage divider circuits such that each transistor Reduces the resistance appearing in one portion of the voltage divider circuit; and means responsive to the amplitude of one of said combined signals for varying the current flow in each of said transistors; and means responsive to said compressed signals for providing the direction of said object.

Claim 3

The combination of claim 1 wherein said interconnections in said transducer circuit are accomplished by a plurality of amplifiers interconnected with said receptors for combining said receptor signals to provide a plurality of signal channels containing information relative to the direction of said object.

Claim 4

A transducer system for providing the direction of an object submerged in a fluid medium comprising: a transducer submerged in said fluid medium, the transducer having spatially distributed sections for providing signals in response to the reception of sonic energy radiated from said object; arithmetic means for summing and differencing respective ones of said signals from respective ones of said sections to provide first and second directional component signals and a third component signal, said arithmetic means being formed of three channels comprising a first channel, a second channel and a third channel for providing respectively said first, said second and said third component signals; means for compressing the dynamic range of said first, said second and said third component signals; means for comparing the phasing of said first and said second component signals to said third component signal for providing an indication of direction; and wherein said compressing means comprises a plurality of transistors having a common substrate and being in circuit with respective ones of said three channels, said compressing means further comprising a plurality of voltage divider circuits, one such circuit being interconnected in each of said channels, and one of said transistors being connected via its emitter-collector terminal pair as a variable impedance element in each of said voltage divider circuits.

Claim 5

A transducer system for providing the direction of an object submerged in a fluid medium comprising: a transducer submerged in said fluid medium, the transducer having spatially distributed sections for providing signals in response to the reception of sonic energy radiated from said object; arithmetic means for summing and differencing respective ones of said signals from respective ones of said sections to provide first and second directional component signals and a third component signal, said arithmetic means being formed of three channels comprising a first channel, a second channel and a third channel for providing respectively said first, said second and said third component signals; means for compressing the dynamic range of said first, said second and said third component signals; means for comparing the phasing of said first and said second component signals to said third component signal for providing an indication of direction; and wherein said compressing means comprises a plurality of transistors having a common substrate and being in circuit with respective ones of said three channels, said compressing means further comprising a plurality of voltage divider circuits, one such circuit being interconnected in each of said channels, and one of said transistors being connected via its emitter-collector terminal pair as a variable impedance element in each of said voltage divider circuits.

Claim 6

The system according to claim 3 further comprising detection means responsive to the amplitude of said third component signals, and wherein each of said transistors in said compressing means is interconnected via its base terminal to said detection means for providing current between its base and emitter terminals in each of said transistors for varying the impedance between the emitter-collector terminal pair of each of said transistors in response to the amplitude of said third component signal.

Claim 7

The system according to claim 4 further comprising a transmission circuit for energizing said transducer, said transmission circuit comprising; a transformer, and a source of signal interconnected with a primary winding of said transformer, a secondary winding of said transformer being interconnected via one terminal thereof to said transducer, and further comprising transmit-receive means having a pair of back-to-back diodes serially interconnected between said transducer and a second terminal of said secondary winding.

Claim 8

A transducer system for providing the direction of an object submerged in a fluid medium comprising: a transducer submerged in said fluid medium, the transducer having spatially distributed sections for providing signals in response to the reception of sonic energy radiated from said object; arithmetic means for summing and differencing respective ones of said signals from respective ones of said sections to provide first and second directional component signals and a third component signal, said arithmetic means being formed of three channels comprising a first channel, a second channel and a third channel for providing respectively said first, said second and said third component signals; means for combining said component signals to provide an indication of the direction of said object; and wherein said summing means and said differencing means comprise a plurality Of operational amplifiers each of which has a positive and a negative input, said summing means comprising a plurality of resistors coupling respective ones of said transducer sections to the positive input in each of said operational amplifiers, and said differencing means comprising a plurality of resistor elements coupling respective ones of said transducer sections with the negative input in each of said operational amplifiers.

Claim 9

A transducer system for providing the direction of an object submerged in a fluid medium comprising: a transducer submerged in said fluid medium, the transducer having spatially distributed sections for providing signals in response to the reception of sonic energy radiated from said object; arithmetic means for summing and differencing respective ones of said signals from respective ones of said sections to provide first and second directional component signals and a third component signal, said arithmetic means being formed of three channels comprising a first channel, a second channel and a third channel for providing respectively said first, said second and said third component signals; means for combining said component signals to provide an indication of the direction of said object; and wherein said summing means and said differencing means comprise a plurality Of operational amplifiers each of which has a positive and a negative input, said summing means comprising a plurality of resistors coupling respective ones of said transducer sections to the positive input in each of said operational amplifiers, and said differencing means comprising a plurality of resistor elements coupling respective ones of said transducer sections with the negative input in each of said operational amplifiers.