Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 5
Claim 1
Independent Claim
224 words
Sonar transducer housing, usable at great depths in a liquid medium and embodying a streamlined dome for mechanical protection and separation from said medium of associated electroacoustical transducer elements (1) when the housing is immersed, said housing comprising a large mass dome block (3) of a polymer material of poly isocyanate crosslinked with polyols having an outer surface coming in contact with said liquid medium (4), and inner surfaces provided for closely surrounding the outer surfaces of at least one said transducer element (1) and the corresponding electrical connections (2) therefor, said block (3) being mounted on an acoustically insulated support base (6), the entire internal volume of said dome, defined by the said block outer and inner surfaces, being solid and homogeneous throughout; said material being transparent to elastic longitudinal waves propagated therethrough and having the combination of features a. a shear modulus of substantially zero, b. a specific gravity substantially identical to that of the liquid medium, and c. the velocity of elastic wave propagation therethrough being substantially the same velocity as the velocity of propagation in said liquid medium; the space within said dome provided for the transducer operating on a given wave-band being such that the designed distance separating any of its surfaces from any said outer dome surfaces is substantially larger than the wave length of the propagated waves.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
224 words
Sonar transducer housing, usable at great depths in a liquid medium and embodying a streamlined dome for mechanical protection and separation from said medium of associated electroacoustical transducer elements (1) when the housing is immersed, said housing comprising a large mass dome block (3) of a polymer material of poly isocyanate crosslinked with polyols having an outer surface coming in contact with said liquid medium (4), and inner surfaces provided for closely surrounding the outer surfaces of at least one said transducer element (1) and the corresponding electrical connections (2) therefor, said block (3) being mounted on an acoustically insulated support base (6), the entire internal volume of said dome, defined by the said block outer and inner surfaces, being solid and homogeneous throughout; said material being transparent to elastic longitudinal waves propagated therethrough and having the combination of features a. a shear modulus of substantially zero, b. a specific gravity substantially identical to that of the liquid medium, and c. the velocity of elastic wave propagation therethrough being substantially the same velocity as the velocity of propagation in said liquid medium; the space within said dome provided for the transducer operating on a given wave-band being such that the designed distance separating any of its surfaces from any said outer dome surfaces is substantially larger than the wave length of the propagated waves.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
24 words
Sonar housing according to claim 1, wherein the poly-isocyanate comprises a polyether poly-isocyanate crosslinked by mixture with at least one of diols or triols.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
35 words
Sonar housing according to claim 1, wherein the specific gravity of the dome block is approximately equal to that of sea water and the hardness of the polymer is in the range of 60A shores.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
35 words
Sonar housing according to claim 1, wherein the outer surface of said block of material is streamlined into hydrodynamic form to reduce liquid flow noises upon relative movement of said block and said fluid medium.