Construction and method for elongated towed underwater sonar

Claim 1

A construction for an elongated towed underwater acoustic array including a plurality of hydrophones and circuit modules interconnected by electrical conducting wires, a substantially continuous sheath of plastic foam material surrounding said hydrophones and said circuit modules, a hose-like jacket of durable plastic material surrounding and containing said sheath, a plurality of strength members contained in said hose-like jacket, and connector members at each end of said array to which said strength members and said electrical wires are attached, characterized in that an elongated tube-like retaining member is interposed between said sheath and said jacket, said retaining member comprising a cylindrical tube of synthetic fabric, said fabric being longitudinally stitched or seamed at a plurality of locations to provide a structure with a large center tube and a plurality of spaced parallel peripheral tubes of small diameter, each of said peripheral tubes containing one of said strength members.

Claim 7

A method of constructing an elongated towed underwater acoustic array which comprises electrically interconnecting a plurality of hydrophones and electronic modules, covering said hydrophones, electronic modules and electrical connections with a substantially continuous sheath of protective plastic foam material, providing a plurality of strength members to carry the tensile load on said array, and enclosing said hydrophones, electronic modules, electrical connectors, said sheath and said strength members in a tube-like jacket of tough synthetic material such as polyurethane, characterized in that said strength members are contained and separated within said tube-like jacket through the steps of providing a tube-like fabric retaining member slightly shorter than said tube-like jacket, longitudinally stitching or seaming said retaining member at a plurality of locations to provide a structure with a large center tube and a plurality of spaced parallel tubes of small diameter and feeding said strength members through said small diameter tubes, feeding said sheath and its contents through said large center tube, securing said retaining member in said array to prevent axial movement of said retaining member relative to said array, and terminating said strength members and electrical connections at a connector at each end of said array.

Claim 8

A method of constructing an elongated towed underwater acoustic array which comprises electrically interconnecting a plurality of hydrophones and electronic modules, covering said hydrophones, electronic modules and electrical connections with a substantially continuous sheath of protective plastic foam material, providing a plurality of strength members to carry the tensile load on said array, and enclosing said hydrophones, electronic modules, electrical connectors, said sheath and said strength members in a tube-like jacket of tough synthetic material such as polyurethane, characterized in that said strength members are contained and separated within said tube-like jacket through the steps of providing a tube-like fabric retaining member slightly shorter than said tube-like jacket, longitudinally stitching or seaming said retaining member at a plurality of locations to provide a structure with a large center tube and a plurality of spaced parallel tubes of small diameter and feeding said strength members through said small diameter tubes, feeding said sheath and its contents through said large center tube, securing said retaining member in said array to prevent axial movement of said retaining member relative to said array, and terminating said strength members and electrical connections at a connector at each end of said array.