Claims
- 1. An acoustic transducer configured for producing ultra-low frequency, high power coherent acoustic radiation comprising:
a projector shell having an oval cross-section with a short axis and a long axis, a slot opening on the short axis, and an outer diameter of at least 18 inches along the short axis; and a plurality of active transducer elements disposed along the internal surface of the projector shell, the transducer elements adapted for coupling to a power source, wherein the transducer operates in the frequency range under 400 Hz.
- 2. The transducer of claim 1 further comprising:
an internal cylinder having an outer diameter that is less than an inner diameter of the projector shell; and an end cap coupled to each end of the internal cylinder so as to secure the projector shell in place about the internal cylinder.
- 3. The transducer of claim 1 wherein a plurality of projector shells are coupled to one another with their respective slot openings aligned, each projector shell having a plurality of active transducer elements disposed along its internal surface.
- 4. The transducer according to claim 3 further comprising:
an internal cylinder having an outer diameter that is less than an inner diameter of the projector shells; and an end cap coupled to each end of the internal cylinder so as to secure the projector shells in place about the internal cylinder.
- 5. The transducer according to claim 1 further comprising:
a flexible water-proof material covering the projector shells and adapted to keep the active transducer elements dry in conjunction with end caps.
- 6. The transducer of claim 1 wherein the plurality of active transducer elements include at least one of piezoelectric elements, ferroelectric elements, and rare earth elements, and the projector shell is at least one of a solid metal, solid composite, honey comb metallic, and honey comb composite.
- 7. The transducer of claim 1 wherein the active transducer elements are retained by a groove on the internal surface of the projector shell.
- 8. An oval projector system adapted for producing low frequency, high power coherent acoustic radiation, comprising:
one or more projector shells with an oval cross-section having a long axis, a short axis, and a slot opening, wherein each projector shell has a grooved internal surface and a diameter about the short axis of at least 18 inches; a plurality of active transducer elements disposed along the grooved internal surface of each of the one or more projector shells, wherein the transducer elements are adapted to receive power from an alternating power source; an internal cylinder about which the one or more projector shells are disposed, with end caps connected to each end of the internal cylinder so as to secure the projector shells; wherein the transducer operates in a frequency range of about 5 Hz to 400 Hz.
- 9. The system according to claim 8 further comprising:
a flexible water-proof material covering the one or more projector shells and adapted to keep the active transducer elements dry in conjunction with the end caps.
- 10. The system of claim 8 wherein the plurality of active transducer elements include at least one of piezoelectric elements, ferroelectric elements, and rare earth elements, and each of the one or more projector shells is one of a solid metal, solid composite, honey comb metallic, and honey comb composite.
- 11. The system of claim 8 wherein the one or more projector shells each have a thickness that allows the transducer to operate in a frequency range below 120 hertz.
- 12. The system of claim 8 wherein a plurality of projector shells form an array of acoustic projector modules that produces coherent high powered acoustic radiation.
- 13. The system of claim 8 wherein acoustic power provided by the system can be at least doubled by doubling the number of projector shells included in the system.
- 14. A method of manufacturing an acoustic transducer that is configured to produce ultra-low frequency, high power coherent acoustic radiation comprising:
providing a projector shell having an oval cross-section with a short axis and a long axis, a slot opening on the short axis, and an outer diameter of at least 18 inches along the short axis; and disposing a plurality of active transducer elements along the internal surface of the projector shell, the transducer elements adapted for coupling to a power source, wherein the transducer operates in the frequency range under 400 Hz.
- 15. The method of claim 14 further comprising:
providing an internal cylinder having an outer diameter that is less than an inner diameter of the projector shell; and connecting an end cap to each end of the internal cylinder so as to secure the projector shell in place about the internal cylinder.
- 16. The method of claim 14 wherein providing a projector shell includes providing a plurality of projector shells that are coupled to one another with their respective slot openings aligned, each projector shell having a plurality of active transducer elements disposed along its internal surface.
- 17. The method of claim 16 further comprising:
providing an internal cylinder having an outer diameter that is less than an inner diameter of the projector shells; and connecting an end cap to each end of the internal cylinder so as to secure the projector shells in place about the internal cylinder.
- 18. The method of claim 14 wherein providing the projector shell includes providing one or more projector shells each having a thickness that allows the transducer to operate in a frequency range below 120 hertz.
- 19. The method of claim 14 further including covering the projector shell with a flexible water-proof material adapted to keep the active transducer elements dry.
- 20. The method of claim 14 wherein disposing the plurality of active transducer elements includes disposing the active transducer elements in a groove on the internal surface of the projector shell.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Application Ser. No. 09/258,772, filed Feb. 26,1999, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/117,433, filed Jan. 27,1999. Each of these applications is herein incorporated in its entirety by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60117433 |
Jan 1999 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09258772 |
Feb 1999 |
US |
Child |
10304976 |
Nov 2002 |
US |