Westinghouse Electric Corporation

Electric Power Research Institute Incorporated

Other

Ocean Systems Research, Inc.

John H Thompson

George R Douglas

Charles H Jones

Frederick G Geil

Charles R Wilson

Dale D Skinner

Linwood M Rowe, Jr

Robert H Whittaker

Fred G Geil

Karl F Schoch, Jr

Raymond J Bratton

Howard S Newman

Phillip R Anderson

James K Andersen

Henry M Gruen

Larry T Gingerich

James W White

John W Kesner

Arthur Nelkin

Stephen Kowalyshyn

George F Gannon, Jr

Gary R Slebzak

Thomas J Ratz

A new four wheel drive locking hub tool for locking unlocking manual wheel hubs of four wheel drive vehicles. The inventive device includes a handle portion having a T-shaped configuration. The handle portion includes a horizontal segment and a vertical segment with the vertical segment extending outwardly from the horizontal segment in an orthogonal relationship. A base portion is provided having a rectangular configuration. An upper surface of the base portion is integrally formed with a free end of the vertical segment of the handle portion. A mating portion extends downwardly from the base portion and dimensioned for engaging a recessed locking hub of a wheel.

Four wheel drive locking hub tool

An array of transducer elements receives energy from a target or targets in a field of view and operates on the transducer outputs to provide a plurality of different levels of shading. The most useful portion of the field pattern is selected and combined with other most useful portions of other field patterns into a single composite display which results in one or more relatively narrow lobes, indicating targets, and without the presentation of side lobes which may be masking targets.

Target detection system

A uniquely designed acoustic transducer comprising a stack of piezoceramic elements (other piezoelectric materials may be used) mounted upon a tuned, shaped transmit/receive head made of hardened metal alloy. The ceramic stack is preloaded to the head via a stress bolt. Insulator electrodes used in the ceramic stack are selected to minimize compliance in the stack for maximum efficiency. All the material properties, sizes, weights, etc., as well as the overall transducer design are carefully selected to act in combination to match the impedance of the load (i.e. metal structural framework). The diameter of the tip of the tuned, shaped driving head is sized such that when clamped to a metal framework, the base metal of the material just under the tip is compressed to or slightly beyond its yield point. This eliminates the requirement for surface preparation because any coatings will be displaced under the applied pressure and any surface irregularities will be flattened out. The underside of the clamping member used to hold the transducer assembly in place consists of a half wave length reflecting waveguide designed to reflect any absorbed energy back into the load. Thus, the attachment points for both the reflector and the transducer head of the clamping device effectively appear invisible to the driving transducer under load.

Acoustic transducer for sending and receiving acoustic communication

A transducer assembly which includes a plurality of staves releasably arranged around the periphery of a torpedo. Each stave includes a transducer backing member such as foam polyurethane to simulate an air backing, and a solid acoustically transparent transducer support member, such as polyurethane, disposed in front of it. A curved reflector made up of a plurality of sheets of onionskin paper is positioned between, and compressed by, the backing and transducer support members. A plurality of transducer active elements is arranged vertically within the transducer support member with the arrangement imparting a certain desired directivity pattern to receiving beams associated with such apparatus.

Transducer assembly

A single test transducer or a line array of test transducers is placed above the transducers of an array under test and provided with a simulated flow noise signal. The response of all of the transducers under test is derived and stored whereupon the test transducer or line array of test transducers is moved to a subsequent position wherein the process is repeated. After all positions are indexed, the stored signals representing the outputs of all of the transducers of the array under test for all transmissions are combined and processed to derive a transducer array output signal for analysis purposes.

Sonar test system and method

A hydrophone array wherein each individual hydrophone of the array is comprised of, e.g. polyvinylidine fluoride (PVF.sub.2), tiles bonded to a substrate member opposite one another on opposite surfaces of the substrate. The substrate is a relatively stiff, metallic member having a Young's modulus of at least an order of magnitude greater than the PVF.sub.2 tiles which are oriented such that their stretch directions on either side of the substrate are parallel to one another. The directions of polarization of the tiles are either the same or opposite and electrical connections are made such that for a predetermined relative orientation of the directions of polarization, any output signal which may be caused by flexing or acceleration of the substrate is substantially reduced or eliminated.

Sonar apparatus

A system for weighing a vehicle in motion is disclosed. One or more piezoelectric weight sensors produce charge outputs in response to the weight of a vehicle passing over the sensors. A charge amplifier converts the sensor outputs to a voltage level. A peak voltage detector detects the peak voltage, which represents the sum of all sensor outputs. The peak voltage is then converted to a weight value using the thickness sensitivity of the piezoelectric material.

Dynamic vehicle-weighing system

A Tonpilz transducer having head and tail masses with an interposed active transducer section. The transducer unit is positioned within a housing which has a shoulder portion upon which rests a snubber member which extends to a position just behind the head mass. The transducer is supported from the head mass by means of a thin fiberglass tube which extends from the rear of the head mass and engages a flange portion of the snubber member in the vicinity of the housing shoulder. The housing has a waterproof covering as does the head member with the covering of the head member being secured to the covering by means of a removable strap such that the transducer assembly may be disassembled for repair.

Transducer assembly with explosive shock protection

A transducer made up of a plurality of piezoceramic tubes arranged in end to end relationship with elastomeric material between tubes. The tubes are poled and driven axially; however, the hoop mode of operation is utilized to obtain a fan-shaped beam extremely narrow in one direction and extremely broad in the direction perpendicular thereto. A suitable backing arrangement is provided for the transducer when mounted on a support body to prevent degradation of the beam pattern.

Broad beam transducer

Disclosed is a mechanical filter including a resonator mounted within a housing. A first acoustical waveguide extends through a bushing into the housing. Elastomer material fills the bushing and surrounds the first waveguide therein. A compliant member in the form of a bellows having an open end and a closed end is provided in the housing with the open end attached to the housing wall. The first acoustical waveguide is attached to the interior surface of the closed end of bellows, and a second acoustical waveguide is attached to the exterior surface of the closed end of the bellows and to the resonator. The compliant member provides coupling of the first and second waveguides and a hermetic seal.

Mechanical filter and method of acoustically coupling waveguides therein

An acoustic homing torpedo having an array of transducers wherein each transducer has a head mass, tail mass, and a main active element therebetween. An auxiliary active element is placed on the tail mass so that when given a predetermined signal it will cause the main element to provide a corresponding output signal so as to simulate the reception of an actual acoustic wave. By energizing the main element, the response of the auxiliary element may be examined for testing the transducer and the array in a transmit mode of operation.

Transducer assembly for self-calibration

The temperature of an environment is determined by measuring the acoustical response of a temperature sensitive two mode resonator placed in the environment. Two variable frequency signals are generated and applied to the resonator, and the two resonant frequencies of the resonator are determined. Frequency difference of the two frequencies is determined, and if the difference lies within a substantially uniform frequency range, the environment temperature is calculated from at least one of the frequencies. If the difference lies outside of the substantially uniform frequency range, then at least one of the two signals is spurious and no temperature calculation is made.

Method and means for measuring temperature using acoustical resonators

A control system for a Tonpilz transducer which is positioned between the transducer and the transducer drive amplifier. The control system determines the head velocity of the transducer from the input current and voltage and utilizes this determination in a feedback arrangement to maintain proper transducer excitation.

Transducer control system

A dipole hydrophone having a differential pressure sensing unit, for example, a multi-laminar bender disc, within a liquid filled housing. Two liquid filled acoustic waveguides form extensions of the housing and include pressure sensing ports. A mass of predetermined value is connected to the sensing unit and with a predetermined separation between sensing ports, the mass value is chosen so that the sensing unit response to acceleration is very nearly equal and opposite to its response due to the inertial mass of the liquid.

Low frequency inertia balanced dipole hydrophone

A dipole hydrophone which includes a radiation target for acoustic energy and a counterbalancing mass. A first multilaminar magnetostrictive arm is connected to the radiation target at its center gravity and a second multilaminar magnetostrictive arm is similarly connected to the center of gravity of the counterbalancing mass. The lower portion of each arm is slotted to define two legs, and a permanent magnet, in conjunction with the slotted structure forms a closed magnetic path for flux. Windings for sensing a change in flux are slipped over the leg portions, yielding a high gain device. The two arms are connected by a coupling member which is compliantly suspended from a support structure.

Growing community of inventors

Severna Park, MD, United States of America

John H Thompson