USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

Peter E Seaman

Thomas R Stottlemyer

Anthony A Ruffa

Norman Toplosky

Frederick J Frodyma

Timothy S Debell

An integrated fiber-optic tow cable is described having both optical fibers and armor wires located outside the cable core to avoid high strain on the optical fibers when the cables is under stress during deployment. The optical fibers have integral temperature sensors near the outermost portion in order to measure accurately the temperature of the fluid coming in contact with temperature sensors. A beam of light is shown on the optical fibers which is reflected by the optical fibers and reaches the receiver and processed by the processor which may also include a display unit.

Instrumented fiber optic tow cable

A system for sensing water temperature includes a tow cable with an exterior surface having at least one helical groove formed therein and a metal tube lying in each helical groove. At least one optical temperature sensing element is provided in each metal tube. A thermally-conducting material fills each metal tube and surrounds each optical temperature sensing element contained therein. An outer jacket layer is formed over the tow cable and metal tube.

Optical temperature sensing arrangement for towed cable

Apparatus for providing a temperature profile of the ocean for a towed so array. A towing cable for the array comprises a central cable and a protective outer jacket. Thermistors are disposed at spaced positions along the outer jacket and connect to conductors embedded in the protective outer jacket. The conductors terminate onboard ship to provide continuous signals representing temperatures at various ocean depths.

Towed cable temperature profiler

A soft-bodied, towable, active acoustic module includes a specially formed uspension fixture and a flexible faired body enclosing an active acoustic array. The suspension fixture is a Y-shaped tube having a single forward end and two trailing ends, one for attachment of a trailing tow cable and the other for attachment of the flexible, faired body. The flexible, faired body is an elongated hydrofoil having sections which allow lateral bending. The combination of the suspension feature and lateral bending feature allows the module to be deployed and recovered through shipboard undersurface deployment tubes. A weight attached to the faired body near the lower rear end balances the body to maintain a substantially vertical position during towing. Flow steps on the lower portion of the faired body reduce lateral oscillations.

Soft-bodied, towable, active acoustic module

A marine tow cable has both coaxial electronic and fiber optic data transsion capabilities wherein the coaxial core conductors are positioned at the neutral axis or center line of the cable with the coaxial shield conductor circumscribing a dielectric material therebetween. Embedded within the dielectric material matrix, separating the core conductors and the shield conductor, are fiber optic transmitters helically circumscribing the core conductors. Surrounding the electro-optical assembly is a watertight jacket and a protective armor cover to carry the tensile forces imparted to the cable during towing operations.

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Niantic, CT, United States of America

Peter E Seaman