Western Geophysical Company of America

Robert N Hendley

John Lloyd Paitson

A rapid-fire air gun for generating acoustic pulses in a body of water includes a reservoir of high-pressure air, a shut-off valve, and a throttle valve for admitting air to an attached firing chamber. The firing chamber has an exhaust port that is sealed by a spring-loaded exhaust valve. When the shutoff valve is open, high pressure air is admitted to the firing chamber through the throttle valve at a rate depending upon the effective aperture through the throttle valve. The exhaust valve is set to open at some selected pressure and to close at some lower pressure. When the air pressure in the firing chamber exceeds the pressure setting of the exhaust valve, the valve opens to impulsively release a jet of high pressure air which generates an acoustic pulse. When the air pressure in the firing chamber drops, the valve closes and the air pressure again builds up in the firing chamber. A series of such openings and closings generates a pulse train. The pulse repetition rate, that is the frequency of the pulse train, depends on the throttle valve setting and/or the tension of the exhaust valve load spring.

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Houston, TX, United States of America

Robert N Hendley