SUB-ARRAY TRANSDUCER APPARATUS AND METHODS

• US 20150049590A1
• Filed: 08/15/2014
• Published: 02/19/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Rowe Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Rowe Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Rowe, Francis, Parent, Marc
• Application Number:
  US14/460,853
• Publication Number:
  US 20150049590A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 367/138
• CPC Class Codes: B06B 1/0629 Square array
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/346 using phase variation

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for creating transmit and/or receive beams within a fluidic medium. In one aspect, a series of sub-arrays are used to create a larger array capable of forming multiple transmit/receive beams. In one embodiment, a single sided electrode is disclosed, which provides among other things a technological alternative to prior art 2-dimensional array technologies for the purpose of producing multiple beams for applications such as Acoustic Doppler Current Profiling sonars or other 2D array sonar applications. In another embodiment, a dual-sided approach is used which advantageously requires reduced drive voltage(s) for the same output power.

Claims

1. Acoustic apparatus, comprising:

at least one beamformer circuit; and

an array of transducer elements comprising a repeated single-sided electrode (SSE) pattern.

2. The acoustic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the repeated SSE pattern is configured to produce four (4) or more acoustic beams.

3. The acoustic apparatus of claim 2, wherein the repeated SSE pattern is comprised of a plurality of sub-arrays of transducers, each sub-array of transducers is comprised of a row of X transducers and a column of Y transducers such that each transducer within a sub-array can be characterized as an N_XY transducer.

4. The acoustic apparatus of claim 3, wherein each transducer within a given sub-array has a unique connection with respect to other transducers within the given sub-array on a first side of the array of transducer elements and wherein each transducer is coupled to a common connection on a second side of the array of transducer elements.

5. The acoustic apparatus of claim 4, wherein the unique connection for each N_XY transducer within a first sub-array is coupled to another unique connection for each N_XY transducer within a second sub-array.

6. The acoustic apparatus of claim 5, wherein the repeated SSE pattern is configured to provide simultaneous and independent beamforming along each row and/or each column.

7. The acoustic apparatus of claim 2, wherein a number of transmit channels required for the at least one beamformer circuit is X and the number of receive channels for the at least one beamformer circuit is X².

8. Acoustic apparatus, comprising:

at least one beamformer circuit; and

an array of transducer elements comprising a dual-sided electrode pattern;

wherein the array of transducer elements is configured such that a first drive voltage applied to a first side thereof is out of phase with a second drive voltage applied to a second side thereof.

9. The acoustic apparatus of claim 8, wherein the first drive voltage is one-hundred eighty degrees (180°

) out of phase with the second drive voltage, such that a differential voltage comprising the sum of the first and second drive voltages is produced.

10. The acoustic apparatus of claim 9, wherein the first drive voltage comprises a voltage of V_rms*Cos(2*pi*w*t), and the second drive voltage comprises a voltage of V_rms*(−

Cos(2*pi*w*t)), thereby resulting in a total differential drive voltage of 2*V_rms*Cos(2*pi*w*t).

11. An acoustic apparatus, comprising:

a plurality of substantially identical N×

N sub-arrays of transducer elements; and

at least one transmit and receive beamformer;

wherein each of the transducer elements within the plurality of sub-arrays are electrically interconnected together with one or more other transducer elements at its corresponding position within other ones of the substantially identical N×

N sub-arrays.

12. The acoustic apparatus of claim 11, wherein a first row within one of the plurality of substantially identical N×

N sub-arrays of transducer elements is driven at a different phase from a second row within the one N×

N sub-array of transducer elements.

13. The acoustic apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first row within the one of the plurality of substantially identical N×

N sub-arrays of transducer elements is driven at a different phase from a third row within the one N×

N sub-array of transducer elements.

14. The acoustic apparatus of claim 13, wherein the first row within the one of the plurality of substantially identical N×

N sub-arrays of transducer elements is driven at a different phase from a fourth row within the one N×

N sub-array of transducer elements.

15. The acoustic apparatus of claim 14, wherein each of the first, second, third and fourth rows are each driven at a different phase than other ones of the rows.

16. The acoustic apparatus of claim 15, wherein the different phase is an integer multiple of ninety degrees (90°

).

17. The acoustic apparatus of claim 11, wherein each of the transducer elements within the plurality of sub-arrays are electrically interconnected together with the one or more other transducer elements at its corresponding position within the other ones of the substantially identical N×

N sub-arrays at a first side of the plurality of substantially identical N×

N sub-arrays of transducer elements.

18. The acoustic apparatus of claim 17, wherein each of the transducer elements within the plurality of sub-arrays are electrically interconnected with one another at a second side of the plurality of substantially identical N×

N sub-arrays of transducer elements.

19. The acoustic apparatus of claim 18, wherein the electrical interconnection on the second side is configured to provide improved shielding against electrical interference.

20. The acoustic apparatus of claim 19, wherein a first column within one of the plurality of substantially identical N×

N sub-arrays of transducer elements is driven at a different phase from a second column within the one N×

N sub-array of transducer elements.