High sensitivity accelerometer for crossed dipoles acoustic sensors
First Claim
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1. An accelerometer for an underwater acoustic sensor, comprising:
- a pair of substantially cylindrical piezoelectric crystals, each of said crystals being affixed at proximal ends to a support means and extending outwardly from said support means as a cantilever beam,said crystals and said support means being mounted in an enclosed container which isolates the crystals from the pressure of the medium surrounding the container,means for detecting voltage signals generated by bending stresses in four substantially equal quadrants of each crystal when said crystals are subjected to accelerations perpendicular to the axis of said crystals,and wherein the combined voltage signals from each pair of diagonally opposite quadrants provide resultant signals which are a measure of the two orthogonal components of planar motion of a surface on which the accelerator is mounted.
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Abstract
An accelerometer for underwater acoustic sensors includes a pair of cylindrical piezoelectric crystals configured in a cantilever mode and having attached thereto an electrode segmented into four equal quadrants. In response to translational motion perpendicular to the axes of the piezoelectric crystals, orthogonal voltage signals are generated, from which the crossed dipole directivity patterns can be obtained. The symmetric use of two such piezoelectric crystals enables spurious responses, to rotational motion about an axis perpendicular to the central axis of a cylindrical container for the crystals, to be avoided.
23 Citations
10 Claims
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1. An accelerometer for an underwater acoustic sensor, comprising:
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a pair of substantially cylindrical piezoelectric crystals, each of said crystals being affixed at proximal ends to a support means and extending outwardly from said support means as a cantilever beam, said crystals and said support means being mounted in an enclosed container which isolates the crystals from the pressure of the medium surrounding the container, means for detecting voltage signals generated by bending stresses in four substantially equal quadrants of each crystal when said crystals are subjected to accelerations perpendicular to the axis of said crystals, and wherein the combined voltage signals from each pair of diagonally opposite quadrants provide resultant signals which are a measure of the two orthogonal components of planar motion of a surface on which the accelerator is mounted. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An accelerometer for an underwater acoustic sensor, comprising:
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a substantially cylindrical piezoelectric crystal, which is affixed at a first end to a support means and extends outwardly from said support means as a cantilever beam, said crystal and said support means being mounted in an enclosed container which isolates the crystal from the pressures of the medium surrounding the container, means for detecting voltage signals generated by bending stresses in four substantially equal quadrants of said crystal when said crystal is subjected to accelerations perpendicular to its axis, the combined voltage signals from each pair of diagonally opposite quadrants providing resultant signals which are a measure of the two orthogonal components of planar motion of a surface on which the accelerometer is mounted. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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Specification