Vibrational anti-fouling system
First Claim
1. A vibrational system for use in inhibiting the attachment of aquatic life forms to underwater structures comprising:
- a plurality of transducers including at least a first and a second transducer adapted-to be mounted upon said underwater structure to impart vibrations thereto, each such transducer including;
a housing defining a central chamber, said housing having a first opening extending through said housing into said central chamber;
a resilient diaphragm of magnetic material mounted on said housing and extending across said first opening, said resilient diaphragm having a front face and a rear face;
an electromagnet mounted in said housing in spaced relation to the rear face of said diaphragm to create a small gap and responsive to a current pulse to attract and deform said diaphragm into said gap, said electromagnet being closely spaced from the rear face of said resilient diaphragm in an area within the confines of said first opening, and a transducer mount for attaching said transducer to said underwater structure, said transducer mount being secured to the front face of said resilient diaphragm; and
a control circuit means connected to said plurality of transducers to sequentially impart trains of spaced current pulses to said electromagnets during a power cycle, said control circuit means including at least a first output connected to said first transducer and a second output connected to said second transducer, the control circuit means operating during a power cycle to first provide a train of current pulses to said first output and to subsequently provide a train of current pulses to said second output after terminating the provision of power pulses to said first output.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An anti-fouling system for producing vibrations in an underwater structure to inhibit the attachment of aquatic life forms to the structure. The system includes a controller which drives one or more transducer. The transducer comprises a housing, one end of which is closed by a resilient diaphragm. An electromagnet with soft magnetic core is contained in the housing spaced from an unsupported portion of the diaphragm. The unsupported portion of the diaphragm is mounted over an underwater structure. In operation, the electromagnet is excited with a current pulse, which deforms the diaphragm so that the housing moves towards the structure. As the current drops off, the diaphragm is restored to its original shape and the housing moves away from the structure imparting a vibrational force to the structure. The transducer includes an elastic membrane to compensate for changes in temperature and pressure commonly found when working under water. The magnetic cores positioned in the transducers are saturated by current pulses generated by the controller to eliminate the effects of component variations and allow multiple units to be connected to the controller without changes in sound levels. The system is highly resistant to electrolytic corrosion, since, most of the time, there is no voltage difference between the resonators, wires, and ground.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A vibrational system for use in inhibiting the attachment of aquatic life forms to underwater structures comprising:
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a plurality of transducers including at least a first and a second transducer adapted-to be mounted upon said underwater structure to impart vibrations thereto, each such transducer including; a housing defining a central chamber, said housing having a first opening extending through said housing into said central chamber; a resilient diaphragm of magnetic material mounted on said housing and extending across said first opening, said resilient diaphragm having a front face and a rear face; an electromagnet mounted in said housing in spaced relation to the rear face of said diaphragm to create a small gap and responsive to a current pulse to attract and deform said diaphragm into said gap, said electromagnet being closely spaced from the rear face of said resilient diaphragm in an area within the confines of said first opening, and a transducer mount for attaching said transducer to said underwater structure, said transducer mount being secured to the front face of said resilient diaphragm; and a control circuit means connected to said plurality of transducers to sequentially impart trains of spaced current pulses to said electromagnets during a power cycle, said control circuit means including at least a first output connected to said first transducer and a second output connected to said second transducer, the control circuit means operating during a power cycle to first provide a train of current pulses to said first output and to subsequently provide a train of current pulses to said second output after terminating the provision of power pulses to said first output. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A vibrational system for use in inhibiting the attachment of aquatic life forms to underwater structures comprising:
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a housing defining a central chamber having a bottom wall and a top wall, a first opening formed in said bottom wall and a second opening formed in said top wall, a resilient diaphragm of magnetic material mounted on said bottom wall and extending across said first opening, said resilient diaphragm having a rear face directed toward said central chamber and a front face directed away from said central chamber, an electromagnet mounted in said central chamber in spaced relation to the rear face of said diaphragm to create a small gap therebetween in an area within the confines of said first opening, said electromagnet operating in response to a current pulse to attract and deform said diaphragm into said gap, an elastic membrane mounted on said top wall to cover said second opening, said elastic membrane being deformable relative to said second opening, and a solid encapsulating material partially filling said central chamber and partially encapsulating said electromagnetic, said encapsulating material extending from said top wall and filling said chamber except for a space between said encapsulating material and said bottom wall having a width at least equal to the gap between said electromagnet and said diaphragm, and a channel formed in said encapsulating material connecting said space to said second opening, said elastic membrane being deformable in response to pressure to control the air volume in said space to maintain the air volume substantially constant. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification