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Method and apparatus for masking the acoustic signature of vessels

  • US 5,756,182 A
  • Filed: 10/27/1995
  • Issued: 05/26/1998
  • Est. Priority Date: 12/04/1989
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. An acoustic tile for masking the acoustic signature of a surface or submarine vessel comprising:

  • a flexible inner skin of a first thickness and having an inner surface and an outer surface, the inner surface of said inner skin being adapted for adhesive attachment to the hull of the vessel;

    a resilient water-impervious outer skin of a second thickness having an inner surface and an outer surface;

    a core formed of elongated undulated strips of resilient thermoplastic material, thermal compression bonded together and forming flexible cell walls defining a plurality of contiguous, regularly shaped cells, said core having a first face formed by a first extremity of said cell walls and a second face formed by a second extremity of said cell walls, said first face being thermal compression bonded to said outer surface of said inner skin and said second face being thermal compression bonded to said inner surface of said outer skin;

    an adhesive material disposed on said inner surface of said inner skin, for attaching said inner skin to the hull of said vessel;

    a vacuum port formed in said tile and located on the outer skin of said tile, said vacuum port extending through said outer skin, said core and said inner skin; and

    a plurality of interconnected, open channels formed in said inner surface of said inner skin, each of said channels being in communication with said vacuum port such that a negative pressure applied to said vacuum port when said tile is placed against said hull of said vessel tends to create a vacuum between said inner surface of said inner skin and said hull, thereby enhancing engagement of the tile with the hull of the vessel so that said adhesive material fixedly engages said tile to said hull.

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