Unmanned aerial vehicle based sonar buoy
First Claim
1. A sonar buoy comprising:
- a fuselage having a tube-like shape;
one or more wings coupled to the fuselage and operable to be folded into a position to allow the sonar buoy to be disposed within a launch tube coupled to a vehicle, the one or more wings further operable to automatically deploy to an appropriate position for flight after the sonar buoy is launched from the launch tube;
an engine coupled to the fuselage and operable to propel the sonar buoy through flight;
a guidance computer operable to direct the sonar buoy to a predetermined location;
a sonar coupled to the fuselage; and
a rocket motor detachably coupled to the fuselage and operable to;
propel the sonar buoy from the launch tube; and
detach from the fuselage after propelling the sonar buoy from the launch tube.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A sonar buoy includes a fuselage having a tube-like shape, one or more wings coupled to the fuselage, an engine coupled to the fuselage and operable to propel the sonar buoy through flight, and a guidance computer operable to direct the sonar buoy to a predetermined location. The sonar buoy further includes a sonar detachably coupled to the fuselage and forming at least a part of the fuselage, and a rocket motor detachably coupled to the fuselage. The one or more wings are operable to be folded into a position to allow the sonar buoy to be disposed within a launch tube coupled to a vehicle and to automatically deploy to an appropriate position for flight after the sonar buoy is launched from the launch tube. The rocket motor propels the sonar buoy from the launch tube and detaches from the fuselage after launch.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A sonar buoy comprising:
-
a fuselage having a tube-like shape; one or more wings coupled to the fuselage and operable to be folded into a position to allow the sonar buoy to be disposed within a launch tube coupled to a vehicle, the one or more wings further operable to automatically deploy to an appropriate position for flight after the sonar buoy is launched from the launch tube; an engine coupled to the fuselage and operable to propel the sonar buoy through flight; a guidance computer operable to direct the sonar buoy to a predetermined location; a sonar coupled to the fuselage; and a rocket motor detachably coupled to the fuselage and operable to; propel the sonar buoy from the launch tube; and detach from the fuselage after propelling the sonar buoy from the launch tube. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. A sonar buoy comprising:
-
a fuselage having a tube-like shape; one or more wings coupled to the fuselage and operable to be folded into a position to allow the sonar buoy to be disposed within a launch tube, the one or more wings further operable to automatically deploy to an appropriate position for flight after the sonar buoy is launched from the launch tube; an engine operable to propel the sonar buoy through flight; and a sonar coupled to the fuselage. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A system comprising:
-
a launch tube coupled to a vehicle; and a sonar buoy operable to be launched from the launch tube, the sonar buoy comprising; a fuselage having a tube-like shape; one or more wings coupled to the fuselage and operable to be folded into a position to allow the sonar buoy to be disposed within the launch tube, the one or more wings further operable to automatically deploy to an appropriate position for flight after the sonar buoy is launched from the launch tube; an engine operable to propel the sonar buoy through flight; and a sonar coupled to the fuselage. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification