Acoustic transmission
First Claim
1. An apparatus for the transmission of an acoustic signal through a solid rigid substrate comprising:
- a first acoustic transducer for converting electrical signals into acoustic signals, the first acoustic transducer being mounted on a first face of a solid rigid substrate to transmit the acoustic signals into the substrate;
a second acoustic transducer mounted on a second face of the substrate so as to receive acoustic signals emitted by the first acoustic transducer and to convert the acoustic signals into electrical signals;
and characterised in that at least one of the acoustic transducers is mounted on its respective face of the substrate via an intermediate element, the at least one of the acoustic transducers being bonded by a first bonding layer to the intermediate element, and the intermediate element being attached to the substrate, wherein the intermediate element has mounting pads on a bottom surface, separated from each other, the mounting pads configured to contact the substrate, the mounting pads defining a space between the remainder of the bottom surface of the intermediate element and the substrate.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In apparatus for the acoustic transmission of power or data through a solid barrier such as a ships hull, assembly of an acoustic transducer to the hull is facilitated by bonding it first to an intermediate element by a thin layer of bonding adhesive and then bonding the intermediate element to the barrier using a second bonding layer. Acoustic matching of the transducer to the intermediate element is achieved by the thin layer, and the mechanically more robust base of the intermediate element can be rubbed on the barrier surface to displace or abrade away any unwanted debris or imperfections which might otherwise prevent the achievement of a thin second bonding layer. This makes the mounting and bonding process more tolerant of imperfections in the barrier surface due to either surface defects or particulate contamination. The transmit and receive transducers may be positioned relative to each other so as to suppress or attenuate multiple-transit signals. Thus the intermediate element may be wedge shaped to aid suppression of triple-transit signals. Transmit and receive transducers may have different wedge angles.
17 Citations
25 Claims
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1. An apparatus for the transmission of an acoustic signal through a solid rigid substrate comprising:
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a first acoustic transducer for converting electrical signals into acoustic signals, the first acoustic transducer being mounted on a first face of a solid rigid substrate to transmit the acoustic signals into the substrate; a second acoustic transducer mounted on a second face of the substrate so as to receive acoustic signals emitted by the first acoustic transducer and to convert the acoustic signals into electrical signals; and characterised in that at least one of the acoustic transducers is mounted on its respective face of the substrate via an intermediate element, the at least one of the acoustic transducers being bonded by a first bonding layer to the intermediate element, and the intermediate element being attached to the substrate, wherein the intermediate element has mounting pads on a bottom surface, separated from each other, the mounting pads configured to contact the substrate, the mounting pads defining a space between the remainder of the bottom surface of the intermediate element and the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An acoustic transducer assembly for use in the transmission of an acoustic signal through a solid rigid substrate comprising:
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an acoustic transducer for converting electrical signals into acoustic signals or for converting acoustic signals into electrical signals, the acoustic transducer being mounted on a face of a solid rigid substrate to transmit the acoustic signals into the substrate or to receive the acoustic signals; and an intermediate element including mounting pads on a bottom surface thereof, the mounting pads being separated from each other and the mounting pads configured to contact the substrate, the mounting pads defining a space between the remainder of the bottom surface of the intermediate element and the substrate, the intermediate element being attached to the substrate and the intermediate element being bonded to the acoustic transducer via a bonding layer.
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16. An apparatus for the transmission of an acoustic signal through a solid rigid substrate comprising:
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a first acoustic transducer for converting electrical signals into acoustic signals, the first acoustic transducer being mounted on a first face of a solid rigid substrate to transmit the acoustic signals into the substrate; a second acoustic transducer mounted on a second face of the substrate so as to receive acoustic signals emitted by the first acoustic transducer and to convert the acoustic signals into electrical signals; and characterised in that at least one of the acoustic transducers is mounted on its respective face of the substrate via an intermediate element, the at least one of the acoustic transducers being bonded by a first bonding layer to the intermediate element, and the intermediate element being attached to the substrate, wherein the intermediate element has mounting pads on a bottom surface, separated from each other, the mounting pads configured to contact the substrate, the mounting pads defining a space between the remainder of the bottom surface of the intermediate element and the substrate, and wherein the electrical signals are modulated with data, the first acoustic transducer being configured to transmit the data as data-modulated acoustic signals, the second acoustic transducer being configured to receive said data-modulated acoustic signals. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of fitting an acoustic transducer to a solid barrier substrate comprising bonding an active transducer element to a first face of an intermediate element providing mounting pads on a second face of the intermediate element, the mounting pads are separated from each other, the mounting pads being configured to contact the solid barrier substrate, where the mounting pads define a space between the remainder of the second face of the intermediate element and the solid barrier substrate;
- and then attaching the intermediate element to the solid barrier substrate.
- View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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25. An apparatus for the transmission of an acoustic signal through a solid rigid substrate comprising:
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a first acoustic transducer for converting electrical signals into acoustic signals, the first acoustic transducer being mounted on a first face of a solid rigid substrate to transmit the acoustic signals into the substrate; a second acoustic transducer mounted on a second face of the substrate so as to receive acoustic signals emitted by the first acoustic transducer and to convert the acoustic signals into electrical signals; and characterised in that at least one of the acoustic transducers is mounted on its respective face of the substrate via an intermediate element, the at least one acoustic transducers being bonded by a first bonding layer to the intermediate element, and the intermediate element being attached to the substrate, wherein the intermediate element is attached to the substrate by a second bonding layer and the intermediate element has a grooved or otherwise profiled surface to which the second bonding layer is attached, to accommodate debris present between a face of the substrate and the intermediate element during bonding thereof.
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Specification