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System for generating pressure waves in an underwater environment

  • US 9,733,378 B2
  • Filed: 05/14/2010
  • Issued: 08/15/2017
  • Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2009
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A system for generating pressure waves for deep seismic surveys in an underwater environment, comprising:

  • one or more autonomous underwater vehicles organized in swarms, the one or more autonomous underwater vehicles are configured to navigate both underwater and on a surface of the water, each of the one or more vehicles including onboard or entraining one or more seismic devices,wherein the one or more seismic devices each include a cylinder defining an axis, the cylinder including therein a striker piston and a pump piston, each of the striker piston and the pump piston have two opposite sides with respect to the axis, one of the two sides for each piston being an impact side,wherein the pistons are configured to slide along a direction parallel to said axis and configured to strike against each other in correspondence with the respective impact side of each piston, andwherein the pump piston is in contact with water of a sea environment on the side opposite to the impact side such that a pressure wave generated by the impact of the striker piston and the pump piston propagates along the cylinder and is released into the sea environment,wherein the pressure wave generated by the impact of the striker piston and the pump piston is released into the sea environment through at least one diffuser, andwherein an axis of the at least one diffuser is oriented substantially perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder.

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