Fully-wrapped hydrophone filling and sealing device and filling and sealing method

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of underwater acoustic sensor manufacturing processes, and particularly relates to a fully-wrapped hydrophone filling and sealing device and a filling and sealing method. The filling and sealing device comprises an upper mold, a lower mold, a suspension bracket, a cover plate and a vacuum oven; wherein the upper mold and the lower mold are used for encapsulating the shape of the hydrophone after being assembled; the suspension support is installed on the upper die and used for enabling an oscillator and a circuit board of the hydrophone to suspend at designated positions of an upper die cavity and a lower die cavity. The cover plate is arranged on the upper die and is used for flattening the upper surface of the hydrophone; and the vacuum oven is used for vacuumizing and high-temperature curing of the pouring sealant solution. The hydrophone array and the circuit are suspended in the potting mold through the hydrophone array suspension bracket, the appearance of the hydrophone is manufactured through the potting mold, and bubbles in the potting glue solution are removed through the vacuum oven, so that the polyurethane glue full-wrapping bubble-free potting of the hydrophone is achieved, the principle is simple and clear, the method is simple and convenient, and the operability is high.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of underwater acoustic sensor manufacturing technology, and particularly relates to a fully wrapped hydrophone potting device and a potting method. Background Art

[0002] With the development of underwater acoustic detection engineering, the demand for hydrophones as the core sensors of underwater acoustic detection, especially those working in the deep sea for a long time, has increased dramatically, and the watertightness and reliability of hydrophones are particularly important. The production of hydrophones involves the bonding of arrays, the welding and debugging of circuit boards, and the potting of polyurethane sound-transmitting glue. The process is complicated, especially the potting of polyurethane glue. The hydrophone array needs to be potted in polyurethane glue, and metal support columns are often used to keep the array away from seawater. As the working time of the hydrophone increases, the size of the support column needs to be increased accordingly, resulting in the structure of the hydrophone becoming large and bulky. Summary of the invention

[0003] In view of this, the present invention provides a fully encapsulated hydrophone potting device and potting method, which uses secondary potting technology to achieve fully encapsulated potting of the hydrophone array and circuit, and the potting device can improve the water tightness of the hydrophone. The potting method is easy to operate and has high reliability.

[0004] The technical solution of the present invention is:

[0005] A fully wrapped hydrophone potting device comprises: an upper mold, a lower mold, a suspension bracket, a cover plate and a vacuum oven; wherein the upper mold and the lower mold are used to pot the shape of the hydrophone after being molded together; the suspension bracket is installed on the upper mold, and is used to suspend the array and circuit board of the hydrophone at the specified position of the upper and lower mold cavities; the cover plate is installed on the upper mold, and is used to flatten the upper surface of the hydrophone; the vacuum oven is used for vacuuming and high-temperature curing of the potting glue.

[0006] Furthermore, the suspension bracket spans across the pouring port of the upper mold and is provided with four through holes for installing screws; the suspension bracket is threadedly connected to the two ends of the pouring port of the upper mold based on two of the through holes; the suspension bracket is threadedly connected to the circuit board based on the other two through holes, so as to suspend and fix the circuit board and the array in the cavities of the upper mold and the lower mold.

[0007] Furthermore, the cover plate is a planar structure having the same shape and size as the opening of the pouring port of the upper mold, and is used to flatten the upper surface of the hydrophone from the pouring port after the pouring of the hydrophone is completed.

[0008] Furthermore, the vacuum oven is used for degassing and high-temperature curing of the potting glue of the hydrophone.

[0009] Furthermore, the mold-joining part of the upper mold and the lower mold is provided with a hydrophone cable protection taper groove; the taper groove is used for forming the tapered transition part at both ends of the hydrophone;

[0010] The tapered transition portion is used for cables to pass through and connect to the circuit board.

[0011] The present invention also proposes a fully encapsulated hydrophone encapsulation method for preparing the above-mentioned fully encapsulated hydrophone encapsulation device, comprising the following steps:

[0012] Step 1: Install the hydrophone array and circuit board onto the suspension bracket using two bolts.

[0013] Step 2: Install the suspension bracket, the array and the circuit board on the upper mold, fix them on the upper mold with another two screws, and close the upper mold with the lower mold, wherein the hydrophone cable is placed in the tapered cable groove; at this time, the array and the circuit board are suspended at the designated positions of the cavities of the upper mold and the lower mold;

[0014] Step 3: Place the potting mold assembled in step 2 in a vacuum oven for preheating;

[0015] Step 4: pour the prepared glue from the potting port into the potting mold assembled in step 3, so that the glue just covers the mold, and then bake the glue at high temperature until it is semi-solidified;

[0016] Step 5: pouring the prepared glue liquid from the potting port into the potting mold after step 4 is completed, and then completely curing all the potting glue based on the high temperature baking.

[0017] Furthermore, the glue is a polyurethane glue, which is prepared within 15-25 minutes before each pouring, and a vacuum operation is performed after the preparation.

[0018] Furthermore, in step 4, the semi-curing baking time is 40 minutes and the baking temperature is 80-90°C.

[0019] Furthermore, in the step 5, 12-17 minutes after the pouring is completed, the upper surface of the hydrophone is flattened based on the cover plate, and then the complete curing in the step 5 is performed.

[0020] Furthermore, the baking time in step 5 is not less than 24 hours, and the baking temperature is 90-95°C.

[0021] Beneficial effects of the present invention:

[0022] The present invention uses a hydrophone array suspension bracket to suspend a hydrophone array and a circuit in a potting mold, uses the potting mold to produce the shape of the hydrophone, and uses a vacuum oven to remove bubbles in the potting glue, thereby achieving full wrapping of the hydrophone with polyurethane glue and bubble-free potting. The principle is simple, the method is simple, and the operability is strong. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings required for use in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present disclosure. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0024] Figure 1 A top view of the potting device after the cover plate is removed;

[0025] Figure 2 It is a front cross-sectional view of the potting device after the cover plate is removed;

[0026] Figure 3 It is a left side cross-sectional view of the potting device after the cover plate is removed;

[0027] Figure 4 It is a top view of the potting device and the hydrophone after potting is completed;

[0028] Figure 5 It is a main cross-sectional view of the potting device and the hydrophone after potting is completed;

[0029] Figure 6 It is a left sectional view of the potting device and the hydrophone after potting is completed;

[0030] Among them, 1. upper mold; 2. lower mold; 3. suspension bracket; 4. hydrophone array; 5. cover plate; 6. hydrophone. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] The embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0032] The following describes the embodiments of the present disclosure through specific examples, and those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present disclosure from the contents disclosed in this specification. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, rather than all of the embodiments. The present disclosure can also be implemented or applied through other different specific embodiments, and the details in this specification can also be modified or changed in various ways based on different viewpoints and applications without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. It should be noted that the following embodiments and features in the embodiments can be combined with each other without conflict. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in the field without making creative work are within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0033] It should be noted that various aspects of the embodiments within the scope of the appended claims are described below. It should be apparent that the aspects described herein may be embodied in a wide variety of forms, and any specific structure and / or function described herein is merely illustrative. Based on the present disclosure, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that an aspect described herein may be implemented independently of any other aspect, and two or more of these aspects may be combined in various ways. For example, any number of aspects described herein may be used to implement a device and / or practice a method. In addition, other structures and / or functionalities other than one or more of the aspects described herein may be used to implement this device and / or practice this method.

[0034] It should also be noted that the illustrations provided in the following embodiments are only schematic illustrations of the basic concept of the present disclosure. The illustrations only show components related to the present disclosure rather than being drawn according to the number, shape and size of components in actual implementation. In actual implementation, the type, quantity and proportion of each component may be changed arbitrarily, and the component layout may also be more complicated.

[0035] Additionally, in the following description, specific details are provided to facilitate a thorough understanding of the examples. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the aspects described may be practiced without these specific details.

[0036] In one embodiment of the present invention, a fully enclosed hydrophone potting device is provided. Figure 1-Figure 6 , including: an upper mold 1, a lower mold 2, a suspension bracket 3, a cover plate 5 and a vacuum oven; wherein the upper mold 1 and the lower mold 2 are molded together to encapsulate the shape of the hydrophone 6; the suspension bracket 3 is installed on the upper mold 1, and is used to suspend the array and circuit board of the hydrophone 6 at the specified position of the upper and lower mold 2 cavities; the cover plate 5 is installed on the upper mold 1, and is used to flatten the upper surface of the hydrophone 6; the vacuum oven is used for vacuuming and high-temperature curing of the encapsulating glue.

[0037] In this embodiment, the suspension bracket 3 spans across the pouring port of the upper mold 1 and is provided with four through holes for installing screws; the suspension bracket 3 is threadedly connected to the two ends of the pouring port of the upper mold 1 based on two of the through holes; the suspension bracket 3 is threadedly connected to the circuit board based on the other two through holes, so as to suspend and fix the circuit board and the array in the cavities of the upper mold 1 and the lower mold 2.

[0038] In this embodiment, the cover plate 5 is a planar structure having the same shape and size as the opening of the pouring port of the upper mold 1 , and is used to flatten the upper surface of the hydrophone 6 from the pouring port after the pouring of the hydrophone 6 is completed.

[0039] In this embodiment, the vacuum oven is used for degassing and high-temperature curing of the potting glue of the hydrophone 6 .

[0040] In this embodiment, the mold-joining part of the upper mold 1 and the lower mold 2 is provided with a taper groove for protecting the cable of the hydrophone 6; the taper groove is used for forming the tapered transition part at both ends of the hydrophone 6;

[0041] The tapered transition portion is used for cables to pass through and connect to the circuit board.

[0042] In one embodiment, the present invention further proposes a method for potting a fully encapsulated hydrophone 6 for preparing the potting device for the fully encapsulated hydrophone 6 of the above embodiment, comprising the following steps:

[0043] Step 1: Install the hydrophone array 4 and the circuit board on the suspension bracket 3 based on two bolt connections;

[0044] Step 2: Install the suspension bracket 3, the array and the circuit board on the upper mold 1, fix them on the upper mold 1 with another two screws, and close the upper mold 1 with the lower mold 2, wherein the hydrophone 6 cable is placed in the tapered cable groove; at this time, the array and the circuit board are suspended at the designated position of the cavity of the upper mold 1 and the lower mold 2;

[0045] Step 3: Place the potting mold assembled in step 2 in a vacuum oven for preheating;

[0046] Step 4: pour the prepared glue from the potting port into the potting mold assembled in step 3, so that the glue just covers the mold, and then bake the glue at high temperature until it is semi-solidified;

[0047] Step 5: pouring the prepared glue liquid from the potting port into the potting mold after step 4 is completed, and then completely curing all the potting glue based on the high temperature baking.

[0048] In this embodiment, the glue is polyurethane glue, which is prepared within 15-25 minutes before each pouring, and a vacuum operation is performed after the preparation.

[0049] In this embodiment, in step 4, the semi-curing baking time is 40 minutes and the baking temperature is 80-90°C.

[0050] In this embodiment, in step 5, 12-17 minutes after the pouring is completed, the upper surface of the hydrophone 6 is flattened based on the cover plate 5, and then the complete curing in step 5 is performed.

[0051] Furthermore, the baking time in step 5 is not less than 24 hours, and the baking temperature is 90-95°C.

[0052] Further description of this embodiment:

[0053] Step 1: Figure 1 , install the hydrophone array 4 and the circuit board onto the suspension bracket 3 and fix them with two studs and nuts;

[0054] Step 2: If Figure 1 , install the component completed in step 1 on the upper mold 1, fix it with two screws, and install the upper mold 1 on the lower mold 2, where the hydrophone 6 cable is placed in the tapered cable groove.

[0055] Step 3: Place the parts assembled in step 2 in a vacuum oven to preheat the mold;

[0056] Step 4: prepare polyurethane glue according to 60% of the weight of the hydrophone 6, and evacuate;

[0057] Step 5: Figure 2 , pour the glue prepared in step 4 into the potting inner cavity of the potting mold assembled in step 3, just enough to cover the cavity, and bake at 90 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes;

[0058] Step 6: Repeat step 4;

[0059] Step 7: Figure 2 , pour the glue into the potting mold, cover it with the potting cover plate 5 after 15 minutes, and then perform high temperature curing at 90 degrees Celsius for 24 hours.

[0060] The above is only a specific implementation of the present disclosure, but the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily thought of by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present disclosure should be included in the protection scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A fully enclosed hydrophone potting device, characterized in that: include: Upper mold, lower mold, suspension bracket, cover plate and vacuum oven; The upper mold and the lower mold are molded together to form a shape for encapsulating the hydrophone; The suspension bracket is installed on the upper mold to suspend the array and circuit board of the hydrophone at the specified position of the upper and lower mold cavities; the cover plate is installed on the upper mold to flatten the upper surface of the hydrophone; the vacuum oven is used for vacuuming and high-temperature curing of the potting glue.

2. The fully enclosed hydrophone potting device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The suspension bracket spans across the pouring port of the upper mold and is provided with four through holes for installing screws; the suspension bracket is threadedly connected to the two ends of the pouring port of the upper mold based on two of the through holes; the suspension bracket is threadedly connected to the circuit board based on the other two through holes, so as to suspend and fix the circuit board and the array in the cavities of the upper mold and the lower mold.

3. The fully enclosed hydrophone potting device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The cover plate is a planar structure with the same shape and size as the opening of the pouring port of the upper mold, and is used to flatten the upper surface of the hydrophone from the pouring port after the pouring of the hydrophone is completed.

4. The fully enclosed hydrophone potting device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The vacuum oven is used for degassing and high-temperature curing of the potting glue of the hydrophone.

5. The fully enclosed hydrophone potting device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The mold-joining part of the upper mold and the lower mold is provided with a hydrophone cable protection taper groove; the taper groove is used for forming the tapered transition part at both ends of the hydrophone; The tapered transition portion is used for cables to pass through and connect to the circuit board.

6. A method for preparing a fully enclosed hydrophone encapsulation device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The steps include: Step 1: Install the hydrophone array and circuit board onto the suspension bracket using two bolts. Step 2: Install the suspension bracket, the array and the circuit board on the upper mold, fix them on the upper mold with another two screws, and close the upper mold with the lower mold, wherein the hydrophone cable is placed in the tapered cable groove; at this time, the array and the circuit board are suspended at the designated positions of the cavities of the upper mold and the lower mold; Step 3: Place the potting mold assembled in step 2 in a vacuum oven for preheating; Step 4: pour the prepared glue from the potting port into the potting mold assembled in step 3, so that the glue just covers the mold, and then bake the glue at high temperature until it is semi-solidified; Step 5: pouring the prepared glue liquid from the potting port into the potting mold after step 4 is completed, and then completely curing all the potting glue based on the high temperature baking.

7. The method for potting a fully enclosed hydrophone according to claim 6, characterized in that: The glue liquid is a polyurethane glue liquid, which is prepared within 15-25 minutes before each pouring, and a vacuum operation is performed after the preparation.

8. The method for potting a fully enclosed hydrophone according to claim 7, characterized in that: In step 4, the semi-curing baking time is 40 minutes and the baking temperature is 80-90°C.

9. The method for potting a fully enclosed hydrophone according to claim 8, characterized in that: In the step 5, 12-17 minutes after the pouring is completed, the upper surface of the hydrophone is flattened based on the cover plate, and then the complete curing in the step 5 is performed.

10. The method for potting a fully enclosed hydrophone according to claim 9, characterized in that: The baking time in step 5 is not less than 24 hours, and the baking temperature is 90-95°C.

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