Underwater extensible cylindrical array of sonar buoy

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of underwater acoustic detection equipment, and particularly relates to a sonar buoy underwater extensible cylindrical array which comprises a plurality of array units composed of hydrophone rods and transverse extension arms. The array unit is arranged to be folded in the space between the underwater cable bin and the buoy shell when the sonar buoy is assembled, and the array unit is automatically unfolded when the underwater cable bin leaves the buoy outer cylinder after the sonar buoy enters water to work. According to the hydrophone array, the hydrophones, the supporting materials, the elastic components and the cables are integrally designed, the structure is compact when the hydrophone array is folded, self-driving and self-locking are achieved when the hydrophone array is deployed and unfolded, unfolding risks such as winding and overturning are avoided, and the deployment depth is easy to change after the hydrophone array is unfolded.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of underwater acoustic detection equipment, and in particular relates to an underwater expandable cylindrical array of sonar buoys. Background Art

[0002] A single active directional sonar buoy can measure the distance and direction of underwater targets. It generally uses an active transducer for omnidirectional transmission, and a pressure difference vector hydrophone or a passive receiving array to receive the target reflection signal. SSQ-963D is a multi-beam active directional buoy equipped by the Navy. The acoustic center frequency is 9.5kHz. The receiving array uses a cylindrical array of 6×4 array elements. Through digital beamforming technology, it has the advantages of high gain, narrow main lobe, and low side lobe, and has excellent detection and direction-finding performance. SSQ-963D has 6 linear arrays fixedly installed along the outer wall of the underwater cable warehouse in a circular cylindrical space with an outer diameter of no more than 120mm and a height of no more than 320mm between the underwater cable warehouse and the outer cylinder. Each linear array contains 4 array elements. Based on the acoustic center of 24 array elements, a cylindrical array with a diameter of about 96mm and a height of about 240mm is formed. With the advancement of submarine silent noise reduction technology, the reduction of active detection frequency is an inevitable trend for sonar equipment. The problem of replacing the active directional buoy like SSQ-963D with a lower frequency transducer can be solved without changing the volume and space allocation of the buoy, but its receiving array elements must be expanded outward and vertically. Obviously, such an outward-expanded cylindrical array cannot be directly installed into the outer tube of the sonar buoy, so it is necessary to solve the problem of folding the cylindrical array in the limited space of the sonar buoy and unfolding it after being put into the water.

[0003] Passive extended array buoys, such as the AN / SSQ-101 buoy, although they use folding and expansion technology, are only applicable to planar arrays, and their structure is complex, occupying a large space, requiring high precision, and relying on gravity and buoyancy to drive. The cables attached to the extension arm are easily entangled, resulting in underwater deployment failure. Locking requires a special structure, and the variable depth deployment time is long, making it difficult to apply to active directional buoys that take into account both transmission and reception. It is also difficult to learn from the designs of other buoys. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of this, in order to improve the prior art, the present invention provides an underwater expandable cylindrical array of sonar buoys for multi-beam active directional buoys.

[0005] The technical solution of the present invention is:

[0006] An underwater expandable cylindrical array of sonar buoys includes a plurality of array units consisting of hydrophone rods and lateral expansion arms;

[0007] The hydrophone rod is mounted on the lateral expansion arm;

[0008] The lateral expansion arm is mounted on the outer cylindrical surface of the underwater cable bin of the sonar buoy and can be bent into an arc along the circumference of the outer wall of the underwater cable bin;

[0009] When the underwater cable bin is sleeved in the buoy outer cylinder, the hydrophone rod and the lateral expansion arm are both limitedly folded in the space between the outer wall of the underwater cable bin and the inner wall of the buoy outer cylinder;

[0010] When the underwater cable compartment leaves the outer cylinder of the buoy, the hydrophone rod and the lateral expansion arm are both unfolded based on elastic force.

[0011] Further, the hydrophone rod comprises an upper rod, a middle rod and a lower rod;

[0012] The upper rod and the middle rod are foldable and have an elastic force for unfolding;

[0013] The middle rod and the lower rod are foldable and have an elastic force for unfolding;

[0014] The middle rod is fixedly connected to the lateral expansion arm.

[0015] Furthermore, the upper rod and the middle rod are connected by a spring hinge; the middle rod and the lower rod are connected by a spring hinge.

[0016] Furthermore, the hydrophone rod is in a straight strip shape in the unfolded state and is parallel to the axial direction of the underwater cable bin in the unfolded state.

[0017] Furthermore, when the lateral expansion arm is unfolded, it is perpendicular to the axial direction of the underwater cable bin, and the unfolding direction is outward away from the outer cylindrical surface of the underwater cable bin.

[0018] Furthermore, the lateral expansion arm is installed on the underwater cable bin based on a fixed-axis hinge.

[0019] Furthermore, the number of the array units is four to six groups; and no less than four groups of sound pressure hydrophones are arranged in the hydrophone rod.

[0020] The cylindrical array formed after the array units are unfolded has an acoustic diameter of not less than 180 mm and a height of not less than 450 mm.

[0021] Beneficial effects of the present invention:

[0022] The present invention adopts an integrated design of a retractable and expandable cylindrical array, which has a compact structure when folded and retracted, is self-driven and self-locking when deployed and unfolded, has no deployment risks such as entanglement and overturning, and is easy to change the deployment depth after unfolding. 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 Schematic diagram of the expansion state of the hydrophone array of the present invention

[0025] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the hydrophone array of the present invention in folded and stowed state

[0026] Among them, 1. Underwater cable compartment; 2. Hydrophone rod; 3. Lateral expansion arm; 4. Spring hinge; 5. Fixed-axis hinge. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0028] 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.

[0029] 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 can 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 can be implemented independently of any other aspect, and two or more of these aspects can be combined in various ways. For example, any number of aspects described herein can be used to implement the device and / or practice the method. In addition, other structures and / or functionalities other than one or more of the aspects described herein can be used to implement this device and / or practice this method.

[0030] 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.

[0031] 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.

[0032] In one embodiment of the present invention, an underwater expandable cylindrical array of sonar buoys is provided, comprising a plurality of array units consisting of hydrophone rods and lateral expansion arms 3;

[0033] The hydrophone rod is mounted on the lateral expansion arm;

[0034] The lateral expansion arm is mounted on the outer cylindrical surface of the sonar buoy underwater cable compartment 1 and can be bent into an arc along the circumference of the outer wall of the underwater cable compartment 1;

[0035] When the underwater cable compartment 1 is sleeved in the outer cylinder of the buoy, the hydrophone rod and the lateral expansion arm are both limitedly folded in the space between the outer wall of the underwater cable compartment 1 and the inner wall of the outer cylinder of the buoy;

[0036] When the underwater cable compartment 1 leaves the outer cylinder of the buoy, the hydrophone rod and the lateral expansion arm are both unfolded based on elastic force.

[0037] In some embodiments, the hydrophone pole includes an upper pole, a middle pole, and a lower pole;

[0038] The upper rod and the middle rod are foldable and have an elastic force for unfolding;

[0039] The middle rod and the lower rod are foldable and have an elastic force for unfolding;

[0040] The middle rod is fixedly connected to the lateral expansion arm 3 .

[0041] In some embodiments, the upper rod and the middle rod are connected based on a spring hinge 4; the middle rod and the lower rod are connected based on a spring hinge 4.

[0042] In some embodiments, the hydrophone is in a straight strip shape when deployed, and is parallel to the axial direction of the underwater cable compartment 1 when deployed.

[0043] In some embodiments, when the lateral expansion arm 3 is unfolded, it is perpendicular to the axial direction of the underwater cable bin 1 , and the unfolding direction is outward away from the outer cylindrical surface of the underwater cable bin 1 .

[0044] In some embodiments, the lateral expansion arm 3 is mounted on the underwater cable bin 1 based on a fixed-axis hinge 5 .

[0045] The cylindrical array of the embodiment of the present invention is composed of multiple groups of identical hydrophone rods and supporting and expanding structures installed around the outer circumference of the cylindrical surface of the sonar buoy underwater cable compartment 1. Each group of structures includes a hydrophone rod 2, two lateral expansion arms 3, and elastic components and watertight cables contained therein. It can be folded in the annular cylindrical space between the underwater cable compartment 1 and the outer cylinder of the sonar buoy and retained by a conformal restraint structure. When the sonar buoy is dropped into the water, the float bag and the surface electronics compartment float up, the outer cylinder is detached, the underwater cable compartment 1 releases the cable, and sinks to a specified depth together with the underwater electronics compartment and the transmitting transducer. The conformal restraint structure is released, and the components of the hydrophone array are automatically unfolded in sequence driven by the elastic components to form a cylindrical array around the underwater cable compartment 1. Figure 1 shown.

[0046] In some embodiments, the hydrophone array has 4 to 6 groups of hydrophone rods 2, each group of hydrophone rods 2 includes 4 to 6 groups of sound pressure hydrophones, and the hydrophone interval and the number of hydrophone rods 2 are determined according to the acoustic center frequency of the sonar buoy.

[0047] In some embodiments, the hydrophone rod 2 is divided into three sections, with a long middle section and short side sections, each section is connected by a spring hinge 4, the hydrophones are distributed in the three sections at a certain interval, and the watertight cable connecting the hydrophones is led out from the middle section. The short sections on both sides can overcome the elastic force of the spring hinge 4 and fold together toward the middle section. When in a free state, they unfold into a straight line array, and the assembly direction is parallel to the axis of the underwater cable bin.

[0048] In some embodiments, the main body of the lateral expansion arm 3 adopts a superelastic rod structure, one end of which is vertically connected to the middle section of the hydrophone rod 2 through a clamping joint structure, and the other end is installed on the circumferential outer surface of the sonar buoy underwater cable bin 1 through a fixed-axis hinge 5 and a torsion spring. The two lateral expansion arms 3 maintain a certain distance and are parallel to each other, and the assembly direction is perpendicular to the axis of the underwater cable bin.

[0049] In some embodiments, a limiting structure is provided between the fixed-axis hinge 5 and the outer wall of the underwater cable bin, so that the lateral expansion arm 3 can be twisted to the radial direction of the underwater cable bin 1 by the torsion spring force in a free state.

[0050] In some embodiments, after the multiple groups of hydrophone rods 2, lateral expansion arms 3, and watertight cables are assembled with the underwater cable bin 1, each group of hydrophone rods 2 is folded in half, and then the lateral expansion arms 3 are pressed to overcome the torsion spring force and the elastic force of the fixed-axis hinge 5 and bend into an arc along the outer wall of the underwater cable bin 1, and the folded hydrophone rods 2 supported by them are close to the outer wall of the underwater cable bin 1, and the multiple groups do not interfere with each other. Figure 2As shown; finally, this state is maintained by a conformal restraint structure so that it can be loaded into the outer tube of the sonar buoy and can be easily removed.

[0051] In some embodiments, the underwater cable compartment 1 is designed to have an outer diameter of 96 mm and a height of 300 mm.

[0052] Six groups of foldable hydrophone rods 2 are used, each group of hydrophone rods 2 contains four sound pressure hydrophones, which are evenly distributed with a spacing of 160mm; the diameter of the hydrophone rod is 10mm, the total length when unfolded is 540mm, and it is divided into three sections, the middle section is long and the two side sections are short, among which the middle section is 240mm long and the two side sections are 110mm long, and the length of each section includes the joint part of the spring hinge 4; the three sections are connected by the spring hinge 4, and the net length of the springs of the two spring hinges 4 is 40mm; after the short sections on both sides are folded and put together from the center of the spring hinge 4 to the middle section, the total length becomes 280mm (240mm+20mm+20mm), which is less than the available height of the underwater cable compartment 1 of 300mm, and greater than the sum of the lengths of the short sections on both sides folded in half 260mm (110mm+20mm+110mm+20mm), and can be folded and installed without interference. The spring can be selected in the form of single spring, double spring, etc.

[0053] One end of the two lateral extension arms 3 is vertically connected to the middle section of the hydrophone rod 2 through a clamping joint structure, and the other end is installed on the outer circumferential surface of the underwater cable compartment 1 through a fixed-axis hinge 5 and a torsion spring. When unfolded, the axis of the hydrophone rod 2 is 93mm away from the axis of the underwater cable compartment 1 and 40mm away from the axis of the rotation axis of the fixed-axis hinge 5. The axis of the rotation axis of the fixed-axis hinge 5 is 5mm away from the outer circumferential surface of the underwater cable compartment 1, and the rotation range of the fixed-axis hinge 5 is limited by a limiting structure. The clamping joint structure avoids the acoustic element, and the circumferential length of the hydrophone rod protruding toward the center of the underwater cable compartment 1 does not exceed 5mm. The superelastic rod structure and the clamp diameter of the lateral extension arm 3 are both no more than 10mm. The superelastic rod can be selected in the form of a human-shaped rod or an N-shaped rod. The axis of the torsion spring overlaps with the axis of the rotation axis of the fixed-axis hinge 5, and its tension can cause the fixed-axis hinge 5 to rotate in the radial direction of the underwater cable compartment 1, with a maximum deflection of ≥120°.

[0054] After assembly, each group of hydrophone rods 2 is folded in half, and then the lateral expansion arm 3 is pressed to overcome the torsion spring force and self-elastic force of the fixed-axis hinge 5 and bend into an arc along the outer wall of the underwater cable bin 1, and the folded hydrophone rods 2 supported by it are close to the outer wall of the underwater cable bin 1. At this time, the circumference size of each group of structures on the circumference of the diameter of 106mm reaches the maximum, which is 40+1.5×10=55mm, which is less than the arc length of 55.5mm, which is one sixth of the circumference corresponding to the diameter. There is no interference between the groups. At the same time, the maximum diameter of the protrusion after folding along the circumference does not exceed 116.5mm, which is less than the inner diameter of the buoy outer cylinder of 120mm, and can be smoothly loaded into the buoy outer cylinder, or smoothly removed.

[0055] The cylindrical array designed according to the above has an acoustic diameter of 186mm and a height of 480mm, which is nearly double the size of the original SSQ-963D cylindrical array.

[0056] If a 5×4 or 4×4 expandable cylindrical array is used, the array diameter will be larger and the operating frequency can be lower, but the loss of array gain is not obvious.

[0057] 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. An underwater expandable cylindrical array of sonar buoys, characterized in that: It includes a plurality of array units consisting of hydrophone poles and lateral extension arms; The hydrophone rod is mounted on the lateral expansion arm; The lateral expansion arm is mounted on the outer cylindrical surface of the underwater cable bin of the sonar buoy and can be bent into an arc along the circumference of the outer wall of the underwater cable bin; When the underwater cable bin is sleeved in the buoy outer cylinder, the hydrophone rod and the lateral expansion arm are both limitedly folded in the space between the outer wall of the underwater cable bin and the inner wall of the buoy outer cylinder; When the underwater cable compartment leaves the outer cylinder of the buoy, the hydrophone rod and the lateral expansion arm are both unfolded based on elastic force.

2. The underwater expandable cylindrical array of sonar buoys according to claim 1, characterized in that: The hydrophone rod comprises an upper rod, a middle rod and a lower rod; The upper rod and the middle rod are foldable and have an elastic force for unfolding; The middle rod and the lower rod are foldable and have an elastic force for unfolding; The middle rod is fixedly connected to the lateral expansion arm.

3. The underwater expandable cylindrical array of sonar buoys according to claim 2, characterized in that: The upper rod and the middle rod are connected by a spring hinge; the middle rod and the lower rod are connected by a spring hinge.

4. The underwater expandable cylindrical array of sonar buoys according to claim 1, characterized in that: The hydrophone rod is in a straight strip shape in the unfolded state and is parallel to the axial direction of the underwater cable bin in the unfolded state.

5. The underwater expandable cylindrical array of sonar buoys according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the lateral expansion arm is deployed, it is perpendicular to the axial direction of the underwater cable bin, and the deployment direction is outward away from the outer cylindrical surface of the underwater cable bin.

6. The underwater expandable cylindrical array of sonar buoys according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lateral expansion arm is installed on the underwater cable bin based on a fixed-axis hinge.

7. The underwater expandable cylindrical array of sonar buoys according to claim 1, characterized in that: The number of the array units is four to six groups; and no less than four groups of sound pressure hydrophones are arranged in the hydrophone rod.

8. The underwater expandable cylindrical array of sonar buoys according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cylindrical array formed after the array units are unfolded has an acoustic diameter of not less than 180 mm and a height of not less than 450 mm.

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