Engine and technique for generating an acoustic signal

US7936641B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Lockheed Martin Corporation · US

Inventors

• John W. Rapp · Manassas, US
• Nicholas J. Nagurny · Manassas, US
• Robert J. Howard · Clifton, US
• Jared D. Gilbert · Dale City, US
• Eliot Goldstein · Fairfax, US
• John Gornowich · Haymarket, US
• Matthew Herbek · Gainesville, US
• Nicole Anderson · Bristow, US
• Austin Qingfeng Lu · Fairfax, US
• Jennifer Dolson · Menlo Park, US
• Ariel Brown · Stockbridge, US
• Gordon Allen Briggs · Arlington, US

Key dates

• Filing date: May 12, 2008
• Grant date: May 3, 2011
• Expiry date: Jun 26, 2029

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01V1/133
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

An embodiment of a device for generating an acoustic signal in a fluid includes an engine operable to repeat a thermodynamic process to vibrate a membrane of the engine to generate an acoustic signal having more than one period. The thermodynamic process includes heating mass inside a chamber of an engine to generate pressure inside the chamber; in response to generating the pressure, moving in a first direction a portion of a membrane of the engine; removing mass from inside the chamber to decrease the pressure inside the chamber; and in response to decreasing the pressure inside the chamber, moving the membrane portion in a second direction. In an embodiment, because the engine repeats the thermodynamic process, the engine can generate and sustain an acoustic signal for a significant amount of time.