Transducer

A tunable electroacoustical transducer system adapted for broadcasting acoustical energy to and receiving acoustical energy from an aqueous environmental medium, comprising in combination:

• a plurality of piezoelectric posts, each of which has an active forward end face for broadcasting and receiving acoustical energy to and from the aforesaid aqueous environmental medium, each of which has a rearward end, each of which is spatially disposed from adjacent ones thereof, and all of which are disposed in a single row of predetermined configuration with predetermined successively decreasing lengths from one end of said row to the other;
• a piezoelectric spine, with the forward end thereof integrally connected to the rearward end of each of said piezoelectric posts;
• a pair of electrodes connected to predetermined surfaces of said plurality of piezoelectric posts and said piezoelectric spine for receiving electrical energy therefrom and supplying electrical energy thereto;
• a plastic support member having a slot therein within which said single row of piezoelectric posts, and piezoelectric spine, and said pair of electrodes are contained in such manner that the forward active end faces of said piezoelectric posts face outwardly therefrom and that said piezoelectric spine is located adjacent to but spatially disposed from the inner end of said slot;
• a predetermined backing-loading plate dispose in abutment with the rearward end of the aforesaid spine;
• a balsa wood frame disposed between the inside surface of the slot of said plastic support member and the outside of predetermined ones of those surfaces of said piezoelectric spine and posts consisting of the effectively inactive surfaces thereof, the rearward surface of said predetermined backing-loading plate, and the effective outside surfaces of said pair of electrodes;
• encasement means having a wall of predetermined geometrical configuration with an elongated aperture located therein, with said encasement means surrounding the aforesaid plastic support in such manner that the aforesaid aperture thereof is located adjacent to the active forward end faces of said plurality of piezoelectric posts;
• an acoustically clear plate means located within the end of and connected to said balsa wood frame in contiguous disposition with the active forward end faces of said plurality of piezoelectric posts for passing acoustical energy therethrough;
• means connected to said encasement means for the mounting thereof on a predetermined platform;
• a plurality of acoustically opaque shutters hinged to said encasement means in such manner that each one thereof may be rotated to effect the closure of predetermined portions of the aforesaid elongated aperture, thereby effectively inactivating predetermined ones of said single row of piezoelectric posts while permitting activation of the remaining ones thereof;
• means connected to said plurality of acoustically opaque shutters for effecting the rotation thereof in such manner as to cause the timely opening and closing of predetermined portions of the aforesaid elongated aperture in accordance with a predetermined program, so as to permit the playing of the aforesaid tunable electroacoustical transducer system in accordance with said predetermined program;
• and
• a sonar system connected to said pair of electrodes.