JPH0448071Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field] The present invention relates to an ultrasonic transducer including a vibrator for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, and a horn disposed in front of the vibrator.

[Background Art] Conventionally, as an ultrasonic transducer 11, as shown in FIG. 2, a horn 15 is used, in which a vibrator 14 for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves is attached to a holder 13, and a horn 15 is provided continuously and integrally with a housing mounting portion 12. A configuration is provided in which the holder 13 is fixed to the housing mounting portion 12 so that the vibrator 14 is aligned with the position of the vibrator 14.
The terminal 16 of the vibrator 14 is connected to the horn 1 from the holder 13.
It protrudes on the opposite side from 5. The holder 13 is made of rubber, felt, or the like, and surrounds the vibrator 14 to hold the vibrator 14 and prevent reverberation and sound waves from going around. Further, the horn 15 determines the shape of the ultrasonic beam to be transmitted, and
It has a function of converging the received ultrasonic waves on the vibrator 14.

By the way, in this type of ultrasonic transducer 11,
It is necessary to accurately align the positions of the vibrator 14 and the horn 15. If the positions of the transducer 14 and the horn 15 are misaligned, variations will occur in the directivity, and the transducer 14 and the horn 15 will not match, causing reverberation after transmitting ultrasonic waves. It takes longer. When configuring a device that detects objects by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, and when the ultrasonic transducer 11 is also used for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, if the reverberation time after transmitting the ultrasonic waves is long, the transmitted wave It becomes necessary to take a long time before transitioning to the wave receiving operation, and as a result, a problem arises in that objects at a short distance cannot be detected.

However, in the above conventional configuration, the vibrator 14
Since the holder 13 holding the oscillator 13 is fixed to the housing mounting part 12 equipped with the horn 15, it is difficult to accurately align the positional relationship between the vibrator 14 and the horn 15, and the position may vary depending on the product. The problem is that variations in the relationship tend to occur.

[Purpose of the invention] The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and is intended to prevent variations in the positional relationship between the vibrator and the horn, suppress variations in directivity, and increase the reverberation time. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic transducer that prevents this from occurring.

[Disclosure of the invention] The ultrasonic transducer according to the invention includes a vibrator for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, and a cylindrical shape made of an elastic material with at least one end open, and a diaphragm of the vibrator on the open face. It is equipped with a holder that holds the vibrator in opposition, and a horn is formed continuously and integrally with the holder at a portion between the opening surface of the holder and the diaphragm of the vibrator, and holds the vibrator. By forming the horn continuously and integrally on the holder, variations in the positional relationship between the vibrator and the horn are prevented, and variations in directivity are suppressed, and the reverberation time is reduced by aligning the vibrator and the horn. This prevents it from getting too long.

Embodiment FIG. 1 shows a side sectional view of an embodiment of the ultrasonic transducer 1 of the present invention. The ultrasonic transducer 1 is constructed by attaching a holder 3 that holds a vibrator 4 that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves to a cylindrical portion 21 provided in a housing attachment portion 2 . The vibrator 4 is a diaphragm 4 that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves.
1 on one side, and a terminal 42 on the other side. The holder 3 is formed of an elastic material such as silicone rubber into a cylindrical shape with both ends open. At one axial end of the holder 3, there is a tapered horn 3 whose diameter increases from the axial center of the holder 3 toward the opening surface.
1 is formed, and a cavity 32 having a substantially constant inner diameter is formed at the other end in the axial direction of the holding body 3. The horn 31 and the cavity 32 communicate through an opening 33 formed in an end 34 of the horn 31 on the small diameter side. In short, the horn 31 is formed in a continuous tapered shape at one end of the cavity 32.

A groove-shaped recess 35 is formed in the inner circumferential surface of the cavity 32 . To fix the vibrator 4 to the holder 3, the circumference of the vibrator 4 is fitted into the recess 35 while expanding the diameter of the cavity 32 using the elasticity of the holder 3. Since the circumference of the vibrator 4 is press-fitted into the recess 35 provided in the holder 3 in this way, the vibrator 4 is inserted into the holder 3.
This allows for accurate positioning and fixation. The diaphragm 41 of the vibrator 4 is connected to the cavity 3
The horn 31 is disposed so as to face the small-diameter end 34 of the horn 31, which is one opening of the horn 31. Further, the terminal 42 of the vibrator 4 protrudes from the other opening of the cavity 32. Holder 3 with vibrator 4 attached in this way
the cylindrical part 21 of the housing mounting part 2 so that the opening surface of the horn 31 faces the outside of the housing mounting part 2.
be installed inside.

The operation will be explained below. When an electric signal for wave transmission is input to the terminal 42 of the vibrator 4, the vibrator 4 converts the electric signal into an ultrasonic wave. Horn 31 for ultrasonic waves
A beam is formed and transmitted by the action of Further, the ultrasonic waves incident on the horn 31 are converged by the horn 31 and vibrate the diaphragm 41 of the vibrator 4. After being received by the vibrator 4 and converted into an electrical signal, the ultrasonic wave is passed through the terminal 42 to the external Output to the circuit.

As described above, since the horn 31 is formed continuously and integrally with the holder 3 that holds the vibrator 4 in a fixed position, the positional relationship between the vibrator 4 and the horn 31 is uniquely determined. It turns out. Therefore, the positional relationship between the vibrator 4 and the horn 31 does not vary, and variations in the directivity of transmitted and received waves can be prevented. In addition, the horn and the holder 3, which tend to occur in the conventional configuration where the horn is separate from the holder 3,
This eliminates the occurrence of misalignment between the two and reduces the reverberation time, which tends to be longer due to misalignment, thereby improving quality.

[Effects of the invention] As described above, in the present invention, since the horn is formed continuously and integrally with the holder at a portion between the opening surface of the holder and the diaphragm of the vibrator, the connection between the vibrator and the horn is reduced. This has the effect of being able to prevent variations in positional relationship. In other words, variations in directivity are suppressed, resulting in stable quality, and the transducer and horn are matched, which prevents the reverberation time from becoming long after transmitting ultrasonic waves, improving quality. It has advantages.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a side sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention;
The figure is a side sectional view showing a conventional example. 1 is an ultrasonic transducer, 3 is a holder, 4 is a vibrator, and 31 is a horn.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A holder comprising a vibrator for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, and a holder formed of an elastic material into a cylindrical shape with at least one end open, and holding the oscillator with a diaphragm of the oscillator facing the opening. An ultrasonic transducer comprising a horn formed continuously and integrally with a holder at a portion between the opening surface of the oscillator and the diaphragm of the oscillator.