RU2475774C1 - Flexible extensive hydroacoustic antenna and method of its manufacturing - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: radio engineering, communication.SUBSTANCE: antenna comprises a central power element in the form of a cable, power and communication cables, sensitive elements and electronic units arranged on flexible circuit boards with a certain interval along the antenna, besides, each sensitive element is arranged in the form of a lengthy cable section with insulation from an elastic piezoelectric material, and each electronic unit is connected to the power supply cable and comprises the following serially joined components arranged on the flexible circuit board: a low noise amplifier, an analogue-to-digital converter and a unit of information preparation and transfer, besides, inputs of low noise amplifiers are connected with appropriate outputs of sensitive elements, and outputs of information preparation and transfer units are connected with a communication cable. The central power element is arranged in the form of a strong thread, a glass plastic or aramid plastic bar with a polymer coating, a circuit board with electronic units, sensitive elements, power supply and communication cables are combined into a combined device and are arranged in the form of a flat cable, and the hydroacoustic antenna as a whole is arranged in the form of a round cable.EFFECT: invention provides for reliability of antenna operation with multiple winding and unwinding and preservation of properties of sensitive elements.16 cl, 3 dwg

Description

The invention relates to the field of hydroacoustics, and in particular to hydroacoustic navigation systems for underwater vehicles, and can be used in the development of flexible towed systems in noise detection systems of surface ships and submarines.

Known flexible extended hydroacoustic digital cable antenna according to patent RU No. 2417383, IPC: G01S 7/52 for the invention "Flexible extended hydroacoustic digital cable antenna". It contains a power element in the form of a cable, power and communication cables, sensitive elements and electronic units located at a certain interval along the antenna, and each electronic unit is connected to the power cable and contains low-noise amplifier, an analog-to-digital converter, and a unit placed in series on the board preparing and transmitting information, while the inputs of low-noise amplifiers are connected to the corresponding outputs of the sensitive elements, and the outputs of the blocks for preparing and transmitting information with unified with the cable connection. A feature of the antenna is that it is equipped with cord elements in the form of round veins, the sensitive elements are made in the form of long cable lengths of elastic piezoelectric material, and the length of the cord elements and cable lengths of elastic piezoelectric material are equal to each other. Power and communication cables, cord elements, cables made of elastic piezoelectric material are made of the same diameter with the power element and twisted around its axis, electronic components are located in the intervals between the segments of the cord elements and the cable lengths of the elastic piezoelectric material, and all antenna elements are placed in the external sealing cable sheath.

The advantages of this system are as follows: the manufacture of sensitive elements in the form of a cable from an elastic piezoelectric material compared to piezoelectric devices makes it possible to make them more extended and reduce hydrodynamic noise by an order or more, increase resistance to mechanical stress, achieve a significantly smaller bending radius, and by arranging the boards with electronic units in the central parts of the antenna, make the antenna without protruding parts in the form of a single cable.

The antenna manufacturing technology is not described in detail in the description of the invention, however, it can be assumed that first, using a twisting device, a workpiece is made in the form of a twist of power and communication cables, cables with elastic piezoelectric material and cord elements around the power element, and then they are unwound and the boards are manually inserted with electronic units, making the necessary connections and impose an external sealing shell on the mounted core on the extrusion line.

Despite the fact that uniformity of the core along the length of the antenna is postulated, the incorporation of boards with electronic components into the core of the antenna manually does not guarantee the constancy of the diameter of the antenna when passing through a section with an integrated board with electronic blocks (the thickness of the shell in this place becomes more or less than the nominal ), the reliability of the design falls, which is a disadvantage.

Also known is a flexible extended hydroacoustic digital antenna according to the invention patent No. 2426146 dated June 4, 2010, IPC G01S 7/52.

It contains a power element such as a Kevlar cable, a power cable and a communication cable with insulation made of polymer material, sensitive elements in the form of pairs of identical piezoelectric elements with opposite polarization and electronic units located at a certain interval along the antenna, each electronic unit being connected to the power cable and contains a differential amplifier, an analog-to-digital converter, and a unit for preparing and transmitting information placed in series with the differential inputs nyh amplifiers coupled to respective outputs of the sensitive elements, and outputs the preparation and transmission units are connected with a cable connection. The difference is that the antenna is equipped with segments of cord elements placed along the axis in the form of two round cores, the power cable is located in the center of the antenna, the sensitive elements are made in the form of pairs of segments of two cables with a length equal to the length of the segments of the cord elements, power and communication cables are made each of the two twisted conductors, while the cord elements, power and communication cables, cables of the sensing elements are made of the same diameter with a power cable, are arranged uniformly around it and twisted around it axis, in the intervals between the segments of the cord elements and the cable segments of the sensing elements are the boards of the electronic units, and all the antenna elements are placed in an external cable sheath filled with a sealing electrical insulating material.

Compared with the design of the antenna according to the invention No. 2417383, the difference of this antenna consists in indicating the number of cord elements and sensitive elements (which characterizes it as a special case of the antenna according to the invention No. 2417383) and the presence of a new element - a filler from a sealing electrical insulating composition. The placeholder itself is an important distinguishing feature, but the technology for applying it described in the description is technically difficult. As follows from the description, cold mixture is applied to the twisted core elements, after which, when an external cable sheath is applied by extrusion, the rubber mixture (due to the high temperature of the sheath material) is heated to the liquid state with the transferred heat and fills the entire airspace of the antenna.

It is possible to apply the material into the air voids of the antenna (before the melt) only in powder form, as applied to talc. But it is extremely difficult to obtain a powder of rubber-like material (rubber is fed into the extruders of continuous vulcanization aggregates at cable plants in the form of cylindrical tapes or granules with a length of several millimeters). It is also difficult to melt it to a liquid state: the temperature of the shell polymer in the head, as a rule, is 160-200 ° C (for the most commonly used materials), which is the vulcanization temperature for rubber. Since the upper layers of rubber will be at a temperature higher than the lower ones, resulcanization of the upper layers will occur, which leads to destruction of the material.

At the same time, there is a serial technology for applying aggregate from unvulcanized, so-called “crude” rubber. It is applied by extrusion. But at the same time, the same technological complexity arises as in the manufacture of the antenna according to the invention No. 2417383, due to manual assembly, the spread in the dimensions of the antenna core increases.

The guiding element in the head of the extruder is a mandrel, the inner size of which is equal to the maximum value of the diameter of the workpiece (onto which the material is extruded) and which serves to ensure alignment in the final product. If the mandrel is overestimated (with a large spread), then the product will not be centered, which will lead to a decrease in reliability due to the uneven arrangement of the central elements at the time of bending during winding-unwinding and rupture of the surface elements (in this case: the surface layer of aggregate and shell).

As a prototype, we choose a hydroacoustic antenna according to the patent for invention RU No. 2417383 "Flexible long hydroacoustic digital cable antenna".

The essence of the invention lies in the fact that it offers a flexible long hydroacoustic antenna designed to operate in an unsteady mode, with increased reliability and a method for its manufacture.

The technical result is achieved by the fact that it offers a flexible long hydroacoustic antenna containing a power element in the form of a cable, a power cable and a communication cable, sensitive elements and electronic units located at a certain interval along the antenna, each sensitive element being made in the form of an extended length of cable with insulation from an elastic piezoelectric material, and each electronic unit is connected to a power cable and contains series-connected ma placed on a flexible board oshumyaschy amplifier, an analog-digital converter unit and preparing and transmitting information, wherein the low noise amplifiers inputs connected to respective outputs of the sensitive elements, and outputs the preparation and transmission units are connected with a cable connection. The antenna is characterized in that the central power element is made in the form of a strong filament or fiberglass or aramid-plastic rod with a polymer coating, interconnected in an extended combined circuit board device with electronic units, sensitive elements, power and communication cables are made in the form of a flat cable, and the antenna itself is made in the form of a round cable, in which the core is formed by a power element and wound on it in a spiral with a flat cable overlapping, and a polymer is laid on top of the core Moisture-proof sheath.

The central power element can be made of both polymer yarns, aramid or propylene, and inorganic, such as glass fibers, selected based on the tensile strength requirement. To improve the technology of winding a flat cable, the central power element can be made of fiberglass or aramid-plastic rod having longitudinal stiffness. The polymer coating on top of the thread or rod serves to localize the element (thread) and to ensure the optimum radius of the base when winding a flat cable having a certain minimum bending radius.

After connecting dissimilar elements into a flat cable (circuit boards with electronic units, sensitive elements, power and communication cables) with a protective sheath, the flat cable becomes a single integral structure. When a flat cable is wound on a power element, an antenna core is obtained with approximately equal length properties in each section. The uniformity of the stresses arising during tension is ensured by the power element, and the constancy of the diameter and roundness in each section ensures the structural homogeneity of the flat cable. The polymer moisture-protective coating imposed by the extrusion method protects the core from moisture and maintains the core stability obtained during winding during operation during stationary operation (with numerous windings and windings of the antenna onto the drum).

The absence of pronounced heterogeneities of the antenna along the length and the obstacle to the formation of such inhomogeneities with numerous windings and windings increase the reliability of the antenna design.

In order to ensure uniform construction of the flat cable, it is advisable to connect power elements, at least one sensitive element, power and communication cables to parallel flexible boards with electronic blocks periodically following each other. Moreover, to distribute the longitudinal load, the connected elements should be evenly distributed, the power elements should be located at the edges. To create a unity of design, it is advisable to impose a polymer sheath on the core of a flat cable.

In order to prevent an increase in the diameter of the antenna core at the place of overlap when winding a flat cable with an overlap on a power element of the antenna core, it is advisable to produce a polymer sheath of a flat cable with asymmetric protrusions at the edges.

In order to simplify the connection process and ensure uniform tension of linear elements (sensitive elements, power and communication cables, power elements), it is advisable to install two groups of connectors on the number of linear elements on each side of the boards. For power elements, the connector provides only mechanical fastening. Sensitive elements that are connected on one side only are mechanically attached to the other connector.

To ensure end-to-end continuity of the power and communication cables, it is advisable to lay strip lines between the input and output connectors of the power and communication cables on each board.

To fill the space of linear elements in the core of a flat cable, it is advisable to additionally lay the corps made of polymer, or polymer coated threads, or polymer coated metal wire. As a rule, all linear elements perform the same outer diameter.

The power cable is expediently made of two single-wire or multi-wire polymer insulated conductive conductors twisted together. In this case, one of the cores is phase, the other is zero. Mostly used multi-wire conductive core, providing a smaller bending radius. When a flat cable is wound on a power element with a large diameter, the conductive conductors of the power cable are single-wire. For a uniform distribution of tensile forces arising during the manufacturing process and during operation, insulated conductive wires are twisted together.

To align the external dimensions of the linear elements with each other on the power cable in the form of two twisted together insulated conductive cores, it is advisable to additionally impose a polymer sheath that performs a protective function in the process of manufacturing a flat cable.

It is advisable to make a communication cable in the form of two single-wire or multi-wire polymer insulated conductive wires twisted together. The use of two identical conductive cores allows you to create a symmetric communication system that provides the neutralization of common-mode noise. Mostly used multi-wire conductive core, providing a smaller bending radius. When a flat cable is wound on a power element with a large diameter, the conductive conductors of the communication cable are single-wire. For a uniform distribution of tensile forces arising during the manufacturing process and during operation, insulated conductive wires are twisted together. In addition, in communication cables, twisting is a protection against electromagnetic influences.

If the twisting of the wires between each other is not sufficient protection against the electromagnetic field of the power cable, then it is advisable to additionally impose an electric screen on the twisted wires of the communication cable.

To align the external dimensions of the linear elements with each other on the communication cable in the form of two insulated conductive wires twisted together (including with a screen), it is advisable to additionally impose a polymer sheath that performs a protective function in the process of manufacturing a flat cable.

In order to ensure the compactness of the antenna, it is advisable to transmit power and information signals through one cable from two isolated conductive cores, for which splitters should be installed on each board before entering the cable and at its output, separating information signals and the power component of the power supply.

To increase structural homogeneity while transmitting information signals and power over a single cable, it is advisable to make the cable symmetrical coaxial, having the same electrical resistance to direct current of the internal and external conductors.

The moisture-proof sheath of the antenna in the form of a round cable and the sheath of a flat cable is advisable to be made of thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer, which has sufficient elasticity with the necessary moisture resistance.

One of the effective ways to increase reliability is to completely eliminate manual labor in the manufacture of serial products or to shift the use of manual labor to the initial (most simple) or preparatory stages.

In the invention according to patent RU No. 2417383, linear elements are first twisted together (power and communication cables, sensitive elements made in the form of cables, cordes are twisted around a power element), and then boards with electronic blocks are manually inserted into the resulting core. Similarly, the antenna is made according to the patent for the invention RU No. 2426146 with the additional operation of applying a filler to the formed core.

In the present invention, the antenna is manufactured entirely using serial technologies: around the power element on the winding machine, a flat cable is laid in a spiral winding, thus obtaining the core of the antenna, made in the form of a round cable, a moisture-proof sheath is applied to the antenna on the extrusion line. The polymer sheath on the flat cable is also imposed on the extrusion line, and only the combined device, which is the core of the flat cable, is assembled manually on the cutting table using rewind devices for returning linear elements (power and communication cables, sensitive elements made in the form of cables, cordels, power elements in the form of strong threads or fiberglass, or aramid-plastic rod) and receiving the finished combined device on the drum for the purpose of mechanization of manual labor. Thus, manual labor in the present invention is reduced only to stripping the cables from insulation of conductive wires and fixing them in connectors. Moreover, when using single-wire conductive cores, it is possible to use knife connectors that provide contact with the metal of the core by cutting through the insulation, which eliminates the need for stripping.

The method of applying a polymer sheath to a flat cable is somewhat different from the traditional one, due to the lack of continuous longitudinal stiffness in the combined device. Along its length, especially at the points of attachment of linear elements with electronic circuit boards, the appearance of torques is possible, which can lead to a break in the combined device at the entrance to the extruder mandrel. To prevent this from happening, a group of pressure rollers is placed in front of the entrance to the mandrel, ensuring horizontal direction of the combined device or caterpillar system, and the entrance to the mandrel is made with a slight bell.

The invention is illustrated by specific examples presented in the drawings:

- Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of a combined device, which is the core of a flat cable;

- Figure 2 is a schematic illustration of a segment of the antenna, made in the form of a round cable passing on the plot of linear elements in a flat cable;

- Figure 3 - guide system of the part of the extrusion head with a mandrel and a block of guide rollers.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 shows a combined device 1, which is the core of a flat cable, consisting of series-connected boards with electronic units 2 through connectors 3 with linear elements, including two power elements 4 from polymer coated strong threads, a power cable 5, a sensing element 6 and communication cable 7.

The flexible long hydroacoustic antenna 8 shown in the drawing of FIG. 2 consists of a power element 9 made of a strong thread, a fiberglass or aramid-plastic rod with a polymer coating 10, wrapped around it by a spiral winding with the overlapping of a flat cable 11, including two power elements 4 from polymer-coated strong threads, a power cable 5, a sensing element 6 and a communication cable 7, and a polymer moisture-proof sheath 12.

The guiding system shown in the drawing of FIG. 3, consisting of a part of the extrusion head (conventionally shown) 13 with a mandrel 14 having an inlet 15 at the inlet and guide rollers 16. The arrow shows the direction of movement of the combined device, which is the core of the flat cable. The rollers 16 give the moving combined device a horizontal direction of movement (the flat part of the combined device should be parallel to the horizontal plane). Possible minor deviations from the horizontal will straighten the inlet of the mandrel, made in the form of a bell 15.

The manufacturing technology of a flexible long hydroacoustic antenna 8 according to the claimed invention includes the following operations.

1. Linear elements

Conducting cores of power cables 5 and communication 7 are mainly made of soft copper or tinned copper single-wire or multi-wire.

Copper wires for conductive conductors are made of copper wire "wire rod", usually with a diameter of 8 mm by drawing. Depending on the diameter of the finished wire, the following operations can be used: coarse and medium drawing or coarse, medium and fine drawing.

To ensure softness, the wire is annealed in special annealing furnaces or in a passage for drawing operations. Annealing is not required to obtain tinned wires. Tinning is done hot, making the wire soft.

Multiwire conductive strands are twisted from the required number of wires on twisting machines of cigar, frame or lantern type.

Strong yarns or fiberglass or aramid-plastic rods and sensitive elements 6 are bought ready-made.

Polymeric insulation on conductive conductors of power cables 5 and connection 7 and coatings of strong threads is applied on extrusion lines.

Twisting of isolated conductive conductors of power and communication cables is usually carried out on twisting machines of a frame type.

The screen on the conductive cores of the communication cable 7 can be applied in the form of a braid or winding from round copper wires, in the form of a metal-polymer tape with metal inward, laid longitudinally or winding in a spiral, with a tinned copper drainage conductor beneath it, or combined in the form of a braid or winding with metal-polymer tape laid under it with metal up.

An electric shield in the form of a braid or winding is superimposed on braiding or winding machines. Pre-possible cane (combining) of wires in bundles on reed machines.

An electric screen made of metal-polymer tape is applied in a spiral winding with overlapping on winding machines or longitudinally with overlapping polymer coating operations. The screen is superimposed with metal inward, and a longitudinally tinned copper tinned drainage core is allowed under it. It is possible to longitudinally apply a screen made of metal-polymer tape with metal inward with a tinned copper drainage conductor while simultaneously applying a polymer sheath.

In the manufacture of a combined electric screen, the metal-polymer tape is allowed to run longitudinally with a metal layer overlapping upwards under the braid or winding on a braid or winding machine, respectively.

The sheath of the power cables 5 and communication 7 is applied on the extrusion lines.

2. Flat cable

The assembly of the combined device, which is the core of the flat cable 11, is carried out on a special installation, which includes the giving drum devices with caterpillar traction for each device, cutting table and receiving drum device with a pickup.

The first board with electronic blocks is fixed on the cutting table, two short additional power elements are connected from the input side, they are passed through the spreader and fixed on the receiving drum. Linear elements are drawn through caterpillar traction devices and served on a cutting table. Connect linear elements to the board connectors on the output side.

The rotation of the receiving drum is synchronized with the feed speed of the linear elements by caterpillar traction devices and the rotation of the drums with linear elements on the delivery devices. Giving devices can be flyer type.

After winding the required length of the linear elements, the movement is stopped, the linear elements are chopped off and a new circuit board with electronic blocks is installed. Then connect the linear elements from the input and output sides. Next, rewind and everything is repeated.

The application of the polymer sheath on the flat cable 11 is carried out according to standard technology on an extrusion line.

3. Flexible long sonar antenna

The core of the antenna 8, made in the form of a round cable, is made by winding the central power element with a polymer coating with a flat cable with an overlap on the tape machine.

A polymer moisture-proof sheath is applied to the finished core on the extrusion line.

The input end of the antenna is sealed.

A flexible long hydroacoustic antenna 8 was made with a length of 100 m. Antenna 8 was tested for winding-winding in the amount of 1000 cycles.

A visual inspection of the surface of the antenna 8 was made without the use of magnifying devices. The presence of cracks, dents, bulges and other inhomogeneities after testing was not detected. Power cables 5 and communication 7 were tested with a voltage of 1 kV applied between conductive cores. The test cables have passed.

The test results of the manufactured sample flexible extended hydroacoustic antenna 8 confirm the achievement of the technical result.

Claims (16)

1. A flexible long hydroacoustic antenna containing a central power element in the form of a cable, a power cable and a communication cable, sensing elements and electronic units located on boards with a certain interval along the antenna, each sensitive element being made in the form of an extended length of cable with elastic insulation piezoelectric material, and each electronic unit is connected to a power cable, each flexible board contains a low-noise amplifier connected in series, an analog-to-digital pre the browser and the information preparation and transmission unit, while the inputs of low-noise amplifiers are connected to the corresponding outputs of the sensitive elements, and the outputs of the information preparation and transmission units are connected to the communication cable, characterized in that the central power element is made in the form of a strong thread or fiberglass or aramid-plastic rod with a polymer coating integrated into a combination device boards with electronic units, sensitive elements, power and communication cables are made in the form of a flat cable, and the hydroacoustic antenna is made in the form of a round cable, in which the core is formed by a power element and wound on it in a spiral with a flat cable overlapping, and a polymer moisture-proof sheath is applied over the core. 2. The antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that the flat cable located in the core is made in the form of a combined device of alternating circuit boards with electronic units and sets of linear elements, which include additional power elements in the form of strong threads, at least one sensing element, power and communication cables, with additional power elements located along the edges of a flat cable protected by a polymer sheath. 3. The antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that the flat cable lying at the core of the core is made with antisymmetric protrusions along the edges of the polymer sheath, in order to prevent an increase in core diameter when applying a flat cable with a spiral winding with overlapping. 4. The antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that the circuit boards with electronic units have two groups of flat connectors for connecting the previous and subsequent linear elements. 5. The antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that the circuit boards with electronic units have two pairs of strip lines to ensure end-to-end continuity of the power and communication cables. 6. The antenna according to claim 2, characterized in that the number of linear elements additionally includes a cord made of polymer, or polymer coated threads, or a polymer coated metal wire. 7. The antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that the power cable is made in the form of two single-wire or multi-wire polymer insulated conductive conductors twisted together. 8. The antenna according to claim 7, characterized in that the protective polymer sheath is additionally superimposed on the power cable. 9. The antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that the communication cable is made in the form of two single-wire or multi-wire polymer insulated conductive conductors twisted together. 10. The antenna according to claim 9, characterized in that the communication cable additionally has an electric screen. 11. The antenna according to claim 9, characterized in that the communication cable additionally has a protective polymer sheath. 12. The antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that the power and information signals are transmitted over a single cable, which is both a power and communication cable. 13. The antenna according to item 12, wherein the power and communication cable is made of a symmetrical coaxial cable having the same electrical resistance to direct current of the internal and external conductors. 14. The antenna according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the moisture-proof sheath and the sheath of the flat cable are made of thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer. 15. A method of manufacturing a flexible long hydroacoustic antenna, which consists in the manufacture of sensitive elements, power and communication cables, cordels, twisting them around the central power element, embedding flexible boards in the central part of the antenna with the necessary connections of the sensitive elements and cables to elementary units and applying a moisture barrier shells, characterized in that the operation of connecting the sensing elements, power and communication cables, cordels, as well as additional power elements to connectors placed on flexible boards of electronic components are produced in a horizontal plane, followed by winding the manufactured combined device onto a drum, a polymer sheath is applied to the combined device by extrusion under pressure and a flat cable is obtained, a flat cable is wrapped in a spiral winding onto the central power element and receive the antenna core, and then a moisture-proof polymer shell is applied to the antenna core by extrusion. 16. The method according to p. 15, characterized in that for horizontal input of the combined device into the extruder mandrel in the manufacture of a flat cable, the inlet of the mandrel is made in the form of a socket, and the group of spring-loaded rollers installed in front of the mandrel entrance provides horizontal delivery.

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