Nicole L Anderson

US Patent:

7936641, May 3, 2011

Filed:

May 12, 2008

Appl. No.:

12/152274

Inventors:

John Rapp - Manassas VA, US
Nicholas John Nagurny - Manassas VA, US
Robert J. Howard - Clifton VA, US
Jared Gilbert - Dale City VA, US
Eliot Goldstein - West Palm Beach FL, US
John Gornowich - Haymarket VA, US
Matthew Herbek - Gainesville VA, US
Nicole Anderson - Broad Run VA, US
Austin Lu - Fairfax VA, US
Jennifer Dolson - Oakton VA, US
Ariel Brown - Stockridge GA, US
Gordon Briggs - Arlington VA, US

Assignee:

Lockheed Martin Corporation - Bethesda MD

International Classification:

G10K 15/04

US Classification:

367145

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.