	US 12,228,691 B2
	Generator of acoustic waves
Davide Calcagni, San Donato Milanese (IT); Antonio Carcaterra, Tarquinia (IT); Vincenzo Milluzzo, San Donato Milanese (IT); and Simone Baudo, San Donato Milanese (IT)
Assigned to ENI S.P.A., Rome (IT)
Appl. No. 17/778,603
Filed by ENI S.P.A., Rome (IT)
PCT Filed Nov. 20, 2020, PCT No. PCT/IB2020/060977 § 371(c)(1), (2) Date May 20, 2022, PCT Pub. No. WO2021/100015, PCT Pub. Date May 27, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 102019000021810 (IT), filed on Nov. 21, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2023/0028192 A1, Jan. 26, 2023
Int. Cl. G01V 1/133 (2006.01); G01V 1/00 (2024.01); G01V 1/143 (2006.01)

CPC G01V 1/133 (2013.01) [G01V 1/143 (2013.01); G01V 1/001 (2013.01)]

19 Claims

1. A generator of acoustic waves for submarine applications, the generator comprising:

a hollow body that extends along an axis between a first closed end and a second end that is provided with an acoustic diffuser member,

wherein the hollow body has a first cylindrical portion delimited by the first end that houses a first piston and a second cylindrical portion delimited by the said second end that houses a second piston in a freely axially sliding manner,

wherein the said second piston is mechanically free from the first piston and has a face that faces the acoustic diffuser member;

an impulsive actuating means configured together with the first piston to move the first piston towards the second piston;

means for adjusting a longitudinal motion of the second piston arranged between the first piston and the second piston, and

a control unit electronically connected to the adjustment means, wherein the adjustment means comprise a rod that rigidly connects a third piston to the second piston and a modulating means or modulating the pressure acting on the second piston, wherein the modulating means has distributed parameters that are electronically controlled and arranged along the hollow body upstream and downstream of the third piston,

wherein the adjustment means is provided with the third piston that is movable along the first cylindrical portion and the second cylindrical portion, and

wherein the third piston forms a first isolated air chamber between the first piston and the third piston and a second isolated air chamber between the third piston and the second piston.

12. A method for generating acoustic waves in submarine environments by a first piston housed inside a hollow body that extends longitudinally along an axis between a first closed end and a second end that has a diffuser member, wherein the hollow body has a first cylindrical portion delimited by the first end that houses the first piston and a second cylindrical portion delimited by the second end that houses a second piston in a freely axially sliding manner, wherein the second piston is mechanically free from the first piston and has a face that faces the diffuser member (1020), and an impulsive actuating means associated with the first piston to move the first piston towards the second piston, the method comprising:

longitudinally moving the first piston toward the second piston with the actuating means;

conditioning a longitudinal motion of the second piston to and from the first piston with an adjustment means interposed between the first piston and the second piston, wherein the adjustment means comprises a rod that rigidly connects a third piston to the second piston and a modulating means or modulating the pressure acting on the second piston, wherein the modulating means has distributed parameters that are electronically controlled with a control unit and arranged along the hollow body upstream and downstream of the third piston,

wherein the third piston is arranged between the first piston and the second piston to isolate a first air chamber and a second air chamber that are placed in series inside the hollow body.