A Novel Continuous Variable Transmission for Underwater Towed Array Sonar Winching System

Winching system for underwater Towed Array Sonar is very important as they provide numerous tactical advantages to the user. The winching system consists of a drum and a guiding system to guide the array in proper winding on the drum. Two types of designs are common. In the first design the drum and guiding system are driven by independent motors. This design provides more flexibility but is complex to implement. In the second design which is the most common because of its simplicity, the drum and guiding system are connected through a gearing system having a fix gear ratio and are driven by a single motor. Although systems with fix gear ratio are simple but they cannot adapt to minor variations generally found in diameter of the towed array. Moreover, they cannot be used for winding towed arrays in which the acoustic module has a larger diameter then the rest of the array. The present paper solves the aforementioned problems by proposing a novel Continuous Variable Transmission(Cvt)which can replace the fix gear ratio system with a variable gear ratio system. 3D Mod el of the new CVT along with geometrical analysis has been given. It is pertinent to mention that unlike the commercially available CVTs, the new CVT can achieve negative gear ratios without the use of clutches and epicyclic gears. Moreover, the new CVT has two traction points for better torque transmission. The new CVT in addition to solving the aforementioned problem, is also suitable for Vehicles and Robotics applications.