Patent ID: 8750075

Claim:
An acoustic transceiver assembly comprising: a housing having at least one inner wall defining a cavity, the housing having a first end and a second end defining an axis of the acoustic transceiver assembly; an oscillator provided in the cavity, the oscillator comprising: a transducer element, and a backing mass acoustically coupled to the transducer element, wherein the backing mass includes a first end and a second end, and a bore extending there between; at least one membrane within the cavity extending outward beyond the backing mass to support at least the backing mass within the cavity, the at least one membrane being flexible in an axial direction parallel to the axis of the acoustic transceiver assembly to permit the backing mass to oscillate in the axial direction, and rigid in a transverse direction to restrict lateral movement of the backing mass relative to the housing and wherein the at least one membrane includes a first end and a second end, and one or more alignment members extending from the first end of the at least one membrane and disposed in the bore of the backing mass to align the backing mass with the at least one membrane; and a rod extending into the transducer element and the backing mass to connect the transducer element and the backing mass together; and wherein the rod extending into the transducer element forms a preloading spring providing a bias to the transducer element.