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Abstract

A cable wiper assembly for airborne sonar includes a housing suspended from a hoist used to rapidly raise and lower a sonar transducer at the end of a cable. The wiper assembly is interposed ahead of the cable-directing sheaves forming part of the hoist to strip away the sea water which adheres to the cable as it is pulled from the ocean. The cable wiper housing includes a series of internal grooves each of which contains and secures one wiper stage. Each stage includes a washer-like wiper of elastomeric material whose internal diameter is just slightly smaller than the cable diameter carried in a shallow cup-shaped holder having an internal port significantly larger than the cable diameter and secured by means of an upper washer-member overlying the wiper whose internal diameter is slightly larger than the diameter of the cable. The outside diameter of the wiper is somewhat less than the diameter of the internal chamber of the cup-shaped member to permit some lateral movement of the wiper within the assembly to permit the wiper to follow some lateral movement of the cable. Additional internal grooves in the housing above and below the wiper stages secure metal cable guides which minimize the magnitude of the cable lateral movement through the wipers. The housing includes radial ports spaced between the stages for discharging water away from the wiper stages.

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First Claim