US Patent 11880006 Line array winding and deployment system

A packed sensor line array system includes sensors mounted outboard of cable packs wrapped around a central mandrel. The system may have multiple rows (layers) of the sensors and cable packs, surrounded by a cannister. Cable retainers may be used to retain cable ends near sensors, to keep the cable ends out of the way of subsequent winding operations. The winding may be done in situ, with the mandrel mounted to a rotatable chuck that is rotated to wind the individual cable packs sequentially around the mandrel, with positioning of the sensors outboard of the windings occurring between the winding operations. A positionable indexing tool may be coupled to and moved along the mandrel, to define a space along the mandrel for each cable pack winding.