[PSUBS-MAILIST] Sonar-related - help in translating German ultrasonics term into English

[Marc de Piolenc]

Greetings fellow submergence fiends!

I am hoping to tap the expertise of this group to solve a professional 
problem.

I earn most of my living as a technical translator, and am currently 
translating a patent application about an ultrasonic transducer. The 
application is flow measurement, not sonar, but I am hoping that, the 
technology being similar, the terminology will also be the same.
The problem I have encountered is with the German term Vorlaufkörper, in 
this context: "Die Ultraschallwandler bestehen normalerweise aus einem 
Piezoelement, auch kurz Piezo genannt, und einem Koppelelement, auch 
Koppelkeil oder seltener Vorlaufkörper genannt." As you can see, it is 
given as a rare synonym of the term "coupling element," which is 
described as the element that couples the ultrasonic emission of the 
piezoelectric element, with the lowest possible losses, into the space 
where the fluid flow is to be measured. The term does not appear in any 
of my technical dictionaries or in any online source that I have been 
able to consult, except a European patent application appearing online, 
by the same inventors and for a similar - possibly the same - invention, 
which translates the term as "lead body." Another patent in a similar 
field translates it as "leading body" in one place and "lead body" in 
another. This is suspicious on two grounds: one is that it is a literal 
translation of the German term, and the other is that the owner of this 
patent would not have commissioned a translation from my client if they 
had been fully satisfied with the existing one that I found.

Frustrated in the direct approach, I tried an inductive scheme that 
sometimes works, namely assuming an English gloss and translating it 
back into German to see if I get a "hit" on the original term. I tried 
"waveguide," "collimator" and other terms that I've forgotten, with no 
success.

So for the moment I've translated it "leading body," but set that term 
in red to flag it for the proofreader. I would be most grateful if 
anybody can steer me to a better one, as my reputation is going to 
suffer if I am forced to throw myself on the mercy of the proofreader or 
the ultimate client.

Best,
Marc de Piolenc

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