Communications – electrical: acoustic wave systems and devices – Echo systems – Distance or direction finding
Patent
1995-10-02
1997-10-07
Pihulic, Daniel T.
Communications, electrical: acoustic wave systems and devices
Echo systems
Distance or direction finding
367111, G01S 1596
Patent
active
056755520
ABSTRACT:
A sonar apparatus using a phased array technique for steering an acoustical beam for scanning an underwater area. The sonar apparatus includes a scanning transducer having multiple elements for transmitting and steering the acoustical beam and receiving its reflection from an object, an electronic control circuit for generating steering information and computing a relative location of the object, and an input/output section for displaying the relative location to a user. The control circuit includes a software level/align control for compensating for mis-leveling or mis-alignment during installation, a scan control capable of selecting a scan center direction and a scan width in one degree increments, a forward gain control for optimizing the sensitivity of the sonar apparatus in a forward looking scan, and a combination of a time variable gain control and an autorange control for minimizing the reflection of sidelobes of the acoustical beam.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3617996 (1971-11-01), Herbert
patent: 3740705 (1973-06-01), Lowrance
patent: 3886487 (1975-05-01), Walsh et al.
patent: 4001763 (1977-01-01), Kits Van Heyningen
patent: 4255797 (1981-03-01), Stocklin
patent: 4460987 (1984-07-01), Stokes et al.
patent: 4829492 (1989-05-01), Choi et al.
patent: 4841492 (1989-06-01), Russell
patent: 4920520 (1990-04-01), Gobel et al.
patent: 4935906 (1990-06-01), Baker et al.
patent: 5142502 (1992-08-01), Wilcox et al.
patent: 5142505 (1992-08-01), Peynaud
patent: 5168473 (1992-12-01), Parra
patent: 5184330 (1993-02-01), Adams et al.
patent: 5303204 (1994-04-01), Wertsberger
American Pioneer Dualscan scanning fish-finder sonar, American Pioneer, Seattle, Washington.
Ametak (Ketema) SeaProbe 1220 harbor intruder detection sonar, Ametek, 1988, El Cajon, California.
Eagle Ultra III 3D double-wide fish-finder, Lowrance Electronics, Inc., 1994, Catoosa, Oklahoma.
Furuno CSH-55 full-circle multi-beam color scanning sonar, Furuno Electric Co., Ltd., Nishinomiya City, Japan.
Incastec EchoPilot FLS-2 forward looking scanning sonar, Incastec Associates Ltd., Seattle, Washington.
MAQ Sonar Mini-MAQ multi-beam multi-frequency scanning sonar, MAQ Sonar Company, Lunenburg, Ontario, Canada.
Marconi-UDI Sona Vision 4000 scanning sonar, Offshore Engineer/Marconi, Sep. 1991 est.
Marine Electronics Marine Scan 1256 and 4512 precision multi-beam sonars, Marine Electronics Ltd, Guernsey, Channel Islands.
MarineStar AquaScan 1000 and AQ300LC scanning and downlooking sonar, MarineStar, Inc., 1990, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Odom Echoscan multi-beam echosounder, Odom Hydrographic Systems, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Reson Seabat 9001 multi-beam bathymetric sonar, Cindy Camillucci, Sep. 1994, Goleta, California.
Sea Beam 1180 shallow-water multi-beam survey sonar, SeaBeam Instruments, East Walpole, Massachusetts.
Simrad Mesotech 990/997 fast scan sonar, Simrad Mesotech Systems Ltd, Oct. 1991, Port Coquitlam, B.C., Canada.
TriScan Sona-Scan RS 1001 AM sonar, Tritech International Ltd, Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Wesmar TCS700E forward scanning trawl sonar, Wesmar, Seattle, Washington.
Bartz James Carl
Hicks Charles L.
Gildea David R.
Interphase Technologies Inc.
Pihulic Daniel T.
LandOfFree
Sonar apparatus having a steerable beam does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Sonar apparatus having a steerable beam, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Sonar apparatus having a steerable beam will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2362803