Tracking the Positional Relationship Between a Boring Tool and One or More Buried Lines using a Composite Magnetic Signal
First Claim
1. In a system in which a boring tool moves through the ground in a region which includes a static magnetic field such that the boring tool is exposed to the static magnetic field and which region includes at least one electrically conductive in-ground line, an apparatus comprising:
- a transmitter for generating a time varying magnetic signal from an underground length of said line;
a receiver carried by said boring tool for detecting a composite magnetic signal having (i) a static portion that is responsive to said static magnetic field and (ii) a time varying portion that is responsive to said time varying magnetic signal; and
a processing arrangement that is configured for using certain information that is determinative of an instantaneous orientation of the boring tool for filtering the composite magnetic signal to obtain a first component relating to the static magnetic field and a second component relating to the time varying magnetic signal and using the first, static magnetic field component to determine a heading of the boring tool and using the second, time varying magnetic component to determine a proximity of the boring tool to the line.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A boring tool is moved through the ground in a region which includes at least one electrically conductive in-ground line and which is subject to static magnetic fields including the magnetic field of the earth. Tracking a positional relationship between the boring tool and the line, as well as a directional heading of the boring tool within the region are provided by: (i) generating a time varying magnetic field from the line; (ii) at the boring tool, detecting a composite magnetic signal which includes one component affected by the static magnetic fields and another component affected by the time varying magnetic field such that the static magnetic field component varies as a function of the directional heading and the time varying component varies as a function of the positional relationship; and (iii) processing the composite magnetic signal to separate the static magnetic field component and the time varying magnetic field component from the composite magnetic signal for use in determining the directional heading and the positional relationship. In one feature, the static magnetic field component is used to determine the directional heading of the boring tool and the time varying magnetic field component is used to determine the positional relationship.
17 Citations
18 Claims
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1. In a system in which a boring tool moves through the ground in a region which includes a static magnetic field such that the boring tool is exposed to the static magnetic field and which region includes at least one electrically conductive in-ground line, an apparatus comprising:
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a transmitter for generating a time varying magnetic signal from an underground length of said line;
a receiver carried by said boring tool for detecting a composite magnetic signal having (i) a static portion that is responsive to said static magnetic field and (ii) a time varying portion that is responsive to said time varying magnetic signal; and
a processing arrangement that is configured for using certain information that is determinative of an instantaneous orientation of the boring tool for filtering the composite magnetic signal to obtain a first component relating to the static magnetic field and a second component relating to the time varying magnetic signal and using the first, static magnetic field component to determine a heading of the boring tool and using the second, time varying magnetic component to determine a proximity of the boring tool to the line. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. In a system in which a boring tool moves through the ground in a region which includes a static magnetic field such that the boring tool is exposed to the static magnetic field and which region includes at least one electrically conductive in-ground line, a method comprising:
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arranging a transmitter for generating a time varying magnetic signal from an underground length of said line;
positioning a receiver in said boring tool;
using said receiver, detecting a composite magnetic signal having (i) a static portion that is responsive to said static magnetic field and (ii) a time varying portion that is responsive to said time varying magnetic signal; and
configuring a processing arrangement for using certain information that is determinative of an instantaneous orientation of the boring tool for filtering the composite magnetic signal to obtain a first component relating to the static magnetic field and a second component relating to the time varying magnetic signal and using the first, static magnetic field component to determine a heading of the boring tool and using the second, time varying magnetic component to determine a proximity of the boring tool to the line. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification