Damage location system for a tanker ship
First Claim
1. A damage location system, comprising:
- a ship;
a plurality of liquid cargo tanks incorporated in said ship;
at least one passive acoustic sensor mounted inside each one of said plurality of tanks;
means, in communication with said sensors, for recording acoustic signals detected by said sensors, said acoustic signals including normal ambient ship'"'"'s noise and impulsive shock wave signals due to an impact of said ship with an obstacle;
means for fixing the location on said ship of said impact by analyzing the first-arrival time difference of the impulsive shock wave signals detected by said sensors.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Hydrophones are installed in each tank of a liquid cargo tanker ship. In the unfortunate event that the tanker collides with an obstacle in the water, the hydrophones detect the shock wave due to the collision. The relative first arrival times of the shock wave at the respective hydrophones are measured and the arrival-time differences between two hydrophones of any two different selected pairs of hydrophones is calculated. Hyperbolic lines of constant time difference are projected on a map of the locations of the hydrophones on the ship. The intersection of the lines of position representing the calculated first arrival time differences marks the location of the impact of the ship with the obstacle.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. A damage location system, comprising:
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a ship; a plurality of liquid cargo tanks incorporated in said ship; at least one passive acoustic sensor mounted inside each one of said plurality of tanks; means, in communication with said sensors, for recording acoustic signals detected by said sensors, said acoustic signals including normal ambient ship'"'"'s noise and impulsive shock wave signals due to an impact of said ship with an obstacle; means for fixing the location on said ship of said impact by analyzing the first-arrival time difference of the impulsive shock wave signals detected by said sensors. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. In a ship having a plurality of liquid cargo tanks, a method for locating a point of impact due to collision with an object, comprising:
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mounting a hydrophone array in each one of said plurality of cargo tanks; detecting with said hydrophone arrays, average ambient noise transients and impulsive shock waves; measuring the relative times of first arrival of said impulsive shock waves at each said hydrophone; calculating the differences in the times of first arrival of the impulsive shock waves at the two hydrophones of any two selected pairs of hydrophones; from the calculated shock wave arrival time differences, defining two lines of constant shock wave first arrival time difference with respect to the two hydrophones corresponding to each said selected pair of hydrophones; and fixing the point of impact at the point of intersection of the two lines of constant shock wave arrival time difference. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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Specification