Boat trim control and monitor system
First Claim
1. A boat trim control system that includes a boat having a hull, sensor means for mounting on said hull to provide electrical sensor signal as a function of actual boat attitude, and means coupled to said sensor means and responsive to said sensor signal for determining attitude of said boat hull, characterized in that said sensor means comprises:
- a housing containing a dielectric fluid, and means for mounting said housing to said boat hull,a plurality of capacitance probe means positioned within said housing in a planar parallel array of diagonally spaced pairs, each of said capacitance probe means comprising a pair of spaced electrodes immersed in said fluid that such level of fluid between said electrodes and electrical capacitance between said electrodes vary as a function of attitude of said housing and said hull, andmeans coupled to said electrodes and responsive to variation in electrical capacitance between said electrodes for determining attitude of said housing as a function of relative capacitance among said plurality of capacitance probe means.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A boat trim control system that includes a boat having a bull and means such as trim tabs mounted to the hull for trimming attitude of the boat as the bull is propelled through the water. The system includes facility for selectively adjusting the trim tabs to maintain a desired boat attitude under varying load and sea conditions. A sensor is mounted on the boat hull to provide an electrical sensor signal as a function of boat attitude, and is connected to electronic control circuitry responsive to the sensor signal for determining attitude of the boat bull. This electronic control circuitry further includes facility for operator setting of a desired boat attitude. The electronic control circuitry is coupled to an operator display for indicating departure of actual boat attitude indicated by the sensor from the boat attitude desired by the operator, and/or to automatic control circuitry for automatically varying trim tab orientation with respect to the boat bull so as to maintain the boat attitude desired by the operator.
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Citations
53 Claims
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1. A boat trim control system that includes a boat having a hull, sensor means for mounting on said hull to provide electrical sensor signal as a function of actual boat attitude, and means coupled to said sensor means and responsive to said sensor signal for determining attitude of said boat hull, characterized in that said sensor means comprises:
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a housing containing a dielectric fluid, and means for mounting said housing to said boat hull, a plurality of capacitance probe means positioned within said housing in a planar parallel array of diagonally spaced pairs, each of said capacitance probe means comprising a pair of spaced electrodes immersed in said fluid that such level of fluid between said electrodes and electrical capacitance between said electrodes vary as a function of attitude of said housing and said hull, and means coupled to said electrodes and responsive to variation in electrical capacitance between said electrodes for determining attitude of said housing as a function of relative capacitance among said plurality of capacitance probe means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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- 25. A boat trim control system that includes a boat having a hull, sensor means for mounting on said hull to provide an electrical sensor signal as a function of actual boat attitude, means coupled to said sensor means and responsive to said sensor signal for determining actual boat attitude, and means coupled to said attitude-determining means for displaying said actual boat attitude to an operator, said attitude-displaying means comprising a display screen, means for displaying an icon on said screen, means coupled to said attitude-determining means for movably orienting said icon on said screen as a function of actual boat attitude, means responsive to an operator for setting said icon in a first orientation on said screen associated with a desired attitude of said boat, and means responsive to said attitude-determining means for varying orientation of said icon on said screen from said first orientation as a function of changes in boat attitude from said desired attitude.
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46. A sensor for indicating orientation about orthogonal axes comprising:
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a housing containing a dielectric fluid and means for mounting said housing to support structure, four capacitance probes positioned within said housing in a planar array of diagonally spaced parallel probes, each of said probes comprising a pair of spaced fixed electrode immersed in said fluid such that level of fluid between said electrodes and electrical capacitance between said electrodes vary as a function of attitude of said housing, and means coupled to said probes and responsive to variations in electrical capacitance between said electrode for determining attitude of said housing and said planar array as a function of relative capacitance among said probes. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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Specification