Marine vessel monitoring system

• US 7,327,286 B2
• Filed: 11/04/2004
• Issued: 02/05/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Yacht Watchman International, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Yacht Watchman International, Inc.
• Inventors: Dalrymple, Melvin L., Williams, William D., Knoska, James J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee; Benjamin C.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Previl; Daniel
• Application Number:
  US10/982,288
• Publication Number:
  US 20050096803A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,188 Days
• Field of Search: 340/984, 340/539.1, 340/459, 340/461, 340/462, 340/439, 340/441, 340/989, 340990-994, 405/1, 405/4, 114/258, 114/183
• US Class Current: 340/984
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/00 Testing of vehicles testing fluid tightness G01M3/00; testing elastic properties of bodies or chassis, e.g. torsion-testing, G01M5/00; testing alignment of vehicle headlight devices G01M11/06; testing of engines G01M15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers

Abstract

The marine vessel monitoring system of the present invention enables marine vessel owners to monitor their vessels when they are unable or unavailable to personally do so. The system of the present invention provides an efficient method for inspecting and repairing a designated marine vessel at periodic intervals and for reporting the results of such inspections and repairs to the vessel'"'"'s owner in a timely manner for the owner'"'"'s review and consideration.

Claims

1. A marine vessel monitoring system comprising:

an electronic storage device storing baseline bilge pump data;

a plurality of bilge pump sensors to monitor a bilge pump of a marine vessel, the bilge pump having at least two operative states that are detected by the plurality of bilge pump sensors, the plurality of bilge pump sensors including a bilge pump high water sensor, a bilge pump cycle count sensor, and a bilge pump power sensor; and

a telemetry unit to receive input data from the plurality of bilge pump sensors indicating a state of each of the plurality of bilge pump sensors and transmit a telemetry signal to a remote receiver, the telemetry signal including data indicating the state of each of the plurality of bilge pump sensors and the baseline bilge pump data.

2. The marine vessel monitoring system of claim 1, wherein an alarm event occurs when the input data indicates that the bilge pump has entered an undesirable state, and wherein the telemetry unit is configured to transmit the telemetry signal in response to the occurrence of the alarm event.

3. The marine vessel monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the telemetry unit is configured to transmit the telemetry signal on a periodic basis.

4. The marine vessel monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the telemetry unit includes a cellular telephone control system radio transceiver.

5. The marine vessel monitoring system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of additional sensors including at least one of:

a battery voltage sensor;

a shore cord and power disconnect sensor;

a hatch entry sensor;

a smoke and fire sensor;

an intrusion sensor;

a hydrocarbon and combustible gas sensor; and

an equipment tampering sensor.

6. A monitoring station for remotely monitoring the status of a boat, the monitoring station comprising;

an electronic storage device storing baseline bilge pump data;

a receiver for receiving data from a plurality of bilge pump sensors associated with the boat indicating operative states of a bilge pump on board the boat, the plurality of bilge pump sensors including a bilge pump high water sensor, a bilge pump cycle count sensor, and a bilge pump power sensor; and

a display for displaying the location of the boat, the baseline bilge pump data, and the operative states of the plurality of bilge pump sensors on board the boat.

7. The monitoring station of claim 6, wherein the receiver includes a network server configured to receive data over a computer network.

8. The monitoring station of claim 6, wherein the receiver includes a cellular telephone control system receiver.

9. The monitoring station of claim 6, wherein the display is configured to display instructions for responding to an alarm event when data received from the boat indicates that the bilge pump on board the boat has reached an undesirable state.

10. The monitoring station of claim 9, wherein said instructions include and instruction to contact a designated entity.

11. A telemetry unit for monitoring a boat comprising:

an electronic storage device storing baseline bilge pump data;

an input for receiving input signals from a plurality of bilge pump sensors installed on the boat for monitoring operative states of a bilge pump on the boat, the plurality of bilge pump sensors including a bilge pump high water sensor, a bilge pump cycle count sensor, and a bilge pump power sensor; and

a transmitter for transmitting a telemetry signal containing data representing the operative states of the plurality of bilge pump sensors and the baseline bilge pump data to a remote receiver.

12. The telemetry unit of claim 11, wherein the transmitter includes a radio transceiver.

13. The telemetry unit of claim 11, wherein the transmitter includes a cellular telephone radio transceiver.