Sonar imaging system for mounting to watercraft
DC CAFCFirst Claim
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1. A sonar imaging system, comprising:
- a transducer assembly mounted to a boat, the transducer assembly including;
a housing; and
first and second side scan acoustic elements positioned within the housing to transmit first and second side scan sonar beams comprising side scan sonar pulses to first and second sides of the boat, respectively, and to receive side scan sonar returns, each side scan acoustic element having a rectangular shape with a total length of up to about seven inches and a total width of up to about 0.5 inches to produce side scan sonar beams having a narrow width in the direction of the length of said side scan acoustic elements and a wide width in a plane perpendicular to the direction of the length, and each side scan acoustic element being mounted within the housing and oriented at a depression angle of between about 20 degrees and about 40 degrees; and
an electronic control head operatively coupled to the transducer assembly to control the side scan acoustic elements, the electronic control head including a user interface having a liquid crystal display (LCD) for displaying side scan sonar images based upon the first and second side scan sonar returns received by one or both of the side scan acoustic elements.
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Abstract
A sonar imaging system for a watercraft is disclosed. The sonar imaging system comprises a transducer coupled to the watercraft and having at least one side scanning element and at least one bottom scanning element, an electronic control head unit coupled to the transducer and configured to display sonar images. The downward acoustic elements may be circular and the side scan acoustic elements may be rectangular. A software filter may be provided to remove noise generated by a spark plug or other operation of a motor for the watercraft.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A sonar imaging system, comprising:
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a transducer assembly mounted to a boat, the transducer assembly including; a housing; and first and second side scan acoustic elements positioned within the housing to transmit first and second side scan sonar beams comprising side scan sonar pulses to first and second sides of the boat, respectively, and to receive side scan sonar returns, each side scan acoustic element having a rectangular shape with a total length of up to about seven inches and a total width of up to about 0.5 inches to produce side scan sonar beams having a narrow width in the direction of the length of said side scan acoustic elements and a wide width in a plane perpendicular to the direction of the length, and each side scan acoustic element being mounted within the housing and oriented at a depression angle of between about 20 degrees and about 40 degrees; and an electronic control head operatively coupled to the transducer assembly to control the side scan acoustic elements, the electronic control head including a user interface having a liquid crystal display (LCD) for displaying side scan sonar images based upon the first and second side scan sonar returns received by one or both of the side scan acoustic elements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A sonar imaging system comprising:
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a transducer assembly mounted to a boat, the transducer assembly including; a housing; and first and second side scan acoustic elements positioned within the housing to transmit respective first and second fan-shaped beams comprising side scan sonar pulses and to receive side scan sonar returns, each side scan acoustic element being rectangular with a total length of up to about seven inches and a total width of up to about 0.5 inches, and each side scan acoustic element being mounted within the housing generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of the housing; transmitter circuitry for driving the side scan acoustic elements to produce fan-shaped side scan sonar beams having a narrow beam width in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the housing and a wide beam width in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis; receiver circuitry for receiving side scan sonar return signals produced by the side scan acoustic elements; a GPS receiver for providing GPS positioning information; processing circuitry for processing the side scan sonar return signals and the positioning information; and a user interface for providing user inputs to the processing circuitry and for displaying side scan sonar images produced by the processing circuitry based upon the side scan sonar return signals. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification