Downscan imaging sonar
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. A sonar assembly for imaging an underwater environment beneath a watercraft traveling on a surface of a body of water, the sonar assembly comprising:
- a housing mountable to the watercraft;
a single linear downscan transducer element positioned within the housing, the linear downscan transducer element having a substantially rectangular shape configured to produce a fan-shaped sonar beam having a relatively narrow beamwidth in a direction parallel to a longitudinal length of the linear downscan transducer element and a relatively wide beamwidth in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal length of the transducer element, the linear downscan transducer element being positioned with the longitudinal length thereof extending in a fore-to-aft direction of the housing;
wherein the linear downscan transducer element is positioned within the housing to project fan-shaped sonar beams in a direction substantially perpendicular to a plane corresponding to the surface of the body of water, said sonar beams being repeatedly emitted so as to sequentially insonify different fan-shaped regions of the underwater environment as the watercraft travels; and
a sonar signal processor receiving signals representative of sonar returns resulting from each of the fan-shaped sonar beams and processing the signals to produce sonar image data for each fan-shaped region and to create an image of the underwater environment as a composite of images of the fan-shaped regions arranged in a progressive order corresponding to the travel of the watercraft.
5 Assignments
Litigations
3 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A downscan imaging sonar utilizes a linear transducer element to provide improved images of the sea floor and other objects in the water column beneath a vessel. A transducer array may include a plurality of transducer elements and each one of the plurality of transducer elements may include a substantially rectangular shape configured to produce a sonar beam having a beamwidth in a direction parallel to longitudinal length of the transducer elements that is significantly less than a beamwidth of the sonar beam in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal length of the transducer elements. The plurality of transducer elements may be positioned such that longitudinal lengths of at least two of the plurality of transducer elements are parallel to each other. The plurality of transducer elements may also include at least a first linear transducer element, a second linear transducer element and a third linear transducer element. The first linear transducer element may be positioned within the housing to project sonar pulses from a first side of the housing in a direction substantially perpendicular to a centerline of the housing. The second linear transducer element may be positioned within the housing to lie in a plane with the first linear transducer element and project sonar pulses from a second side of the housing that is substantially opposite of the first side. The third linear transducer element may be positioned within the housing to project sonar pulses in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane.
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Citations
73 Claims
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1. A sonar assembly for imaging an underwater environment beneath a watercraft traveling on a surface of a body of water, the sonar assembly comprising:
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a housing mountable to the watercraft; a single linear downscan transducer element positioned within the housing, the linear downscan transducer element having a substantially rectangular shape configured to produce a fan-shaped sonar beam having a relatively narrow beamwidth in a direction parallel to a longitudinal length of the linear downscan transducer element and a relatively wide beamwidth in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal length of the transducer element, the linear downscan transducer element being positioned with the longitudinal length thereof extending in a fore-to-aft direction of the housing; wherein the linear downscan transducer element is positioned within the housing to project fan-shaped sonar beams in a direction substantially perpendicular to a plane corresponding to the surface of the body of water, said sonar beams being repeatedly emitted so as to sequentially insonify different fan-shaped regions of the underwater environment as the watercraft travels; and a sonar signal processor receiving signals representative of sonar returns resulting from each of the fan-shaped sonar beams and processing the signals to produce sonar image data for each fan-shaped region and to create an image of the underwater environment as a composite of images of the fan-shaped regions arranged in a progressive order corresponding to the travel of the watercraft. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A sonar system for imaging an underwater environment beneath a watercraft traveling on a surface of a body of water, the sonar system comprising:
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a single linear downscan transducer element positioned within a housing that is mountable to the watercraft, the linear downscan transducer element having a substantially rectangular shape configured to produce a fan-shaped sonar beam having a relatively narrow beamwidth in a direction parallel to longitudinal length of the linear downscan transducer element and a relatively wide beamwidth in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal length of the transducer element, the linear downscan transducer element being positioned with the longitudinal length thereof extending in a fore-to-aft direction of the housing; wherein the linear downscan transducer element is positioned to project fan-shaped sonar beams in a direction substantially perpendicular to a plane corresponding to the surface of the body of water, said sonar beams being repeatedly emitted so as to sequentially insonify different fan-shaped regions of the underwater environment as the watercraft travels; a sonar module configured to enable operable communication with the linear downscan transducer element, the sonar module including; a sonar signal processor to process sonar return signals, and at least one transceiver configured to provide communication between the linear downscan transducer element and the sonar signal processor; the sonar signal processor receiving signals representative of sonar returns resulting from each of the fan-shaped sonar beams and processing the signals to produce sonar image data for each fan-shaped region and to create an image of the underwater environment as a composite of images of the fan-shaped regions arranged in a progressive order corresponding to the travel of the watercraft. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
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73. A sonar imaging apparatus comprising:
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a housing mountable to a watercraft that traverses a surface of a body of water, the watercraft defining a center plane that extends from fore to aft and that is perpendicular to the surface of the body of water; a linear transducer element positioned within the housing, the linear transducer element being configured to produce a fan-shaped sonar beam having a longitudinal beamwidth in a direction parallel to a longitudinal length of the linear transducer element that is significantly less than a transverse beamwidth of the sonar beam in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal length of the transducer element; wherein the housing is configured for mounting to the watercraft such that the longitudinal length of the linear transducer element is parallel to said center plane, and wherein the transverse beamwidth of the sonar beam is sufficiently wide in relation to a direction in which the linear transducer element is aimed such that the transverse beamwidth spans from a port side of said center plane to a starboard side of said center plane, said fan-shaped sonar beam being repeatedly emitted so as to sequentially insonify different fan-shaped regions of an underwater environment beneath the watercraft as the watercraft travels across the surface of the water; and a sonar signal processor receiving signals representative of sonar returns resulting from each of the fan-shaped sonar beams and processing the signals to produce sonar image data for each fan-shaped region and to create an image of the underwater environment as a composite of images of the fan-shaped regions arranged in a progressive order corresponding to the travel of the watercraft.
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Specification