System for detecting the location and orientation of a temporarily inaccessible object
US5014008A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 27, 1990 |
| Grant date | May 7, 1991 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 27, 2010 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01V3/104
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A temporarily inaccessible object such as a locator in a buried pipe has a first transmitter (1) which produces an electromagnetic field rotating about a horizontal axis (A--A) and a second transmitter (7) which produces a solenoidal field centered on that axis. The rotating field is remotely detected at a receiver using a vertical axis coil (6) which locates the object and a reference signal is obtained by a horizontal coil (9) at the receiver. The roll .alpha. of the object may be determined by detecting the phase difference between the detected signal and the reference signal. The yaw or angle .beta. of departure from a desired horizontal direction is obtained from a maximum output of the horizontal receiver coil (9). With a third transmitter (15) producing another phase related field rotating about a horizontal axis transverse to the first one (A--A) a similar technique at the receiver gives the pitch angle .gamma.. The position and orientation of the object may be determined in all six degrees of freedom using a portable detector/receiver.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.