Conductor tracing system
US6549011B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 12, 2001 |
| Grant date | Apr 15, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 12, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01V3/081
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A system for tracing routes of conductors has a transmitter (10) for applying an alternating signal (11) to the conductor to be traced (12), and the field produced by this signal is detected remotely from the conductor. In order to distinguish between the field produced by the conductor being traced and the fields produced by nearby conductors (14) due to capacitive coupling (17), the alternating signal has phase-locked first and second components with frequencies F1 and F2 respectively, related by N×F1=M×F2, where N and M are non-adjacent integers greater than 1, one of which is odd and one of which is even, having no common factors. The field is detected at a plurality of positions. The phase relationship of the detected signals is investigated to determine unambiguously the position of the object concerned.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.