JP2997324B2 - Fish finder - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fish finder for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic pulses in water to acquire and display information on a school of fish by reflected echoes and to display the wake of the ship.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a fish finder has been used to detect an object existing in water, for example, a school of fish. A fish finder is a device that transmits an ultrasonic pulse into water, extracts a reflected echo (fish shoal) obtained by reflection from a fish shoal, and displays the echo on a screen. The fish finder usually has a single vibrator provided on the bottom of the ship or a plurality of vibrating elements at a predetermined position and arrangement, thereby transmitting ultrasonic pulses into water. When this pulse is emitted into the water, a reflected echo comes from a fish school or the bottom of the water. The ultrasonic pulse related to the reflected echo is received by a vibrating element constituting a transducer, and is output as an electric signal including a signal related to a school of fish echo. The fish finder uses this signal to display information about the fish school on the screen of a display such as a CRT.

[0003] Fish school echoes obtained from schools of fish usually have different reflected echo intensities depending on the size and density of the school of fish. That is, when the school of fish is large or the density is high, a reflected echo having a higher intensity can be obtained. The fish finder uses this to display the size and presence of the fish school by distinguishing it by shading or coloring on the screen of a display such as a CRT according to the amplitude level of the signal related to the obtained reflected echo.

[0004] On the other hand, a navigation display device has been conventionally known as a kind of device mounted on a ship. The navigation display device is a device that displays information generated as the ship sails, and includes, for example, a track display device. The track display device is G
This is a device that sequentially captures the own ship's position in the form of latitude, longitude, etc. from navigation devices such as PS, Loran, and NNSS, and displays it on the CRT screen using the Mercator projection. That is, the wake display device has the same function and configuration as the fish finder in that it displays information related to the operation of the ship.

Accordingly, it is possible to add a wake display function to the fish finder. Several configurations of such a fish finder with a wake display function have already been proposed. FIG. 3 shows the C obtained by such a conventional configuration.
An example of the RT screen is shown. In FIG. 3, the upper half of the screen is a part related to wake display, and the lower half is a part related to fish school display. That is, in the upper half, the ship's wake 102 is displayed at a scale defined by the chart scale 100 displayed in the upper left, and at one end of the ship's wake 102, a ship's own mark 104 indicating the current ship's position is displayed. Is displayed. Further, at the upper right, the coordinates of the current own ship position (that is, the position indicated by the own ship mark 104) are indicated by information such as latitude and longitude (106). This ship position 106
Is directly generated by information obtained from the navigation device, and the own ship track 102 is obtained by tracking own ship position information obtained from the navigation device over time. The information shown in the lower half of FIG. 3 is information obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves in water. That is, the component of the transmitted wave transmitted underwater is shown as a transmitted wave echo 108 in this figure, and a fish school echo which is a reflected echo from a school of fish is 110, and a submarine echo which is a reflected echo from the sea floor is 112. , Respectively. The vertical axis of the figure represents the depth from the water surface, that is, the time required for reciprocation of the ultrasonic pulse, and the range is represented by the fish school image display range 114. This range 114 is normally set based on a command given by the user to the apparatus. The current depth of the seafloor echo 112 is displayed as a seafloor depth 116 at the lower left of the screen.

An event mark 118 represented by a rhombus and a straight line in the upper half and the lower half of FIG. 3 is used when it is desired to store the current position, for example, when a large school of fish is found. That is, in this conventional example, a method of designating the event mark 118 is used to designate and store a specific position. As a result, the user can view the own ship wake 102 and the fish school echo 110.
Can be checked collectively on the same screen, and the specific part can be marked on the screen.

[0007]

However, in a conventional fish finder, particularly a fish finder with a wake display function, it is difficult for a user to easily and intuitively grasp the location and scale of the fish shoal. There was a problem. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the ship's wake 102 and the fish school echo 110 are displayed separately from each other in the upper half and the lower half of the screen, and are not directly associated with each other. Therefore, when the user attempts to obtain a fish finder image at a point where the user has already sailed once, only the event mark 118 serves as a clue. However, the image in the lower half of the drawing is, for example, scrolled to the left side of the figure and disappears every time information on fish school detection is obtained. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately know the size of the school of fish simply by attaching the event mark 118. Can not.

[0008] Therefore, it is generally difficult to efficiently operate a fishing boat that seeks to perform the most efficient fishing operation by accurately knowing the best fishing ground. In other words, own ship track 1
It is inconvenient since a certain skill is required to accurately ascertain 02 and the school of fish echo 110 and the like.

In a conventional ship, a so-called A
Some have a function of performing −scope display. In this case, the intensity of the reflected echo is displayed as a waveform, but this is a waveform display of the signal at the present time, and it was not possible to obtain information on the signal intensity of the past school of fish, that is, the size of the school of fish. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and it is possible to display information such as the position and scale of a school of fish along with a wake, so that it is possible to optimally reach a fishing ground. It is an object of the present invention to provide a fish finder which can be easily operated and can be operated efficiently.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving an ultrasonic pulse into water, and a method of detecting a fish school or a water bottom in water from the received ultrasonic pulse. A receiving unit that extracts reflected echoes by a fish finder buffer memory unit that stores the reflected echoes as digital fish finder image data for a predetermined number of times of transmission of ultrasonic pulses, and captures own ship position information indicating the own ship position, at least A navigation operation unit that outputs the own ship position information when the own ship position changes and causes the transmitting / receiving unit to execute the transmission of the ultrasonic pulse, and reads fish finder image data from the fish finder buffer memory unit, A fish finder signal calculation unit for generating fish shoal information indicating the scale, and fish finder image data on the fish finder buffer memory unit and fish shoal information from the fish finder signal calculation unit for own ship position information and A track echosounder memory unit for storing attach response, read ship position information on the track echosounder memory unit, a fish finder image data and fish group information sequentially, sequentially create a curve representing the wake of the ship on the basis of the position of the ship information For fish finder video data
Create a waveform with an amplitude corresponding to the intensity of the reflected echo
An image is created by sequentially creating figures indicating the size of the fish school based on the fish school information and adding these waveforms and figures to the curve so as to correspond to the ship's position at each transmission time, A display control unit that outputs the screen information as screen information, and a display unit that sequentially acquires and updates the screen information from the display control unit and displays the screen information are provided.

[0012]

According to the present invention, an ultrasonic pulse is transmitted and received underwater by the transmitting and receiving means. The signal obtained by receiving the wave,
That is, the reflected echoes representing the underwater fish school or the bottom of the water are extracted by the receiving unit and thereafter stored as digital fish finder image data in the fish finder buffer memory unit. The fish finder image data stored in the fish finder buffer memory unit is taken in by the fish shoal signal calculation unit. The fish school signal calculation unit generates fish school information indicating the position and scale of the fish school from the fish finder video data. The fish shoal information thus created and the fish finder image data stored in the fish finder buffer memory unit described above are both provided and stored in the wake fish finder memory unit.

On the other hand, in the present invention, own ship position information indicating the own ship position is fetched by the navigation calculation unit.
The navigation calculation unit fetches own ship position information from a device such as a GPS, for example, and outputs the own ship position information in accordance with a change in the own ship position information. The output own ship position information is given to the wake fish finder memory unit. The transmission of the ultrasonic waves by the transmitting / receiving means is performed in accordance with the output of the own ship position information, that is, the change of the own ship position.

In the wake fish finder memory unit, own ship position information, fish finder video data and fish school signals are stored in association with each other. That is, information on what kind of fish finder image data was obtained and what kind of fish school information was obtained at a certain ship position is stored in the wake fish finder memory unit. Therefore, by continuously capturing a series of transmission time points, that is, by storing a data group for a certain period in the wake fish finder memory unit, the fish finder image data and the fish shoal information associated with the ship trajectory for a certain period are obtained. Is obtained.

The data stored in the wake fish finder memory unit is taken into the display control unit. The display control unit first creates a curve representing the wake of the own ship based on the own ship position information. This curve is figure showing still fish scale based on the fish school information, it reflected Eco based on fish finder video data
A waveform having an amplitude corresponding to the intensity of the key is added. This addition is performed so as to correspond to the ship position at each transmission time. The curve obtained in this way and the figure added thereto are given to the display means as screen information. The display means is, for example, a device such as a CRT, and sequentially captures and updates screen information supplied from the display control unit and displays the screen information. Therefore, on the screen of the display means, on the wake, a graphic indicating the position and scale of the school of fish, as well as the depth and
The information to which the waveform indicating the scale is added is displayed.

The operation of generating the half-track image and the half-fish image in the display control unit is performed by taking in the information sequentially given from the wake-fish memory unit, processing it, and transferring it to the display means.

As described above, in the present invention, based on the information stored in the wake fish finder memory unit, fish school information relating to each position of the wake is additionally displayed on the wake. This allows the user to visually and intuitively grasp the position and size of the school of fish.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Elements similar to the display elements in the conventional example shown in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a fish finder according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus of this embodiment has a navigation operation unit 10. The navigation calculation unit 10 fetches information on the position of the ship from a navigation device such as GPS, Loran, or NNSS in the form of latitude, longitude, or the like. The own ship position information is subject to determination by the navigation calculation unit 10. That is, the navigation calculation unit 10 determines whether or not the own ship position information acquired from the navigation device has changed from the own ship position information acquired at a previous time, and if it has changed, the own ship position information is determined. It is supplied to the transmission trigger generator 12 and the wake fish finder memory 14.

First, the transmission trigger generator 12 generates a transmission trigger in accordance with own ship position information supplied from the navigation calculator 10. The transmission trigger is a trigger for transmitting the ultrasonic pulse underwater by the transmitter / receiver 16. Accordingly, the transmission trigger generated by the transmission trigger generation unit 12 is given to the subsequent transmission unit 18, and the transmission unit 18 generates a transmission signal, which is a high-frequency electric signal having a predetermined pulse width, in response to the trigger, and transmits and receives the transmission signal. To the vessel 16. The transducer 16 is excited by the transmission signal and supplies ultrasonic pulses into the water. The transducer 16 has, for example, an electrostrictive element, and has a function of generating an ultrasonic wave by receiving an electric signal.

On the contrary, the transducer 16 also has a function of converting the obtained ultrasonic signal into an electric signal. Therefore,
When the ultrasonic wave transmitted into the water by the transmitter / receiver 16 is reflected by an underwater object, for example, a school of fish, the bottom of the water, or the like, the ultrasonic wave is again received by the transmitter / receiver 16 and converted into an electric signal. The electric signal obtained by receiving the wave of the transducer 16 is
It is provided to the receiving unit 20 and amplified. The echo signal obtained by the receiving unit 20 is converted into a digital signal in the A / D unit 22 and stored in the fish finder buffer memory unit 24. The fish finder buffer memory unit 24 has a predetermined capacity, for example, a capacity corresponding to one transmission of an ultrasonic pulse. The data stored in the fish finder buffer memory unit 24, that is, the fish finder video data, is supplied to the wake fish finder memory unit 14 and the fish school signal calculation unit 26.

The fish shoal signal calculating section 26 has a function of generating a fish shoal signal based on the fish finder image data stored in the fish finder buffer memory section 24 and supplying it to the wake fish finder memory section 14. That is, the fish shoal signal calculation unit 26 reads out fish hunting video data from the fish hunt buffer memory unit 24 and extracts information relating to the fish shoal echo 110 therefrom. Information on the fish school echo 110 is given to the wake fish finder memory unit 14 as a fish school signal. In generating the fish school signal, the fish school signal calculation unit 26 performs a predetermined editing operation for each transmission. For example, data whose size is set to identify the size of a school of fish is created and added.

In the wake fish finder memory unit 14, the own ship position information output from the navigation calculator 10, the fish finder image data stored in the fish finder buffer memory unit 24, and the fish school generated by the fish shoal signal calculator 26. And are stored in association with each other. Wake fish finder memory unit 14
Has a storage capacity capable of storing information relating to the transmission of ultrasonic pulses a plurality of times, and accordingly, the wake fish finder memory unit 1
4 stores information relating to the wake of a certain period. Since the own ship position information is output from the wake calculation unit 10 when the own ship position changes, the “certain period” in the wake fish memory unit 14 corresponds to a certain length of the wake. .

A display control unit 28 is further connected to the wake fish finder memory unit 14, and an operation unit 30 is connected to the display control unit 28. The operation unit 30 is a member operated by the user, and the operator sets the chart scale, the fish finder image range, the display direction of the chart, and the like by operating the operation unit 30. The display control unit 28 calculates the scale of the chart, the scale of the fish finder image, the latitude and longitude of the reference point on the display screen, and the like according to the information set by the operation of the operation unit 30. This gives the resulting information. Thereby, the CRT connected to the subsequent stage of the display unit 32
Is prepared for display on the screen of the display 34.

The display control unit 28 includes the wake fish finder memory unit 1
4, the latest (ie, closest to the present) own ship position information is read. The display control unit 28 converts the read own ship position information into information of a predetermined format to be displayed on the screen of the display unit 34 as a part of the ship's wake, and provides the information to the display unit 32. In this conversion, for example, information such as a color, a luminance, and a mark is added so that the wake of the ship can be identified. The operation of reading the own ship position information from the wake fish finder memory unit 14 and supplying the information to the display unit 32 is performed every time new data is stored in the wake fish finder memory unit 14.

The display control section 28 reads out the fish school information corresponding to the position of the ship at the same time as the own ship position information. The display control unit 28 processes the information obtained by the reading into a predetermined format and gives the information to the display unit 32. For example, certain data is given to the display unit 32 so that a fish school identification mark indicating the presence of a school of fish is added to the display of the ship's wake, and information on the size of the school of fish represented by the school of fish signal is represented by the size of the symbol mark. The information related to the symbol mark is given to the display unit 32 so as to be represented by the magnitude of the symbol mark. Further, a reflected echo waveform is also given.

The display unit 32 creates a video signal based on the information provided from the display control unit 28 and displays the video signal on the screen of the display unit 34. The display 34 is, for example, a raster scan type CRT. The display unit 32 includes a display 34
Has a refresh memory in order to perform the display in. The screen information corresponding to the screen of the display 34 is stored in the refresh memory. That is, the display unit 32
Processes the information supplied from the display control unit 28, converts the information into screen information corresponding to the screen of the display 34, and temporarily writes the screen information in the refresh memory. The data written in the refresh memory is converted into a video signal according to the operation of the display 34 and supplied to the display 34. The display 34 displays a screen according to the video signal supplied from the display unit 32.

Therefore, as a result of such an operation, the display 3
On the screen of No. 4, a wake display with a fish school identification mark and a mark indicating the size of the school of fish is displayed, and a display related to a school of fish echo is performed. The display control unit 28
Rereads and processes data from the wake fish finder memory unit 14 in response to a change in a set value, for example, a scale or a display orientation, by the operation unit 30, and recreates a new screen.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a screen of the display 34 obtained in this embodiment.

As shown in this figure, in this embodiment, a fish school identification mark 118 is added to the wake 102 of the ship. The fish school identification mark 118 indicates the position of the fish school indicated by the fish school echo 110 in the lower half of the screen, and is generated based on the fish finder image data and the fish school signal by the above-described operation. The size is displayed large, for example, when the reflection intensity of the fish school echo 110 is strong and the school of fish is large or high density, and is displayed small otherwise.

Further, a fish school signal waveform 120 is displayed below the fish school identification mark 118. This fish school signal waveform also
It is generated based on the fish school signal by the operation as described above. That is, the display is performed based on the information related to the fish school signal read by the display control unit 28 from the wake fish finder memory unit 14, and the higher the reflection intensity is, the larger the amplitude appears.

In this embodiment, the display orientation is shown at the upper left of the screen (122). This is because the display orientation can be sequentially changed by operating the operation unit 30.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the fish school identification mark 118 and the fish school signal waveform 120 are additionally displayed on the own ship trajectory 102, so that if the own ship has sailed in the past, It is possible to know at which point the school of fish exists. Also, information such as the size of the fish school is indicated by the fish school identification mark 11.
8 and the fish school signal waveform 120. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the boat operator can visually and intuitively grasp the existence and the size of the fish school.

In this embodiment, since the wake fish finder memory unit 14 has a fixed storage capacity, the display control unit 28 can recreate a screen. Therefore,
By operating the operation unit 30, it is possible to change the display direction, change the chart scale, and the like by using the information in the wake fish memory unit 14. Therefore, a more usable device can be obtained.
In particular, the function of changing the display orientation has an effect of making the screen-like display of the display unit 34 clearer. For example, in a case where the own ship's wake is drawn vertically on the display screen, if the own ship's wake 102, the fish school identification mark 118, the fish school signal waveform 120, and the like overlap, the screen may be difficult to see. Such a problem can be solved by rotating the screen as needed, that is, by sequentially changing the display orientation.

In the above description, a raster scan type CRT is assumed as the display unit 34, but this may be a liquid crystal display device, for example. In this embodiment, the size of the fish school identification mark 118 and the size and density of the school of fish are displayed by displaying the fish school signal waveform 120. However, this may be represented by shading or coloring of the mark, for example. Absent. Further, in FIG. 2, the display of the school of fish echo 110, the sea bottom echo 112, and the like are also displayed, but this is not performed, that is, only the display of the ship's wake 102 and the school of fish identification mark 118 are displayed on the screen. I do not care.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the information indicating the size of the school of fish is added to the curve representing the wake of the ship and displayed, the user can visually and intuitively grasp the existence of the school of fish and its size, etc. A device with improved usability is obtained. That is,
The user can more quickly and efficiently reach the best fishing ground by looking at the display.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a fish finder according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a screen diagram showing an example of a display screen in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a screen diagram showing an example of a display screen in a fish finder according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 navigation calculation unit 12 transmission trigger generation unit 14 wake fish search memory unit 16 transmitter / receiver 18 transmission unit 20 reception unit 22 A / D unit 24 fish search buffer memory unit 26 fish school signal calculation unit 28 display control unit 30 operation unit 32 display unit 34 Indicator 102 Own ship track 118 Fish school identification mark 120 Fish school signal waveform

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01S 3/80-3/86 G01S 5/18-5/30 G01S 7/52-7/64 G01S 15 / 00-15/96

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving an ultrasonic pulse underwater, a receiving unit for extracting a reflected echo due to a school of fish or the bottom of the water from the received ultrasonic pulse, and digital fish finder image data for the reflected echo. A fish finder buffer memory unit for storing the predetermined number of transmissions of the ultrasonic pulse, and own ship position information indicating the own ship position, and outputting the own ship position information at least when the own ship position changes and transmitting and receiving A navigation calculation unit for causing the wave means to transmit an ultrasonic pulse; and a fish finder image data is read from a fish finder buffer memory unit.
A fish shoal signal calculation unit for generating fish shoal information indicating the position and size of the fish shoal; and fish finder image data in the fish finder buffer memory unit and fish shoal information from the fish shoal signal calculation unit in association with own ship position information for each transmission. The wake-up fish finder memory unit to be stored and the own ship position information, fish finder image data and fish school information on the wake fish finder memory unit are sequentially read out, and curves representing the wakes of the own ship are sequentially created based on the own ship position information, and the fish finder image data Based on
A waveform with an amplitude corresponding to the intensity of the reflected echo
And creates an image by adding these waveforms and graphics to the curved to correspond with the position of the ship at each transmitting point to create a figure indicating the scale of fish based on further fish information sequentially, the screen A fish finder comprising: a display control unit that outputs information as information; and a display unit that sequentially acquires and updates screen information from the display control unit and displays the updated information. 2. The fish finder according to claim 1 , wherein a graphic representing the size of the fish school is drawn on a curve representing the wake of the ship.
A waveform with an amplitude corresponding to the intensity of the echo is displayed on the screen.
Characterized to be displayed directly below the graphic
And fish finder. 3. The fish finder according to claim 2, wherein the display scale of the curve and the waveform, and the curve and the wave.
An operation unit for entering one of the display orientations of the shape
The display control unit is provided with a display scale or
When the change of direction is commanded, the screen information is
A fish finder that is recreated .