JP4050912B2 - Ultrasonic probe - Google Patents
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Description
【０００１】
【発明が属する技術分野】
本発明は、魚体などの反射物体の二次元または三次元位置を検知可能な超音波探査装置に関するものであり、特に、簡易・安価な構成を保ったまま、検出の精度と分解能の向上を図った超音波探査装置に関するものである。
【０００２】
【従来の技術】
従来の簡易な魚群探知機は、船底などに取り付けた超音波トランスジューサから水中に超音波を放射し、魚体など水中の反射物体で生じた反射波を受信し、送信から受信までに要した時間、すなわち超音波の往復の伝搬所要時間から反射物体までの距離を検出している。この簡易な魚群探知機では、反射物体の方位を検出できないため、反射物体が全て船舶の真下にあるかのように取り扱っている。
【０００３】
反射物体までの距離だけでなくその方位も検出するには、多数の超音波トランスジューサを配列しておき配列順に順次動作させるという電子走査を行うか、単一の超音波トランスジューサの向きを変化させる機械走査を行うことが必要になる。上記電子走査の構成では多数の超音波トランスジューサが必要になり、装置が複雑・高価になる。また、上記機械走査の構成では機械的な走査機構が必要になるので、やはり装置が複雑・高価になる。
【０００４】
本出願人の先願（特開平２００１−９９９３１号公報）には、少数の超音波トランスジューサを用いて海中の魚体などの反射物体の二次元または三次元位置を検知できるようにした超音波探査装置が開示されている。この超音波探査装置は、送信された超音波の反射波を複数の受信素子で受信し、各受信素子の形状と配置で定まる方位関数と、各受信素子の受信信号の位相差とから反射波を発生させた物体の方位を検出する方位検出部を備えている。また、この装置は、超音波を送信してから反射波を受信するまでの所要時間と受信した反射波の振幅とから反射物体までの距離と反射強度とを検出する距離検出部と、上記各検出部で検出済みの方位と距離とを組合せて二次元または三次元表示する表示部とを備えている。このように、従来の反射物体までの距離と大きさとに加えて、反射物体の方位を検出することにより、反射物体の多次元位置が検知される。
【０００５】
上記先行技術の超音波探査装置では、例えば、図６に示すように、ｘ軸方向（船舶の舷側）に矩形状の超音波トランスジューサＴＤ１，ＴＤ２が距離Ｌだけ離して船底などに配置される。各超音波トランスジューサＴＤ１，ＴＤ２から同時に同一の送信信号が同時に放射される。一方のトランスジューサＴＤ１の中心からＲ離れた方位角θｘの方向に反射物体Ｗが存在するものとする。他方のトランスジューサＴＤ２と反射物体Ｗとの距離をＲ＋δＲとすれば、δＲ＝Ｌ sinθｘで与えられる。反射物体Ｗで発生した超音波の伝搬速度をｃとする。一方の超音波トランスジューサＴＤ１が反射波を受信してから他方の超音波トランスジューサＴＤ２が反射波を受信するまでの時間差δｔとすれば、δｔ＝δＲ／ｃ＝Ｌ sinθｘ／ｃを得る。
【０００６】
上記時間差δｔが超音波受信信号の半周期よりも小さくなるように超音波信号の周波数を設定しておくことにより、上記受信時点の時間差をそれぞれの超音波トランスジューサの受信信号の位相差から検出できる。送信信号としては、数十kHz 乃至数百kHz の超音波帯域の正弦波の搬送波が数十サイクルにわたって持続するバースト状の波形などが使用される。反射物体の多次元表示は、例えば船舶の場合、舷側方向をｘ軸、深度方向をｙ軸、船舶の進行方向をｚ軸（時間軸ｔ）とすると、ｘーｙ断面、ｔーｙ断面、一定深度のｔーｘ断面などによって表示される。
【０００７】
上記先行技術の超音波探査装置によれば、最小限２個の超音波トランスジューサを用いて舷側方向などのある角度範囲にわたって反射物体の二次元あるいは三次元的な位置を検出することができる。この結果、多数の超音波トランスジューサを舷側方向に配置したり、１個の超音波トランスジューサを機械的に走査したりすることなく、簡易かつ安価な構成のもとで反射物体の多次元的な位置が検出可能となる。
【０００８】
【発明が解決しようとする課題】
従来、船舶の舷側方向には電子的または機械的なビーム走査を行いながら、船舶の進行方向には船舶の移動に伴うビームの走査を行われきた。この場合、ビームの幅は適宜な値に設定されてきた。分解能を高めるためにはビームは細い方が望ましいが、あまり細すぎるとビームが到達しない死角の空間が発生し、探査の見落としが発生する。特に、舷側方向へのビームの電子的・機械的走査に時間がかかると、次に舷側方向へのビームの走査が開始されるまでの間に船舶が大きく移動してしまう。この結果、船舶の進行方向にそって走査の間隔が開き過ぎてしまい、進行方向にそって超音波ビームが到達しない死角が生じるおそれがある。この死角の発生防ぐため、従来は、船舶の進行方向へのビームの幅を十分にしぼることができず、この結果進行方向への分解能をあまり高めることができないという問題があった。したがって、本発明の目的は船舶の進行方向へのビームの幅を十分に絞り、分解能を高めることにある。
【０００９】
【課題を解決するための手段】
本発明の超音波探査装置は、超音波信号を送信する送信部と、この送信された超音波信号の物体による反射波を受信し受信信号を出力する複数の受信素子を備えた受信部と、前記複数の受信素子の配置と各受信素子から出力される受信信号の位相差とから前記物体の方位を検出する方位検出部と、前記受信信号の出現時点および振幅から物体の距離および反射強度を検出する距離・反射強度検出部と、前記検出された方位、距離および反射強度を表示用データとして前記物体を画面表示する表示処理部とを備えている。
【００１０】
さらに、上記複数の受信素子のそれぞれを、短辺が方位検出対象の舷側方向に沿って配列され、長辺が船舶の進行方向に沿って配列される同一形状の矩形板状体から構成することにより、超音波ビームの受信感度の幅を船舶の直下を含む舷側方向については広く、かつ船舶の進行方向については狭く設定することにより、船舶の進行方向の分解能を向上させるように構成されている。
【００１１】
まず、本発明の超音波探査装置では、超音波信号を送信し、反射物体で生じた反射信号を２個の超音波トランスジューサで受信するという超音波信号の送受信動作を１回だけ行うことにより、舷側方向の広い角度範囲の空間から一度に位置データが取得される。このように、舷側方向へのビームの電子的あるいは機械的な走査のための時間が不要になるため、船舶の進法方向にそって狭い間隔で探索が可能になる。この結果、船舶の進行方向についてはビームの幅を著しく狭めることが可能となり、分解能が大幅に向上する。
【００１２】
【発明の実施の形態】
本発明の好適な実施の形態によれば、複数の受信素子は、その動作個数を可変することにより、方位検出方向のビーム幅を可変する手段を備えることにより、必要に応じて舷側方向の検出範囲を拡大したり縮小したりすることが可能なように構成されている。
【００１３】
本発明の他の好適な実施の形態によれば、複数の受信素子は、縦横比が１０倍以上異なるように構成され、舷側方向に広く、船首方向に狭い扇形状のファンビームを形成するように構成されている。
【００１４】
【実施例】
図１は、本発明の一実施例の超音波探査装置の構成を示すブロック図である。この超音波探査装置は、制御部ＣＮＴ、送信部ＴＸ、単行回路ＩＳ１，ＩＳ２、超音波トランスジューサＴＤ１，ＴＤ２、増幅回路ＡＭＰ１，ＡＭＰ２、サンプリング回路ＳＰＬ１，ＳＰＬ２，遅延回路ＤＬＹ，複素合成回路ＣＭＰＸ１，ＣＭＰＸ２、位相差検出回路ＡＲＧ、加算回路ＡＤＤ、絶対値回路ＡＢＳ、ディジタル・シグナル・プロセッサＤＳＰ、表示装置ＤＩＳを備えている。
【００１５】
制御部ＣＮＴの制御のもとに送信部ＴＸで超音波の送信信号が発生される。この送信信号は、前述した従来装置の場合と同様に、数十kHz 乃至数百kHz の超音波帯域の正弦波の搬送波が数十サイクルにわたって持続するバースト状の波形を有する。この超音波送信信号は、信号を一方向にだけ伝達する単行回路ＩＳ１，ＩＳ２を通過して２個の超音波トランスジューサＴＤ１，ＴＤ２のそれぞれに供給され、それぞれから同時に外部の海中などに放射される。海中に放射されて海中の魚体などで生じた反射波は、送受共用の超音波トランスジューサＴＤ１，ＴＤ２のそれぞれに受信され、増幅器ＡＭＰ１，ＡＭＰ２で増幅される。
【００１６】
増幅器ＡＭＰ１，ＡＭＰ２で増幅された受信反射波は、サンプリング回路ＳＰＬ１，ＳＰＬ２において、第１，第２のサンプリング信号ｓｐi ，ｓｐq によってサンプリングされ、ディジタル信号に変換される。第１のサンプリング回路ＳＰＬ１から出力されるディジタル受信信号ｐ1 ，ｑ1 は後段の複素信号合成回路ＣＭＰＸ１においてディジタル複素信号ｒ1 ＝ｐ1 ＋ｊｑ1 に変換され、位相差検出回路ＡＲＧと加算回路ＡＤＤとに供給される。同様に、第２のサンプリング回路ＳＰＬ２から出力されるディジタル受信信号ｐ2 ，ｑ2 は後段の複素信号合成回路ＣＭＰＸ２においてディジタル複素信号ｒ2 ＝ｐ2 ＋ｊｑ2 に変換され、位相差検出回路ＡＲＧと加算回路ＡＤＤとに供給される。
【００１７】
位相差検出回路ＡＲＧでは、ディジタル複素信号ｒ1 とｒ2 との複素共役積ｒ1 ・ｒ2 * から受信反射信号ａ1 ，ａ2 の偏角ｇが算定され、ディジタル・シグナル・プロセッサＤＳＰに供給される。ディジタル加算回路ＡＤＤでは、ディジタル複素信号ｒ1 とｒ2 が加算され、この加算値ｈの絶対値ｓが絶対値回路ＡＢＳで算定され、ディジタル・シグナル・プロセッサＤＳＰに供給される。ディジタル・シグナル・プロセッサＤＳＰは、絶対値ｓとその出現時点と、偏角ｇとから二次元の表示データを作成し、表示部ＤＩＳに供給し、表示させる。
【００１８】
受信信号ａ1 ，ａ2 の包絡線振幅をA(t)、搬送波の角周波数をω、位相をそれぞれφ1 ，φ2 とおくと、
ａ1 ＝A(t) cos (ωｔ＋φ1 ）
ａ2 ＝A(t) cos (ωｔ＋φ2 ）
となる。
【００１９】
受信信号ａ1 を、標本化回路ＳＰＬ1 において、標本化信号ｓｐi と、遅延回路ＤＬＹにより標本化信号ｓｐi よりもτだけ遅延させた標本化信号ｓｐq とによって標本化する。時刻ｔに出現する標本化信号ｓｐi による標本化受信信号ｐ1 (t) と、時刻ｔ＝ｔ＋τに出現する標本化信号による標本化受信信号ｑ1 (t) は、
ωτ＝π／２
とすると、
【００２０】
複素合成器ＣＭＰＸ１において、ｐ1 (t) を実部とし、ｑ1 (t) を虚部とする複素数ｒ1 が合成される。すなわち、この複素数ｒ1 は、
【００２１】
同様に、
【００２２】
従って、位相角計算部ＡＲＧにより、この複素数ｒ1 とｒ2 の複素共役積を計算し、その偏角ｇを計算すると、ＡＲＧの出力ｇは、
【００２３】
加算回路ＡＤＤによる加算結果は、
【００２４】
図２は、角度を含む物体位置の三次元表示画面の一例である。直交三軸として船舶の舷側方向にｘ軸、深度方向にｙ軸、船舶の進行方向にｚ軸または時間軸ｔがそれぞれ設定される。左上の表示画面ａ）は船舶のｔ−ｙ断面、右上の表示画面ｂ）はｘ−ｙ断面、左下の表示画面ｃ）は、ａ）のｔ−ｙ断面を任意の深度ｙ１で水平に切断して示すｔ−ｘ断面である。各断面中のａ１，ｂ１，ｃ１は、現時点で検出された同一の反射物体である。
【００２５】
図２の表示画面では、船舶がｚ軸方向に進行しているため、ｚ軸方向への走査が船舶自体の移動に基づいて行われる。このため、方位角の検出は舷側方向のｘ軸方向についてだけ行われ、ｚ軸方向の方位角の検出は行われない。
【００２６】
本発明の超音波探査装置では、受信した反射波の位相差を検出して反射物体の方位を検出する構成を採用している。このため、舷側方向の探査は超音波ビームを１回だけ送信してその反射波を受信するだけで終了する。すなわち、電子的にあるいは機械的に舷側方向の走査を行う従来の探査装置に比べて舷側方向への検査時間が大幅に短縮される。この結果、超音波ビームの送信間隔を船舶の進行方向（ｚ軸）方向に著しく短縮できることにより、ｚ軸方向の超音波ビームの幅を十分に絞っても、死角が発生するおそれがない。このようにｚ軸方向にビーム幅を絞ると、ｚ軸方向の分解能が大幅に向上する。
【００２７】
図３は、海中に放射する超音波ビームの幅を舷側方向に可能な限り広げるとともに、船舶の進行方向へはできるだけ絞った場合の、この超音波ビームの形状を例示する概念図である。この超音波ビームは、いわゆる扇形状のファンビームとなる。
【００２８】
図３に例示したようなファンビームを放射するための超音波トランスジューサＴＤ１，ＴＤ２の構造を例示する斜視図である。一方のトランスジューサＴＤ１は素子Ａ，Ｂで構成され、他方のトランスジューサＴＤ２は素子Ｃ，Ｄで構成される。素子Ａ，Ｂ，Ｃ，Ｄは、どれも細長い直方体の形状を有しており、互いに並行に、かつ長手方向をｚ方向と平行になるように設置される。各素子Ａ〜Ｂから放射される超音波ビームの幅は、素子の幅が増加するほど減少し、鋭くなる。これは、開口面積の増加にともなって放射されるビーム幅が狭くなるというアンテナの一般的な原理である。この結果、幅の広いｚ方向には鋭く、幅の小さなｘ軸方向に広い超音波ビームが放射される。受信特性についても送信特性と同じである。
【００２９】
図１の超音波トランスジューサＴＤ１を構成する２個の素子Ａ，Ｂは、図５に示すように、スイッチｓｗ１を介して並列接続され、図１の送信回路から供給される送信信号を受ける。同様に、図１の超音波トランスジューサＴＤ２を構成する２個の素子Ｃ，Ｄは、図５に示すように、スイッチｓｗ１と連動するスイッチｓｗ２を介して並列接続され、図１の送信回路から供給される送信信号を受ける。４個の素子Ａ〜Ｄの寸法はすべて等しく、ｚ（ｔ）軸方向の幅がＬ１，ｘ軸方向の幅がＬ２，ｙ軸方向の幅がＬ３である。
【００３０】
スイッチｓｗ１とｓｗ２が開いた状態では、同一の送信信号が２個の素子ＢとＣにだけ供給される。素子ＢとＣから放射される超音波ビームの舷側（ｘ軸）方向のビーム幅は素子ＢとＣのｘ軸方向の幅の和２Ｌ２によって決まる値となる。スイッチｓｗ１とｓｗ２が閉じた状態では、送信信号が４個の素子Ａ，Ｂ，Ｃ，Ｄのすべてに供給される。４個の素子Ａ，Ｂ，Ｃ，Ｄから放射される超音波ビームの舷側（ｘ軸）方向のビーム幅は４個の素子Ａ〜Ｄのｘ軸方向の合計の幅４Ｌ２によって決まる値となる。この結果、スイッチｓｗ１とｓｗ２が閉じた状態で放射される超音波ビームのｘ軸方向の幅は、スイッチｓｗ１とｓｗ２が開いた状態で放射される超音波ビームのｘ軸方向の幅よりも狭いものとなる。
【００３１】
このように、スイッチｓｗ１とｓｗ２の開閉によって超音波ビームの舷側方向の幅を変更することでできる。なお、超音波ビームの船舶の進行（ｚ軸）方向の幅が、Ｌ１で固定されているため、スイッチｓｗ１とｓｗ２の開閉によっては変化しない。好適には、Ｌ１がＬ２の１０倍以上の値となるように設定される。ビームの角度幅を舷側方向には１２０°乃至１５０°の値に設定されるとともに、船首方向にはその十分の一の１２°〜１５°の値に設定される。
【００３２】
以上、超音波ビームを放射する送信用トランスジューサと、この超音波ビームの反射波を受信する受信用トランスジューサを共用化し、送受兼用のトランスジューサを設置する構成を例示した。しかしながら、送信専用と受信専用の超音波トランスジューサを別個に設置する構成とすることもできる。
【００３３】
【発明の効果】
以上詳細に説明したように、本発明の超音波探査装置は、超音波トランスジューサの素子の幅によって方位を検出する舷側方向のビーム幅を広くするとともに方位を検出しない進行方向のビーム幅を十分に狭くする構成であるから、進行方向の分解能を十分向上させることが可能になる。
【図面の簡単な説明】
【図１】本発明の一実施例の超音波探査装置の構成を示すブロック図である。
【図２】図１の超音波探査装置による多次元的な表示画面の例を示す概念図である。
【図３】図１の超音波探査装置から水中に放射される超音波ビームの形状を例示する概念図である。
【図４】図１の超音波トランスジューサＴＤ１，ＴＤ２の形状と配列を例示する斜視図である。
【図５】図４の超音波トランスジューサＴＤ１，ＴＤ２の電気的接続状態を説明するための回路図である。
【図６】２個の受信素子による受信信号の位相差に基づく反射物体の方位角の検出の原理を説明するための概念図である。
【符号の説明】
CNT コントローラ
TX 送信回路
TD1,TD2 超音波トランスジューサ
SPL1,SPL2 サンプリング回路
CPMX1,CMPX2 複素合成回路
ARG 位相差検出回路
ADD 加算回路
ABS 絶対値回路
DSP ディジタル・シグナル・プロセッサ
DIS 表示装置
DLY 遅延回路[0001]
[Technical field to which the invention belongs]
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic exploration apparatus that can detect a two-dimensional or three-dimensional position of a reflecting object such as a fish body, and in particular, to improve detection accuracy and resolution while maintaining a simple and inexpensive configuration. The present invention relates to an ultrasonic survey apparatus.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The conventional simple fish finder radiates ultrasonic waves into the water from an ultrasonic transducer attached to the bottom of the ship, etc., receives the reflected waves generated by reflective objects in the water such as fish, and the time required from transmission to reception, That is, the distance from the time required for the round-trip propagation of the ultrasonic wave to the reflecting object is detected. Since this simple fish finder cannot detect the orientation of the reflecting object, it treats all the reflecting objects as if they were directly under the ship.
[0003]
In order to detect not only the distance to the reflecting object but also its orientation, a machine that arranges multiple ultrasonic transducers and operates them sequentially in the order of arrangement or changes the direction of a single ultrasonic transducer It is necessary to perform scanning. The above-described electronic scanning configuration requires a large number of ultrasonic transducers, and the apparatus becomes complicated and expensive. In addition, since the mechanical scanning configuration requires a mechanical scanning mechanism, the apparatus becomes complicated and expensive.
[0004]
In the prior application of the present applicant (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-99931), an ultrasonic exploration apparatus which can detect the two-dimensional or three-dimensional position of a reflective object such as a fish in the sea using a small number of ultrasonic transducers. Is disclosed. This ultrasonic exploration device receives a reflected wave of transmitted ultrasonic waves by a plurality of receiving elements, and reflects the reflected wave from the azimuth function determined by the shape and arrangement of each receiving element and the phase difference of the received signal of each receiving element. An azimuth detector that detects the azimuth of the object that has generated In addition, the apparatus includes a distance detection unit that detects a distance from the ultrasonic wave to the reception of the reflected wave and an amplitude of the received reflected wave and a reflection object, and a reflection intensity. And a display unit that displays two-dimensionally or three-dimensionally the azimuth and distance detected by the detection unit. Thus, in addition to the distance and size to the conventional reflective object, the multidimensional position of the reflective object is detected by detecting the orientation of the reflective object.
[0005]
In the prior art ultrasonic exploration apparatus, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, rectangular ultrasonic transducers TD1 and TD2 are arranged on the ship bottom and the like separated by a distance L in the x-axis direction (ship side). The same transmission signal is simultaneously emitted from each of the ultrasonic transducers TD1 and TD2. It is assumed that the reflecting object W exists in the direction of the azimuth angle θx that is R away from the center of one transducer TD1. If the distance between the other transducer TD2 and the reflecting object W is R + δR, then δR = L sin θx. Let c be the propagation speed of the ultrasonic wave generated by the reflecting object W. If a time difference δt from when one ultrasonic transducer TD1 receives the reflected wave until the other ultrasonic transducer TD2 receives the reflected wave, δt = δR / c = L sin θx / c is obtained.
[0006]
By setting the frequency of the ultrasonic signal so that the time difference δt is smaller than a half cycle of the ultrasonic reception signal, the time difference at the reception time can be detected from the phase difference of the reception signals of the respective ultrasonic transducers. . As the transmission signal, a burst-like waveform in which a sine wave carrier wave in an ultrasonic band of several tens of kHz to several hundreds of kHz lasts for several tens of cycles is used. For example, in the case of a ship, the multi-dimensional display of a reflective object is an xy section, a ty section, and an x-axis is a shore direction, a y-axis is a depth direction, and a z-axis (time axis t) is a traveling direction of the ship. It is displayed by a tex cross section at a certain depth.
[0007]
According to the above-described prior art ultrasonic exploration apparatus, it is possible to detect the two-dimensional or three-dimensional position of the reflecting object over a certain angular range such as the heel side direction using a minimum of two ultrasonic transducers. As a result, the multi-dimensional position of the reflecting object can be obtained in a simple and inexpensive configuration without arranging a large number of ultrasonic transducers in the lateral direction or mechanically scanning a single ultrasonic transducer. Can be detected.
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Conventionally, scanning of a beam accompanying movement of a ship has been performed in the traveling direction of the ship while electronic or mechanical beam scanning is performed in the direction of the ship's side. In this case, the beam width has been set to an appropriate value. In order to increase the resolution, it is desirable that the beam is thin. However, if the beam is too thin, a blind spot space where the beam does not reach is generated, resulting in oversight of exploration. In particular, if it takes a long time to electronically and mechanically scan the beam in the downside direction, the ship will move greatly before the next scan of the beam in the downside direction is started. As a result, the scanning interval is excessively widened along the traveling direction of the ship, and there is a possibility that a blind spot where the ultrasonic beam does not reach along the traveling direction may occur. In order to prevent the generation of this blind spot, conventionally, there has been a problem that the width of the beam in the traveling direction of the ship cannot be sufficiently reduced, and as a result, the resolution in the traveling direction cannot be increased so much. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to sufficiently narrow the width of the beam in the traveling direction of the ship and increase the resolution.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The ultrasonic exploration apparatus of the present invention includes a transmission unit that transmits an ultrasonic signal, a reception unit that includes a plurality of reception elements that receive a reflected wave from an object of the transmitted ultrasonic signal and output a reception signal; An azimuth detector that detects the azimuth of the object from the arrangement of the plurality of receiving elements and the phase difference of the received signals output from each receiving element, and the distance and reflection intensity of the object from the current output time and amplitude of the received signal A distance / reflection intensity detection unit for detection; and a display processing unit for displaying the object on the screen using the detected azimuth, distance, and reflection intensity as display data.
[0010]
Further, each of the plurality of receiving elements is configured from a rectangular plate-like body having the same shape in which the short side is arranged along the shore direction of the direction detection target and the long side is arranged along the traveling direction of the ship. the broadly the broadside direction including the just below the ship width of the receiving sensitivity of the ultrasonic beam, and by setting rather narrow for the traveling direction of the ship, is configured to enhance the resolution in the traveling direction of the ship Yes.
[0011]
First, in the ultrasonic exploration device of the present invention, by performing an ultrasonic signal transmission / reception operation of transmitting an ultrasonic signal and receiving the reflected signal generated by the reflecting object with two ultrasonic transducers only once, Position data is acquired at a time from a wide angular range in the heel side direction. As described above, since the time for electronic or mechanical scanning of the beam in the downside direction is not required, it is possible to search at a narrow interval along the marine vessel direction. As a result, the beam width can be remarkably reduced in the traveling direction of the ship, and the resolution is greatly improved.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of receiving elements are provided with means for varying the beam width in the azimuth detection direction by varying the number of operations thereof , so that the detection in the heel side direction is performed as necessary. The range can be enlarged or reduced.
[0013]
According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of receiving elements are configured to have an aspect ratio different by 10 times or more so as to form a fan-shaped fan beam that is wide in the shore direction and narrow in the bow direction. It is configured.
[0014]
【Example】
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an ultrasonic survey apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The ultrasonic exploration apparatus includes a control unit CNT, a transmission unit TX, single circuit IS1, IS2, ultrasonic transducers TD1, TD2, amplification circuits AMP1, AMP2, sampling circuits SPL1, SPL2, delay circuit DLY, complex synthesis circuits CMPX1, CMPX2. A phase difference detection circuit ARG, an addition circuit ADD, an absolute value circuit ABS, a digital signal processor DSP, and a display device DIS.
[0015]
An ultrasonic transmission signal is generated in the transmission unit TX under the control of the control unit CNT. This transmission signal has a burst-like waveform in which a sine wave carrier wave in an ultrasonic band of several tens to several hundreds of kHz lasts for several tens of cycles, as in the case of the above-described conventional apparatus. The ultrasonic transmission signal is supplied to each of the two ultrasonic transducers TD1 and TD2 through the single circuits IS1 and IS2 for transmitting the signal only in one direction, and is simultaneously radiated to the outside sea or the like. . The reflected waves radiated into the sea and generated by fish bodies in the sea are received by the ultrasonic transducers TD1 and TD2 used for both transmission and reception, and amplified by the amplifiers AMP1 and AMP2.
[0016]
The received reflected waves amplified by the amplifiers AMP1 and AMP2 are sampled by the first and second sampling signals sp i and sp q in the sampling circuits SPL1 and SPL2, and converted into digital signals. The digital reception signals p 1 and q 1 output from the first sampling circuit SPL1 are converted into the digital complex signal r 1 = p 1 + jq 1 in the subsequent complex signal synthesis circuit CMPX1, and the phase difference detection circuit ARG and the addition circuit ADD. And supplied to. Similarly, the digital reception signals p 2 and q 2 output from the second sampling circuit SPL2 are converted into the digital complex signal r 2 = p 2 + jq 2 in the subsequent complex signal synthesis circuit CMPX2, and the phase difference detection circuit ARG and It is supplied to the adder circuit ADD.
[0017]
In the phase difference detection circuit ARG, the declination g of the received reflected signals a 1 and a 2 is calculated from the complex conjugate product r 1 · r 2 * of the digital complex signals r 1 and r 2, and is sent to the digital signal processor DSP. Supplied. In the digital adder circuit ADD, the digital complex signals r 1 and r 2 are added, and the absolute value s of the added value h is calculated by the absolute value circuit ABS and supplied to the digital signal processor DSP. The digital signal processor DSP creates two-dimensional display data from the absolute value s, the current output time point, and the deviation angle g, and supplies the display data to the display unit DIS for display.
[0018]
If the envelope amplitudes of the received signals a 1 and a 2 are A (t), the angular frequency of the carrier wave is ω, and the phases are φ 1 and φ 2 respectively,
a 1 = A (t) cos (ωt + φ 1 )
a 2 = A (t) cos (ωt + φ 2 )
It becomes.
[0019]
The received signal a 1, the sampling circuit SPL 1, a sampling signal sp i, is sampled by the sampling signal sp sampled signal is also delayed by τ from i sp q by the delay circuit DLY. The sampled received signal p 1 (t) based on the sampled signal sp i appearing at time t and the sampled received signal q 1 (t) based on the sampled signal appearing at time t = t + τ are:
ωτ = π / 2
Then,
[0020]
In the complex synthesizer CMPX1, a complex number r 1 having p 1 (t) as a real part and q 1 (t) as an imaginary part is synthesized. That is, this complex number r 1 is
[0021]
Similarly,
[0022]
Therefore, when the complex angle product of the complex numbers r 1 and r 2 is calculated by the phase angle calculation unit ARG and the deviation angle g is calculated, the output g of the ARG is
[0023]
The addition result by the adder circuit ADD is
[0024]
FIG. 2 is an example of a three-dimensional display screen of an object position including an angle. As the three orthogonal axes, an x-axis is set in the ship's side direction, a y-axis is set in the depth direction, and a z-axis or time axis t is set in the traveling direction of the ship. The upper left display screen a) is a ty cross section of a ship, the upper right display screen b) is an xy cross section, and the lower left display screen c) is a horizontal cut of the ty cross section of a) at an arbitrary depth y1. It is a tx cross section shown. A1, b1, and c1 in each cross section are the same reflecting object detected at the present time.
[0025]
In the display screen of FIG. 2, since the ship is traveling in the z-axis direction, scanning in the z-axis direction is performed based on the movement of the ship itself. For this reason, the azimuth angle is detected only in the x-axis direction of the heel side direction, and the azimuth angle in the z-axis direction is not detected.
[0026]
The ultrasonic survey apparatus of the present invention employs a configuration that detects the azimuth of a reflecting object by detecting the phase difference of the received reflected waves. For this reason, the exploration in the heel side direction ends only by transmitting the ultrasonic beam once and receiving the reflected wave. That is, the inspection time in the heel side direction is greatly reduced as compared with a conventional exploration device that electronically or mechanically scans in the heel side. As a result, since the transmission interval of the ultrasonic beam can be remarkably shortened in the traveling direction (z-axis) of the ship, there is no possibility that a blind spot will be generated even if the width of the ultrasonic beam in the z-axis direction is sufficiently narrowed. When the beam width is narrowed in the z-axis direction in this way, the resolution in the z-axis direction is greatly improved.
[0027]
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the shape of an ultrasonic beam when the width of the ultrasonic beam radiated into the sea is widened as much as possible in the downside direction and is narrowed as much as possible in the traveling direction of the ship. This ultrasonic beam is a so-called fan-shaped fan beam.
[0028]
FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the structure of ultrasonic transducers TD1 and TD2 for emitting a fan beam as illustrated in FIG. 3; One transducer TD1 is composed of elements A and B, and the other transducer TD2 is composed of elements C and D. Each of the elements A, B, C, and D has an elongated rectangular parallelepiped shape, and is installed in parallel with each other and with the longitudinal direction parallel to the z direction. The width of the ultrasonic beam emitted from each element A to B decreases and becomes sharper as the width of the element increases. This is a general principle of an antenna in which the beam width to be radiated becomes narrower as the aperture area increases. As a result, an ultrasonic beam that is sharp in the wide z direction and wide in the small x-axis direction is emitted. The reception characteristics are the same as the transmission characteristics.
[0029]
As shown in FIG. 5, the two elements A and B constituting the ultrasonic transducer TD1 of FIG. 1 are connected in parallel via the switch sw1 and receive a transmission signal supplied from the transmission circuit of FIG. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 5, the two elements C and D constituting the ultrasonic transducer TD2 in FIG. 1 are connected in parallel via a switch sw2 that works in conjunction with the switch sw1, and are supplied from the transmission circuit in FIG. Received transmission signal. The four elements A to D have the same dimensions, the width in the z (t) -axis direction is L1, the width in the x-axis direction is L2, and the width in the y-axis direction is L3.
[0030]
In the state where the switches sw1 and sw2 are opened, the same transmission signal is supplied only to the two elements B and C. The beam width of the ultrasonic beam radiated from the elements B and C in the negative (x-axis) direction is a value determined by the sum 2L2 of the widths of the elements B and C in the x-axis direction. When the switches sw1 and sw2 are closed, the transmission signal is supplied to all four elements A, B, C, and D. The beam width of the ultrasonic beam radiated from the four elements A, B, C, and D in the side (x-axis) direction is a value determined by the total width 4L2 of the four elements A to D in the x-axis direction. . As a result, the width in the x-axis direction of the ultrasonic beam emitted with the switches sw1 and sw2 closed is narrower than the width in the x-axis direction of the ultrasonic beam emitted with the switches sw1 and sw2 open. It will be a thing.
[0031]
In this way, the width of the ultrasonic beam in the heel side direction can be changed by opening and closing the switches sw1 and sw2. Since the width of the ultrasonic beam in the traveling (z-axis) direction is fixed at L1, it does not change depending on whether the switches sw1 and sw2 are opened or closed. Preferably, L1 is set to be a value 10 times or more of L2. The angle width of the beam is set to a value of 120 ° to 150 ° in the downside direction, and is set to a value of 12 ° to 15 °, which is one tenth in the bow direction.
[0032]
As described above, the transmission transducer that radiates the ultrasonic beam and the reception transducer that receives the reflected wave of the ultrasonic beam are shared, and the configuration in which the transducer for both transmission and reception is installed has been exemplified. However, it is also possible to employ a configuration in which ultrasonic transducers dedicated for transmission and reception are separately installed.
[0033]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, the ultrasonic probe apparatus according to the present invention has a wide beam width in the lateral direction for detecting the azimuth according to the width of the element of the ultrasonic transducer and a sufficient beam width in the traveling direction in which the azimuth is not detected. Since the configuration is narrowed, the resolution in the traveling direction can be sufficiently improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an ultrasonic survey apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a multidimensional display screen by the ultrasonic exploration apparatus of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the shape of an ultrasonic beam radiated into the water from the ultrasonic exploration apparatus in FIG. 1;
4 is a perspective view illustrating the shape and arrangement of the ultrasonic transducers TD1 and TD2 of FIG.
5 is a circuit diagram for explaining an electrical connection state of the ultrasonic transducers TD1 and TD2 in FIG. 4; FIG.
FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the principle of detection of the azimuth angle of a reflecting object based on the phase difference of received signals by two receiving elements.
[Explanation of symbols]
CNT controller
TX transmitter circuit
TD1, TD2 Ultrasonic transducer
SPL1, SPL2 sampling circuit
CPMX1, CMPX2 Complex synthesis circuit
ARG phase difference detection circuit
ADD Adder circuit
ABS absolute value circuit
DSP digital signal processor
DIS display device
DLY delay circuit
Claims (4)
前記複数の受信素子のそれぞれを、短辺が方位検出対象の舷側方向に沿って配列され長辺が船舶の進行方向に沿って配列される同一形状の矩形板状体から構成することにより、超音波ビームの受信感度の幅を船舶の直下を含む舷側方向については広く、かつ船舶の進行方向については狭く設定したことを特徴とする超音波探査装置。A transmission unit including a transmission element that transmits an ultrasonic signal, a reception unit including a plurality of reception elements that receive a reflected wave from an object of the transmitted ultrasonic signal and output a reception signal, and the plurality of receptions An azimuth detector that detects the azimuth of the object from the arrangement of the elements and the phase difference of the received signal output from each receiving element; In an ultrasonic exploration apparatus comprising a reflection intensity detection unit and a display processing unit that displays the object on the screen using the detected azimuth, distance, and reflection intensity as display data,
By configuring each of the plurality of receiving elements from rectangular plate-like bodies having the same shape in which the short side is arranged along the shore direction of the direction detection target and the long side is arranged along the traveling direction of the ship, widely for broadside direction including the right under the ship width of the receiving sensitivity of the ultrasonic beam, and ultrasonic inspection apparatus characterized by the narrow rather setting the traveling direction of the ship.
前記複数の受信素子は、その動作個数を可変することにより、前記超音波ビームの受信感度の幅を可変する手段を備えることを特徴とする超音波探査装置。In claim 1,
The ultrasonic exploration apparatus, wherein the plurality of receiving elements are provided with means for changing a width of reception sensitivity of the ultrasonic beam by changing an operation number thereof .
前記複数の受信素子は、超音波ビームの受信感度の幅を舷側方向については、船舶の進行方向の１０倍以上の値に設定したことを特徴とする超音波探査装置。In either claim 1 or 2,
The plurality of receiving elements, for the width of the broadside direction of the receiving sensitivity of the ultrasonic beam, ultrasonic inspection apparatus characterized by being set to a value of 10 times or more in the traveling direction of the ship.
前記送信素子と前記複数の受信素子のそれぞれは、共用の複数の送受信素子から構成されることを特徴とする超音波探査装置。In any one of claims 1 to 3,
Wherein each of said transmission element and said plurality of receiving elements, ultrasonic inspection apparatus characterized by being composed of a plurality of transmitting and receiving elements shared.
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