JPS63298184A - Ultrasonic wave transmitter/receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To always automatically hold a wave transmitting/receiving surface of a vibrator at the same angle of depression position with respect to the level, by getting a container having an ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving element always driven being oriented to the direction of gravity regardless of rocking and pitching of a hull. CONSTITUTION:A container 64 and a U-shaped support metal 70 are surrounded by an enclosure 86 comprising a cylindrical body with one end thereof formed roughly in a sphere. A gear 55 which is driven being meshed with a gear 42 mounted on a shaft of a drive motor 60 is turned in the direction of the angle thetaof depression with the rotation of the motor 60 to set a wave transmitting/ receiving surface S of a transmitter/receiver 22 retained on a shaft 52 within a transmitter/receiver 50 at a specified set angle theta1. Then, the enclosure is fastened on a hull and the container is always made driven being oriented to the direction of gravity with the rocking and pitching of the hull. Thus, an ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving surface of an ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving element is fixed in a specified direction or is oriented to a projected direction in an ultrasonic wave transmitter/receiver arranged in the container.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving device that uses ultrasonic pulses to distinguish and detect the presence of schools of fish, etc. placed inside a shaped container or a spherical container,
By substantially naturally suspending the container in an outer container filled with liquid and anchoring it to the bottom of the ship, the wave transmitting/receiving surface of the ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving element maintains the same predetermined depression angle position with respect to the horizontal plane even when the ship body rocks. A problem regarding an ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving device configured to be held.

[Background of the Invention] Underwater acoustic equipment has been widely used to confirm objects existing underwater. A good example of this would be a fish finder. This fish finder is used to confirm the presence of a school of fish by transmitting directional ultrasonic pulses into the water and using reflected echoes reflected from the school of fish. That is, focusing on the fact that the intensity of reflected echoes from underwater objects such as schools of fish is proportional to the size of the schools of fish, etc., the reflected echoes are envelope-detected, and the amplitude of the signal wave is displayed in shading on recording paper or on a cathode ray tube, etc. are displayed in color to confirm the presence of schools of fish, etc.

Here, searchlight sonar, which has the characteristics of small size and low cost, is widely used as a fish finder that detects schools of fish by generating ultrasonic pulses. This searchlight sonar uses an ultrasonic transducer installed in a dome on the bottom of the ship to move from side to side like a searchlight using a remote control while emitting ultrasonic pulses horizontally downward to target targets such as schools of fish. The fishing operation is performed by searching for the ultrasonic beam and reading its return wave, or by interrupting the swinging operation and holding the ultrasonic beam so that it is radiated at a specific depression angle position related to the target object detection direction.

By the way, in this case, as shown in Figure 1a, the horizontal plane 2
When the sea surface constituting the vessel is calm, the depression angle of the ultrasonic beam 8 emitted from the transducer disposed within the dome 6 fixed to the hull 4 is maintained at a predetermined set angle θ1°.

However, when the horizontal plane 2 sways due to the influence of waves and wind, etc., and the hull 4 swings at an angle α° as shown in Figure 2, the transducer fixed to the hull 4 also swings integrally. , as a result, the depression angle of the ultrasonic beam appears to be upward (θ1+α
)°, and there is a risk of losing sight of schools of fish, etc.

Therefore, in order to improve this, in order to keep the set depression angle θ of the ultrasonic beam constant, a clinometer or the like is used to detect the rocking angle α of the hull 4, and based on the output signal, the depression angle θ of the transducer is determined. A method of correcting by driving a motor (not shown) has also been put into practical use.

However, the rocking correction device using the clinometer is complicated and has a large size.
It has been pointed out that manufacturing costs also increase significantly. For this reason, there is an inherent disadvantage that the original advantages of the searchlight sonar, namely, compactness and low cost, are diminished.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages, and includes disposing an ultrasonic transceiver element having a wave transmitting and receiving function in a cylindrical container or a spherical container, and By being substantially naturally suspended in an outer container filled with liquid, the ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving surface of the wave transmitting/receiving element that generates the ultrasonic wave even when the ship's hull swings automatically maintains the same predetermined depression angle position with respect to the horizontal plane. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving device that can be configured to hold the ultrasonic waves, and as a result, can realize both compactness and low cost of the device itself.

[Means for Achieving the Object] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides an ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving element including a setting mechanism that fixes the transmitting/receiving surface of the ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving element in a certain direction or sets it in a predetermined direction. The wave transmitting/receiving device includes an inner container substantially containing the setting mechanism and an outer container surrounding the inner container, wherein the inner container is rotatably supported by the outer container, and the inner container is rotatably supported by the outer container. The center of gravity of the inner container to be supported is disposed below the center of the support shaft, and the outer container is substantially fixed to the ship's hull, so that the inner container can be moved even by rocking of the ship's body.
The ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving surface of the ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving element in the ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving device disposed in the inner container is always fixed or preset in a certain direction by pointing in the direction of gravity and following the movement. It is characterized by being configured to point in a predetermined direction.

[Embodiments] Next, preferred embodiments of the ultrasonic wave transceiver according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 10 indicates the entire block of the searchlight sonar, and the searchlight sonar 10 basically consists of an indicator 12 and an up/down device 14. Therefore, the ultrasonic transmission pulse energized by the timer circuit 16 in the indicator 12 is amplified by the transmission circuit 18 and introduced into the transducer 22 in the vertical device 14 via the transmission/reception switching circuit 20. On the other hand, the vertical device control circuit 24 in the indicator 12
The output signal drives the mechanism section 26 in the vertical device 14, and the operation of this mechanism section 26 changes the vertical position (position in the direction of arrow A) and turning angle (angle in the direction of arrow B) of the transducer 22.
and the depression angle θ are each set to predetermined values. The ultrasonic transmission pulse is then radiated to the seabed as an ultrasonic beam 28 from the wave transmitting/receiving surface S of the transducer 22. Among the ultrasonic beams 28 emitted in this way, the return signal from the target is converted into an electrical signal via the transducer 22 and the transceiver switching circuit 20 in the indicator 12, and then converted into an electrical signal by the receiving circuit 30.
is amplified by One output signal of the receiving circuit 30 is introduced to a receiver SP such as a speaker via a listening circuit 32, and the other output signal is introduced to a display means 36 such as a CRT via a video amplifier circuit 34. In this case, the sweep signal related to the timer circuit 16 is modulated and displayed on the display means 36 by the output signal from the video amplifier circuit 34. On the other hand, the vertical device control circuit 24
The CR7 rotation motor 38 is driven by the rotation signal from the CR7 rotation motor 38, and the first gear 40, which is pivoted on the shaft of the CR7 rotation motor 38, meshes with the second gear 42, which is pivoted on the display means 36, so that the display is displayed. The means 36 moves in the direction of arrow C around the axis 43.
rotate in the direction. It should be noted that among the output signals of the vertical device control circuit 24, a signal related to the depression angle θ is introduced into the depression angle display 46, and the depression angle θ set is displayed on the depression angle display 46.

FIG. 3 shows a wave transmitting/receiving device 50, which is a main part of the present invention and includes a wave transmitting/receiving device 22, inside the upper and lower bags W14.

The wave transmitter/receiver 50 is provided with a disk-shaped wave transmitter/receiver 22 having a wave transmitting/receiving surface S, and the wave transmitter/receiver 22 is connected to the first shaft 5.
2, it is rotatably supported in the direction of arrow C (direction of depression angle θ). One end of the first shaft 52 is supported via a hole (not shown) drilled below the first support plate 54, and the transducer 22 is connected to the other end of the first shaft 52 as indicated by the arrow. A third gear 55 that rotates in the C direction is attached, and is pivotally supported by the lower part of the second support plate 56 through the third gear 55 .

Furthermore, a small-diameter fourth gear 58 is disposed above the third gear 55 so as to mesh with the third gear 55, and this fourth gear 58 is connected to the rotational drive shaft of the drive motor 60 of the transducer 22. It is attached to the shaft. The drive motor 60 is fixed to the first support plate 54, and a second shaft 61 is disposed at the other end of the first support plate 54 and the second support plate 56, and 54 and the second support plate 56 together with the first shaft 52. The depression angle θ adjusting mechanism 62 configured as described above is disposed within the cylindrical inner container 64. That is, the arm portion 72 of the U-shaped support fitting 70 is connected to the arm portion 72 of the U-shaped support fitting 70 via the third and fourth shafts 66 and 68 that extend horizontally outward through the center portions of the left and right circular surfaces of the inner container 64. It is pivotably supported on .74. In this case, the center of gravity of the depression angle θ adjustment mechanism 62 disposed inside the inner container 64 is aligned with the central axis of the inner container 64, that is, the third
and the fourth axis 66, 68 as far as possible below the axis. This is to lower the center of gravity.

In order to further lower the center of gravity, it is preferable to dispose a weight 80 made of lead or the like in the lower part of the inner container 64, and further seal a buoyant member 82 made of air or the like in the upper part of the inner container 64. . In this case, the inner container 64 is filled with a liquid 81, such as castor oil, which has approximately the same acoustic characteristic impedance as seawater and has electrically insulating properties.

A drive shaft 7 extends above the recessed portion of the U-shaped support fitting 70 and is rotated in the direction of arrow B by a motor (not shown).
8 is fixed. Further, the inner container 64 and the U-shaped support fitting 70 are surrounded by an outer container 86 made of a cylindrical body with one end formed into a substantially spherical shape. After the liquid 81 is filled, the outer container 86
It is sealed by a lid body 90 that constitutes the. In addition, the outer container 8
A hole 93 is formed in the center of the lid 90 of No. 6 through which the drive shaft 78 passes, and an O-ring (not shown) or the like is fitted into the circumferential surface of the hole 93 to open the chamber of the outer container 86. 92 is kept airtight.

Furthermore, the lid 90 of the outer container 86 is fixed to a vertical drive shaft (not shown), and the other end of the vertical drive shaft is connected to the
In the second lower device 14, it is engaged with a mechanism section 26.

The searchlight sonar 10 incorporating the wave transmitting/receiving device 50 according to the present invention is basically constructed as described above, and its operation and effects will be explained next.

First, using an operation table (not shown) of the searchlight sonar 10, a desired turning angle γ and depression angle θ are set according to the boat speed and the expected species of fish.

With this setting, the transducer 22 in the vertical device 14 automatically rotates. That is, in this case, the wave transmitting/receiving surface S of the wave transmitter/receiver 22 locked to the first shaft 52 in the wave transmitting/receiving device 50 is rotated by the drive motor 60.
The third gear meshed with the second gear 42 pivoted on
The gear 55 is rotated in the depression angle θ direction, and -a predetermined set angle θ1 is set.
is set to On the other hand, the transducer 22 is automatically rotated within a predetermined rotation angle T because the inner container 64 surrounding it is driven to rotate in the direction of arrow B by a drive shaft 78 related to horizontal directivity. .

Then, a search for a target object such as a school of fish is started.

In this case, the ultrasonic wave transmission/reception pulse signal generated by the timer circuit 16 is amplified by the transmission circuit for one day, and then
When the ultrasonic transmission pulse is introduced into the transmission/reception switching circuit 20 and is introduced from the transmission/reception switching circuit 20 to the transducer 22, the transducer 22 rotates in the direction of the arrow B as described above, while changing the transmission/reception wave surface S. An ultrasonic beam 28 is emitted in front of the. Then, in the emitted ultrasonic beam 28, a signal reflected from a target object such as a school of fish and returned is received by the transducer 22 again, and the received signal is introduced into the receiving circuit 30 through the transmitting/receiving switching circuit 2o. be done. Then, the signal amplified by the receiving circuit 30 to a signal sufficient to drive the display means 36 via the video amplification circuit 34 modulates the brightness of the sweep line on the CRT screen whose sweep has been started by the timer circuit 16. As a result, the sonar image is displayed on the CRT screen. At this time, the distance in the radial direction from the axis 43 of the display means 36 is converted and displayed as the distance to the target object, and the direction of the target object on the display means 36 at that time is determined by the CRT rotation motor 38.
The first gear 40 and the second gear 42 are calibrated in the bow direction of the hull (not shown), and are controlled so that the direction always matches the direction of the wave transmitting/receiving surface S of the transducer 22, so that the display is always displayed correctly. Ru.

In this case, the image on the display means 36 is displayed as shown in FIG. 4, for example. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 100 is a screen display of the display means 36, and reference numeral 102 is a luminance-modulated fish school echo.

The center 104 of the concentric circles on the screen display 100 indicates the position of the ship, and the concentric circles 104a to 104c indicate the measured pressure, and a memory is attached for example every 100 m.

Therefore, as can be easily understood from the screen display 100,
Currently, the fish school echo 102 is approximately 50 meters from the hull to the upper right.
It is located at a distance of approximately 220 m. A schematic diagram of a ship and a school of fish according to such a screen display 100 is shown in FIG. In this case, the fish school echo 102
is detected, the rotation angle γ of the ultrasonic beam 28 is
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, for example, the angle of depression θ may be kept at 50° and the ultrasonic beam 28 may be emitted only in the direction of the fish echo 102 to track the school of fish. Here, the turning angle γ and the depression angle θ are, as mentioned above,
Arrow B of the drive shaft 78 related to the horizontal directivity shown in FIG.
This is possible by rotating the wave transmitting/receiving surface S of the transducer 22 in the direction of arrow C under the action of the drive motor 60, third gear 58, and fourth gear 55. Note that the inside of the outer container 86 and the inside of the inner container 64 are filled with a liquid 81, such as castor oil, whose acoustic characteristic impedance closely matches that of seawater and which is electrically insulating. The ultrasonic signals transmitted and received from the wave transmitting/receiving surface S of the device 22 are radiated outward from the external device 86 with almost no attenuation, and the received signals reflected from schools of fish and the like may be similarly attenuated. A small amount of it returns to the transmitting/receiving wave surface S of the transducer 22.

Now, let us assume that the hull (not shown) is moving in a direction perpendicular to the paper plane of FIG. 6 and swings at an angle α1 or α2 with respect to the vertical line 9. In this case, the inner container 6
As described above, the inner container 4 is configured such that its center of gravity is located below the third shaft 66 and the fourth shaft 68 that support it, and further includes a weight 80 attached to the lower end of the inner container 64 and the inner container 64. Since the buoyancy member 82 attached to the upper end of the container 64 directs it in the direction of gravity, even if the outer container 86, that is, the arm portion 72) 74 of the U-shaped support fitting 70 swings at angles α1 and α2, it remains in the U-shape. The third and fourth shafts 66 of the inner container 64 are configured to be slidable with the shaped support fittings 74.
68 does not swing, and therefore, the depression angle θ of the wave transmitting/receiving surface S of the transducer 22, which is integrally connected to the third and fourth axes 66.6, is held constant (Fig. 7a). , b).

FIG. 8 is a partially omitted perspective view showing another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 8, the same components as in FIG. 3 are given the same reference numerals, and detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 8, a wide support ring 112 is arranged around the horizontal center of a spherical inner container 110 at a predetermined distance. 4 at each position dividing the circumferential surface of the support ring 112 into 4.
supporting shafts, that is, the fifth to eighth shafts 114, 116.
118 and 120 are attached. In this case, the inner container 110 is rotatably supported by the fifth shaft 114 and the sixth shaft 116 in the direction of the arrow G, while the supporting shaft 112 is supported by the seventh shaft 118 and the eighth shaft 120 in the direction of the arrow H. Rotatably supported. Therefore, the structure of the inner container 110 is similar to that of the inner container 64, in which a weight (not shown) is provided on the lower side of the inner container 110, and a buoyancy member (not shown) is provided on the upper part of the inner container 110. , and the components such as the transducer 22 disposed inside the inner container 110 are assembled so that the center of gravity of the components is located as low as possible. by this,
No matter which direction the outer container 86 swings, the inner container 11
0 is always directed vertically downward due to gravity, so the wave transmitting/receiving surface S of the wave transmitter/receiver 22 can always maintain the same depression angle θ and the same horizontal position.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, an ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving element having a wave transmitting/receiving function is disposed within a cylindrical container or a spherical container, and the cylindrical container or spherical container receives liquid. It is surrounded by a filled outer container and has a substantially natural suspension structure.

For this reason, the wave transmitting and receiving surface of the transducer that generates the ultrasonic wave even when the ship body rocks due to the action of gravity is relative to the horizontal plane.
It is possible to automatically maintain the same depression angle position at all times. Thereby, even when the boat body is shaken by waves and wind, it is possible to suitably detect schools of fish and increase the catch.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.
Of course, various improvements and changes in design are possible without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1a and b are explanatory diagrams of the relationship between ship body rocking and ultrasonic beam depression angle according to the prior art, Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram of a searchlight sonar incorporating a wave transmitting and receiving device according to the present invention, and Figure 3 is FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a display example on the display means of a searchlight sonar; FIG. 5 is an illustration of a ship containing a school of fish and ultrasonic waves according to the display example of FIG. 4. FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are schematic explanatory diagrams of beams, FIGS. 6 and 7 are explanatory diagrams of the operation of the wave transmitting/receiving device 8 according to the present invention, and FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment of the wave transmitting/receiving device according to the present invention. 10...Searchlight sonar 12...Indicator 1
4... Vertical device 22... Transducer/receiver 5
0... Wave transmitting/receiving device 64... Inner container 86
・・・Outer container

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) An ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving device including a setting mechanism that fixes the wave transmitting/receiving surface of an ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving element in a certain specific direction or sets it in a predetermined direction, and an inner container that substantially contains the setting mechanism. and an outer container surrounding the inner container, the inner container is rotatably supported on the outer container, and the center of gravity of the inner container pivoted on the outer container is disposed below the center of the pivot. ,
The outer container is substantially fixed to the ship's hull, and the inner container is always directed in the direction of gravity and follows the movement of the ship even when the ship is rocking, so that the ultrasonic transducer disposed in the inner container can be An ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving device characterized in that the ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving surface of the ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving element is configured to be fixed in a specific direction or directed in a predetermined direction. (2) An ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving device according to claim 1, wherein the inner container and the outer container are substantially filled with a liquid made of an electrical insulator. (3) An ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the inner container has a hollow spherical shape. (4) An ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the inner container has a hollow cylindrical shape. (5) In the device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, a weight member is disposed below and/or a buoyancy member is disposed above the ultrasonic transducer contained in the inner container. Ultrasonic wave transmitting and receiving device. (6) An ultrasonic wave transmitting/receiving device according to claim 2, wherein the liquid is castor oil.