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US 5,862,274 AGranted
Apparatus for the assessment of damage to a ship
AssigneeHollandse Signaalapparaten B.V.
InventorBernard Jozef Reits
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A low cost and rugged apparatus for assessing damage to a ship's hull. Parallel optical fibers run along the ship's hull. If damage occurs, the fibers are broken and the breaks are detected by a centrally located unit. The location and extent of damage can be accurately determined. The fibers can also be used to detect fires and to convey operator induced alarm signals.
Claims15
An apparatus for damage assessment in a ship's hull, comprising:
- an optical damage sensor arrangement positioned proximal to said ship's hull;
- a central unit for monitoring changes in reflection of said optical damage sensor arrangement;
- optical connecting means, connecting said optical damage sensor arrangement to said central unit, wherein said optical damage sensor arrangement and said optical connecting means each comprise optical fibers and wherein said central unit transmits optical signals into two ends of each of said optical fibers and receives reflections from said optical signals in order to locate holes or tears in said ship's hull and to measure a width of said holes or said tears.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.