EP0280546A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Hand bearing compass
Assignee: Raymarine 2002 Ltd
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Filing: 1988-02-25
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2008-02-25
Abstract
Abstract A hand bearing compass comprises an electronic direction finding sensor (8) fixed in a flat rectangular compass body (1). An actuating button (15) causes the sensor (8) to measure a magnetic bearing in dependence on the orientation of the compass body (1) in a horizontal plane; measured bearings are stored in microprocessor memories for subsequent sequential recall to a display (16). To align the sensor horizontally in use the compass has longitudinal sights (22,23) for visual alignment with a mark and a flat upper surface (20) of the compass body (1) for alignment with the horizon to facilitate levelling. Actuator (15) and longitudinal sights (22,23) are laterally spaced to avoid obscuring the latter, and arranged symmetrically about a median plane of the body (1) so that use is possible in either hand.
Inventors
- 👤 Richard Lovelock
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 13:45
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01C; G01C17/00; G01C17/02; G01C17/28; G01C17/30
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
194 words
A hand bearing compass comprising a direction-finding sensor (8) mounted in a compass body (1), at least one longitudinal sight (22,23,51,52) defining a viewing axis, and at least one manually operable actuator (15,54,55) for causing the sensor (8) to measure a magnetic bearing along the viewing axis, characterised in that the body (1) has a generally flat shape with upper and lower major surfaces (20,21), at least the upper major surface (20) being substantially parallel to a direction-finding plane of the sensor (8), the upper major surface (20) furthermore being generally flat for visual alignment with a remote horizontal reference to level the sensor (8) laterally in use, the at least one longitudinal sight (22,23,51,52) being arranged on the upper surface (20) substantially symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal median plane of the body (1) and the arrangement of the at least one actuator also being substantially symmetrical with respect to said plane, with each actuator having a manually engageable portion (15,54,55) thereof substantially laterally spaced from the viewing axis of at least one longitudinal sight (22,23,51,52) whereby the compass is adapted for right- or left-handed use without obscuring at least one viewing axis.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
194 words
A hand bearing compass comprising a direction-finding sensor (8) mounted in a compass body (1), at least one longitudinal sight (22,23,51,52) defining a viewing axis, and at least one manually operable actuator (15,54,55) for causing the sensor (8) to measure a magnetic bearing along the viewing axis, characterised in that the body (1) has a generally flat shape with upper and lower major surfaces (20,21), at least the upper major surface (20) being substantially parallel to a direction-finding plane of the sensor (8), the upper major surface (20) furthermore being generally flat for visual alignment with a remote horizontal reference to level the sensor (8) laterally in use, the at least one longitudinal sight (22,23,51,52) being arranged on the upper surface (20) substantially symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal median plane of the body (1) and the arrangement of the at least one actuator also being substantially symmetrical with respect to said plane, with each actuator having a manually engageable portion (15,54,55) thereof substantially laterally spaced from the viewing axis of at least one longitudinal sight (22,23,51,52) whereby the compass is adapted for right- or left-handed use without obscuring at least one viewing axis.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
18 words
A hand bearing compass according to claim 1 wherein the direction-finding sensor (8) is an electronic magnetic fluxgate.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
55 words
A hand bearing compass according to any one of the preceding claims wherein electronic circuitry (9) associated with the sensor (8) comprises means for recording a bearing measured by the sensor (8) upon operation of the actuator (15, 54, 55), and there is a display (16) for providing a visual indication of the measured bearing.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
67 words
A hand bearing compass according to claim 3 wherein the elelctronic circuitry (9) comprises means for storing in sequence values of one or more bearings measured by the sensor (8) as a result of one or more respective operations of the actuator (15,54,55), and means for subsequently recalling the individual stored bearing values sequentially to the display (16) upon respective operations of a memory recall actuator (13).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
36 words
A hand bearing compass according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the or each said longitudinal sight (22, 23) defines a viewing axis parallel to the median plane and the flat upper surface (20).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
37 words
A hand bearing compass according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the or each longitudinal sight (22, 23) comprises at least one upward projection from the flat upper surface (20) of the compass body (1).
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
34 words
A hand bearing compass according to claim 6 wherein each longitudinal sight comprises a foresight (28,29,51) and rear sight (30,31,52) spaced along the viewing axis thereof and comprising projections from the flat surface (20).
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
50 words
A hand bearing compass according to any one of the preceding claims wherein a single actuator (15) is disposed symmetrically on the median plane of the compass body (1) with respective longitudinal sights (22,23) equally spaced laterally on either side thereof and defining viewing axes parallel to the median plane.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
57 words
A hand bearing compass according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the actuator is in one said major surface (20) and the compass body (1) has a depression (46,56,57) formed in the other major surface (21), opposite the actuator (15,54,55), the actuator and depression being adapted for engagement by finger and thumb of one hand.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
27 words
A hand bearing compass according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a flexible lanyard (10) fixed to an extremity of the compass body (1).
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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