Radar anti-collision system for ships in waters adjacent land areas

Claim 1

A radar anti-collision system, for avoiding collisions between water-borne vessels in waters adjacent land areas, comprising, in combination, a radar mounted on a vessel and scanning objects in the course of the vessel; a data processing unit having an input connected to said radar and processing the positional data of land areas and of other vessels scanned by said radar; a computer connected to the output of said data processing unit; an auxiliary memory connected to an input of said computer and having stored therein a set of marine positional data with respect to land areas adjacent the course of the vessel, said auxiliary memory supplying the stored data to said computer in accordance with a present program for comparison, in said computer, with the positional data supplied by said data processing unit from said radar; and a general display unit connected to the output of said computer; said computer comparing the stored positional data with the processed positional data and, responsive to such comparison indicating that the vessel is at a greater distance from land areas than limits defined by the stored positional data, cancelling processed positional data relating to land areas from the positional data to a collision avoidance progRam in said computer so that the processing by said collision avoidance program becomes more reliable and the data displayed on said general display unit, responsive to such comparison indicating that the vessel is at a greater distance from land areas than limits defined by the stored positional data, does not include any positional data relating to land areas.

Claim 5

A method of avoiding collisions between water-borne vessels in waters adjacent land areas utilizing a radar mounted on a vessel travelling a course in such waters, said method comprising operating the radar to scan the course of the vessel and provide positional data with respect to land areas and other vessels in the neighborhood of the vessel carrying the radar; processing the positional data at the output of the radar; supplying the processed positional data to a computer; storing positional data related to land areas adjacent the course of the vessel; supplying such stored data to the computer in accordance with a preset program; utilizing the computer to compare the stored positional data with the processed positional data; utilizing such comparison to delete, from the processed positional data, positional data with respect to land areas when the vessel is at a distance from such land areas at least equal to a predetermined minimum distance; and supplying the remaining positional data to a collision avoidance program.

Claim 6

A method of avoiding collisions between water-borne vessels in waters adjacent land areas utilizing a radar mounted on a vessel travelling a course in such waters, said method comprising operating the radar to scan the course of the vessel and provide positional data with respect to land areas and other vessels in the neighborhood of the vessel carrying the radar; processing the positional data at the output of the radar; supplying the processed positional data to a computer; storing positional data related to land areas adjacent the course of the vessel; supplying such stored data to the computer in accordance with a preset program; utilizing the computer to compare the stored positional data with the processed positional data; utilizing such comparison to delete, from the processed positional data, positional data with respect to land areas when the vessel is at a distance from such land areas at least equal to a predetermined minimum distance; and supplying the remaining positional data to a collision avoidance program.