JPH0519043A - Method and device for measuring distance - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable distance measurement of any interval where an sound wave reaches to be performed accurately and simply by using sound wave or ultrasonic wave for measuring a distance between two points and then using both the sound wave, etc., and electromagnetic wave when measuring this propagation time. CONSTITUTION:When a switch SW1 of a device A which is placed at a point A is pressed, a radio electric wave and an ultrasonic wave are discharged toward a device B which is placed at a point B by an antenna 4 and a transmission transducer 5, respectively. The electric wave is received by a radio receiver 12 at the same time when it is discharged due to difference in propagation speed and time count of a time-counting timer 18 is initiated. The ultrasonic wave is received by a reception transducer 15 with some delay after initiation of time count by the counter 18 and a time-count stop signal is transmitted from a count stop signal generation part 17 to the counter 18. When the counter 18 stops, the time-count value is discharged from a radio transmitter 20 through an antenna 11, it is received by the antenna 4 of the device A and a radio receiver 7 and then is processed by an operation-processing portion 9, and then it is displayed at a display portion 10 as a distance between the points A and B.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a measuring device for accurately measuring a medium distance (about several meters to several hundred meters) at an arbitrary interval.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art 64-17409, Kai-hei 1-1
A device for projecting the light seen in 40116 and the actual Kaihei 1-162611 and receiving the reflected light to measure the distance measures the distance according to the position of the received image on the sensor. Most distance measurements are from 0.5 m to a few m. If the distance becomes long, the only method is to lengthen the base line and make it large, and if the object is small, the reflected light is small and measurement is difficult. Emits sound waves or ultrasonic waves,
There is also a method of receiving the reflected wave and measuring the distance from the time. In recent years, laser rangefinders have been used to measure long distances, but in order to pursue accuracy, Q
The tilt mini prism is required, and it is difficult to measure the distance unless the measurement target is accurately narrowed down by the viewfinder. It is also expensive.

[0003]

When it is desired to measure a distance from several meters to several hundred meters easily and accurately,
The above-mentioned actual exploitation 64-17409, actual exploitation 1-14011
6. In the case of the actual Kaihei 1-162611, the distance cannot be accurately measured unless the base line of the measuring device is increased when the distance exceeds several tens of meters. In addition, it is difficult to achieve accuracy at a distance exceeding several hundred meters. As for measuring distance using sound waves and ultrasonic waves,
There is a method that uses sound reflection, but in this case it is necessary to consider the round-trip propagation time, and in order to use this method, it is necessary to be a relatively large object that can sufficiently reflect sound at a short distance. is there. If there is a small target object or an object or similar object that can be a noise source in the surroundings, there is a high possibility that the reflected wave from it will be too small or that it will be hidden by noise and measurement will not be possible.

Further, the laser-based type has a drawback that it requires skill and cannot be measured unless attention is concentrated. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, the present invention aims to provide a method and an apparatus that allow an unskilled person to measure an arbitrary interval almost accurately by simply pressing a switch.

[0005]

A sound wave or an ultrasonic wave is used to measure the distance between two points, and the propagation time is measured to measure the distance. By placing the transmitter and receiver of sound waves or ultrasonic waves (hereinafter referred to as sound waves) at the two points to be measured, the damage of reflected noise can be eliminated and the time counter for measuring the propagation time, that is, the start of the time counter. Must be performed at the same time as the emission of sound waves, etc., and must be stopped at the same time as the arrival of sound waves. For this reason, an electromagnetic wave such as a radio wave or light is used between two points that are distant from each other, and attention is paid to the fact that the propagation speed is orders of magnitude higher than that of a sound wave, and the combination of this sound wave and an electromagnetic wave is used to The distance between the measurement points is measured.

That is, the speed of sound v ₁ propagating in air under normal atmospheric conditions is expressed by v ₁ = 20.067 SQR T (m / sec) (SQR represents a square root), where T is an absolute temperature, while The propagation velocity v ₂ of light and electromagnetic waves is v ₂ = 3 × 10 ⁸ (m / sec) regardless of temperature. That is, the difference in speed between the two is about 1.1 × 10 ^6.
When the range of the measurement target distance is within 1 km, the electromagnetic wave propagation time can be stopped within the measurement error.

It has a transmitter and receiver for sound waves, a clock counter, an electromagnetic wave transmitter, and an electromagnetic wave receiver.
If a transmitter such as a sound wave is placed on one side A of points A and B and its receiver is placed on the other side B, and a time counter is placed at the point B where the receiver is placed, start the time counter at this point B Since the sound waves of the point must be emitted at the same time as the point B, the electromagnetic wave transmitter is provided at the point A and the electromagnetic wave receiver is arranged at the point B to emit the sound wave and the electromagnetic wave is emitted at the same time. The electromagnetic wave reaches the receiver at the point B immediately because its propagation speed is orders of magnitude faster, so if you activate the clock counter at the point B by this received signal,
The timing counter can be activated almost at the same time as the sound wave emission at point A. And the sound wave with slow propagation velocity is B
When it reaches the point, it is received by the sound wave receiver, the time counter is stopped by this signal, and the time value is sent back to point A by electromagnetic waves, and the time value required for the sound waves to propagate from point A to point B is returned. The calculation process is performed to measure the distance. That is, it is a method of measuring a distance from the propagation time by using a wave having different speeds of a sound wave and an electromagnetic wave, setting a starting point of timekeeping by the high speed of the electromagnetic wave, and measuring a propagation time of a sound wave having a slow speed.

That is, it has a transmitter and receiver for sound waves and a time counter, and the transmitter and receiver are provided at two points to be measured, and the propagation time of sound waves between them is measured. Thus, in the method for measuring the distance between them, the distance measurement method is characterized in that the simultaneous activation of timekeeping and emission of sound waves or the arrival of sound waves and stop of time measurement is performed by using electromagnetic waves together. . There is no change in the arrangement of the transmitter and receiver of sound waves between the two points, but various methods can be considered for the arrangement of the time counter and the usage of electromagnetic waves.
Examples 2 and 3 will be shown in Examples described later. Further, when the sound wave used has an audible frequency, ultrasonic waves outside the audible frequency are preferable because if a large sound wave is emitted where a person is present, it causes trouble to the person. However, when ultrasonic waves of 19 kHz are used, the attenuation characteristic is 76 dB at 100 m. Further, when the frequency is 50 kHz, the attenuation characteristic is 100 dB at 80 m, and the higher the frequency, the more disadvantageous. Therefore, it is advantageous that the frequency is as low as possible so that it cannot be heard by the human ear, and the frequency of 15 kHz to 19 kHz is good.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, one embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Applies to devices that measure the distance to a golf hole. Originally in golf competition, it is one of the golfer's techniques to measure the distance to the hole flag on the target green by visual observation, but in the case of an amateur, this is difficult and many caddies ask the distance. However, amateur caddies who are hired as part-timers often find it difficult to answer. Therefore, the device of the present invention is applied.

A caddy brings the device A of the present invention and sets the device B in a pole inserted into a hole on the green. The device A has a switch button SW1 for emitting electromagnetic waves (hereinafter referred to as radio waves) and ultrasonic waves at the same time, and a signal generator 2 for receiving signals and generating radio and ultrasonic signals.
It is composed of a wireless transmitter 3, an antenna 4, an ultrasonic wave transmitting transducer 5, a wireless receiver 7, an amplifier 8, an arithmetic processing unit 9 and a display unit 10.

The device B includes an antenna 11 for receiving radio waves from the device A, a radio receiver 12, an amplifier 13, a count start signal generator 14, a reception transducer 15 for receiving ultrasonic waves, an amplifier 16, and a count stop signal. Generator 1
7, time counter 18, modulator 19, wireless transmitter 20
There is. Although each device has a battery for power supply, its description is omitted.

When the switch SW1 of the device A is pressed, the signal generator 2 generates a radio wave and a signal for ultrasonic waves, and at the same time, the radio wave is sent to the radio transmitter 3 and the ultrasonic transmitting transducer 5, and the radio wave is transmitted from the antenna 4. Ultrasonic waves are emitted toward the device B from the ultrasonic transmission transducer 5. Due to the difference in propagation velocity between ultrasonic waves and ultrasonic waves, even if the distance from point A to point B is 1,000 m, it reaches within 3 × 10 ⁻⁵ seconds. That is, since the radio wave reaches the point B while the sound advances by 1 cm, the radio wave is emitted by pressing SW1 and at the same time the radio wave is received by the wireless receiver 12 of the device B, amplified by the amplifier 13, and generated by the count start signal generator 14. A signal is output to the time counting counter 18 to start the time counting.

The error due to radio wave propagation is 1.1 × 10 ^-6 m
/ Sec, but this is very small and may be omitted.
About 340 after the time counter 18 started counting
After the ultrasonic wave traveling at the speed of m / sec is received by the ultrasonic wave reception transducer 15 and amplified by the amplifier 16, the count stop signal generation unit 17 outputs a stop signal to the clock counter 18. When the clock stop signal is output and the clock counter stops, the clock value is sent to the modulation unit 19 and the clock value is wirelessly modulated and emitted from the wireless transmitter 20 through the antenna 11, and this is transmitted to the antenna 4 of the device A. And the signal is received by the wireless receiver 7, the signal is detected and amplified, modulated, and sent, and the value of the clock counter is processed by the calculation processing unit 9 into the distance and displayed on the display unit 10, which is read by the operator. Distance can be measured. Although the antenna 4 shares both transmission and reception of radio waves, it is necessary that the radio transmission and reception frequencies do not interfere with each other, and in some cases a filter may be required.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment. There is no difference in that the ultrasonic wave transmitting unit and the ultrasonic wave receiving unit are respectively arranged at the points to be measured. The device A includes a switch SW1, a signal generator 2, a wireless transmitter 3, an antenna 4, a time counter 18, an arithmetic processor 9, a display unit 10, an ultrasonic wave reception transducer 15, an amplifier 16, and a count stop signal generator. 17, the device B includes an antenna 11 and a wireless receiver 12,
It is composed of an amplifier 13, an ultrasonic signal generator 6, and an ultrasonic transmission transducer 5. When the switch SW1 of the device A is pressed, the signal generator 2 outputs a radio wave signal to the radio transmitter 3 and a signal to start time counting. The time is sent to the time counter 18 at the same time, and the time of the time counter 18 is started.

Radio waves are emitted from the radio transmitter 3 toward the device B through the antenna 4. Device B is antenna 1
1 and the radio receiver 12 immediately receive the radio wave, the amplifier 13 amplifies the radio wave, transmits it to the ultrasonic signal generator 6, generates an ultrasonic signal, and transmits the ultrasonic wave from the ultrasonic transmission transducer 5. Occur. The error due to radio wave propagation during this period is so small that it can be ignored. That is, it may be considered that the ultrasonic wave is emitted from the device B as soon as the switch SW1 of the device A is pressed. However, in this case, the error is in the minus side with respect to the true distance in the case of the first embodiment, whereas it is on the plus side, that is, the distance is large in the case of the second embodiment.

The generated ultrasonic wave propagates to the device A, and the device A
The ultrasonic wave reception transducer 15 receives the ultrasonic wave, the amplifier 16 amplifies the ultrasonic wave, and the count stop signal generator 17 outputs a stop signal to the time counter 18 to stop the time count. Simultaneously with the stop, the arithmetic processing unit 9 arithmetically processes the time count value and displays the distance on the display unit 10.

As described above, the propagation speed of the sound wave varies depending on the temperature. Therefore, although not shown in the drawing, the calculation processing unit corrects the error due to the temperature by using the thermistor temperature measuring unit. ing.

FIG. 3 shows still another embodiment. 2 above
As in the example, there is no difference in arranging the transmitting part and the receiving part for the sound waves and the like at two points to be measured. The device A is a switch SW1 that emits sound waves and the like, a signal generator 2 that emits sound waves and the like 2, an ultrasonic wave transmission transducer 5, a time counter 18, an arithmetic processing unit 9, a display unit 10, an antenna 4, and a wireless receiver 7. , Amplifier 8 and count stop signal generator 30
And the device B has an ultrasonic receiving transducer 1
5, the amplifier 16, the count stop signal generation unit 17, the wireless transmitter 20, and the antenna 11, and when the switch SW1 is pressed, the signal generation unit 2 outputs an ultrasonic signal to the ultrasonic transmission transducer 5. At the same time, a count start command is output to the clock counter 18. The ultrasonic wave emitted from the ultrasonic wave transmitting transducer propagates toward the point B, is received by the ultrasonic wave receiving transducer 15 of the device B, and is amplified by the amplifier 16, thereby generating the count stop signal generator. A signal is generated at 17, which is transmitted to the wireless transmitter 20 and emitted as a radio wave from the antenna 11 toward the point A.

At point A, the antenna 4 and the wireless receiver 7 of the apparatus A receive the signal, the amplifier 8 amplifies the signal, and the count stop signal generator 30 generates the count stop signal.
8, the time since the ultrasonic wave was emitted was measured by the clock counter. At the same time as the count is stopped, the count value is calculated by the calculation processing unit 9 and displayed on the display unit 10. Similar effects can be obtained by using infrared rays and visible rays instead of radio waves.

[0020]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION Distance measurement at arbitrary intervals where sound waves can reach can be accurately and simply performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a distance measuring device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of another embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of yet another embodiment. that's all

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Kazuyoshi Takano             783 Terachi, Seto-cho, Akaban-gun, Okayama Prefecture (72) Inventor Tsutomu Otsu             25-16 Omachi, Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A sound wave transmission unit, a reception unit, and a clock counter are provided, and the transmission unit and the reception unit are arranged at two points to be measured, and the propagation time of the sound waves and the like between them is measured. Due to
In the method for measuring the distance between them, the distance measurement method is characterized in that the distance is measured by using electromagnetic waves together with the simultaneity of activation of timekeeping and emission of sound waves or the arrival of sound waves and stop of timekeeping. . 2. A distance measuring device using the measuring method according to claim 1.