Transparent Navigational Plotter Orientation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing navigational plotters are cumbersome and unreliable in unstable or cramped environments, requiring a stable surface and precise manipulations, which can lead to errors and pose hazards, especially in emergency situations.
Innovation Solution
A transparent, elongated planar straight-edge plotter with printed central axis and compass roses, allowing orientation based on latitude and longitude lines, magnetic north, and isogonic lines, enabling rapid and accurate navigation without physical registration of rollers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional plotters with rollers and sliding mechanisms are used, then navigation plotting can be performed, but the device becomes cumbersome and unreliable in unstable or cramped environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the rollers and sliding mechanisms from the plotter design, extracting the problematic mechanical components that caused reliability issues in unstable environments. The plotter becomes a simple transparent overlay with printed scales and compass roses, eliminating the need for mechanical registration systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the navigation plotting function from the mechanical support structure. Instead of integrating rollers and sliding mechanisms into the plotter body, the solution separates these functions: the plotter overlay provides the measurement and orientation functions, while the chart paper provides the mechanical support and stability.
2Measurement precision
If plotters require stable surface and precise manipulations, then measurement precision can be maintained, but ease of operation deteriorates in challenging conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a transparent copy of the chart's measurement system that can be placed directly over the chart. The plotter overlay contains printed latitude and longitude scales, compass roses, and other navigational references that mirror the chart's coordinate system, allowing direct measurement and plotting without mechanical registration.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having the plotter mechanically register itself to the chart through rollers and sliding mechanisms, the patent inverts the approach: the transparent overlay is simply placed on top of the chart, and the chart paper itself provides the stable reference framework. The measurement precision is maintained by the chart's inherent accuracy rather than mechanical registration.
3Reliability
If traditional plotters with mechanical registration systems are used, then orientation can be maintained, but the device poses hazards in emergency situations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the mechanical registration systems (rollers, sliding mechanisms) that created safety hazards in emergency situations. The simplified transparent overlay plotter eliminates moving parts that could fail or become dangerous during emergencies, while maintaining orientation capability through printed compass roses and latitude/longitude scales.
Data Source
AI summary
A navigational plotter for use with a selected navigational chart and its method for production include providing a generally transparent elongated planar straight edge member having each of a first and a second straight edges parallelly disposed opposite one another bounding a generally rectangular interior surface. A printed central axis bisecting the rectangular interior surface and at least one compass rose arranged to have its North/South ordinal points to lie upon the printed central axis thus to allow the user to maintain orientation of the plotter on the chart. A first distance scale is calibrated in accord with the scale of the selected chart along a selected line of latitude. The first distance scale is printed to span the East/West ordinal points on the compass rose and along the first straight edge. A second distance scale is calibrated in accord with longitude according to a Mercator projection.