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Anchor surveillance for maritime vessels involving the use of an underwater video camera and a remote video display to enable indirect inspection of an anchor during and/or after the process of deploying and/or setting the anchor. The remote video display may be on and/or off the maritime vessel and

Anchor surveillance for maritime vessels involving the use of an underwater video camera and a remote video display to enable indirect inspection of an anchor during and/or after the process of deploying and/or setting the anchor. The remote video display may be on and/or off the maritime vessel and may comprise a software application (“app”) on a smart-phone and/or computer tablet to help control some or all of the anchor surveillance system.

대표청구항 ▼

1. An anchor surveillance system for maritime vessels, comprising: a video camera for capturing video images of an anchor of a maritime vessel while said anchor is at least one of deployed to and set in a floor of a body of water on which said maritime vessel floats, wherein said video camera is con

1. An anchor surveillance system for maritime vessels, comprising: a video camera for capturing video images of an anchor of a maritime vessel while said anchor is at least one of deployed to and set in a floor of a body of water on which said maritime vessel floats, wherein said video camera is configured to float generally above said anchor and transmit said video images of said anchor to a video display such that a viewer of said video display may be informed as to the purchase of said anchor; anda coupling system for coupling said video camera to at least one of said anchor and an anchor rode connected to said anchor such that said video camera is in generally close proximity to said anchor. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein said video camera includes a light for illuminating an area around said anchor during the capture of said video images. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein said video camera at least one of includes and is coupled to at least one buoyant element to cause it to float generally above said anchor. 4. The system of claim 3, wherein said at least one buoyant element comprises at least one of air, cork, and Styrofoam disposed within a housing of said video camera. 5. The system of claim 3, wherein said at least one buoyant element comprises a float coupled to said video camera, said float including at least one of air, cork and Styrofoam. 6. The system of claim 5, wherein said float is configured to indicate the general location of said anchor via at least one of a light, a highly visible color, a luminescent coating, a light-reflective coating, and a global positioning system (GPS). 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the float comprises a floating communication module having on-board electronics capable of wirelessly transmitting said video images to said video display. 8. The system of claim 5, wherein said floating communication module includes at least one solar cell and at least one battery configured to at least partially power at least one of said light and said on-board electronics. 9. The system of claim 5, wherein said floating communication module is communicatively linked to said video camera via a cable and configured to float at or near the surface of the water. 10. The system of claim 9, wherein said floating communication module is retractably coupled to said video camera to maintain sufficient tension on said cable to maintain said video camera generally above said anchor. 11. The system of claim 1, wherein said video camera and said video display are communicatively linked via at least one of a wired and wireless transmission for transmitting said video images from said video camera to said video display. 12. The system of claim 1, wherein said coupling system comprises at least one of a tether, a clamp, and a link fixedly or movably coupled to at least one of said anchor and said anchor rode. 13. The system of claim 12, wherein said coupling system comprises a tether coupled to said anchor rode via a traveler, said traveler capable of traversing at least one of up and down said anchor rode in at least one of a manual and a mechanized manner. 14. The system of claim 12, wherein said coupling system comprises a proximal tether coupled to said video camera and a distal tether coupled to said video camera, wherein said proximal tether is capable of being connected to said anchor rode and said distal tether is capable of being connected to said anchor. 15. The system of claim 12, wherein said coupling system comprises at least one of a split-shell and a strut assembly, said split-shell containing said video camera and capable of being clamped over at least one of said anchor and said anchor rode, and said strut assembly having arms for selectively clamping onto said anchor. 16. The system of claim 1, wherein said video camera is configured to at least one of focus, adjust a direction of said video camera, adjust a light source associated with said video camera, and turn said video camera off and on at least one of manually and automatically via remote control. 17. The system of claim 1, further comprising a water directing system capable of directing water generally towards said anchor to clear debris in the vicinity of said anchor and enhance the ability to visualize said anchor via said video images. 18. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one of a dedicated video display, a television, a computer, a smart-phone and a computer tablet located at least one of on and off said maritime vessel each including a video display for viewing said video images of said anchor such that said video images inform a viewer of said video display as to the purchase of said anchor. 19. The system of claim 18, wherein at least one of said smart phone and said computer tablet are loaded with a computer software application configured to remotely perform at least one of: select and implement lighting choices for at least one of a light associated with said video camera and a light associated with a float coupled to said video camera, said lighting choices including at least one of light on and off, and brightness adjustment;select and implement focus choices for said video camera, said focus choices including at least one of automatic focus and manual focusselect and implement view choices for adjusting a view of said video camera, said view choices including at least one of panorama, narrow, normal, rotate view, and amount of view rotation;select and implement timer choices for a timer associated with said at least one of said video camera, a light associated with said video camera, and a light associated with a float coupled to said video camera, said timer choices including at least one of timer on and off, and duration adjustment;select and implement debris clearing choices for a water direction system capable of directing water generally towards said anchor to clear debris in the vicinity of said anchor and enhance the ability to visualize said anchor via said video images, said debris clearing choices including at least one of water direction system on and off, speed adjustment of a pump associated with said water direction system, and water source selection to designate a water source for said pump;select and implement depth choices for adjusting a depth of said video camera relative to said anchor, said depth choices including at least one of raise and lower;select and implement notification choices for notifying a person about said anchor surveillance, said notification choices including at least one of notifications on and off, email notification on and off, email address input, text notification on and off, text number input, phone call notification on and off, phone call number input, notification frequency, picture with notification yes or no, picture size, video clip with notification yes or no, and at least one of size and duration of video clip; andselect and implement setting choices for modifying at least one setting of said video display.