Patent ID: 7030616

Claim:
An apparatus under the control of a surface operator for locating a utility conveyance beneath a body of water, comprising: a submersible housing having a detector including: a first signal generator for impressing a conveyance-locating signal on the conveyance so that the conveyance radiates a first electromagnetic field; a second signal generator for impressing a conveyance-confirmation signal that is pulsed in a particular pattern unique to the conveyance to be located, so that the conveyance radiates a second electromagnetic field unique to the conveyance; a first signal detector for sensing where the first field is strongest to establish a region where the conveyance is generally located; a plurality of second detectors, each of the second detectors being capable of detecting the presence of the second field; the submersible housing further including: ballast means for selectively controlling its buoyancy; means to maneuver the housing relative to a target search location; and a camera associated with the housing to capture images of a target search location; and a surface control unit connected to the submersible housing detector, ballast means, maneuvering means and camera, including: processor means connected to the plurality of second detectors for vectoring the location of the conveyance in response to the presence of the second field detected at each of the second detectors; display means for displaying to the operator the images of the target search area captured by the camera and the location of the conveyance as determined by the processor means; means under the control of the operator to cause the submersible housing to be maneuvered relative to a target search area; and means under the control of the operator to change the buoyancy of the ballast means.