Minelab Patent Application - New Discrimination Method?

[Steve Herschbach]

USPTO Patent Application 20160041292 , Discrimination method of a metal detector. http://www.freshpatents.com/-dt20160211ptan20160041292.php

"In particular, the present invention is a discrimination method that is insensitive to the signals from both resistive and reactive signal components from the soil. It was discovered for the purpose of the present invention that the presence of resistive signal components from the soil may be confused with resistive signal components from metallic targets, and thus identifying the time constant spectrum of the metallic target yields in unsatisfactory results in the presence of substantial resistive signal components from the soil. The discrimination method offered by the present invention is insensitive to both resistive and reactive signal components from the soil, which may also include a component due to a substantially uniform conducting half-space (such as a saline soil)."

and

"One advantage is that it gives more information about the target, and therefore it confers a greater discrimination capacity. For instance, two different targets may have the same one-component approximated time constant spectrum, but they have different two-component approximated time constant spectra. Therefore, using a two component approximated time constant spectrum may allow these two targets to he distinguished from each other."

Date.	Minelab Electronics Pty Limited patents.
02/11/16	Discrimination a metal detector
08/06/15	Signal processing technique for a metal detector
06/18/15	Metal detector
05/28/15	Metal detector
02/05/15	Method for detecting fast time constant targets using a metal detector
11/14/13	Support arrangement for an implement
10/24/13	Communication between a sensor and a processing unit of a metal detector
09/12/13	Method for displaying metal detection information
06/20/13	Transmit signal of a metal detector
06/13/13	Method for separating target signals from unwanted signals in a metal detector
03/07/13	Metal detector sensor head
06/14/12	Metal detector with at least one transmit/receive switch
09/29/11	Metal detector sensor head
11/11/10	Metal detector with improved magnetic response application
06/17/10	Rectangular-wave transmitting metal detector
06/17/10	Metal detector for salt soils
06/10/10	Constant current metal detector with driven transmit coil
12/24/09	Real-time rectangular-wave transmitting metal detector platform with user selectable transmission and reception properties
12/24/09	Multi-frequency transmitter for a metal detector

[klunker]

Nuts! They beat me to it.

[vanursepaul]

i just wrote klunker an amail how i had figured that out,,,,dang it!

[Steve Herschbach]

There is no doubt Minelab files lots of patents. Since 2000 more than all the other players combined. They are given a lot of grief over how the patents are written and just how new some of them really are, but this is a part of the detecting game Minelab seems to have mastered. They not only come up with new methods, but have been very good the last twenty years at blocking progress at other companies by way of patents. The number one reason I heard from the competition over the years about why nobody made units that seriously competed with the Minelab PI detectors was.... patents.

I actually am a bit surprised how few patents relating to basic detecting technology are filed by most of the competition these days, the only real exception being White's. First Texas has been active, but almost all relate to a walk through detector. Garrett has a new one for a waterproof housing design, but that's about it.

[fredmason]

now if they could block all the fakers that would be fantastic...Minelab Rules!

[Rick K - First Member]

Here's a long thread from Geotech - consensus is that the patent os BS - everything in it has been previously disclosed by others previously.  Dave Johnson's post is readable, many of the others require an EE to understand.

http://www.geotech1.com/forums/showthread.php?22971-Latest-Minelab-Patent-11th-Feb-2016

[Steve Herschbach]

If that is the case the patent application will be rejected. Want to make a bet Rick?

On reflection though I don't care enough to bet - just information for people to ponder is all.

[Peteren]

As long as the discrimination function  comes as a firmware update and not another $10k machine

[klunker]

But Petern- There is no profit in a firmware update.

[Peteren]

20 hours ago, klunker said:

But Petern- There is no profit in a firmware update.

Microsoft and Apple seem to do OK with this