US Patent Issued to Merlin Technology on Oct. 21 for "Sonde with advanced battery power conservation and associated methods" (Washington Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 28 -- United States Patent no. 12,448,883, issued on Oct. 21, was assigned to Merlin Technology Inc. (Kent, Wash.).

"Sonde with advanced battery power conservation and associated methods" was invented by Craig A. Caswell (Mattawa, Wash.) and Scott D. Phillips (Normandy Park, Wash.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A transmitter for an inground operation includes an antenna and a sensor section for generating sensor data. An antenna driver selectively drives the antenna to emit a locating signal such that the locating signal carries the sensor data. A processor controls the antenna driver to transmit the locating signal during a normal mode and to enter a sleep state that di...