METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR OVERLAYING ELECTRONIC MARKING INFORMATION ON FACILITIES MAP INFORMATION AND/OR OTHER IMAGE INFORMATION DISPLAYED ON A MARKING DEVICE
First Claim
1. A marking apparatus to mark a presence or an absence of an underground facility, the marking apparatus comprising:
- a housing;
a marking dispenser holder coupled to the housing to hold a replaceable marking material;
an actuator that, when actuated, causes dispensing of the marking material;
a display device coupled to the housing;
at least one memory; and
at least one processor, communicatively coupled to the display device and the at least one memory, and configured to;
display on the display device a map image that is generated based on first map data selected by the at least one processor and that includes a geographic location at which the marking apparatus has dispensed the marking material; and
overlay an electronic representation of the marking material on the first map image at a position on the first map image corresponding to a location at which the marking material was dispensed.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A marking device for a marking operation to mark a presence or an absence of one or more underground facilities is configured to access and display facilities map information, and/or other image information, as a visual aid to facilitate the marking operation. In various aspects, methods and apparatus relate to: selection of an appropriate “base” facilities map, or information from a database of facilities map data, relating to a given work site/dig area; selection of an appropriate pan and/or zoom (resolution) for displaying facilities map information; appropriately updating displayed facilities map information while a marking device is used during a marking operation (e.g. changing pan, zoom and/or orientation); overlaying on the displayed facilities map information marking information and/or landmark information relating to the marking operation; and storing locally on the marking device, and/or transmitting from the marking device, facilities map information and/or overlaid marking/landmark information (e.g., for further processing, analysis and/or subsequent display).
330 Citations
65 Claims
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1. A marking apparatus to mark a presence or an absence of an underground facility, the marking apparatus comprising:
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a housing; a marking dispenser holder coupled to the housing to hold a replaceable marking material; an actuator that, when actuated, causes dispensing of the marking material; a display device coupled to the housing; at least one memory; and at least one processor, communicatively coupled to the display device and the at least one memory, and configured to; display on the display device a map image that is generated based on first map data selected by the at least one processor and that includes a geographic location at which the marking apparatus has dispensed the marking material; and overlay an electronic representation of the marking material on the first map image at a position on the first map image corresponding to a location at which the marking material was dispensed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method for displaying information on a marking wand having a housing, a marking dispenser holder coupled to the housing to hold a replaceable marking material, an actuator that, when actuated, causes dispensing of the marking material, a display device coupled to the housing, at least one memory, and at least one processor, coupled to the display device and the at least one memory, the method comprising:
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displaying on the display device a map image that is generated based on first map data selected by the at least one processor and that includes a geographic location at which the marking apparatus has dispensed the marking material; and overlaying an electronic representation of the marking material on the first map image at a position on the first map image corresponding to a location at which the marking material was dispensed. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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65. At least one computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed on at least one processor in marking apparatus having a housing, a marking dispenser holder coupled to the housing to hold a replaceable marking material, an actuator that, when actuated, causes dispensing of the marking material, a display device coupled to the processor and the housing, and at least one memory coupled to the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform a method comprising:
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displaying on the display device a map image that is generated based on first map data selected by the at least one processor and that includes a geographic location at which the marking apparatus has dispensed the marking material; and overlaying an electronic representation of the marking material on the first map image at a position on the first map image corresponding to a location at which the marking material was dispensed.
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Specification