SYSTEM, METHOD AND MONUMENT FOR LAND SURVEYING

• US 20100295699A1
• Filed: 05/21/2010
• Published: 11/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Berntsen International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Berntsen International Inc.
• Inventors: Rushing, William C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,947,205 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/8.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 15/04 Permanent marks; Boundary markers
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 15/00 Tags attached to, or associated with, an object, in order to enable detection of the object record carriers for use with machines having a detectable tag or marker G06K19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 3/10 using induction coils
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2417 having a radio frequency identification chip
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2477 Antenna or antenna activator circuit

Abstract

A monument usable for locating stationary geographical positions and/or assets includes a housing, comprising a body and a cap; at least one permanent magnet mounted on or in the housing; and at least one electronic marker located on or in the housing. The magnet has a magnetic field of sufficient strength for its location to be readily identified from outside the housing using a portable magnetic locator and the electronic marker includes an electronic transceiver for receiving and/or transmitting electronic information unique to the geographical location and/or functional properties of the monument or an asset associated with the monument.

Claims

1. A monument for locating stationary geographical positions and assets comprising:

a housing having a body and a cap;

at least one permanent magnet mounted on said housing and having a magnetic field of sufficient strength for its location to be readily identified from outside the housing using a portable magnetic locator; and

at least one electronic marker is located on the housing and has an electronic transceiver for receiving and/or transmitting electronic information unique to the geographical location and/or functional properties of the monument or an asset associated with the monument.

2. The monument of claim 1, wherein:

the at least one magnet and the at least one electronic marker are each positioned within the housing;

at least one of the body and the cap of the housing is formed of metal or other material resistant to the passage of electronic frequencies, the body including at least one opening adjacent to the at least one electronic marker for facilitating the passage of electronic signals from and to an electronic transmitter/reader to store and identify unique information on the electronic marker; and

a cover attachable to the body in a position which closes the at least one opening, the cover being formed of a material which is adapted to permit transmitted electronic signals to pass between the electronic marker and the transmitter/reader.

3. The monument of claim 2, wherein the electronic marker is mounted on a metal backing plate to increase the transmission range of electronic information between the marker and an electronic transmitter/reader.

4. The monument of claim 2, wherein the at least one marker is an RFID tag and the at least one opening in the body and the material of the cover are adapted to facilitate the passage of RFID signals between the RFID tag and an RFID transmitter/reader.

5. The monument of claim 4, wherein the at least one RFID tag is a passive RFID tag and includes an RFID transceiver and an antenna.

6. The monument of claim 4, wherein the at least one RFID tag is an active RFID tag and includes a transceiver, an antenna and a power source.

7. The monument of claim 6, wherein the power source may be selected from the group including a battery and a solar cell.

8. The monument of claim 2, wherein the monument is adapted to be securely located below ground level and the housing is adapted to substantially prevent external physical contact with the at least one magnet and the at least one electronic marker without substantial interference with the detectable magnetic field strength or prevention of the effective passage of electronic signals to and from the electronic marker.

9. The monument of claim 8, wherein the monument has a lower breakaway portion, and wherein at least one additional magnet is located within the breakaway portion to facilitate location of the breakaway portion in the event that an upper portion of the monument is separated from the breakaway lower portion by an externally applied force, and wherein the breakaway lower portion further includes at least one additional electronic marker and associated metal backing plate adapted to respectively receive and transmit electronic signals passing between the electronic marker and an electronic transmitter/reader.

10. The monument of claim 9, wherein the lower breakaway portion is formed of a plastic material which is adapted to permit transmitted electronic signals to pass therethrough.

11. The monument of claim 2, wherein at least one electronic marker is supported within a hollow tube-shaped body of the housing between opposed openings of the body such that the electronic marker is supported between a plurality of such openings to facilitate the passage of electrical signals between the marker and an electronic transmitter/reader, and the cover comprises a shell conforming to the outer shape of the tube-shaped body.

12. The monument of claim 1, wherein the housing includes a peripheral shell formed of at least one piece of material which is adapted to permit the passage of electronic signals therethrough, and wherein the at least one electronic marker is contained within the peripheral shell.

13. The monument of claim 1, wherein at least one electronic marker comprises an RFID tag, and wherein the RFID tag is encased within a plastic body which provides a base for the housing, and wherein the plastic body encasing the RFID tag is mounted on a metal backing plate to increase the transmission range of electronic information between the RFID tag and a RFID transmitter/reader.

14. The monument of claim 13 wherein at least one magnet is mounted on the base provided by the plastic body encasing the RFID tag, and the cap is mounted on the RFID tag plastic body to enclose the magnet.

15. The monument of claim 1, wherein the housing body comprises a base plate which supports the at least one magnet, and the housing cap is formed of plastic and mounted on the base plate to cover the magnet, the cap further internally supporting an RFID tag electronic marker and a metal backing plate to increase the transmission range of electronic information between the marker and an electronic transmitter/receiver.

16. The monument of claim 15, wherein the base plate is engaged on a projection which extends downwardly from the base plate to penetrate an underlying surface and support the monument on that surface.

17. The monument of claim 1, wherein the housing body comprises a base plate which supports the at least one magnet and at least one metallic backing plate, and wherein at least one electronic marker is mounted on the backing plate, and the housing cap is formed of plastic and mounted on the base plate to cover the magnet, the backing plate and the electronic marker.

18. The monument of claim 1, wherein the housing body comprises a metallic backing plate having a top side and a bottom side, the electronic marker is mounted on the top side of the backing plate, a plastic housing cap is mounted on the top side of the backing plate to cover the electronic marker, and a magnet is attached to the bottom side of the backing plate to provide a compact monument suitable for burying in or under concrete or other hard surface to permit the monument to be easily located by a portable magnetic locator and easily identified by electronically accessing the electronic marker with an electronic transmitter/reader.

19. A method of monument location and identification comprising:

perceiving a magnetic field emitted by a magnet of a monument;

identifying the location of the monument based on the perceived magnetic field;

sending an electronic signal to an electronic tag of the monument;

receiving an electronic signal from the electronic tag of the monument, the electronic signal received representing information unique to the monument;

sending a signal to a server, the signal sent being related to at least one of the signal received from the electronic tag and the information unique to the monument;

querying a database of the server based on the signal sent to the server; and

receiving information from the server based on the query to the database.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein perceiving a magnetic field emitted by a magnet of a monument comprises probing a desired location with a magnetic locator until a magnetic field is detected by the magnetic locator.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein identifying the location of the monument based on the perceived magnetic field comprises probing a desired location with a magnetic locator until a detected magnetic field reaches a maximum value.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein sending an electronic signal to an electronic tag of the monument comprises sending a radio frequency signal to a RFID tag of the monument;

and

wherein receiving an electronic signal from the electronic tag of the monument comprises receiving radio frequency signals from the RFID tag of the monument.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein receiving an electronic signal from the electronic tag of the monument, comprises receiving an electronic signal representing an identification number of the monument.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein sending a signal to a server comprises sending the identification number of the monument to the server.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein querying a database of the server comprises looking up one or more records stored in the database related to the identification number of the monument;

and

wherein receiving information from the server based on the query to the database comprises receiving the one or more records related to the identification number of the monument.

26. The method of claim 19, further comprising sending a second signal to the server and updating the database of the server based on the second signal sent to the server.

27. The method of claim 19, further comprising sending a second signal to the electronic tag of the monument;

and

storing information on the electronic tag of the monument based on the second signal sent to the electronic tag.

28. The method of claim 19, further comprising placing the monument in a desired location and storing information on the electronic tag prior to perceiving the magnetic field emitted by the magnet of the monument.

29. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

placing a second monument in a desired location; and

storing information on the second monument;

wherein, the desired location is related to or determined relative to the location of or information unique to the first monument.