METHODS AND MARKING DEVICES WITH MECHANISMS FOR INDICATING AND/OR DETECTING MARKING MATERIAL COLOR
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A marking device to mark the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area, comprising:
- a housing configured to enable dispensing of a marking material onto the ground for marking the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area;
a marking dispenser holder affixed to the housing to hold a marking dispenser;
an actuator to cause dispensing of the marking material from the marking dispenser onto the ground to mark the presence or absence of an underground facility in the dig area;
a marking material selector to provide marking material information in response to user selection;
a local memory to store the marking material information from the marking material selector; and
a processing device configured to control logging of the marking material information in the local memory.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and marking devices for indicating and/or detecting a color of marking material used in performance of a marking operation to mark the presence or absence of an underground facility are described. Information about the color of the marking material may optionally be logged or stored by a marking device and/or transmitted to an external device.
312 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A marking device to mark the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area, comprising:
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a housing configured to enable dispensing of a marking material onto the ground for marking the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area; a marking dispenser holder affixed to the housing to hold a marking dispenser; an actuator to cause dispensing of the marking material from the marking dispenser onto the ground to mark the presence or absence of an underground facility in the dig area; a marking material selector to provide marking material information in response to user selection; a local memory to store the marking material information from the marking material selector; and a processing device configured to control logging of the marking material information in the local memory. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A marking device to mark the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area, comprising:
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a housing configured to enable dispensing of a marking material onto the ground for marking the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area; a marking dispenser holder affixed to the housing to hold a marking dispenser; an actuator to cause dispensing of the marking material from the marking dispenser onto the ground to mark the presence or absence of an underground facility in the dig area; a sensor to detect the color of a cap of the marking dispenser and to provide color information based on the detected color; a local memory to store the color information; and a processing device to control logging of the color information in the local memory. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for performing a marking operation for marking the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area using a marking device that holds a marking dispenser, comprising:
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dispensing a marking material from the marking dispenser onto the ground in the dig area to mark the presence or absence of an underground facility, in response to activation of the marking dispenser; generating marking material information in response to a user selection from a marking material selector; and logging the marking material information in a local memory of the marking device.
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20. A method for performing a marking operation for marking the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area using a marking device that holds a marking dispenser, comprising:
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dispensing a marking material from the marking dispenser onto the ground in the dig area to mark the presence or absence of an underground facility, in response to activation of the marking dispenser; detecting a color of a cap of the marking dispenser and providing color information based on the detected color; and logging the color information in a local memory of the marking device.
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21. A marking device to mark the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area, comprising:
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a housing configured to enable dispensing of a marking material onto the ground for marking the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area; a marking dispenser holder affixed to the housing to hold a marking dispenser; an actuator to cause dispensing of the marking material from the marking dispenser onto the ground to mark the presence or absence of an underground facility in the dig area; a marking material selector to provide marking material information in response to user selection; and a communication interface configured to transmit the marking material information from the marking device to an external computing device. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A marking device to mark the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area, comprising:
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a housing configured to enable dispensing of a marking material onto the ground for marking the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area; a marking dispenser holder affixed to the housing to hold a marking dispenser; an actuator to cause dispensing of the marking material from the marking dispenser onto the ground to mark the presence or absence of an underground facility in the dig area; a sensor to detect the color of a cap of the marking dispenser and to provide color information based on the detected color; and a communication interface configured to transmit the color information from the marking device to an external computing device.
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24. A method for performing a marking operation for marking the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area using a marking device that holds a marking dispenser, comprising:
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dispensing a marking material from the marking dispenser onto the ground in the dig area to mark the presence or absence of an underground facility, in response to activation of the marking dispenser; generating marking material information in response to a user selection from a marking material selector; and transmitting the marking material information from the marking device to an external device via a communication interface.
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25. A method for performing a marking operation for marking the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area using a marking device that holds a marking dispenser, comprising:
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dispensing a marking material from the marking dispenser onto the ground in the dig area to mark the presence or absence of an underground facility, in response to activation of the marking dispenser; detecting a color of a cap of the marking dispenser and providing color information based on the detected color; and transmitting the color information from the marking device to an external device via a communication interface.
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Specification