LOCATING EQUIPMENT COMMUNICATIVELY COUPLED TO OR EQUIPPED WITH A MOBILE/PORTABLE DEVICE
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- at least one locate/marking device; and
a hand-size mobile or portable computing device communicatively coupled to the at least one locate/marking device.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Locating and/or marking equipment, such as a locate transmitter or locate receiver, a marking device, or a combined locate and marking device, may be communicatively coupled to and/or equipped with a mobile/portable device (e.g., a mobile phone, personal digital assistant or other portable computing device) that provides processing, electronic storage, electronic display, user interface, communication facilities and/or other functionality (e.g., GPS-enabled functionality) for the equipment. A mobile/portable device may be mechanically and/or electronically coupled to the equipment, and may be programmed so as to log and generate electronic records of various information germane to a locate and/or marking operation (e.g., locate information, marking information, and/or landmark information). Such records may be formatted in various manners, processed and/or analyzed on the mobile/portable device, and/or transmitted to another device (e.g., a remote computer/server) for storage, processing and/or analysis. The mobile/portable device also may provide redundant, shared and/or backup functionality for the equipment to enhance robustness.
171 Citations
44 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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at least one locate/marking device; and a hand-size mobile or portable computing device communicatively coupled to the at least one locate/marking device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A system for generating and/or logging electronic information relating to a locate operation and/or a marking operation to detect and/or mark on ground, pavement, or other surface a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility, the system comprising:
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A) at least one of; A1) an actuator to control dispensing of a marking material; A2) at least one receiver antenna to detect a magnetic field from a target object; and A3) at least one input device to provide at least one of locate information, marking information and landmark information; and B) a hand-size mobile or portable computing device including; B1) a memory to store processor-executable instructions; and B2) a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one of the actuator, the at least one receiver antenna, and the at least one input device, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the processor, the processor generates and/or logs the electronic information, based at least in part on at least one of the locate information, the marking information, the landmark information and the detected magnetic field. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A system for generating and/or logging electronic information relating to a marking operation to mark on ground, pavement, or other surface a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility, the system comprising:
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an actuator to generate an actuation signal and cause dispensing of a marking material during the marking operation; at least one input device to provide marking information regarding the marking operation; and a hand-size mobile or portable computing device including; a memory to store processor-executable instructions; and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, the at least one input device, and the actuator, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the processor, the processor generates the electronic information, based at least in part on the marking information provided by the at least one input device, in response to the actuation signal. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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Specification