Methods, apparatus, and systems for providing an enhanced positive response in underground facility locate and marking operations
First Claim
1. An apparatus for providing information regarding a locate and/or marking operation, the apparatus comprising:
- a communication interface;
a memory to store processor-executable instructions; and
a processing unit communicatively coupled to the communication interface and the memory, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the processing unit, the processing unit;
controls the communication interface to receive input indicating that a locate and/or marking operation is complete, the locate and/or marking operation comprising detecting and/or marking by a locate technician, in response to at least one locate request ticket, a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities; and
based on the input indicating that the locate and/or marking operation is complete, further controls the communication interface and/or the memory to electronically transmit and/or electronically store performance information concerning the locate and/or marking operation, the performance information including at least one of the following;
time-stamp information to provide proof of a time at which the locate and/or marking operation was completed by the locate technician at a geographic location specified on the locate request ticket and corresponding to the dig area; and
place-stamp information to provide proof of a presence of the locate technician sufficiently proximate to or at the geographic location specified on the locate request ticket and corresponding to the dig area.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A positive response notification to provide information regarding locate and/or marking operations for underground facilities may include time-stamp information to provide proof of a time at which the locate and/or marking operation was completed by a locate technician, and/or place-stamp information to provide proof of a presence of the locate technician at or near a work site. An electronic manifest image and/or a virtual white line image similarly may be included in a positive response notification. In one example, such images may be bundled together based on respective descriptor files (or descriptor metadata) that associates the corresponding images with a locate request ticket for the operation. In another example, a positive response notification may include environmental information regarding one or more environmental conditions present at or near the work site during the locate and/or marking operation.
328 Citations
35 Claims
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1. An apparatus for providing information regarding a locate and/or marking operation, the apparatus comprising:
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a communication interface; a memory to store processor-executable instructions; and a processing unit communicatively coupled to the communication interface and the memory, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the processing unit, the processing unit; controls the communication interface to receive input indicating that a locate and/or marking operation is complete, the locate and/or marking operation comprising detecting and/or marking by a locate technician, in response to at least one locate request ticket, a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities; and based on the input indicating that the locate and/or marking operation is complete, further controls the communication interface and/or the memory to electronically transmit and/or electronically store performance information concerning the locate and/or marking operation, the performance information including at least one of the following; time-stamp information to provide proof of a time at which the locate and/or marking operation was completed by the locate technician at a geographic location specified on the locate request ticket and corresponding to the dig area; and place-stamp information to provide proof of a presence of the locate technician sufficiently proximate to or at the geographic location specified on the locate request ticket and corresponding to the dig area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A computer-implemented method for providing information regarding a locate and/or marking operation, the method comprising:
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A) receiving input indicating that a locate and/or marking operation is complete, the locate and/or marking operation comprising detecting and/or marking by a locate technician, in response to at least one locate request ticket, a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities; and B) based on the input indicating that the locate and/or marking operation is complete, electronically transmitting and/or electronically storing performance information concerning the locate and/or marking operation, the performance information including at least one of the following; time-stamp information to provide proof of a time at which the locate and/or marking operation was completed by the locate technician at a geographic location specified on the locate request ticket and corresponding to the dig area; and place-stamp information to provide proof of a presence of the locate technician sufficiently proximate to or at the geographic location specified on the locate request ticket and corresponding to the dig area. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. At least one non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executed on at least one processing unit, perform a method for providing information regarding a locate and/or marking operation, the method comprising:
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A) receiving input indicating that a locate and/or marking operation is complete, the locate and/or marking operation comprising detecting and/or marking by a locate technician, in response to at least one locate request ticket, a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities; and B) based on the input indicating that the locate and/or marking operation is complete, electronically transmitting and/or electronically storing performance information concerning the locate and/or marking operation, the performance information including at least one of the following; time-stamp information to provide proof of a time at which the locate and/or marking operation was completed by the locate technician at a geographic location specified on the locate request ticket and corresponding to the dig area; and place-stamp information to provide proof of a presence of the locate technician sufficiently proximate to or at the geographic location specified on the locate request ticket and corresponding to the dig area.
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Specification