Utility locator systems and methods

• US 9,703,002 B1
• Filed: 01/13/2014
• Issued: 07/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Seescan, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Seescan, Inc.
• Inventors: Olsson, Mark S., Coduti, Anthony L., Martin, Michael J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gregory, Bernarr
• Application Number:
  US14/154,128
• Time in Patent Office: 1,275 Days
• Field of Search: 342 21, 342 22, 342 27, 342 28, 342175-197, 324326-345, 324200, 324219, 324220, 324225, 701400, 701408
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 3/08 operating with magnetic or electric fields produced or modified by objects or geological structures or by detecting devices with electromagnetic waves G01V3/12
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 3/081 the magnetic field is produced by the objects or geological structures characterised by the method of magnetic field measurement G01R33/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 3/10 using induction coils
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 3/12 operating with electromagnetic waves operating with millimetre waves G01V8/005
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 3/36 Recording data G01V3/34 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/613 Cooling or keeping cold
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/643 Cylindrical cells
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/6557 arranged between the cells
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/6562 with free flow by convection only
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/6563 with forced flow, e.g. by blowers
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/213 adapted for cells having curved cross-section, e.g. round or elliptic H01M50/209, H01M50/216 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/284 with incorporated circuit boards, e.g. printed circuit boards [PCB]
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/509 characterised by the type of connection, e.g. mixed connections
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/51 Connection only in series
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 50/512 Connection only in parallel
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

Utility locators for determining information associated with a buried utility are disclosed. The utility locator includes magnetic field antenna elements and processing circuits to determine information associated with a buried utility based at least in part on received magnetic field signals emitted from the buried object. The locator may include one or more modules to receive map information and/or annotate reference objects with the map information on a display of the locator.

Claims

1. A utility locator, comprising;

an antenna element to receive the magnetic field component of electromagnetic field signals from a buried utility in a locate area, the antenna element including a gradient antenna node comprising a plurality of orthogonally positioned air coils;

a signal processing circuit coupled to an output of the antenna element to determine information associated with the buried utility based at least in part on the received magnetic field signals; and

a map data receiver module for receiving map information at the locator, the map information including data corresponding to characteristics of a locate site downloaded from an external source to the map data receiver module for combination with the information associated with the buried utility so as to render the combined information on a display of the locator.

2. The locator of claim 1, wherein the downloaded data corresponds to reference objects in the locate area and the reference objects are annotated with the map information on the display.

3. The locator of claim 1, further comprising a module for adding the information associated with the buried utility to a geographical information system (GIS) database.

4. The locator of claim 3, wherein the information associated with the buried utility includes utility position data.

5. The locator of claim 1, further comprising a module for adding the information associated with the buried utility to a geographical information system (GIS) database.

6. The locator of claim 1, further comprising an optical navigation module including a camera and electronic circuitry to process successive images from the camera to cross-correlate information from the successive images to determine information associated with movement of the locator.

7. A method of acquiring utility information in a buried utility locator, comprising:

receiving magnetic field signals from a buried utility;

determining information associated with the buried utility based at least in part on the received magnetic field signals;

receiving map information at the locator, the map information including data corresponding to characteristics of a locate site downloaded from an external source for combination with the information associated with the buried utility so as to render the combined information on a display of the locator; and

storing the map information in a non-transitory memory of the locator.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising displaying the combined map information and the information associated with the buried utility on the display of the locator.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the information associated with the buried utility includes utility position data.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the utility position data includes geographical coordinates determined by a positional module operatively coupled to the locator.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the utility position data includes a depth estimate of the utility determined by the locator based on the received magnetic field signals.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the combined information associated with the buried utility and the map information are provided from the locator to an external computing system.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the downloaded data corresponds to reference objects in the locate area.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the reference objects are annotated with the map information on the display.