Apparatus and method for marking a surface
First Claim
1. In an apparatus for marking a surface that a transport vehicle will travel on, the combination comprising:
- A. a surface marking mechanism supporting a material dispenser, said surface marking mechanism includingmeans for securing said surface marking mechanism to a transport vehicle,means for moving said material dispenser relative to a plane which is substantially parallel to said surface,means for moving said material dispenser along a z-axis which is generally orthogonal to said surface,means for rotating said material dispenser around a w-axis which is substantially normal to said surface, andmeans for tilting at least a portion of said material dispenser angularly with respect to said w-axis so that it will dispense a material on said surface with a predetermined distribution between an extended perimeter region and a contracted perimeter region; and
B. a controller which generates control signals that are conveyed to said surface marking mechanism so that said surface marking mechanism generates a predetermined pattern on said surface, certain of said control signals providing the directions necessary to cause tilting of said material dispenser between a surface proximate material dispenser position and a surface distal material dispenser position and to cause a first amount of material to be dispensed at said extended perimeter region and a second amount of material, less than said first amount of material, to be dispensed at said contracted perimeter region.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for marking a surface with a predetermined pattern is described. The apparatus includes a surface marking mechanism that supports a material dispenser. The material dispenser is manipulated along a number of axes including an x-axis, a y-axis, and a z-axis. In addition, the material dispenser is manipulated to rotate around a w-axis and to form a tilt angle with the w-axis. The surface marking mechanism includes movement devices for initial positioning of the mechanism and for re-positioning the mechanism to complete a selected pattern that does not fit within the border of the mechanism. The surface marking mechanism is responsive to control signals from a controller. The control signals are derived from a mathematical model characterizing the spatial relationship between the predetermined pattern, the material dispenser, and the surface to be marked.
154 Citations
48 Claims
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1. In an apparatus for marking a surface that a transport vehicle will travel on, the combination comprising:
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A. a surface marking mechanism supporting a material dispenser, said surface marking mechanism including means for securing said surface marking mechanism to a transport vehicle, means for moving said material dispenser relative to a plane which is substantially parallel to said surface, means for moving said material dispenser along a z-axis which is generally orthogonal to said surface, means for rotating said material dispenser around a w-axis which is substantially normal to said surface, and means for tilting at least a portion of said material dispenser angularly with respect to said w-axis so that it will dispense a material on said surface with a predetermined distribution between an extended perimeter region and a contracted perimeter region; and B. a controller which generates control signals that are conveyed to said surface marking mechanism so that said surface marking mechanism generates a predetermined pattern on said surface, certain of said control signals providing the directions necessary to cause tilting of said material dispenser between a surface proximate material dispenser position and a surface distal material dispenser position and to cause a first amount of material to be dispensed at said extended perimeter region and a second amount of material, less than said first amount of material, to be dispensed at said contracted perimeter region. - 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 method of applying a predetermined pattern to a surface on which a transport vehicle will travel, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a surface marking mechanism with an attachment device for connection to a transport vehicle; applying a set of machine control instructions to said surface marking mechanism, said set of machine control instructions including a sequence of x-axis control signals, y-axis control signals, z-axis control signals, tilt control signals, and w-axis control signals for positioning a material dispenser supported by said surface marking mechanism; positioning said material dispenser at a sequence of x-axis positions in response to said x-axis control signals; placing said material dispenser at a sequence of y-axis positions in response to said y-axis control signals; elevating said material dispenser at a sequence of z-axis positions in response to said z-axis control signals; revolving said material dispenser at a sequence of w-axis positions in response to said w-axis control signals; tilting, in response to said tilt control signals, at least a portion of said material dispenser at a sequence of tilt positions so that said material dispenser forms an angle with said w-axis, said tilting step including the step of tilting said material dispenser to dispense said material with a predetermined distribution between an extended perimeter region of said surface and a contracted perimeter region of said surface, said tilting step further including the step of tilting said dispensing head to form a surface proximate dispensing head position and a surface distal dispensing head position, said surface proximate dispensing head position resulting in a first amount of material being applied to said extended perimeter region and said surface distal dispensing head position resulting in a second amount of material, less than said first amount of material, being applied to said contracted perimeter region; and dispensing a material at said sequence of x-axis position, y-axis positions, z-axis positions, tilt positions, and w-axis positions from a dispensing head on said material dispenser, so as to form said predetermined pattern on said surface. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method of applying a predetermined pattern to a surface, said method comprising the steps of:
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generating a set of machine control instructions for a surface marking apparatus supporting a flowable material dispenser, said generating step including the steps of; defining a mathematical model characterizing the spatial relationship between said material dispenser, said surface, and said predetermined pattern, and deriving said machine control instructions from said mathematical model, said machine control instructions including x-axis control signals, y-axis control signals, z-axis control signals, tilt control signals, and w-axis control signals; and dispensing a flowable material from said flowable material dispenser in response to said x-axis control signals, said y-axis control signals, said z-axis control signals, and said w-axis control signals to form said predetermined pattern, wherein said defining step includes the step of defining a bisecting path for said predetermined pattern, said x-axis control signals and said y-axis control signals being derived from coordinates corresponding to said bisecting path. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31)
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32. In an apparatus for marking a surface, the combination comprising:
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a surface marking mechanism supporting a material dispenser, said surface marking mechanism including means for securing said surface marking mechanism to a transport vehicle, means for manipulating said material dispenser relative to a plane substantially parallel to said surface, means for moving said material dispenser along a z-axis generally orthogonal to said surface, and means for rotating said material dispenser around a w-axis substantially normal to said surface; and a controller which generates control signals, which are conveyed to said surface marking mechanism, to cause said surface marking mechanism to generate a predetermined pattern on said surface, said predetermined pattern being selected from a pattern library stored in a memory device of said controller, which pattern library includes a plurality of patterns, each of which has a corresponding set of execution instructions that result in said control signals. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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Specification