Marking apparatus and methods for creating an electronic record of marking apparatus operations

• US 8,478,523 B2
• Filed: 02/02/2009
• Issued: 07/02/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/13/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Certusview Technologies LLC (Dycom Industries Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Certusview Technologies LLC (Dycom Industries Incorporated)
• Inventors: Nielsen, Steven E., Chambers, Curtis, Farr, Jeffrey, Conner, Mark A., Vazquez, Rene A.
• Primary Examiner(s): O'Connor, Gerald J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): WOODS, TERESA S
• Application Number:
  US12/364,359
• Publication Number:
  US 20090210098A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,611 Days
• Field of Search: 701200-213, 702/187, 340/539.1, 340/988, 116200-211, 324/326, 324/329, 427/137
• US Class Current: 701/468
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 15/02 Means for marking measuring points
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/14 specially adapted for specific applications

Abstract

A marking system may hold a container from which markers are dispensed to mark the presence or absence of an underground facility in a dig area. The container may identify a marker characteristic regarding the markers in the container. The marking system may receive activation of a trigger, dispense a marker from the container when the trigger is activated, and store the marker characteristic and time data when the trigger is activated. In other embodiments, the marking system may dispense a marker, determine location data and/or time data, and substantially simultaneously trigger the dispensing of the marker and logging of the location data and/or the time data. The location data identifies a geographic location where the marker is dispensed and the time data identifies the time when the marker is dispensed.

Claims

1. A marking apparatus to mark a presence or an absence of an underground facility in a dig area, the marking apparatus comprising:

a housing including a handle, the housing configured to enable dispensing of a marker onto the ground for marking the presence or the absence of the underground facility in the dig area;

a marker dispenser holder affixed to the housing to hold a replaceable marker dispenser;

an actuator coupled to the housing, the actuator configured to enable a user to cause dispensing of the marker from the marking dispenser onto the ground to mark the presence or absence of an underground facility in the dig area; and

a processing device coupled to the housing, the processing device configured to log one or more data elements associated with operation of the marking apparatus in an electronic record of marking apparatus operation;

a clock generator to generate a current date and time;

a tag reader to read tag information from a tag associated with the marker dispenser; and

a location tracking system to determine geographical coordinates of the marker,

wherein the processing device logs the current date and time, the tag information and the geographical coordinates of the marker in the electronic record of marking apparatus operation.

2. A marking apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the processing device logs a count of user activations of the marker dispenser in the electronic record of marking apparatus operation.

3. A marking apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the processing device logs an elapsed time of user activation of the marker dispenser in the electronic record of marking apparatus operation.

4. A marking apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising a wireless communication system to transmit selected information from the electronic record of marking apparatus operation to a remote device.

5. A marking apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising a wireless communication system to receive information associated with marking apparatus operation from a remote device.

6. A marking apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising an I/O port to transfer information associated with marking apparatus operation to and from a host device.

7. A marking apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising a local memory, wherein the electronic record of marking apparatus operation is stored in the local memory.

8. A marking apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising a user interface to enable user control of the marking apparatus.

9. A marking apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein the processing device is configured to display selected information from the electronic record of marking apparatus operation on the user interface.

10. A marking apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the processing device is configured to log one or more data elements in the electronic record of marking apparatus operation in response to user activation of the marker dispenser.

11. A marking apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the tag information includes one or more data elements including a marker type, a marker color and a marker shape.

12. A marking apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising a weight sensor to sense a weight of the marking dispenser, wherein the processing device logs the weight of the marker dispenser in the electronic record of marking apparatus operation.

13. A marking apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the tag reader comprises one of a bar code reader, a radio frequency identification reader and a near field communication reader.

14. A marking apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the location tracking system comprises one of a global positioning system device and a global navigation satellite system device.

15. A marking apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the electronic record includes at least one entry representative of a marking operation in which the marker is dispensed from the marker dispenser onto the ground in the dig area.

16. A marking apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the processing device logs the geographic coordinates of the marker in the electronic record when the marker is being dispensed from the marker dispenser onto the ground in the dig area.

17. A marking apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the electronic record includes one or more entries, each of the entries having one or more data fields.

18. A method for operating a marking apparatus that holds a marking dispenser for marking a presence or an absence of an underground facility in a dig area, the method comprising:

positioning, via a handle disposed on a housing of the marking apparatus, the marking apparatus for a marking operation;

operating the marking apparatus in association with dispensing a marker from the marker dispenser onto the ground in the dig area to mark the presence or the absence of the underground facility;

logging, using a processing device coupled to the housing of the marking apparatus, one or more data elements associated with the operation of the marking apparatus in an electronic record of marking apparatus operation;

generating a current date and time;

reading tag information from a tag associated with the marker dispenser;

determining geographical coordinates of the marker; and

logging the current date and time, the tag information and the geographical coordinates of the marker in the electronic record of marking apparatus operation.

19. A method for operating a marking apparatus as defined in claim 18, further comprising logging a count of user activations of the marker dispenser in the electronic record of marking apparatus operation.

20. A method for operating a marking apparatus as defined in claim 18, further comprising logging an elapsed time of user activation of the marker dispenser in the electronic record of marking apparatus operation.

21. A method for operating a marking apparatus as defined in claim 18, further comprising transmitting selected information from the electronic record of marking apparatus operation to a remote device using a wireless communication system.

22. A method for operating a marking apparatus as defined in claim 18, further comprising receiving information associated with marking apparatus operation from a remote device using a wireless communication system.

23. A method for operating a marking apparatus as defined in claim 18, further comprising transferring information associated with marking apparatus operation to or from a host device using an I/O port of the marking apparatus.

24. A method for operating a marking apparatus as defined in claim 18, further comprising storing the electronic record of marking apparatus operation in a local memory of the marking apparatus.

25. A method for operating a marking apparatus as defined in claim 18, further comprising receiving user inputs through a user interface of the marking apparatus.

26. A method for operating a marking apparatus as defined in claim 18, wherein logging one or more data elements in the electronic record of marking apparatus operation is performed in response to user activation of the marker dispenser.

27. A method for operating a marking apparatus as defined in claim 18, wherein logging the tag information includes logging one or more data elements including a marker type, a marker color and a marker shape.

28. A method for operating a marking apparatus as defined in claim 18, further comprising displaying selected information from the electronic record of marking apparatus operation.

29. A method for operating a marking apparatus as defined in claim 18, further comprising sensing a weight of the marking dispenser and logging the weight in the electronic record of marking apparatus operation.

30. A method for operating a marking apparatus as defined in claim 18, wherein reading tag information from a tag comprises reading tag information from one of a bar code, a radio frequency identification device and a near field communication device.

31. A method for operating a marking apparatus as defined in claim 18, wherein determining geographical coordinates of the marker comprises determining geographical coordinates with one of a global positioning system device and a global navigation satellite system device.

32. A method for operating a marking apparatus as defined in claim 18, wherein the electronic record includes at least one entry representative of a marking operation in which the marker is dispensed from the marker dispenser onto the ground in the dig area.

33. A method for operating a marking apparatus as defined in claim 18, wherein the geographical coordinates of the marker are logged in the electronic record when the marker is being dispensed from the marker dispenser onto the ground in the dig area.

34. A method for operating a marking apparatus as defined in claim 18, wherein the electronic record includes one or more entries, each of the entries having one or more data fields.