Trackable dipole devices, methods, and systems
AssigneeSeescan, Inc.
InventorsMark S. Olsson, Jan Soukup, James F. Kleyn
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Location systems and methods for locating paint and other markings on a surface are disclosed. A paint marking stick may include a magnetic field sonde that is actuated in conjunction with dispensing of paint or other markers, where the sonde generates a magnetic field signal in conjunction with dispensing of paint or placement of a marker. A corresponding utility locator may receive the sonde magnetic field dipole signal and determine and store positional information and type information associated with the paint or other marker.
Claims19
A paint marking stick for use with a utility locating and marking system, comprising:
- an elongate paint marking stick body having a proximal end and a distal end;
- a handle coupled at or near the proximal end of the marking stick body;
- a paint dispenser assembly coupled at or near the distal end of the marking stick body for dispensing paint;
- a trackable magnetic field dipole device including a body, a power supply, an alternating current (AC) signal generator, and a magnetic field dipole antenna operatively coupled to the AC signal generator for generating a magnetic field dipole signal at the AC frequency, the dipole device coupled at or near the distal end of the body;
- a mounting device for mounting a smart phone to the trackable magnetic field dipole device, wherein GPS location data and/or other system data collected by the smart phone may be wirelessly transmitted to a remote location, or to a cloud based network;
- an actuator;
- and
- an actuation apparatus operatively coupled to the actuator for deploying paint from the paint dispenser assembly and initiating generation of the magnetic field dipole signal from the trackable dipole device;
- wherein the magnetic field dipole signal is generated in conjunction with deployment of paint from the paint dispenser assembly.
A trackable dipole attachment for use with a paint marking stick in a utility locating and marking system, comprising:
- a body including an attachment mechanism to removably coupled the attachment to the paint marking stick, wherein the body includes one or more wireless communication devices;
- an alternating current (AC) signal generator;
- a magnetic field dipole antenna operatively coupled to an output of the AC signal generator, the dipole antenna positioned at or near the distal end of the body;
- and
- an actuation apparatus for deploying paint from the paint dispenser assembly and initiating generation of a magnetic field dipole signal in conjunction with dispensing of marking paint from the paint stick.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.