A holistic approach to management and oversight of locate and marking operations is provided. Initial requests to perform such operations are improved, and such requests are intelligently assessed to appropriately allocate resources to perform operations. Technicians are effectively dispatched and may be provided with process guides to facilitate performance. A host of information regarding the performance of locate operations and their environs is acquired (e.g., via improved intelligent instrumentation employed by technicians). A quality of operations (e.g., completeness, accuracy, efficiency) is assessed, corrective actions may be taken in essentially real-time as necessary, and information regarding operations and their quality assessments is archived for auditing purposes. Relevant information is communicated to one or more parties associated with the operations; in particular, requesting parties are apprised of the status of ongoing operations, and given confirmation that operations have been performed and are completed. Requesting parties and/or other interested parties (e.g., excavators, facility owners, locate contractors, municipalities, regulators, auditors, damage investigators, insurance companies, etc.) also may be provided with detailed information regarding the performance of operations and quality assessment of same.

Claims

57 · 3 independent · depth 4

57 granted claims

›1.independentAn apparatus for managing a locate operation performed by a technician, the locate operation comprising identifying, in response to at least one locat…+27

An apparatus for managing a locate operation performed by a technician, the locate operation comprising identifying, in response to at least one locate request ticket, a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area at a work site of excavation activities, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during the excavation activities, the apparatus comprising:na communication interface;a memory to store processor-executable instructions; anda 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:nA) controls the communication interface to electronically receive first ticket information relating to the at least one locate request ticket, the first ticket information including first image data associated with the dig area, wherein the first image data includes at least one of:a marked-up image of a geographic area including the dig area, the marked-up image including at least one dig area indicator to provide an indication of the dig area; andgeographic information derived from or relating to the marked-up image relating to the at least one dig area indicator;B) controls the communication interface to transmit second ticket information to at least one locate personnel device and/or at least one piece of locating equipment used by the technician to perform the locate operation,wherein the second ticket information is derived from the first ticket information;nC) controls the communication interface to receive from the at least one locate personnel device and/or the at least one piece of locating equipment a completed locate request ticket, the completed locate request ticket including second image data and/or non-image data relating to the locate operation as performed by the technician, wherein:i) the at least one locate personnel device and/or the at least one piece of locating equipment includes a locate device and a marking device;ii) the locate operation as performed by the technician comprises:ndetecting the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility within the dig area via the locate device used by the technician; andmarking, by actuating the marking device, the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility within the dig area to place at least one physical locate mark on ground, pavement or other surface within the dig area;(iii) the marking device generates marking information relating to the marking by the technician; and(iv) the completed locate request ticket includes at least some of the marking information generated by the marking device;D) processes the completed locate request ticket so as to provide a quality assessment of the locate operation by comparing the portion of the second image data and/or the non-image data including the at least some of the marking information to reference information so as to provide the quality assessment of the locate operation, and wherein the reference information includes at least one of:nfirst information derived from or relating to one or more facilities maps;second information derived from or relating to one or more previous locate operations; andthird information relating to one or more environmental landmarks in or proximate to the dig area; andE) controls the communication interface and/or the memory to electronically transmit and/or electronically store information relating to the completed locate request ticket and/or the quality assessment so as to provide a searchable electronic record of the locate operation.

›2.↳ 1The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first ticket information includes the at least one locate request ticket.d2

›3.↳ 1The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second ticket information includes the at least one locate request ticket.d2

›4.↳ 1The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second ticket information includes a process guide.d2+3

›8.↳ 1The apparatus of claim 1, wherein in B), the second ticket information includes the first image data.d2

›9.↳ 1The apparatus of claim 1, wherein in A), the processing unit further:nA1) assesses the first ticket information to provide assessment information rela…d2

›10.↳ 1The apparatus of claim 1, wherein in A), the processing unit further:nA1) processes the first ticket information and technician resource information s…d2+2

›13.↳ 1The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising the at least one piece of locating equipment, wherein the at least one piece of locating equipment includ…d2

›14.↳ 1The apparatus of claim 1, wherein in C), the second image data and/or the non-image data of the completed locate request ticket includes information r…d2+3

›18.↳ 1The apparatus of claim 1, wherein in D), the processing unit further:nD1) electronically marks the completed locate request ticket as approved if the …d2

›19.↳ 1The apparatus of claim 1, wherein in E), the processing unit further:nE1) encrypts at least some of the information relating to the completed locate r…d2

›20.↳ 1The apparatus of claim 1, wherein in E), the processing unit further:nE1) controls the communication interface and/or the memory so as to allow access…d2

›21.↳ 1The apparatus of claim 1, wherein in E), the processing unit further:nE1) controls the communication interface and/or the memory so as to allow access…d2

›22.↳ 1The apparatus of claim 1, wherein in E), the processing unit further:nE1) controls the communication interface and/or the memory so as to allow access…d2

›23.↳ 1The apparatus of claim 1, wherein in E), the processing unit further:nE1) controls the communication interface so as to receive one or more search ind…d2

›24.↳ 1The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing unit further controls the communication interface so as to transmit to at least one party associated …d2+2

›27.↳ 1The apparatus of claim 1, wherein in C), the completed locate request ticket includes the non-image data, and wherein the non-image data includes at l…d2

›28.↳ 1The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:nin C), the marking information in the completed locate request ticket includes the non-image data, and the processi…d2

›29.independentA method for managing a locate operation performed by a technician, the locate operation comprising identifying, in response to at least one locate re…+27

A method for managing a locate operation performed by a technician, the locate operation comprising identifying, in response to at least one locate request ticket, a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area at a work site of excavation activities, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during the excavation activities, the method comprising:nA) electronically receiving first ticket information relating to the at least one locate request ticket, the first ticket information including first image data associated with the dig area, wherein the first image data includes at least one of:a marked-up image of a geographic area including the dig area, the marked-up image including at least one dig area indicator to provide an indication of the dig area; andgeographic information derived from or relating to the marked-up image relating to the at least one dig area indicator;B) electronically transmitting second ticket information to at least one locate personnel device and/or at least one piece of locating equipment used by the technician to perform the locate operation, wherein the second ticket information is derived from the first ticket information;C) electronically receiving from the at least one locate personnel device and/or the at least one piece of locating equipment a completed locate request ticket, the completed locate request ticket including second image data and/or non-image data relating to the locate operation as performed by the technician, wherein:i) the at least one locate personnel device and/or the at least one piece of locating equipment includes a locate device and a marking device;ii) the locate operation as performed by the technician comprises:ndetecting the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility within the dig area via the locate device used by the technician; andmarking, by actuating the marking device, the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility within the dig area to place at least one physical locate mark on ground, pavement or other surface within the dig area;(iii) the marking device generates marking information relating to the marking by the technician; and(iv) the completed locate request ticket includes at least some of the marking information generated by the marking device;D) electronically processing the completed locate request ticket so as to provide a quality assessment of the locate operation by comparing the portion of the second image data and/or the non-image data including the at least some of the marking information to reference information so as to provide the quality assessment of the locate operation, and wherein the reference information includes at least one of:first information derived from or relating to one or more facilities maps;second information derived from or relating to one or more previous locate operations; andthird information relating to one or more environmental landmarks in or proximate to the dig area; andE) electronically transmitting and/or electronically storing information relating to the completed locate request ticket and/or the quality assessment so as to provide a searchable electronic record of the locate operation.

›30.↳ 29The method of claim 29, wherein the first ticket information includes the at least one locate request ticket.d2

›31.↳ 29The method of claim 29, wherein the second ticket information includes the at least one locate request ticket.d2

›32.↳ 29The method of claim 29, wherein the second ticket information includes a process guide.d2+3

›36.↳ 29The method of claim 29, wherein in B), the second ticket information includes the first image data.d2

›37.↳ 29The method of claim 29, wherein A) further comprises:nA1) assessing the first ticket information to provide assessment information relating to one or …d2

›38.↳ 29The method of claim 29, wherein A) further comprises:nA1) processing the first ticket information and technician resource information so as to allocat…d2+2

›41.↳ 29The method of claim 29, wherein in C), the completed locate request ticket is electronically received from the at least one piece of locating equipmen…d2

›42.↳ 29The method of claim 29, wherein in C), the completed locatenrequest ticket includes the non-image data, and wherein the non-image data includes at lea…d2

›43.↳ 29The method of claim 29, wherein in C), the completed locate request ticket includes the non-image data, and wherein C) further comprises:nprocessing t…d2

›44.↳ 29The method of claim 29, wherein in C), the second image data and/or the non-image data of the completed locate request ticket includes information rel…d2+3

›48.↳ 29The method of claim 29, wherein D) comprises:nD1) electronically marking the completed locate request ticket as approved if the locate operation repre…d2

›49.↳ 29The method of claim 29, wherein E) further comprises:nE1) encrypting at least some of the information relating to the completed locate request ticket …d2

›50.↳ 29The method of claim 29, wherein E) further comprises:nE1) allowing electronic access to at least some of the information relating to the completed loc…d2

›51.↳ 29The method of claim 29, wherein E) further comprises:nE1) allowing electronic access to at least some of the information relating to the completed loc…d2

›52.↳ 29The method of claim 29, wherein E) further comprises: E1) allowing electronic access to at least some of the information relating to the completed loc…d2

›53.↳ 29The method of claim 29, wherein E) further comprises:nE1) electronically receiving one or more search indicia associated with the locate operation; an…d2

›54.↳ 29The method of claim 29, further comprising:nelectronically transmitting to at least one party associated with requesting the locate operation at least…d2+2

›57.independentAt least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with processor-executable instructions that, when executed on at least one proces…

At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with processor-executable instructions that, when executed on at least one processing unit, perform a method for managing a locate operation performed by a technician, the locate operation comprising identifying, in response to at least one locate request ticket, a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area at a work site of excavation activities, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during the excavation activities, the method comprising:nA) electronically receiving first ticket information relating to the at least one locate request ticket, the first ticket information including first image data associated with the dig area, wherein the first image data includes at least one of:a marked-up image of a geographic area including the dig area, the marked-up image including at least one dig area indicator to provide an indication of the dig area; andgeographic information derived from or relating to the marked-up image relating to the at least one dig area indicator;B) electronically transmitting second ticket information to at least one locate personnel device and/or at least one piece of locating equipment used by the technician to perform the locate operation, wherein the second ticket information is derived from the first ticket information;C) electronically receiving from the at least one locate personnel device and/or the at least one piece of locating equipment a completed locate request ticket, the completed locate request ticket including second image data and/or non-image data relating to the locate operation as performed by the technician, wherein:i) the at least one locate personnel device and/or the at least one piece of locating equipment includes a locate device and a marking device;ii) the locate operation as performed by the technician comprises:ndetecting the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility within the dig area via the locate device used by the technician; andmarking, by actuating the marking device, the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility within the dig area to place at least one physical locate mark on ground, pavement or other surface within the dig area;(iii) the marking device generates marking information relating to the marking by the technician; and(iv) the completed locate request ticket includes at least some of the marking information generated by the marking device;D) electronically processing the completed locate request ticket so as to provide a quality assessment of the locate operation by comparing the portion of the second image data and/or the non-image data including the at least some of the marking information to reference information so as to provide the quality assessment of the locate operation, and wherein the reference information includes at least one of:first information derived from or relating to one or more facilities maps;second information derived from or relating to one or more previous locate operations; andthird information relating to one or more environmental landmarks in or proximate to the dig area; andE) electronically transmitting and/or electronically storing information relating to the completed locate request ticket and/or the quality assessment so as to provide a searchable electronic record of the locate operation.

Classifications

9 codes

IPC · International Patent Classification

Section G — Physics

G01V3/38
G01V3/08
G06Q10/00

USPC · US Patent Classification

705/7.41705/7.39702/5705/7.38324/326705/7.42

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Pendency

4.2 y

1,524 days filing → grant

Office actions

non-final + final

Responses

no RCE

Interviews

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Examiner

Justin M Pats

art unit 3624 · TC 3600

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Citations: 1,014 back · 4 forward

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Priority chain

2 priority documents

Priority

11 Feb 2009

earliest claimed

›Priority documents — 2

Type	Document	Date
provisional	US 61151826	11 Feb 2009
related publication	US 20100228588 A1	9 Sep 2010

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