Coating processes – Coating pavement or the earth – Striping – marking – or increasing reflectivity
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-01
2001-10-09
Beck, Shrive P. (Department: 1762)
Coating processes
Coating pavement or the earth
Striping, marking, or increasing reflectivity
C427S136000, C427S421100, C404S075000, C404S093000, C342S357490, C342S357490, C342S357490, C701S213000, C701S214000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06299934
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to painting machinery and more particularly to a global positioning system (GPS) controlled marker for depositing marks according to GPS-based locations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Road markings are produced to a great extent with the assistance of so called “road marking” machines which apply paint under pressure from spray nozzle jets onto the road surface. In marking the road it is quite important that the horizontal registration of the paint be accurate with respect to the position of the road. In the past even experienced machine operators have found it difficult to manually guide a road marking machine with sufficient accuracy even where old markings are available. Heretofore, attempts have been made to automatically detect the presence of old markings and to use their detection for automatically guiding the road marking machine and switching the spray nozzle on and off as required. However, such attempts have not been wholly satisfactory because a break in the old marking does not give steering guidance during breaks. Moreover, this approach is of no use whatsoever where the old marks have disappeared or for new markings. Various arrangements have been disclosed for solving these problems by automatically guiding the road marking machine along a pre-determined path using light or electromagnetic beams. However, these arrangements require transmitters to be placed along the road, and in the case of light beams, are degraded by the effect of sunlight. In order to overcome these problems, it has been proposed to embed material that emitting radiation in the path that is to be marked. However, this method suffers from the disadvantage that embedding the radiating material in the road surface can be costly. Furthermore, radiating materials tend to lose their effectiveness after a time period. Similar issues pertain to parking lots, air landing fields, and the like.
For athletic games between teams of individuals it is customary to provide certain markings with chalk, lime, or paint of the various portions of the field on which the game is played. It is common for teams to add drawings for their logos or for advertisers to add picture-like patterns to the fields. Athletics such as American football, soccer, rugby, and baseball, are held on the same field at different times but require different sideline markings as well as different markings within the playing field. Even athletic fields dedicated to one sport need to be re-surveyed and re-marked at intervals. Commonly, a tape measure and a rule book are used for marking such fields. However, this method can be inconvenient and time consuming and the accuracy of the markings will vary from time to time. In order to improve upon this method, many fields have installed permanent pegs or upright markers securely anchored to the ground in surveyed locations that can be used for sighting. However, the large number of markers and pegs for several different game markings can give the field a confused appearance and be hazardous. Furthermore, the uprights and pegs are of limited use for marking team logos or advertisements. The appearance can be improved and the hazard reduced by using removable uprights where only the anchor remains in place, however, this is of no benefit for picture-like patterns.
There is a need for a system for automating the marking of roads and fields that does not require light or electromagnetic beams, embedded materials, or upright sighting markers that is capable of marking lines and picture-like patterns.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system using a standard application program in a computer for generating a data file for a drawing pattern and a global positioning system (GPS) paint sprayer for automatically marking geographical locations accordingly. For a geographical information system (GIS) application program the system of the present invention uses the global positioning system for marking the geographical locations that are generated in the program. For a drawing application program a user uses the program as if he/she is printing on a page. The system of the present invention enables the user to convert the drawing pattern to geographical mark locations and then uses the global positioning system for automatically marking the geographical locations on a surface.
Briefly, in a preferred embodiment, the system of the present invention includes a standard application program and a paint sprayer driver program of the present invention in a standard computer; and a GPS paint sprayer of the present invention having a GPS receiver and a nozzle. The GPS paint sprayer includes a geographical drawing converter for converting an image of a drawing pattern to geographical mark locations and a location comparator for detecting a location match between the geographical mark locations of the drawing pattern and a current geographical location determined by the GPS receiver. Information for the location match is used for opening and closing the nozzle and controlling its position to correct fine location errors; by an autopilot for providing a steering signal for automatically steering the GPS paint sprayer; and by a display for displaying a location error left or right that can be used by an operator. It should be understood that although the present invention is described as a paint spray system, it could equally well be used as a system for depositing marks with other materials than paint, such as chalk, lime, or the like using a GPS controlled marker for that material.
An advantage of the present invention is that a standard drawing or GIS application program can be used with paint sprayer for automatically marking specified geographical locations on a surface for lines or a picture like pattern.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after having read the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments which are illustrated in the various figures.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4219092 (1980-08-01), Richter
patent: 4460127 (1984-07-01), Hofmann
patent: 4832331 (1989-05-01), Brandli
patent: 5220876 (1993-06-01), Monson et al.
patent: 5296256 (1994-03-01), Hartman
patent: 5529433 (1996-06-01), Huynh et al.
patent: 5540516 (1996-07-01), Nicodemo et al.
patent: 5549412 (1996-08-01), Malone
patent: 5653389 (1997-08-01), Henderson et al.
patent: 5746539 (1998-05-01), Mara
patent: 5771169 (1998-06-01), Wendte
patent: 5836398 (1998-11-01), White
patent: 5838277 (1998-11-01), Loomis et al.
patent: 5857066 (1999-01-01), Wyche et al.
patent: 6115481 (2000-09-01), Wiens
Beck Shrive P.
Calcagni Jennifer
Gildea David R.
Trimble Navigation Limited
LandOfFree
Global positioning system controlled paint sprayer does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Global positioning system controlled paint sprayer, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Global positioning system controlled paint sprayer will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2569104