Claims
- 1. A system for electronically developing a bore plan of a bore site for use in connection with an underground boring system, comprising
means for providing topographical information representative of topography of the bore site; means for providing bore path information representative of an intended bore path for the bore site, the bore path information comprising at least two target points through which the intended bore path is to pass, the at least two target points comprising an entry point and an exit point, each of the target points defined by at least a distance value, lateral value, and a depth value; and means for generating bore plan data using the topographical and bore path information, the bore plan data comprising data representative of an intended bore defined generally along the intended bore path and with respect to the representative topography of the bore site.
- 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the generated bore plan data further comprises an indication of an entry location at which the intended bore path enters the ground, and an exit location at which the intended bore path exits the ground.
- 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein one or more of the target points are further defined by one or both of a pitch value and an azimuth value.
- 4. The system according to claim 1, wherein one or both of the means for providing topographical information and the means for providing bore path information comprises means for manually providing the topographical information and the bore path information.
- 5. The system according to claim 1, further comprising means for providing elevation information, wherein the generating means further comprises means for generating the bore plan data using the topographical, bore path, and the elevation information.
- 6. The system according to claim 1, further comprising means for modifying one or more of the target points, and means for generating modified bore plan data using the one or more modified target points.
- 7. The system according to claim 1, further comprising means for displaying all or selected elements of the generated bore plan data.
- 8. A system for electronically developing a bore plan of a bore site for use in connection with an underground boring system, comprising means for providing topographical information representative of topography of the bore site;
means for providing utility information representative of one or more utilities situated at the bore site; means for providing bore path information representative of an intended bore path for the bore site, the bore path information comprising a plurality of target points through which the intended bore path is to pass, each of the target points defined by at least a distance value, lateral value, and a depth value; and means for generating bore plan data using the topographical, utility, and bore path information, the bore plan data comprising data representative of an intended bore.
- 9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the generated bore plan data comprises only two target points.
- 10. The system according to claim 8, wherein the generated bore plan data further comprises an indication of an entry location at which the intended bore path enters the ground, and an exit location at which the intended bore path exits the ground.
- 11. The system according to claim 8, wherein one or more of the plurality of target points is further defined by one or both of a pitch value and an azimuth value.
- 12. The system according to claim 8, wherein the means for providing one or more of the topographical, utility, and bore path information comprises means for manually providing one or more of the topographical, utility, and bore path information.
- 13. The system according to claim 8, further comprising means for modifying one or more of the plurality of target points, and means for generating modified bore plan data using the modified target points.
- 14. The system according to claim 8, further comprising means for displaying all or selected elements of the generated bore plan data.
- 15. A system for electronically developing a bore plan of a bore site for use in connection with an underground boring system, comprising
means for providing topographical information representative of topography of the bore site; means for providing bore path information representative of an intended bore path for the bore site, the bore path information comprising a plurality of target points through which the intended bore path is to pass; means for providing information defining one or more mechanical properties of the boring system; and means for generating, using the topographical and bore path information, bore plan data that ensures that limitations associated with the mechanical properties are not violated.
- 16. The system according to claim 15, wherein the mechanical properties of the boring system comprise one or both of drill rod diameter and drill rod length.
- 17. The system according to claim 15, wherein the mechanical properties of the boring system comprise one or both of product diameter and product length.
- 18. The system according to claim 15, wherein the mechanical properties of the boring system comprise maximum allowable bend radius of a drill string of the boring system.
- 19. The system according to claim 15, wherein the mechanical properties of the boring system comprise maximum allowable bend radius of product to be installed at the bore site.
- 20. The system according to claim 15, wherein the mechanical properties of the boring system comprise one or more performance properties of a drilling machine of the boring system.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/115,880, filed Jan. 13,1999, and is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 10/409,509, filed Apr. 8, 2003, to issue as U.S. Pat. No. 6,749,029 on Jun. 15, 2004, which is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 10/121,457, filed Apr. 12, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,577,954, which is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 09/482,288, filed Jan. 13, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,389,360 issued May 14, 2002, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their respective entireties.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60115880 |
Jan 1999 |
US |
Divisions (3)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10409509 |
Apr 2003 |
US |
Child |
10868491 |
Jun 2004 |
US |
Parent |
10121457 |
Apr 2002 |
US |
Child |
10409509 |
Apr 2003 |
US |
Parent |
09482288 |
Jan 2000 |
US |
Child |
10121457 |
Apr 2002 |
US |