Patent Application
20250154791
This disclosure relates to ground stakes for displaying tags and a tag system.
Ground stakes have been used for a variety of purposes, in many cases to hold a rope or similar item in place or as general marker, for example, as point in a land survey. However, ground stakes have typically be designed without additional features and often consist solely of a wood or metal spike-shaped member that is driven in the ground with a hammer, for example, a sledge hammer. The inventors have developed readily installed ground stakes that can be placed at a predetermined ground depth easily and that provides an angled face plate at a top end of the stake for a QR code or similar tag to be easily read by a scanner or camera, for example, a camera in a smart phone.
In one aspect, the arrangement is directed to a ground stake and tag system, wherein the ground stake includes depth and installation tabs that are both used to drive the ground stake into a ground location and to provide a uniform depth for the ground stake.
In another aspect, the arrangement is a ground stake comprising: an elongate body, a face plate at a top end of the elongate body, a first depth and installation tab projecting both sidewardly and forwardly from a first side of the elongate boy and including a first slot opening upwardly for receiving a tool. A second depth and installation tab projects both sidewardly and forwardly from a second side of the elongate body and including a second slot opening upwardly for receiving a took, and a tip at a bottom end of the elongate body for penetrating ground.
Another aspect is directed to a tag system including a ground stake, and further including a first web server connected to a local network, and a smart phone or tablet for scanning a QR code from the ground stake and linking to the first web server via the local network. The first web server determines a specific web page from the QR code and directs the smart phone or tablet to the specific web page.
A first or left depth and installation tab 36 projects outwardly from the first bent edge 30. An opposing corresponding second or right depth and installation tab 38 projects outwardly from the second bent edge 32. The first depth and installation tab 36 is in a same plane as the first bent edge 30. The second depth and installation tab 38 is in the same plane as the send bent edge 32. The first depth and installation tab 36 includes an upwardly opening first or left slot 40 and the second depth and installation tab 38 includes an upwardly opening second or right slot 42 as shown in
The ground stake 20 further includes a tip 44 at the bottom end of the ground stake 20 for insertion in the ground. The tip 44 is triangular shaped as shown in
The first slot 40 and the second slot 42 are aligned with each other transverse to a length of the planar elongate body 26. Thus, when the ground stake 20 is oriented vertically, the openings of the slots 40, 42 are oriented along or to form a horizontal path. The first and second slots 40, 42 are angled and sized to open in an upwardly oriented position for receiving a square nose shovel, square shovel, spade shovel or other tool. Even a round shovel is capable of simultaneously fitting into the first slot 40 and the second slot 42 depending on a size of the shovel head. Finally, a specialized tool having a handle and an opposing end with an edge that simultaneously fits in both of the first and second slots 40, 42, and avoids contact with a top end of the ground stake 20, is contemplated.
In operation, the first and second depth and installation tabs 36, 38 are spaced so that a square nose shovel can be received simultaneously in both of the depth and installation tabs 36, 38 and downward force applied to drive or move the ground stake 20 into earth or ground. In use, the ground stakes 20 are driven downward by an application of force by a foot of an installer applied to a top of a shovel head until a bottom end of the shovel and the first and second depth and installation tabs 36, 38 are flush or close to flush with the earth. Thus, besides providing an arrangement to receive a shovel or tool that allows the ground stake 20 to be driven into the ground, the first and second depth and installation tabs 36, 38 act as a marker so that each of the ground stakes 20 penetrates into the ground approximately the same distance or to the same depth. In that way, the ground stakes 20 have a uniform appearance in a cemetery or other location as the ground stakes 20 penetrate or are driven into the ground at essentially the same distance for each stake.
In operation, a user located near the ground stake 20 uses a tablet or smart phone 120 (sometimes referred to as an electronic user device) having a display 124 and a camera to scan an image of the QR code 110 disposed on the face plate 22. The smart phone 120 uses information in the QR code to link via a local network 126 to a web browser on a first web server 128 having a database with a list of deceased individuals corresponding to the QR code 110. The first web server 128 provides a selectable list of deceased individuals for the display 124 of the smart phone 120. Then, when a selection from the selectable list is made by a user of the smart phone 120, the first web server 128 transfers the web browser of smart phone 120 via the internet 132 to the second web server 136 hosting the “Find a Grave” website and obtains the information for the selected deceased individual therefrom. In an arrangement, the selection list corresponds to individual URLs on the “Find a Grave” ™ website. In one arrangement, the group of deceased individuals are life partners sharing a grave marker.
In another operation, individual ground stakes 20 are provided for individual graves. In this situation, a user device scans the QR code 110 at the top of the ground stake 20 and opens a web browser on the web server 128 pointing to the web address embedded in the QR code. The web address includes a transmission protocol, such as https://, a domain of the website hosted on the first web server 128, and additional parameters that will be interpreted by the web server 128 to point to a specific web page.
The first web server 128 hosting the web site at that address loads the web site's default page, passing it the parameters, which may include a project number, and a specific tag, although other parameters are contemplated.
The code of the default web page reads those parameters, and the first web server 128 hosting a first web browser executes logic based on them, either to determine or look up an entry in a database which may contain another URL to redirect the user device to, or to construct a redirect URL based on predefined rules without needing to look for a database entry.
If a redirect URL was found for the specific parameters, the QR code will cause the first web browser to redirect to a second web server 136 to open to that specific web page, such as the “Find a Grave” website hosted on the second web server 136 that includes the webpage of the deceased individual. The process happens so quickly that the user does not know that a first web server 128 directed the display 124 of the tablet or smart phone 120 to the second web server 136.
If there was not a specific redirect entry found in the database based on the supplied parameters, a default re-direct is used. In a first example above, the default page on a web browser hosted on the first web server 128 was the selection list of two or more deceased individuals corresponding to the QR code 110. Thereafter the user must input a selection from a selection list on a touch screen of the smart phone 120 to select one of the deceased individuals. In response to the selection, the first web server 128 redirects the smart phone 120 of the user to display the information for the deceased person from a web browser hosted by the second web server 136, such as “Find a Grave”™.
While disclosed above as using the tag system 100 to obtain information regarding a deceased person at grave sites, other arrangements are contemplated. For instance, the tag system 100 can be provided to obtain information regarding various outdoor views using ground stakes 20 with QR codes 110 disposed in national and local parks. The tag system 100 can be arranged to provide information regarding various animals and plants using ground stakes 20 having QR codes 110 that are disposed in zoos and botanical gardens. Many other uses are contemplated.
A local network 126, and an internet 132 are shown as separate elements in
Moreover, in this document, relational terms such as first and second, top and bottom, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “has,” “having,” “includes,” “including,” “contains,” “containing,” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises, has, includes, contains a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element proceeded by “comprises . . . a,” “has . . . a,” “includes . . . a,” “contains . . . a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises, has, includes, contains the element. Unless the context of their usage unambiguously indicates otherwise, the articles “a,” “an,” and “the” should not be interpreted as meaning “one” or “only one.” Rather these articles should be interpreted as meaning “at least one” or “one or more.” Likewise, when the terms “the” or “said” are used to refer to a noun previously introduced by the indefinite article “a” or “an,” “the” and “said” mean “at least one” or “one or more” unless the usage unambiguously indicates otherwise.
The terms “coupled,” “coupling” or “connected” as used herein can have several different meanings depending on the context in which these terms are used. For example, the terms coupled, coupling, or connected can have a mechanical or electrical connotation. For example, as used herein, the terms coupled, coupling, or connected can indicate that two elements or devices are directly connected to one another or connected to one another through intermediate elements or devices via an electrical element, electrical signal or a mechanical element depending on the particular context.
Although certain arrangements, examples, features, and aspects have been described and illustrated, variations and modifications exist within the scope and spirit of the subject matter explained and shown.
