III. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention may take physical form in certain parts and arrangement of parts, embodiments of which will be described in detail in this specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and wherein:
FIG. 1 is a top view of a parcel of land having location transmitters placed around its perimeter for transmitting data to a receiver.
FIG. 2 is a side perspective view of a vehicle equipped with a receiver according to one embodiment of this invention.
FIG. 3 is a close up view of one embodiment where a transmitter is positioned on a pylon.
FIG. 4 is perspective view of the inside of the vehicle in FIG. 2 showing how, in one embodiment, the receiver and processing unit may be positioned.
IV. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to the drawings wherein the showings are for purposes of illustrating multiple embodiments of the invention only and not for purposes of limiting the same, FIG. 1 shows a parcel of land 2 to be serviced by the removal or addition of material to the parcel. The parcel of land 2 may be a parking lot (as shown in FIG. 2). The parcel of land 2 may alternatively be a field, lawn, farm acreage, garden or the like. It is anticipated that the parcel of land 2 may include any parcel, on which it is desirable to remove or add material to it in an approximately uniform way. The material may be any material that is to be removed from a parcel of land 2, such as snow, as from a parking lot, or grass to be cut in a field. Alternatively, the material may be any material that is to be deposited on the parcel of land 2, such as rock salt to a parking lot, or fertilizer to a field. In saying that the material may be removed or added in an “approximately uniform way” it is meant that the material may be removed or added by a device 25 (see FIG. 2) having at least one substantially constant measurement that limits the rate at which the device can add or remove the material. For example, the device may be a vehicle equipped with a snowplow. The snowplow may have a given length that engages with the ground surface. The snowplow length may be substantially constant (if it is not changed during use) and this length will limit the rate that snow can be removed. Other examples of devices that remove or add material and that have at least one substantially constant measurement that limits the rate of material removal or addition include: the width of a lawn mower, the flow rate or volume of a spreader, the speed of a snow blower, the capacity of a snow blower. These examples are not intended to limit the types of devices, aspects and measurements that may be used in accordance with the present invention. The measurements may be programmed as input measurements into a processing unit (discussed below) so that the processing unit can estimate a variable for the associated user based, in part, on the input measurements or devices identified by the associated user. Additional input measurements associated with the material, such as the weight per unit area, may also be programmed into the processing unit and used in calculating a variable.
With reference now to FIGS. 1-3, a plurality of location transmitters 5 suitable for identifying and transmitting data about their respective locations may be placed around the perimeter of the parcel 2. In one embodiment, the location transmitters 5 are global positioning transmitters that transmit longitude and latitude data. In other embodiments, the location transmitters 5 may be any type or style of location transmitters having the capability of recognizing and transmitting their relative positions. As noted above, a plurality of location transmitters 5 may be placed at selected points around the perimeter of the parcel 2. Any means for placing the location transmitters 5 around the perimeter of the parcel 2 may be selected with sound engineering judgment. In one embodiment, the location transmitters 5 may be provided with stakes for removably placing the location transmitters 5 in the ground. In another embodiment, shown, the location transmitters 5 may be provided on standard safety cones or pylons 15 which can be placed at locations around the perimeter of the parcel 2. In yet another embodiment, the location transmitters 5 may be placed directly on the ground surface. It is intended that a sufficient number of location transmitters 5 be placed around the perimeter of the parcel 2 to allow for a calculation of the area of the parcel 2 enclosed by the points selected for the location transmitters 5. Thus, it is anticipated that at least three location transmitters 5 will be placed in accordance with the present invention. However, more than three location transmitters 5 may be placed in order to define an area which is a quadrilateral or otherwise non-triangular in shape.
With reference now to FIGS. 1-4, the location transmitters 5 transmit data to at least one receiver 10. In one embodiment, the receiver 10 may be positioned near to the location of the transmitters 5. In another embodiment, the receiver 10 may be positioned remote from the location of the transmitters 5. The receiver 10 may, in one embodiment, be located in or on an associated vehicle 25 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 where the receiver is mounted near the dashboard 21. In another embodiment, the receiver 10 may be located in a dispatch office or other remote location. A processing unit 12 for processing the data received by the receiver 10 from the location transmitters 5 may be provided. In one embodiment, shown, the receiver 10 and processing unit 12 are positioned within a common housing. In another embodiment, the processing unit 12 may be positioned remote from the receiver 10. In yet another embodiment, the receiver 10 and/or processing unit 12 may be within a handheld device. The data that may be transmitted from the location transmitters 5 to the receiver 10 may be location data, including the latitude and longitude of the transmitter. In one embodiment, the location transmitter may be provided with an associated altimeter (not shown) that can measure altitude. For this embodiment, data that may be transmitted to the receiver 10 may also include altitude. In yet another embodiment, the location transmitter 5 may be provided with means for measuring the depth of material, such as, for example, snow, to be removed from the parcel 2. In this embodiment, data that may be transmitted to the receiver 10 may include a depth measurement.
With continuing reference to FIGS. 1-4, after the data has been transmitted to the receiver 10, the processing unit 12 may calculate the area of the parcel 2 based on the location data transmitted by the location transmitters 5. Specifically, the points selected for the location transmitters 5 will define a geographic area. The processing unit 12 may use the distances between the location transmitters 5 to estimate the area of the parcel. Alternatively, each location transmitter 5 may be adapted to measure the distance between itself and the other or selected other location transmitters 5. These inter-distance measurements may be transmitted to the receiver 10 by the location transmitters 5. In this way, the processing unit 12 may not need to calculate the distance between the location transmitters 5 as a means of estimating the area of the parcel 2, these distances will be provided by the location transmitters 5. The processing unit 12 may additionally calculate a variable based on the calculated area of the parcel 2 and one or more input measurements, which are discussed above. The input measurements may relate to aspects of the device or devices 25 to be used in removing or adding material to the parcel 2. The variables that may be calculated by the processing unit 12 may include time, number of passes, volume, weight and cost. Other variables may be calculated depending on the input measurements selected.
Still referring to FIGS. 1-4, exemplary of a calculation of a variable by the processing unit 12, a user may use the processing unit 12 to calculate the time for mowing a lawn based on the area of the parcel 2 as calculated from the location data transmitted by the location transmitters 10, the width of the lawn mower used in mowing the lawn, which may be n input measurement, and the speed of the lawn mower, which may be a second input measurement. In another example, a user may use the processing unit 12 to calculate the weight of salt to put onto a parking lot based on the area of the parcel 2 as calculated from the location data transmitted by the location transmitters 10 and the input measurement of the desired weight per unit area of salt desirable for the application. In a third example, a user may use the processing unit 12 to prepare an estimate of the cost of removing snow from a parking lot based on area of the parcel 2 as calculated from the location data transmitted by the location transmitters 10 and the effective rate of snow removal of the snow removal apparatus, which may be an input measurement and the unit cost of the snow removal apparatus, which may be another input measurement. There may be a variety of input measurements programmed into the processing unit 12. Alternatively, the processing unit 12 may be provided with the capability for inputting additional input measurements.
In areas that are hilly or mountainous, it may be necessary to incorporate altitude data into the computation of the area of the parcel 2 in order to obtain a more accurate estimate of the area of the parcel 2. Alternatively, it may be advantageous to have a measure of the depth of material to be removed from the parcel 2 since the depth of the material may be a non-constant measurement that can affect the calculation of the variable of interest. In particular, the amount of snow that is on a parcel 2 may affect the cost or time for removal. In this case, means for measuring the depth of snow at the location transmitters 5 may be transmitted to the receiver 10 and used by the processing unit 12 to calculate the variable. The processing unit 12 may be associated with an output apparatus for displaying the calculated variable.
As shown in FIG. 1, it may be necessary to exclude one or more void areas 4 in the parcel 2 from the addition or removal of material. Such void areas 4 may include, but are not limited to trees, buildings, and parking lot benns. A void area 4 may be any area in the parcel 2 where it is desirable not to remove or add material or where it is impractical or impossible to remove or add material to such an area. In this situation, location transmitters 5 may be placed around the perimeter of the parcel 2 and around the void areas 4. The processing unit 12 may receive the location data from the location transmitters 4 and calculate a net parcel area by subtracting the sum of the void areas 4 from the parcel area 2. In this way, an associated user will be able to calculate a variable based on the net parcel area.
With reference again to FIGS. 1-4, In one embodiment, a method of the present invention may involve the steps of placing a plurality of location transmitters 5 at selected points around the perimeter of a parcel 2 on which material is to be added or removed. Location transmitters 5 may be placed approximately at the corners of the parcel 2 and at the nadir or apex of any curved perimeter lines or undulations. At least two location transmitters 5 may be placed along each perimeter line and at least three location transmitters 5 may be placed on the perimeter of the parcel 2, though at least four location transmitters 5 may be appropriate for quadrilaterally shaped parcels. More than four location transmitters 5 may be used depending on the desired accuracy of the calculation of the parcel area or the complexity of the perimeter of the parcel 2. Location transmitters 5 may be placed around void areas 4 as described above.
With continuing reference to FIGS. 1-4, after the location transmitters 5 have been placed, data concerning the location of each of the location transmitters 5 may be transmitted to the receiver 10, which may be in a vehicle 25. If the location transmitters 5 are provided with associated altimeters, data concerning elevation may be transmitted to the receiver 10. Data transmitted to the receiver 10 may be communicated to the processing unit 12. The processing unit 12 may calculate the gross area of the parcel 2 based on the location data of the location transmitters 5 placed on the perimeter of the parcel 2. The location transmitters 5 may be provided with a unique marker, such as a digital marker, in order to allow the processing unit 12 to distinguish between the location transmitters 12. The processing unit 12 may calculate the void areas 4 based on the location data of the location transmitters 5 placed on the perimeters of the void areas. The processing unit 12 may calculate the net parcel area by subtracting the void areas 4 from the gross parcel area 12.
Still referring to FIGS. 1-4, the processing unit 12 may be adapted for receiving input measurements or may be programmed with input measurements. The associated user may communicate with the processing unit 12 to have the processing unit 12 calculate a variable based on the calculated net parcel area and the selected input measurements. The variable may be communicated to the associated user by a display or any other means to convey the variable. In this way, an associated user can estimate a variable or a variety of variables on parcels of all size without having to take any manual measurements of the parcel 2 or having to make any manual calculations.
Multiple embodiments have been described, hereinabove. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the above methods and apparatuses may incorporate changes and modifications without departing from the general scope of this invention. It is intended to include all such modifications and alterations in so far as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.
Having thus described the invention, it is now claimed:
Patent Application
20080077300
