The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 25, 2003
Filed:
Jun. 22, 2001
Joe T. Minarovic, Georgetown, TX (US);
Other;
Abstract
A buried closure guard has an electronic transponder attached to a flat, perforated carrier sheet constructed of a flexible polymer. Holes in the carrier sheet, which serve to anchor the guard, preferably have an effective diameter of at least about 1½″ to allow typical backfill materials to pass through. By providing a webbed carrier, any protrusion of a digging tool (such as teeth on a backhoe bucket) will catch on one of these holes and pull at the carrier to make it further visible during excavation. The perforated construction of the sheet allows backfill material to settle and pass through the carrier without significantly shifting or bending the carrier. The carrier also makes it easy to manually deploy the transponder, i.e., maintain a proper horizontal orientation of the transponder coil. The transponder can be attached to the carrier sheet in a number of ways, particularly by affixing the transponder to a central portion of the carrier sheet using a mechanical, heat (fusion), or adhesive bond.