Apparatus and Method for Identifying Equipment

Abstract

An apparatus and method for locating building equipment such as HVAC systems, electrical lines, gas lines, water lines, IT lines and the like which is located above the ceilings, behind the walls, or under the floors of a building is presented. According to the invention, the walls, ceilings, or floors that cover building equipment are marked with an invisible marking material. When the location of a particular piece of equipment is required, the previously marked wall is illuminated with a remote apparatus designed to read the invisible markings, thereby identifying the equipment location. The marking material can be any commercially available invisible material that is suitable for such use. The illumination apparatus can be any device which is capable of displaying the marking material. For non-limiting example, an infra-red readable material can be used with a remote apparatus, such as a flashlight, equipped with an infra-red identifying wavelength light.

Description

I. TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to the marking of equipment behind walls, above ceilings, or below floors, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for marking the location of equipment such as HVAC systems, electrical lines, gas lines, water lines, IT lines and the like, with an invisible marking material on a wall exterior to the equipment, the invisible marking material being rendered visible when illuminated with a remote illumination apparatus.

II. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND PRIOR ART

Work frequently needs to be performed on equipment such as heating and air conditioning systems (HVAC), gas, water, electrical, IT lines, etc. In a completed, or even partially completed, building this task is made difficult because the equipment is located behind a wall, above a ceiling, or even below a floor. Usually a drawing of the area or someone with prior knowledge of equipment location is required, but both are oftentimes not readily available. This results in the need for partial destruction of the building to locate the desired equipment before work can be performed. If the person trying to locate the equipment is wrong about the equipment's location, additional searching, and destruction, is necessary. This, of course, expends unnecessary time, effort, supplies, and possibly renovation. Moreover, any partial destruction of building structure increases potential safety risks.

There is need, therefore, for an apparatus and method for identifying equipment located behind walls, above ceilings, and below floors which is accurate, efficient, easy to use, and reduces time spent working on the equipment and repairing the building in the area of the work The present invention addresses these issues. The present invention comprises a method and apparatus that allow for the invisible marking of the location of equipment installed behind walls, above ceilings, or under floors. The location of marked equipment is identifiable through the use of a remote illumination apparatus.

III. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that enables efficient, unobtrusive marking of the location of equipment such as HVAC systems, electrical lines, gas lines, water lines, IT lines, and the like, installed behind wall, above ceilings or below floors.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an efficient method for locating equipment such as HVAC systems, electrical lines, gas lines, water lines, IT lines, and the like, installed behind wall, above ceilings or below floors.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for locating equipment such as HVAC systems, electrical lines, gas lines, and the like, installed behind walls or above ceiling tile, thereby minimizing damage to buildings.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for locating equipment such as HVAC systems, electrical lines, gas lines, and the like, installed behind walls or above ceiling tile that decreases potential safety risks.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for locating equipment such as HVAC systems, electrical lines, gas lines, and the like, installed behind walls or above ceiling tile that saves time.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for locating equipment such as HVAC systems, electrical lines, gas lines, and the like, installed behind walls or above ceiling tile, thereby minimizing damage to buildings.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for locating equipment such as HVAC systems, electrical lines, gas lines, and the like, installed behind walls or above ceiling tile that decreases potential safety risks.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for locating equipment such as HVAC systems, electrical lines, gas lines, and the like, installed behind walls or above ceiling tile that saves time.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus and method that is cost effective.

IV. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The foregoing objects of the invention are provided for in an inventive apparatus and method for locating ceiling equipment such as HVAC systems, electrical lines, gas lines, and the like. According to the invention, the walls, ceilings, or floors that cover building equipment such as HVAC systems, electrical lines, gas lines, water line, IT lines, and the like are marked with an invisible marking material. When the location of a particular piece of equipment is required, the previously marked wall is illuminated with a remote apparatus designed to read the invisible markings, thereby identifying the equipment location.

The marking material can be any commercially available invisible material that is suitable for such use. The illumination apparatus can be any device which is capable of displaying the marking material. For non-limiting example, an infra-red readable material can be used with a remote apparatus, such as a flashlight, equipped with an ultraviolet identifying wavelength light.

There has been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and that will form the subject matter of the invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including equivalent constructions in so far as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Further, the purpose of the abstract is to enable the US patent and trademark office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with the patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from what cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the present invention in any way.

These together with other objects of the present invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the present invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the present invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

V. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a representative room with various cut-away views of the ceiling, a wall, and the floor depicting the location of building equipment.

FIG. 2 is a view of a representative wall illustrating application of the invisible marking material.

FIG. 3 depicts a representative example of a remote illumination apparatus.

FIG. 4 illustrates a representative example of the inventive method wherein the invisible marking material is illuminated with the remote illumination apparatus to display the location of HVAC equipment behind a wall.

VI. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Before explaining the preferred embodiment of the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The present invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

It is to be further understood that the term “building equipment” as used throughout this Specification refers to any and all items located behind a wall, above a ceiling, or under a floor. Reference is variously made to HVAC systems, electrical lines, gas lines, water line, and IT lines, but these references are not intended to be limiting as the inventive apparatus and method is useful for identifying anything now known or learned in the future that can be located behind a wall, above a ceiling, or under a floor.

Turning to FIG. 1, a room illustrating the example location of building equipment is shown. As can be seen and appreciated by those skilled in the art, building equipment can be located virtually anywhere. As buildings age and as technology advances, certain building equipment may be added, thereby making the location of all building equipment even more confusing. When work is required on any of the equipment its location is obviously necessary. Until the present invention the location of equipment was ideally done through the use of blue prints. Unfortunately, blue prints can become outdated as new building equipment is added or old equipment moved or replaced. Or as more often the case, blue prints are not readily available at the time the work required must be performed. This results in trying to locate someone who may recall the location of the desired building equipment. Again, these people are not always readily available or they may have forgotten the exact location of the desired building equipment. This, in turn, results in the need to use the “trial and error” method of locating the desired building equipment. This method, of course, results in the destruction of large portions of a wall, ceiling, or floor in the quest for the building equipment, thereby resulting not only in the cost of building equipment work but also for the repair of destroyed coverings.

In FIG. 1, room 20 has wall 22 covering A representative building equipment including electrical wires 24. IT line 26, and HVAC system 28. Room 20 also includes floor 30 with water lines 32 running below them and ceiling 34 with additional electrical wires 24, gas line 36, and additional HVAC system 28.

Turning to FIG. 2, wall 22 is used for example purpose for the ease of explanation. Those skilled in the arts will quickly realize, however, that the description of the inventive apparatus and method in use on a wall will work similarly with a ceiling and a floor. Wall 22 is shown intact, with HVAC system 28 and electrical wires 24 depicted by dashed lines and strategically marked with an invisible marking material 36 on the exterior surface B of covering A. Invisible marking material 36 can be any commercially available marking material that can be applied to a wall, ceiling, or floor. Invisible marking material may be visible when put on but must dry to an invisible state and unseen by the eye. The marking material must also have the ability to be revealed when illuminated with an appropriate remote illumination apparatus 38 (described below). The inventor has found that an ultra violet readable marking material works best. Again, the marking material composition is not critical to the invention so long as it dries invisible and can be illuminated with an appropriate remote illumination apparatus.

It is also desirable that the marking material be applied in a way that identifies the type of building equipment it is over and its general location. As seen in FIG. 2, HVAC system 24 is marked with an “H” with arrows showing its direction and electrical wires 24 marked with an “E”, arrows showing its direction and a junction box marked “E-JX.”

Turning to FIG. 3, remote illumination apparatus 38 is shown. It can be of any design; here a flashlight is shown as an example. Remote Illumination apparatus 38 will preferable have its own power source for easy transport, although it could be run by electricity. Critical to remote illumination apparatus 38 is illuminator 40. Illuminator 40 must be capable of emitted a signal, usually, in the form of a beam of light, capable of illuminating marking material 36. Accordingly, in the case of an ultra violet marking material 361, illuminator 40 must emit an ultra violet wavelength.

Turning to FIG. 4, the inventive device is shown in use. Building equipment located behind a wall, above a ceiling, and below a floor is marked with marking material 36. Remote illumination apparatus 38 is turned activated thereby emitting a wavelength C from illuminator 40. Wavelength C strikes marking material 36 causing it to reveal itself and, in turn identifies the type, location, and direction of building equipment.

It is to be understood that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the preferred and alternative embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.

Claims

1. An apparatus for identifying building equipment located behind building equipment covering on a wall, a ceiling, or a floor comprising a marking material for marking the exterior of a building equipment covering over the location of building equipment, the marking material further being invisible to the eye, and a remote illumination apparatus for illuminating the marking material to identify the location of building equipment, the illumination apparatus further comprising an illuminator.

2. The apparatus for identifying building equipment of claim 1 wherein the illuminator emit ultraviolet wavelengths.

3. A method for identifying building equipment located behind building equipment covering on a wall, a ceiling, or a floor comprising the steps of:

placing a marking material over the location of building equipment on the exterior surface of a covering, said marking material being invisible to the eye;

using a remote illuminating apparatus to reveal the marking material so that it is visible to the eye, the illuminating apparatus further comprising an illuminator for emitting a source that highlights the marking material.

4. The method for identifying building equipment of claim 3 wherein the illuminator emit ultraviolet wavelengths.