Patent ID: 7640105

Claim:
A marking system to mark ground, pavement or other surfaces to provide a visual indication of a presence or an absence of at least one underground utility in a dig area to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities, the marking system comprising: a housing including an elongated center portion and a handle to enable a user to walk or stand erect in the dig area while using the marking system; a paint canister holder disposed in a bottom portion of the housing and adapted to support an aerosol paint canister having a nozzle; an actuation mechanism coupled to the bottom portion of the housing and comprising a rigid material that controllably applies pressure to the nozzle of the aerosol paint canister, when the canister is installed in the paint canister holder, to dispense paint from the paint canister; a location tracking system at least a portion of which is disposed within or coupled to the housing to determine location data; a processor disposed within the housing; a memory disposed within the housing; and a triggering system in communication with the actuation mechanism and the processor to substantially simultaneously trigger the actuation mechanism to apply pressure to the nozzle of the aerosol paint canister to dispense the paint from the canister and the processor to log in the memory the location data to identify a geographic location of the dispensed paint, the triggering system including a mechanical trigger located proximate to the handle of the housing.