US 10648800

Patent Overview — US10648800B2

Title: System and process for roof measurement using imagery

Assignee/Original Assignee: Pictometry International Corp. Inventors: Dale R. Thornberry, Chris T. Thornberry, Mark F. Garringer. Assignments recorded from Thornberry Consulting, LLC and the individual inventors.

Key dates (as listed): Priority date 2009-05-22; filing date 2019-02-01 (application US16/265,338); publication of US20200003554A1 on 2020-01-02; granted/publication date 2020-05-12; anticipated expiration 2029-05-22. Status listed as Active.

Purpose: The invention is in the field of measuring roofing dimensions and other attributes, particularly using aerial imagery. Roof measuring (dimensions, lengths, areas) has long been used for estimating and bidding roofing jobs, with estimation services and reporting software that trace roof line outlines on aerial imagery, automatically derive dimensions and areas from those tracings, and incorporate vertical elevations (via pitch or otherwise) into mathematical models. The stated improvement provides non-obvious features enhancing convenience, flexibility, and/or accuracy.

Plain-language scope (from the excerpt): Disclosed features include creating first and second layers in computer memory and substantially overlapping a line segment from the first layer with a line segment from the second layer, where a first non-dimensional attribute differs from a second non-dimensional attribute; an interactive computer file containing length numeric values and at least one user length field letting a client override a length value, with an area operator that may automatically recalculate area based on the override; providing a computer input field for a user to input first location data generally corresponding to a building's location; displaying imagery with a movable visual marker initially corresponding to that location data, which may be moved onto the building to more precisely identify the roof structure's location; and providing a computer input. Flow charts (FIGS. 1–3), screen shots (FIGS. 4A–4D), and reporting examples (FIGS. 5A–5I, 6–7A) are referenced.

Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US10648800](/patent/US10648800)/en

What the excerpt does not establish: It does not provide full claim text, the complete specification, or the full description of FIG. 7A and later figures; the overridden-value, marker, and layer features are summarized only partially. No legal conclusions about validity, enforceability, or claim scope are supported.