Automatic plumb and level tool
US5075977A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 22, 1990 |
| Grant date | Dec 31, 1991 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 22, 2010 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S33/21
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An automatic plumb, level and pointing tool uses a visible laser diode to project a beam in any of three different modes through a beam exit window. The tool, approximately the size and shape of a tape measure, can be placed on one edge to project a tilt-compensated vertical beam. Placed on another edge 90.degree.-rotated, the tool projects through the same exit window a tilt-compensated horizontal beam. When laid on either of its larger flat sides, the tilt compensation becomes inoperative and the tool projects a beam which is fixed relative to the housing. In a preferred embodiment, separate pendulous or cantilevered mirrors are used for vertical and horizontal tilt correction and are selected by the influence of gravity as the tool is laid on one edge or the other. In further described embodiments, two separate laser diodes may be used, or the laser tool may be intergrated with other tools such as a tape measure or a squaring tool. A preferred cantilever beam tilt compensator achieves a wide range of accurate compensation through substantial tilt of the device in the horizontal mode.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.