Geometrical instruments – Straight-line light ray type – Vertical and horizontal angle measurer
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-21
2004-02-10
Gutierrez, Diego (Department: 2859)
Geometrical instruments
Straight-line light ray type
Vertical and horizontal angle measurer
C033S283000, C033S290000, C033S0010PT
Reexamination Certificate
active
06688009
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a laser survey instrument, which can project a laser beam at an arbitrary tilt angle to a horizontal plane.
A type of laser survey instrument is already known, which can form a horizontal reference line by a laser beam by projecting the laser beam in a horizontal direction, or which projects the laser beam by rotary scanning and forms a horizontal reference plane by the laser beam. As one of the laser survey instruments of this type, a survey instrument is concretely realized, which not only projects the laser beam in the horizontal direction but also can project the laser beam at any desired tilt angle with the horizontal plane as reference.
Referring to
FIG. 5
to
FIG. 7
, description will be given below on a conventional type laser survey instrument, which can tilt the projecting direction of the laser beam at any desired angle.
At the center of a casing
5
, a recessed portion
6
in form of a truncated cone is provided, and a support seat
7
is arranged at the center of the recessed portion
6
. The support seat
7
is provided with a circular bore
8
formed on the recessed portion
6
, and projections
9
are smoothly projected in three-dimensional curved surface and are arranged at three positions equally spaced on inner periphery of the bore
8
.
A laser projector
10
for emitting a laser beam is placed into the bore
8
, and a head
11
of the laser projector
10
is engaged with and supported by the support seat
7
. The lower portion of the head
11
is designed in a spherical shape, and this spherical portion
11
a
slidably contacts the three projections
9
. The laser projector
10
is supported in such manner that it can be tilted in any direction with respect to the vertical line.
On the head
11
, a motor seat
14
extending in a horizontal direction is provided. A scanning motor
15
is mounted on the motor seat
14
, and a gear
16
is attached on an output shaft of the scanning motor
15
. The gear
16
is engaged with a scanning gear
17
as described later.
On the head
11
of the laser projector
10
, a prism holder
13
is rotatably mounted via a bearing
12
on the axis of the laser projector
10
. The scanning gear
17
is attached on the prism holder
13
, and the scanning gear
17
is engaged with the gear
16
as already explained. By the scanning motor
15
, the prism holder
13
is rotated around the vertical axis. The prism holder
13
and the scanning gear
17
make up together a rotator
3
. A pentagonal prism
18
is provided on the prism holder
13
, and the laser beam emitted from the laser projector
10
is deflected and projected in the horizontal direction through a projection window
19
.
In the middle portion of the laser projector
10
, a sensor support shelf
63
is mounted in a direction perpendicularly crossing the optical axis of the laser projector
10
. On the sensor support shelf
63
, fixed bubble tubes
20
and
21
, serving as tilt detectors for detecting the horizontal position, are arranged so that these bubble tubes cross perpendicularly each other. The fixed bubble tubes
20
and
21
are electric bubble tubes of capacitance detection type, and each of the bubble tubes outputs an electric signal corresponding to a tilt angle with the horizontal plane as reference.
On the lower portion of the laser projector
10
, there is provided a tilt angle setting unit
74
. The tilt angle setting unit
74
comprises arbitrary angle setting bubble tubes
65
and
66
, and these bubble tubes are arranged at positions opposite to the fixed bubble tubes
20
and
21
respectively.
At the lower end of the laser projector
10
, a base plate
64
is fixed, which is approximately in shape of a right-angled triangle. A support column
70
is erected at a position near a vertex of the right-angled triangle of the base plate
64
, and a ball
67
is fixed on the upper end of the column
70
. A tilting base plate
62
in L-shaped rectangular form is arranged above the base plate
64
. A conical recessed portion
99
is formed at a vertex of L-shaped rectangle on the back side of the tilting base plate
62
. The ball
67
is engaged in the recessed portion
99
. The column
70
pivotally supports the vertex of the tilting base plate
62
via the ball
67
, and the tilting base plate
62
can be pivotally moved on the ball
67
. Further, a spring
68
is provided between the tilting base plate
62
and the base plate
64
. This spring presses the conical recessed portion
99
against the ball
67
and pushes the tilting base plate
62
clockwise as seen in FIG.
5
.
On the tilting base plate
62
, the arbitrary angle setting bubble tubes
65
and
66
, serving as tilt detectors, are placed along lines, which cross perpendicularly each other along the L-shape.
A bearing support plate
72
is disposed below the sensor support shelf
63
. The bearing support plate
72
is projected in the horizontal direction from the laser projector
10
. Tilting screws
52
and
53
are rotatably mounted at such positions that these two screws form a triangle with the column
70
as a vertex on the base plate
64
. Upper end of each of the tilting screws
52
and
53
is rotatably and pivotally supported on the bearing support plate
72
.
The lower end of the tilting screw
52
is protruded downward from the base plate
64
. A tilting gear
54
is attached on the protruded lower end of the tilting screw
52
, and the tilting gear
54
is engaged with a tilting gear
56
as described later. The lower end of the tilting screw
53
is protruded downward from the base plate
64
. A tilting gear
55
is attached on the protruded end of the tilting screw
53
. The tilting gear
55
is engaged with a tilting gear
57
as described later.
A tilting nut
48
is screwed on the tilting screw
52
, and a nut pin
50
with circular cross-section is mounted on the tilting nut
48
in the horizontal direction. From an end surface of the tilting base plate
62
closer to the arbitrary angle setting bubble tube
65
, a tilting pin
60
with circular cross-section is protruded in a direction parallel to the central line of the arbitrary angle setting bubble tube
65
, and the tilting pin
60
is in contact with the nut pin
50
. Further, two parallel guide pins
71
are run between the base plate
64
and the bearing support plate
72
. The tilting pin
60
is slidably supported by the two guide pins
71
, and the rotation of the tilting base plate
62
in the horizontal direction is restricted. Also, it is allowed only to rotate in the up-to-bottom direction of the tilting pin
60
and to rotate around the axis of tilting pin
60
.
A tilting nut
49
is screwed on the tilting screw
53
, and a nut pin
51
with circular cross-section is mounted on the tilting nut
49
. From an end surface of the tilting base plate
62
closer to the arbitrary angle setting bubble tube
66
, a tilting pin
61
with circular cross-section is protruded in a direction parallel to the central line of the arbitrary angle setting bubble tube
66
, and the tilting pin
61
is brought into contact with the nut pin
51
.
A pedestal column
73
is attached vertically on the lower surface of the base plate
64
, and a tilt detector
23
, which also serves as a motor base, is fixed via the pedestal column
73
. On the upper surface of the tilt detector
23
, tilt angle setting motors
58
and
59
, i.e. pulse motors, are mounted. The tilting gear
56
is engaged with an output shaft of the tilt angle setting motor
58
. The tilting gear
57
is engaged with an output shaft of the tilt angle setting motor
59
, and these tilting gears are engaged with the tilting gears
54
and
55
respectively.
On the lower surface of the tilt detector
23
, a ring-like reflection mirror (not shown) is attached. Optical sensors
24
a
,
24
b
,
24
c
and
24
d
(
24
b
and
24
d
are not shown) comprising four pairs of light emitting element and photodetection element are arranged on a bottom of the casing
5
. The optical sensors
24
a
,
24
b
,
24
c
and
2
Haijima Yasuhito
Yamazaki Takaaki
Guadalupe Yaritza
Gutierrez Diego
Kabushiki Kaisha Topcon
Nields & Lemack
LandOfFree
Laser survey instrument does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Laser survey instrument, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Laser survey instrument will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3352392