Navigational tape measure-type apparatus

An airman's navigational aid for enabling said airman to measure distances in a plurality of different and distinct distance units and for two different and distinct types of aeronautical charts, each of which has a basically different distance scale, comprising:

• a generally teardrop-shaped housing having a pair of oppositely disposed, spaced apart, teardrop-shaped sides and a lateral rim portion connecting said sides to form a hollow interior therebetween, the planes of said sides being substantially parallel to one another and perpendicular to the plane of said lateral rim, said housing having a first generally rounded circular portion and a generally tapered converging portion, said housing further including a slotted aperture at the narrowest converging end of said tapered converging portion;
• a relatively thin, narrow, elongated tape strip comprising spring steel, said tape strip including a front end portion, a rear end portion, and an elongated intermediate portion operatively disposed between said end portions, said tape strip including means for operatively disposing the distal end of said rear end portion centrally within the hollow interior of the rounded circular portion of said housing for anchoring same, and further including means for normally urging at least said intermediate portion and said rear end portion to automatically rewind itself up about said anchoring means into a generally circular coil, at least the distal end of said front end portion being adapted to pass out of the hollow interior of the generally tapered converging portion of said teardrop-shaped housing through said slotted aperture, said slotted aperture having a width substantially equal to the width of said lateral rim and slightly greater than the width of said tape strip for enabling said tape strip to pass bidirectionally therethrough, at least the elongated intermediate portion of said tape strip having upper and lower surfaces which are parallel to one another, the distal end of said front end portion passing out of said slotted aperture including means for preventing same from being automatically rewound into said coil within the hollow interior of said housing;
• graduation means operatively disposed on each of said upper and lower surfaces of at least said intermediate portion of said tape strip for measuring distances in any one of nautical miles, statute miles, and kilometers, said upper surface of at least said intermediate portion of said tape strip being adapted for use with a first type of aeronautical chart having a first scale and said lower surface of at least said intermediate portion of said tape strip being adapted for use with a second different and distinct aeronautical chart having a second different and distinct scale;
• a manually-operable push button assembly means operatively disposed in said tapered converging portion of said housing and located a predetermined distance from said slotted aperture and on the centerline of said housing extending between said slotted aperture and the center of said rounded circular portion of said housing, said push button assembly means normally gripping the opposite side edges of said tape strip when any desired length of said intermediate portion thereof has been unwound and withdrawn through said slotted aperture and for locking the tape strip in a given position and preventing it from automatically rewinding back into said coil within the hollow interior of said rounded circular portion of said housing, said push button assembly means being responsive to the manual application of pressure thereto for releasing the side edges of said gripped tape strip for enabling it to be automatically drawn in through said slotted aperture and rewound into said coil within the hollow interior of the rounded circular portion of said housing.

A navigational aid for pilots comprising:

• a generally tear-shaped housing having a pair of parallel, spaced apart sides, a rounded portion, a tapered portion, and a substantially hollow interior, each of said sides including a pin aperture extending laterally therethrough, said pin apertures having a common axis and being operatively disposed laterally through the tapered portion of said housing, said housing further including a tape inlet/outlet slot at the vertex of said tapered portion;
• an elongated, relatively thin, flat, narrow flexible spring steel strip having a first end portion, an second opposite end portion, an elongated intermediate portion operably disposed between said first and second end portions, an upper surface and a lower surface;
• graduation means operatively disposed on both of said upper and lower surfaces of at least said intermediate portion of said elongated strip, said graduation means representing a nautical mile distance scale, a statute mile distance scale, and a kilometer distance scale, said scales on one surface of said strip being calibrated for a first predetermined type of aeronautical chart and said scales on the opposite sides of said strip being calibrated for a second different and distinct type of aeronautical chart;
• coil-forming means including at least said second opposite end portion and said intermediate portion of said elongated spring steel strip for normally biasing said portions into a circular coil, said coil-forming means being operatively disposed centrally within the hollow interior of the rounded portion of said housing and including means for anchoring said opposite end portion thereat;
• a spring-biased, elongated pin assembly means including a pin means having a first end portion at least partially through extending said pin aperture on one side of said housing, a second opposite end portion at least partially extending through said pin aperture on the opposite side of said housing, and an intermediate pin portion operatively disposed therebetween and within the hollow interior of the tapered portion of said tear-shaped housing, said intermediate pin portion including means for selectively locking and unlocking said strip for releasing it to automatically wind back up into said coil within the hollow interior of said rounded portion of said housing;
• said pin means being manually positionable laterally to first and second positions such that one end portion extends a greater distance out of one side of said housing than the other and visa versa, said first and second positions representing said locking and unlocking states, respectively.

An improved tape measure comprising:

• a generally teardrop-shaped housing having a substantially hollow interior, a rounded section including a circular portion, a tapered converging section having a tapered end portion, and a slotted opening operatively disposed at the distal end of said tapered end portion of said tapered converging section;
• an elongated tape strip normally self-biased into a wound coil within the hollow interior said circular portion of said rounded section of said housing and having one end passing through said slotted opening;
• graduation means operatively disposed on opposite sides of said tape strip, said graduation means including a plurality of different and distinct scales, the graduation means on one side of said strip being calibrated for one particular use and the graduation means on the opposite side of said scale being calibrated for another different and distinct particular use;
• manually-operable push button means operatively disposed through at least one side of said housing adjacent the tapered converging section thereof and responsive to being self-biased into a first position for normally gripping the lateral side edges of said tape strip to lock it against automatically rewinding into said coil within the hollow interior of said housing and being responsive to the application of manually-applied pressure thereto for shifting to a second position and releasing the lateral side edges of said tape strip to unlock it thereby enabling it to automatically rewind into said coil within the hollow interior of the circular portion of the rounded section of said housing.

An improved tape-measuring apparatus for (1) a two-sided tape-measuring-type tape strip including a first end portion, an elongated intermediate portion, and an opposite end portion, at least said elongated intermediate portion having a top and a bottom surface, (2) a tape strip housing having a substantially hollow interior and a tape inlet/outlet slot for passing at least said first end portion and said elongated intermediate portion therethrough, (3) anchoring means operably disposed within said hollow interior of said housing for anchoring the distal end of said opposite end portion of said tape strip thereto, (4) at least said opposite end portion of said tape strip including spring steel for self-biasing said tape strip for normally enabling same to automatically rewind into a coil within said hollow interior, (5) spring-biasing means, (6) tape strip edge-gripping means normally responsive to said spring biasing means for locking said tape strip against longitudinal movement into said inlet/outlet slot, (7) manually-operable push button means responsive to the application of manually-applied pressure thereto for unlocking said edge-gripping means and enabling said tape to be automatically drawn back into the hollow interior of said housing automatically wound onto said coil, the improvement comprising:

• a pair of teardrop-shaped opposing sides:
• a continuous unbroken edge portion operatively connecting said pair of teardrop-shaped opposing sides, the lateral width of said edge portion being greater than the lateral width of said tape strip:
• said pair of teardrop-shaped sides and side edge portions matedly joining to form a closed tape housing having a hollow interior:
• said housing having a rear portion including a generally circular section having a central axis and a generally rounded rear end in the shape of a semi-circle:
• said tape housing further including a triangular front portion whose vertex includes means for forming said tape inlet/outlet slot and whose base joins said circular section on opposite sides of a diameter taken therethrough:
• said housing further having a symmetrical axis defined through the central axis of said circular section and bisecting the tapering legs of said triangular front portion and said vertex, said diameter being perpendicular to said symmetrical axis:
• and
• said coil being operably disposed in the hollow interior of said, circular section whereas said spring biasing means, said edge-gripping means, and said push button means are operably disposed within the hollow interior of said triangular front portion.