Construction laser accessory for generating aligned spots

A system for producing an array of aligned laser beam spots on a surface, the array being substantially level or plumb in orientation, comprising:

• a laser instrument with means for generating a laser beam,
• a separate accessory including beam diffraction means positioned in the path of the laser beam such that the beam passes through the beam diffraction means to produce a series of discrete, diverging laser beams substantially within a plane, the beam diffraction means including a diffraction element,
• the diffraction means including self-leveling means for retaining the diffraction element in substantially level or plumb orientation, whereby the plane of diverging beams produces a substantially level or plumb line of laser spots on a surface.

The system of claim wherein the beam dividing means comprises a plurality of different beam dividing means for producing different arrays of diverging beams, and means in the accessory for selecting among the different beam dividing means.

A laser beam diffraction apparatus for producing an array of aligned laser beam spots on a surface, comprising:

• beam diffraction means positioned to receive a laser beam from a laser source, for producing from the laser beam a series of discrete, diverging laser beams substantially within a plane,
• self-leveling means on the beam diffraction means for retaining the beam diffraction means in substantially level or plumb orientation, whereby the diverging laser beams produce a substantially level or plumb line of laser spots on a surface, and
• means on the diffraction means for adjusting the separation of the diverging laser beams.

A system for producing an array of aligned laser beam spots on a surface, the array being substantially level or plumb in orientation, comprising:

• a laser instrument with means for generating a laser beam,
• a separate accessory positioned in the path of the laser beam and including beam dividing means for producing from said laser beam a series of discrete, diverging laser beams substantially within a plane,
• the separate accessory including self-leveling means for retaining the beam dividing means in substantially level or plumb orientation, whereby the plane of diverging beams produces a substantially level or plumb line of laser spots on a surface.