US 7,022,962 B2Granted

Position determining apparatus

AssigneeTopcon Corporation

InventorsFumio Ohtomo, Kunihiro Hayashi

Life of this patent

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Abstract

The present invention provides a position determining apparatus that has a simplified configuration adapted to produce a horizontal reference plane and an inclined reference plane simultaneously. A position determining apparatus (100) according to the present invention comprises a rotary laser apparatus (151) that emits at least two fan-shaped laser beams diverting in a plane other than horizontal plane while rotating the laser beams about a given optical axis, and an optical sensor (154) that has at least one light receiving section receiving the fan-shaped laser beams. One of the fan-shaped laser beams is different in inclination angle from the other, and in terms of a state of the laser beams received at the light receiving section, a relative position of the optical sensor to the rotary laser apparatus can be determined.

An apparatus for determining positions, comprising:

(a) a rotary laser apparatus for emitting two or more fan-shaped laser beams, said rotary laser apparatus including a laser projector and a rotary unit rotating relative to said laser projector, wherein:
said laser projector has:
(1) a first laser illuminator for emitting a first linearly polarized laser beam;
(2) a second laser illuminator for emitting a second linearly polarized laser beam;
(3) a first polarized beam splitter for directing the laser beams emitted from said first laser illuminator and said second laser illuminator in the same direction;
and
(4) a first one-quarter wave plate for converting said first and second linearly polarized laser beams from said first polarized beam splitter into circularly polarized laser beams;
and said rotary unit has:
(1) a second one-quarter wave plate for converting the circularly polarized laser beams from said first one-quarter wave plate into linearly polarized laser beams;
(2) a second polarized beam splitter for splitting the linearly polarized laser beams from said second one-quarter wave plate;
(3) a third one-quarter wave plate for converting the laser beams split and reflected by said second polarized beam splitter into circularly polarized laser beam;
(4) a first cylinder mirror for converting the circularly polarized laser beam from said third one-quarter wave plate into a first fan-shaped laser beam and reflecting back and emitting said fan-shaped laser beam through said third one-quarter wave plate and said second polarized beam splitter;
(5) a fourth one-quarter wave plate for converting laser beams transmitted through said second polarized beam splitter into a circularly polarized laser beam;
and
(6) a second cylinder mirror for converting said circularly polarized laser beam from said fourth one-quarter wave plate into a second fan-shaped laser beam and reflecting back and emitting said second fan-shaped laser beam through said fourth one-quarter wave plate and said second polarized beam splitter;
and
(b) optical sensor means for receiving the fan-shaped laser beams to determine a position.

14 more elements

Facts

Application

10/338,705Filed 9 Jan 2003

Priority

JP 2002-01167921 Jan 2002

Published

US 2003/0136901 A124 Jul 2003

Granted

4 Apr 2006

Term ends

Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification5 codes

G01C 15/004
Active optical surveying means: reference lines, planes or sectors
G01S 1/7038
Transmitters: signal details
G01S 3/789
Systems for determining direction or deviation from predetermined direction: using rotating or oscillating beam systems, e.g. using mirrors, prisms
G01C
Measuring distances, levels or bearings

Abstract

Claims9