Tape measure with laser beam
AssigneeBlack & Decker Inc.
InventorsJames D. Marshall, Oleksiy P. Sergyeyenko, Colin M. Dyke, Corey MacTavish
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A tape measure includes a housing, a rule blade coilable within the housing, and a light plane generator disposed on the housing. The light plane generator may include a laser source for emitting a laser beam and a line lens in the path of the laser beam for converting the laser beam into a laser plane. Preferably, the laser plane intersects both the rule blade and a workpiece. The light plane generator may be pivoted about a horizontal axis and/or a vertical axis.
Claims21
A tape measure disposable on a surface comprising:
- a housing;
- a rule blade coilable within the housing, the rule blade including indicia for making a measurement;
- and
- a light plane generator disposed on the housing, the light plane generator operable to emit a laser light plane to create a light line on at least one of the rule blade and the surface;
- wherein the light plane generator comprises a laser source for emitting a laser beam and a line lens for converting the laser beam into the laser light plane, and wherein the laser light plane is adapted to align with the indicia on the rule blade and at least one point on the surface.
A measuring device comprising:
- a housing;
- a rule blade adapted to extend from the housing, the rule blade including
- a blade surface extending between a first blade edge and a second blade edge, and
- indicia on the blade surface, the indicia configured for making a measurement;
- and
- a light generator operable to emit a light plane extending from a point located on the blade surface to a point located beyond at least one of the first blade edge and the second blade edge,
- wherein the light plane is configured to align the indicia on the blade surface with the point located beyond at least one of the first blade edge and the second blade edge.
A measuring device comprising:
- a housing;
- a rule blade operable to extend from the housing, the blade including a blade surface extending between a first blade edge and a second blade edge;
- and
- a laser light plane generator operable to selectively emit a light line onto at least one of an area located on the blade surface, an area located beyond the first blade edge, and an area beyond the second blade edge;
- wherein the rule blade surface includes indicia for making a measurement and the light line is configured to align the indicia with at least one point located beyond one or more of the blade edges.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.