Laser marker

• US 10,184,794 B2
• Filed: 06/27/2016
• Issued: 01/22/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Makita Corporation
• Original Assignee: Makita Corporation
• Inventors: Ishikawa, Goshi, Kawai, Yuki, Oguchi, Kazuki, Hirabayashi, Shinji, Okuda, Shinsuke
• Primary Examiner(s): Fulton, Christopher W
• Application Number:
  US15/194,048
• Publication Number:
  US 20170003129A1
• Time in Patent Office: 939 Days
• Field of Search: 33290, 33291, 33DIG 21
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 15/004 Reference lines, planes or sectors

Abstract

A laser marker in one aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure comprises a laser light generator, a main body, and a pack attachment portion. The pack attachment portion is configured such that a battery pack, which is chargeable and dischargeable and supplies electric power to the laser light generator, is slidably attached to an outer surface of the main body.

Claims

1. A laser marker comprising:

a laser light generator configured to generate at least one laser light;

a main body that accommodates therein the laser light generator, the main body comprising;

an outer surface; and

at least one laser light passing portion that allows passage of the at least one laser light from an inside to an outside of the main body; and

a pack attachment portion configured such that a battery pack, which is chargeable and dischargeable and supplies electric power to the laser light generator, is slid along the outer surface of the main body so as to be attached to the pack attachment portion;

wherein;

the main body comprises at least one signal receiving portion configured to receive at least one wireless command signal transmitted from outside the main body; and

the pack attachment portion comprises a lowermost portion positioned higher than an uppermost portion of the at least one signal receiving portion.

2. The laser marker according to claim 1,

wherein the pack attachment portion comprises at least one slide rail provided on the outer surface of the main body, and

wherein the at least one slide rail is configured such that the battery pack is attached to the pack attachment portion by sliding the battery pack along the at least one slide rail.

3. The laser marker according to claim 2,

wherein the at least one slide rail comprises a pair of parallel slide rails.

4. The laser marker according to claim 1,

wherein the main body has a columnar shape extending in an axial direction about a central axis extending in a vertical direction.

5. The laser marker according to claim 4,

wherein the outer surface comprises a side face extending in the axial direction, and

wherein the pack attachment portion is provided on the side face.

6. The laser marker according to claim 1,

wherein the battery pack has a shape in which a maximum vertical dimension is smaller than a maximum horizontal dimension in a state where the battery pack is attached to the pack attachment portion.

7. The laser marker according to claim 1,

wherein the pack attachment portion is configured such that the battery pack is attached to the pack attachment portion in such a manner as to be slidable parallel to a horizontal direction.

8. The laser marker according to claim 1,

wherein the main body comprises:

a base unit configured to come in contact with a place in which the laser marker is placed; and

a rotating unit secured on an upper side of the base unit in such a manner as to be rotatable about a central axis extending in a vertical direction.

9. The laser marker according to claim 8,

wherein the pack attachment portion is provided either on the base unit or on the rotating unit.

10. The laser marker according to claim 1,

wherein the laser light generator comprises a laser light emitter and an emission controller,

wherein the laser light emitter is configured to emit the at least one laser light,

wherein the emission controller is configured to control an emission state of the at least one laser light in the laser light emitter,

wherein, assuming that the laser marker is divided by a virtual plane that is parallel to a sliding direction of the battery pack and that includes a central axis of the main body extending in a vertical direction, the laser marker comprises a first region and a second region, the first region being a region including the pack attachment portion and the second region being a region not including the pack attachment portion, and

wherein at least part of the emission controller is arranged in the second region.

11. The laser marker according to claim 1, further comprising:

an external power supply coupling portion configured to be coupled to an external power supply that supplies electric power to the laser light generator.

12. The laser marker according to claim 11,

wherein the external power supply is configured to output an output voltage of 4.5-5.5 V, and

wherein the external power supply coupling portion is configured to adapt to the output voltage.

13. The laser marker according to claim 11, further comprising:

a pack voltage converter configured to convert a voltage received from the battery pack into a voltage suitable for the laser light generator; and

an external voltage converter configured to convert a voltage received from the external power supply via the external power supply coupling portion into the voltage suitable for the laser light generator.

14. The laser marker according to claim 1,

wherein the at least one laser light comprises a green laser light.

15. The laser marker according to claim 1,

wherein the main body comprises a bottom portion,

wherein the laser marker further comprises:

a plurality of leg portions provided to the bottom portion and configured to come in contact with a place in which the laser marker is placed; and

a supplemental support provided extending from the main body,

wherein the supplemental support comprises a ground contact portion at a leading end of the supplemental support,

wherein the ground contact portion is positioned such that a virtual line segment connecting at least part of the ground contact portion and the central axis to each other intersects the pack attachment portion, as viewed planarly from an upper side of a central axis of the main body extending in a vertical direction, and

wherein the ground contact portion is further positioned lower than the pack attachment portion, and is positioned so as to face a virtual ground, which is an extension of a ground in contact with the plurality of leg portions, leaving a gap between the ground contact portion and the virtual ground.

16. The laser marker according to claim 1,

wherein the pack attachment portion comprises at least two electrode terminals electrically coupled to the laser light generator, and

wherein the at least two electrode terminals are configured to protrude from the outer surface of the main body in a horizontal direction and configured so as to be electrically coupled to the battery pack attached to the pack attachment portion.

17. A laser marker comprising:

a laser light generator configured to generate at least one laser light;

a main body that accommodates therein the laser light generator, the main body comprising;

an outer surface; and

at least one laser light passing portion that allows passage of the at least one laser light from an inside to an outside of the main body; and

a pack attachment portion configured such that a battery pack, which is chargeable and dischargeable and supplies electric power to the laser light generator, is slidably attached to the pack attachment portion,

wherein the main body comprises at least one signal receiving portion configured to receive at least one wireless command signal transmitted from outside the main body, and

wherein the pack attachment portion comprises a lowermost portion positioned higher than an uppermost portion of the at least one signal receiving portion.

18. A laser marker comprising:

a laser light generator configured to generate at least one laser light;

a main body that accommodates therein the laser light generator, the main body comprising;

an outer surface; and

at least one laser light passing portion that allows passage of the at least one laser light from an inside to an outside of the main body; and

a pack attachment portion configured such that a battery pack, which is chargeable and dischargeable and supplies electric power to the laser light generator, is slidably attached to the pack attachment portion,

wherein the main body comprises a bottom portion,

wherein the laser marker further comprises;

a plurality of leg portions provided to the bottom portion and configured to come in contact with a place in which the laser marker is placed; and

a supplemental support provided extending from the main body,

wherein the supplemental support comprises a ground contact portion at a leading end of the supplemental support,

wherein the ground contact portion is positioned such that a virtual line segment connecting at least part of the ground contact portion and the central axis to each other intersects the pack attachment portion, as viewed planarly from an upper side of a central axis of the main body extending in a vertical direction, and

wherein the ground contact portion is further positioned lower than the pack attachment portion, and is positioned so as to face a virtual ground, which is an extension of a ground in contact with the plurality of leg portions, leaving a gap between the ground contact portion and the virtual ground.

19. The laser marker according to claim 18,

wherein the supplemental support is provided lower than the pack attachment portion.

20. The laser marker according to claim 18,

wherein the supplemental support is attached to the main body via at least one coupling portion in at least either one of a pivotally movable manner or a slidingly movable manner, and

wherein, when the supplemental support is fixed in a specified support position within a movable range of the supplemental support, the ground contact portion is positioned such that the virtual line segment intersects the pack attachment portion, and the ground contact portion is positioned so as to face the virtual ground, leaving the gap between the ground contact portion and the virtual ground, in a region lower than the pack attachment portion.

21. The laser marker according to claim 20,

wherein the supplemental support comprises a handle configured to be held by a user of the laser marker.

22. The laser marker according to claim 21,

wherein the supplemental support is configured such that the ground contact portion is movable to a region higher than an uppermost end of the main body and such that the ground contact portion and the handle are configured as a same member.

23. The laser marker according to claim 21,

wherein the outer surface comprises a side face extending in an axial direction about a central axis extending in a vertical direction,

wherein the supplemental support is attached to the side face of the main body via the pair of coupling portions, and is configured to be slidingly movable,

wherein the ground contact portion is provided lower than the pair of coupling portions in the supplemental support, and

wherein the handle is provided higher than the pair of coupling portions in the supplemental support.

24. The laser marker according to claim 20,

wherein the at least one coupling portion comprises a pair of coupling portions,

wherein the supplemental support is attached to a side face of the main body via the pair of coupling portions, and is configured to be pivotally movable about the pair of coupling portions,

wherein the supplemental support comprises a pair of extending portions, each extending from corresponding one of the pair of coupling portions to the ground contact portion, and

wherein positions of the pair of coupling portions in the main body as viewed planarly from the upper side of the central axis of the main body extending in a vertical direction are set so that, when the supplemental support is fixed in the support position, the ground contact portion and the pair of extending portions surround at least a region in which the pack attachment portion is provided on the side face of the main body.

25. The laser marker according to claim 24,

wherein the pair of extending portions comprise a first extending portion and a second extending portion, the first extending portion being made of a soft material that is elastically deformable and the second extending portion being made of a hard material that is harder than the soft material and that is not elastically deformed,

wherein the first extending portion is positioned such that a movement locus of the first extending portion during pivotal movement of the supplemental support overlaps a region in which the battery pack is moved during attachment and detachment of the battery pack, and

wherein the second extending portion is positioned such that a movement locus of the second extending portion during pivotal movement of the supplemental support does not overlap the region in which the battery pack is moved during attachment and detachment of the battery pack.

26. The laser marker according to claim 20,

wherein the at least one coupling portion comprises one coupling portion,

wherein the supplemental support is attached to a side face of the main body via the one coupling portion, and is configured to be pivotally movable about the one coupling portion,

wherein the supplemental support comprises an extending portion extending from the one coupling portion to the ground contact portion, and

wherein a position of the one coupling portion in the main body is set so that a region in which the ground contact portion and the extending portion are moved during pivotal movement of the supplemental support does not overlap a region in which the battery pack is moved during attachment to and detachment from the pack attachment portion.

27. The laser marker according to claim 20,

wherein the at least one coupling portion is provided higher than a center of gravity of the laser marker in the main body.

28. The laser marker according to claim 18,

wherein the ground contact portion of the supplemental support comprises a surface made of an elastic material.

29. A laser marker comprising:

a laser light generator configured to generate at least one laser light;

a main body that accommodates therein the laser light generator, the main body comprising;

an outer surface; and

at least one laser light passing portion that allows passage of the at least one laser light from an inside to an outside of the main body; and

a pack attachment portion configured such that a battery pack, which is chargeable and dischargeable and supplies electric power to the laser light generator, is slid along the outer surface of the main body so as to be attached to the pack attachment portion;

wherein;

the main body comprises a bottom portion;

the laser marker further comprises;

a plurality of leg portions provided to the bottom portion and configured to come in contact with a place in which the laser marker is placed; and

a supplemental support provided extending from the main body;

the supplemental support comprises a ground contact portion at a leading end of the supplemental support;

the ground contact portion is positioned such that a virtual line segment connecting at least part of the ground contact portion and the central axis to each other intersects the pack attachment portion, as viewed planarly from an upper side of a central axis of the main body extending in a vertical direction; and

the ground contact portion is further positioned lower than the pack attachment portion, and is positioned so as to face a virtual ground, which is an extension of a ground in contact with the plurality of leg portions, leaving a gap between the ground contact portion and the virtual ground.