Intersecting laser line generating device

• US 20060017427A1
• Filed: 07/21/2004
• Published: 01/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Irwin Industrial Tool Company (Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Irwin Industrial Tool Company (Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.)
• Inventors: Nash, Derek J., Williams, Michael, Smith, John C., Spanski, Jeffrey L.
• Granted Patent: US 7,178,250 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 324/67
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 15/004 Reference lines, planes or sectors
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 13/06 Panoramic objectives; So-called "sky lenses" including panoramic objectives having reflecting surfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 19/0028 refractive and reflective surfaces, e.g. non-imaging catadioptric systems
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 19/0052 the light source comprising a laser diode coupling into light guides using intermediate optical elements G02B6/4204; semiconductor lasers having optical devices external to the laser cavity H01S5/005
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0938 Using specific optical elements
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 7/004 Manual alignment, e.g. micromanipulators
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 33/21 with laser

Abstract

A line generating device generates two fan-shaped beams of light at an angle to each other, and projects the beams onto an adjacent surface, where the beams are visible as lines on the surface. A user has access to the intersection of the lines, so that the intersection can be marked or otherwise used in combination with the lines, such as in aligning objects.

Claims

1. A line generating device, comprising:

a housing having a base;

first and second light generators mounted within the housing;

a first lens element mounted within the housing to receive light from the first light generator and adapted to project at least a first fan-shaped beam of light outside the housing substantially within a first plane; and

a second lens element mounted within the housing to receive light from the second light generator and adapted to project a second fan-shaped beam of light outside the housing substantially within a second plane,

wherein the first and second fan-shaped beams intersect outside of the housing and wherein the first and second planes are perpendicular to the base.

2. The device of claim 1, including a pendulum type auto leveling mechanism.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the pendulum type auto leveling mechanism includes an optical chassis pivotably mounted to the housing and wherein a center of gravity and a pivot axis of the optical chassis are not collocated.

4. The device of claim 3, wherein power is supplied to the first and second light generators from at least one battery, wherein the at least one battery is operatively connected to the first and second light generators by small gage wires attached to the optical chassis at the pivot axis of the optical chassis.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the small gage wires coil in opposite directions.

6. The device of claim 3, including a mechanical switch selectively engageable with the auto leveling mechanism, the mechanical switch adapted to prevent movement of the optical chassis when engaged.

7. The device of claim 3, further including a damping mechanism for damping oscillations of the optical chassis.

8. The device of claim 7, wherein the damping mechanism includes one or more magnets.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the first and second fan-shaped beams are projected normal to each other.

10. The device of claim 1, including a plurality of openings in the housing through which the first and second fan-shaped beams exit the housing.

11. The device of claim 1, including a retractable mount disposed on the housing for securing the housing to a working surface.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the retractable mount includes a plurality of openings for receiving one or more fasteners.

13. The device of claim 11, further including an adhesive disposed on one of the retractable mount and the base to enable the housing to be adhesively fixed to a surface.

14. The device of claim 1, including an adjusting mechanism for adjusting the aim of at least one of the first and second light generators.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein the adjusting mechanism includes one of a spring, an adjusting screw and an elastic spacing member.

16. The device of claim 1, further including stud finding circuitry.

17. The device of claim 1, wherein the first lens element projects two fan-shaped beams of light substantially within the first plane.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein an interplanar angle of each of the two fan-shaped beams is greater than 90°

.

19. The device of claim 1, wherein the second fan shaped beam has an interplanar angle greater than 90°

.

20. The device of claim 1, further including at least one level indicator mounted on the housing.

21. The device of claim 20, wherein the at least one level indicator is a bubble level indicator.

22. The device of claim 1, wherein the first and second light generators are laser diodes.

23. The device of claim 22, wherein the first laser diode produces a laser light beam of a different wavelength than the second laser diode.

24. The device of claim 23, wherein the first laser diode produces a laser light beam having a wavelength of approximately 635 nm and the second laser diode produces a laser light beam having a wavelength of approximately 650 nm.

25. The device of claim 1, further including a reflective surface which reflects light from at least one light generator and which directs the light onto at least one of the first lens element and the second lens element.

26. The device of claim 25, wherein the reflective surface is incorporated into at least one of the first lens element and the second lens element.

27. The device of claim 1, wherein the first fan-shaped beam and the second fan-shaped beam intersect at an angle which is substantially 90°

.

28. The device of claim 1, wherein the first lens element and the second lens element are formed within a single integrated lens structure.

29. The device of claim 28, wherein the single integrated lens structure includes at least one total internal reflective surface and at least one refractive surface.

30. The device of claim 29, wherein the at least one total internal reflective surface and the at least one refractive surface are adapted to impart at least a 90°

planar exit angle to one of the first and second fan-shaped beams.

31. The device of claim 29, wherein the at least one total internal reflective surface and the at least one refractive surface are adapted to distribute the intensity of the one of the first and second fan-shaped beam unevenly.

32. A lens used to direct and shape a light beam comprising:

a first lens element adapted to receive a first light beam and to project a first fan-shaped light beam exterior to the first lens element; and

a second lens element adapted to receive a second light beam and to project a second fan-shaped light beam exterior to the second lens element,

wherein the first lens element includes at least a first total internal reflective surface adapted to reflect the first light beam within the first lens element and a first refractive surface adapted to refract the reflected first light beam,

wherein the second lens element includes at least a second total internal reflective surface adapted to reflect the second light beam within the second lens element and a second refractive surface adapted to refract the second reflected light beam, and

wherein the first total internal reflective surface and the first refractive surface work together to create the first fan-shaped light beam and the second total internal reflective surface and the second refractive surface work together to create the second fan-shaped light beam.

33. The lens of claim 32, wherein the first lens element includes a first fan beam segment and a second fan beam segment.

34. The lens of claim 33, wherein the first fan beam segment includes a first reflective surface to reflect the light beam incident to the first total internal reflective surface and the second fan beam segment includes a second reflective surface to reflect the light beam incident to a third total internal reflective surface.

35. The lens of claim 34, wherein the first fan beam segment and the second fan beam segment are joined at a splitting line.

36. The lens of claim 35, wherein the first total internal reflective surface creates a light beam intensity which varies as the angle at which the fan-shaped beam exits the first lens element.

37. The lens of claim 33, wherein the first fan-shaped light beam projected on a surface appears to have substantially the same brightness on the surface over a significant portion of the usable length.

38. The lens of claim 32, wherein the first fan-shaped light beam exits the first lens element with a planar angle of greater than 90°

.

39. The lens of claim 38, wherein the planar angle is approximately 100°

.

40. A line generating device, comprising:

a housing having a cutout portion and a base;

at least one light generator;

a first lens element mounted within the housing to receive light from the at least one light generator and adapted to project a first fan-shaped beam of light outside the housing substantially within a first plane; and

a second lens element mounted within the housing to receive light from the at least one light generator and adapted to project a second fan-shaped beam of light outside the housing substantially within a second plane,

wherein the first and second fan-shaped beams intersect outside of the housing at a line that is at least partially contained within a volume of space defined by the cutout portion of the housing.

41. The device of claim 40, including a pendulum type auto leveling mechanism.

42. The device of claim 40, including a mechanical switch selectively engagable with the auto leveling mechanism, the mechanical switch is adapted to prevent movement of the auto leveling mechanism when engaged.

43. The device of claim 40, wherein the first lens element and the second lens element are disposed relative to one another such that the first fan-shaped beam and the second fan-shaped beam are projected normal to each other.

44. The device of claim 40, including a plurality of openings in the housing through which the first and second fan-shaped beams exit the housing.

45. The device of claim 40, including a retractable mount for securing the device to a surface.

46. The device of claim 40, including stud finding circuitry disposed within the housing.

47. The device of claim 40, including at least one level indicator mounted on the housing.

48. The device of claim 40, wherein the at least one light generator is a laser diode.

49. The device of claim 40, wherein one of the first lens element and the second lens element contains at least one total internal reflective surface.

50. A line generating device, comprising:

a housing;

a first and a second light generator mounted within the housing;

a first lens that receives light from the first light generator and projects the light in a first fan-shaped beam substantially within a first plane; and

a second lens that receives light from the second light generator and projects the light in a second fan-shaped beam substantially within a second plane that intersects the first plane at an angle,

wherein the first and second fan-shaped beams are projected outside the housing and intersect at an angle on a surface such that a user has access to an intersection point of the fan-shaped beams on the surface.

51. The device of claim 50, further comprising at least one level indicator mounted on the housing.

52. The device of claim 50, further comprising at least one leveling device mounted on the housing.

53. The device of claim 50, wherein the first and second light generators are laser diodes.

54. The device of claim 53, wherein the first laser diode produces a laser light beam of a different wavelength than the second laser diode.

55. The device of claim 54, wherein the first laser diode produces a laser light beam having a wavelength of approximately 635 nm and the second laser diode produces a laser light beam having a wavelength of approximately 650 nm.

56. The device of claim 50, further comprising a reflective surface for reflecting light from at least one light generator and directing the light into the first lens.

57. The device of claim 50, wherein the first lens and the second lens are selected from the group consisting of cylindrical lenses, biconcave lenses, plano-convex lenses and plano-concave lenses.

58. The device of claim 50, wherein the housing includes a cutout portion.

59. The device of claim 50, further comprising a converging lens between at least one of the first light generator and the first lens and between the second light generator and the second lens.

60. A line generating device comprising:

a housing;

a light generator and a mirror mounted within the housing;

a first lens that receives light from the light generator and projects the light in a fan-shaped beam substantially within a first plane; and

a second lens that receives light from the mirror and the light generator and projects the light in a fan-shaped beam substantially within a second plane,

wherein the fan-shaped beams are projected outside the housing and intersect at an angle on a surface, such that a user has access to an intersection point of the fan-shaped beams on the surface.

61. The device of claim 60, further comprising at least one level indicator mounted on the housing.

62. The device of claim 60, wherein the light generator is a laser diode.

63. The device of claim 60, further comprising a beamsplitter, wherein the beamsplitter receives light from the light generator and splits the light into two portions, a first portion transmitted to the first lens and a second portion transmitted to the mirror and the second lens.

64. The device of claim 60, further comprising a converging lens disposed between the light generator and at least one of the first lens and the second lens.

65. A line generating device, comprising:

a housing having a base;

first and second light generators mounted within the housing;

a first lens element mounted within the housing to receive light from the first light generator and adapted to project at least a first fan-shaped beam of light outside the housing substantially within a first plane; and

a second lens element mounted within the housing to receive light from the second light generator and adapted to project a second fan-shaped beam of light outside the housing substantially within a second plane,

wherein the first and second fan-shaped beams are projected outside of the housing and wherein one of the first plane and the second plane is perpendicular to the base,

wherein the first element includes a total internal reflective surface and a refractive surface, and

wherein the second lens element includes a total internal reflective surface and a refractive surface.