Surface object locator with level indicator and scribe tip

• US 6,674,276 B2
• Filed: 03/19/2001
• Issued: 01/06/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Actuant Corporation (Enerpac Tool Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Actuant Corporation (Enerpac Tool Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Wiesemann, David L., Luebke, Thomas M., Martin, Chris W., Morgan, Wayne D.
• Primary Examiner(s): PATIDAR, JAY M
• Application Number:
  US09/811,943
• Publication Number:
  US 20020135347A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,023 Days
• Field of Search: 324/67, 324/326, 324/133, 324/529, 324/530, 324/556, 324/156, 324/157
• US Class Current: 324/67
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/24 Investigating the presence of flaws
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 3/15 specially adapted for use during transport, e.g. by a person, vehicle or boat

Abstract

A housing for a subsurface object locator has a bubble level vial for leveling surfaces using the housing and a scribe tip for marking a surface being probed with the locator.

Claims

1. In a hand-held subsurface object locator having a housing which contains circuitry for detecting a subsurface object behind a surface which is probed with the locator by sliding a detecting surface of the housing of the locator along the probed surface, the improvement wherein said housing has a scribe tip on a surface of the housing angled with respect to and adjacent to the detecting surface of the housing at an angle selected to prevent contact/with the probed surface as the locator is slid along the probed surface and rotatable about an edge of the detecting surface of the housing to contact the probed surface and mark a location of a detected object.

2. The improvement of claim 1, wherein said scribe tip is provided at a lateral center of said housing.

3. The improvement of claim 1, wherein said scribe tip is located adjacent to an end of said housing.

4. A hand-held subsurface object locator having a housing which contains circuitry for detecting a subsurface object behind a surface which is probed with the locator by sliding a detector surface of the locator along the surface which is probed, wherein the housing comprises:

an electrical indicator activated by the circuitry as the locator approaches the subsurface object;

a bubble level vial located along a flat surface of the housing for use in positioning a surface desired to be leveled; and

a scribe tip located on the housing on a surface angled with respect to and adjacent to the detector surface of the housing such that the scribe tip does not contact the surface which is probed as the locator is slid along the surface, and so that the locator can be selectively rotated about an edge of the detector surface of the housing to mark a location of the detected object.

5. The handheld subsurface locator of claim 4, wherein the electrical indicator comprises a light.

6. The handheld subsurface locator of claim 4, further comprising a pyramidal structure molded on a top end surface of the housing, wherein the scribe tip is provided on the pyramidal structure.

7. The handheld subsurface locator of claim 5, wherein the light identifies an edge of the subsurface object for the user.