Laser level with adjustable laser projection line

• US 7,055,252 B2
• Filed: 11/12/2003
• Issued: 06/06/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Chervon International Trading Company Limited (Chervon Holdings Limited)
• Original Assignee: Chervon International Trading Company Limited (Chervon Holdings Limited)
• Inventors: Wu, Shuming
• Primary Examiner(s): Fulton, Christopher W.
• Application Number:
  US10/706,227
• Publication Number:
  US 20040123472A1
• Time in Patent Office: 937 Days
• Field of Search: 332/86, 332/27, 332/76, 332/78, 332/81, 332/82, 332/83, 332/85, 332/90
• US Class Current: 33/286
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 15/00 Surveying instruments or accessories not provided for in groups G01C1/00 - G01C13/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 15/004 Reference lines, planes or sectors

Abstract

A laser level with adjustable laser projection line comprises a support bracket, a housing, a switch, a laser generator which project a fanned laser beam to the surface of the work piece to form a line, and wherein a rotating mechanism is coupled to rotate the laser generator thereby causing rotation of the line. There is also a positioning device to position the laser level on an arbitrary surface.

Claims

1. A laser level with adjustable laser projection line, comprising:

a housing;

a laser assembly having a laser generator and a lens;

a rotating mechanism connected to one of either the laser generator or the lens;

a stop that cooperates with the rotating mechanism to define a first operating position and a second operating position;

a power supply;

a switch for connecting the power supply to the laser generator;

wherein the laser generator projects a laser beam through the lens to project a line on a surface to be illuminated, and when the rotating mechanism is in the first position the line is projected vertically on the surface and when the rotating mechanism is in the second position the line is projected horizontally on the surface.

2. The laser level with adjustable laser projection line of claim 1, further comprising a protective door connected to the switch, the protective door being moveable from a first open position to a second closed position, wherein when the protective door is in the first open position the switch is connected to the power supply to the laser generator and when the door is in the second closed position the switch is disconnected to the power supply.

3. The laser level of claim 1, wherein the housing has an opening, and wherein the laser generator projects a fan-shaped laser beam outside of the housing through the opening.

4. The laser level of claim 1, wherein the rotating mechanism comprises a knob and the stop comprises at least one magnetic member and two corresponding fastening members that can be engaged by the magnetic member.

5. The laser level with adjustable laser projection line of claim 1, further comprising a mounting baseplate removably connected to the housing.

6. The laser level with adjustable laser projection line of claim 5, wherein the baseplate has two pushpads each of which comprise at least one retractable pin, the pins protruding from a bottom of the baseplate when the pushpads are depressed.

7. The laser level with adjustable laser projection line of claim 1, further comprising a base that has a magnet, the base being connected to the housing.

8. The laser level with adjustable laser projection line of claim 7, wherein the base is coupled to a removable mounting baseplate.

9. The laser level with adjustable laser projection line of claim 8, wherein the baseplate has two pushpads each of which comprise at least one retractable pin, the pins protruding from a bottom of the baseplate when the pushpads are depressed.

10. A laser generating device comprising:

a housing having a base; and

,

a laser generating assembly disposed within the housing for projecting a fan-shaped laser beam through an opening in the housing to form a line on a workpiece, a portion of the laser generating assembly being coupled to a rotating member protruding from the housing such that when the rotating member is turned clockwise to its limit, the line on the workpiece will be one of either substantially vertical or substantially horizontal, and when the rotating member is turned counterclockwise to its limit, the line on the workpiece will be the other one of either substantially vertical or substantially horizontal.

11. The laser generating device of claim 10, further comprising a magnetic member depending from the base of the laser generating device.

12. The laser generating device of claim 10, wherein the rotating member comprises a knob.

13. The laser generating device of claim 10, wherein the laser generating assembly is mounted on a bracket in the housing, the rotating mechanism has first and second magnets attached thereto, and the bracket has first and second positioning members, whereby when the rotating mechanism is turned clockwise to its limit the first magnet cooperates with the first positioning member to stabilize the position of the generated laser beam and when the rotating mechanism is turned counterclockwise to its limit the second magnet cooperates with the second positioning member to stabilize the position of the laser beam.

14. The laser generating device of claim 10, wherein the housing has a leveling bubble.

15. A laser generating device comprising:

a housing having a base;

a magnet connected to the base of the housing;

a laser generator assembly disposed within the housing for projecting a fan-shaped laser beam onto a workpiece to form a line;

a rotating mechanism coupled to the laser generator assembly for rotating the line; and

a stop that cooperates with the rotating mechanism such that when the rotating mechanism is turned clockwise to its limit the line on the workpiece has an angle of 0 degrees with a reference line and when the rotating mechanism is turned counter-clockwise to its limit the line on the workpiece forms an angle of 90 degrees with the reference line.

16. The laser generating device of claim 15, wherein the rotating mechanism provides for rotating the laser line from 0 degrees to 90 degrees with respect to the bottom of the housing.

17. The laser generating device of claim 15, wherein a retractable door is disposed over the opening and is moveable from a first open position to a second closed position, wherein when the door is in the first open position the switch is connected to the power supply for the laser generator and when the door is in the second closed position the switch is disconnected to the power supply for the laser generator.

18. An assembly for generating a laser line, the assembly comprising:

a housing having an opening, a laser generator and a power supply in the housing, the laser generator being rotatable coupled to the housing and being operable to project a laser beam through the opening in the housing and onto a workpiece to form a line, and the laser generator being electrically connected to the power supply; and

a rotating mechanism having a first stop which prevents rotation of the rotating mechanism in one direction and defines a first operating position wherein the line on the workpiece forms a first angle with a reference line and a second stop which prevents rotation of the rotating mechanism in another direction and defines a second operating position wherein the line of the workpiece forms a second angle with the reference line, the first angle being different from the second angle.

19. The assembly of claim 18, further comprising a door at the opening of the housing, the door moving from a first position to a second position to close the opening, the laser generator generating the laser beam when the door is in the first position, and the laser generator not generating the laser beam when the door is in the second position.

20. The assembly of claim 19, further comprising a switch to electrically connect and disconnect the supply of power from the power supply to the laser generator, and wherein the switch is controlled by the door.

21. The assembly of claim 18, further comprising a knob connected to the laser generator to rotate the laser generator about the housing.

22. The assembly of claim 21, wherein the knob extends outwardly from the housing.

23. The assembly of claim 18, further comprising a magnet connected to the assembly to assist in connecting the housing to the mounting baseplate.

24. A laser level, comprising:

a laser generator assembly having a laser generator and a lens;

a housing with a base defining a base plane;

a power supply electrically connected to the laser generator;

a switch between the laser generator and the power supply for selectively powering the laser generator;

the laser generator projecting a laser beam through the lens to form a line on a surface to be illuminated;

a manually operated rotating mechanism operable on one of either the laser generator or the lens to selectively adjust the line on the surface to be illuminated from an angle between 0 and 90 degrees with the base plane; and

at least one stop which stops the rotating mechanism from adjusting the line on the surface beyond one of either an angle of 0 degrees or 90 degrees with the base plane.

25. The laser level of claim 24 wherein the line is adjustable from a vertical positioning reference on the surface to be illuminated to a horizontal positioning reference on the surface to be illuminated.

26. The laser level of claim 24, wherein the rotating mechanism transfers rotation to the laser generator as a portion of the rotating mechanism is rotated.

27. The laser level of claim 24, wherein the laser generator is located within a housing.

28. The laser level of claim 24 further comprising a removable mounting baseplate having an attachment which cooperates with the laser level to removably secure the laser level to the mounting baseplate, the laser generator being rotatable with respect to the mounting baseplate when the laser level is secured to the mounting baseplate.

29. The laser level of claim 28, wherein the mounting baseplate has an opening to receive a pin for securing the mounting baseplate to a surface.

30. The laser level of claim 29, wherein the mounting baseplate comprises a retractable pin.

31. A laser level, comprising:

a laser generator supported by a base;

a power supply connected to the laser generator;

a laser beam projected from the laser generator through a lens to form a line on a surface to be illuminated;

a rotating mechanism operable on the line to angularly adjust the line from 0 to 90 degrees with respect to a reference line on the surface to be illuminated; and

the rotating mechanism including a stop that cooperates with a fastening member to stabilize the line at one of either 0 degrees or 90 degrees on the surface to be illuminated.

32. A laser level, comprising:

a laser generator supported by a base;

a power supply connected to the laser generator;

a laser beam projected from the laser generator;

an adjustable laser projection line selectively adjustable on a surface to be illuminated from a line at 0 degrees with respect to a reference line and to a line at 90 degrees with respect to the reference line while maintaining the laser level in a fixed position on a fixed plane; and

a fastening member and a magnet that cooperate with one another to maintain the stability of the laser line at 0 degrees and at 90 degrees.

33. A laser level, comprising:

a laser generator assembly comprising a laser generator and a lens;

a power supply connected to the laser generator;

a fan-shaped laser beam projected from the laser generator assembly and forming a line on a surface to be illuminated; and

a manually rotating mechanism operable on the laser generator assembly to selectively adjust the line on the surface to be illuminated, the manually rotating mechanism having a first stop that defines a first position wherein the line on the surface to be illuminated forms a reference angle of 0 degrees and a second stop that defines a second position wherein the line on the surface to be illuminated has an angle of 90 degrees.

34. A laser level, comprising:

a housing having a first level bubble aligned along a first plane and a second level bubble aligned along a second plane generally perpendicular to the first plane;

a laser generating assembly for projecting a fan-shaped laser beam to form a line on a surface to be illuminated, the laser generating assembly comprising a laser generator and a lens;

a power supply electrically connected to the laser generator; and

a member projecting outwardly from the housing, the member being moveable between a first position wherein the member is rotated counter-clockwise to its limit and the line on the surface to be illuminated is one of either horizontal or vertical, and a second position wherein the member is rotated clockwise to its limit and the line on the surface to be illuminated is the other of either horizontal or vertical.

35. A line generating assembly, comprising:

a housing having a base;

a power supply;

a laser generator electrically connected to the power supply and positioned inside the housing, the laser generator projecting a laser beam through a lens, the lens being manually rotatable with respect to the base of the housing from a first position wherein a first stop prevents further rotation of the lens in a first direction and the laser generator projects a vertical line on a surface to be illuminated to a second position wherein a second stop prevents further rotation of the lens in a second direction which is opposite of the first direction and the laser generator projects a horizontal line on the surface to be illuminated.