Handheld optical distance measurement device
First Claim
1. A handheld optical distance measurement device, the device comprising:
- a distance measurement engine;
an angular position measurement engine; and
a controller that controls the distance measurement engine and associates one of an elevation, azimuth position, or relative angular position from the angular position measurement engine with distance measurements taken from the distance measurement engine;
memory for storing the distance measurements from said distance measurement and the one of an elevation, azimuth position, or relative angular position from said angular position engine;
an algorithm stored in said memory for calculating measurements that depend upon both of the distance measurements from said distance measurement and the one of an elevation, azimuth position, or relative angular position from said angular position engine;
a user interface including a display that can display elevation and distance of a measurement taken of a target, and an input keypad that permits a user to select device operations;
a visible pointing indicator that permits a user to point an indicator beam at a target.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A handheld measurement device of an embodiment of the invention includes a distance measurement engine and an angular position measurement engine. A controller controls the distance measurement engine and associates an elevation, azimuth position, or relative angular position from the angular position measurement engine with distance measurements taken from the elevation engine. In preferred operations, each point measured from a target under the control of a user is automatically associated with an elevation and/or azimuth position obtained from the angular position engine. Preferably, the controller determines a set of relative coordinates in space for a plurality of related target points. The controller may then calculate a variety of useful distances, areas, volumes, etc., regarding the plurality of target points.
111 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A handheld optical distance measurement device, the device comprising:
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a distance measurement engine; an angular position measurement engine; and a controller that controls the distance measurement engine and associates one of an elevation, azimuth position, or relative angular position from the angular position measurement engine with distance measurements taken from the distance measurement engine; memory for storing the distance measurements from said distance measurement and the one of an elevation, azimuth position, or relative angular position from said angular position engine; an algorithm stored in said memory for calculating measurements that depend upon both of the distance measurements from said distance measurement and the one of an elevation, azimuth position, or relative angular position from said angular position engine; a user interface including a display that can display elevation and distance of a measurement taken of a target, and an input keypad that permits a user to select device operations; a visible pointing indicator that permits a user to point an indicator beam at a target. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A handheld optical distance measurement device, the device comprising:
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a distance measurement engine; an angular position measurement engine; and a controller that controls the distance measurement engine and associates one of an elevation, azimuth position, or relative angular position from the angular position measurement engine with distance measurements taken from the distance measurement engine; memory for storing the distance measurements from said distance measurement and the one of an elevation, azimuth position, or relative angular position from said angular position engine; and an algorithm stored in said memory for calculating measurements that depend upon both of the distance measurements from said distance measurement and the one of an elevation, azimuth position, or relative angular position from said angular position engine; and a user interface including a display that can display elevation and distance of a measurement taken of a target, and an input keypad that permits a user to select device operations; a visible pointing indicator that permits a user to point an indicator beam at a target; and a speaker that provides an audible output to a user that indicates a warning or an indication of a completed measurement. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. A handheld optical distance measurement device, the device comprising:
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a distance measurement engine; an angular position measurement engine; and a controller that controls the distance measurement engine and associates one of an elevation, azimuth position, or relative angular position from the angular position measurement engine with distance measurements taken from the distance measurement engine; memory for storing the distance measurements from said distance measurement and the one of an elevation, azimuth position, or relative angular position from said angular position engine; and an algorithm stored in said memory for calculating measurements that depend upon both of the distance measurements from said distance measurement and the one of an elevation, azimuth position, or relative angular position from said angular position engine, and wherein said distance measurement engine comprises a time-of-flight distance measurement engine, the device further comprising; a pointer generator to generate a indicator beam as a pointing indicator; and an emission optical engine to generate a time-of-flight target beam; means for aligning said time-of-flight target beam and said indicator beam; and a sensing optical engine and optics to sense time-of-flight of said time-of-flight target beam.
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13. A handheld optical distance measurement device, the device comprising:
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a distance measurement engine; an angular position measurement engine; and a controller that controls the distance measurement engine and associates one of an elevation, azimuth position, or relative angular position from the angular position measurement engine with distance measurements taken from the distance measurement engine; memory for storing the distance measurements from said distance measurement and the one of an elevation, azimuth position, or relative angular position from said angular position engine;
an algorithm stored in said memory for calculating measurements that depend upon both of the distance measurements from said distance measurement and the one of an elevation, azimuth position, or relative angular position from said angular position engine;a user interface including a display that can display measurements calculated by the algorithm, and an input keypad that permits a user to select device operations to obtain display of one or more measurements that can be calculated by the algorithm. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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Specification