Height recording system comprising a telescopic rule with two ends cooperating with an optical beam scanning in a horizontal plane

• US 8,024,866 B2
• Filed: 10/21/2008
• Issued: 09/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Leica Geosystems AG (Hexagon AB)
• Original Assignee: Agatec Co.
• Inventors: Keresztes, Zoltan, Gamal, Albert, Chiorean, Dimitru Mircea
• Primary Examiner(s): Johnson; Amy Cohen
• Application Number:
  US12/255,202
• Publication Number:
  US 20100095541A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,071 Days
• Field of Search: 33290-296, 332/27, 332/28, 332/67, 337/00, 33809-812, 338/32, 338/33, 335/05, 335/06, 335/421, 702/97, 702/158, 702/159, 702/166, 356/4.01, 356/141.1, 356/141.3, 356/139.07
• US Class Current: 33/293
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 15/06 Surveyors' staffs; Movable markers

Abstract

A height recording system includes a telescopic rule formed from a head and a telescopic assembly used to vary a distance between one support end forming a base for the telescopic assembly and an upper end supporting the head. The height recording system comprises: a measurement system that measures the distance; a receiver including photosensitive cell(s) to detect an optical beam output from a laser system; a module starts or validates a height measurement by the measurement system starting the measurement or the validation in response to the module receiving a determined signal from the receiver; the determined signal being representative of the laser beam being detected by one of the photosensitive cells.

Claims

1. Height recording system comprising a telescopic rule formed from a head and a set of telescopic tubes for varying the distance between one support end forming a base for the telescopic assembly and an upper end supporting the head, called the extension distance of the telescopic rule, the telescopic rule being arranged to cooperate with an optical scanning beam output from a laser scanning system, in a horizontal plane, the telescopic rule including:

a measurement and calculation system for measuring and calculating said extension distance;

a sensitive receiver, in the head of the telescopic rule, including photosensitive cells to detect the optical beam output from the laser system;

a module for starting or validating a height measurement by the measurement and calculation system, connected to be responsive to the sensitive receiver and to the measurement and calculation system, and starting the measurement or the validation in response to the module receiving a determined signal from the sensitive receiver, the determined signal being representative of detection of the laser beam by one of the photosensitive cells in the sensitive receiver.

2. System according to claim 1, wherein the measurement system includes a wave emitter fixed to the upper end of the telescopic rule and arranged to cooperate with a wave receiver in a processing box of the measurement system for enabling the signal received by the wave receiver to be processed by a processing module of the processing box in the measurement system to determine the distance separating the wave emitter and the wave receiver, the processing module of the processing box being arranged to send said distance to a control box of the measurement system, said wave receiver being tuned to waves of the wave emitter and said processing box being fixed to the lower end of the telescopic rule.

3. System according to claim 2, wherein a calibration box comprises a calibration receiver for receiving signals emitted by the wave emitter, a calculation module in the calibration box for processing said received signals and for determining the height separating the calibration receiver from the wave emitter, and a wave emitter for sending an indication of said height to the control box of the measurement system.

4. System according to claim 3, wherein the calibration module is fixed to one of the telescopic elements forming the telescopic rule, to compensate errors in the height recording system due to temperature variations.

5. System according to claim 3, wherein the sensitive receiver is linear and wherein the control box of the electronic measurement system comprises:

a wave receiver for receiving first, second and third signals representative of the heights of the processing box of the measurement system, the measurement start or validation module and the calibration box respectively;

a memory;

a processing module for processing the first, second and third signals received by the wave receiver to determine the extension distance or the level difference or height measured by an appropriate mathematical program, by adding a first distance stored in a memory of the control box and separating the reference plane from the linear sensitive receiver and a distance stored in the memory of the control box and separating the support end of the telescopic rule and the wave receiver of the processing box; and

a keyboard for supplying to the memory of the control box known heights to be stored in the memory of the control box.

6. System according to claim 5, wherein the memory of the control box is arranged for memorizing a plurality of measurements.

7. System according to claim 6, wherein the system is configured to generate a topographical survey and store the measurements in the memory.

8. System according to claim 2, wherein the module for starting or validating the measurement comprises a wave emitter to transmit a signal representing the measurement of the height between the photosensitive cell impacted by the laser beam and a reference point corresponding either to a point representing the lower end of the sensitive receiver or to a point representing the center of the sensitive receiver, to the control box of the measurement system.

9. System according to claim 8, wherein the start or validation module or the control box of the measurement system comprises a sound generator for emitting a tone in response to the optical beam impacting the sensitive receiver.

10. System according to claim 2, further including a controller for causing the measured extension distance or level difference or height to be (a) displayed on a display screen on a user interface of the control box or (b) stored in the memory of the control box, or both (a) and (b).

11. System according to claim 2, wherein the wave emitter is configured to emit signals of an infrared or radio electric or ultrasound type.

12. System according to claim 2, wherein the control box is a mobile telephone including software for processing measurement signals emitted by the measurement system of the telescopic rule, the measurement start or validation module and the calibration box and the transmission being of a Wi-fi or Bluetooth type.

13. System according to claim 2, wherein the wave receiver is configured to receive signals of an infrared or radio electric or ultrasound type.

14. System according to claim 1, wherein the height recording system comprises photovoltaic elements for supplying power to all elements of the system.

15. System according to claim 1, wherein the sensitive receiver is linear.

16. System according to claim 1, wherein the measurement and calculation system is configured to automatically calculate said extension distance.