Laser leveling system, apparatus and method for building construction

• US 6,256,895 B1
• Filed: 01/08/1999
• Issued: 07/10/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Paul Akers
• Original Assignee: Paul Akers
• Inventors: Akers, Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Gutierrez, Diego
• Assistant Examiner(s): DOAN, QUYEN M
• Application Number:
  US09/227,414
• Time in Patent Office: 914 Days
• Field of Search: 332/86, 332/90, 332/93, 334/06, 33D/IG.21, 332/81, 332/85, 332/96, 338/09, 334/88
• US Class Current: 33/286
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 15/004 Reference lines, planes or sectors

Abstract

A leveling assembly to establish elevations in a building structure for installing cabinets, bookshelves, countertops, etc. There is a telescoping mounting post adapted to be positioned in bearing engagement between a floor surface and the top of a doorway, ceiling or other upper surface. A laser that transmits a horizontal laser beam is mounted to a mounting device that can be moved to different positions along the length of the post. Locking devices hold the laser mounting device in place, and also properly position the post to be in firm engagement with its bearing surfaces. The laser mounting device can be swung to upper and lower positions.

Claims

1. A laser leveling assembly to establish height locations at selected locations, and adapted for use at a location where there is a lower upwardly facing support surface and an upper downwardly facing bearing surface, such as a building structure having a floor support surface and an upper bearing surface, such as an upper section of a doorway, a ceiling or an upper panel or member, said assembly comprising:

a) a laser instrument to transmit a horizontally directed laser beam at laterally spaced locations to indicate a selected elevation or elevations at such spaced locations;

b) a mounting post having a longitudinal axis and comprising;

i. a lower contact end portion arranged to engage said lower support surface to establish a lower mounting location for said post;

ii. an upper contact end portion arranged to engage said upper bearing surface to establish an upper mounting location for said post so that the post can be positioned between the upper and lower locations so as to have a substantial vertical alignment component;

iii. said mounting post providing a guideway extending along said longitudinal axis;

wherein

iv. an effective length of the post is changed to accommodate different distances between the first and second fixed surfaces;

c) an instrument mounting device mounted to said post for movement along said guideway to a selected height position or positions, and arranged to support said instrument in an operating position where the instrument can transmit said laser beam toward laterally spaced locations.

2. The assembly as recited in claim 1, where at least one of said contact ends is longitudinally adjustable so that the contact ends can be moved toward and away from one another.

3. The assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein said post comprises a first elongate post section having said lower contact end portion, and a second post section telescopically engaging said first post section and having said upper contact end portion.

4. The assembly as recited in claim 3, wherein said mounting device comprises:

i. a post engaging portion arranged to be fixedly positioned to the post and arranged to be able to move along said guideway of the post;

ii. an instrument mounting portion arranged to mount the instrument in its operating position;

iii. an intermediate mounting portion connecting said post engaging portion and said instrument mounting portion.

5. The assembly as recited in claim 4, wherein said intermediate mounting portion is arranged so that said instrument mounting portion can be located at different vertical locations relative to said post engaging portion.

6. The assembly as recited in claim 5, wherein said intermediate mounting portion comprises a support arm rotatably mounted so as to be able to rotate between an upper arm position to support said instrument mounting portion in an upper location and a lower arm location to support said instrument mounting portion at a lower location.

7. The assembly as recited in claim 4, wherein said intermediate mounting portion comprises a laterally extending offset mounting portion to locate the instrument mounting portion at a location spaced laterally from said mounting post so that the intermediate mounting portion would be able to move clear of an object located closely adjacent to said mounting post.

8. The assembly as recited in claim 7, wherein said intermediate mounting portion comprises a vertically oriented mounting portion to be able to support said instrument mounting portion at height locations spaced vertically from the post engaging portion.

9. The assembly as recited in claim 8, wherein said vertically oriented mounting portion is adjustable so as to be able to position the instrument mounting portion either above or below the elevation of the post engaging portion.

10. A The assembly as recited in claim 3, wherein said first and second post sections each has a generally rectangular cross-section, and at least one of a longitudinal edge portion of the first post section and an adjacent longitudinal edge portion of the second post section comprises a flattened edge surface portion, said assembly further comprising a post locking section comprising a thread mounted locking member which can be rotated into and out of locking engagement between said first and second post sections and coming into engagement with the flattened surface portion.

11. The assembly as recited in claim 10, wherein there is an instrument mounting locking device comprising a rotatable threaded locking member in operative engagement between the instrument mounting device and the post, so as to be rotatable to come into locking engagement between the instrument mounting device and the post.

12. The assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein said mounting post has an elevation indicating portion extending along the longitudinal axis of the post to indicate vertical location relative to the post, said mounting device having a height indicating device positioned to enable height location of the mounting device to be determined.

13. The assembly as recited in claim 12, wherein said elevation indicating portion has indicia increasing from a lower location to an upper location to indicate distance from a lower surface location, and also indicia increasing from an upper location toward a lower location to indicate distance from the upper location to the lower location.

14. The assembly as recited in claim 12, wherein said mounting device comprises a post engaging portion extending at least partially around said post, and having said height indicating device positioned adjacent to the elevation indicating portion.

15. The assembly as recited in claim 14, wherein said height indicating device is mounted so as to be vertically adjustable relative to said post engaging portion.

16. The assembly as recited in claim 15, wherein said height indicating device comprises a vertically movable transparent member with a height indicator thereon.

17. The assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein said mounting post comprises a first telescoping member and a second telescoping member mounted within said first telescoping member, said assembly further comprising a post locking and stabilizing device comprising a rotatable threaded member which is mounted to said post and which can be rotated into and out of locking engagement to exert a lateral force relative to said telescoping members when in locking engagement, said assembly further comprising a mounting locking device which operably engages said mounting device and said post and which comprises a rotatably threaded member to come into locking engagement between said instrument mounting device and said post.

18. Method to establish height locations at selective locations, and adapted to be employed at a location where there is a lower upwardly facing support surface and upper downwardly facing bearing surface, such as a building structure having a floor support surface and an upper bearing surface, such as an upper section of a doorway, a ceiling or an upper panel or member, said method comprising:

a) mounting a laser instrument to an instrument mounting device and mounting the mounting device to a mounting post having a longitudinal axis;

b) placing a lower contact end of said post to engage said lower support surface to establish a lower mounting location for said post means;

c) arranging an upper contact end portion of the post such that the post is substantially vertical and extending the effective length of the the post such that the upper contact end portion of said post engages said upper bearing surface to establish an upper mounting location for said post so that the post is positioned between the upper and lower locations so as to have a substantial vertical alignment component, with said mounting post providing a guideway extending along said longitudinal axis;

d) positioning said instrument mounting device along said guideway to a selected height position or positions, with said instrument in an operating position;

e) operating said laser instrument to transmit a laser beam at a laterally spaced location or locations to indicate a selected elevation or elevations at such location or locations.

19. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein said intermediate mounting portion is arranged so that said instrument mounting portion can be located at different vertical locations relative to a post engaging portion where the instrument mounting device is mounted to the post, said method comprising rotating said mounting portion to an upper or lower location so that said laser instrument can operate at positions both above and below the location at which the instrument mounting portion is engaging the post.

20. A leveling assembly adapted to be used with a laser instrument to establish height locations at selected locations, and adapted for use at a location where there is a lower upwardly facing support surface and an upper downwardly facing bearing surface, such as a building structure having a floor support surface and an upper bearing surface, such as an upper section of a doorway, a ceiling or an upper panel or member, said assembly comprising:

a) a mounting post having a longitudinal axis and comprising;

i. a lower contact end arranged to engage said lower support surface to establish a lower mounting location for said post;

ii. an upper contact end portion arranged to engage said upper bearing surface to establish an upper mounting location for said post so that the post can be positioned between the upper and lower location so as to have a substantial vertical alignment component;

iii. said mounting post providing a guideway extending along said longitudinal axis; and

iv. an effective length of the post is changed to accommodate different distances between the floor support surface and the upper bearing surface;

b) an instrument mounting device mounted to said post for movement along said guideway to a selected height position or positions, and having a laser instrument supporting portion to support said instrument in an operating position where the laser instrument is able to transmit a horizontally directed laser beam at a laterally spaced location to indicate a selected elevation or elevations at such location or locations.

21. A laser leveling assembly particularly adapted to support a laser instrument and function with the laser instrument to establish height locations at selected locations, by means of a laser beam of the laser instrument, and adapted for use at a location where there is a lower upwardly facing support surface and an upper downwardly facing bearing surface such as a building structure having a floor support surface and an upper bearing surface, such as an upper section of a doorway, a ceiling or an upper panel or member, said assembly comprising:

a) a mounting post having a longitudinal axis and comprising;

i. a lower contact end portion arranged to engage said lower support surface to establish a lower mounting location for said post;

ii. an upper contact end portion arranged to engage said upper bearing surface to establish an upper mounting location for said post;

iii. said post being arranged so that the upper and lower contact end portions are extended or retracted with respect to one another so that the post can be positioned between the upper and lower locations so as to have a substantial vertical alignment component, and so that the upper and lower contact end portions can be positioned in engagement with the upper bearing surface and the lower support surface to hold the post between the upper and lower locations;

iv. said mounting post providing a guideway extending along said longitudinal axis; and

v. an effective length of the post is changed to accommodate different distances between the floor support surface and the upper bearing surface;

b) an instrument mounting device mounted to said post for movement along said guideway to a selected height position or positions, and arranged to support said instrument in an operating position where the instrument can transmit said laser beam toward laterally spaced locations.

22. A method to establish height locations at selected locations, and adapted to be employed at a location where there is a lower upwardly facing support surface and upper downwardly facing bearing surface, such as a building structure having a floor support surface and an upper bearing surface, such as an upper section of a doorway, a ceiling or an upper panel or member, said method comprising:

a) mounting a laser instrument to an instrument mounting device and mounting the mounting device to a post having a longitudinal axis, an upper end contact portion and a lower end contact portion;

b) placing a lower contact end portion of said post to engage said lower support surface to establish a lower mounting location for said post;

c) arranging an upper contact end portion of the post such that the post is substantially vertical and extending the effective length of the the post such that the upper contact end portion of said post engages said upper bearing surface to establish an upper mounting location for said post so that the post is positioned between the upper and lower locations, with said post providing a guideway extending along said longitudinal axis;

d) positioning said instrument mounting device along said guideway to a selected height position or positions, with said instrument in an operating position;

e) operating said laser instrument to transmit a laser beam at a laterally spaced location or locations to indicate a selected elevation or elevations at such location or locations.

23. A laser leveling assembly to establish height locations at selected locations, and adapted for use at a location where there is a lower upwardly facing support surface and an upper downwardly facing bearing surface, such as a building structure having a floor support surface and an upper bearing surface, such as an upper section of a doorway, a ceiling or an upper panel or member, said assembly comprising:

a) a laser instrument to transmit a horizontally directed laser beam at laterally spaced locations to indicate a selected elevation or elevations at such spaced locations;

b) a mounting post having a longitudinal axis and comprising;

i. a lower contact end arranged to engage said lower support surface to establish a lower mounting location for said post;

ii. an upper contact end portion arranged to engage said upper bearing surface to establish an upper mounting location for said post;

iii. said post being arranged so that the upper and lower contact end portions are extended or retracted with respect to one another so that the post can be positioned between the upper and lower locations so as to have a substantial vertical alignment component, and so that the upper and lower contact end portions can be positioned in engagement with the upper bearing surface and the lower support surface to hold the post between the upper and lower locations;

iv. said mounting post providing a guideway extending along said longitudinal axis; and

v. an effective length of the post is changed to accommodate different distances between the floor support surface and the upper bearing surface;

c) an instrument mounting device mounted to said post for movement along said guide way to a selected height position or positions, and arranged to support said instrument in an operating position where the instrument can transmit said laser beam toward laterally spaced locations.

24. A leveling assembly for establishing a desired height location on a target surface, where the target surface is adjacent to first and second fixed surfaces, the leveling assembly comprising:

a light emitting instrument adapted to transmit a directed light beam;

a post having first and second end portions arranged to engage the first and second fixed surfaces such that a position of the post relative to the first and second fixed surfaces is substantially fixed, where an effective length of the post may be changed to accommodate different distances between the first and second fixed surfaces; and

an instrument mounting device that engages the post such that the instrument mounting device may be selectively fixed to the mounting post at a desired post location;

wherein

the light emitting instrument is mounted to the instrument mounting device such that, when the instrument mounting device is fixed to the mounting post at the desired post location, the light beam illuminates the desired height location on the target surface.

25. A leveling assembly as recited in claim 24, in which:

the post defines a longitudinal axis; and

the instrument mounting device is selectively mounted on the post such that the instrument may move along the longitudinal axis of the post.

26. A leveling assembly as recited in claim 25, in which the instrument mounting device comprises a locking device that allows the position of the instrument mounting device relative to the post to be selectively fixed.

27. A leveling assembly as recited in claim 25, in which at least one of the post and the instrument mounting device defines a slot that receives a portion of the other of the post and the instrument mounting device to allow movement of the instrument mounting device relative to the post along the longitudinal axis of the post but such that movement of the instrument mounting device away from the longitudinal axis of the post is inhibited.

28. A leveling assembly as recited in claim 24, in which the post further comprises a post locking device that fixes the effective length of the post at a desired length.

29. A leveling assembly as recited in claim 24, in which the light emitting device is a laser.

30. A leveling assembly as recited in claim 24, in which the light emitting device comprises a rotating device for moving the light beam relative to the pole such that the light beam forms a line on the target surface.

31. A leveling assembly as recited in claim 24, in which the light emitting device comprises a self-leveling device that directs the light beam along a substantially horizontal path.

32. A support assembly for a rotary laser that generates a light line, where the support assembly supports the rotary laser assembly such that a light line emitted by the rotary laser establishes a desired reference line on a target surface and the target surface is adjacent to first and second fixed surfaces, the support assembly comprising:

a post having first and second end portions arranged to engage the first and second fixed surfaces such that a position of the post relative to the first and second fixed surfaces is substantially fixed, where an effective length of the post may be changed to accommodate different distances between the first and second fixed surfaces; and

an instrument mounting device comprising

a mounting portion that engages the post such that the instrument mounting device may be selectively fixed to the mounting post at a desired post location, and

an intermediate portion that engages the mounting portion such that the intermediate portion may be selectively fixed to the mounting portion at a desired mounting angle;

wherein

the rotary laser is mounted to the intermediate portion such that, when the instrument mounting device is fixed to the mounting post at the desired post location and the intermediate portion is fixed to the mounting portion at the desired mounting angle, the light line emitted by the rotary laser illuminates the desired reference line on the target surface.

33. A support assembly as recited in claim 32, in which:

the post defines a longitudinal axis; and

the mounting portion is selectively mounted on the post such that the instrument may move along the longitudinal axis of the post.

34. A support assembly as recited in claim 33, in which at least one of the post and the mounting portion defines a slot that receives a portion of the other of the post and the mounting portion to allow movement of the instrument mounting device relative to the post along the longitudinal axis of the post but such that movement of the instrument mounting device away from the longitudinal axis of the post is inhibited.

35. A support assembly as recited in claim 32, in which the post comprises first and second post sections, where the first post section telescopically engages the second post section.

36. A support assembly as recited in claim 32, in which the post further comprises a post locking device that fixes the effective length of the post at a desired length.

37. A support assembly as recited in claim 32, in which the post comprises first and second post sections having first and second longitudinal axes, respectively, where the first post section engage and moves relative to the second post section such that the first and second longitudinal axes are substantially parallel as the effective length of the post is changed.

38. A method of establishing a desired location on a target surface arranged between a support surface and a bearing surface, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a post having first and second end portions;

arranging the post with tee first end portion engaging the support surface;

changing an effective length of the post such that the second end portion engages the bearing surface and fixes the post relative to the target surface;

mounting a light emitting instrument on the post;

operating the light emitting instrument to cause a light beam to impinge on the target surface; and

adjusting a location of the light emitting instrument on the post such that the light beam impinges on the target surface at the desired location.

39. A method as recited in claim 38, further comprising the step of rotating the light emitting instrument such that the light beam forms a line at the desired location on the target surface.

40. A method as recited in claim 38, in which the step of mounting the light emitting instrument on the post further comprises the steps of:

providing a mounting assembly;

mounting the mounting assembly to the post; and

mounting the light emitting instrument on the mounting assembly.

41. A method as recited in claim 40, in which:

the step of providing the mounting assembly comprises the steps of;

providing first and second mounting members; and

rotatably attaching the first mounting member to the second mounting member;

the step of mounting the mounting assembly to the post comprises the step of mounting the first mounting member to the post such that the second mounting member rotates about a mounting axis relative to the post; and

the step of mounting the light emitting instrument on the mounting assembly comprises the step of mounting the light emitting instrument to the second mounting member.

42. A method as recited in claim 38, further comprising the step of locking the effective length of the post to maintain the post in contact with the support surface and the bearing surface.

43. A method as recited in claim 38, in which:

the step of providing the post comprises the step of providing first and second post sections, where the first end portion is defined by the first post section and the second end portion is defined by the second post section;

the method further comprising the step of engaging the first and second post sections together such that the first and second post sections move relative to each other to change a distance between the first and second end portions and thus the effective length of the post.