810results about "Plumb lines for surveying" patented technology

A laser level disposable on a reference surface includes a housing, a pendulum pivotably connected to the housing, a first laser diode disposed on the pendulum for emitting a first laser beam along a first path, and a lens disposed on the pendulum in the first path for converting the first laser beam into a first planar beam, the first planar beam forming a line on the reference surface.

An autonomous device for warning drivers of automobiles of excessive speed of turning around a curve. The device is compact with both the sensing means and alarm audio and/or visual signal producing means. The sensing means comprises two, alternatively activated and differentially calibrated by means of a proposed calibration device, pair of mercury switches, each pair comprising two oppositely inclined mercury switches for monitoring right and left turns of the vehicle, wherein the first pair is adapted for use in conditions of dry road surface by calibration at a predetermined value of inclination and a second pair is adapted for use in conditions of wet road surface by calibration at a different predetermined value of inclination.

An apparatus and a method for aligning a vertical shaft or multiple axially coupled vertical shafts in a hydroelectric turbine generator or a similar vertical-shaft system, and for providing precise plumb inclination alignment of a vertical rotating shaft. Precision inclinometers attached to the vertical shaft measure plumb inclination. Proximity probe displacement devices mounted externally of the vertical shaft measure radial movement, throw, or run out at various shaft elevations as the shaft is rotated relative to a fixed point. Data acquisition devices and communication devices accumulate and transmit alignment data to a micro-computer which receives and processes such data. Methods of defining shaft plumb inclination in a static single rotational position and defining plumb inclination of the virtual centerline of a shaft's rotational throw position. A method of swinging, tilting, or adjusting a vertical shaft to a corrected or different plumb position relative to the earth's gravity.

The novel miniaturized inclinometer for angle measurement with accurate measurement indicator is designed to monitor the angular motion of limbs. The device contains at least one inclinometer with signal conditioning electronics, including a microprocessor, placed within a miniature housing. A number of different sensors can be used and positioned in their housings so that their outputs vary as a function of their angle with respect to the gravity sector. The microprocessor controls a multiplexer, which controls the activities of the sensors; performs analog to digital conversions and measures the output curves from the sensor pairs to perform a conversion which results in a three hundred and sixty degree range with respect to gravity. Calibration data is stored in a read only memory and the microprocessor corrects variables to ensure accuracy and measures the difference in angle between the pairs of sensors.

An omnidirectional borehole navigation system comprising a housing for traversing a borehole; an outer gimbal connected to said housing and at least two or more stacked inner gimbals that are nested in and connected to said outer gimbal, said inner gimbals each having an axis parallel to one another and perpendicular to the outer gimbal; at least one inertial sensor located on each inner gimbal, the at least one inertial sensor including at least one gyro or accelerometer, the gyros having input axes that span three dimensional space and the accelerometers having input axes that span three dimensional space; one or more gyro circuits within the housing and responsive to the at least one gyro to produce the inertial angular rate about each gyro input axis; one or more accelerometer circuits within the housing and responsive to the at least one accelerometer to produce the non-gravitational acceleration along each accelerometer input axis; a processor responsive to said gyro circuits and said accelerometer circuits for determining the attitude and the position of said housing in the borehole; an outer gimbal drive system with complete rotary freedom; and an inner gimbal drive system for controlling the orientation of each of the inner gimbals. The drive system that controls the stacked inner gimbals may be a rack and pinion gear, or a gear train such as a bicycle chain gear rotating the inner gimbals in parallel between stops while maintaining the input axis orthogonality of gyro triads and the input axis orthogonality of accelerometer triads. The inner gimbal stops may be elastic to allow for small misalignments in the inner gimbal drive system.

An omnidirectional borehole navigation system is provided which features a housing for traversing a borehole; a gimbal system including at least one outer gimbal connected to the housing and at least one inner gimbal nested in and connected to the outer gimbal; a solid state three-axis gyro assembly mounted on the inner gimbal; a solid state three-axis accelerometer assembly mounted on the inner gimbal; gyro logic circuits on the inner gimbal responsive to the three-axis gyro assembly to produce the inertial angular rate about each gyro input axis; accelerometer logic circuits on the inner gimbal to produce the non-gravitational acceleration along each accelerometer input axis; and a microprocessor responsive to the gyro logic circuits and the accelerometer logic circuits for determining the attitude and the position and velocity of the housing in its borehole.

A method and device for calibrating a mobile terminal including a motion sensor reduces erroneous calibrations. The method of calibrating a mobile terminal by detecting an inclination of at least two directions preferably includes: activating a calibration mode for calibrating an error of the motion sensor. When a calibration mode is activated, a user interface screen for calibrating the motion sensor is output. The user interface screen outputs a coordinate system for displaying at least two facets of information; and inclination information of at least two directions received from the motion sensor is output as one image on the coordinate system.

An instrument for determining angular inclinations includes a rectangular frame having a generally transparent rotatable disk positioned therein. The disk includes a weight that is gravitationally attracted to the Earth's surface and circuitry for determining the disk's relative rotational position. A light source and sensor surround the disk and cooperate to determine the disk's angular position according to opaque lines imprinted on the disk's surface. The instrument includes a speech generator having a memory in which a plurality of audible messages corresponding to respective angular inclinations are stored. The instrument includes logic circuitry for determining an appropriate message to be generated according to the sensed position of the disk. This message is emitted through a speaker. The instrument further includes visual indicators relative to the angular inclination of the frame. Audible messages in multiple languages are stored in the speech generator memory and may be selectively accessed by a user.

Apparatus for indicating the angular position of a patient support surface such as a mattress relative to the direction of gravity is disclosed. An angle sensor mounted to a frame associates with the patient support surface to create an output responsive to changes in position relative to gravity. Circuitry transmits an output signal to activate a display of the angular position of the patient support, thereby indicating whether the angular position is within a predetermined range. Preferably, the apparatus has a circuit for activating an indicator light, which more preferably mounted above the patient support surface. In certain preferred embodiments the apparatus that comprises the light is connected to the headboard, or the like. It is preferred that the apparatus has a memory device for storing positional information comprising at least a predetermined angular measurement, and more specifically that there is a device for storing information pertaining to the length of time said patient support has been set to an angular position is within a predetermined range.

There are provided a horizontal angle detector for detecting a horizontal angle, an elevation angle detector for detecting an elevation angle, a dynamic displacement detecting means 10 for detecting posture displacement of a surveying instrument main unit in two horizontal directions, and a calculating unit, wherein said dynamic displacement detecting means detects displacement with respect to standard posture of the surveying instrument main unit 1, said calculating unit calculates the horizontal angle and the elevation angle corresponding to dynamic displacement detected by said dynamic displacement detecting means, and compensates the horizontal angle and the elevation angle obtained by the horizontal angle detector and the elevation angle detector respectively are compensated based on the calculated horizontal angle and the calculated elevation angle.

This patent teaches a machine for measuring angles over multiple simultaneous axes and calculating the compounded angle using tilt sensors and/or accelerometers, and including provision for establishing a baseline or zero point for each axis plus a micro-processor that receives inputs from the tilt sensors, converts them into measurements of angles, may calculate the compound angle(s) thereof, displays the results and, on demand, records the results in memory.

A gradiometer is disclosed which has a pair of sensor bars 41, 43 supported in housings 45, 47. Transducers 71 are located adjacent the bars 41, 43 to detect movement of the bars in response to the gravity gradient tensor. At least one of the transducers 71 comprises a first coil 510 and a second coil 516 arranged in parallel and a switch 362 for proportioning current between the coils 510 and 516 so as to create a virtual coil at a position D between the coils 510 and 516.

The present invention provides a gravity gradiometer for measuring components of the gravity gradient tensor. The gravity gradiometer comprises at least one sensor mass for movement in response to a gravity gradient and a pivotal coupling enabling the movement of the at least one sensor mass about an axis. Further, the gravity gradiometer comprises a constant charge capacitor that is arranged so that the movement of the at least one sensor mass generates a change in a voltage across the constant charge capacitor.

A laser indicator includes a weight mechanism having a bracket with a weight secured to the bracket in a manner where the weight is suspended by gravity. A plurality of laser generators are arranged about the weight, including a horizontal beam generator, a center laser generator arranged at the axial center of the bottom of the weight for emitting a laser point coaxial to the axial line of the weight, and a plurality of vertical beam generators positioned in spaced-apart manner around the axial center of the weight at the top of the weight. The laser indicator can include a stand that includes a seat having a plurality of legs, and a rotary table having a plurality of legs, with the weight mechanism coupled to the rotary table, and the rotary table removably coupled to the seat so that altitude of the weight mechanism can be adjusted. In addition, the laser indicator can include a securing mechanism for coupling the weight to the upper bracket of the bracket.

A gravity gradiometer is disclosed which has sensor masses in the forms of bars 41 and 43 arranged orthogonal to one another and transducers for providing an output signal indicative of movement of the bars in response to changes in the gravity gradient tensor. The transducers are formed from thin film structure having a first layer forming a fine pitch coil 510 and a second layer forming a coarse pitch coil 511. The layers are separated by an insulating layer. The coarse pitch coil 511 forms a transformer for stepping up the current flowing through the fine pitch coil 510 and the coarse pitch coil 511 supplies current to a SQUID device 367.

A device and method for quickly and accurately leveling a surface in either the horizontal or vertical plane while not in proximity to the surface being leveled. The device comprises a rigid base designed to be places on any surface to be leveled, inclinometer circuitry used to determine the position of the rigid base relative to level or plumb, wireless circuitry used to transmit the results of the inclinometer to a remotely transportable unit containing a digital display used to read the results of the inclinometer reading.

The present invention provides a gravity gradiometer which comprises at least one sensor mass suspended by a coupling which enables movement of the at least one sensor mass about an axis in response to a gravity gradient. Further, the gravity gradiometer comprises at least one transducer for generating an electrical signal in response to the movement of the at least one sensor mass relative to a component of the transducer and for influencing the movement of the at least one sensor mass. The gravity gradiometer also comprises electrical circuitry for receiving the electrical signal from the at least one transducer and for directing an actuating signal to the at least one transducer so that in use the at least one transducer functions as sensor and actuator.