Surveying Prism Base Plate Bracket Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surveying prisms are complex, expensive, and cumbersome to handle due to their intricate designs and require additional adapters for support, making them difficult to produce, maintain, and use effectively.
Innovation Solution
A surveying prism design featuring a base plate with perpendicular bearing flanges that allow the prism housing to be pivotably mounted, with a releasable bearing frame and spring catch means for easy adjustment and secure positioning, enabling tool-free assembly and alignment without additional adapters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the bracket is designed as a fork with a rod-shaped shaft requiring adapters for support, then the prism can be mounted, but the structure becomes complex and expensive to produce and maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the complex fork structure with rod-shaped shaft from the bracket design. Instead, it uses a simplified base plate with integrated mounting holes that directly contacts the support surface, removing the need for adapters and reducing structural complexity while maintaining mounting functionality
Solution Approach 2:
The base plate serves multiple functions: it provides the mounting surface for the prism, offers direct contact with the support surface, includes integrated mounting holes for secure attachment, and eliminates the need for separate adapters. This multi-functional design reduces the number of components and simplifies the overall structure
2Ease of operation
If the fork structure with adapters is used, then the prism can be supported, but handling becomes cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the cumbersome fork structure and adapter components, replacing them with a simple base plate that can be directly placed on the support surface and secured with mounting holes, significantly improving handling ease
Solution Approach 2:
The base plate merges the support surface, mounting interface, and attachment features into a single integrated component, eliminating the need to handle multiple separate parts (fork, shaft, adapters) and making the prism easier to install and relocate
3Adaptability or versatility
If the bearing frame is fixed to the base plate, then assembly is simple, but adjustment and modification of prism orientation becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the bearing frame connection dynamic and adjustable by providing multiple mounting hole positions on the base plate and corresponding holes on the bearing frame. This allows the prism orientation to be changed by relocating the mounting holes, combining simplicity with adaptability
Solution Approach 2:
The base plate is segmented with multiple mounting hole positions, and the bearing frame has corresponding holes that can be aligned with different positions. This segmentation allows flexible reconfiguration of the prism orientation while maintaining a simple overall structure
4Productivity
If screws are used to fasten the prism to the support surface, then secure attachment is achieved, but the process requires tools and is time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the screw fastening system with a direct insertion method using mounting holes that accept pins or dowels. This substitution eliminates the need for screwdrivers and complex fastening operations, allowing quick tool-free installation while maintaining secure attachment
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting holes are designed to self-align and accept simple insertion fasteners that can be quickly installed without tools. The base plate and support surface work together to provide the mounting interface, reducing the need for external tools and complex assembly procedures
Data Source
AI summary
In a surveying prism comprising a prism housing (12) for accommodating a prism element, which prism housing is pivotably mounted in a bracket about an axis that is oriented parallel to the light ingress surface of the prism element, the bracket is formed as a base comprising a base plate (16) which forms a support surface for the surveying prism (10), and two bearing flanges oriented perpendicular to said base plate, between which bearing flanges the prism housing (12) is pivotably mounted.