The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 02, 1999
Filed:
Jan. 29, 1998
Eiichi Kitajima, Yokohama, JP;
Nikon Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A reference light generator that is capable of switching the scan plane of a laser beam between the horizontal and the vertical simply by changing the installation position of the reference light generator. A laser beam is emitted from a laser diode 1. A half mirror 3 guides the laser beam to transparent containers 5 and 7. When the reference light generator is used to determine the degree of horizontality, it is installed so that the transparent container 5 is positioned at the top. In this case, a movable light shielding plate 4 blocks the laser beam that travels toward the transparent container 7. The prism effect of a silicon oil 71 inside the transparent container 5 corrects the inclination of the laser beam that passes through the silicon oil 71. A rotation-type pentagonal prism 9 emits only the inclination-corrected laser beam from the reference light generator. When the reference light generator is used to determine the degree of verticality, it is installed so that the transparent container 7 is positioned at the bottom. In this case, the movable light shielding plate 4 blocks the laser beam that travels toward the transparent container 5. The prism effect of a silicon oil 72 inside the transparent container 7 corrects the inclination of the laser beam that passes through the silicon oil 72. The rotation-type pentagonal prism 9 emits only the inclination-corrected laser beam from the reference light generator.