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:
Sep. 23, 2003
Filed:
Mar. 16, 2000
Paul L. Bourget, Kentwood, MI (US);
Laser Alignment, Inc., Grand Rapids, MI (US);
Abstract
A target for use with a laser generating device is disclosed which diffracts a reference laser beam of light directed to the target along an optical axis of the target to provide a diffracted beam of light offset from the optical axis which is more easily visible to a detector, such as a human eye. Preferably, the diffracted beam includes at least one lobe offset from the optical axis at least 40° and, further, is diffracted in a multi-lobe pattern. For example, the target body may include diffractive bodies either in the substrate forming the body or on a carrier member which is mounted to the target body. The diffractive bodies are dimensioned on the same order of magnitude as the wavelength of the light of the reference laser beam of light. Preferably, the diffractive bodies have a diameter in a range of approximately 0.1 microns to 5.0 microns, more preferably, 0.1 microns to 2.0 microns and, most preferably, 0.5 microns to 1.0 microns. The diffractive bodies may be formed by a colloidal suspension in the optical material or may be dispersed in the substrate forming the target body prior to molding.