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:
Feb. 20, 2007
Filed:
Mar. 10, 2006
Michael Williams, Mooresville, NC (US);
Jeffrey L. Spanski, Weddington, NC (US);
Derek J. Nash, Huntersville, NC (US);
John C. Smith, Denver, NC (US);
Daily Gist, Huntersville, NC (US);
Michael Williams, Mooresville, NC (US);
Jeffrey L. Spanski, Weddington, NC (US);
Derek J. Nash, Huntersville, NC (US);
John C. Smith, Denver, NC (US);
Daily Gist, Huntersville, NC (US);
Irwin Hand Tools/North America, Freeport, IL (US);
Abstract
An electronic measuring device is disclosed which includes a pair of wheels connected to an axle that passes through a drive gear. The drive gear is enmeshed to a second gear which, in turn, is coaxially connected to an encoder disk. The encoder disk has spaced-apart fins around its outer periphery. As the wheels turn and the encoder disk rotates, the fins and openings between the fins pass between an emitter and a receiver. The emitter and receiver are linked to a controller which calculates the distance traversed by the wheels based upon the number of fins that pass between the emitter and receiver, or with an active counting system (ACS). The controller also includes functions to establish start and stop points for a measurement and an easy means for dividing a measured distance into equal parts or segments and a means for marking the boundary points that define the segments when the measuring device is rolled back across the measured distance. The device can be used on both planar and non-planar surfaces.