IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
|
출원번호 |
US-0145093
(2005-06-03)
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등록번호 |
US-7367129
(2008-05-06)
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발명자
/ 주소 |
|
출원인 / 주소 |
- Johnson Level & Tool Mfg. Co., Inc.
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대리인 / 주소 |
|
인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
2 인용 특허 :
12 |
초록
▼
A leveling or plumbing device for indicating a line or a plane on a surface, such as wall or floor. The device includes a light beam generator that emits a light beam exteriorly of a body or housing. Level and/or plumb indicators, such as vials, are mounted to the housing for positioning the device
A leveling or plumbing device for indicating a line or a plane on a surface, such as wall or floor. The device includes a light beam generator that emits a light beam exteriorly of a body or housing. Level and/or plumb indicators, such as vials, are mounted to the housing for positioning the device in a predetermined orientation on the surface. The device includes a series of extendible and retractable engagement members, each of which defines an outer end having an adhesive. The adhesive engages the surface to releasably secure the device to the surface. The engagement members are biased inwardly toward a retracted position. The adhesive engagement of the engagement members with the surface maintains the engagement members in the extended position against the inward bias.
대표청구항
▼
I claim: 1. A leveling device for use on a work surface, comprising: a body defining an engagement surface facing in a first direction and one or more manually engageable surfaces facing in a direction away from the first direction; a light beam emitter contained within the body for emitting a ligh
I claim: 1. A leveling device for use on a work surface, comprising: a body defining an engagement surface facing in a first direction and one or more manually engageable surfaces facing in a direction away from the first direction; a light beam emitter contained within the body for emitting a light beam exteriorly of the body in a predetermined orientation relative to the body; and an engagement arrangement associated with the body for selectively maintaining the body in position on the work surface, including a plurality of spaced apart engagement members and an adhesive carried by the plurality of engagement members, wherein the plurality of engagement members are movable between a retracted position in which the adhesive is positioned inwardly of the engagement surface of the body and an extended position in which the adhesive is positioned outwardly of the engagement surface of the body for engagement with the work surface to selectively maintain the body in position on the work surface; wherein each engagement member is movable from the retracted position to the extended position in response to manual engagement of an actuator which is manually accessible from one of the manually engageable surfaces of the body; and wherein the body and the plurality of engagement members associated with the body are configured and arranged such that an adjacent pair of the actuators are spaced sufficiently close together to enable a user to simultaneously manually move the pair of actuators inwardly relative to the body using one hand, wherein the simultaneous inward movement of the pair of actuators is operable to simultaneously move an associated pair of engagement members from the retracted position to the extended position to engage the body with the work surface. 2. The leveling device of claim 1, further comprising a biasing arrangement associated with the engagement arrangement for biasing the plurality of engagement members toward the retracted position. 3. The leveling device of claim 2, wherein the biasing arrangement comprises a spring that is configured and arranged to act on each engagement member to bias the engagement member toward the retracted position. 4. The leveling device of claim 1, wherein the body includes a passage within which each engagement member is located, wherein the passage extends between the one or more manually engageable surfaces and the engagement surface of the body. 5. The leveling device of claim 1, wherein the adhesive carried by each engagement member is contained within a recess in an end defined by the engagement member. 6. The leveling device of claim 5, wherein the adhesive comprises a mass of adhesive material that is removable from within the recess. 7. A method of maintaining the position of a leveling device on a work surface, comprising the acts of: providing a leveling device that includes: a body, wherein the body defines an engagement surface facing in a first direction and one or more manually engageable surfaces facing in a direction away from the first direction; a light beam emitter contained within the body for emitting a light beam exteriorly of the body in a predetermined orientation relative to the body; and an engagement arrangement associated with the body for selectively maintaining the body in position on the work surface, including a plurality of spaced apart engagement members and an adhesive carried by the plurality of engagement members, wherein the plurality of engagement members are movable between a retracted position in which the adhesive is positioned inwardly of the engagement surface of the body and an extended position in which the adhesive is positioned outwardly of the engagement surface of the body, wherein each engagement member is movable from the retracted position to the extended position in response to manual engagement of an actuator which is manually accessible from one of the manually engageable surfaces of the body, wherein each engagement member is movable from the retracted position to the extended position in response to manual engagement of an actuator which is manually accessible from one of the manually engageable surfaces of the body; positioning the body of the leveling device such that the engagement surface of the body engages the work surface and the leveling device is in a desired orientation on the work surface; and extending a pair of the engagement members from the retracted position within the body to the extended position externally of the body into engagement with the work surface, wherein the body and the plurality of engagement members associated with the body are configured and arranged such that an adjacent pair of the actuators are spaced sufficiently close together to enable a user to simultaneously manually move the pair of actuators inwardly relative to the body using one hand, and wherein the act of extending the pair of engagement members from the retracted position to the extended position is carried out by using one hand such that the simultaneous inward movement of the pair of actuators is operable to simultaneously move an associated pair of engagement members from the retracted position to the extended position to engage the body with the work surface, wherein the adhesive releasably adheres to the work surface to maintain the leveling device in the desired orientation on the work surface. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the engagement surface of the body faces the work surface, and wherein the act of extending the one or more engagement members from the retracted position to the extended position is carried out by moving each of the one or more engagement members outwardly relative to a recess that opens onto the engagement surface of the body and within which engagement member is movably mounted. 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the act of biasing each engagement member inwardly toward the retracted position, wherein engagement of the adhesive with the work surface functions to maintain the engagement member in the extended position against the inward bias. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the act of biasing each engagement member inwardly toward the retracted position is carried out by engaging a spring with each engagement member. 11. The method of claim 9, wherein each engagement member is mounted within a passage that extends inwardly from the manually engageable surfaces such that the actuator associated with each engagement member faces upwardly from the passage. 12. A leveling device for use on a work surface, comprising: a body defining an engagement surface facing in a first direction and including a plurality of passages that extend inwardly from the engagement surface, wherein the body further defines and one or more manually engageable surfaces facing in a direction away from the first direction; a light beam emitter contained within the body for emitting a light beam exteriorly of the body in a predetermined orientation relative to the body; a plurality of extendible and retractable engagement members, wherein each extendible and retractable engagement member is movable within one of the passages between a retracted position in which the engagement member is positioned within the passage, and an extended position in which the engagement member is moved outwardly within the passage, wherein each engagement member is movable from the retracted position to the extended position in response to manual engagement of an actuator which is manually accessible from one of the manually engageable surfaces of the body, wherein each actuator defines an outwardly facing actuator engagement surface that is manually accessible from the manually engageable surfaces of the body to enable a user to depress the actuator to move the engagement member from the retracted position to the extended position; wherein the actuator engagement surface of each actuator is flush with adjacent areas of the manually engageable surfaces of the body that are adjacent the actuator engagement surface when the engagement member is in the retracted position; an adhesive carried by each engagement member, wherein, when the engagement member is in the retracted position, the adhesive is positioned inwardly of the engagement surface of the body and wherein, when the engagement member is in the extended position, the adhesive is positioned outwardly of the engagement surface of the body for engagement with the work surface to selectively maintain the body in position on the work surface; a spring engaged between the body and each engagement member for biasing the engagement member toward the retracted position, wherein, when the engagement member is in the extended position and the adhesive is engaged with the work surface to maintain the body in position on the work surface, the adhesive maintains the engagement member in the extended position against the bias of the spring. 13. A leveling device for use on a work surface, comprising: a body defining an engagement surface and one or more manually engageable surfaces facing in a direction away from the first direction; light beam emitter means contained within the body for emitting a light beam exteriorly of the body in a predetermined orientation relative to the body; and releasable adhesive engagement means movably interconnected with the body for selectively maintaining the body in position on the work surface, wherein the adhesive engagement means comprises a plurality of engagement members, each of which is movable relative to the body to an extended position in which the engagement member is engaged with the work surface to releasably maintain the body in position on the work surface, wherein each engagement member is movable from the retracted position to the extended position in response to manual engagement of an actuator which is manually accessible from one of the manually engageable surfaces of the body, wherein each actuator defines an outwardly facing actuator engagement surface that is manually accessible from the manually engageable surfaces of the body to enable a user to depress the actuator to move the engagement member from the retracted position to the extended position; wherein the actuator engagement surface of each actuator is flush with adjacent areas of the manually engageable surfaces of the body that are adjacent the actuator engagement surface when the engagement member is in the retracted position. 14. The leveling device of claim 13, further comprising biasing means associated with the releasable adhesive engagement means for biasing each engagement member toward the retracted position. 15. The leveling device of claim 14, wherein the releasable adhesive engagement means includes a releasable adhesive carried by each engagement member, wherein the biasing means comprises a spring that acts on each engagement member for biasing the engagement member to the retracted position in which the releasable adhesive is not exposed to the work surface.
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