JP2575266B2 - Tape measure - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape measure. More specifically, the present invention relates to a digital display type tape measure that digitally displays a length measurement dimension.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a digitally-displayed tape measure that digitally displays a measured length is rotated in association with the drawing-out of the measure material, in addition to a take-up reel that winds the measure material in a case so as to be able to be drawn out. The structure is such that a sprocket wheel is provided, the amount of rotation of the sprocket wheel is detected by an encoder or the like, and the amount of rotation, that is, the amount of pulling out of the measuring material is digitally displayed on a digital display.

In measuring the length, the tip of the measuring material is brought into contact with one end of the measurement site of the object to be measured with one hand, and then moved to the other end of the measurement site while holding the case with the other hand. If this is the case, the scale is pulled out of the case. Then, the sprocket wheel is rotated in association with the pulling out of the ruler, so that the amount of pulling out of the ruler is displayed on the digital display. Eventually, when the case is moved to a position where the measuring material outlet of the case coincides with the other end of the measurement part, the digital display shows the amount of drawing of the measuring material corresponding to the length of the measuring part of the DUT. Since the digital display is used, it is possible to easily and simply measure the length of the measurement site simply by reading the display value.

[0004]

However, as described above, in the conventional tape measure, in addition to the take-up reel for retrievably winding the measure into the case, a sprocket rotating in association with the draw of the measure is used. Because it has a structure with wheels,
The case must be large enough to accommodate at least the take-up reel and the sprocket wheel. In order to secure the effective measurement length, or to accurately convert the amount of pull-out of the length material to the amount of rotation of the sprocket wheel, the take-up reel and the sprocket wheel also need to have a certain size. In addition, there is naturally a limit to miniaturization of the case.

[0005] Therefore, in the above-mentioned conventional structure, it is difficult to reduce the size of the case itself to a certain size or less, and there is an inconvenience in handling. For example, it is difficult to hold the case with one hand at the time of length measurement and move it along the measurement site while holding the case.If the measurement site is a curved surface, it is difficult to move the case along the measurement site. The above inconvenience occurred. Therefore, it is considered that the digital display tape measure was not used for measuring clothes, etc., based on these reasons.

In addition, the fact that the size of the case itself cannot be reduced to a certain size or less is accompanied by a disadvantage that the measurable measurement site is limited. For example, when measuring the bottom of a groove or the like, the measurement must be performed with the case stored in the groove, so the measurable measurement site is when the size of the groove is larger than the size that can store the case. It has the disadvantage of being limited.

Here, an object of the present invention is to eliminate such disadvantages of the prior art, to be compact, lightweight, excellent in handling, to expand the measurement range, to be easy to manufacture, and to be inexpensive.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a tape measure whose specified measurement can be guaranteed for a long time .

[0008]

Therefore, a tape measure according to the present invention includes a band member formed of a material having flexibility, a cursor portion slidably provided in a longitudinal direction of the band member,
It includes a longitudinal one of which is provided at a predetermined pitch intervals along the electrode and the one electrode <br/> and oppositely disposed other electrode to the cursor part of the strip length material, the two electrodes relative movement displacement Bei an encoder for detecting the amount, and display means for displaying a relative movement amount of displacement detected by the encoder
The one electrode is arranged along the longitudinal direction of one side of the strip material.
Of conductive material printed at a constant pitch
And the surface of the grid electrode is
It is characterized by being covered with an insulating film .

[0009]

[0010]

In the length measurement, the measurement reference end side of the cursor is positioned at one end of the measurement site of the object to be measured, and then the cursor is slid along the measurement site and in the longitudinal direction of the band material. Then, the amount of relative movement displacement between the cursor portion and the strip material is detected by the encoder, and then digitally displayed on the display means . Eventually, when the measurement reference end side of the cursor section slides to the other end side of the measurement section, a value corresponding to the amount of displacement of the cursor section is displayed on the display means . The dimensions can definitely be easily measured.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a tape measure of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to an embodiment shown in FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a tape measure of the present embodiment. The tape measure is roughly divided into a band member 10 and a cursor portion 20 slidably provided in the longitudinal direction of the band member 10.

The strip member 10 has a strip-shaped base 11 formed of a material having flexibility and electrical insulation, for example, vinyl chloride containing glass fiber and having a constant width. The strip-shaped substrate 11 has graduations 12 engraved on the one surface thereof at a constant pitch along the longitudinal direction, and a narrow grid electrode 13 made of a conductive material on the other surface thereof has a constant width along the longitudinal direction. They are formed at pitch intervals. In order to form the grid electrode 13 on the band-shaped substrate 11, for example, a conductive material can be printed at a constant pitch along the longitudinal direction of the band-shaped substrate 11. The surfaces of these grid electrodes 13 are covered with an insulating film 14 (see FIG. 2) made of, for example, a poly film. At both ends of the band-shaped base 11, locking members 15 that can be connected to and separated from each other, for example, a magic tape (trade name) are provided.

The cursor 20 has through-holes 21 formed in the left and right end surfaces thereof for inserting the strip material 10, a digital display 22 on the front side, and a zero set switch 23 on the lower side. Hold switch 24
Are provided respectively. Further, inside the cursor unit 20, there are provided a capacitance type encoder 25 for detecting a relative movement displacement amount between the cursor unit 20 and the strip material 10, and other circuits. 26 is a finger hook, 27
Is a transmitter. Although not shown, the through hole 2
A brush for preventing dust adhering to the front and back surfaces of the band member 10 from entering the inside of the cursor portion 20 is provided at the entrance of the band member 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, the capacitance type encoder 25 includes a grid electrode 13 which is arranged at a constant pitch along the longitudinal direction of the strip material 10, and the grid electrode 13.
It comprises a ground electrode (not shown) disposed therebetween and a plurality of sets of transmission electrode elements arranged at a constant pitch on the cursor section 20 side along the moving direction of the strip material 10 and eight sets constitute one set. The transmitting electrode 31, the receiving electrode 32 arranged in parallel with the length of the transmitting electrode 31, and the transmitting electrode elements forming one set (the other sets are also the same) having different phases obtained by dividing 360 degrees into eight. A transmission circuit 33 for applying a transmission signal; and a transmission electrode 31
And a receiving circuit 34 for receiving a signal from the receiving electrode 32 whose phase changes based on the relative displacement of the movement of the grating electrode 13. Note that the measurement principle of the electrostatic capacitance type encoder is described in detail such as in JP-B 64-118 8 3 JP.

The output from the receiving circuit 34, that is, the output from the encoder 25, is counted by a counter 28, and then sequentially digitally displayed on the digital display 22 by the processing of the CPU 29. The count value of the counter 28 is set to 0 when the zero set switch 23 is pressed, and the count value of the
When is pressed, it is held at that value. If necessary, the data is transmitted to the external data processing device via the transmitter 27 by wire or wirelessly by the processing of the CPU 29, where it is processed and printed.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. In the length measurement, after the measurement reference end side (any end face in the movement direction side) of the cursor section 20 is positioned at one end side of the measurement site of the measured object, the zero set switch 23 is pressed.
The display value of the digital display 22 is set to 0. Subsequently, the cursor section 20 is moved along the measurement site and the strip material 10.
When the slider is slid in the longitudinal direction, the amount of relative movement displacement between the cursor section 20 and the band member 10 is detected by the encoder 25, and then digitally displayed on the digital display 22. Eventually, when the measurement reference end side of the cursor section 20 slides to the other end side of the measurement site, when the hold switch 24 is pressed, the display value displayed on the digital display 22 is held. Therefore, it is possible to easily and simply measure the size of the measurement site simply by reading the display value of the digital display 22.

By the way, when the length of the measurement site is longer than the entire length of the strip material 10, as shown in FIG.
The two ends of the band 0 are connected to each other by using the locking member 15 to make the band member 10 ring-shaped. In this state, after the measurement reference end side of the cursor section 20 is positioned on one end side of the measurement site, the cursor section 20 is moved along the measurement site and the band material 10.
When the cursor section 20 is slid, the cursor section 20 can slide the band member 10 any number of times, so that the measurement can be performed even when the length is longer than the entire length of the band member 10.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the band member 10 having flexibility and the cursor portion 20 slidably provided in the longitudinal direction of the band member 10 are provided.
The grid electrode 13 provided along the longitudinal direction of the cursor and the transmission electrode 31 and the reception electrode 32 provided on the cursor portion 20 side
To form a capacitive encoder 25 for detecting the amount of relative movement displacement between the two.
The digital display 22 for displaying the output of the
, The cursor section 20 can be significantly reduced in size as compared with the conventional case.

That is, unlike the related art, there is no need to provide a take-up reel or a sprocket wheel that rotates in association with the drawing of the measuring material, so that the size of the cursor section 20 can be reduced accordingly. Therefore, the cursor portion 20 can be easily held with one hand, and even when the measurement site is a curved surface, the cursor portion 20 can be easily moved along the curved surface, so that the handleability can be further improved as compared with the related art. Further, even when measuring the bottom of a groove or the like, even if the size of the measurable groove is smaller than the conventional one, the measurement range can be expanded.

Further, since the locking members 15 which can be connected and separated from each other are provided at both ends of the band member 20, if the locking members 15 at both ends are connected to each other to form the band member 10 into a ring shape, Since the cursor part 20 can slide the strip material 10 for any number of rounds, while moving the strip material 10 along the measurement site, and
If the cursor section 20 is slid along the strip member 10, measurement can be performed even when the length of the measurement site is longer than the entire length of the strip member 10.

The grid electrode 13 constitutes the strip material 10.
Conductive material is printed on the strip-shaped substrate 11 at a constant pitch interval.
Grid electrode 13 is easily attached to the strip material 10.
Can simply be formed. In addition, since the surface of the grid electrode 13 provided on the strip-shaped base 11 constituting the strip member 10 is covered with the insulating film 14 such as a poly film, the distance between the grid electrodes 13 is reduced.
Of the cursor section 20
Rather There greens can damage the grid electrode 13 is also slid, stable
Measurement can be guaranteed for a long time. It is also possible to print a visual scale 12 on the insulating film 14. Further, since the cursor unit 20 is provided with the zero set switch 23 and the hold switch 24, the length measurement can be started from an arbitrary position by pressing the zero set switch 23.
When the hold switch 24 is pressed, the displayed value is held, so that the displayed value can be easily read. In addition, since the transmitter 27 is provided, the display value can be transmitted to the outside through the transmitter 27 and processed there.

[0022]

It should be noted that the present invention has the structure described in the above embodiment.
However, the present invention is not limited to this and includes the following modifications. The material of the band-like substrate 11 that constitutes the strip scale member 10, not only the vinyl chloride containing glass fibers described in the above embodiment and may be any other. In short, any material having flexibility may be used.

[0024]

As described above, according to the tape measure of the present invention, it is compact and lightweight, has excellent handleability, can expand the measurement range, and can maintain easy and stable measurement for a long period of time.
The effect that can be proved can be expected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a tape measure of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a capacitance type encoder in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the band members in the embodiment are connected in a ring shape.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Belt material 13 Grid electrode (one electrode ) 20 Cursor part 22 Digital display (display means) 25 Capacitance encoder 33 Transmission circuit 34 Receiving circuit

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A band member formed of a material having flexibility, a cursor portion slidably provided in the longitudinal direction of the band member, and a constant pitch along the longitudinal direction of the band member. It includes one electrode and the one electrode and the oppositely disposed other electrode to the cursor part provided at intervals, and an encoder for detecting a relative movement amount of displacement of the electrodes <br/>, detected by the encoder Display means for displaying the amount of relative movement displacement , wherein the one electrode extends along one surface longitudinal direction of the band material.
Grid electrodes made of conductive material printed at regular pitch intervals
Formed by poles and the surface of the grid electrode is insulated
A tape measure characterized by being covered with a film .