US2684434A - Surveyor's illuminated target - Google Patents

Description

y 20, 1954 A. K. BUREY SURVEYOR'S ILLUMINATED TARGET Filed May 5, 1951 w L H m U N NB E I 6 0 1 7 M A II M |||l;l|V|J w MEEEII zllL. d m 4 m Y 3 B Patented July 20, 1954 UNITED s'rAr S PATENT OFFICE This invention relates to targets and more particularly to illuminated targets for use in connection with rods or staffs as used by surveyors in determining various levels and the like.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of an illuminated target.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an attachment for a conventional target whereby the same may be illuminated.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of an illuminated target incorporating means for securing the target on the surveyors rod.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of an illuminated target incorporating signaling means.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of an attachment incorporating a light 1 Clair. (Cl. 2406.4)

source and a signaling device and registrable with the upper half of a conventional circular target so that the same may be mounted thereon and used in conjunction therewith without effecting the appearance thereof.

The surveyors target disclosed herein may comprise either one of two forms, the first of which comprises an illuminating device attachable to the upper half of a conventional target and the other of which comprises a replacement target incorporating the illuminating device as a part thereof. The preferred embodiment of the I invention lies in the attachment for a conventional target and wherein an illuminating means and a signaling means is provided and which attachment may be readily attached to a conventional target or removed therefrom as desired.

The illuminated target disclosed herein enables a survey, including various levels, to be made despite unsatisfactory lighting conditions which otherwise render indistinct the calibrated indicia on the rod and which are determined by the surveying party in striking a satisfactory level.

It is well known in the surveyors art that a surveying party usually comprises a transit and a rod and target combination. The transit is generally located a substantial distance from the rod and target and requires the vertical adjustment of the target on the rod to cause it to be properly aligned with respect to the transit. It has heretofore been necessary for the operator of the transit to rely on the general lighting when viewing the target through the transit and the present invention enables the target to be viewed more distinctly by providing an illuminating means whereby the target and the indicia indicated thereby may be viewed despite poor general lighting conditions. The illuminated target disclosed herein is light in weight, inexpensive in construction and is of no greater size than the conventional targets heretofore used by surveyors.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds,

the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of corn struction hereinafter described and claimed, it being the intention to cover all changes and modifications of the example of the invention herein chosen for purposes of the disclosure, which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is a front plan view of a surveyor's illuminated target.

Figure 2 is a back view with parts broken away.

Figure 3- a 'front plan view of the target illuminating attachment.

Figure 4 is a back plan view thereof.

Figure 5 is a vertical section on line 5-5 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a vertical section on line 6-5 of Figure 3.

By referring to the drawings and Figure 1 in particular it will be seen that a surveyors target of customary size and shape is disclosed and comprises a circular body member it having a vertically standing, rectangular opening 1 l centrally thereof. The body member H! is divided into three sections by substantially vertical lines ii, the central portion being preferably white inv color and the two side portions preferably being red in color. The body member In may also be divided by vertical and horizontal center lines and the four quarters of the device thus defined painted alternately red and white as is customary in the art. The target shown in Figure 1 of the drawings is provided with a clamp for engagement with the side of a rod (not shown), the clamp being actuated by a knurled knob l 3.

The target is adapted to be slidably positioned on a vertical rod (not shown) by the engagement therewith of a pair of oppositely disposed inturned flanges it as best illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings, the same being formed vertically on the back of the body member it) and one on either side of the opening 1 i. The opening H has a transparent indicia strip i5 positioned partly thereover so as to overlie the cale or other indicia formed on the rod on which the target is normally positioned. The uppermost portion of the body member is provided with a removable housing 16 open at its lower portion and concealing an incandescent bulb l'l' which is so positioned as to adequately illuminate the portion of the rod visible through the opening H heretofore referred to. As may be seen by referring to Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings, the incandescent bulb l? is positioned well in front of the opening H and in Figure 3 of the drawings dotted lines indicate the positioning of the rod IS, the front or indicia portion thereof being indicated by the numeral 19. It will be observed that light rays from the incandescent bulb ii pass through the opening II and illuminate the entire surface of the rod l8.

The back portion of the target I0 is provided with a pair of battery retaining boxes 29 and a switch 2! which is in circuit with an electrical conductor 22 which establishes electrical connection between the batteries 23 and the incandescent bulb I'.'. It will thus be seen that the target 19 is of a conventional size and shape, that it is therefore capable of being used as a replacement for a conventional target and that it may be positioned on the rod l8 and secured in desired position by manipulation of the knob i3 which moves a clamping piece 24 into frictional engagement with the side of the rod 18.

Figures 3, 4 and 6 of the drawings show an adaptation of the illuminated target hereinbefore referred to in that an illuminated attachment including a body member 25 is disclosed as being movably positioned on the upper half of a conventional circular target 26. The body member 25 has an arcuate upper portion and a horizontal base 2's and is or" a size to enable the horizontal base 27 to overlie a horizontal center line on a conventional target 26. A notch 28 is formed in the lower central portion of the body member 25 and corresponds with the upper half of a rectangular opening 29 in the conventional target 2E.

In Figure 3 of the drawings a front plan view of the target illuminating attachment is disclosed and by referring thereto it Will be seen that the body member 25 includes a colored circular lens 39 at the uppermost central portion thereof and a pair of switches 9i and 32. The switch 35 controls an incandescent bulb 33 located adjacent the lens 39 and the switch 32 controls an in candescent bulb 3 located immediately above the upper portion of the notch 28.

In Figure 4 of the drawings a back panel of the target illuminating attachment is shown removed and batteries 35 are shown positioned in sockets 36 and electrically connected by means of conductors 3'! and 38 with the switches 3i and 32 heretofore referred to so that the incandescent bulbs 33 and 34 may be controlled thereby.

By referring to Figures 4 and 6 of the drawings it will be seen that the body member 25 has a pair of oppositely disposed rearwardly extending arcuate clamping sections 39, a set screw 49 being positioned through each and registrable with the back of a conventional target 26. The target illuminating attachment is thereby capable of being secured to a conventional target 26. It will occur to those skilled in the art that the incandescent bulb 34 may alternately be located at either side of the notch 28 in which position it will adequately illuminate the face of the rod on which the target is positioned and which in turn carries the attachment comprising the body member 25.

It will thus be seen that either form of the invention enables the several objects of the invention disclosed herein to be achieved.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

In a surveyors target including a body member having an opening therein and means for slidably positioning said body member on surveyors rod so that indicia thereon is visible through said opening, an incandescent bulb positioned in the upper front portion of the body member and at one side of said opening therein, said body member forming a hood normally covering said incandescent bulb and having a secondary opening enabling the light from the incandescent bulb to enter said first mentioned opening, a, battery box formed on the back of said target, a battery in said box and a circuit including a switch connecting said bulb and said battery.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED, STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,353,253 Livingston et al. Sept. 21, 1920 1,500,482 Barrett July 8, 1924 1,743,979 Radford et al. Jan. 14, 1930 1,778,323 James Oct. 14, 1930 2,290,972 Konopitski July 28, 1942 2,465,426 Bralove Mar. 29, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 610,005 France Aug. 28, 1926

Images