Measuring Apparatus

Abstract

A height measuring apparatus comprising a main body portion adapted for placement upon an object to be measured, and a movable portion which is movable relative to the main body portion, wherein the movable portion comprises a laser source and a photo detector, the movable portion being movable so that a laser beam from the laser source can be directed to the ground when the main body is placed on the object to be measured.

1 . A height measuring apparatus comprising a main body portion adapted for placement upon an object to be measured, and a movable portion which is movable relative to the main body portion, wherein the movable portion comprises a laser source and a photo detector, the movable portion being movable so that a laser beam from the laser source can be directed to the ground when the main body is placed on the object to be measured. 
     
     
         2 . A height measuring apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the main body portion and the movable portion are each provided with a tri-axial accelerometer, the tri-axial accelerometers being configured to measure the angular orientation of the respective main body and movable portions. 
     
     
         3 . A height measuring apparatus as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the laser source, the photo detector and the tri-axial accelerometers are in communication with a processor, the processor being configured to determine the angle incidence of the laser beam to the ground, and to determine the vertical offset distance between the of the laser source and the point of contact of the main body portion with the object being measured. 
     
     
         4 . A height measuring apparatus as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein the laser beam is frequency modulated, and wherein the apparatus is configured to measure the phase angle or phase delay between the amplitude waveform of laser beam transmitted from the laser source and that of the reflected beam from the ground to the photo detector. 
     
     
         5 . A height measuring apparatus as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein the movable portion is connected by a hinge to the main body portion. 
     
     
         6 . A height measuring apparatus as claimed in  claim 5 , wherein the movable portion and the main body portion are each constructed formed from respective shell halves, which define housings that house the laser source, the photo detector, the tri-axial accelerometers, the processor, a battery power source, a display and an on/off switch of the height measuring apparatus. 
     
     
         7 . A height measuring apparatus as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein the shell halves of the main body portion are each formed having an outwardly curved side that terminates in an upstanding side wall, wherein the sidewalls are of a height such that when the main body portion shell halves are mated together, the terminal edges of the respective side walls are spaced apart so as to define an elongate slot,
 and wherein the shell halves of the movable portion are each formed having a inwardly curved side that terminates in a side wall having a projection extending outwardly therefrom, whereby the respective projections define a T-shaped member when the movable portion shell halves are mated together,   and wherein the T-shaped member of the movable portion is adapted to slidably engage with the corresponding elongate slot of the main body portion.   
     
     
         8 . A height measuring apparatus as claimed in  claim 7 , wherein the slidable engagement of the T-shaped member of the movable portion and the elongate slot of the main body portion is a frictional sliding engagement so that the laser source and the photo detector on the movable portion can be oriented and maintained at an angle between 0°-89° relative to a longitudinal axis of the main body portion. 
     
     
         9 . A height measuring apparatus as claimed in  claim 8 , wherein the laser source is a laser diode and the photo detector is a photo diode, and wherein the each of the laser diode and photo diode are provided with a focus adjuster. 
     
     
         10 . A method of obtaining a measurement of height of an object, the method comprising:
 placing a measuring apparatus upon the object to be measured;   manually adjusting a movable portion of the measuring apparatus so that a laser source and photo detector on the movable portion establish obtain a line of sight to the ground or other surface upon which the object to be measured is standing or is supported;   activating the apparatus to send a frequency modulated laser beam from the laser source to the ground and automatically calculating the laser path distance (L) to the ground;   automatically determining the angle of incidence of the laser beam φ with the ground and calculating the laser path angle θ;   automatically determining the vertical offset height (h) between the laser source and the point of contact of the main body portion with the object to be measured;   and automatically calculating vertical height (H) of the object being measured.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the calculation for vertical height is performed by a processing means using the formula H=L sin(θ)−h 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , including displaying the calculated height on a display provided on the measuring apparatus. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 11 , including recording calculated height measurements. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 13 , including communicating height measurements to a remote server or servers. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 14 , including associating height measurement data with identifiers which relate to the object(s) being measured. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 10 , including adjusting the focus of the laser beam. 
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein the step of manually adjusting the movable portion of the measuring apparatus comprises slidably moving the movable portion relative to the main body portion.