Laser beam planar reference

Claim 2

A beam aligning device for automatically correcting slight deviations of a laser or other light beam comprising: a vertical housing having an entrance end and an exit end; means for causing the beam to traverse a path through the entrance end of said housing in fixed alignment with said housing; first and second beam leveling cups mounted in sequential positions within the housing in the path of the beam, each of said cups having a bottom in the form of a transparent plate and containing a fluid having an index of refraction substantially equal to the index of refraction of the transparent plate, so that upon deviation of the housing from the vertical such that the cups are tilted, the fluid forms an upper surface at an angle with the lower surface of the glass plate in a manner which provides correction of the beam deviation from the vertical by one-half of the angle of deviation whereby the beam is vertical at the exit end of said housing; and a correcting lens positioned adjacent the entrance end of the housing to compensate for any spreading tendency induced by a poSsible curvature of the surface of the fluid within the cups.

Claim 3

A beam aligning device for automatically correcting slight deviations of a laser or other light beam comprising: a vertical housing having an entrance end and an exit end; means for causing the beam to traverse a path through the entrance end of said housing in fixed alignment with said housing; first and second beam leveling cups mounted in sequential positions within the housing in the path of the beam, each of said cups having a bottom in the form of a transparent plate and containing a fluid having an index of refraction substantially equal to the index of refraction of the transparent plate, so that upon deviation of the housing from the vertical such that the cups are tilted, the fluid forms an upper surface at an angle with the lower surface of the glass plate in a manner which provides correction of the beam deviation from the vertical by one-half of the angle of deviation whereby the beam is vertical at the exit end of said housing; a first rotatable section at the exit end of said housing containing a penta prism located to intercept the beam after it has passed through the transparent plates in order to translate the beam to a selected horizontal direction, said section having an opening aligned with the translated beam for projection of the beam therethrough; and a second rotatable section removably mounted to the first rotatable section opposite the opening therein and containing a second penta prism for rotation of said beam to any desired angle in a vertical plane normal to the direction of the beam projected through said opening.

Claim 4

A beam aligning device for automatically correcting slight deviations of a laser or other light beam comprising: a vertical housing having an entrance end and an exit end; means for causing the beam to traverse a path through the entrance end of said housing in fixed alignment with said housing; first and second beam leveling cups mounted in sequential positions within the housing in the path of the beam, each of said cups having a bottom in the form of a transparent plate and containing a fluid having an index of refraction substantially equal to the index of refraction of the transparent plate, so that upon deviation of the housing from the vertical such that the cups are tilted, the fluid forms an upper surface at an angle with the lower surface of the glass plate in a manner which provides correction of the beam deviation from the vertical by one-half of the angle of deviation whereby the beam is vertical at the exit end of said housing; a first rotatable section at the exit end of said housing containing a penta prism located to intercept the beam after it has passed through the transparent plates in order to translate the beam to a selected horizontal direction, said section having an opening aligned with the translated beam for projection of the beam therethrough; and a second rotatable section removably mounted to the first rotatable section opposite the opening therein and containing a second penta prism for rotation of said beam to any desired angle in a vertical plane normal to the direction of the beam projected through said opening.

Claim 5

Apparatus in accordance with claim 2 further including graduated scales for each of said rotatable sections to provide an indication of the direction of projection of the beam therefrom.