Level with rotating vial and locking assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11085764-B2
Application number	US-201916700623-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 2, 2019
Priority date	Dec 10, 2015
Publication date	Aug 10, 2021
Grant date	Aug 10, 2021

Abstract

A level including a rotating level vial is provided. The level includes a locking mechanism that utilizes an actuator that engages a brake to lock the rotating vial into the desired position. The locking mechanism may include a spring element that is compressed by the actuator during locking, and the spring element in turn pushes against the brake facilitating control of the normal force that the brake applies to the vial surround of the rotating vial. The rotating level vial may engage the level body such that the rotating level vial is permitted to rotate 360 degrees in both the clockwise and counter clockwise directions.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A level comprising:
a level body defining a base surface and a longitudinal axis extending between a front end and a rear end surface of the level body;
a level vial located within the level body;
a vial support supporting the level vial, the vial support located within an opening formed in the level body, wherein the vial support has an axis of rotation and is positioned such that the axis of rotation is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and parallel to a plane defined by the base surface;
a locking system comprising:
a fastener;
an insert having a threaded channel parallel to the longitudinal axis, wherein the threaded channel includes an open end accessible through the rear end surface such that the fastener is received within the threaded channel through the rear end surface.

2. The level of claim 1 , wherein the vial surround and the level vial are located between the rear end surface and a central vial.

3. The level of claim 1 , wherein the fastener is a threaded screw having a head that includes a sidewall and an endwall, the endwall recessed inward along the longitudinal axis relative to the rear end surface.

4. The level of claim 3 , wherein in a locked position, the fastener does not protrude from the rear end surface.

5. The level of claim 3 , wherein the sidewall includes a gripping surface.

6. The level of claim 1 , further comprising at least one magnetic coupling element along the base surface.

7. A level comprising:
a level body defining a base surface;
a level vial located within the level body;
a vial support supporting the level vial, the vial support located within an opening formed in the level body, wherein the vial support is rotatable within the opening such that the rotating level vial may be oriented at a plurality of angular positions relative to the base surface; and
a locking system, set within a cavity of the level body, comprising:
a fastener providing a variable coupling force on the vial support;
an insert, fixed at an entrance of the cavity, to receive the fastener; and
a retainer and a brake both placed within the cavity behind the insert, moveable in a longitudinal direction within the cavity.

8. The level of claim 7 , wherein the brake is a pad having an inner surface facing the vial support and an outer surface facing the fastener;
wherein in a locked position, the inner surface of the pad engages an outer surface of the vial support to hold the level vial and the vial support in a selected angular position relative to the base surface; and
wherein in an unlocked position, the vial support the level vial are permitted to rotate within the level body.

9. The level of claim 7 , wherein the fastener is longer than the insert, such that a portion of the fastener extends into the cavity beyond an inner end of the insert when the fastener is at least partially advanced within the cavity.

10. The level of claim 9 , wherein the retainer includes a depression to receive the portion of the fastener that extends beyond the inner end of the insert.

11. The level of claim 7 , wherein the fastener is a screw having a head and a shaft with a plurality of threads;
wherein the insert has a plurality of cooperating threads engaging the threads of the fastener, to advance the fastener into and out of the cavity via rotation of the fastener.

12. The level of claim 7 , wherein the insert is friction fit within the cavity.

13. A level comprising:
a level body defining a base surface;
a level vial located within the level body;
a vial support supporting the level vial, the vial support located within an opening formed in the level body, wherein the vial support is freely rotatable within the opening such that the rotating level vial may be oriented at a plurality of angular positions relative to the base surface; and
a locking system, set within a cavity of the level body, comprising:
a fastener providing a variable coupling force on the vial support;
an insert, fixed at an entrance of the cavity, to receive the fastener;
a retainer and a pad both placed within the cavity behind the insert, moveable in a longitudinal direction within the cavity; and
a spring element between the retainer and the pad;
wherein, when the locking system is in a locked position the spring element is in a compressed state and, when the locking system is in an unlocked position, the spring element is in a uncompressed state.

14. The level of claim 13 , wherein the pad includes a face in contact with a surface of the vial support when the spring element is in both the compressed state and in the uncompressed state to provide a constant contact of the pad with the surface of the vial support;
wherein the constant contact creates a minimum friction between the surface of the vial support and the pad regardless of a position of the fastener.

15. The level of claim 14 , wherein the minimum friction disables the vial support from freely rotating when the spring element is in the uncompressed state, such that the level vial is set in the unlocked position with respect to the level base.

16. The level of claim 13 , wherein in the unlocked position, the pad applies a normal force of zero to the vial support to allow the vial support to rotate within the level body.

17. The level of claim 13 , wherein a normal force between the vial support and the surface of the vial support correlates to a degree of threading of the fastener within the insert and to an amount of compression of the spring element.

18. The level of claim 13 , wherein the spring element fills a space between the pad and the retainer.

19. The level of claim 13 , wherein the retainer includes a first slot facing the pad to receive a first end of the spring element, and the pad includes a second slot facing the retainer to receive a second end of the spring element.

20. The level of claim 13 , wherein in the unlocked position, the fastener remains outside of the cavity beyond an inner end of the insert, to allow the spring element to move to the uncompressed state.

Assignees

• Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp

Inventors

• Burge Joseph William
• Deakins Bryant
• Wyatt Michael

Classifications

• G01C9/34

  of the tubular type, i.e. for indicating the level in one direction only · CPC title

• G01C9/28 Primary

  Mountings · CPC title

• F16B2/065

  using screw-thread elements (F16B2/08 - F16B2/12 take precedence) · CPC title