JP7403796B2 - spirit level for equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a spirit level, and particularly to a spirit level that is attached to various equipment such as photographic equipment such as a tripod and a rig.

Various spirit levels are known for checking level. For a long time, a method has been used in which water bubbles are included in the liquid and the horizontality is determined when the bubbles come to the center. Levels are used not only for general construction work, but also for checking the level when taking pictures with a camera.

Especially in recent years, when shooting videos for SNS (social networking services), panoramic images, and 3D images, there has been an increasing need to check the accurate level while shooting. is required.

Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which a fixing member that can be attached to a tripod is attached to the fixing member, and a photographic center confirmation means and a spirit level serving as a horizontal confirmation means are attached to the fixation member. It is disclosed that a spirit level is attached directly to the side of the rig, which is a fixed member to be attached. The spirit level is integrated with the rig.

Patent Document 2 discloses a leg head of a surveying tripod having a built-in level on the outer periphery of the upper surface of the horizontal table. Also in this document, the level is directly attached and cannot be attached or detached.

JP 11-160815 Mito3021356

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost, high-precision spirit level that can be easily attached to and removed from various equipment such as photographic equipment.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides the following level.
According to a first embodiment of the present invention, the level is a cylindrical level whose inside is filled with a liquid containing bubbles, and a marker is provided on the top surface of the level to confirm horizontality at the position of the bubble.
On the other hand, the bottom surface of the spirit level includes an annular rib portion projecting downwardly along the cylindrical circumference, and a screw body projecting downwardly from the center of the bottom surface.
To provide a spirit level for equipment, in which the lower surface of an annular rib part is formed so as to be horizontal to the marker, thereby making it possible to check the horizontality of the attached equipment when a screw body is screwed into the equipment. .

According to the second embodiment of the present invention, the above screw body is configured as follows. That is, it is composed of a disk portion that faces and is fixed to the concave bottom portion on the inside of the annular rib portion, and a threaded portion that projects downward from the center of the disk portion. The thickness of the disc part is formed to be thinner than the height of the annular rib part, so that only the lower surface of the annular rib part comes into contact with the material even if it is screwed into the material.

According to the third embodiment of the present invention, a non-slip portion is formed on the cylindrical side surface of the spirit level to prevent it from slipping when screwed into the spirit level, thereby making it easy to turn.

According to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, in a configuration in which the above-mentioned anti-slip portion is configured separately from the main body of the spirit level, the lower surface of the anti-slip portion is located at a higher position than the lower surface of the annular rib portion. It is formed so that only the lower surface of the annular rib portion comes into contact with the material even when it is screwed into the material.

According to the fifth embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide a single screw body used in the level for equipment in the second embodiment.

According to the sixth embodiment of the present invention, the anti-slip portion used in the equipment level in the fourth embodiment can be provided alone.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a spirit level that can be easily attached to and detached from equipment such as photographic equipment with a screw. In particular, while ensuring accuracy by machining the lower surface of the annular rib portion horizontally, the threaded body and anti-slip portion can be provided without requiring strict accuracy, which also contributes to cost reduction.

Since it screws into the screw that is already included in the photographic equipment, it can be attached to equipment that is not planned to be equipped with a spirit level to check the levelness.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a spirit level according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a spirit level according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of a spirit level according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a spirit level according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a side view of a spirit level according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the spirit level according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of a spirit level according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of how the spirit level according to the present invention is attached. FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a housing in which the housing and the anti-slip portion are integrally formed in another embodiment.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on examples shown in the drawings. Note that the embodiments are not limited to the following.
The present invention provides a spirit level that can be attached to photographic equipment such as tripods and rigs, and various other equipment. ISO standards specify two types of screw holes for photographic equipment: 3/8-16 UNC (inch) large screws and 1/4-20 UNC (inch) small screws. In particular, the rig has numerous screw holes drilled into it so that cameras, microphones, etc. can be attached in various positions.

The present invention makes use of this screw hole so that the level can be screwed into any desired position. Figure 1 is a sectional view of the spirit level (1), Figure 2 is an exploded view of each member, Figure 3 is a top perspective view, Figure 4 is a top view, Figure 5 is a side view, Figure 6 is a bottom view, and Figure 7 is a FIG.

The level (1) has a housing (10) molded from resin or metal, and has a cylindrical shape containing a liquid (12) such as alcohol and air bubbles (13) in a tank (11) inside the housing (10). configured. The top surface of the housing (10) is covered with a marker (14) that seals the liquid (12) and air bubbles (13). The marker (14) consists of a transparent plate (15) made of glass or resin, and a circular marking line (16) engraved in the center of the transparent plate (15) with a diameter slightly larger than the outer circumference of the bubble (13).

The configurations of such a housing (10) and marker (14) are well known, and in carrying out the present invention, manufacturing costs can be reduced by using such cylindrical ready-made products.

A bottom portion (100) of the housing (10) is formed with an annular rib portion (101) that protrudes downward along the cylindrical circumference.
Although the annular rib portion (101) in this embodiment extends downward from the cylindrical side surface, it may be formed inside a circle concentric with the circumference in the present invention.

Although dimensions are not limited in the present invention, from the point of view of ease of use, the height of the housing (10) is 10 mm and the diameter is 27 mm, and the height of the annular rib portion (101) is 1.2 mm.

A screw body (20) is provided that projects downward from the center of the bottom surface (100). The threaded body (20) may be formed integrally with the housing (10), for example, by integral molding of resin, or only the threaded portion may be welded to the housing.
In this embodiment, the screw body (20) is constructed separately from the housing (10).

The screw body (20) has a disc part (200) that faces and fixes to the concave part (102) of the bottom part (100) inside the annular rib part (101), and a disc part (200) that extends downward from the center of the disc part. It is composed of a protruding threaded portion (201). Although the disk portion (200) is also formed with a rib (202) with a slightly thickened peripheral edge, the present invention is not limited thereto.

The outer diameter of the disk portion (200) fits into the concave portion (102) and is fixed with adhesive.
Since the thickness of the disc part (200) is thinner than the height of the annular rib part (101), for example, 0.9 mm, even if the screw part (201) is screwed into the photographic equipment, the annular rib part (101) ) is configured such that only its lower surface (103) contacts the mounting surface of the photographic equipment.

The present invention provides the annular rib portion (101) in this way, and processes the lower surface (103) so that it is horizontal to the marking of the marker (14), thereby polishing the entire bottom surface portion (100). There is no need to use a leveling device, and a highly accurate spirit level (1) can be easily realized at low cost.

Since the thickness of the disc part (200) is made thin as described above, even when the threaded part (201) is screwed in and tightened, regardless of the accuracy of the threaded body (20), the annular rib part ( Accurate horizontality can be indicated depending on the accuracy of the lower surface (103) of (101).
This is also advantageous in reducing the manufacturing cost of the screw body (20).

This configuration is exactly the same even when the screw body and the housing are integrally formed. In a configuration in which a concave portion is provided in the bottom surface portion (100) and a threaded portion is provided protruding from the center, it is sufficient that the annular rib portion protrudes further downward than the concave portion.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of mounting the level according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, the rig (4) is provided with a number of large screw holes (40) and small screw holes (41), and also has bolts (42) for attaching a camera.
In such a rig (4), the upper flat plate part (43) and the lower flat plate part (44) are correctly parallel, and the upper flat plate part (43) and the vertical flat plate part (45) are correctly perpendicular.

Therefore, by attaching the camera to the lower flat plate part (44) and then attaching the spirit level (1) according to the present invention to the upper flat plate part (43), especially directly above the camera, it is possible to obtain an accurate level that is easy to see. can be displayed.

Next, in the present invention, a non-slip portion (30) is formed on the cylindrical side surface (104) of the spirit level (1) to prevent slipping when screwed in, thereby making it easy to turn.
The anti-slip part (30) may be formed by knurling the side surface of the resin-molded housing (10), but in this example, a screw body is attached to a commercially available spirit level, so it is possible to make it easier to turn. The anti-slip portion (30) is constructed separately.

Concave knurling portions (301) are intermittently provided on the outer surface (300) of the anti-slip portion (30) at right angles to the circumferential direction. The width of the knurling part (301) is 2.7 mm, which enhances ease of turning and design.

Furthermore, the lower surface (302) of the anti-slip portion (30) is formed at a higher position than the lower surface (103) of the annular rib portion (101).
In this configuration, when the threaded part (201) is screwed and tightened, the accuracy depends on the accuracy of the lower surface (103) of the annular rib part (101), regardless of the accuracy of the anti-slip part (30). This contributes to indicating the horizontal level, and at the same time, it is advantageous in that it reduces the manufacturing cost of the anti-slip part (30).

Each dimension of the present invention can be changed arbitrarily.
For example, the diameter of the housing (10) is preferably any diameter between 10 mm and 40 mm, in addition to the 27 mm in the above embodiment. For example, suitable sizes are a height of 6 mm for a diameter of 16 mm, a height of 7 mm for a diameter of 18 mm, and a height of 8.5 mm for a diameter of 23.5 mm.

In addition, the screw diameter of the screw body is particularly suitable for photographic equipment, such as the above-mentioned large screws and small screws, but the present invention can be provided for use with any equipment such as surveying equipment and measuring equipment. The screw diameter can be adjusted to suit.
For example, the thread diameter can be freely set to 6 mm, 8 mm, etc.

The present invention may provide a single screw body (20) for use in the level (1). Further, the configuration of the screw body may be as follows.
FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a housing (50) formed by integrating the housing and the anti-slip part, and the internal mechanism is omitted. In this embodiment, the screw body (60) is used while being fixed to the housing (50).

The screw body (60) has a disc part (600) that faces and fixes the concave part (502) of the bottom part (500) inside the annular rib part (501), and a disc part (600) that extends downward from the center of the disc part. It is composed of a protruding threaded portion (601). The threaded portion (601) is hollow.

A small convex part (503) is formed at the center of the bottom part (500) of the housing (50), and the hollow part (602) of the threaded part (601) engages with the small convex part (503), which facilitates concentricity when fixing. is forming.
It can be provided as a spirit level equipped with such a screw body or as a single screw body.

Further, the present invention may provide a single anti-slip portion (30) used in the level (1). At this time, the spirit level may be separate from or integrated with the threaded portion.

1 Level 10 Housing 100 Bottom part 101 Annular rib part 102 Concave part 103 Lower surface 104 Side surface 11 Tank 12 Liquid 13 Bubbles 14 Marker 15 Transparent plate 16 Mark line 20 Screw body 200 Disc part 201 Screw part 202 Rib 30 Non-slip part 300 Outer surface 301 Knurled portion 302 Bottom surface 4 Rig 40 Large screw hole 41 Small screw hole 42 Bolt 43 Upper flat plate portion 44 Lower flat plate portion 45 Vertical flat plate portion

Claims (3)

A cylindrical level filled with liquid containing bubbles,
On the top surface, there is a marker for checking the horizontality at the position of the bubble,
The bottom surface includes an annular rib portion projecting downward along the circumference of the cylindrical shape, and a screw body projecting downward from the center of the bottom surface;
Equipped with
The screw body is composed of a disk portion facing and fixed to the concave bottom portion on the inside of the annular rib portion, and a screw portion protruding downward from the center of the disk portion, and
The thickness of the disk portion is thinner than the height of the annular rib portion,
For equipment, characterized in that the lower surface of the annular rib portion is formed to be horizontal to the marker, so that when the threaded body is screwed into the equipment, the horizontality of the equipment can be confirmed. spirit level. The spirit level for equipment according to claim 1 , characterized in that a non-slip portion is formed on the side surface of the cylindrical shape to prevent slipping when screwed. In a configuration in which the anti-slip part is configured separately from the main body of the spirit level,
The spirit level for equipment according to claim 2, wherein the lower surface of the anti-slip portion is formed at a higher position than the lower surface of the annular rib portion.

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