JPH085376A - Collimator device for point-setting and surveying instrument provided with this device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a collimator device, for point-setting, by which a required number of light-emitting elements and the loss of the quantity of light of the light-emitting elements are reduced and by which an adjusting operation is simplified and to provide a surveying instrument provided with this device. CONSTITUTION:A collimator device for point-setting is provided with a light- emitting element 3, with collimator lenses 2', 6 which are used to change a luminous flux from the light-emitting element 3 into a nearly parallel luminous flux and with a luminous-flux cutoff means 1 which is used to intermittently cut off only a part of the luminous flux from the light-emitting element 3. The collimator device and telescopes 6 to 10 are constituted so as to be coaxial 5 via a photosynthesis member 20.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a point setting collimator device and a surveying instrument equipped with the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a surveying instrument has a collimator for setting a point, for example, irradiating a red LED light as a mark so that the optical axis of the telescope, that is, the direction of the collimation line can be roughly grasped from the target side (prism side). It is equipped with a device. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional point setting collimator device. The point setting collimator device as illustrated is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-2811.

The collimator device shown in FIG. 5A has LEDs 51 and 52 as at least two light sources and a collimator lens 53. Collimator lens 5
At the focal position of 3, a reflecting member 54 such as a mountain prism shown in FIG. 5B is positioned. That is, the vertex of the reflection surface of the chevron prism 54 has the collimator lens 5
On the optical axis 55 of No. 3, the collimator lens 53 is positioned at the substantially focal position. Therefore, the angled prism 54 splits the optical path of the collimator device into at least two (actually four) by its reflecting surface. The illustrated two light sources 51 and 52 are arranged on two branched optical axes 56 and 57, respectively. The optical axis 55 of the collimator lens 53 is parallel to the collimation line of the surveying instrument, that is, the optical axis of the telescope, and is close to each other.

In this way, of the light flux from the light source 51, only the light flux that strikes the reflecting surface a of the mountain prism 54 is reflected to the right side in the figure, and is emitted as a substantially parallel light flux via the collimator lens 53. On the other hand, of the light flux from the light source 52, only the light flux that strikes the reflecting surface b of the mountain prism 54 is reflected to the right side in the drawing and is emitted as a substantially parallel light flux via the collimator lens 53.

In the two light sources 51 and 52, the colors of the light beams are different from each other, or one of the light sources repeats blinking and the other light source is kept on. Therefore, when one light source repeatedly blinks and the other light source keeps lighting, the luminous flux emitted from the collimator device becomes intermittent light on one side with the collimation line of the surveying instrument as the boundary and the other. It becomes continuous light on the side.
That is, when the observer on the target side can observe both intermittent light and continuous light at the same time, it is determined that the observer (strictly speaking, the observer's eyes) is located almost on the collimation line of the surveying instrument. can do. In this way, the target held by the observer can be set at a point substantially on the sight line of the surveying instrument.

[0006]

As described above, the conventional point setting collimator device has a disadvantage that it requires two or more light emitting elements having different luminous flux colors or lighting states. In addition, of the amount of light emitted from each light emitting element, only a half of the light flux that hits the reflection surface of the chevron prism is reflected and emitted from the collimator lens.
Since the remaining part is not emitted from the collimator lens, there is a disadvantage that the light amount loss is large. Further, there is a disadvantage that the adjustment work inside the collimator device, for example, for positioning the apex of the chevron prism at the focal position of the collimator lens, is complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and reduces the necessary number of light emitting elements and the light amount loss of the light emitting elements, and simplifies the adjustment work in the apparatus, and a point setting collimator apparatus. An object of the present invention is to provide a surveying instrument equipped with the device.

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, a light emitting element, and a collimator lens for making a light beam from the light emitting element into a substantially parallel light beam,
A point setting collimator device comprising: a light beam blocking means for intermittently blocking only a part of the light beam from the light emitting element.

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the light flux blocking means is provided in at least one of a plurality of divided areas in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis of the collimator lens, and is applied with a voltage. A light blocking element having a function of blocking light, and a control unit for intermittently applying a voltage to the light blocking element to intermittently block the light flux in a region corresponding to the light blocking element. ing.

Further, according to the present invention, the above-mentioned point setting collimator device, a light synthesizing member arranged in an optical path from the light emitting element in the point setting collimator device, and the point via the light synthesizing member. Provided is a surveying instrument comprising a telescope coaxial with an optical axis of a setting collimator device.

[0011]

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining the operation of the point setting collimator device of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3A, the present invention is provided with a light flux blocking means 31 for intermittently blocking only a part of the light flux from the light emitting element 32. Therefore, it is possible to form two light flux regions having different lighting states with only one light emitting element 32. That is, it is possible to limit the number of the light emitting elements 32 to a minimum number of one, and to significantly reduce the light amount loss. In FIG. 3, the light emitting element 32 is slightly closer to the lens than the focal position of the collimator lens 33.
As a result, the light flux from the light emitting element 32 is emitted as a substantially parallel light flux (slightly spreads with progress) via the collimator lens 33.

As the light flux blocking means 31, for example, FIG.
A light blocking element such as a liquid crystal shutter as shown in (b) can be used. FIG. 3B is a view of the liquid crystal shutter viewed from the left side of the drawing along a plane perpendicular to the optical axis 36 in FIG. It should be noted that FIG. 3A is a diagram of the apparatus viewed vertically downward. The illustrated liquid crystal shutter 31
Has a circular region that is divided into two, and a region 34 on the left side of the drawing
Is filled with liquid crystal, and the region 35 on the left side of the drawing is not filled with liquid crystal. In the liquid crystal shutter 31 having such a configuration, the area 34 is controlled by the control device (not shown).
By intermittently applying a voltage to the liquid crystal sealed in the column and changing its molecular arrangement, it is possible to intermittently block the light flux that is going to pass through the region 34.

Therefore, the boundary line 37 between the two regions of the liquid crystal shutter 31 coincides with the vertical direction, and the optical axis 3 of the device.
6 so as to pass through the optical axis 3 in FIG.
6, an intermittent light region 38 (indicated by diagonal lines) on the upper side in the drawing,
A continuous light region 39 is formed below the optical axis 36 in the figure. In this state, it is usually more accurate to observe with one eye, but an observer with a target 30
If the observer 30 is sufficiently separated from the collimator device so that the eye width falls within the width of each of the light regions 38 and 39, then the observer 30 can see the intermittent light region 38 and the continuous light region 39 with both eyes.
Or both can be observed. The position where the observer 30 can observe both areas at the same time is on the extension of the optical axis 36. As described above, since the optical axis 36 substantially coincides with the sighting line of the surveying instrument, the observer 30
The position where can observe both areas simultaneously is almost on the collimation line of the surveying instrument.

In other words, when the observer 30 is not located on the extended line of the optical axis 36, only either continuous light or intermittent light can be observed. Therefore, the observer 30 can set a point that matches the collimation line of the survey instrument by moving to a position where both light regions can be observed. Further, the optical axis of the point setting collimator device of the present invention and the optical axis of the telescope of the surveying instrument are configured to coincide with each other through a light synthesizing member such as a dichroic prism. Since the axis and the collimation line of the surveying instrument coincide with each other, the parallax due to the difference in the optical axis is eliminated, and the point setting can be performed with higher accuracy.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a point setting collimator device according to a first embodiment of the present invention together with a telescope of a surveying instrument. In FIG. 1A, an optical axis 5 which is a collimation line of a telescope of a surveying instrument and an optical axis 4 of a collimator device are arranged parallel to each other and in a vertical direction. The collimator device includes a semiconductor laser (LD), a super luminescent diode (SLD) and a light emitting diode (LE).
The light emitting element 3 made of D) or the like is provided. Light emitting element 3
Are driven by an appropriate electric circuit (not shown), and are positioned slightly closer to the lens than the focal position of the collimator lens 2. Therefore, the luminous flux emitted from the light emitting element 3 becomes a luminous flux which is substantially parallel through the collimator lens 2 and which is slightly diffused as it advances.

On the other hand, the telescope has an optical axis 5 from the target side.
An objective lens 6 arranged above, a focus lens 7, a Porro prism 8 which is an erecting prism for forming an erecting image,
For example, it consists of a focusing screen 9 and an eyepiece lens 10 in which lines (cross lines) intersecting at right angles are formed. The telescope and the collimator device are configured to integrally rotate about the horizontal rotation axis 11. FIG. 1B is a view of the liquid crystal shutter 1 viewed from the left side of the drawing along a plane perpendicular to the optical axis 4 in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the liquid crystal shutter 1 has a circular area that is divided into two equal parts, and liquid crystal is sealed in an area 12 (shown by diagonal lines) on the left side of the drawing, and the right side of the drawing. Liquid crystal is not enclosed in the area 13 of FIG. Further, the boundary line 14 between the two regions of the liquid crystal shutter 1 is arranged so as to coincide with the vertical direction and pass through the optical axis 4. In the liquid crystal shutter 1, a control means (not shown) intermittently applies a voltage to the liquid crystal enclosed in the left side region 12 in the drawing to change the molecular arrangement thereof, so that the light flux passing through this region 12 is intermittently changed. Can be shut off. Thus, in FIG. 1A, an intermittent light region is formed on the far side of the paper surface with respect to the optical axis 4, and a continuous light region is formed on the front side of the paper surface with respect to the optical axis 4. Therefore, by moving to a position where the observer with the target can observe both intermittent light and continuous light at the same time, a point is set that horizontally matches the collimation line of the surveying instrument. be able to.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the construction of a surveying instrument equipped with a point setting collimator device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2A, the dichroic prism 20 is positioned in the optical path of the telescope of the survey instrument, that is, between the objective lens 6 and the focus lens 7. The rest of the configuration of the telescope is the same as the configuration shown in the first embodiment, and duplicate explanations are omitted.

On the other hand, the collimator device includes a light emitting element 3 which emits red light, for example. The light flux emitted from the light emitting element 3 is incident on the reflecting surface 20a of the dichroic prism 20 via the condenser lens 2 '. The light from the light emitting element 3 which is reflected to the left side in the drawing by the reflecting surface 20a of the dichroic prism 20 is irradiated through the objective lens 6 and the liquid crystal shutter 1. Thus, the condenser lens 2'and the objective lens 6 constitute a collimator lens in the collimator device. Therefore, the light emitting element 3
The light flux emitted from the light source becomes a light flux that is substantially parallel through the condenser lens 2 ′ and the objective lens 6 and slightly diffuses as the light travels, and is radiated toward the target. As shown in the figure, in the second embodiment, the optical axis 5 of the telescope, that is, the collimation line and the optical axis 4 of the collimator device are arranged to coincide with each other via the dichroic prism 20 which is a light combining member. The telescope and the collimator device are configured to integrally rotate about the horizontal rotation axis 11.

FIG. 2B is a view of the liquid crystal shutter 1 viewed from the left side of the drawing along a plane perpendicular to the optical axis 5 in FIG. 2A. As shown in FIG. 2B, the liquid crystal shutter 1 has circular areas A, B, C and D that are divided into four equal parts. Liquid crystal is enclosed in each region. Area A
The boundary line 21 between the regions A and B and the regions B and C coincides with the vertical direction, and the boundary line 2 between the regions A and B and the regions C and D is 2
2 corresponds to the horizontal direction. Also, the boundary line 21 and the boundary line 2
The intersection with 2 is located on the optical axis 5, that is, on the collimation line. The liquid crystal shutter 1 is configured so that a control unit (not shown) can intermittently apply a voltage to the liquid crystal enclosed in each of the regions A to D to selectively change the molecular arrangement thereof.

Therefore, it is attempted to pass through the regions A and D (or the regions B and C) by selectively changing the molecular arrangement of the liquid crystal enclosed in the regions A and D (or the regions B and C). It is possible to intermittently block the light flux that is generated. That is, in FIG. 2A, a continuous light area and an intermittent light area (intermittent light area and continuous light area) are formed on the other side and the front side of the paper with respect to the optical axis 5, respectively. Therefore, by moving to a position where the observer with the target can observe both intermittent light and continuous light at the same time, a point is set that horizontally matches the collimation line of the surveying instrument. be able to.

Further, by selectively changing the molecular arrangement of the liquid crystal enclosed in the regions A and B (or the regions C and D), the liquid crystal molecules try to pass through the regions A and B (or the regions C and D). The light flux can be interrupted intermittently. That is, in FIG. 2A, an intermittent light region and a continuous light region (a continuous light region and an intermittent light region) are formed on the upper side and the lower side in the figure with respect to the optical axis 5, respectively. Therefore, by moving the observer with the target to a position where they can observe both intermittent light and continuous light at the same time, the point that is aligned vertically with respect to the sighting line of the surveying instrument is set. be able to.

In this way, the areas A and D (or the areas B and C) are selected, and horizontally, the areas A and B are selected.
By selecting (or areas C and D), points can be set in the vertical direction. In other words, selecting areas A and D (or areas B and C) and selecting areas A and B
By repeating the selection of (or areas C and D), it is possible to set points that match both the vertical direction and the horizontal direction with respect to the sighting line of the surveying instrument.

In the surveying instrument of the second embodiment, the optical axis 5 of the telescope is used.
Since the optical axis 4 of the collimator device (that is, the collimation line) coincides with the collimator device, observe the deviation from the collimation line in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction without any parallax due to the difference in the optical axes. Is possible. However, in the surveying instrument of FIG. 2A, since the liquid crystal shutter 1 is positioned in the optical path of the telescope, when the operator carries out the sighting at the telescope and the collimation work and the point setting work at the same time, the telescope is used. When looking into the display, a periodical change in the amount of light (flicker) of the observed image occurs due to the influence of the operation of the liquid crystal shutter 1, that is, the intermittent light beam blocking operation. To avoid the above-mentioned flicker, it is preferable to position the liquid crystal shutter 1 between the collimator lens 2 and the dichroic prism 20, not in the optical path of the telescope, as shown by the broken line in FIG.

FIG. 4 shows the structure of a light receiving device for receiving the light emitted from the collimator device of the present invention. The light receiving device 40 shown in FIG. 4A is formed integrally with the target pole 41. At the center of one surface 42 of the light receiving device 40, a corner cube prism 43 is arranged as a reflecting means. In the state where the target pole 41 is arranged in the vertical direction, two sensors 44 and 45 are arranged in the horizontal direction and two sensors 46 and 47 are arranged in the vertical direction with the corner cube prism 43 interposed therebetween. The four sensors 44 to 47 are equidistant from the corner cube prism 43.

On the opposite surface of the one surface 42 of the light receiving device 40, that is, on the back surface, a display means for position information and the like is formed. FIG. 4B is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the light receiving device 40. Only two of the four sensors are shown in FIG. 4 (b). The two sensors are positioned at a distance of the base line length L with the corner cube prism 43 in between. The other two sensors (not shown) are also arranged in the same manner. It goes without saying that the accuracy of the point setting is improved by making the base line length L as small as possible.

The first sensor is composed of a light receiving lens 51 and a light receiving element 52, and the second sensor is a light receiving lens 53.
And a light receiving element 54. in this way,
For example, the first sensor is the right eye sensor 44 of the light receiving device 40.
The second sensor corresponds to the left eye sensor 45 of the light receiving device 40. In addition, when setting the point in the horizontal direction,
If light is received by at least one of the sensors 46 and 47 having the same horizontal angle as that of the corner cube prism 43, the base line length L can be regarded as substantially zero as in the case of observing with one eye, so that the point can be set with higher accuracy. It can be performed. In this case, it is of course possible to use the left and right sensors 44 and 45 having the base line length L together, and at that time, the base line length L can be arbitrarily selected without being forcibly reduced.

Similarly in the vertical direction, at least one of the sensors 44 and 45 having the same vertical angle as the corner cube prism 43 is a sensor for high precision, and the upper and lower sensors 46, 47 are sensors having a base line length L. Can be used. Also, as shown in FIG.
Also in the case of the four-division shutter of (b), the sensor used as described above can be selected according to the purpose in accordance with the change in the area of the light flux to be passed, and in some cases, a predetermined combination may be selected. It can also be automatically linked and switched.

The irradiation light from the collimator device is photoelectrically converted through each sensor and amplified to a predetermined level by the corresponding amplifier circuits 55 and 56, respectively. The signals from the amplifier circuits 55 and 56 are subjected to signal processing in the arithmetic circuit 57 to obtain positional deviation information of the light receiving device 40 (that is, the corner cube prism 43) with respect to the collimation line of the surveying instrument. The obtained positional deviation information is displayed on the display means 58 formed on the back surface of the light receiving device.

Although the liquid crystal shutter is used as an example of the light blocking element in the above-described embodiments, the present invention has been described. For example, an electrochromic element (an element that is colored by applying a voltage and has a light blocking function). Other suitable light blocking elements, such as Further, although the liquid crystal shutter 1 is positioned on the side opposite to the light emitting element 3 with respect to the collimator lens 2 in the first embodiment, it may be positioned between the light emitting element 3 and the collimator lens 2. Further, although the liquid crystal is not sealed in the region 13 of the liquid crystal shutter 1 in the first embodiment, it is obvious that the liquid crystal may be sealed in this region 13 as well.

Furthermore, in the first and second embodiments, the liquid crystal shutter 1 is replaced by the collimator lens 2 (second embodiment).
Then, the light emitting element 3 is provided between the condenser lens 2 ') and the light emitting element 3.
Liquid crystal shutter 1 by arranging it in a position close to
The size of can be reduced. However, in this case, unless the aberration of the collimator lens 2 (the condenser lens 2 ′ and the objective lens 6 in the second embodiment) is considerably small, the unevenness of the light beam of the light beam due to the aberration is enlarged, and the light emitting area of the light emitting element 2 Has a finite size,
When the light beam shielded by the liquid crystal shutter 1 is projected onto the observer, not only the boundary between the interrupted light region on the shield side and the continuous light region on the non-shielded side becomes unclear, but also the interrupted light near the boundary depending on the situation. It is possible that light and continuous light are observed discontinuously.

In other words, the boundary between the intermittent light region and the continuous light region can be clearly observed when the light beam blocking operation is performed at a wide light beam width which is sufficiently separated from the light emitting element 3. Therefore, as shown in the above-described first and second embodiments, it is desirable that the liquid crystal shutter 1 be positioned at a position sufficiently separated from the position of the light emitting element 3.

In the second embodiment, the optical axis of the collimator device and the optical axis of the telescope are arranged to coincide with each other via the dichroic prism, but a light splitting member such as a half prism or a deflecting beam prism is used. Other suitable photosynthetic components, including can also be utilized. Also,
Although the dichroic prism is positioned between the objective lens and the focus lens, it may be positioned in another suitable optical path. Further, when a light receiving device as shown in FIG. 4 is used, light other than visible light can be used as the irradiation light of the collimator device. In this case, it is possible to realize a surveying instrument with substantially no optical loss by using a dichroic prism that totally transmits visible light and totally reflects irradiation light of a collimator device. In addition, in the second embodiment, the liquid crystal is filled in all of the four-divided regions, but by providing the light blocking elements in at least three regions of the four-divided regions, the points are set in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. It is clear that can be done.

[0034]

As described above, according to the point setting collimator device of the present invention, one light emitting element can project continuous light and periodic intermittent light in different regions.
Further, since most of the light flux emitted from the light emitting element can be used, the light quantity loss is significantly reduced. As a result, it is possible to significantly reduce power consumption. Further, since it is not necessary to synthesize a complicated optical path in the collimator device, and the light beam blocking means composed of, for example, a liquid crystal shutter can be arranged irrespective of the focal position of the collimator lens, work related to optical axis adjustment and mechanical adjustment. Can be largely omitted. Further, in the surveying instrument equipped with the point setting collimator device of the present invention, since the optical axis of the telescope of the surveying instrument, that is, the collimation line and the optical axis of the light beam emitted from the collimator device are coincident, there is no parallax. You can set points accurately in the state.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a point setting collimator device according to a first embodiment of the present invention together with a telescope of a surveying instrument.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a surveying instrument including a point setting collimator device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the point setting collimator device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a configuration of a light receiving device for receiving light emitted from the collimator device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional point setting collimator device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Liquid crystal shutter 2 Collimator lens 2'Condenser lens 3 Light emitting element 4 Optical axis of collimator device 5 Optical axis of collimator telescope (collimation line) 6 Objective lens 7 Focus lens 8 Porro prism 9 Focus plate 10 Eyepiece lens

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A light emitting element, a collimator lens for making a light beam from the light emitting element a substantially parallel light beam, and a light beam blocking means for intermittently blocking only a part of the light beam from the light emitting element. A point setting collimator device characterized by being provided. 2. The light flux blocking means is provided in at least one of a plurality of divided regions in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis of the collimator lens, and has a function of blocking light by applying a voltage. A light blocking element; and a control means for intermittently applying a voltage to the light blocking element to intermittently block the light flux in a region corresponding to the light blocking element. The point setting collimator device according to claim 1. 3. The light blocking element includes a first region and a second region in which a plane orthogonal to the optical axis of the collimator lens is divided into two by a boundary line orthogonal to the optical axis of the collimator lens.
The control means is provided in at least one of the regions, and the control means intermittently applies a voltage to the light blocking element provided in at least one of the first region and the second region. The point setting collimator device according to claim 2. 4. The optical axis of the collimator lens is defined by a first boundary line orthogonal to the optical axis of the collimator lens and a second boundary line orthogonal to the first boundary line and the optical axis. The plane orthogonal to the plane is provided in at least three regions of the first, second, third, and fourth regions divided into four, and the control unit is configured to control two adjacent regions of the four divided regions. The point setting collimator device according to claim 2, wherein a region is selected and a voltage is intermittently applied to the two selected regions. 5. The point setting collimator device according to claim 1, a light synthesizing member arranged in an optical path from the light emitting element in the point setting collimator device, and the light synthesizing member. And a telescope coaxial with the optical axis of the point setting collimator device.