| 摘要 |
<p>A surveying instrument (20) includes an optical sighting scope having a sighting barrel (26) and orthogonal reticular lines (34a,34b) visible to an observer viewing through the barrel, in combination with a miniature light plane generator (24) that is oriented to produce a plane of light (51,52) that is coincident with one of the reticular lines in the direction viewed by an observer viewing through the barrel. The miniature light plane generator includes a laser diode (42) that generates a beam of light, a collimating lens (46) positioned within the beam of light generated by the laser diode in order to produce a beam of collimated light, and a fan lens (50) positioned within the beam of collimated light in order to divert the beam of light into a plane. The miniature generator additionally includes a power supply that supplies power selectively at a low duty cycle or a high duty cycle. The resulting reduction in electrical power required by the generator in the low duty cycle mode allows the components making up the generator, including a battery (54) for supplying energy to the power supply, to be combined within the housing of the optical sighting scope in order to provide a compact instrument. The visible light plane in the high duty cycle mode allows the instrument to be used in medium ambient light conditions without a separate sensor. This allows use with a self-leveling optical device (61,64") to concurrently level the image viewed by the user and the light plane generated by the miniature generator. <IMAGE></p> |
