JP3107411B2 - Rotary laser light output device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rotary laser light output device, and more particularly to a laser for obtaining a coordinate position of a measurement point using a plurality of laser lighthouses or detecting an angle using laser light. The present invention relates to a rotary laser light output device suitable as a lighthouse.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A method of obtaining a coordinate position of a measurement point using a plurality of laser lighthouses is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-12768.
As can be seen in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2, some technical contents have already been published. In the conventional example disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-127682, when obtaining the coordinates of a measurement point by the principle of triangulation, two laser beams that are turned uniformly at opposite speeds are uniformly applied to two reference points. It has a laser lighthouse for output.

The symmetry axis of each laser lighthouse is aligned with the direction of the other reference point. In addition, a sensor for detecting a laser beam and an accurate time measuring device are provided at the measurement point. Then, the difference between the detection times of the two laser lights output from the respective laser lighthouses is measured by the time measuring device, and the measurement data is used to calculate the angle between the measurement point and the axis of symmetry of the laser light by the calculating means. The coordinates of the measurement point are calculated from the converted angle and the distance between the reference points measured in advance.

[0004] Laser light CCW and CW at an arbitrary point
The angle formed with the laser lighthouse can be obtained from the light receiving time interval between the two. This is shown in FIG. 16 and FIG. FIGS. 16 and 17 are diagrams showing the relationship between the angle from the laser lighthouse at an arbitrary point and the laser light receiving time. Here, the angle is set to 0 ° in the normal direction of the fixed mirror. In FIGS. 16 and 17, if the light receiving time interval between the laser beams CCW and CW is t ₁ and the light receiving time interval is t ₂ , the angle θ
Is θ = [(t ₁ −t ₂ ) / | t ₁ −t ₂ |] · [t ₁ /
(T ₁ + t ₂ )] × 180 °.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show a laser lighthouse disclosed in this conventional example. The laser lighthouse shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 is for rotating and outputting two laser lights, one and the other, at equal speeds in opposite directions in a horizontal plane, and a laser beam oscillator 51 for outputting the laser light therefor; A rotating mirror 52 and a fixed mirror 53 for outputting the laser beam from the laser beam oscillator 51 as two rays CCW and CW symmetrical with each other, and a rotating mirror 52 are provided, and the rotating mirror 52 and the fixed mirror 52 are rotated at a constant speed. A turntable 5 for forming two line-symmetric laser beams CCW and CW output from the mirror 53 and rotating at a constant speed in the opposite direction.
4 is provided. Reference numeral 55 indicates a reflection mirror.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, two line-symmetric laser beams CCW and CW are used.
Since W overlaps on the axis of symmetry, it becomes difficult to measure the angle in the vicinity, and there is a disadvantage that the measurement range is limited accordingly. To describe this in more detail, a situation occurs in which the continuously measurable range is divided by a constant width region on the axis of symmetry. That is, it is divided into “−90 ° to 0 °” and “0 to + 90 °” with respect to the normal direction of the fixed mirror 53, and the practically measurable range is limited to any one. There was a disadvantage that it was not possible to exceed °.

Further, in the above conventional example, "-90
When measuring near “°” or “+ 90 °”, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 13, the incident angle and the reflection angle when the laser light enters and reflects from the fixed mirror 53 become large with respect to the normal line, and therefore the incident laser light enters along the surface of the fixed mirror 53. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the size of the fixed mirror 53, and the surface accuracy of the fixed mirror 53 must be sufficiently increased.

Therefore, the measurable area is 0 in FIG.
It was a limited range somewhat larger (smaller) than 90 ° and somewhat smaller (larger) than 90 °. Therefore,
For example, when measuring a rectangular measurement area A as shown in FIG. 14, it has been difficult to measure the entire area A even if two laser lighthouses are arranged at the corners a and b. That is, unmeasurable region G generated by the rotation laser light CCW and CW is the incident angle of the unmeasurable region G ₁ occurring to overlap on the axis of symmetry to the fixed mirror increases as shown in FIG. 15
There was a disadvantage that ₂ existed.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a rotary laser light output device which can solve the disadvantages of the prior art and, in particular, can provide a wide range in which continuous measurement can be performed.

[0010]

According to the present invention, there is provided a laser beam oscillator disposed on a central axis and a first laser beam for reflecting and transmitting a laser beam outputted from the laser beam oscillator in a direction perpendicular to the central axis. An optical system, and a turntable that supports the first optical system and converts a laser beam output from the first optical system into one rotation light CCW,
A second optical system mounted on the turntable for separating and outputting a laser beam output from the first optical system via a beam splitter; and a laser beam output from the second optical system is connected to the first optical system. And a fixed mirror that converts the rotating light into the other rotating light CW rotating at the same speed and in the opposite direction. Then, the second optical axis is set such that the axis of symmetry of the one and the other rotary lights during the rotation operation is set at a position shifted by a predetermined angle with respect to a normal in the horizontal plane of the fixed mirror. The system and the beam splitter are mounted on a turntable. This aims to achieve the above-mentioned object.

[0011]

The axis of symmetry formed by the other rotating light CW incident on the fixed mirror and the one rotating light CCW output via the beam splitter is positioned within the horizontal plane of the fixed mirror by the action of the second optical system. Is set at a position shifted by a predetermined angle with respect to the normal line in the above, the continuous measurement range is extended by the range of the shifted angle. Further, when the measurement range is set to, for example, a range of “0 to + 90 ° (or −90 ° to 0 °)”, the symmetric axes of the one and the other rotating lights at the time of the rotation operation are shifted from the measurement range. It is possible to set the other rotating light C incident on the fixed mirror.
The angle of incidence with respect to the normal line of W can be reduced, and the size of the fixed mirror can be similarly reduced. For this reason, the other rotating light CW that is incident can be effectively reflected, so that it is not necessary to set the surface accuracy high.

[0012]

First Embodiment Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 show a laser beam oscillator 10 disposed on a central axis S.
It has. A first optical system 1 for reflecting and transmitting a laser beam output from the laser beam oscillator 10 in a direction orthogonal to the central axis S;
And a turntable 3 that converts the laser beam output from the first optical system 1 into one rotation light CCW
A second optical system 2 mounted on the turntable 3 for separating and outputting a laser beam output from the first optical system 1 via a beam splitter 11; and a second optical system 2 output from the second optical system 2. Fixed mirror 4 for converting a laser beam into another rotating light CW rotating at the same speed as the one rotating light and in the opposite direction.
And

The axis of symmetry J at the time of the rotation operation of the one and the other rotating lights is set at a position shifted by a predetermined angle Θ / 2 with respect to a normal K in the horizontal plane of the fixed mirror 4. As described above, the second optical system 2 and the beam splitter 11 described above are provided on the turntable 3.

The first optical system 1 includes a single reflecting mirror, as shown in FIG. 1, and reflects the laser beam output from the laser beam oscillator 10 in a direction perpendicular to the central axis S. It has the function to do. Further, the beam splitter 11 is provided on the fixed mirror 4 so as to block the transmission path of the laser beam transmitted from the first optical system 1. Further, the second optical system 2 converts the laser beam separated and output by the beam splitter 11 into a fixed mirror 4.
Relay mirrors 21, 22, and 23 for guiding toward the vehicle.

In this case, the second optical system 2 is separated by Θ ° (where Θ °> 90 °) in the counterclockwise direction with respect to the sending direction of the laser beam sent from the first optical system 1 described above. The laser beam is guided so as to be incident on the fixed mirror 4 from the position where the laser beam is set. Therefore, the two rotating lights CC are shifted clockwise by Θ ° / 2 from the normal K of the fixed mirror 4.
The symmetry axis J of W and CW is set. here,
As the members such as the fixed mirror 4, the beam splitter 11, the relay reflection mirrors 21, 22, and 23, conventional members are used as they are. Other configurations are the same as those of the above-described conventional example.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. First
To second optical systems 1 and 2 and beam splitter 11
Rotates with the rotation of the turntable 3. On the other hand, the fixed mirror 4 is fixed to a housing (not shown), and does not rotate even if the turntable 3 rotates. The laser light emitted from the laser beam oscillator 10 is reflected at a right angle by the first optical system 1 as a reflecting mirror, and strikes the beam splitter 11. Here, the laser light is split into two, and one of the laser light goes straight and becomes a rotating light CCW with the rotation of the turntable 3.

The other laser beam output from the beam splitter 11 is transmitted to the relay reflecting mirrors 21, 22, 23.
And enters the fixed mirror 4 from the side opposite to the output direction of the above-described rotation light CCW, is reflected by the fixed mirror 4, and is output as rotation light CW with the rotation of the turntable 3. Here, assuming that the angle between the incident light (CW) of the beam splitter 11 and the incident light that enters the fixed mirror 4 from the reflecting mirror 23 is θ °, the axis of symmetry of the two rotating lights CCW and CW is:
As described above, Θ ° / 2 with respect to the normal direction K of the fixed mirror 4.
Just shift.

Here, the relay reflection mirror 22 can be omitted by appropriately adjusting the angles of the same relay reflection mirrors 21 and 23. In addition, rotating light CCW, CW
Describes an example in which a single laser beam emitted from a single laser beam oscillator 10 is divided into two using a beam splitter 11, and a laser light source which is separately provided in advance is used. May be.

FIG. 18 shows the relationship between the angle from the laser lighthouse and the laser light receiving time at an arbitrary point when θ ° = 90 ° in the present embodiment. Here, the angle is set to 0 ° in the normal direction of the fixed mirror. Rotating laser light CCW and C
Since the axis of symmetry of W is shifted by “−θ / 2 = −45 °”,
The measurable region can be continuously larger (more than 90 °) as compared with the conventional example.

[0020]

Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The second embodiment shown in FIGS.
One reflecting mirror constituting the first optical system 1 is provided on the laser light side transmitted through the beam splitter 11, that is, on the laser light input stage of the second optical system 2 on the first embodiment side. For this reason, the beam splitter 11 is disposed on the central axis S, and outputs one of the two divided laser beams,
It is sent in a direction orthogonal to the central axis S (see FIG. 6). Then, one of the laser beams transmitted from the beam splitter 11 becomes the rotating light CCW with the rotation of the turntable 3 as in the case of the first embodiment described above.

On the other hand, the other laser beam output from the beam splitter 11 travels straight through the beam splitter 11, and is guided by the first optical system 1 and the second optical system 2 as described above, and is fixed. 4 and is reflected and transmitted in a direction orthogonal to the central axis S as shown in FIG. Then, the other laser light becomes the rotating light CW with the rotation of the turntable 3 as in the case of the first embodiment described above.
At this time, assuming that the angle between the rotating light CCW and the incident light incident on the fixed mirror 4 is θ °, the axis of symmetry between the rotating light CCW and the CW is shifted by “θ / 2” with respect to the fixed mirror 4. Other configurations are the same as those of the above-described conventional example.

In this case, the same operation and effect as those of the above-mentioned conventional example are obtained. In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, the first optical system 1 and the second optical system 2 including the beam splitter 11 are provided in close proximity. Is possible, which is why
This makes it possible to set the relay reflection mirrors 21, 22, 23 and the like incorporated in the optical system 1 and the second optical system 2 with higher accuracy, and to downsize the entire apparatus. is there.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the normal direction K of the fixed mirror 4 in FIGS. 5 to 7 and the axes of symmetry of the two rotating lights CCW and CW. FIG. 9 is a graph showing “Θ °” in FIG.
/ 2 ”is set to“ 45 ° ”.
It is explanatory drawing which shows the change of the direction of CW, CW.

[0024]

Since the present invention is constructed and functions as described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to widen a range in which continuous measurement can be performed, and to eliminate a blind spot in this continuous measurement range. Also, as in the conventional example, 90
When used in a measurement range of about °, the central area in the normal direction of the fixed mirror can be used effectively, so that the fixed mirror can be made smaller. It is possible to provide an unprecedented excellent rotary laser light output device capable of improving the setting accuracy of the relay reflection mirrors 21, 22, 23 and the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a propagation path (reference numeral AA) of one rotating light CCW in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a propagation path (reference numeral B) of the other rotating light CW in FIG.
-B)

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a propagation path (reference numeral AA) of one rotation light CCW in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the propagation path of the other rotation light CW in FIG.
-B)

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the normal direction K of the fixed mirror 4 in FIG. 5 and the axes of symmetry of the two rotating lights CCW and CW.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a change in the direction of two rotating lights CCW and CW when “Θ ° / 2” in FIG. 8 is set to “45 °”;

FIG. 10 is a schematic sectional view showing a conventional example.

11 is a schematic plan view of FIG.

12 and 13 are explanatory views each showing the operation of the fixed mirror in FIG. 10;

14 to 17 are explanatory diagrams each showing an example of a use situation in the conventional example of FIG. 10;

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a light receiving angle and a time at a light receiving point when θ = 90 ° in the first embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 first optical system 2 second optical system 3 turntable 4 fixed mirror 10 laser beam oscillator 11 beam splitter J symmetry axis K central axis

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-64-16908 (JP, A) JP-A-63-140911 (JP, A) Patent 2,688,955 (JP, B2) JP-B-7-40066 (JP, A) B2) JP 4-76634 (JP, B2) JP 4-11806 (JP, B2) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01C 15/00 G01S 5/16

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A laser beam oscillator disposed on a central axis, a first optical system for reflecting and transmitting a laser beam output from the laser beam oscillator in a direction orthogonal to the central axis, And the first optical system.
The laser beam output from the optical system of FIG.
A turntable for converting into a CW, a second optical system mounted on the turntable for separating and outputting a laser beam output from the first optical system via a beam splitter, and a second optical system;
And a fixed mirror that converts the laser beam output from the optical system into the other rotating light CW rotating at the same speed as the one rotating light and in the opposite direction, and rotating the one and the other rotating lights. The second optical system and the beam splitter are mounted on a turntable such that a symmetry axis at the time is set at a position shifted by a predetermined angle with respect to a normal in a horizontal plane of the fixed mirror. A rotary laser light output device.