Patent Application
20160377405
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a measuring tool, especially a measuring tool that measures thickness of a fire resistant layer coated on a steel beam. The measuring tool is also applicable for measuring thickness of a spray-coated acoustic material or a foamed material.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
A modern steel-skeleton building has a fire resistant layer coated on an outer surface of steel. The main objective is to defer softening of the steel caused by high temperature when the steel-skeleton building is on fire. After the steel is heated and softened, the steel-skeleton building will quickly collapse without support of the steel, so the fire resistant layer is to prevent the fire from directly heating the steel for prolonging the fire resistance period of the steel, such that people in the building have enough time to evacuate. In addition, when on fire, the steel-skeleton building can sustain for a period of time against collapsing before the fire is extinguished.
Therefore, a thickness of the fire resistant layer affects the initial softening time of the steel when the steel is heated. To reach the premise of prolonging the fire resistance period, the thickness of the fire resistant layer should not be too large otherwise a load of the steel-skeleton building is increased. So the thickness of the fire resistant layer must accord with interrelated building technical regulations and testing data of the fire resistant layer.
With reference to
When the conventional measuring tool is implemented, the conventional measuring tool is operated by a group of inspection personnel. One of the inspection personnel holds the measuring tool and makes the pushing part 41 of the ruler 40 abut on a surface of the fire resistant layer 80 coated on the steel beam 70, and pushes the reference base 52. The reference base 52 is slid along the ruler 40, and the sharp end of the probe 51 is inserted into the fire resistant layer 80 to touch the steel beam 70. Said inspection personnel could obtain the thickness of the fire resistant layer 80 by reading the scale corresponding to a reference end 521 of the reference base 52, and another inspection personnel could record thickness data of the fire resistant layer 80.
However, the measuring data of the conventional measuring tool relies on human eyes to read the scale corresponding to the reference end 521 of the reference base 52. Therefore, the ruler is difficult to read such that the measuring data of the ruler 40 might be erroneously read by the inspection personnel during the measuring process, and the measuring data of the ruler 40 is not precise enough. In addition, the measuring process needs at least one personnel besides the personnel who holds the measuring tool to record the measuring data, so the measuring process of the conventional measuring tool is time-consuming and labor-intensive.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a measuring tool for buildings to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
The main objective of the present invention is to provide a measuring tool for buildings that improves shortcomings of difficult reading, low precision of measuring data, time-consuming recording, and labor-intensiveness.
The measuring tool for buildings comprises a body, an electronic reading device, and a probe. The body has a plate, and the plate is elongated in an axial direction and has two ends and a pushing part. The pushing part is formed on one of the ends of the plate. The electronic reading device is slidably mounted on the plate of the body and is selectively moved along the plate of the body. The probe is connected to the body and the electronic reading device and has a sharp end and a connecting end. The sharp end of the probe is mounted through the pushing part of the plate. The connecting end of the probe is connected to the electronic reading device.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
With reference to
With reference to
The body 10 further has a positioning member 12. The positioning member 12 is mounted on the plate 11 and near the pushing part 111. The positioning member 12 has a stationary block 121 and a resisting screw 122. The stationary block 121 is mounted on the plate 11, and the stationary block 121 has a through hole 1211 and a threaded hole. The through hole 1211 is formed through the stationary block 121 and parallel with the axial direction of the plate 11. The threaded hole is formed in the stationary block 121 and communicates with the through hole 1211. The resisting screw 122 is screwed with the threaded hole of the stationary block 121. The resisting screw 122 has a resisting end selectively mounted in the through hole 1211 of the stationary block 121.
With reference to
The measuring instrument 21 is mounted on and abuts the plate 11, and has a screen 211, multiple buttons 212, and a communication port 213. The screen 211 is mounted on and electrically connected to the measuring instrument 21. The buttons 212 are mounted on the measuring instrument 21 and near the screen 211. The communication port 213 is mounted on and electrically connected to the measuring instrument 21. The signal transmission ??
of the communication port 213 is via USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface, wireless transmission, or wired transmission.
The installing base 22 has a recess 221. The plate 11 is slidably mounted through the recess 221. The installing base 22 is connected to the measuring instrument 21 and faces the pushing part 111 of the plate 11.
The probe 30 is connected to the body 10 and the electronic reading device 20 and has a sharp end and a connecting end. The sharp end of the probe 30 is mounted through the pinhole of the pushing part 111 of the plate 11. The through hole 1211 of the stationary block 121 is disposed around the sharp end of the probe 30. The connecting end of the probe 30 is connected to the installing base 22 of the electronic reading device 20. When the sharp end of the probe 30 is passed through the through hole 1211 of the stationary block 121, the resisting screw 122 can selectively abut the probe 30 to keep a stationary position relative to the plate 11 of the probe 30. The resisting screw 122 is a hexangular screw for retaining the probe 30.
With reference to
For identifying whether a thickness in a specific area of a fire resistant layer coated on a steel beam meets safety requirements, the measuring tool for buildings is implemented for a measuring process. The electronic reading device 20 is moved for a distance corresponding to a standard thickness along the plate 11, and the sharp end of the probe 30 is passed through the pushing part 111 over a length corresponding to the standard thickness. The resisting screw 122 of the positioning member 12 abuts the probe 30 to retain the probe 30 and the electronic reading device 20. The inspection personnel could measure various areas of the fire resistant layer by using the measuring tool. In the measuring process, when the sharp end of the probe 30 is inserted into the fire resistant layer and forms a measuring distance from the pushing part 111, the probe 30 is abutted by the resisting screw 122 to form a locked condition. So the thickness data can be precisely measured by the probe 30 without being affected by human errors.
The measuring instrument 21 of the electronic reading device 20 senses the moving distance along the plate 11. The moving distance of the electronic reading device 20 is the same as an insertion thickness of the probe 30 into a fire resistant layer. The accurate thickness data is shown on the screen 211 to eliminate erroneous reading, and the measuring data of thickness can be transmitted to a terminal device by the communication port 213. The terminal device is a computer, a server, or a flash disk. The thickness data of the fire resistant layer could be recorded completely and the measuring process of the measuring tool for buildings is operable by one person. The measuring tool for buildings is time-saving and manpower-saving. The multiple buttons 12 respectively have functions of power switch, zeroing adjustment, and unit conversion. Two opposite side walls of the measuring instrument 21 can be formed as two non-smooth walls for easy grasp by the inspection personnel in a measuring process. So the inspection personnel can easily move the measuring instrument 21 along the plate 11.
The limiting part 112 of the plate 11 is designed to selectively abut the electronic reading device 20 to prevent the electronic reading device 20 from escaping from the plate 11 of the body 10.
Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and features of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
