Patent ID: 9574862
Date: 2017-02-21
CPC Classifications: G01B

Claim:
1. A tape measure comprising: a housing body having a front, a duck-bill extending from said front of said housing body, said duck-bill having a ledge thereon and a tape passage therethrough, and having a guide face formed on a front face thereof at an end of said duck-bill distal from said front of said housing body, a tape aperture formed in said front face of said duck-bill and aligned with said tape passage, and said duck-bill having a length from said front face to a base of said duck-bill at substantially said front of said tape housing, a flexible tape having a width and resiliently coiled in a storage position in a cavity in said housing body cooperating with said tape passage, said tape having measurement demarcations therealong on at least an upper surface thereof, said tape extending from said cavity and through said tape passage and said tape aperture so as to extend from said housing body and said duck-bill through said tape aperture, said tape configured in said cavity in said housing body so as to be selectively extendable from and retractable into said storage position in said housing body between extended and retracted positions of said tape, a rigid tape end mounted on a distal end of said tape, distal from said housing body, said tape end having a vertical portion and a tongue portion, said vertical portion extending substantially perpendicularly from said distal end of said tape and having a downward segment oppositely disposed to an upper segment, said downward and upper segments extending oppositely relative to said distal end of said tape, wherein said upper segment is elongate so as to have a vertical dimension which is greater in length than said width of said tape, and wherein said tongue is mounted flush along said distal end of said tape and has a length dimension along said tape which is substantially equal to or less than said length of said duck-bill, a finger-operable tape brake mounted to said duck-bill and cooperating with said tape passage and disposed for user access to said tape brake for actuation of said tape brake from underneath said duck-bill, said tape brake including a selectively actuable brake clamp mounted in said base of said duck-bill, said brake clamp selectively actuable so as to selectively clamp said tape disposed in said tape passage, said tape aperture and said tape passage sized to accommodate said tape and said tongue in sliding translation therethrough, and wherein, in said fully retracted position said vertical portion of said tape end abuts said front face of said duck-bill and said tongue extends along said tape passage without interfering with said brake clamp, and said upper segment of said vertical portion extends above said ledge of said duck-bill, and wherein said front face of said duck-bill extends downwardly from said tape aperture to form a guide fence which substantially planar and orthogonal to said tape.