Patent ID: 6898866

Claim:
A digital display tape measuring device including a housing having a reel adapted to house and maintain a retractable tape, said device comprising: a. a display screen exteriorly located on said housing for displaying the measured distance; b. a tape having an elongated hollow casing with low stretch characteristics and electrical conductivity capabilities; c. an insulator disposed longitudinally along said tape dividing said tape into two electrical conductors, and having a tip thereof electrically connecting both of said electrical conductors together such that an electrical circuit is formed with resistance that varies as said tape is extracted from said reel; d. friction bearings disposed in said housing and on either side of said tape for pinching said tape flat when it is extracted from said reel, and at least two of said friction bearings being insulated from one another and each making ohmic contact with respective sides of said tape; e. an ohmmeter electrically coupled across said insulated friction bearings such that an electrical current may be passed through said electrical circuit for measuring the resistance thereof by said ohmmeter; and, f. a microprocessor disposed in said housing and having inputs thereof coupled to outputs of said ohmmeter and having outputs coupled to said display screen, said microprocessor being disposed for computing measurements made by said device as a function of the resistance measured by said ohmmeter and for displaying the results of said computation on said display screen.