Patent ID: 7415777

Claim:
A power operated tape measure comprising: a housing shell; a tape cartridge assembly mounted within the housing shell and including: a rotatable annular reel; an elongate tape wound onto the annular reel, the tape having a surface; and a spring coupled with the annular reel; a drive mechanism mounted within the housing shell and being engagable with the surface of the tape to at least extend the tape out of the housing shell; a power source electrically coupled with the drive mechanism; at least one switch electrically coupled with the drive mechanism to control the flow of electrical power from the power source to the drive mechanism; a primary actuator operably mounted within the housing shell and having a body extending over a portion of the tape cartridge and an arm extending from the periphery of the body through a first opening in the housing shell, wherein application of a force on the arm moves the actuator to selectively initiate input on the at least one switch to enable or disable drive mechanism activity, the arm being moveable in opposed first and second directions such that sufficient arm movement in the first direction causes the drive mechanism to extend the tape out of the housing shell and sufficient arm movement in the second direction causes the tape to retract into the housing shell; a retraction actuator mounted within the housing shell for selectively engaging with the drive mechanism and for movement relative to the housing shell, wherein a portion of the retraction actuator is engagable by a user through a second opening in the housing shell, and wherein sufficient displacement of the retraction actuator in a first direction causes the drive mechanism to become disengaged from the surface of the tape, whereby spring powered retraction of the tape is permitted.