Patent ID: 8401816

Claim:
An apparatus for measuring a linear distance between two points of interest, comprising: a housing that allows gripping of the apparatus by a human user allowing transport thereof, and capable of rotation substantially without translation so as to point towards at least a first spatial point of interest and then towards a second spatial point of interest; a coherent visible light source, substantially housed within said housing, said light source adapted and arranged to provide an output comprising a coherent light beam to illuminate a spot at which said apparatus is pointed; an actuator, substantially disposed on said housing, said actuator adapted and arranged to receive an actuation input from a human user and to mark at least said first and second spatial points of interest when said apparatus is pointed towards said first and second spatial points of interest, respectively; a scanner to automatically scan the output of said coherent visible light source so that it illuminates a plurality of spots along a straight line between said first and second spatial points of interest to provide said user a visual indication of a linear path between said first and second spatial points of interest; a non-contacting sensor that measures linear distances form the apparatus to each of the spatial points of interest; and a processor that receives and processes signals from said sensor indicative of a respective distance to at least said first and second spatial points of interest, and that computes a linear distance between said first and second spatial points of interest along said linear path between said first and second spatial points of interest.