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U.S. Patent 3195234: Range Rod Assembly
I thought the community may like to see this neat survey tool which I acquired about ten years ago.
I attached are a few photos of my “range rod assembly” and the first page from U.S. Patent 3195234: Range Rod Assembly by Charles and Roger Glidden of Glendora and Duarte, California.
Link: https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/3195234
The height is approximately six feet tall when folded. It is stored and transported in the metal tube seen in a couple of the photos. It is essentially a large, rigid plumb bob. Has anyone ever used one of these?
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4 Replies
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Interesting find! I have never seen anything like this. Do you have any concerns with accidentally bending the rod?
Jeff D. -
KJYPLS,
That is very similar to a device we used during my first few years in the business in the early ’70s.
They were called Ultra-Sights. We used to get them and parts from a small service/supply shop in Anaheim, CA. Ours typically had adjustable legs and instead of a rod that touched the ground, the rod terminated about a foot below the “bulb” with a hook for a plumb bob/Gammon Reel. We even had one that was about 10′ tall, if memory serves for special occasions.
Maybe it’s pernicious amnesia but I can’t for the life of me remember the name of the survey supply place. Somehow, I recall there being a topless bar around the corner from there called Harvey’s. What’s that tell you? I also remember that I left one set up IN an intersection only to find it as I drove up for the next day’s work.
There were a couple of those tubes mounted in the Sevice Bodies of all our trucks.
JA, PLS, SoCal
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We had a few lying around the survey office for YEARS until someone had to finally throw them out. I’ve followed many of Roger Glidden California LS 3462 surveys, and interestingly enough LS 3642 worked in our same geographic region, it still catches guys not paying enough attention to numbers. His son is also a practicing California LS.
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@NotSoMuch I guess that may be a weak spot. I’ll have to disassemble and see what the runout looks like. Hopefully it’s good steel!
@jerry-attrick Very cool, thanks for sharing. The “tip” on this one is actually adjustable according to the patent. I loosened up the nut on mine but it needs some persuading to make it work again. The plumb bob variant you used makes good sense. There must of been some sort of distribution network since this one made it to NY
@j-dub A family legacy
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