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Its design allows for a measure of great length to be easily carried in pocket or toolkit and permits one to measure around curves or corners. Today it is ubiquitous, even appearing in miniature form as a keychain fob , or novelty item. Surveyors use tape measures in lengths of over m. There are two basic types of tape measures with cases, spring return pocket tape measures and long tape measures. Spring return pocket tape measures will generally fit in a pocket.

They are small, the case is up to about three inches across. The tape is returned to the case by a spring mechanism.

Pocket tape measures have a tape 1 to 15 feet 0. When most people think of a tape measure, they are thinking of the pocket tape measure. A second tape measure design is what is called the long tape. These are cased tape measures with tapes of 25, 50, 75, , , , and even feet in length, designed for engineers and builders. Because surveying was usually done in rods, surveyors use long tapes of 33 feet 2 rods , and 66 feet 4 rods.

Long tapes instead of being Certified Digital Tape Measure Size returned by a spring, were usually returned by hand crank. Tape measures are often designed for specific uses or trades. Tapes may have different scales, be made of different materials, and be of different lengths depending on the use it is intended for. Tape measures that were intended for use in tailoring or dressmaking were made from flexible cloth or plastic.

Today, measuring tapes made for sewing are made of fiberglass, which does not tear or stretch as easily. Measuring tapes designed for carpentry or construction often use a stiff, curved metallic ribbon that can remain stiff and straight when extended, but retracts into a coil for convenient storage.

This type of tape measure will have a floating tang or hook on the end to aid measuring. The tang is connected to the tape with loose rivets through oval holes, and can move a distance equal to its thickness, to provide both inside and outside measurements that are accurate. The self-marking tape measure allows the user an accurate one hand measure.

The first record of people using a measuring device was by the Romans using marked strips of leather, but this was more like a regular ruler than a tape measure. On December 6, patent 45, was issued to William H. Bangs of West Meriden, Connecticut. Bang's rule was the first attempt in the United States to make a spring return pocket tape measure.

The tape could be stopped at any point and held by the mechanism. The tape could be returned to the case by sliding a button on the side of the case which then allowed the spring to pull the tape back into the case.

On 3 January , Hiram A. Farrand received patent 1,, for his concave-convex tape, a major improvement for spring pocket tape measures. It was Farrand's concave-convex tape that went on to become the standard for the majority of pocket tape measure tapes today. The first patented for a long tape measure in the United States was patent 29, issued July 10, to William H.

Paine of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, [6] and produced by George M. Eddy and Company of Brooklyn, New York. This tape had no increments on it. It accurately measured only a distance equal to the total length of the tape from beginning to end marker, a brass piece attached to the tape at a measured distance.

The measured length was marked on the case or crank. Later, by the early s, Justus Roe of Patchogue, New York added rivets attaching small brass washers to the tape to mark inches and feet. They were attached every inch in the first and last foot and every foot from one to the end of the last foot.

A small brass tag, marked with a number indicating the number of feet to that point, was attached every five feet. This Certified Digital Tape Measure Line feature was never patented, but Justus Roe and Sons produced tape measures, "Roe Electric Reel Tape Measures", with this feature during the s and early s when they started etching or stamping increments and numbers on the tapes.

The "electric" part of the name was purely an affectation; there was nothing electrical about it. The basic design on which all modern spring tape measures are built can trace its origins back to Certified Digital Tape Measure 90 an patent by a West Meriden, Connecticut resident named William H. Bangs Jr. According to the text of his patent, Bang's tape measure was an improvement on other versions previously designed. The spring tape measure has existed in the U. In the late s, carpenters began slowly adopting H.

Farrand's design as the one more commonly used. This design is the basis for most modern pocket tape measures used today. With the mass production of the integrated circuit IC the tape measure has also entered into the digital age with the digital tape measure.

Some incorporate a digital screen to give measurement readouts in multiple formats. An early patent for this type of measure was published in There are also other styles of tape measures that have incorporated lasers and ultrasonic technology to measure the distance of an object with fairly reliable accuracy. Tape measures often have black and red measurements on a yellow background as this is the optimal color combination for readability.

Justus Roe, a surveyor and tape-maker by trade, made the longest tape measure in , at feet m. The Northern Virginia Surveyors Association presented the foot, gold-plated surveyor's tape measure to Mickey Mantle in Some tapes sold in the United States have additional marks in the shape of small black diamonds, which appear every These are used to mark out equal spacing for joists five joists or trusses per US standard 8-foot 2, mm length of building material. Many US tapes also have special markings every 16 inches mm , which is a US standard interval for studs in construction.

Three spaces of 16 inches make exactly 4 feet 1, mm which is the US commercial width of a sheet of plywood , gyprock or particle board. For example, in some Walmarts there are Hyper Tough brand tapes available in both US customary units and Metric units. So, the inclusion of a metric scale requires the measuring device either to contain 3 scales of measurement or the elimination of one of the US Customary scales. Looking to replace or purchase an item online? Check out ShopCross! As part of the Cross Company corporate family, we are always adding new precision measurement products for purchase online.

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