FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to measuring apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for measuring and locating marks on the surface of a body.
BACKGROUND
The following description of related art is intended to provide background information pertaining to the field of the present disclosure. This section may include certain aspects of the art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure. However, it should be appreciated that this section be used only to enhance the understanding of the reader with respect to the present disclosure, and therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
Generally, installation of an object/article on a surface can be done by drilling holes on the surface and mounting the object/article on the surface by inserting tools such as screws, nails, etc. inside the drilled holes. The alignment of the holes on the surface corresponding to the holes and/or the tools is very critical, since the object/article cannot be installed properly if there is a mismatch between the corresponding positioning of the holes on the surface and the tools/holes on the object/article.
Further, drilling of holes can be done either directly or indirectly, wherein the direct drilling is performed by placing the object/article on the surface at a location on which the body is to be installed/mounted, and performing the drilling action. However, the process of direct drilling usually causes damage to the object/article due to impulses/vibration/force exerted on the object by drilling apparatus during the process.

On the other hand, the indirect drilling can be done using a stencil and/or a template. The use of the templates and/or the stencils for marking drilling holes on the surface, have been well known and prevalent for quite some time. Typically, the templates and/or the stencils with fixed holes are used for drilling holes on a surface and mounting an object/article on a surface. These templates and stencils are made of thin sheet of metals and/or cardboards, having pre-drilled holes at certain locations with respect to the distance from each corner and/or edge.
Usually, the templates and/or stencils are manufactured for a specific object/article having a particular shape and size. Thus, the templates and/or the stencils for a specific object/article installation cannot be used for another object/article installation since many of them are non-recyclable and thereby, increasing the wastage of material as well as the overall cost of body installation.
Consequently, in an effort to overcome the abovementioned problem, efforts have been made to reduce the material wastage and the overall cost by providing a stencil and/or template for objects/articles of similar shape and size having same hole/mark/mounting member locations.
However, there may be a possibility of having a manufacturing defect in hole/mark/mounting member locations even for objects/articles of similar shape and size having same hole/mark/mounting member locations. In this case, holes in the stencils and/or templates do not match with the holes/marks/mounting members of the objects/articles having manufacturing defect.
Hence, it is clear from, but not limited to, the aforementioned problems, that there is a long felt need to provide an adjustable apparatus for locating holes/marks/mounting members at different locations. There is a need to provide an apparatus that accurately locate the position of holes irrespective of any manufacturing defect in the object/article and can be used for

objects/articles of different shapes and sizes having different hole/mark/mounting member locations. Also, there is a need to reduce the material wastage and overall installation cost of an object/article on a surface by providing an apparatus that can be used for multiple objects/articles. This need has been met with by the present invention.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
This section is provided to introduce certain objects and aspects of the disclosed methods and systems in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method of locating points on a surface.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide an adjustable apparatus and method which can be adjusted according to the mark/hole/mounting member of an object/article.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that can be used for guiding the installation process of objects/articles having different shapes and sizes with plurality of mounting members/holes/marks at different location.
Yet another object of the present invention is to reduce the material wastage and overall cost of body installation on a surface.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This summary is not intended to identify the key features or the scope of the claimed subject matter.
In view of the shortcomings of existing methods and systems, as discussed in the background section, and objectives of the present invention, there is a need to

provide an apparatus and method for performing at least one action on a surface.
Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention relates to an apparatus for performing an action on a surface. The apparatus comprises a frame for mounting on the surface, wherein the frame has at least one first side and at least one second side connected to each other; at least one first rib movably attached to the at least one first side of the frame; and at least one second rib movably attached to one of the at least one first rib, the at least one second side and a combination thereof.
Another aspect of the present invention relates to a method for performing an action on a surface using an apparatus, the method comprising steps of: placing the apparatus over a reference surface; moving at least one first rib over a desired point along the length of at least one first side; moving at least one second rib over the desired point along the length of one of the at least one first rib and at least one second side; placing the apparatus on a target surface; and performing the action at the intersection of the at least one first rib and the at least one second rib, wherein the action is performed one of manually, automatically and a combination thereof.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and constitute a part of this invention, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the disclosed methods and systems in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the different drawings. Components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present invention. Also, the embodiments shown in the figures

are not to be construed as limiting the invention, but the possible variants of the method and system according to the invention are illustrated herein to highlight the advantages of the invention.
Figure 1 (a) illustrates a top view of the present apparatus in an exemplary embodiment and in accordance with the present invention.
Figure 1 (b) illustrates a bottom view of the present apparatus in an exemplary embodiment and in accordance with the present invention.
Figure 2 (a) illustrates a top view of the present apparatus in an exemplary embodiment and in accordance with the present invention.
Figure 2 (b) illustrates a bottom view of the apparatus in an exemplary embodiment and in accordance with the present invention.
It may be evident to skilled artisans that mechanical components in the figures are only illustrative, for simplicity and clarity, and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the mechanical components in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other components to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, various specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that the disclosed embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. Several features described hereafter can each be used independently of one another or with any combination of other features. However, any individual feature may not address any of the problems discussed above or might address only some of the problems discussed above. Some of the problems discussed above might not be fully addressed by any of the features described herein.

The term “drilling” and its cognate terms, such as “drills” and “drilled”, as used herein throughout the specification and the claims, refers to is a cutting process that uses tool to cut a hole of circular cross-section in solid materials. Further, drilling can be performed using drilling tool, which is pressed and rotated against the surface to be drilled.
As used herein, “install”, “mount” and its cognate terms, such as “installation”, “installing”, “installed”, “mounting” and “mounted” refer to fixing/setting/backing a body at a place. Further, installation of a body on a surface requires a fixture means such as nuts, bolts, screws or any such means as may be obvious to a person skilled in the art.
As used herein, “connect”, “configure”, “attach” and its cognate terms, such as “connects”, “connected”, “configured” and “attached” refer to a physical connection or any other suitable connection as may be obvious to a skilled person.
As used herein, “stencil” and “template” refer to a thin sheet of card, plastic, or metal with a pattern or hole cut out of it, used to produce the mark on the surface below. Further, stencils and templates may have holes of different shapes and sizes for marking the location of holes on the surface for drilling or performing any other suitable action on the surface as may be obvious to a skilled person.
As used herein, “frame” refers to a structure that gives shape or support to a body. Further, frame comprises of plurality of sides, which form the basic structure of the apparatus.
As used herein, “rib” refers to straight movable structure configured on the frame and/or the other rib, which is movable in nature. Further, ribs can be adjusted according to the position of the holes on the body to be mounted. The

positions of the ribs are adjusted in a manner to obtain a junction of the two ribs which aligns on the hole/mark/mounting member on the body.
As used herein, “reference surface” refers to a surface of a body on which the holes are located or any surface as may be obvious to a skilled person from which the reference has to be taken using the apparatus.
As used herein, “target surface” refers to a surface on which the action has to be performed using the apparatus. The target surface may be a surface of a wall, a structure, a cup-board, a door or any surface as may be obvious to a skilled person.
Systems and methods are encompassed for providing an apparatus for performing an action on a surface. The apparatus comprises a frame for mounting on the surface, wherein the frame has at least one first side and at least one second side connected to each other; at least one first rib movably attached to the at least one first side of the frame; and at least one second rib movably attached to one of the at least one first rib, the at least one second side and a combination thereof.
Figure 1 (a) and 1 (b) illustrates an apparatus [100] for performing an action on a surface. As shown in the figures, the apparatus [100] comprises a frame [101] having at least one first side [102] and at least one second side [103] as depicted in figure 1 (a) and figure 1 (b) of the present invention.
The at least one first side [102] and the at least one second side [103] are connected to each other using one of a nut and bolt, a weld, adhesives and a combination thereof. In one embodiment of the invention, the at least one first side [102] and the at least one second side [103] may be obtained as a single unit. The angle between the at least one first side [102] and the at least one second side [103] may be one of a right angle, an acute angle, an obtuse angle

and a combination thereof. In a preferred embodiment, the angle between the at least one first side [102] and the at least one second side [103] is right angle.
The apparatus [100] further comprises of at least one first rib [104] and at least one second rib [105], wherein the at least one first rib [104] is movably attached to the at least one first side [102] of the frame [101]. In an embodiment, the at least one second rib [105] is movably attached to one of the at least one second side [103] of the frame [101] and the at least one first rib [104]. Further, the at least one first rib [104] is configured to move along the length of the at least one first side [102]. Furthermore, the at least one second rib [105] is configured to move along the length of one of the at least one second side [103] and the at least one first rib [104]. The at least one first rib [104] and the at least one second rib [105] are slotted for locating the position of the holes and performing the action. The holes can be observed and aligned at the intersection [106] of the at least one first rib [104] and the at least one second rib [105].
The apparatus [100] may further comprises of at least one knob [107] for adjusting the position of the at least one first rib [104] and the at least one second rib [105]. The at least one knob [107] is configured at one end of the at least one first rib [104] and/or the at least one second rib [105]. The at least one knob [107] may be used to adjust the position of the at least one first rib [104] at the at least one first side [102] and the at least one second rib [105] at one of the at least one second side [103] and the at least one first rib [104]. The at least one knob [107] may also be used for loosening and/or tightening the at least one first rib [104] and/or the at least one second rib [105]. The at least one knob [107] may also have a screw nut mechanism or any mechanism as may be obvious to a skilled person to hold the at least one first rib [104] at the at least one first side [102] and the at least one second rib [105] at the one of the at least one second side [103] and the at least one first rib [104].

Further, the at least one first side [102] and/or the at least second side [103] may be slotted for allowing the movement of the at least one first rib [104] and/or the at least one second rib [105] on the frame [101].
The at least one first rib [104] and/or the at least one second rib [105] may be provided with a sliding mechanism for smooth movement of the at least one first rib [104] and the at least one second rib [105]. The sliding mechanism may be a sliding channel, a slot and groove mechanism or any mechanism as may be obvious to a skilled person.
The frame [101], the at least one first rib [104] and/or the at least one second rib [105] may be made of substance such as a metal, a wood, a plastic, a ceramic, a glass as may be obvious to a skilled person. In one embodiment of the invention, the frame [101], the at least one first rib [104] and/or the at least one second rib [105] is made of substance such as a metal, a wood, a plastic, a ceramic, a glass as may be obvious to a skilled person.
The frame [101], the at least one first rib [104] and/or the at least one second rib [105] may also have length markings along the sides of the frame [101] and/or along the length of the at least one first rib [104] and/or the at least one second rib [105] for accurately measuring distance from the edge/side/corner of the frame [101]. Once the locations of holes and/or mark are determined, the accurate distance of the holes from the edge/side/corner may be recorded/ noted. Thus, the length marking enhances the utility of the apparatus.
In an embodiment of the invention, the frame [100] may have three sides, four sides, five sides, or any number of sides as may be obvious to a skilled person. In a preferred embodiment, the frame [100] may have four sides.
In an exemplary embodiment as illustrated in figure 2 (a) and 2 (b), the apparatus [100] comprises of a frame [101], wherein the frame [100] comprises of two vertical sides [102] and two horizontal sides [103]. The sides [102] and

[103] are connected in such a way to obtain a closed quadrilateral frame [101]. The angle between any two adjacent sides of the frame is right angle. The apparatus [100] further comprises of plurality of ribs [104] and [105]. The ribs [104] and [105] are movably attached to each side [102] and [103] of the frame. The ribs [104] and [105] may be moved along the sides of the frame to adjust the vertical and horizontal alignment of the hole. The ribs [104] and [105] may be slotted for accurately locating the intersection of the two ribs. Further, the intersection of the two ribs may be aligned with the hole/marks/mounting member on the body. The apparatus [100] further comprises of knobs [107] attached to one of the ends of each rib [104] and [105]. The knob [107] may be used to adjust the position of the ribs [104] and [105] at a desired location. The apparatus [100] further comprises a panel [108] for writing instruction for operating the apparatus [100]. The panel [108] may also be used for writing apparatus description or any information as may be obvious to a person skilled in the art.
In one embodiment of the invention, two ribs on opposite sides of the frame [101] may be replaced by one rib, which may be connected to the opposite sides of the frame [101].
The present invention further encompasses a method for performing said action on the surface using the apparatus [100]. In one embodiment of the method steps, the apparatus [100] may be placed over a reference surface, wherein the reference surface may be a surface of a body on which holes are present or may be any surface as may be obvious to a skilled person from which the reference may be taken. As a next step, the at least one first rib [104] is moved over a desired point along the length of the at least one first side [102] by using the at least one knob [107]. The at least one second rib [105] is moved over the desired point along the length of one of the at least one second side [103] and the at least one first rib [104] using the at least one knob [107]. The at least one knob

[107] may also be used to fix the position of the at least one first rib [104] and/or the at least one second rib [105]. The position of the at least one first rib [104] and/or the at least one second rib [105] are/is adjusted in a manner to obtain a junction of the two ribs which aligns on the hole/mark/mounting member on the body. The apparatus [100] with fixed position of the at least one first rib [104] and the at least one second rib [105] is placed over a target surface and performing the at least one action at the intersection of the ribs [106]. The action may be marking a point, locating a point, drilling at a point, fixing a screw at a point or any action as may be obvious to a person skilled in the art. The action may be performed manually and/or automatically.
However, a person skilled in the art may be cognizant of the fact that number of sides of the frame, and the arrangement, connections and positions of the ribs on the frame and/or on the other ribs may vary with respect to the shape of the body to be installed or positions of holes on the body.
Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments and examples thereof, other embodiments and equivalents are possible. Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with functional and procedural details, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in terms of the procedural steps within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms. Thus, various modifications are possible of the presently disclosed system and process without deviating from the intended scope and spirit of the present invention. A person having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the vehicle and vehicle components, discussed herein above are exemplary and are not limiting in any manner. Further, the components and steps/techniques described herein above may be replaced, reordered or removed to form different embodiments of the

present disclosure. Accordingly, in one embodiment, such modifications of the presently disclosed system and method are included in the scope of the present invention.

We claim:
1. An apparatus [100] for performing an action on a surface, the apparatus
[100] comprises:
- a frame [101] for mounting on the surface, wherein
the frame [101] has at least one first side [102] and at least one second side [103] connected to each other;
- at least one first rib [104] movably attached to the at least one first side [102] of the frame [101]; and
- at least one second rib [105] movably attached to one of the at least one first rib [104], the at least one second side [103] and a combination thereof.

2. The apparatus [100] as claimed in claim 1, further comprising at least one knob [107] for adjusting position of the at least one first rib [104] and the at least one second rib [105].
3. The apparatus [100] as claimed in claim 1, wherein the action comprises one of marking a point, locating a point, drilling at a point, fixing a screw at a point and a combination thereof.
4. The apparatus [100] as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one side [102, 103] of the frame [101] is one of a slotted, hollow and a combination thereof.
5. The apparatus [100] as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one rib [104, 105] is provided with a sliding mechanism.
6. The apparatus [100] as claimed in claim 5, wherein the sliding mechanism comprises one of a sliding channel, a slot and groove mechanism and a combination thereof.

7. The apparatus [100] as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least two ribs [104, 105] are one of hollow and slotted for performing the action.
8. The apparatus [100] as claimed in claim 1, wherein the frame [101] and the at least two ribs [104, 105] are made using one of a metal, wood, plastic, ceramic, glass and a combination thereof.
9. The apparatus [100] as claimed in claim 1, wherein the frame [101] and the at least one rib [104, 105] have length markings for measurement.
10. A method for performing an action on a surface using an apparatus [100], the method comprising steps of:

- placing the apparatus [100] over a reference surface;
- moving at least one first rib [104] over a desired point along the length of at least one first side [102];
- moving at least one second rib [105] over the desired point along the length of one of the at least one first rib [104] and at least one second side [103];
- placing the apparatus [100] on a target surface; and
- performing the action at the intersection [106] of the at least one first rib [104] and the at least one second rib [105], wherein
the action is performed one of manually, automatically and a combination thereof.