Self-leveling camera heads

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10009519-B2
Application number	US-201615050267-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 22, 2016
Priority date	Jun 1, 2004
Publication date	Jun 26, 2018
Grant date	Jun 26, 2018

Abstract

In one embodiment, a mechanically self-leveling camera head includes a rear housing assembly, an illumination window, an illumination window retainer having a forward end for holding the illumination window a threaded coupling ring for having the rear housing assembly screwed over a rear portion of the coupling ring and the illumination window retainer screwed over a forward portion of the coupling ring, and a camera module assembly supported inside the housing.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A camera head comprising:
a cylindrical outer housing;
an illumination window positioned at the front end of the cylindrical housing assembly;
a lens assembly for focusing images or video from in front of the cylindrical housing assembly;
a high strength scratch resistant material window positioned in front of the lens assembly in a central aperture within the illumination window;
a camera module assembly, including an image sensor, supported inside an interior opening in the cylindrical housing assembly behind the lens assembly; and
a slip ring assembly removably coupled to the camera module assembly, the slip ring assembly including:
a plurality of elongate conductive contact brushes having proximal ends soldered to spaced apart opposing circuit board assemblies; and
a plurality of micro silver graphite contact rings electrically coupled to corresponding ones of the contact brushes.

2. The camera head of claim 1 wherein the illumination window is made of a transparent plastic.

3. The camera head of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of LEDs mounted within the enclosure cylindrical outer housing assembly for illuminating a field of view of the camera head through the illumination window.

4. The camera head of claim 1 , wherein the scratch resistant material window comprises a sapphire material.

5. The camera head of claim 1 , wherein the slip ring assembly is configured as a two part user-removable assembly for facilitating camera servicing.

6. The camera head of claim 1 , wherein the lens assembly is a user adjustable lens assembly for adjusting the focus of the lens to the image sensor.

7. The camera head of claim 6 , wherein the lens assembly is adjusted using a threaded coupling mechanism.

8. A self-leveling pipe inspection camera system, comprising:
a camera head comprising:
a substantially cylindrical outer housing;
an illumination window positioned at the front end of the cylindrical housing assembly;
a lens assembly for focusing images or video from in front of the cylindrical housing assembly;
a high strength scratch resistant material window positioned in front of the lens assembly in a central aperture within the illumination window;
a camera module assembly including an image sensor supported inside an interior opening in the cylindrical housing assembly behind the lens assembly;
a slip ring assembly removably coupled to the camera module assembly, the slip ring assembly including:
a plurality of elongate conductive contact brushes having proximal ends soldered to spaced apart opposing circuit board assemblies; and
a plurality of micro silver graphite contact rings electrically coupled to corresponding ones of the contact brushes;
an angular orientation sensor;
an LED light assembly including a plurality of LED lighting elements positioned to provide light to an area being imaged by the high resolution image sensor;
a removable connector at an opposite end of the camera head from the transparent window including an attachment mechanism for mechanically coupling the camera head to a push-cable for deployment in a pipe, and an electrical connection for coupling an output signal from the high resolution image sensor and an orientation signal from the angular orientation sensor to the push-cable for transmission of the output signal to a pipe inspection system camera control unit; and
a processing circuit for receiving the output signal from the high resolution image sensor and the orientation signal from the angular orientation sensor and providing an output image at a different resolution than the resolution of the output of the high resolution image sensor and adjusted to a predetermined desired angular orientation.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the high strength scratch resistant material is sapphire.

10. The system of claim 8 , further comprising a modular user-removable slip-ring assembly coupling an output of the camera module assembly to electrical terminals of the removable connector.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the modular user-removable slip-ring assembly is a two part user-removable assembly for facilitating camera servicing.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the lens assembly is a user adjustable lens assembly for adjusting the focus of the lens to the image sensor.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the processing circuit provides the adjusted output image in an Earth normal orientation.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the processing circuit includes instructions for execution on a processing element to digitally rotate a high resolution image to a predetermined orientation based at least in part on the received orientation signal.

15. The system of claim 8 , wherein the angular orientation sensor comprises a multi-axis accelerometer.

Assignees

• Olsson Mark S
• Lobree Bret D
• Cox David A
• Seescan Inc

Inventors

• Olsson Mark S
• Lobree Bret D
• Cox David A

Classifications

• H04N23/555

  for picking-up images in sites, inaccessible due to their dimensions or hazardous conditions, e.g. endoscopes or borescopes · CPC title

• H04N23/57

  Mechanical or electrical details of cameras or camera modules specially adapted for being embedded in other devices · CPC title

• H04N23/55

  Optical parts specially adapted for electronic image sensors; Mounting thereof · CPC title

• H04N23/56

  provided with illuminating means · CPC title

• H04N23/63

  by using electronic viewfinders · CPC title