Camera frame with side door

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10698298-B2
Application number	US-201715827978-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 30, 2017
Priority date	Sep 19, 2016
Publication date	Jun 30, 2020
Grant date	Jun 30, 2020

Abstract

A camera housing includes four walls configured to enclose and secure a camera: a top wall, a bottom wall, a right wall, and a left wall. The bottom wall includes a first segment and a segment coupled by a latching mechanism. The latching mechanism comprises a tongue component coupled to the second segment and a groove component coupled to the first segment. The tongue and groove components are configured such that the tongue component securely couples the second segment to the first segment when the camera frame is in the closed configuration. In the open configuration, the first and second segment can decouple and the left wall and second segment rotates upwards relative to the top wall such that a camera can be inserted or removed from the camera system. The camera housing also includes a button interface, an input/output interface, and a mounting mechanism.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A camera frame comprising:
a housing body comprising walls configured to secure a camera within the housing body, the housing body comprising:
a left wall, a top wall, a right wall, and a bottom wall; wherein the bottom wall is divided into a first portion and a second portion;
a forward side that is bounded by the left wall, the top wall, the right wall, and the bottom wall, the forward side being open so that when the camera is inserted into the housing body a lens of the camera is configured to extend outside of the housing body;

a hinge mechanism pivotally coupling the first portion to the second portion so that the first portion is movable relative to the second portion about a rotation axis;
a latching mechanism connected to and extending from the first portion to the second portion so that the first portion and the second portion are coupled together when the latching mechanism is in a closed configuration, and the latching mechanism is configured to secure a camera within the housing body when the latching mechanism is in the closed configuration; and
a microphone interface that is configured to allow sound to pass from outside of the camera frame through a wall of the camera frame and into an interface of an audio system of the camera when the camera is enclosed by the camera frame,
wherein the left wall is movable with the first portion about the rotation axis.

2. The camera frame of claim 1 , wherein the latching mechanism comprises a tongue component on the first portion and a groove component on the second portion.

3. The camera frame of claim 2 , wherein the tongue component connects with the groove component and moves the first portion and the second portion from an open configuration to the closed configuration as the latching mechanism is rotated about a latching axis.

4. The camera frame of claim 2 , wherein the tongue component and the groove component are separated when the camera frame is in an open configuration.

5. The camera frame of claim 4 , wherein the tongue component includes a ridge or a ledge protrusion.

6. The camera frame of claim 1 , wherein the camera frame includes a mounting mechanism that mounts the camera frame to a gimbal, a handle, or an aerial vehicle.

7. The camera frame of claim 1 , comprising a button interface that is configured to allow a user to interact with a button on the camera when the camera is enclosed within the camera frame.

8. A camera frame comprising:
a housing body comprising walls configured to secure a camera within the housing, the housing body comprising:
a left wall, a top wall, a right wall, and a bottom wall; wherein the bottom wall is divided into a first portion and a second portion;

a hinge mechanism pivotally coupled to the first portion so that the first portion is movable relative to the second portion about a rotation axis; and
a latching mechanism comprising:
a tongue component on the first portion, the tongue component including a ridge or a ledge protrusion; and
a groove component on the second portion, the groove component including a reciprocal ledge, ridge, or surface that the tongue component can latch into so that the first portion and the second portion are coupled;

an input/output interface extending on an inside surface of the right wall into an interior of the camera frame so that when the camera is installed within the interior of the camera frame the camera and the camera frame are communicatively coupled via the input/output interface;
a mounting mechanism that mounts the camera frame to a gimbal, a handle, an aerial vehicle, or any other camera mounting device or mechanism; and
a button interface that is configured to allow a user to interact with a button on the camera when the camera is enclosed within the camera frame.

9. The camera frame of claim 8 , wherein the latching mechanism is rotatable by an angle of about 90 degrees up to about 180 degrees and the hinge mechanism is located between the left wall and the top wall diagonally opposite the input/output interface.

10. The camera frame of claim 9 , wherein the camera frame is substantially rectangular with rounded corners.

11. The camera frame of claim 8 , comprising a microphone interface that is configured to allow sound to pass from outside of the camera frame through a wall of the camera frame and to an audio system of a camera when the camera is enclosed by the camera frame.

12. The camera frame of claim 8 , wherein a forward side and a rearward side of the housing body are open so that when a camera is installed within the camera frame a front of the camera and a rear of the camera a free of physical obstruction.

13. The camera frame of claim 12 , wherein the opening in the forward side is configured to allow a lens of the camera to extend beyond a forward surface of the camera frame.

14. A camera frame comprising:
a housing body comprising walls configured to secure a camera within the housing, the walls comprising:
a left wall, a top wall, a right wall, and a bottom wall; wherein the bottom wall is divided into a first portion and a second portion, and the housing body is substantially rectangular with rounded corners; and
the walls are free of a physical joint between the walls as the walls are created from a same piece of material;

a hinge mechanism pivotally coupling the first portion to the second portion so that the first portion is movable relative to the second portion about a rotation axis;
a latching mechanism extending between and connecting the first portion to the second portion when the camera frame is in a closed position; and
a mounting mechanism that mounts the camera frame to a gimbal, a handle, or an aerial vehicle;
wherein a forward side and a rearward side of the housing body are open so that when the camera is installed within the camera frame a front of the camera and a rear of the camera are free of physical obstruction, and the opening in the forward side is configured to allow a lens of the camera to extend beyond a forward surface of the camera frame.

15. The camera frame of claim 14 , wherein the latching mechanism comprises a tongue component on the first portion and a groove component on the second portion, and the tongue component connects with the groove component and moves the first portion and the second portion from an open configuration to a closed configuration as the latching mechanism is rotated about a latching axis.

16. The camera frame of claim 15 , wherein the tongue component includes a ridge or a ledge protrusion and the tongue component and the groove component are separated when the camera frame is in an open configuration.

17. The camera frame of claim 14 , comprising: a button interface that is configured to allow a user to interact with a button on a camera when a camera is enclosed within the camera frame; and a microphone interface that is configured to allows sound to pass from outside of the camera frame through a wall of the camera frame and to an audio system of a camera when the camera is enclosed by the camera frame.

Assignees

• Gopro Inc

Inventors

• Wroblewski Alexander
• Crow Kielan
• Shukla Himay Rashmikant
• Harrison Ryan

Classifications

• H04N23/51

  Housings · CPC title

• G03B17/56

  Accessories (carrying-cases A45C11/38) · CPC title

• G03B17/04 Primary

  collapsible, foldable or extensible, e.g. book type · CPC title

• H04N5/2252

  Electricity · mapped topic