Swivel Camera Mount

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016100083-A1
Application number	US-201514606018-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 27, 2015
Priority date	Oct 2, 2014
Publication date	Apr 7, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A camera mount is configured to attach a camera to a mount base which, in turn, may be secured to sport equipment, musical instruments, vehicles, and the like. The camera mount includes a ball component that couples to a camera or camera housing and that allows a user to rotate a camera within a horizontal plane, and to pivot a camera in one or more vertical planes. The ball component is securely coupled within a sleeve component with a bucket or other coupling mechanism that allows the sleeve component (and thereby the ball component and coupled camera or camera housing) to couple to the mount base.

First claim

1 . A camera mounting system, comprising:
an upper mount component configured to at least partially securely enclose a camera, the upper mount component comprising a first plurality of protrusions extending from a bottom surface of the upper mount component; and a lower mount component, the lower mount component including: a rotating component comprising a second plurality of protrusions and a ball component, the second plurality of protrusions configured to interlock with the first plurality of protrusions of the upper mount component, pivotally coupling the upper mount component to the lower mount component; an inner sleeve component configured to at least partially enclose the ball component such that the rotating component can rotate and pivot relative to the inner sleeve component; and an outer sleeve component configured to at least partially enclose the inner sleeve component, the outer sleeve component configured to couple to a base mount component.

2 . The mounting system of claim 1 , wherein the upper mount component comprises:
a camera housing including a front face, a top face, a bottom face, a left side face, a right side face, and a back door, the faces and the door structured to enclose the camera when the door is in a closed position; a hinge structure pivotally coupling a bottom edge of the housing and the back door of the housing; a first fastening structure located on the top face of the camera housing; a second fastening structure located on a top edge of the back door, the second fastening structure for detachably coupling to the first fastening structure such that the back door of the camera housing is secured to the housing in the closed position when the first fastening structure is coupled to the second fastening structure, and wherein the camera is removable from the housing when the first fastening structure is unsecured from the second fastening structure.

3 . The mounting system of claim 2 , wherein the camera housing comprises a waterproof seal such that the housing is waterproof when the back door is secured in the closed position.

4 . The mounting system of claim 1 , wherein the upper mount component securely encloses a camera configured to record either images or video footage.

5 . The mounting system of claim 1 , wherein the upper mount component and lower mount component are rotatable about a pin when the pin is in a first loosened position and wherein the upper mount component and lower mount component are secured at a fixed angle when the pin is in a second secured position.

6 . The mounting system of claim 5 , wherein the pin comprises a turnable screw, wherein the pin is in the first position when the screw is loosened, and wherein the pin is in the second position when the screw is tightened.

7 . The mounting system of claim 5 , wherein each of the first plurality of protrusions includes a pinhole forming a first set of pinholes, wherein each of the second plurality of protrusions includes a pinhole forming a second set of pinholes, wherein the first set of pinholes and the second set of pinholes are aligned, and wherein the pin is inserted into the aligned first set of pinholes and second set of pinholes, coupling the upper mount component to the lower mount component.

8 . The mounting system of claim 1 , wherein the rotating component is configured to:
rotate at least 360 degrees within a horizontal plane parallel to the outer sleeve component; and pivot up to 30 degrees within one or more vertical planes relative to the outer sleeve component.

9 . The mounting system of claim 8 , wherein the rotating component further comprises a neck component coupling the ball component to the second plurality of protrusions, wherein the ball component has a diameter between 10 mm and 40 mm, and wherein the neck component has a diameter between 3 mm and 15 mm.

10 . The mounting system of claim 1 , wherein a coefficient of static friction between an inside surface of the inner sleeve component and an outside surface of the ball component is great enough to prevent movement of the rotating component relative to the outer sleeve component by wind incident upon the rotating component or upper mount component.

11 . A camera mounting system, comprising:
an upper mount component configured to at least partially securely enclose a camera, the upper mount component comprising a first plurality of protrusions extending from a bottom surface of the upper mount component; and a lower mount component, the lower mount component including: a rotating component comprising a second plurality of protrusions and a ball component, the second plurality of protrusions configured to interlock with the first plurality of protrusions of the upper mount component, pivotally coupling the upper mount component to the lower mount component; and a sleeve component configured to at least partially enclose the ball component such that the rotating component can rotate and pivot relative to the sleeve component and configured to securely couple to a base mount component.

12 . The mounting system of claim 11 , wherein the upper mount component comprises:
a camera housing including a front face, a top face, a bottom face, a left side face, a right side face, and a back door, the faces and the door structured to enclose the camera when the door is in a closed position; a hinge structure pivotally coupling a bottom edge of the housing and the back door of the housing; a first fastening structure located on the top face of the camera housing; a second fastening structure located on a top edge of the back door, the second fastening structure for detachably coupling to the first fastening structure such that the back door of the camera housing is secured to the housing in the closed position when the first fastening structure is coupled to the second fastening structure, and wherein the camera is removable from the housing when the first fastening structure is unsecured from the second fastening structure.

13 . The mounting system of claim 12 , wherein the camera housing comprises a waterproof seal such that the housing is waterproof when the back door is secured in the closed position.

14 . The mounting system of claim 11 , wherein the upper mount component securely encloses a camera configured to record either images or video footage.

15 . The mounting system of claim 11 , wherein the upper mount component and lower mount component are rotatable about a pin when the pin is in a first loosened position and wherein the upper mount component and lower mount component are secured at a fixed angle when the pin is in a second secured position.

16 . The mounting system of claim 15 , wherein the pin comprises a turnable screw, wherein the pin is in the first position when the screw is loosened, and wherein the pin is in the second position when the screw is tightened.

17 . The mounting system of claim 15 , wherein each of the first plurality of protrusions includes a pinhole forming a first set of pinholes, wherein each of the second plurality of protrusions includes a pinhole forming a second set of pinholes, wherein the first set of pinholes and the second set of pinholes are aligned, and wherein the pin is inserted into the aligned first set of pinholes and second set of pinholes, coupling the upper mount component to the lower mount component.

18 . The mounting system of claim 11 , wherein the rotating component is configured to:
rotate at least 360 degrees within a horizontal plane parallel to the sleeve component; and pivot up to 30

Assignees

• Gopro Inc

Inventors

• Harrison Ryan

Classifications

• H04N23/51 Primary

  Housings · CPC title

• F16M11/041

  Allowing quick release of the apparatus · CPC title

• G03B17/566 Primary

  Accessory clips, holders, shoes to attach accessories to camera (if integral part of camera body G03B17/02) · CPC title

• F16C11/045

  with at least a pair of arms pivoting relatively to at least one other arm, all arms being mounted on one pin (crank-pins F16C11/02) · CPC title

• F16M11/14

  with ball-joint (ball-jointed hinges F16C11/06 {; adjustable mountings employing universal joints for lighting devices F21V21/26 - F21V21/30}) · CPC title