Motorized monopod jib for cameras

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9798221-B2
Application number	US-201514934043-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 5, 2015
Priority date	Feb 20, 2015
Publication date	Oct 24, 2017
Grant date	Oct 24, 2017

Abstract

An embodiment provides a motorized monopole for a camera, including: a hand-held monopole; a first motor positioned at an end of the hand-held monopole; a first connecting element attached to the first motor; a second motor positioned at an end of the first connecting element; a second connecting element attached to the second motor; a third motor positioned at an end of the second connecting element; and a camera mounting plate attached to the second connecting element by the third motor, where components of the multi-axis gimbal are positioned such that a camera viewing axis, a horizontal image axis, and a vertical image axis of a camera mounted on the camera mounting plate need not be aligned with any of a rotational axis of the first motor, a rotational axis of the second motor, or a rotational axis of the third motor. Other aspects are described and claimed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A motorized multi-axis gimbal for a camera, comprising:
an attachment for securing a hand-held monopole;
a plurality of motors connected to the multi-axis gimbal; and
an attachment for a camera mounting plate;
the plurality of motors providing a plurality of independent rotational axes for movement of gimbal components; and
the plurality of motors in operative connection with a processing unit that issues coordinated rotational commands to control movement of an attached camera;
wherein components of the multi-axis gimbal corresponding to a camera viewing axis, a horizontal image axis, and a vertical image axis of a camera mounted on the camera mounting plate are positioned at offset angles with respect to the corresponding camera axis allowing the camera axis to not be aligned with any of a rotational axis to the corresponding motor.

2. A motorized monopole for a camera, comprising:
a hand-held monopole attached to a multi-axis gimbal;
a first motor positioned at an end of the hand-held monopole;
a first connecting element of the multi-axis gimbal attached to the first motor, the first motor imparting active rotational movement to the first connecting element with respect to the monopole;
a second motor positioned at an end of the first connecting element;
a second connecting element of the multi-axis gimbal attached to the second motor, the second motor imparting active rotational movement to the second connecting element with respect to the first connecting element;
a third motor positioned at an end of the second connecting element; and
a camera mounting plate of the multi-axis gimbal attached to the second connecting element via the third motor, the third motor imparting active rotational movement to the camera mounting plate with respect to the second connecting element;
wherein components of the multi-axis gimbal are positioned such that a camera viewing axis, a horizontal image axis, and a vertical image axis of a camera mounted on the camera mounting plate need not be aligned with any of a rotational axis of the first motor, a rotational axis of the second motor, or a rotational axis of the third motor.

3. The motorized monopole of claim 2 , wherein the first motor, the second motor and the third motor each rotate about a unique axis to control roll, yaw and pitch of the camera mounting plate.

4. The motorized monopole of claim 2 , wherein:
the rotational axis of the third motor is not aligned with any of the camera viewing axis, the horizontal image axis, and the vertical image axis; and
the camera mounting plate accommodates a camera mounted at an offset from normal.

5. The motorized monopole of claim 4 , wherein the second motor and the third motor rotate about axes that are oriented at about 90 degrees from one another.

6. The motorized monopole of claim 2 , wherein one or more of the first connecting element and the second connecting element are formed of multiple elements.

7. The motorized monopole of claim 2 , wherein the first connecting element and the second connecting element each include two edges oriented at about 90 degrees to one another.

8. The motorized monopole of claim 2 , further comprising one or more inertial measurement units.

9. The motorized monopole of claim 8 , wherein the camera mounting plate and the monopole each include an inertial measurement unit.

10. The motorized monopole of claim 2 , wherein the camera mounting plate includes two edges oriented at about 90 degrees to one another.

11. The motorized monopole of claim 2 , further comprising:
a user interface; and
a module including a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is in operative communication with the memory, the first motor, the second motor, the third motor and the user interface.

12. The motorized monopole of claim 11 , wherein the module comprises at least one inertial measurement unit operatively coupled to the processor.

13. The motorized monopole of claim 12 , further comprising a display device.

14. The motorized monopole of claim 13 , wherein the display device displays data obtained from the module.

15. The motorized monopole of claim 12 , wherein the first motor rotates about an axis running along the length of the monopole.

16. The motorized monopole of claim 11 , wherein user inputs to the user interface are translated into movements of the camera mounting plate by the processor operating one or more of the first motor, the second motor and the third motor in a coordinated fashion.

17. The motorized monopole of claim 11 , further comprising:
a battery pack operatively coupled to the processor and the memory; and
a connection linking the first motor, the second motor, and the third motor to the battery pack.

18. The motorized monopole of claim 11 , wherein the multi-axis gimbal is asymmetric.

19. A motorized multi-axis gimbal for a camera, comprising:
an attachment for securing a hand-held monopole;
a module including a processor and a memory;
a first motor positioned at the attachment and operatively coupled to the processor;
a first connecting element attached to the first motor, the first motor imparting active rotational movement to the first connecting element with respect to the attachment;
a second motor positioned at an end of the first connecting element and operatively coupled to the processor;
a second connecting element attached to the second motor, the second motor imparting active rotational movement to the second connecting element with respect to the first connecting element;
a third motor positioned at an end of the second connecting element and operatively coupled to the processor; and
a camera mounting plate linked to the second connecting element via the third motor, the third motor imparting active rotational movement to the camera mounting plate with respect to the second connecting element;
wherein components of the multi-axis gimbal are positioned such that a camera viewing axis, a horizontal image axis, and a vertical image axis of a camera mounted on the camera mounting plate need not be aligned with any of a rotational axis of the first motor, a rotational axis of the second motor, or a rotational axis of the third motor.

20. The motorized multi-axis gimbal of claim 19 , further comprising the monopole.

21. The motorized multi-axis gimbal and monopole of claim 20 , wherein select movements of the monopole are translated into movements of the camera mounting plate by a processor operating one or more of the first motor, the second motor, and the third motor in a coordinated fashion.

22. The motorized multi-axis gimbal and monopole of claim 20 , wherein rotational movements about an axis along the length of the monopole are translated into rotational movements of a camera attached to the camera mounting plate about the vertical image axis by a processor operating one or more of the first motor, the second motor, and the third motor in a coordinated fashion.

Assignees

• Disney Entpr Inc

Inventors

• Niemeyer Gunter
• Farre Guiu Miquel Angel
• Roberts Vince
• Accardo Anthony
• Holton Michael

Classifications

• F16M13/04 Primary

  for supporting on, or holding steady relative to, a person, e.g. by chains {, e.g. rifle butt or pistol grip supports, supports attached to the chest or head (apparatus or arrangements for taking photographs or for projecting or viewing them G03B)} · CPC title

• F16M11/10

  around a horizontal axis {(F16M11/12 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• F16M2200/041

  for balancing rotational movement of the head · CPC title

• G03B17/563

  Camera grips, handles (means in general for steadying hand-held apparatus F16M13/00) · CPC title

• G03B17/561 Primary

  Support related camera accessories · CPC title