Camera Adapter with Adjustable Sleeve for Optical Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current camera adapters for microscopes and telescopes, particularly those using swivel tubes or TV adapters, face challenges such as suboptimal pupil adjustment, cropped field of view, and inadequate image quality when used with digital cameras, due to non-standardized mechanical interfaces and mismatched optics resolutions.
Innovation Solution
A camera holder with a tripod thread attachment and an adjustable sleeve mechanism that compensates for offset between the tripod thread and camera lens, combined with an afocal optical adapter that aligns the exit pupil of the optics adapter with the entrance pupil of the camera, allowing precise optical adjustment and image alignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a TV adapter with additional optics is used to adapt a decoupling device in the parallel beam path, then the adapter can be used with television cameras, but the pupil adjustment is not optimal and the field of view is cropped when used with digital cameras
Solution Approach 1:
The adapter is divided into two independent parts: a mechanical interface component (camera holder with tripod thread) and an optical interface component (optics adapter). This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the mechanical part for universal camera compatibility and the optical part for precise pupil alignment with digital camera sensors.
Solution Approach 2:
An intermediate optical interface is introduced between the microscope optical system and the digital camera. This intermediate interface includes precise mechanical positioning elements and optical alignment features that act as a mediator to achieve optimal pupil matching and field of view utilization for digital cameras.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a TV adapter is used for digital cameras, then the adapter can be attached to the microscope, but the image quality criteria for high-resolution camera chips are not met because the optics are adapted to TV camera resolution
Solution Approach 1:
The optical parameters of the adapter are specifically changed and optimized for digital camera requirements. The optics adapter includes elements designed to preserve and optimize the resolution quality needed for high-resolution digital camera chips, rather than being optimized for lower-resolution TV camera sensors.
3Strength
If a filter thread or bayonet interface is used at the outer end of the camera lens, then the camera can be fixed to the adapter, but the mechanical interface is not standardized and is often changed with model changes, limiting product selection
Solution Approach 1:
The adapter incorporates a universal tripod thread interface (e.g., 1/4-20 UNC) that is widely standardized across camera models. This universal interface allows the same adapter to be compatible with numerous different camera models from various manufacturers, greatly enhancing versatility while maintaining strong mechanical connection.
4Adaptability or versatility
If a tripod thread is used to fix the camera to the adapter, then the interface is standardized and widely available, but the tripod thread has a translational offset relative to the lens requiring complex camera adjustment
Solution Approach 1:
An intermediate optical interface is introduced between the tripod thread mounting and the camera lens. This intermediate interface includes precise mechanical positioning elements and optical alignment features that eliminate the need for complex camera adjustments by providing built-in offset compensation and alignment.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2C
Figure 3A~3C
AI summary
A camera mount (3) is provided for fixing a camera (11) or camcorder to an optical observation device. The mount includes a pin with a tripod thread (27) for screwing into a tripod thread on the camera (11), and an adjustment device (19) designed to compensate for any misalignment between the tripod thread and the camera lens of a mounted camera (11). A sleeve (13) of variable length is also provided. This sleeve is designed to accommodate the camera lens, has a support (15) at one end for the camera housing (16) that lies in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the sleeve (13), includes a mechanical interface (9) at the other end for fixing it relative to the optical observation device, and has a mechanism for changing its axial length.The adjustment device (19) is fixed to the sleeve (13) either directly or indirectly in such a way that it allows the camera (11) to be positioned relative to the sleeve.