Video Camera Housing With Alignment Tab For Dome Replacement
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing video cameras, particularly those used for security and surveillance, face challenges in easily replacing the camera dome, which can become damaged due to environmental conditions.
Innovation Solution
A housing configuration for video cameras that consists of multiple interlocking housing portions, including a top, mid, and bottom portion, facilitating easy assembly, installation, and replacement of the camera dome. The design features a circular and rounded exterior contoured wall with recessed features for alignment and gripping, along with an IR window ring and camera dome that can be easily swapped.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of repair
If the camera dome is made as a separate replaceable component, then the ease of repair is improved, but the device complexity increases due to additional housing portions and interlocking mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is divided into multiple separable portions: a first housing portion, a second housing portion, and a third housing portion. The camera dome is integrated with one housing portion to form an assembly that can be independently removed and replaced. This segmentation allows the dome to be replaced without replacing the entire housing, improving repair ease while managing complexity through functional modularization.
Solution Approach 2:
The camera dome is nested within a housing portion to form an integrated assembly. The housing portions are designed to interlock and nest together, with alignment features that guide proper assembly. This nesting approach allows the dome assembly to be treated as a modular unit that can be replaced as a whole, simplifying the repair process despite the multi-component structure.
2Ease of manufacture
If multiple housing portions are used to facilitate assembly, then the ease of manufacture is improved, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase due to alignment features
Solution Approach 1:
Alignment tabs are provided on the housing portions with asymmetric geometries that correspond to matching recesses or features on adjacent portions. This asymmetric design provides built-in alignment guidance during assembly, ensuring proper orientation and positioning. The asymmetric features act as mechanical guides that reduce the precision requirements for other mating surfaces, as the alignment tabs automatically orient the components correctly during assembly.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A
Figure 2B
AI summary
A video camera comprises a housing (102) configured of a top housing portion (104), a mid-housing portion (106) and a bottom housing portion (108). The top housing portion is configured as a circular and rounded exterior contoured wall (110) having an exterior recessed feature (112) formed along an edge (114). The mid-housing portion (106) is formed of an IR window ring (116) having an alignment tab (118) extending therefrom, the alignment tab being aligned and recessed within the exterior recessed feature (112) of the rounded exterior contoured wall (110) of the top housing portion (104), and the bottom housing portion (108) providing a camera dome (120) seated within and protruding from the IR window ring (116).