Extendible Camera L-Plate for Cable Clearance and Stable Rotation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Changing the orientation of camera equipment from landscape to portrait or vice versa using existing quick-release systems can destabilize the support and complicate the setup, especially with heavy cameras, due to horizontal and vertical shifts of the camera's center of mass, and digital cameras face issues with cable clearance when using L-plates.
Innovation Solution
An extendible L-plate bracket with a base and side member that securely attaches to the camera, allowing for 90-degree rotation without a ballhead drop notch, and includes a mechanism to provide clearance for cables by sliding the base and side plates relative to each other, maintaining stability and accommodating cable assemblies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a ballhead with drop notches is used to rotate camera equipment between landscape and portrait orientations, then the camera can be reoriented, but the center of mass shifts horizontally and vertically causing support destabilization and setup complications
Solution Approach 1:
The L-plate is divided into two perpendicular mounting surfaces (base plate and side plate) that attach to different locations on the camera equipment. This segmentation allows the camera to be mounted in a way that maintains consistent center of mass position relative to the support, eliminating the destabilizing shifts that occur with ballhead rotation.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of rotating the camera in the horizontal plane (2D rotation around ball center), the L-plate utilizes the third dimension by mounting the camera perpendicular to the base plate. This dimensional change allows orientation switching without lateral movement of the center of mass, maintaining support stability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If an L-plate is used to attach camera equipment, then orientation changes are facilitated, but cable clearance becomes problematic for digital cameras
Solution Approach 1:
The L-plate incorporates an extendible mechanism that allows the distance between the base plate and side plate to be adjusted dynamically. This dynamic adjustment provides sufficient cable clearance when needed while maintaining a compact form when cable clearance is not required, resolving the contradiction between orientation flexibility and cable accommodation.
3Adaptability or versatility
If heavy camera equipment is attached to a ballhead and rotated to portrait orientation, then the orientation change is achieved, but the horizontal movement of weight destabilizes the support
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the mounting system into a base plate attached to the camera bottom and a side plate attached to the camera side, the heavy camera equipment is positioned such that its center of mass remains vertically aligned with the support. This eliminates the horizontal force component that causes destabilization during orientation changes.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the camera equipment is offset from the center of rotation of the ball, then orientation changes are possible, but the vertical displacement of the camera makes using the viewfinder difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The L-plate mounting system changes the rotation axis from a horizontal axis through the ball center to a vertical axis through the base plate attachment point. This dimensional change ensures that when the camera is rotated between landscape and portrait orientations, the lens and viewfinder remain at a consistent vertical height, maintaining ease of operation.
Data Source
AI summary
A plate provides clearance between a camera and a quick-release receiver securing the camera to a support.