Camera Mount System with Beam Splitting for Scope Recording
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional camera systems for recording distant video or images through a scope are cumbersome, cause eye strain, and result in inaccurate shots due to off-center positioning, reliance on electronic displays, and battery dependency, leading to inconsistent alignment and reduced eye relief.
Innovation Solution
A camera mount system that integrates a camera with a scope, using mirrors to reflect and transmit light, allowing the user to look through the scope optics while recording, eliminating the need for a digital screen and ensuring alignment even when the camera is not powered.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a smartphone is secured behind a scope on a rifle, then video recording capability is achieved, but the configuration becomes bulky and off-center causing inaccurate shots
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the camera system with the scope by mounting the camera on the scope housing rather than separately on the rifle. This integration allows the camera to share the scope's precise optical alignment while adding video recording capability, eliminating the need for separate mounting that caused bulkiness and misalignment.
Solution Approach 2:
The scope housing serves as an intermediary structure that holds both the optical system and the camera. This intermediary mounting platform provides a stable, pre-aligned reference frame that ensures the camera maintains accurate alignment with the scope's optical axis during shooting.
2Loss of information
If the shooter looks at the smartphone display to locate the target, then video feedback is provided, but eye strain increases and target tracking ability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The camera creates a visual copy of the target scene that can be viewed on a display device. This copy provides video feedback to the shooter without requiring the shooter to directly view the display, thereby eliminating eye strain while maintaining the information feedback function.
Solution Approach 2:
The viewing function is segmented from the shooting function. The camera captures the visual information separately, and the display presents this information to the shooter separately from the direct optical view through the scope, allowing the shooter to maintain proper eye positioning for accurate shooting.
3Loss of information
If a display is built into the scope to show video images, then video feedback is provided, but the shooter's eyes must repeatedly adjust focus and lighting causing stress and strain
Solution Approach 1:
The camera generates a copy of the optical view that can be displayed on an external device. This separates the video feedback function from the primary optical viewing path, allowing the shooter to view the display at a comfortable distance without interfering with the direct optical view and eliminating the need for repeated eye focus adjustments.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the camera is mounted on the rifle separately from the scope, then camera recording is achieved, but alignment between camera and aiming point becomes inconsistent
Solution Approach 1:
The camera is merged with the scope assembly by mounting it on the scope housing rather than separately on the rifle. This ensures the camera inherits the scope's precise alignment with the rifle's aiming point, maintaining consistent alignment during shooting without requiring separate alignment procedures.
5Adaptability or versatility
If the scope is electronic with a battery-powered camera, then video recording capability is added, but the scope cannot be used when the battery runs out
Solution Approach 1:
The video recording function is segmented from the primary scope function. The camera and scope operate as independent systems where the scope remains fully functional without battery power, and the camera can be removed or disabled if power is unavailable, ensuring the scope's reliability is not compromised by electronic dependencies.
Solution Approach 2:
The camera system is extracted as a separate, optional component from the scope's core functionality. This allows the scope to operate independently of the camera's power requirements, maintaining reliable operation even when the battery is depleted or the camera is not installed.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This system reduces eye strain, improves target location and tracking, maintains optical alignment, and allows continuous use of the scope regardless of camera battery status, providing a robust and ergonomic solution for recording images or video through the scope.
Implementation Method 1
a first mirror structured to reflect and transmit light
Implementation Method 2
The light from the scope is split into two paths: one path goes to the viewer's eye through an eyepiece, and the other path goes to the camera
Implementation Method 3
a second mirror structured to at least reflect light
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, apparatuses, and methods are described which provide a camera mount system. The camera mount system can include, for example, a first optical element and a second optical element. Incoming light from a scope on a weapon, for example, is partially transmitted and partially reflected by the first optical element. The partially transmitted light passes through an eyepiece to a viewer (e.g., a shooter). The partially reflected light is reflected by the second optical element and is recorded by a recording device (e.g., a camera, a video recorder, an image sensor, etc.). The viewer has direct access to the scope optics, a spotting scope, or binoculars, for example, and the camera and the viewer have access to the same view.