Close-Pack Camera Tripod Head With Integrated Single-Ring Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional camera tripods lack compactness, ease of use, and efficient packing due to separate controls and protrusions, making them cumbersome for transport and storage.
Innovation Solution
A close-pack, high-aspect-ratio camera tripod with a hub, legs, and a head featuring telescopic extensions, concentric control rings, and a spherical end that allows for rapid camera adjustments and locking, enabling compact storage and easy transport by condensing controls and minimizing protrusions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If conventional tripod designs are used, then basic camera support function is provided, but compactness and volumetric efficiency are poor due to separate controls and protrusions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple control functions (pan control, tilt control, and camera release control) into a single integrated control ring. This merging of separate controls into one unified component allows the tripod head to achieve compact packaging while maintaining full operational capability, directly resolving the contradiction between reduced storage volume and preserved ease of operation
Solution Approach 2:
The control ring serves multiple functions simultaneously: it controls panning motion, controls tilting motion, and operates the camera release mechanism. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate controls, enabling compact tripod head design without sacrificing operational versatility or user convenience
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple separate controls are provided, then comprehensive camera adjustment capability is achieved, but device complexity and packing efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates pan control, tilt control, and camera release control into a single control ring mechanism. This consolidation reduces the number of separate control components while maintaining comprehensive camera adjustment capability, thereby reducing device complexity without sacrificing adaptability
Solution Approach 2:
The control ring is designed to perform multiple functions: controlling horizontal pan rotation, controlling vertical tilt rotation, and operating the camera release latch. This universal multi-functional design achieves comprehensive camera adjustment capability while minimizing structural complexity
3Measurement precision
If control elements are distributed separately, then precise control is achieved, but ease of operation with single hand deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines all control functions into one centrally located control ring that can be operated with a single hand. This integration allows precise control of pan, tilt, and camera release operations to be achieved from a single accessible location, eliminating the need to reach for distributed controls and enabling convenient single-hand operation
Data Source
AI summary
A tripod includes: a hub defining a set of leg mounts; a set of legs configured to telescopically extend from the hub and couple to the set of leg mounts; a center column including a spherical end; and a head pivotably coupled to the spherical end. The head further includes: a base section; a camera platform arranged over the base section; a set of flanges extending below the base section and extending around the spherical end; a hat arranged over the spherical end; a pivot control ring arranged about the base section, configured to drive the hat into the spherical end to fix the head on the spherical end responsive to rotation in a first direction about the base section, and configured to retract the hat from the spherical end to unlock the head from the spherical end responsive to rotation in a second direction about the base section.