Modular Camera Mounting Assembly for Stable Portrait Switching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing camera mounting assemblies for vertical supports are prone to instability and vibration when switched between landscape and portrait orientations, requiring tedious adjustments and being susceptible to environmental factors, and are often expensive and difficult to transport.
Innovation Solution
A modular camera mounting assembly comprising a base member and a side member with detachable fastening elements and alignment mechanisms, allowing for easy reconfiguration between landscape and portrait orientations while maintaining camera balance and stability, enabling separate purchase and convenient transport.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the camera is pivoted about the ball joint to the portrait orientation, then the camera can be mounted in portrait orientation, but the weight of the camera and carrier are off kilter from the central axis of the camera support, making the vertical support prone to being tipped over
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting assembly is divided into separate modular components: a base member with lower slots for landscape orientation and a side member with side slots for portrait orientation. This segmentation allows the camera to be stably mounted in either orientation without compromising support stability, as each member is independently optimized for its specific orientation.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a single-plane mounting system to a multi-dimensional system by adding the side member that extends perpendicular to the base member. This dimensional expansion enables stable portrait orientation mounting while maintaining the original landscape capability, resolving the stability-versus-versatility contradiction.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the camera is pivoted about the ball joint to the portrait orientation, then the camera can be mounted in portrait orientation, but the camera is more susceptible to environmental factors such as wind drafts
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the mounting system into base and side members with distinct slot configurations, the camera achieves stable mounting in portrait orientation without being off-balance. This eliminates the susceptibility to environmental factors like wind drafts that occurs with ball-joint pivoting.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the camera is being used for close-up shots, the camera lens is significantly displaced along the vertical and horizontal directions during repositioning so that the vertical support must now be repositioned both laterally and vertically through tedious trial-and-error
Solution Approach 1:
The modular base member and side member with their respective slot systems enable direct orientation switching without camera displacement. The camera remains centered on the vertical support regardless of orientation, eliminating the need for tedious repositioning trials and reducing time loss.
4Ease of operation
If a quick-release mechanism with ball joint is used, then the camera can be quickly mounted and removed, but the camera and carrier are off balance when in portrait orientation thereby causing the camera and support to remain susceptible to undesirable vibration
Solution Approach 1:
The segmented mounting system with separate base and side members maintains camera balance in both landscape and portrait orientations. The quick-release functionality is preserved through the slot-and-jaw mechanism, while the oriented slot configurations ensure proper weight distribution and eliminate vibration susceptibility.
5Adaptability or versatility
If a holder with multiple parts for adjustably moving the camera between orientations is used, then the camera can be mounted in different orientations, but the holder is relatively expensive to manufacture and purchase and is not readily transported
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting assembly is segmented into just two essential components: a base member and a side member. This minimal segmentation provides full orientation versatility while keeping the assembly simple, affordable, and easy to transport, avoiding the complexity and cost of more elaborate multi-part holders.
Solution Approach 2:
The base member and side member together form a universal mounting system that handles both landscape and portrait orientations. Each member is simple in design but the combination provides multi-functional capability, reducing overall complexity and cost compared to specialized multi-part holders.
Data Source
AI summary
A camera mounting assembly includes a base member or plate for holding a camera and a side member or plate. In an exemplary embodiment, lower slots on the base plate or side slots on the side plate are gripped by a vertical support's quick-release mechanism to mount the camera in a landscape or portrait orientation, respectively, the camera being generally centered and evenly balanced over the support in either case. The side member is detachably fastened to the base member, which modular construction permits separately timed purchase of the base member and side member as allowed by the user's budget and further permits breakdown of the assembly for ease of transport. The side member may be generally L-shaped with a lower arm length less than the side arm length, which also facilitates transport. Other components may be detachably added such as a hand grip facilitating freehand shooting with the camera.