Support Head Plate Locking for Safe Quick Camera Release
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing attachment systems for video/photographic equipment face challenges in ensuring easy and safe operation, particularly in preventing accidental release of the equipment and requiring precise alignment during plate insertion.
Innovation Solution
A support head with a seat for receiving an attachment plate, featuring a retaining device with a tooth that moves between retracted, intermediate, and locking positions, and a locking device with a pin controlled by a knob, along with a safety device to prevent accidental release.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a safety device is provided to prevent accidental release of the locking device, then the reliability of the attachment system is improved, but the device complexity and ease of operation deteriorate due to complicated management of equipment release steps
Solution Approach 1:
The safety device and locking device are merged into a single integrated mechanism. The retaining device combines both safety protection and locking functions, eliminating the need for separate complex safety procedures. When the control member is operated, both the locking device and safety device are simultaneously actuated, simplifying the release operation while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The complex multi-step safety release procedure is extracted and replaced by a direct control mechanism. The control member provides direct control over the retaining device without requiring separate safety verification steps, removing the operational complexity while preserving the safety function through the integrated design.
2Ease of operation
If the plate is inserted into the seat in a tangential manner with parallel movement, then the ease of operation is improved for sliding adjustment, but the manufacturing precision and alignment requirements worsen due to the need for precise alignment during insertion
Solution Approach 1:
The retaining device is designed to automatically perform preliminary alignment actions during the insertion process. The geometry of the retaining device and seat work together to guide the plate into proper alignment as it is inserted, eliminating the need for manual precision alignment while maintaining the sliding adjustment capability.
3Ease of operation
If the plate is inserted from above perpendicular to the support surface, then the ease of operation is improved by avoiding precise alignment, but the device complexity increases with the need for additional guiding structures
Solution Approach 1:
The retaining device serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides lateral guidance during insertion, performs alignment, and enables the sliding adjustment motion. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate guiding structures, achieving simple perpendicular insertion without increasing device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A support head for video/photographic equipment includes:a body on which a seat is formed, which is provided to receive an attachment plate of the video/photographic equipment, and on which body a first and a second region are defined, the regions are separated by the seat,a retaining device movable between a first position and a second position so that the attachment plate is free to enter or come out of the seat,a locking device for locking and unlocking the attachment plate in the seat, the locking device has a control member positioned on the first region of the body,a safety device to prevent the retaining device from accidentally moving from the first position to the second position, andan unlocking element of the safety device to allow the movement of the retaining device from the first to the second position, on the second region of the body.