Tripod Spider Lever Extraction for Compact Transport
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional tripods face challenges in achieving a balance between flexibility and compactness, with levers projecting outward, leading to potential damage, entanglement, and limited dimension reduction during transport.
Innovation Solution
A tripod design featuring a spider formed by two half-shells with hinging legs and a sliding column, incorporating a locking mechanism and an adjusting device that allows legs to be positioned at various angles, with the column and legs compactly arranged within the tripod's structure for minimized spatial requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the lever is provided externally on the spider to be accessible for positioning the tripod, then the ease of operation is improved, but the reliability deteriorates due to accidental knocking, entanglement, and potential damage
Solution Approach 1:
The lever is extracted from the external spider structure and integrated into the internal structure of the tripod. The lever is now positioned inside the spider, accessible only after disassembling the tripod, which eliminates the risk of accidental knocking and entanglement while maintaining its positioning function.
Solution Approach 2:
A new intermediary component (the disassembly mechanism involving the button and movable wall) is introduced between the user and the lever. This intermediary ensures that the lever can only be accessed intentionally through a deliberate disassembly process, preventing accidental activation while preserving operational functionality.
2Volume of moving object
If the tripod is designed with telescopic legs and sliding column for compact transport position, then the volume is reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tripod employs a nested structure where telescopic legs are inserted within each other, and the sliding column is nested within the spider structure. This nesting approach maximizes compactness during transport while using standardized mechanical components that balance complexity with functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The tripod utilizes dynamic components including telescopic legs with movable sections, a sliding column, and a movable wall mechanism. These dynamic elements allow the tripod to transition between compact and extended states, achieving volume reduction while maintaining operational flexibility through controlled mechanical movements.
3Ease of operation
If the support column is positioned externally with respect to the legs in closed position, then the ease of operation is improved, but the volume of moving object increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of positioning the column head externally as in conventional tripods, the invention inverts this arrangement by placing the column head internally within the spider structure. The column slides vertically within the spider, and equipment is mounted from the internal position, achieving compact external dimensions while maintaining operational accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The column mounting interface is repositioned from an external three-dimensional position to an internal position along the vertical sliding dimension. This dimensional repositioning allows the column to access the equipment mounting area through vertical movement within the spider rather than requiring external projection, reducing overall volume while preserving functionality.
Data Source
Figure 1
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Figure 3
AI summary
A support tripod (1) for video-photographic equipment, comprising a spider (2), a column (8) provided with hooking means (9) for a piece of video-photographic equipment slidable along a sliding axis (Z) inside an aperture (7) defined by said spider (2), a plurality of legs (4) hinged at a hinging end (4a) to said spider (2) to open/close the tripod (1), each leg (4) being provided with an adjusting device (30) in order to adjust the angular position of the leg (4) up to a maximum opening angle (al, a2) and provided with translation means (40) cooperating with corresponding translation counter-means (41) defined on the leg (4) to translate the adjusting head (31) along the longitudinal axis (Y) relative to the leg (4), to vary the length of the leg (4) and the interference between the hinging end (4a) and the spider (2) to allow variation of the maximum opening angle (al, a2) of the leg (4).