CA1132392A

CA1132392A - Body-mounted support for low elevation camera

Info

Publication number: CA1132392A
Application number: CA324,233A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Felipe Navarro; Robert E. Gottschalk
Original assignee: Panavision Inc
Current assignee: Panavision Inc
Priority date: 1978-05-19
Filing date: 1979-03-27
Publication date: 1982-09-28
Also published as: CH631552A5; DE2914219A1; FR2426277A1; GB2021800A; JPS54155034A; IT1112531B; GB2021800B; NL7902800A; JPS5723247B2; MX147383A; IT7922075A0

Abstract

ABSTRACT
A device for supporting a motion picture camera at a low elevation includes a pair of upright telescoping tubes, the upper tube being supported by a gimbal device and acting to support a battery carrier. A releasable clamp holds the tubes at selected telescopic position in order to adjust the height of the motion picture camera, suspended from the lower end of the lower tube on a tilting support. The gimbal device is mounted on the second of a pair of spring-loaded arms, serially connected, the first arm being pivotally mounted on a body harness to be worn by an operator. The spring-loaded arms support the weight of the entire device including the battery carrier and the camera. A video camera is connected to the camera viewfinder and is electrically connected to a video monitor mounted on the second arm assembly adjacent the gimbal device. The entire suspended assembly can be modified to place the motion picture camera at the upper end of the upper telescoping tube and to place the battery carrier at the lower end of the lower telescoping tube.

Description

13L3~92 Body Mounted Support for Camera m is invention is directed to a device for supporting a motion picture camera at a low elevation so that the scene is photographed from a position only slightly above the floor or the ground.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a device for supporting a camera at a low elevation, including an upright support tube member having an upper tube and a lower tube in axial alignment, means connecting said tubes for telescopic movement, releasable clamping means securing the tubes against relative axial movement, a body harness, first and second spring-loaded arm assemblies serially connected, a gimbal device carrying the upper tube, a battery carrier mounted on the upper tube above the gimbal device, means suspended from the lower tube for supporting the camera, said means including means for tilting the camera and securing it in tilted position, and electrical conduit means extending between the battery carrier and said camera.
In accordance with the present invention, there is further provided in a device for supporting a camera at a low elevation, the combination of: an upright support tube member having an upper tube and a lower tube in axial alignment, means connecting said tubes for telescopic movement, releasable clamping means securing the tubes against relative axial movement, a body harness, first and gecond spring-loaded arm assemblies serially connected, a gimbal device carrying the upper tube, a battery carrier mounted on the uppcr tube above the gimbal device, and means suspended from the lower tube for supporting the camera, said means including apparatus for tilting the camera and securing it in tilted posi-tion.
The camera assembly including camera movement, motor, lens and film magazine are suspended from the lower end of a lower tube which is telescopically mounted with respect to an upper tube. The upper tube is carried by a gimbal device and a battery carrier is mounted at the .,,",~ ~.
~ - 1- .

' " 1~3~3~2 upper end of the upper lube. A first spring-lo~ded arm assembly is pivotallv ~ounted on a body harness worn ~y the camera operator. A second sprins-loaded arm assembl~
is pivotallv mounted on the first and is pivotally con-nected to the gimbal device. T~e weight of the entire device including the motion picture camera and the battery carrier is supported Dy the s?ring-loaded arm assemblies and body harness. The u?per and lower tubes are clamped together to hold the camera at the desired elevation. A small video camera is connected to the view-finder of the motion picture camera, and a video monitor positioned in the line of sight of ~he camera operator depicts the scene which is being ?notographed~

Other and more detailed objects and advantages will appear hereinafter.

The invention will now be described with refe~ence to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of this invention.
Figure 2 is a side elevation s~owing the left side of the device.
Figure 3 is a side elevation ?artly bro~en away, showing the right side of the devi_e.
Figure 4 is a side elevation ?artlv in section, showing a portion of the device or Figure 3 on an enlarged scale.
Figure 5 is an end view of the device shown in E`igure 4.
Figure 6 is a side elevation ?artlv broken away, showing a modified form of tiltable su~port for the molion picture camera.

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-~13~;~92 Figure 7 is an end view of .he device shown in Figure 6.

Referring to the drawings, the camera assembly generally designated 10 includes a housing 11 containing the camera "movement", the lens 12, the film magazine 13, and viewfinder 14. The camera assembly 10 is supported on a carrier bracket 15 which, in turn, is fixed to the lower end of an upright support tube member 16. A right-angle dovetail device 17 interposed between the carrier bracket 15 and the camera assembly 10 permits horizontal adjustment of the camera assembly in a direction parallel to the lens a~is or at right angles thereto. The device 17 includes a dovetail element 17_ pivotally mounted on the clamping bolt 18 mounted on the stationary member 18a.

The upright support tube memoer 16 comprises two aligned upright tubes 19 and 20 mounted for telescopic movement, the lower tube 20 moving into the upper tube 19, guided by the roller assemblies 21. A clamping ring 22 serves for releasably clamping the tubes 19 and 20 in selected position, to control the height of the camera assembly 10 above the ground or above the floor.

A gimbal device generally designated 23 includes a ring 24 mounted to turn on the upper tube 19 and having trunnions 25 pivotally received in a yoke 26. The voke 26 has a stem 27 mounted to turn ~ithin a housing 28 fixed on the upper end of the rcd 29. A bracket 31 is mounted to slide on the rod 29 and may be clamped in any desired position by means of the clampir.g screw 32. The bracket 31 i5 supported throu~h aligned vertical elements 33 from an end block member 34. This end block member 3~ rorms a -` ~i3;~392 part of the spring-loaded articulated arm assembly 35 which, in turn, is con-nected by pivot 36 to another spring-loaded articulated arm assembly 37. (The springs are omitted in Figure 1 for clarity of illustration.) This arm assem-bly 37 is pivotally mounted on a curved member 38 by means of an adjustment mechanism 39, providing movement in two directions at right angles to each other. The curved member 38 is connected to the vest 41 by means of the re-leasable latch 42.
Details of construction of the telescoping tubes 19 and 20, gimbal device 23, arm assemblies 35 and 37, adjustment mechanism 39, and releasable latch 42 are disclosed in more detail in Canadian Patent No. 1,087,012 Gottschalk et al granted October 7, 1980.
The battery carrier 43 is mounted on a right-angle dovetail device 44 at the upper end of the upper tube 19. A battery pack in the carrier 43 sup-plies electrical power through the multiple conduit cable 45 to operate the camera motor (not shown) mounted within the housing 11. The cable 45 also sup-plies power for focusing the lens 12 and for operating the small video camera 46 attached to the camera viewfinder 14. The scene viewed by the video camera 46 is displayed on the television monitor 47 mounted on the bracket 31 in direct view of the operator. An electrical cache 48 connects the monitor 47 to the battery carrier 43. Controls and electronic gear are also contained within the battery carrier 43.
In operation, the vest 41 is placed in position on the camerman, or camera operator, and secured in place.

1~3Z3~2 The spring-loaded arm assemblies 35 and 37, bracket 33 and curved member 38 are then mounted on the vest 41 by means of the releasable latch 42. The assem-bly of camera 10, lens 12, film magazine 13, support tube member 16, battery carrier 43 and associated parts are then mounted on the spring-loaded arm assem-blies 35 and 37 by lowering the rod 29 through the bracket 33 and clamping it in selected position with the clamp screw 32.
The ri.ght-angle horizontal adjustments afforded by the devices 17 and 44 are then made to bring the support tube member 16 to a vertical position.
The height of the camera 10 above the floor or ground is adjusted by moving the tube 20 telescopically with respect to the tube 19, and clamping it in selected position by means of the clamping ring 22. Another height adjustment is pro-vided by the rod 29, bracket 33 and clamp 32.
The adjustment mechanism 39 is then manipulated to position the sup-port tube member 16 at the desired location in front of the camerman. The fore-and-aft adjustment for tilting the upright connecting pin 40 determines the distance from the cameraman to the support tube member 16, and the sidewise lateral adjustment determines the lateral position of the support tube member.
When these two adjustments have been made the support tube member 16, camera 10 and battery carrier 43 have a selected free-floating position in space, without requiring any force from the cameraman's hand.

~; - 5_ The monitor 47 does not turn with the camera but remains in full view of the cameraman to show the scene being phtographed through the camera lens 12~

The camera 10 may be tilted up or down about thè
axis of the clamping bolt 18 and then secured in position by tightening the same bolt.

The modified form of dovetail support device shown in Figures 6 and 7 includes a dovetail eiement 51 fixed on a stubshaft 52 mounted to turn in supports 53 carried on the bracket 15. A worm wheel 54 also fixed on the stub-shaft 52 meshes with a worm gear 55 carried on the shaft 56. Turning of the knob 57 causes the dovetail element 51 to be pivoted about the axis of the stubshaft 52 in either direction. The helix angle of the worm gear 55 and worm wheel 54 is such as to accomplish the self locking feature so that the worm wheel 54 cannot drive the worm gear 55. From this description it will be understood that the motion picture camera assembly can be tilted up or down by manual manipulation of the knob 57.

If desired, the motion picture camera 10 may be placed at the upper end of the upper telescoping tube 19, and the battery carrier 43 may be placed at the lower end of the lower telescoping tube 20, in order to place the camera 10 at the normal viewing height. To accomplish this change, the bracket 15 is removed from the lower end of the tube 20 and is also removed from the camera 10.
The battery carrier 43 is then connected to the lower end of the tube 20 by means of the coupling ~9. The camera '''' :.

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assembly is then mounted on the right-angle dovetail adjustment device 44 at the upper end of the upper teles~oping tube l9. The bracket 15 is not used when the camera assembly lO is positioned at the upper end of the tube 19.

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Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A device for supporting a camera at a low elevation, including an upright support tube member having an upper tube and a lower tube in axial alignment, means connecting said tubes for telescopic movement, releasable clamping means securing the tubes against relative axial movement, a body harness, first and second spring-loaded arm assemblies serially connected, a gimbal device carrying the upper tube, a battery carrier mounted on the upper tube above the gimbal device, means suspended from the lower tube for supporting the camera, said means including means for tilting the camera and securing it in tilted position, and electrical conduit means extending between the battery carrier and said camera.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of said arm assemblies is pivotally attached to said body harness, the other arm assembly is connected to said gimbal device and said camera is suspended from the lower tube.

3. The device as claimed in claim 2 in which a bracket is attached to the lower end of the lower tube and provides a support for the underside of the camera.

4. The device as claimed in any one of claims 1, 2 or 3 including a viewfinder device for the camera, a video camera connected to said viewfinder device, a video monitor mounted adjacent said gimbal device, and electrical conduit means connecting said battery carrier and said video monitor.

5. In a device for supporting a camera at a low elevation, the combina-tion of: an upright support tube member having an upper tube and a lower tube in axial alignment, means connecting said tubes for telescopic movement, releasable clamping means securing the tubes against relative axial movement, a body harness, first and second spring-loaded arm assemblies serially connected, a gimbal device carrying the upper tube, a battery carrier mounted on the upper tube above the gimbal device, and means suspended from the lower tube for supporting the camera, said means including apparatus for tilting the camera and securing it in tilted position.

6. The device of claim 5 in which clamping means are employed to secure the camera in tilted position.

7. The device of either claim 5 or 6 in which a worm gear assembly is pro-vided for tilting the camera and securing it in tilted position.