U.S. patent application number 11/944786 was filed with the patent office on 2008-10-23 for document camera device.
This patent application is currently assigned to AVERMEDIA TECHNOLOGIES, INC.. Invention is credited to Shu-Hui Chen, Chin-Chang Chiang, Ming-Hung Hsia, Yu-Yen Wang.
Application Number | 20080258019 11/944786 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39459253 |
Filed Date | 2008-10-23 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080258019 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wang; Yu-Yen ; et
al. |
October 23, 2008 |
Document Camera Device
Abstract
A document camera device includes a pedestal, a bendable support
arm, an image-capturing unit and a fastening mechanism. The
pedestal has a concave accommodation space. The bendable support
arm has one end pivotally connected with the pedestal. The
image-capturing unit is secured to an opposite end of the bendable
support arm such that the image-capturing unit is able to be
adjusted to a desired position. The fastening mechanism is to
secure the image-capturing unit within the concave accommodation
space.
Inventors: |
Wang; Yu-Yen; (Chung Ho
City, TW) ; Chen; Shu-Hui; (Chung Ho City, TW)
; Chiang; Chin-Chang; (Chung Ho City, TW) ; Hsia;
Ming-Hung; (Chung Ho City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
THOMAS, KAYDEN, HORSTEMEYER & RISLEY, LLP
600 GALLERIA PARKWAY, S.E., STE 1500
ATLANTA
GA
30339-5994
US
|
Assignee: |
AVERMEDIA TECHNOLOGIES,
INC.
Chung Ho City
TW
|
Family ID: |
39459253 |
Appl. No.: |
11/944786 |
Filed: |
November 26, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
248/136 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F16M 11/40 20130101;
F16M 2200/065 20130101; H04N 1/00535 20130101; F16M 13/022
20130101; F16M 2200/041 20130101; H04N 1/00525 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
248/136 |
International
Class: |
A47F 5/12 20060101
A47F005/12 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 17, 2007 |
TW |
96206151 |
Claims
1. A document camera device, comprising: a pedestal, having a
concave accommodation space; a bendable support arm, having one end
pivotally connected with the pedestal; an image-capturing unit,
secured to an opposite end of the bendable support arm such that
the image-capturing unit is able to be adjusted to a desired
position; and a fastening mechanism for securing the
image-capturing unit within the concave accommodation space.
2. The document camera device of claim 1, wherein the bendable
support arm is a bendable tube.
3. The document camera device of claim 2, wherein the bendable tube
is made of metallic materials.
4. The document camera device of claim 2, wherein the bendable tube
is made of plastic materials.
5. The document camera device of claim 1, wherein the bendable
support arm is secured to an edge of the pedestal, and the concave
accommodation space is disposed at an opposite edge of the
pedestal.
6. The document camera device of claim 1, wherein the fastening
mechanism comprises an elastic ring encircling the concave
accommodation space so as to secure the image-capturing unit within
the concave accommodation space.
7. The document camera device of claim 1, wherein the fastening
mechanism comprises an elastic ring encircling the image-capturing
unit so as to secure the image-capturing unit within the concave
accommodation space.
8. The document camera device of claim 1, wherein the fastening
mechanism comprises a compression spring and a steel ball within
the concave accommodation space, the compression spring is secured
to the concave accommodation space at an end and secured to the
steel ball at an opposite end.
9. The document camera device of claim 8, wherein the concave
accommodation space further comprises a concave hole to accommodate
the compression spring and the steel ball, and expose the steel
ball.
10. The document camera device of claim 9, wherein the
image-capturing unit comprises a ball hole, when the
image-capturing unit inserts into concave accommodation space, the
ball hole interlocks the steel ball.
11. The document camera device of claim 1, wherein the fastening
mechanism comprises a convex member on the image-capturing
unit.
12. The document camera device of claim 11, wherein the fastening
mechanism further comprises a concave section within the concave
accommodation space, when the image-capturing unit inserts into
concave accommodation space, the convex member interlocks the
concave section.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to Taiwan Application
Serial Number 96206151, filed Apr. 17, 2007, which is herein
incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] 1. Field of Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a document camera
device.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] Document camera devices on present market do not have a
proper organized way for convenient storage and portability.
[0006] When document camera devices are idle (not used to capture
images), users cannot well organize document camera devices
compactly such that convenient storage and portability purposes
cannot be achieved.
SUMMARY
[0007] It is therefore an objective of the present invention to
provide a document camera device with a compactly organized
function for convenient storage and portability.
[0008] In accordance with the foregoing and other objectives of the
present invention, a document camera device includes a pedestal, a
bendable support arm, an image-capturing unit and a fastening
mechanism. The pedestal has a concave accommodation space. The
bendable support arm has one end pivotally connected with the
pedestal. The image-capturing unit is secured to an opposite end of
the bendable support arm such that the image-capturing unit is able
to be adjusted to a desired position. The fastening mechanism is to
secure the image-capturing unit within the concave accommodation
space.
[0009] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general
description and the following detailed description are by examples,
and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as
claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further
understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and
constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate
embodiments of the invention and, together with the description,
serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the
drawings,
[0011] FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of a document camera device
as described in an embodiment herein;
[0012] FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of a document camera device as
described in an embodiment herein;
[0013] FIG. 3 illustrates a fastening mechanism to secure an
image-capturing unit of the document camera device;
[0014] FIG. 4 illustrates another fastening mechanism to secure an
image-capturing unit of the document camera device; and
[0015] FIG. 5 illustrates still another fastening mechanism to
secure an image-capturing unit of the document camera device.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0016] Reference will now be made in detail to the present
preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are
illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the
same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description
to refer to the same or like parts.
[0017] FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of a document camera device
as described in an embodiment herein. The document camera device
100 has an image-capturing unit 108, which is equipped with a lens
108a for capturing an image of a document or object, and the image
is transferred to an image-displaying device (such as a monitor or
projector). The image-capturing unit 108 is secured to a pedestal
102 with an elastic bendable support arm 104. The bendable support
arm 104 is pivotally connected with the pedestal 102 at an end by a
joint 106 and secured to the image-capturing unit 108 at an
opposite end. Therefore, the image-capturing unit 108 can be
adjusted to a desired position by means of the bendable support arm
104 and the joint 106 and captures a desired image. In this
embodiment, the bendable support arm 104 can be made from metallic
bendable tube or plastic bendable tube.
[0018] FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of a document camera device as
described in an embodiment herein. When the document camera device
100 is idle, i.e. not used to capture an image, the image-capturing
unit 108 can be temporarily stored in a concave accommodation space
103 of the pedestal 102 for convenient storage and portability. As
the document camera device 100 transitions from an using status (as
illustrated in FIG. 1) to an idle status (as illustrated in FIG.
2), the bendable support arm 104 is swiveled along a direction 107
until the bendable support arm 104 is substantially in parallel
with a level of the pedestal 102, the bendable support arm 104 is
then bent to surround half of the pedestal 102, and the
image-capturing unit 108 is finally inserted into the concave
accommodation space 103 (as illustrated in FIG. 2). The joint 106
and the concave accommodation space 103 can be otherwise located on
the pedestal 102 because of a comparing scale of a length of the
bendable support arm 104 to a size of the pedestal 102. When the
bendable support arm 104 is longer, the joint 106 and the concave
accommodation space 103 can be located at two opposite edges of the
pedestal 102, i.e. the joint 106 is located at an edge 102a and the
concave accommodation space 103 is located at an edge 102b. When
the bendable support arm 104 is shorter, the joint 106 and the
concave accommodation space 103 can be located at two adjacent
edges of the pedestal 102, i.e. the joint 106 is located at an edge
102a and the concave accommodation space 103 is located at an edge
102c.
[0019] In order to properly secure the image-capturing unit 108
within the concave accommodation space 103 to have a resist force
against the gravitational force or vibrations, a fastening
mechanism is necessarily installed within or around the concave
accommodation space 103 to interlock the image-capturing unit 108.
Three embodiments of the fastening mechanism are illustrated in the
following.
[0020] FIG. 3 illustrates a fastening mechanism to secure an
image-capturing unit of the document camera device. A compression
spring 110a and a steel ball 110b are installed within the concave
accommodation space 103 to interlock the image-capturing unit 108.
In particular, the compression spring 110a and the steel ball 110b
are installed inside a concave hole 109 of the concave
accommodation space 103. The compression spring 110a is secured to
the steel ball 110b at an end and secured to a bottom of the
concave hole 109 at an opposite end. When the image-capturing unit
108 is inserted into the concave accommodation space 103, the steel
ball 110b (exposed by the concave hole 109) interlocks a ball hole
108b of the image-capturing unit 108 with a push force provided by
the compression spring 110a. The resist force against the
gravitational force or vibrations is hereby generated. A larger
force may be applied to pull the image-capturing unit 108 out of
the concave accommodation space 103 or insert the image-capturing
unit 108 into the concave accommodation space 103.
[0021] FIG. 4 illustrates another fastening mechanism to secure an
image-capturing unit of the document camera device. An elastic ring
112 (such as a rubber ring), which encircles the concave
accommodation space 103, is used to secure the image-capturing unit
108. When the image-capturing unit 108 is inserted into the concave
accommodation space 103, a contact friction force between the
elastic ring 112 and the image-capturing unit 108 would secure the
image-capturing unit 108. Alternately, the elastic ring 112 can
encircle the image-capturing unit 108, rather than the concave
accommodation space 103. When the image-capturing unit 108 is
inserted into the concave accommodation space 103, a contact
friction force between the elastic ring 112 and the image-capturing
unit 108 would secure the image-capturing unit 108. The resist
force against the gravitational force or vibrations is hereby
generated. A larger force may be applied to pull the
image-capturing unit 108 out of the concave accommodation space 103
or insert the image-capturing unit 108 into the concave
accommodation space 103.
[0022] FIG. 5 illustrates still another fastening mechanism to
secure an image-capturing unit of the document camera device. A
concave section 114b is disposed within the concave accommodation
space 103, and a convex member 114a is disposed on the
image-capturing unit 108. When the image-capturing unit 108 is
inserted into the concave accommodation space 103, the convex
member 114a interlocks the concave section 114b so as to generate a
resist force against the gravitational force or vibrations. A
larger force may be applied to pull the image-capturing unit 108
out of the concave accommodation space 103 or insert the
image-capturing unit 108 into the concave accommodation space 103.
The convex member 114a can be made of elastic materials to assist
easily pulling the image-capturing unit 108 out of the concave
accommodation space 103 or easily inserting the image-capturing
unit 108 into the concave accommodation space 103.
[0023] According to discussed embodiments, the document camera
device of present has an image-capturing unit 108, which can be
easily accommodated inside a pedestal thereof, that the document
camera device can be compactly organized for convenient storage and
portability.
[0024] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various
modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the
present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the
invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the
present invention cover modifications and variations of this
invention provided they fall within the scope of the following
claims and their equivalents.
* * * * *