AUTOMATIC MOTION-CONTROLLED PHOTOGRAPHING APPARATUS AND RELATED PHOTOGRAPHING METHOD

• US 20040047624A1
• Filed: 03/05/2003
• Published: 03/11/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NTT Infrastructure Network Corporation
• Original Assignee: NTT Infrastructure Network Corporation
• Inventors: Sugiura, Shinichi, Nishiwaki, Ken, Otsuki, Kazuhiro
• Granted Patent: US 6,714,729 B1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 396/427
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 17/00 Details of cameras or camera bodies; Accessories therefor lens hoods or caps G03B11/04

Abstract

An automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus, according to the present invention, a rotatable turntable is located above an upper surface of a box of a controller fixedly supported on a tripod, and a camera is set onto the turntable. The turntable, on which the camera is set, is rotated at a given angle of rotation responsive to a signal from a turntable drive circuit disposed in the controller, and a shutter of the camera is turned on via a non-contact signal relay in response to a signal from a shutter drive circuit for photographing the same photograph images, each in one frame, at an angle of 360 degrees as those of an on-site field.

Claims

1. An automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus, comprising:

a vertically extending and retracting tripod having a mount section;

a controller fixedly supported on the mount section;

a turntable rotatably supported on an upper surface of a box encompassing the controller; and

a camera detachably supported on an upper surface of the turntable;

wherein the controller includes a turntable drive circuit operative to rotate at least the turntable at a given rotational angle that is determined at an arbitrary angle, and a shutter drive circuit operative to turn on a shutter of the camera supported on the turntable via a non-contact signal relay at a time instant when rotation of the turntable at the given angle has been terminated.

3. The automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tripod, the controller and the turntable are formed in a unit structure independently structured from the camera.

5. The automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the turntable includes a camera mount unit that allows the camera to be mounted in a standard mount position in which a photograph image with an elongated length aligned in a lateral direction is provided and a vertically oriented position in which a photograph image with the elongated length aligned in a vertical direction is provided.

2. An automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus, comprising:

a tripod having a retainer sleeve section internally formed with a guide portion to provide a guide in a vertical direction;

a vertically elongated elevator shaft supported by the guide portion of the retainer

sleeve section for freely vertical movements and adapted to be fixed at a given position and released by fixing and supporting means located in the retainer sleeve section;

a controller fixedly supported the elevator shaft at a lower end thereof;

a turntable rotatably supported on an upper surface of a box encompassing the controller;

a camera and a monitor camera detachably supported on the turntable such that the camera and the monitor camera are turned upside down with respect to the turntable;

wherein the controller includes a turntable drive circuit operative to rotate at least the turntable at a given rotational angle that is determined at an arbitrary angle, and a shutter drive circuit operative to turn on a shutter of the camera supported on the turntable via a non-contact signal relay at a time instant when rotation of the turntable at the given angle has been terminated.

4. The automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus of claim 2, wherein the tripod, the controller and the turntable are formed in a unit structure independently structured from the camera.

6. The automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus of claim 2, wherein the turntable includes a camera mount unit that allows the camera to be mounted in a standard mount position in which a photograph image with an elongated length aligned in a lateral direction is provided and a vertically oriented position in which a photograph image with the elongated length aligned in a vertical direction is provided.

7. The automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus of claim 2, wherein the elevator shaft is longitudinally connected and detachably coupled so as to be divided into a plurality of shaft components.

8. A method of photographing through the use of an automatic motion-controlled photographing apparatus, the method comprising:

setting a tripod in an opened state so as to straddle over an entrance of an underground structure;

moving a camera through the entrance downwardly into the underground structure by an elevator shaft supported by the tripod for elevating capabilities;

positioning the camera until the camera being positioned in a given position by using a monitor camera that provides a status of the camera'"'"'s position;

intermittently rotating the camera, that is located at the given position, at a predetermined angle set in an arbitrary angle of rotation; and

photographing photograph images consecutively, each in one frame, at an angle of 360 degrees by permitting a shutter of the camera to be turned on responsive to a signal from a shutter drive circuit when rotational movement of the camera is completed.