Motion detector camera

• US 20050041964A1
• Filed: 09/28/2004
• Published: 02/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/10/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: IP Holdings Incorporated (IP Holdings LLC)
• Original Assignee: IP Holdings Incorporated (IP Holdings LLC)
• Inventors: Schnell, Tim
• Application Number:
  US10/952,504
• Publication Number:
  US 20050041964A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 396/153
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 17/00 Details of cameras or camera bodies; Accessories therefor lens hoods or caps G03B11/04

Abstract

A motion detector camera including a housing having a mounting member in a bottom surface for mounting the housing to a tripod, the housing having an film advance mechanism for automatically advancing a film of the camera after each exposure. The camera includes a wide angle lens attached to a front surface of the housing, a motion detector attached to a front surface of the housing, and a flash attached to the housing and having a range of at least 23 feet. The camera also includes a controller for controlling the flash and a shutter of the camera, wherein the controller receives a signal from the motion detector indicating a triggering event and the controller causes the flash to flash if necessary and causes the shutter to form an exposure on the film.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a housing;

a camera within the housing;

a motion detector; and

a controller coupled to the motion detector and the camera, the controller having a test mode, wherein when the controller is in the test mode, a triggering signal received by the controller from the motion detector activates a test indicator and does not activate the camera.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the test indicator includes a light.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further including a flash exposed on a surface of the housing.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the test indicator includes an LED light that blinks when it is activated.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller includes an active mode, wherein when in the active mode, a triggering signal received by the controller from the motion detector activates the camera.

6. A method comprising:

placing a motion detector camera into a test state;

activating a motion detector associated with the motion detector camera to send a triggering signal to a controller; and

the controller activating a test indicator on the motion detector camera.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein activating a test indicator includes causing a light to blink.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein activating the motion detector includes manually activating the motion detector.

9. An apparatus comprising:

a housing;

a camera mechanism located within the housing;

a motion detector exposed on a surface of the housing;

a flash exposed on a surface of the housing and separated from the camera mechanism such that the flash and camera are not a separate stand-alone unit;

a controller coupled to the motion detector, the flash, and the camera mechanism; and

a test indicator coupled to the controller, wherein when the controller is put into a testing state, the controller activates the test indicator when the motion detector delivers a triggering signal but the controller does not cause the camera mechanism to take a picture.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the test indicator includes a light exposed on a surface of the housing.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the controller includes an active state, wherein when in the active state, the controller activates the camera mechanism in response to a triggering signal.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further including an activity counter to indicate a number of pictures taken by the camera mechanism.

13. An apparatus comprising:

a housing;

a camera mechanism located within the housing;

a motion detector exposed on a surface of the housing;

a flash exposed on a surface of the housing and separated from the camera mechanism such that the flash and camera mechanism are not a separate stand-alone unit; and

a controller for controlling the flash and the camera mechanism, wherein the controller includes a pause state, wherein when in the pause state the controller does not cause the camera mechanism to take any pictures in response to a triggering signal received by the controller from the motion detector.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the pause state is a predetermined amount of time between 1 minute and 60 minutes.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, further including an activity counter to indicate a number of pictures taken by the camera mechanism.

16. An apparatus comprising:

a camera located within a housing;

a motion detector exposed on a surface of the housing;

a controller coupled to the motion detector to activate the camera when the motion detector delivers a triggering signal to the controller; and

a display to display a number of pictures taken by the camera.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the display includes an LCD screen exposed on a surface of the housing.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the camera further includes a power source located within the housing and the display also displays a level of power left in the power source.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, further including a flash exposed on a surface of the housing and separated from the camera such that the flash and camera are not a separate stand-alone unit.