Apparatus for removably mounting an electronic camera to a computer system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus for removably mounting an electronic camera to a computer system, wherein:
- said computer system has a slot, formed on an outer surface thereof, including input terminals inside thereof for receiving an image signal from the outside;
said electronic camera includes a camera head protruded from said computer system;
a holder having at one end thereof a connector which is removably inserted into said slot of the computer system for electrically and mechanically coupling said electronic camera to said computer system; and
a supporter fixedly mounted on the holder for rotatably and swivelally supporting said camera head at the other end of said holder such that an imaging direction of said camera head is freely adjustable in horizontal and vertical directions within predetermined ranges independent of adjustment movement of said computer system.
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Abstract
A computer system is provided on the front surface thereof with a connection slot into which a card type holder is inserted for connecting an electronic camera to the computer system. The holder has a connector at one end, a camera head connector at the other end, and a signal processing unit in an intermediate portion. The camera head is supported rotatably in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction relative to the holder.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. An apparatus for removably mounting an electronic camera to a computer system, wherein:
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said computer system has a slot, formed on an outer surface thereof, including input terminals inside thereof for receiving an image signal from the outside; said electronic camera includes a camera head protruded from said computer system;
a holder having at one end thereof a connector which is removably inserted into said slot of the computer system for electrically and mechanically coupling said electronic camera to said computer system; and
a supporter fixedly mounted on the holder for rotatably and swivelally supporting said camera head at the other end of said holder such that an imaging direction of said camera head is freely adjustable in horizontal and vertical directions within predetermined ranges independent of adjustment movement of said computer system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An electric camera for being connected to a personal computer, comprising:
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a card-shaped holder; a connector fixed to one end of said holder; a supporter fixed to another end of said holder; a camera head including a lens system and an imaging sensor, said camera head being rotatably and swivelally mounted on said supporter to be adjustably aimable within predetermined horizontal and vertical ranges; and wherein said supporter and said camera head protrude from the personal computer when said connector is inserted into a slot located on the exterior of said personal computer. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A removeably, swivelable electronic camera for a computer system, wherein:
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said computer system has a slot, formed on an outer surface thereof, including input terminals inside thereof for receiving an image signal from the outside; said electronic camera includes a camera head protruded from said computer system;
a holder having at one end thereof a connector which is removably inserted into said slot of the computer system for electrically and mechanically coupling said electronic camera to said computer system;
a supporter fixedly mounted on the holder and being swivelally adjustable at the other end of said holder such that a positioning direction of said supporter is freely adjustable within a first predetermined swivel range with respect to said holder; and
a rotator swivelally mounting said camera head on said supporter such that an imaging direction of said camera head is freely adjustable within a second predetermined swivel range with respect to said supporter;
wherein an adjustability of said supporter within said first predetermined swivel range and an adjustability of said camera head within said second predetermined swivel range allows said imaging direction of said camera head to be swivelally adjustable with respect to said computer system, within a predetermined directing range. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. A removable, swivelable electronic camera for removable mounting to a peripheral slot formed on an outer surface of a computer system, said electronic camera having a modular-type construction comprising:
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a card-type signal processor unit being rigidly and removeably mountable within said peripheral slot, said card-type signal processor unit having signal processing circuits, card-connector terminals for interconnecting with slot terminals within said peripheral slot of said computer system, and camera-mounting terminals; and a camera unit comprising a supporting case unit being rigidly and removeably mountable on said card-type signal processor unit and having camera-connector terminals for interconnecting with said camera-mounting terminals of said card-type signal processor unit, a camera head unit including at least one of a lens system and an imaging sensor, and a swivel unit mounting said camera head unit to said supporting case unit such that an aiming direction of said camera head unit can be three-dimensionally pivotally adjusted and supported with respect to said supporting case unit; wherein said card-type signal processor unit and said camera unit are removably connectable to each other so as to allow separate and independent replacement of either of said card-type signal processor unit and said camera unit; wherein said swivel unit comprises; a supporter post mounted on said supporting case unit and being rotatably adjustable within a predetermined rotation range with respect to said supporting case unit; and a swivel arrangement swivelally mounting said camera head unit on said supporter post such that an imaging direction of said camera head unit is freely adjustable within a predetermined swivel range with respect to said supporter post; wherein a rotatable adjustability of said supporter post within said predetermined rotation range and a swivel adjustability of said camera head within said predetermined swivel range allows said aiming direction of said camera head to be three-dimensionally adjustable within a predetermined aiming range with respect to said computer system.
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22. An apparatus for removably mounting an electronic camera to a computer system, wherein:
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said computer system has a slot, formed on an outer surface thereof, including input terminals inside thereof for receiving an image signal from the outside; said electronic camera includes a camera head protruded from said computer system;
a holder having at one end thereof a connector which is removably inserted into said slot of the computer system for electrically and mechanically coupling said electronic camera to said computer system; and
a supporter fixedly mounted on the holder for rotatably supporting said camera head at the other end of said holder such that an imaging direction of said camera head is freely adjustable independent of adjustment movement of said computer system, wherein an arm rotating together with said camera head abuts to a stopper mounted on said supporter so that this structure prevents said camera head from rotating over more than 360°
. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. An electric camera for being connected to a personal computer, comprising:
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a card-shaped holder; a connector fixed to one end of said holder; a supporter fixed to another end of said holder; a camera head including a lens system and an imaging sensor, said camera head being rotatably mounted on said supporter; and wherein said holder includes circuits for processing signals from said image sensor and outputting processed signals through said connector;
said supporter supports said camera head rotatably in a predetermined direction;
an arm rotating together with said camera head abuts to a stopper mounted on said supporter so that this structure prevents said camera head from rotating more than 360°
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25. A removeably, swivelable electronic camera for a computer system, wherein:
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said computer system has a slot, formed on an outer surface thereof, including input terminals inside thereof for receiving an image signal from the outside; said electronic camera includes a camera head protruded from said computer system;
a holder having at one end thereof a connector which is removably inserted into said slot of the computer system for electrically and mechanically coupling said electronic camera to said computer system;
a supporter fixedly mounted on the holder and being swivelally adjustable at the other end of said holder such that a positioning direction of said supporter is freely adjustable within a first predetermined swivel range with respect to said holder; and
a rotator swivelally mounting said camera head on said supporter such that an imaging direction of said camera head is freely adjustable within a second predetermined swivel range with respect to said supporter;
wherein an adjustability of said supporter within said first predetermined swivel range and an adjustability of said camera head within said second predetermined swivel range allows said imaging direction of said camera head to be swivelally adjustable with respect to said computer system, within a predetermined directing range; and
an arm rotating together with said camera head abuts to a stopper mounted on said supporter so that said first predetermined swivel range is less than 360°
, and another stopper of said camera head is contacted with a cylindrical portion of said supporter so that said second predetermined swivel range is substantially 90°
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Specification