Lightweight LED illumination enclosure for concurrent use with lightweight camera module

• US 9,756,232 B2
• Filed: 07/17/2015
• Issued: 09/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2015
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Casey Chambers, Jeff Skeen, Kenneth Joseph Good
• Original Assignee: Casey Chambers, Jeff Skeen, Kenneth Joseph Good
• Inventors: Chambers, Casey, Good, Kenneth Joseph, Skeen, Jeff
• Primary Examiner(s): Monk, Mark T
• Application Number:
  US14/802,578
• Publication Number:
  US 20170019573A1
• Time in Patent Office: 781 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 15/05 Combinations of cameras with electronic flash apparatus; Electronic flash units
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 2215/0514 Separate unit
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 2215/0542 watertight
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/51 Housings
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/56 provided with illuminating means
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/62 Control of parameters via user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/661 Transmitting camera control signals through networks, e.g. control via the Internet

Abstract

A lightweight housing with a mount that can be attached to a user, sports equipment, or vehicle contains an illumination assembly but no camera. The illumination assembly may communicate via Bluetooth with a similarly-configured nearby camera module to provide illumination for subjects being imaged by the camera module.

Claims

1. Apparatus comprising:

a hollow parallelepiped shaped enclosure defining a front wall defining a center point, a non-circular aperture being formed in the front wall, the aperture defining a center offset from the center point of the front wall;

a hollow heat sink ring disposed within the aperture;

a focus element juxtaposed with the heat sink ring, wherein the heat sink ring and focus element together block the aperture in the front wall;

at least one lamp disposed in the enclosure behind the aperture and positioned to emit light through the focus element;

a manipulable actuation toggle on the enclosure to activate and deactivate the at least one lamp, wherein a single click to the actuation toggle toggles a state of the lamp, a press and hold of the actuation toggling initiates a dimming sequence in which the lamp continuously brightens from a current brightness until it reaches a maximum brightness, wherein responsive to maximum brightness being reached, the lamp is caused to flash once and then begin to dim.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the focus element includes a lens.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the focus element includes a reflector.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one lamp includes at least one light emitting diode (LED).

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the at least one lamp includes at least three LEDs.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising at least one battery engaged with the enclosure to energize the lamp.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising at least one sealing element disposed between the front wall and the heat sink ring to establish a seal therebetween.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising at least one sealing element disposed between the front wall or the heat sink ring and the focus element to establish a seal between the front wall or heat sink ring and the focus element.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising at least one near field communication (NFC) element in the enclosure configured for wirelessly communicating with at least one NFC element of at least one component spaced from the enclosure.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the NFC element includes a short range ultra high frequency (UHF) transceiver configured to operate in the range of 2.4 GHz to 2.485 GHz.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising a front plate defining the front wall, the front plate also defining a button opening accommodating a power mechanism operable to energize at least one electrical component in the apparatus.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising at least one lamp electrical board behind the focus element inside the enclosure and supporting the at least one lamp.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the heat sink ring comprises at least one base formed integrally with at least one hollow cylinder, the base having an endless non-circular periphery, the non-circular aperture defining an endless non-circular periphery an entirety of which abuts the periphery of the base.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the hollow cylinder of the heat sink ring is completely filled with the focus element.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the base of the heat sink ring receives at least one lamp electrical board.

16. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising a wireless transceiver board disposed in the enclosure and supporting at least one wireless transceiver.

17. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising a processor assembly in the enclosure and supporting at least one lamp processor behind the heat sink ring.

18. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising a battery printed circuit board (PCB) disposed within the enclosure.

19. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising a battery charger board in the enclosure and comprising a mini-USB charging connector to accept charge current for a battery.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, comprising a wireless activation button circuit board cooperating with a wireless activation toggle to send transceiver activation signals to the lamp processor.

21. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising a direct current (DC) fan in the enclosure.

22. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising at least one pin spreader circuit board in the enclosure to facilitate electrical communication among various electrical components in the enclosure.

23. A system, comprising:

at least one hollow illumination enclosure comprising at least one wireless transceiver and at least one lamp;

at least one remote control (RC) comprising at least one transceiver;

at least one camera module comprising at least one camera and at least one receiver to receive commands from the RC to control the camera, the illumination enclosure wirelessly communicating with at least the RC or the camera module;

and a manipulable actuation toggle on the enclosure to activate and deactivate the at least one lamp, wherein a single click to the actuation toggle toggles a state of the lamp, a press and hold of the actuation toggling initiates a dimming sequence in which the lamp continuously brightens from a current brightness until it reaches a maximum brightness, wherein responsive to maximum brightness being reached, the lamp is caused to flash once and then begin to dim.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the camera module is substantially identical in shape and size to the illumination enclosure.

25. The system of claim 23, comprising a communication control element engaged with the camera module to “

slave”

a camera processor in the camera module to a lamp processor in the illumination module and/or to an RC processor in the RC such that operation of the camera is controlled by the lamp processor and/or RC processor.

26. A device, comprising:

a lamp enclosure defining a front wall in turn defining a center point;

an aperture formed in the front wall, a center of the aperture being is offset from the center point of the front wall;

a hollow heat sink assembly disposed in the aperture such that an entire endless periphery of the aperture abuts a complementarily-shaped endless periphery of the heat sink assembly, a through-passageway of the heat sink assembly being completely filled with a focus element such that the heat sink assembly and focus element together completely block the aperture in the front wall;

at least one lamp disposed in the enclosure behind the aperture and positioned to emit light through the focus element;

a manipulable power toggle on the enclosure to energize and deenergize electrical components in the enclosure;

and a manipulable actuation toggle on the enclosure to activate and deactivate the at least one lamp, wherein a single click to the actuation toggle toggles a state of the lamp, a press and hold of the actuation toggling initiates a dimming sequence in which the lamp continuously brightens from a current brightness until it reaches a maximum brightness, wherein responsive to maximum brightness being reached, the lamp is caused to flash once and then begin to dim.

27. The device of claim 26, wherein endless periphery of the heat sink assembly is not round.