HOLDING ASSEMBLY FOR A PICTURE TAKING DEVICE
A holding assembly for a picture taking device such as a smartphone or camera, which holding assembly may be hung from various surfaces to position the picture taking device at eye level, the holding assembly including variable length rigid support having first and second ends, which variable length rigid support may be readily locked in various positions of length adjustment, the one end of the variable length rigid support being provided with a griping surface which may act as a handle, a C-shaped hook which extends upwardly from the first end of the variable length rigid support, and a removable ball joint assembly carried by the second end of the variable length rigid support, which ball joint assembly may receive the picture taking device.
The present invention relates to a holding assembly for a picture taking device such as a camera or smartphone, and more particularly to such a holding assembly having a rigid support having means at one end for supporting a picture taking device, a handle at the other end of the support, and suspension structure carried by an end of the support for supporting the rigid support and the picture taking device on a suitable surface such as a molding, picture frame, etc. so that the picture taking device my be positioned at eye level of the user or at a desired variable angle. The suspension structure is preferably in the form a C-shaped hook, and is designed so that it may be releasably attached without damaging the surface which provides the gravitational support to steady the picture taking device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONHand held supporting devices for cameras and the like are well known in the art, typical examples being shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,684,694 and 8,757,901 and in US published patent application 2008/0117328. These supporting devices are useful in many situations. However they have disadvantages either when it is desired to position the picture taking device at a greater distance than is practical with the supporting structure, or when it is desired to have the picture taking device carried by a stationary support to eliminate shake. Thus, it takes some time to set picture taking devices on tripods, and also in some situations there may be no support for the tripod.
It is also well know to provide supports for the purpose of securing a picture taking device to a stationary object, such as a tree, post or stump, which such supports are fastened to a tree or the like. Examples of such securing devices are shown in US published applications 2009/0010637 and 2011/0116782.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is an object of this invention to provide a support where a picture taking device may normally be supported on a hand-held rigid support having variable lengths, which support may be hung on practically any stationary structure without damage to the stationary structure, and the support being adjustable in length so that the picture taking device is positioned at eye level. To this end one end the support is provided with removable ball joint/camera mount assembly. The ball-joint mount assembly may receive a smartphone or a camera. The other end of the support is provided with an adapter, which can be removed when desired. The adapter is in the form of a hook, preferably a flat hook which may be formed of sheet metal or the like. The adapter can be either located adjacent a handle or grip, or alternatively it may be located adjacent to a ball joint assembly mounted at one end of the rigid support as shown in the following
The above object and other objects and advantages of this invention should become apparent to those skilled in the arts after a consideration of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the following drawings.
A photographer could be at a party in a hotel room, in a backyard, at a tailgate party or the like and wants to be included in a selfie or a group photograph or video and wants more background than a handheld camera would provide. This problem could be overcome by the use of a tripod, but the photographer may not have a tripod to mount the picture taking device, or even if he has a tripod he may lack the surface on which to mount the tripod. In addition he may not have the time to set-up a tripod mounted device. The solution to this problem is achieved by the present invention which includes as its principal components a rigid support having variable lengths, which support has a hook at one end, and a ball joint assembly mounted on the other end to which a picture taking device may be secured. Alternatively the present invention may include a rigid support which may have different lengths, the support having a ball joint at one end which may support a picture taking device and a further ball joint assembly at the other end to which a suspension structure may be secured. The shutter of the picture taking device can be triggered by a timer, remote control, a voice command, or it can be set to operate in a continuous mode. In addition, new camera and smartphones automatically sense the orientation and produces right side up image for the person to use the screen display for centering.
With reference now to the various figures, the holding assembly of this invention is indicated generally at 10 is provided for carrying either a camera “C”, a smartphone “S”, or any other picture taking device. The holding assembly is preferably formed of a rigid support having rod-like telescoping units 12a, 12b . . . 12n which may be locked in various positions of length adjustment. The rigid rod-like telescoping assembly has spaced apart first and second ends. As shown in the various views, the telescoping unit 12a is of the largest diameter, and it is provided with a grip or handle 14. The other end 12n is provided with removable ball joint assembly 15. In the embodiment shown in
In the
The ball joint assembly may be of differing designs, particularly one adapted to receive camera as shown in
One embodiment of the hook 16 as shown in
This apparatus can further be used to provide near instantaneous mounting, without damage to any surface, of a picture taking device for surveillance and/or monitoring of an area or for personal viewing of a video such as one might do on a train by mounting the apparatus on the back of the seat in front of the person using it. This feature is shown in
While a preferred form of this invention has been described above and shown in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that applicant does not intend to be limited to the particular details described above and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but intends to be limited only to the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims. In this regard, the term “means for” as used in the claims is intended to include not only the designs illustrated in the drawings of this application and the equivalent designs discussed in the text, but it is also intended to cover other equivalents now known to those skilled in the art, or those equivalents which may become known to those skilled in the art in the future.
Claims
1. A holding assembly for a picture taking device such as a smartphone or light weight camera, which holding assembly may be releasably attached to various surfaces to position the picture taking device at eye level, the holding assembly comprising:
- a rigid support having first and second ends, which support may be varied in length;
- a hook which is carried by the first end of the rigid assembly, the hook being formed sheet metal or the like; and
- a removable joint assembly carried by the second end, which joint assembly may receive a picture taking device.
2. The holding assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein the rigid support is formed of telescoping links which may positioned in various lengths.
3. The holding assembly as set forth in claim 2 further including latches carried by the telescoping links to hold the telescoping links in their desired positions of adjustment.
4. (canceled)
5. The holding assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein the hook has an elongated edge for engaging various surfaces.
6. The holding assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein the hook is provided with a thin tail so it can better grip mortar on brick walls and behind thin spaces
7. The holding assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein the rigid support is provided with a handle adjacent one of its ends.
8. The holding assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein the joint assembly is a ball joint assembly.
9. The holding assembly as set forth in claim 8 wherein a further ball joint assembly is provided, the further ball joint assembly being located between the first end of the rigid support and the C-shaped hook.
10. A holding assembly for a picture taking device such as a smartphone or light weight camera, which holding assembly may be releasably attached to various surfaces to position the picture taking device at eye level, the holding assembly comprising:
- a rigid support having first and second ends, which rigid support is formed of telescoping sections which may be readily locked in various positions of length adjustment, one end being provided with a griping surface which may act as a handle;
- a C-shaped hook interconnected with the first end of the rigid support, the hook being formed of sheet metal or the like and having a first relatively flat section which extends upwardly from the first end of the rigid support when the holding assembly is in its normal operating position, a second flat section which extends transversely away from the top of the first section, and a third flat section extending downwardly from the end of the second flat section which is spaced away from the first section, and which is provided with an elongated lower contact surface which is horizontal when in the normal operating position; and
- a removable ball joint assembly carried by the second end of the rigid support, which ball joint assembly may receive the picture taking device.
11. The holding assembly for a picture taking device as set forth in claim 9 wherein the parts may be releasably attached to a support without damaging the surface which provided the gravitational support to steady the picture taking device.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 31, 2014
Publication Date: Jun 30, 2016
Inventor: Wayne G. Fromm (Toronto)
Application Number: 14/588,218