Patent Application
20160077407
This disclosure relates generally to an adapter for joining a flash unit and a light diffuser, and an assembly of a light diffuser, a flash unit, and an adapter.
Collapsible diffuser discs are versatile lighting tools used by photographers in the field and studio. The discs are commonly referred to as 3-in-1 or 5-in-1 pop-up discs because they often include reflective covers for the diffusion material offering multiple light-modifying options. The most commonly used collapsible diffuser discs have a circumference of 12″, 22″, 32″, or 42″.
When a flash unit is held at a distance of about three feet behind the diffusion disc, and the light is directed through the diffusion, it produces lighting quality similar to industry standard light boxes, which are more expensive and time consuming to set up.
Combining the use of a collapsible diffuser disc with a mounting for a portable flash unit has so far been limited to having an individual person other than the photographer physically position and hold the diffuser disc in one hand and hold the flash unit in the other. Flash units can be placed on light stands, and the diffuser can be held with a stand.
Holding both the collapsible diffuser and the portable flash unit by hand for the desired lighting effect is inconvenient and provides inconsistent results as the distance between the diffuser and the flash unit is constantly changing and irregular. To achieve the desired lighting effect, the flash unit and diffuser should be aligned and maintained at a constant distance from each other when illuminating a subject for a single image or video.
Providing separate stands for the portable flash unit and the diffusion disc creates problems that the equipment is not easily portable, quick to reposition, or convenient to set up. Furthermore, the use of separate stands requires additional investment in equipment.
A first aspect is directed to an adapter for joining a flash unit and a light diffuser, the adapter comprising:
a handle;
a holder attached to the handle, the holder including anchor points;
a mounting point attached to the handle, the mounting point being configured to retain a flash unit; and
rods including first ends and second ends, the first ends being configured to be attached to the anchor points, and the second ends including couplings configured to be attached to a light diffuser, wherein adapter is configured to position the flash unit to emit light toward the light diffuser.
In an embodiment, the adapter further comprises a bracket attached to the handle, wherein the mounting point is disposed on the bracket.
In an embodiment, the holder further includes a frame including an opening, the anchor points are spaced apart on the frame, and the frame is oriented to allow the light emitted from the flash unit to pass through the opening and toward the light diffuser.
In an embodiment, the frame includes a ring shape.
In an embodiment, the rods are flexible.
In an embodiment, each of the rods includes cylindrical sections, and adjacent ends of the cylindrical sections are configured to be detachably engaged together at a joint.
In an embodiment, couplings include hooks configured to grasp the light diffuser.
In an embodiment, the light diffuser is planar and the hooks grasp a peripheral edge of the light diffuser.
A second aspect is directed to an adapter for joining a flash unit and a light diffuser, the adapter comprising:
a holder including anchor points;
rods including first ends and second ends, the first ends being configured to be attached to the anchor points, and the second ends including couplings configured to be attached to a light diffuser;
a mounting point attached to the holder, wherein the mounting point is configured to retain a flash unit in a position to emit light toward the light diffuser.
In an embodiment, the holder further includes a frame including an opening, the anchor points are spaced apart on the frame, and the frame is oriented to allow the light emitted from the flash unit to pass through the opening and toward the light diffuser.
In an embodiment, the frame includes a ring shape.
In an embodiment, the rods are flexible.
In an embodiment, each of the rods includes cylindrical sections, and adjacent ends of the cylindrical sections are configured to be detachably engaged together at a joint.
In an embodiment, the couplings include hooks configured to grasp the light diffuser.
In an embodiment, the light diffuser is planar and the hooks grasp a peripheral edge of the light diffuser.
A third aspect is directed to an assembly comprising:
In an embodiment, the holder further includes a frame including an opening, the anchor points are spaced apart on the frame, and the frame is oriented to allow the light emitted from the flash unit to pass through the opening and toward the light diffuser.
In an embodiment, the frame includes a ring shape.
In an embodiment, the couplings include hooks grasping the light diffuser.
In an embodiment, the light diffuser is planar and the hooks grasp a peripheral edge of the light diffuser.
An adapter attaches a small portable photographic flash unit (or flash units) to a light diffuser, e.g., diffusion disc, while holding the flash unit(s) and light diffuser at a consistent and optimum distance apart, in order to achieve photographic lighting similar to bulkier and expensive photographic soft boxes. An assembly including the adapter, a flash unit, and a light diffuser may be used to illuminate still images or video. Using the adapter, the combination of multiple existing accessories (i.e. the flash units and light diffusers) may be easily assembled as needed in the field or in a studio.
The adapter may conveniently hold a portable flash unit and a collapsible light diffuser, e.g., a 3-in-1 or 5-in-1 disc, together. When used together in this manner, the flash unit and diffuser produce a soft and diffused photographic lighting effect similar to that achieved with more expensive and complicated photographic soft boxes. The adapter simplifies the combination of the portable flash unit and collapsible diffuser in a convenient and consistent manner, improving upon the current practice of holding the devices together by hand.
Embodiments of the adapter are directed to holding a photographer's flash unit(s) and his/her existing diffuser disc (also known as a pop-up diffusion disc, or the 3-in-1 or 5-in-1 disc), in position, while holding the flash unit(s) and diffuser disc at a distance and angle relative to each other so as to be conducive to achieving a desired lighting effect, similar to that of a soft box. The adapter can easily be assembled in the field or in the studio, and when disassembled, the pieces can be stored in a standard-sized camera bag pocket. The adapter allows converting the user's existing pop-up disc to an improvised soft box, utilizing the discs for multiple purposes.
The rods of the adapter may be collapsible or non-collapsible. The rods may be rigid or flexible. Another embodiment of a collapsible rod includes a telescoping rod that collapses in an axial direction without separation of sections of the rod.
In the embodiment that is illustrated in
In an embodiment, the anchor points are holes including internal threading, and the first ends of the rods include external threading. An externally threaded first end of a rod may be screwed into engagement with internal threading of one of the holes.
In an embodiment the anchor points include slotted openings, and the first ends of the rods include T-shaped fasteners that are shaped to be inserted into the slotted opening and twisted into locked engagement with the slotted opening.
In an embodiment, the second ends of the rods include tips that fit within and engage with holes formed in the light diffuser. The first ends of the rods are connected with the anchor points on the holder. When the rods are flexed, tension is created. The tension maintains the engagement between the tips of the second ends of the rods and the holes formed in the light diffuser, and the tension maintains engagement between the first ends of the rods connected to the anchor points on the holder.
In an embodiment, the connection between the second ends of the rods and the light diffuser includes hook and loop connectors, such as Velcro®. For example, tips of the second ends of the rods include the loop component of the hook and loop connectors and parts of the light diffuser include hook component of the hook and loop connectors. The loop component on the second ends of the rods engages with the hook component formed on the light diffuser. In this embodiment, the first ends of the rods are externally threaded and the anchor points on the holder are internally threaded. In this embodiment, the rods need not be flexible, since the connection between the light diffuser and the second ends of the rods is maintained by the hook and loop connectors and the connection between the first ends of the rods and the anchor points are maintained by the threaded engagement between the first ends of the rods and the anchor points.
Another embodiment of the structure of the connection between the second ends of the rods and the light diffuser includes snap fasteners that attach the second ends of the rods to the light diffuser.
The rods may be flexible or rigid depending on the structure of the connection between the first ends of the rods and the holder, the structure of the connection between the second ends of the rods and the light diffuser, and whether such connections require tension to be applied between the adapter and the light diffuser in order to maintain a connection between the adapter and the light diffuser.
The connection between the second ends of the rods and the light diffuser may be formed on a peripheral edge of the light diffuser or within the field of the diffusive material spanning between the peripheral edges of the light diffuser. The couplings of the second ends of the rods may attach to the light diffuser within the field of the diffusive material or at a peripheral edge of the light diffuser.
As illustrated in
In an embodiment, the handle of the adapter includes an integrated mounting point, e.g., shoe mount, for retaining a matching foot of a flash unit, without requiring a separate bracket for retaining the mounting point. In this embodiment, the flash unit is retained by the adapter so that the flash bulb of the flash unit emits light toward the light diffuser.
In an embodiment, an adapter may join a flash unit and a light diffuser, and a handle is omitted. A user may directly grasp the holder, or the holder may be attached to a tri-pod, a monopod, a stand, etc. In this embodiment, the holder includes a ring-shaped frame including an opening, and anchor points formed in and spaced apart on the frame. The adapter in this embodiment also includes rods including first ends and second ends. The rods are flexible, and each of the rods includes cylindrical sections. Adjacent ends of the cylindrical sections of the rods are configured to be detachably engaged together at a joint. The couplings formed on the second ends of the rods include hooks that grasp a peripheral edge of the light diffuser. The first ends of the rods are attached to the anchor points in the frame. A mounting point is attached to the holder, and a flash unit may be attached to the mounting point so as to allow light emitted from a flash bulb of the flash unit to pass through the opening in the frame and toward the light diffuser.
In an embodiment, an adapter includes a holder with a frame having a rectangular shape with rounded corners. A flash unit may be positioned to emit light through a rectangular shaped opening in the middle of the holder. Anchor points are provided on the sides of the rectangular frame. In this embodiment, the anchor points are holes formed at angles in the frame. The purpose of these holes is for inserting the first ends of the rods. The second ends of the rods may be clipped, hooked, or otherwise attached to the light diffuser. Additional holes are provided in the frame for attaching a bracket that may retain a flash unit. A handle may be attached to the rectangular frame so that the handle may be held by hand or mounted to a tripod, a monopod, a stand, etc. The holder provides a mounting point for the portable flash and has three collapsible tent-pole-like rods that clip to the edges of the light diffuser and hold it at the optimum distance for creating a soft-box-like lighting effect.
In an embodiment, an adapter includes a holder. In this embodiment, the holder includes a block including anchor points, e.g., holes, formed therein. The block may be formed in the shape of a sphere, a cube, a rectangular cuboid, etc. First ends of the rods attach to the anchor points formed in the block and the rods radiate outward from the block in a conical or pyramidal orientation. Second ends of the rods include couplings that attach to a light diffuser. A mounting point is also formed on the holder. A flash unit may be attached to the mounting point so that light emitted by the flash bulb of the flash unit passes through the light diffuser.
In an embodiment, an adapter includes a holder. In this embodiment, the holder includes arms extending therefrom. The arms include anchor points, e.g., holes, formed therein. First ends of the rods attach to the anchor points and radiate outward from the arms in a conical or pyramidal orientation. Second ends of the rods include couplings that attach to a light diffuser. A mounting point is also formed on the holder. A flash unit may be attached to the mounting point so that light emitted by the flash bulb of the flash unit passes through the light diffuser.
In the embodiments disclosed herein, the adapter may include one, two, three, four, or more rods attached between a holder and a light diffuser.
Any type of light diffuser, e.g. circular, oval, disc-shaped, polygonal, rectangular may be attached to the adapter. The light diffuser may be planar or semi-planar. The light diffuser may form a dome shape. In addition, the light diffuser may be collapsible and include hoop of material in a peripheral edge thereof. In the collapsible light diffuser, the hoop exerts a spring force that maintains the diffuser in a deployed and open configuration. The collapsible light diffuser may be collapsed by folding the hoop and overcoming the spring force.
In addition, a reflector, e.g., as part of a 3-in-one or 5-in-one disc, may also be attached to the adapter via the rods.
When the assembly is used, the flash illuminates the light diffuser from behind and offers light quality similar to a more expensive soft box. A soft box is a photographic lighting device used to create even and diffused light by directing light through a box or cone-shaped apparatus with enclosed sides and some diffusing material on the face.
The holder may include one, two, three, four, or more sets of anchor points. Each separate set of anchor points may be fitted with rods to accommodate different sized light diffusers. When the holder includes more than one set of anchor points, the anchor points of the separate sets of anchor points may be set at different angles from each other. A set of anchor points may be set at range from 90° to 0°, 75° to 25°, 45° to 30°, etc., from a plane through which light may pass from a flash unit through the frame of the holder and toward a light diffuser.
The assembly may be held with one hand or mounted to a light stand, a monopod, an extension pole, etc., for easy mobility.
In an embodiment, the entire assembly can be assembled and disassembled quickly and easily with friction-fit connections. When disassembled, the assembly will fit neatly in a standard camera bag pocket.
The exemplary embodiments shown in the figures and described above illustrate but do not limit the subject matter disclosed in this specification. It should be understood that there is no intention to limit the subject matter in this specification to the specific form disclosed; rather, the disclosed subject matter is to cover all modifications and alternative constructions, as well as equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the subject matter recited in the claims.
This application is a non-provisional application of provisional application No. 62/051,734, filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Sep. 17, 2014, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62051734 | Sep 2014 | US |
