Patent Application
20180266625
This invention relates to tripods, namely a tripod with a swiveling head unit.
A tripod with flexible legs with a mounting interface for a camera, mounting clip, or electronic device that is movable into a variety of positions. The mounting interface may move around a spherical mating surface and may also be moved to a position perpendicular to the main axis of the tripod. The legs may have ball and socket connectors with external gripping rings adapted to wrap around an object such as a pole.
In a first vertical configuration according to some embodiments of the present invention, a tripod 100 has three flexible legs 101. The flexible legs 101 may be of a plurality of ball and socket connectors coupled to a tripod body 104. The flexible legs may have grip rings, or other gripping features, of a more resilient, frictional, material. The flexible legs 101 are coupled to the tripod body 104 at ports 103, which may be angle out from vertical to facilitate the wrapping of the legs around an object. The flexible legs 101 may have feet 102 of a resilient, frictional, material.
The tripod body 104 is coupled to a mounting interface 105. The mounting interface 105 may include a threaded post adapted to screw into a mating component, such as a mounting clip, a camera, or other device. The mounting interface 105 has a spherical ball 117 adapted to reside within a mating socket 110 of the tripod body 104. The mating socket 110 has a cutout 106 which allows the mounting interface to move from a vertical orientation, as seen in
The flexible legs are adapted to move to a variety of positions as needed to provide support for the tripod and the items which it is supporting. In some aspects, the flexible legs are of a plurality of connector pieces coupled with ball and socket joints. The connector pieces may have an external grip ring of a frictional material such that the flexible legs may be wrapped around an object, such as a pole, with sufficient grip to support the tripod and the items which it supports.
A leg joining piece 115 joins the legs 101 together. The leg joining piece 115 may have ports adapted to receive the flexible legs 101, and may splay out the legs 101 at an angle from vertical to enhance the opportunity to wrap the legs around something, such as a vertical or horizontal bar. The socket liner 110 provides an interface for the ball portion 117 of the mounting interface 115. As seen, the socket liner has a cutout 106. The cutout 106 interrupts the circumferential capture of the ball 117 bay the socket. This interruption may weaken the ball and socket connection, and a plastic socket with such an interruption may be quite susceptible to creep of the plastic material, loosening the joint. The loosening of the joint may then lead to insufficient frictional grip of the ball by the socket. In order to support the socket liner 110 with its cutout 106, a socket skirt 111 is placed around the outer perimeter of the socket liner 110 with a mating cutout. In some aspects, the socket liner 110 is plastic, with a cylindrical outer surface and a spherical inner surface, and the socket skirt 111 is metal.
The tripod body 104 may be assembled as a stack wherein the socket liner 110 is placed into the socket skirt 111. The spacer 112 is placed between the socket skirt 111 and the body bottom piece 113. A screw 114 is used to fasten the stack of components together, threading into a receiving threaded portion in the body bottom piece 113. The body 104 may then be coupled to the leg joining piece 115. With this lower end of the tripod assembled, the ball 117 of the mounting interface 106 is snapped into the socket. With the support of the socket skirt 111 the socket will have sufficient rigidity to frictionally hold the ball even with the presence of the cutout 106. The mounting interface may be made of plastic molded over a post 116.
As evident from the above description, a wide variety of embodiments may be configured from the description given herein and additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. The invention in its broader aspects is, therefore, not limited to the specific details and illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures from such details may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the applicant's general invention.
