Abstract:
A combination of a swivel joint with an arm for mounting an apparatus for surveillance applications, such as a television camera includes a truncated ball, an arm attached at the end thereof to the truncated ball and having a passage for a cable, a ring-shaped holder having an inner curved rim of a curvature radius equal to that of the truncated ball for locking that truncated ball. An elongated cylindrical cover having an elongated cutout provides a passage to the arm for gripping the truncated ball and provides the arm with positioning capacity extending through the length of the cutout. A locking nut locks the cylindrical cover to the ring-shaped holder. The cylindrical cover can be rotated for positioning the cutout so that the arm can be adjusted to any position within the length of the cutout and the cable passing through the truncated ball and the holder is not obstructed.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to mounting accessories commonly used with a television camera or a case for surveillance applications. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Surveillance television cameras are commonly mounted onto a wall, pole, ceiling or other fixed base positions by using an extended arm, known as a camera mount. The extended arm or the camera mount includes a swivel joint, which permits the positioning of the horizontal and vertical axis of the camera in order to direct the camera lens toward its intended observation end. In many cases the television cameras are covered by a housing which is bulky and as a result the entire camera assembly, becomes large and heavy and this is very disturbing to the architecture of buildings and interiors. In all cases the cables or wires connecting the camera or to the camera housing are fed separately through cable inlets or via flexible electrical pipes, which is very disturbing to the interiors or the exteriors of well decorated buildings. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a swivel joint for a television camera that includes a passage for cables or wires connecting the cameras and permitting unobstructed positioning of the horizontal and vertical axes of the cameras for observing different scenes. 
     This and other objects of the present invention are attained by a swivel joint having a device comprising truncated ball; an arm attached at an end thereof to said truncated ball and having a passage for a cable through the length of said arm and said truncated ball; a ring-shaped holder including an outer thread and an inner curved rim having a curvature radius equal to a radius of said truncated ball for supporting and locking said truncated ball, and means for attaching said ring-shaped holder to a case of an apparatus for surveillance applications and for providing passage for said cable to said case through said ring-shaped holder; an elongated cylindrical cover having a flanged rim at one end thereof and a hemispherical shape at another end thereof and further including an elongated cutout having a width slightly wider than a width of said arm and extending from a center of said hemispherical shape toward said flanged rim for providing a passage to said arm and for gripping said truncated ball inside a hemispherical portion of said hemispherical shape and for providing said arm with positioning capacity extending through a length of said cutout; and a locking nut having a thread complementary to said outer thread and an inner shoulder for attaching and locking said elongated cylindrical cover to said ring-shaped holder by engaging said flanged rim with said inner shoulder and tightening said nut onto said outer thread and locking said truncated ball between said inner curved rim and said hemispherical portion, wherein said cylindrical cover can be rotated for positioning said cutout around the axis of said hemispheric shape and said arm can be adjusted to any position within the length of said cutout and wherein said cable passing through said truncated ball and said holder is not obstructed. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The foregoing and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIGS. 1A and 1B are perspective views of television camera cases using a swivel joint of the preferred embodiment; 
     FIG. 2A is a perspective view of the camera case with the swivel joint of FIG. 1A; 
     FIG. 2B is an exploded perspective view of the swivel joint of FIG. 1A with an arm device; 
     FIGS. 3A,  3 B,  3 C, and  3 D are perspective views of the different positionings of the swivel joint of the preferred embodiment of the invention; 
     FIGS. 4A,  4 B, and  4 C show sectional views of a cable passage through the swivel joint of the preferred embodiment; 
     FIGS. 5A,  5 B, and  5 C are sectional views of different sealings applied to a swivel joint of the invention; 
     FIGS. 6A and 6B are a partly exploded view and a perspective view, respectively, of television camera cases using single and dual joints; and 
     FIGS. 7A-7F are side views illustrating mounting methods for cameras and a mount with the swivel joint of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     A camera case  3  for mounting onto a wall shown in FIG. 1A comprises a ring-shaped holder  4  that is attached to a pipe  14  via a swivel joint  10  of FIG.  2 B. The swivel joint  10  consists of a locking nut  11 , a rotating ball head  13  and a locking cover  12 . The other end of pipe  14  is attached to a flange  15 , which is fixedly connected to a wall or other vertical planes. A connecting cable  5  passes through the swivel joint  10  and through the pipe  14  and flange  15 . 
     A camera housing  3  for mounting to a ceiling shown in FIG. 1B is identical with the camera housing  3  of FIG. 1A for mounting onto a wall with the exception of the locking cover  12  which is shown mounted with its cutout  12 B upwards, while the same cover  12  is shown with its cutout  12 B downwards for the wall mounting of FIG.  1 A. The ring-shaped holder  4  is a molded part of the camera case  3  but it is similar to the ring-shaped holder  16  of the swivel joint system  10  shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. 
     The swivel joint system  10  of FIG. 2A,  2 B comprises the holder  16 , which is attached to the camera case  3  using a seal  17  and screws  18  or other fasteners. An opening  6  of the camera case  3  provides the inlet for a connecting cable or wires and the holes or threaded holes  5 A are complementary holes to the holes  16 E of the holder  16  and for the screws  18 . The holder  16  comprises an outer ring  16 A for supporting the ring-like portion  42  of a seal  40  of FIG. 5B, an inner opening  16 D for providing a passage for a cable, an outer thread  16 B for locking nut  11  and a curved inner face  16 C having a curvature radius equal to the radius of the rotating ball  13 . The pipe  14  provides for cable passage to and from the camera case in addition to being the holder or the arm for the camera case and consists of a rotating ball  13  on its camera side end. 
     The locking cover  12  consists a flanged rim  12 A, a cutout  12 B and an inner elongated cylindrical cavity having a hemispherical top with a curvature radius equal to the radius of the rotating ball  13 . The cutout  12 B with a width slightly larger than the diameter of the pipe  14  provides for moving the pipe for up to 90° about the center axis of its rotating ball  13  throughout the length of the cutout  12 B. 
     The locking nut  11  includes a thread  11 B which is complementary thread to the thread  16 B of the ring holder  16  and an inner shoulder  11 A for engaging and tightening the rim  12 A of the locking cover  12  to the holder  16  and for gripping and locking the rotating ball  13  into position. As shown in FIG. 3A the swivel joint  10  can be locked in a straight position, or it can be locked into a bent position of about 90° shown in FIG. 3C, or it can be locked in a random bent position between FIG.  3 A and FIG. 3C such as the position shown in FIG.  3 B. FIG. 3D illustrates how the 90° bend position, or any other bent position, can be rotated fully for a full 360° rotation around its axis about the center core of the rotating ball  13 . 
     Shown in FIGS. 4A,  4 B and  4 C are the sectional views of the swivel joint  10 . FIG. 4A shows the joint in its straight position, FIG. 4B shows the joint in a randomly bent position and FIG. 4C shows the joint in less than 90° bent position. Also shown is cable  5  that passes through the pipe  14  and the swivel joint  10 . The truncated section  13 A of the rotating ball  13  provides the opening  13 B for the passage of cable  5  through the joint when the joint is bent as shown in FIG.  4 C. It becomes obvious from the sectional view of FIGS. 4B and 4C that the cable passage is wider when the joint is locked into smaller bent, or if the rotating ball  13  is truncated by a larger section  13 A of the rotating ball  13 , such smaller bent or larger truncated section also provides for a thicker cable to pass through the opening  13 B. However, larger truncated section  13 A reduces the joint gripping power because a smaller surface of the rotating ball engages the curved inner face  16 C of the holder  16  and the inner surface of the locking cover  12 . Accordingly it is possible to construct a variety of swivel joints with different gripping power, and for different cable thickness on the basis of the size of the truncated section  13 A, or provide for different cable thickness by limiting the joint bending angles through a shorter cutout  12 B. 
     The swivel joint may be installed outdoors exposed to rain and/or snow and therefore it requires a watertight sealing for which a seal is provided inside the locking cover  22  of the swivel joint  20  shown in FIG.  5 A. The entire inner surface  22 C of the locking cover  22  and its flange area  22 D is coated with a rubber or other sealing material  22 M having uniform coating thickness, except for a part  22 G surrounding the ball  13  and extending from the center core axis  13 X of the ball  13  to the rim  16 H of the holder  16  for sealing the inner cavities between the ball  13  and the locking cover  22  as shown in FIG.  5 A. Accordingly, when the locking cover  22  is tighten by the locking nut  11  it engages the coated seal with the outer surface of the rotating ball  13  to seal all the gaps between the locking cover  22  and the outer surface of the ball  13  as well as the gap between the flange surface  22 D of the locking cover and the flange surface  16 F of the holder  16 . 
     Shown in FIG. 5B is another sealed swivel joint  50  using a flexible sealing pipe  40  with a bellows section  41  or other flexible pipe form, terminated by a thicker, ring like portions  42  and  43 , having high tensile gripping power and thereby sealing the gap between the outer rim  16 A of the holder  16  and the ring like portion  42  of the sealing pipe  40  and between the pipe  14  and the ring like portion  43  of the other end of the sealing pipe  40 . Instead of relying on the high tensility of the pipe ends  42  and  43  the flexible sealing pipe  40  can be sealed to the outer rim  1   6 A and/or the pipe  14  using well known sealing accessories such as tension bands and the like. 
     Many other shapes of a sealing pipe or a cover can be used for sealing the entire swivel joint  50 . It is also possible to replace the locking nut  11  with a cover  60  and lock the joint  70  using screws  61  as shown in FIG. 5C instead of the thread  16 B and  11 B used for locking the swivel joint  10 ,  20  or  50  by the locking nut  11 . The cover  60  is sealed by the flange  72  of the sealing pipe  71  which seals the gap between the cover  60  and the flange  73  of the holder  76 . The other end  78  of the sealing pipe which has a high tensile gripping power seals the gap between the pipe  14  and the sealing pipe, thereby sealing the entire swivel joint  70  as shown in FIG.  5 C. Shown in FIG. 6A is a mount  100  consisting of a base  30  and a cover  31 . The mount base is commonly used instead of the flange  15  shown in FIG. 1A for attaching the arm or the pipe  14  to a wall or a ceiling or to any other structure. The mount  100  provides the terminals for connecting power and signal wires and cables (not shown) and may also comprise power supply, or power adaptor and/or other electronic circuits. 
     Commonly used mounts can be provided with means for fixedly attaching the arm or pipe  14  shown in FIG.  1 A. However the cover  31  of the mount  100  shown in FIG. 6A comprises the holder  4  for attaching the swivel joint  10  and thereby providing a swivel joint to the mount  100  instead of to the camera case  3  which is fixedly attached to the arm or pipe  14 . The outer rim  16 A of the holder  4  can be used for a sealing pipe  40  shown in FIG.  5 B. The cable  5  is shown terminated with a connector  5 A which provides for easy hookup of the camera case  3  with its attached pipe  14 , cable  5 , and mount cover  31  to the mount base  30 . 
     FIG. 6B shows a setup wherein two swivel joints  10  are used at both ends of the pipe  94 , to provide better flexibility for positioning and directing the camera toward its intended observation. The cable  5  is shown terminated with a connector  5 B which provides for easy hookup of a camera (not shown) inside the case  3 . 
     Shown in FIG. 7A is a television camera  80  mounted to a ceiling using a flange  15  and a pipe  81  bended into an L shape or 90° and with the swivel joint attached to the rear of the camera  80 . The swivel joint can be attached to the side of the camera  80  the same way it is attached to the camera&#39;s rear. 
     FIG. 7B shows a television camera  80  mounted to a ceiling using a flange  15 , a pipe  14  and a swivel joint  10  attached to the top of the camera  80 . 
     It is obvious that the flange  15  of FIG. 7B could be mounted on top of a shelf as shown in FIG.  7 C and the swivel joint  10  could be attached to the bottom of camera  80  of FIG.  7 B. The camera  80  of FIG. 7C is attached to an inverted U-shape pipe  83  via the swivel joint  10 , which is mounted on top of the camera  80 , while the pipe  83  is mounted on top of a shelf using a mount  110 . However, it is obvious that the mount  110  of FIG. 7C could be mounted to a ceiling instead of on top of a shelf and that the swivel joint  10  of FIG. 7C could be attached to the bottom of the camera  80  instead of to its top. 
     FIG. 7D shows a variation of FIG. 7A wherein instead of the flange  15  the camera  80  is mounted by using the mount  100 , two swivel joints  10  and a 90° or L shape pipe  91  providing more flexibility for the positioning of the camera  80 . 
     FIG. 7E shows a variation of FIG. 7B wherein instead of the flange  15  the camera  80  is mounted by using the mount  100 , two swivel joints  10  and a pipe  94 , providing more flexibility for the positioning of the camera  80 . 
     FIG. 7F shows a variation of FIG. 7C wherein instead of the flange  15  the camera  80  is mounted by using the mount  100 , two swivel joints  10  and an inverted U-shape pipe  93 , providing more flexibility for the positioning of the camera  80 . 
     The swivel joints  10  of FIGS. 7A-7F can be replaced by the swivel joints  20 ,  50  or  70  of FIGS. 5A,  5 B and  5 C, if the camera  80  is mounted outdoors and must be watertight sealed. 
     The arms  14 ,  81 ,  83 ,  91 ,  93  and  94  shown in FIGS. 7A-7F are round pipes. However, many other forms of an arm such as square, triangle or a random shape can be used instead as long as the arm provides a passage for the cable and/or wires through the length of the arm and as long as the portion of the arm  14 A shown in FIG. 2A that touches the cutout  12 B is round, or that the cutout  12 B is shaped to complement the shape of the arm portion  14 A if that portion is not round. 
     It is clear that the swivel joints  10 ,  20 ,  50  and  70  and variations thereof can be used for mounting television cameras and camera cases, indoors and outdoors, in endless mounting possibilities and provide flexible adjustments for directing the cameras to its intended scene and simultaneously provide cable passages through the swivel joint or joints and through the pipe or the arms holding the camera into place. 
     It will of course, be understood by those skilled in the art that the particular embodiment of the invention here presented is by way of illustration only, and is meant to be in no way restrictive, therefore, numerous changes and modifications may be made, and the full use of equivalents resorted to, without departing from the sprit of scope of the invention as outlined in the appended claims.