Abstract:
An enclosure accommodating a camera in which an image from a surveillance camera, rotating in a vertical direction, is not distorted and which is easily separated from and combined with the surveillance camera. The enclosure can include a cover dome having a hemispheric shell shape and a window, through which light passes, provided on a side of the cover dome, and a cover dome combining portion having a hemispheric shell shape, combined between the cover dome and an open surface, and accommodating a camera in the cover dome having the hemispheric shell shape, wherein surfaces where the cover dome and the cover dome combining portion combine with each other, are at a predetermined inclined angle.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims priority benefit from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2004-0057585 filed on Jul. 23, 2004 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein, by reference, and in its entirety.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     Embodiments of the present invention relate to a camera enclosure, and more particularly, to a camera case accommodating a camera in which an image from a surveillance camera, rotateable in a vertical direction, is not distorted and which is easily separated from and combined with the surveillance camera.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     In general, photographing cameras used for photographing the movements of ambient objects or people, e.g., as surveillance cameras to photograph a person&#39;s approach or behavior. Such a surveillance camera can be disposed in public places such as apartments, banks, or museums, and a variety of places, e.g., in an airtight state, to photograph ambient circumstances.  
         [0006]     Such a conventional surveillance camera is usually attached to a ceiling, observes a photographed object, and transmits photographed video data to a predetermined place that records the photographed video data. In the meantime, the surveillance camera can generally be mounted in an enclosure, e.g., a case or housing to protect the camera from external damage and keep it in an airtight state, for example, where foreign matter, such as dust, cannot harm it.  
         [0007]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , a conventional surveillance camera case  10  includes a cover dome  2 , a fixing portion  3 , and a window  1 . The cover dome  2  can include a hemispheric shell and a portion of a cylindrical cell. The cover dome  2  can be combined with the fixing portion  3  fixed to the ceiling. A surveillance camera and accessories thereof are accommodated in the cover dome  2  and the fixing portion  3 , with the window  1  being placed on a side of the cover dome  2  allowing light to pass through, in a vertical direction.  
         [0008]     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the surveillance camera case  10  can be rotated around the circumference in a horizontal direction, and a camera  4  in the cover dome  2  can be rotated through 90 degrees in a vertical direction. As a result, the camera  4  can photograph an object in all directions under the ceiling.  
         [0009]     However, in the conventional surveillance camera case  10 , an inflection line  5 , a variation of the curvature where the hemispheric shell combines with the cylindrical shell, exists in the cover dome  2 . As such, the window  1  also has the inflection line  5 . Thus, when light passes through the inflection line  5  on the window  1  and is transferred to the camera  4 , the image becomes distorted, due to the inflection line  5 , such that the surveillance camera cannot operate as intended. For this reason, in actuality, the conventional surveillance camera case  10  is not designed to be rotated through 90 degrees in a vertical direction, but rather, is designed to be rotated only through approximately 70 degrees or more.  
         [0010]     In order to solve this problem, as shown in  FIG. 3 , a predetermined offset may be created between a central position of a vertical radius of the cover dome  2  and a central position of a rotational radius of the camera  4 , so that the inflection line does not exist in the light path, even though the camera  4  is placed in a horizontal direction, i.e., rotated to 90 degrees. In this way, it is possible to prevent image distortion from occurring when light passes through the inflection line.  
         [0011]     According to this method, however, the radius of the cover dome  2  needs to be considerably larger than the rotational radius of the camera  4  to create the predetermined offset between a central position of a vertical radius of the cover dome  2  and a central position of a rotational radius of the camera. This means that the cover dome  2  becomes considerably bulky, which runs counter to recent industrial trends towards lighter weights and small sizes and results in increased costs for surveillance camera cases as the size of the cover dome  2  increases.  
         [0012]     Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a method and enclosure preventing distortion of an image input to a camera lens while the vertical rotational angle is at 90 degrees, or more, without increasing the radius of the cover dome  2 .  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0013]     Embodiments of the present invention set forth a surveillance camera enclosure and method in which a change of curvature does not occur at a portion onto which light is incident.  
         [0014]     Embodiments of the present invention also set forth a surveillance camera enclosure in which a camera can be rotated through 90 degrees, or more, in a vertical direction.  
         [0015]     To achieve the above and/or other aspects and advantages, embodiments of the present invention set forth an enclosure for a surveillance camera, the enclosure including a cover shell comprising a window provided on a side of the cover shell, and a cover combining portion combinable with the cover shell and accommodating a camera, observing through the window of the cover shell, wherein the cover shell and the cover combining portion combine with each other along a predetermined inclined angle relative to a horizontal orientation of the camera.  
         [0016]     The cover shell may be a dome having a hemispheric shape. The cover combining portion may also be a dome having a hemispheric shape.  
         [0017]     The inclined angle may be 45 degrees.  
         [0018]     The camera may be fixed in a camera supporting portion, with a rotational shaft being placed on a side of the camera supporting portion, a moving shaft being placed on an alternate side of the camera supporting portion and separated from the rotational shaft by a predetermined offset, a first fixing plate accommodating the moving shaft being placed on an internal side of the cover combining portion, and a second fixing plate accommodating the rotational shaft being placed on the alternate side of the cover combining portion.  
         [0019]     In addition, the camera supporting portion may include an attached CCD board, and connecting lines connected to the CCD board extend via a hole formed in a center of a fixing portion, supporting the cover combining portion and accommodated to be fixed to a surface, and to be connected to an external device. The first fixing plate may include a guide slot, with the guide slot being formed as a hole shaped of an arc having a predetermined angular width to enable the moving shaft to move along the arc shaped hole when the rotational shaft is rotated and to disable the rotational shaft to rotate by more than the angular width.  
         [0020]     The arc shaped hole may be formed in the first fixing plate and has an arc of at least 90 degrees. The second fixing plate may also include a hole accommodating the rotational shaft, and an end of the rotational shaft may have a tapered shape.  
         [0021]     The enclosure may include a fixing portion supporting the cover combining portion and accommodated to be fixed to a surface, wherein the cover combining portion is rotatable 180 degrees clockwise along an edge contacting the fixing portion and rotatable 180 degrees counterclockwise along the edge contacting the fixing portion. The surface may be a ceiling.  
         [0022]     An insertion frame, having an outer diameter which corresponds to approximately a size of an inner diameter of the cover combining portion, can be placed on an end of an opened surface of the cover shell, and an insertion protrusion is placed in a predetermined position of the insertion frame such that when the cover shell is combined with the cover combining portion, the insertion protrusion is inserted into an insertion slot formed inside an end of the opened surface of the cover combining portion, and such that when the cover dome is rotated the insertion protrusion inserts into a fixing slot formed inside the end of the opened surface of the cover combining portion, thereby securely combining the cover shell and the cover combining portion.  
         [0023]     To achieve the above and/or other aspects and advantages, embodiments of the present invention set forth a camera surveillance method, the method including traversing a camera, to observe through a window of a cover shell of an enclosure, through a beginning and ending of a rotational arc, and enclosing the camera with a combining of the cover shell and a cover combining portion, wherein the cover shell and the cover combining portion combine with each other along a predetermined inclined angle relative to a horizontal orientation of the camera.  
         [0024]     Here, the inclined angle may be 45 degrees, the rotational arc may be an arc of at least 90 degrees. The rotational arc may also be an arc greater than 90 degrees.  
         [0025]     The cover combining portion may be attachable to a surface to support the enclosure, and the method may include rotating the enclosure, wherein the cover combining portion is attachable to the surface for the rotating of the enclosure.  
         [0026]     To achieve the above and/or other aspects and advantages, embodiments of the present invention set forth a camera surveillance method, the method including traversing a camera, to observe through a window of a cover shell of an enclosure, through a beginning and ending of a rotational arc, and communicating with the camera through a hole of the enclosure, enclosing the camera with a combining of the cover shell and a cover combining portion, wherein the cover shell and the cover combining portion combine with each other along a predetermined inclined angle relative to a horizontal orientation of the camera.  
         [0027]     Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0028]     These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:  
         [0029]      FIG. 1  illustrates a conventional surveillance camera case;  
         [0030]      FIG. 2  illustrates the range of movement of a camera in the surveillance camera case shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0031]      FIG. 3  illustrates a structure of another conventional surveillance camera case;  
         [0032]      FIG. 4  illustrates a surveillance camera case, according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0033]      FIG. 5  is a side view of the surveillance camera case shown in  FIG. 4 , according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0034]      FIG. 6  illustrates the range of movement of a surveillance camera in the camera case shown in  FIG. 4 , according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0035]      FIG. 7  illustrates an installation structure of a surveillance camera in a cover dome combining portion, according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0036]      FIG. 8  illustrates the installation structure of  FIG. 7  from an alternate direction;  
         [0037]      FIG. 9  illustrates the surveillance camera case of  FIG. 4 , showing a moving shaft of the camera case, according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0038]      FIG. 10  is a vertical cross-sectional view of the camera case shown in  FIG. 4 ;  
         [0039]      FIG. 11  is another vertical cross-sectional view of the camera case shown in  FIG. 4 ; and  
         [0040]      FIG. 12  illustrates a cover dome and a cover dome combining portion enabled to be securely combined with each other, according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0041]     Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.  
         [0042]      FIG. 4  illustrates a surveillance camera case  100 , according to an embodiment of the present invention. The surveillance camera case  100  can include a cover dome  110 , a cover dome combining portion  120 , a window  130 , and a fixing portion  140 . The cover dome  110  has a hemispheric shell shape and can be combined with the cover dome combining portion  120  at an inclination of 45 degrees, for example, in a horizontal or vertical direction. The window  130 , with high transparency, can be placed on a side of the cover dome  110  so that a camera can photograph an image at a predetermined angle in a vertical direction. The window  130  may also be combined with and separated from the cover dome  110 .  
         [0043]     The cover dome combining portion  120  can have a hemispheric shell shape and can be combined with the cover dome  110  at an inclination of 45 degrees, for example. There may be several combining methods but an example thereof will be described below with reference to  FIG. 12 . When the cover dome  110  and the cover dome combining portion  120  are combined with each other, and then rotated around a predetermined angle in a predetermined direction (a closed direction of  FIG. 4 ), the cover dome  110  may be fixed to the cover dome combining portion  120  and thus is not easily separated from the cover dome combining portion  120 . In order to indicate this combined position, a marking  101  can be indicated on the cover dome  110  and the cover dome combining portion  120  in order to indicate the relative positions of the cover dome  110  and the cover dome combining portion  120 . For example, when the two markings lay opposite to each other, the cover dome  110  and the cover dome combining portion  120  are in an opened state.  
         [0044]     In addition, the cover dome combining portion  120  is combined with the fixing portion  140  and is rotated in a horizontal direction. The entire angle through which the cover dome combining portion  120  may be rotated can be 360 degrees. However, when the cover dome combining portion  120  is rotated through 360° only in one direction, internal connection lines may twist and cause the camera trouble. Thus, as an example, the cover dome combining portion  120  may be limited to a rotation of 180 degrees clockwise and 180 degrees counterclockwise.  
         [0045]     The fixing portion  140  can be fixed to a ceiling, for example, and support the cover dome combining portion  120 . A hole may also be formed in the center of the fixing portion  140 , with internal connecting lines passing through the ceiling via the hole.  
         [0046]      FIG. 5  is a side view of the surveillance camera case  100 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , a joint formed by the hemispheric cover dome  110  and the hemispheric cover dome combining portion  120  can be inclined, e.g., at approximately 45 degrees in a vertical direction or a horizontal direction. Since the cover dome combining portion  120  is suspended by the fixing portion  140 , the fixing portion  140  is securely fixed to the ceiling so as to support the entire case  100 .  
         [0047]      FIG. 6  illustrates the range of movement of the surveillance camera in the camera case  100 . Since the cover dome combining portion  120 , based on the fixing portion  140 , may be rotated through 360 degrees in a horizontal direction and a surveillance camera  150  may be rotated through 90 degrees in a vertical direction, the surveillance camera  150  can photograph all objects below the ceiling. In some special circumstances, the surveillance camera  150  may be rotated more than 90 degrees in a vertical direction.  
         [0048]     For example, in the case of a surveillance camera installed on the ceiling above stairs, in order to photograph an upper portion of the stairs, the surveillance camera could be rotated through 90 degrees, or more, in a vertical direction, based on the angle of a vertical downward direction being 0 degrees. The surveillance camera  150  can be rotated up to 135 degrees from the vertical downward position, for example. However, taking into account the size of a camera lens and so on, the angle through which the surveillance camera  150  may view may be reduced to approximately 110 degrees in a vertical direction, that is, the effective rotation angle of the cover dome  110  may become approximately 110 degrees. Thus, the use of the camera case, according to an embodiment of the present invention, enables photographing of an object positioned above a horizontal line.  
         [0049]      FIG. 7  illustrates an installation structure of the surveillance camera  150  in the cover dome combining portion  120 . The surveillance camera  150  can be combined with a camera supporting portion  160 , with a moving shaft  161  and a rotational shaft ( 163  of  FIG. 8 ) being disposed on both sides of the camera supporting portion  160 . The rotational shaft  163  may be inserted into a hole  181  formed in a second fixing plate  180  and can be rotated in the hole  181 . The moving shaft  161  may be disposed on a side opposite to the rotational shaft  163  of the camera supporting portion  160 . When the rotational shaft  163  is rotated by an amount corresponding to a predetermined offset (doff of  FIG. 9 ), the moving shaft  161  can be disposed to move through the length of the predetermined arc.  
         [0050]     The moving shaft  161  can be inserted into a guide slot  171 , formed in a first fixing plate  170 , and a fixing screw  162  can be placed on an end of the moving shaft  161  such that the moving shaft  161  is prevented from being detached from the guide slot  171 . The guide slot  171  can be formed in an arc shape, for example, with a predetermined angular width so that the moving shaft  161  moves along an arc, with the rotational shaft  163  not being rotated beyond the predetermined angle when the rotational shaft  163  is rotated. The guide slot  171  can be designed to have an arc shape, according to a predetermined rotation angle of the rotational shaft  163 , for example, 90 degrees, based on the diameter of the moving shaft  161 .  
         [0051]      FIG. 8  illustrates the installation structure of  FIG. 7  from an alternate direction. The end of the rotational shaft  163  can have a tapered shape, for example, a conic shape, so it can be easily inserted into the hole  181  of the second fixing plate  180 . The rotational shaft  163  may then freely rotate in the hole  181 . However, the moving shaft  161 , which is in a direction opposite to the rotational shaft  163 , may move through the length of the arc. As a result, a rotational angle of the rotational shaft  163  is limited to the angular width of the arc of the guide slot  171 .  
         [0052]      FIG. 9  illustrates the surveillance camera case of  FIG. 4 , showing the moving shaft  161  of the camera case  100 , according to an embodiment of the present invention. A direction of a lens of the camera  150  may be any of the directions between or including the horizontal direction (90 degrees) and the vertical downward direction depending on the amount of rotation of the rotational shaft  163 . As such, the camera  150  can photograph objects in various directions. If necessary, the cover dome  110  may also be removed from the camera case  100 , and then an adjusting pin  151  may be adjusted so that fine adjustments for camera photographing such as diaphragm adjustment and focus adjustment can be performed, for example. The cover dome  110  can have an insertion frame  111  with an outer diameter that is smaller than the inner diameter of the cover dome combining portion  120 , so it can be easily combined with and separated from the cover dome combining portion  120 . The cover dome  110  can also have an insertion protrusion ( 112  of  FIG. 12 ) placed in a predetermined position of the insertion frame  111 .  
         [0053]      FIG. 10  is a vertical cross-sectional view of the camera case  100 . As shown in  FIG. 10 , the camera supporting portion  160  can include a central shaft  163  and a rotational shaft  161 , which is in a direction opposite to the central shaft  163  and separate from the central shaft  163 . The camera supporting portion  160  may also include a charge coupled device (CCD) board  165  which controls the camera  150  and processes an image captured by the camera  150 . The CCD board  165  may then transmit the processed image using power supplied via connecting lines  169 , with the connecting lines  169  passing through the ceiling via a central hole and connecting to an external device, for example.  
         [0054]     As shown in  FIG. 11 , the length of the connecting lines  169  may be constant so that tension is not applied to the connecting lines  169  even wihile the camera  150  is rotated through a predetermined angle.  
         [0055]     As noted above,  FIG. 12  illustrates a structure enabling the cover dome  110  and the cover dome combining portion  120  to be securely combined with each other. The insertion frame  111  is placed on an end of an opened surface of the cover dome  110 , with the insertion protrusions  112  being placed in predetermined positions (for example, in positions that are spaced 90 degrees apart along the insertion frame  111 ) of the insertion frame  111 . When combining the cover dome  110  and the cover dome combining portion  120  with each other, the insertion frame  111  of the cover dome  110  can be inserted into the cover dome combining portion  120 , in the direction of arrow A, by referring to the markings ( 101  of  FIG. 4 ) on both the cover dome  110  and the cover dome combining portion  120 . In this case, the insertion protrusion  112  can be inserted into an insertion slot  121  of the cover dome combining portion  120 . After that, when the cover dome  110  is rotated, in the direction of arrow B, for example, the insertion protrusion  112  can be inserted into a fixing slot  122  so that the cover dome  110  is joined to the cover dome combining portion  120 .  
         [0056]     When the cover dome  110  and the cover dome combining portion  120  are separated from each other, the cover dome  110  may be rotated in a direction opposite to the direction of arrow B and then pulled in a direction opposite to the direction of arrow A, such that the cover dome  110  is easily separated from the cover dome combining portion  120 .  
         [0057]     As described above, in a surveillance camera enclosure, according to embodiments of the present invention, distortion of an image input to a surveillance camera can be prevented.  
         [0058]     In addition, a camera can be rotated through 90 degrees, or more, in a vertical direction such that in some special circumstances, an image positioned above the horizontal line can be photographed.  
         [0059]     Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.