Abstract:
An adjustable optical apparatus adapter is disclosed to include a camera platform provided with a mounting screw and a wing nut for securing a camera to the camera platform, a telescope holder for holding a telescope, a holding down frame controlled by a lock screw to hold down a telescope in the telescope holder, and a camera platform lock mounted in the a horizontal sliding slot in camera platform and a vertical sliding slot in telescope holder for locking the camera platform to the telescope holder after position adjustment of the camera platform horizontally and vertically relative to the telescope holder to have the loaded telescope at the telescope holder in axial alignment with the loaded camera at the camera platform.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to an optical apparatus adapter for coupling a telescope to a camera, and more particularly to an adjustable optical apparatus adapter that can be adjusted horizontally as well as vertically to fit different types and models of telescopes and cameras.  
         [0003]     2. Description of Related Art  
         [0004]     Following prosperity of the society, people pay more attention to recreational life. In consequence, photographic activities have become popular. Due to limited amplification, it is difficult to pick up the image of a remote scene with a camera. In this case, a telescope should be used. When using a camera with a telescope, an adapter is necessary to couple the telescope to the camera, keeping the eyepiece of the telescope in axial alignment with the lens of the camera.  
         [0005]      FIG. 1A  shows a conventional optical apparatus adapter for coupling a telescope to a camera. According to this design, the optical apparatus adapter  10  is shaped like a barrel having an outer thread  11  at one end for fastening to a camera  15  and an inner thread  13  at the other end for fastening to the outer thread  23  around the periphery of the eyepiece of a telescope  20  (see also  FIG. 1B ). By means of the telescope  20 , the image of a remote scene can be mapped onto the image sensor  151  of the camera  15 . This design of optical apparatus adapter is functional, however it fits only a particularly designed telescope and a particularly designed camera. A telescope without an outer thread for threading into the inner thread  13  of the optical apparatus adapter or a camera without an inner thread for threading onto the outer thread  11  of the optical apparatus adapter cannot be used with the optical apparatus adapter.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide an adjustable optical apparatus adapter, which can be adjusted to couple a telescope to a camera in an axially aligned status. It is anther object of the present invention to provide an adjustable optical apparatus adapter, which can be conveniently adjusted to fit different types and models of telescopes and cameras. It is still another object of the present invention to provide an adjustable optical apparatus adapter, which is easy and inexpensive to manufacture.  
         [0007]     To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, the adjustable optical apparatus adapter comprises a camera platform adapted to carry a camera, the camera platform comprising a fastening screw member adapted to affix a camera to the camera platform, and at least one horizontal sliding slot; a telescope holder adapted to hold a telescope, the telescope holder having an upper part forming a holder frame and a lower part defining a vertical sliding slot, the holder frame having a screw hole vertically extended in a top side thereof; a lock screw threaded into the screw hole of the holder frame and adapted to lock a telescope to the holder frame; and a camera platform lock mounted in the at least one horizontal sliding slot of the camera platform and the vertical sliding slot of the telescope holder for enabling the camera platform to be moved vertically relative to the telescope holder along the vertical sliding slot and the telescope holder to be moved horizontally relative to the camera holder along the at least one horizontal sliding slot and adapted to lock the camera platform to the telescope holder. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]      FIG. 1A  is an elevational view of an optical apparatus adapter according to the prior art.  
         [0009]      FIG. 1B  is an exploded view showing the relative positioning structure between the optical apparatus adapter and the telescope and the camera according to the prior art.  
         [0010]      FIG. 2A  is an adjustable exploded view of an optical apparatus adapter according to the present invention.  
         [0011]      FIG. 2B  is a perspective assembly view in an enlarged scale of the adjustable optical apparatus adapter shown in  FIG. 2A .  
         [0012]      FIG. 3A  is an applied view of the present invention, showing a telescope and a camera installed in the adjustable optical apparatus adapter according to the present invention.  
         [0013]      FIG. 3B  is a side view of  FIG. 3A .  
         [0014]      FIG. 4A  is a schematic front view of the present invention.  
         [0015]      FIG. 4B  is similar to  FIG. 4A  but showing the relative position between the camera platform and the telescope holder adjusted.  
         [0016]      FIG. 5A  is a schematic side view showing another application example of the present invention.  
         [0017]      FIG. 5B  is a schematic side view showing still another application example of the present invention.  
         [0018]      FIG. 6A  is an exploded view of an alternate form of the adjustable optical apparatus adapter according to the present invention.  
         [0019]      FIG. 6B  is an assembly view in an enlarged scale of  FIG. 6A .  
         [0020]      FIG. 6C-6E  show the assembly views of the combination by optical apparatus and the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0021]     Referring to  FIGS. 2A, 2B ,  3 A, and  3 B, an adjustable optical apparatus adapter in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention is shown comprised of a camera platform  30 , a telescope holder  40 , a holding down frame  50 , and a camera platform lock  60 .  
         [0022]     The camera platform  30  comprises at least one vertical slot  31  cut through the top and bottom walls thereof, a horizontal sliding slot  33  in one vertical sidewall thereof, and two horizontal sliding grooves  35  arranged in parallel at two sides along the horizontal sliding slot  33 . Further, a mounting screw  311  is threaded into a wind nut  313  and inserted through the at last one vertical slot  31  to fix a photographic apparatus, for example, a camera  83  to the camera platform  30 .  
         [0023]     The telescope holder  40  has an upper part  41  and a lower part  43 . The upper part  41  comprises a holder frame  410 , a top screw hole  411  vertically formed in the top side of the holder frame  410 , and at least one, for example, two coupling rails  413  formed integral with the inside wall of the holder frame  410  at two sides. The lower part  43  comprises a vertical sliding slot  433 , two vertical sliding grooves  435  arranged in parallel at two sides of the vertical sliding slot  433 , a bottom mounting plate  439 , and a screw hole  437  vertically formed in the bottom mounting plate  439 .  
         [0024]     The holding down frame  50  comprises a top mounting hole  51 , at least one, for example, two coupling grooves  53  symmetrically disposed at two opposite lateral sides corresponding to the coupling rails  413  of the telescope holder  40 , and a front screw hole  555  in communication with the top mounting hole  51 .  
         [0025]     The camera platform lock  60  is comprised of a base block  61 , a slide  63 , and a locknut  65 . The base block  61  comprises at least one, for example, two horizontal coupling flanges  615  arranged in parallel at the front side and respectively coupled to the horizontal sliding grooves  35  of the camera platform  30 , a rectangular shoulder  613  forwardly extended from the front side and inserted into the horizontal sliding slot  33  of the camera platform  30 , a front screw rod  611  axially forwardly extended from the rectangular shoulder  613  and inserted through the vertical sliding slot  433  of the telescope holder  40 , and a screw hole  617  axially formed in the front end of the front screw rod  611 . The slide  63  has a center opening  633  fitting the cross section of the rectangular shoulder  613  of the base block  61 , and two coupling flanges  635  arranged in parallel at two sides of the center opening  633  and respectively coupled to the vertical sliding grooves  435  of the telescope holder  40 . The locknut  65  is threaded onto the front screw rod  611  to lock the camera platform  30  to the telescope holder  40  at the desired elevation.  
         [0026]     After installation of the a mounting screw  311  in one vertical slot  31  of the camera platform  30  to fix a camera  83  to the camera platform  30 , the user can turn the wind nut  313  to lock/unlock the camera  83 . Further, the user can move the mounting screw  311  in the at least one vertical slot  31  to the desired location subject to the model of the photographic apparatus to be used. Therefore, the camera platform  30  can hold any of a variety of cameras.  
         [0027]     After coupling of the coupling grooves  53  of the holding down frame  50  to the coupling rails  413  of the telescope holder  40 , a holding down frame  50  define with the holder frame  410  a clamping hole  55  for holding down a telescope  80 .  
         [0028]     A lock screw  57  is provided to move the holding down frame  50  in the telescope holder  40 , and to further adjust the size of the clamping hole  55  so as to lock/unlock the telescope  80 . The lock screw  57  has a threaded shank  573  threaded into the top screw hole  411  of the holder frame  410  of the telescope holder  40  and inserted into the top mounting hole  51  of the holding down frame  50 , and a locating groove  571  extended around the periphery of the front end of the threaded shank  573 . A tightening up screw  551  is threaded into the front screw hole  555  of the holding down frame  50  and engaged into the locating groove  571  to fix the holding down frame  50  to the lock screw  57 . When rotating the lock screw  57  forwards or backwards in the top screw hole  411  of the holder frame  410 , the holding down frame  50  is moved vertically upwards or downwards with the lock screw  57  along the coupling rails  413  of the telescope holder  40  to adjust the size of the clamping hole  55  subject to the size of the telescope  80 . Therefore, the telescope holder  40  can hold any of a variety of telescopes. Rubber pads  70  are respectively provided at the bottom wall  59  of the holding down frame  50  and the inner bottom wall  419  of the holder frame  410  to protect the telescope  80  and to prevent slipping of the telescope  80 .  
         [0029]     The aforesaid camera platform lock  60  further comprises a screw  67 , a washer  68 , and an ornamental cap  69 . The screw  67  is inserted through the washer  68  and then threaded into the screw hole  617  of the base block  61  to prevent falling of the lock nut  65  from the base block  61 . The ornamental cap  69  is capped on the lock nut  65  to keep the screw  67  and the washer  68  from sight. The ornamental cap  69  may be marked with a company&#39;s logo or the like.  
         [0030]     Further, by means of the screw hole  437 , the bottom mounting plate  439  of the telescope holder  40  can be fastened to the camera platform of a tripod (not shown). After installation of the telescope holder  40  in a tripod, a telescope  80  can be fastened to the telescope holder  40  and firmly held down by the holding down frame  50 , and a camera  83  can be affixed to the camera platform  30 , keeping the lens of the camera  83  aimed at the eyepiece of the telescope  80 .  
         [0031]     Referring to  FIGS. 4A and 4B  and  FIG. 2A  again, the rectangular shoulder  613  of the base block  61  fits the horizontal sliding slot  33  of the camera platform  30 . Therefore, the base block  61  is prohibited from rotary motion in the horizontal sliding slot  33  of the camera platform  30  but can be moved along the horizontal sliding slot  33  of the camera platform  30  to adjust the relative position between the camera  83  at the camera platform  30  and the telescope  80  at the telescope holder  40  horizontally and moved along the vertical sliding slot  433  of the telescope holder  40  to adjust the relative position between the camera  83  at the camera platform  30  and the telescope  80  at the telescope holder  40  vertically, keeping the lens of the camera  83  in axial alignment with the eyepiece of the telescope  80 .  
         [0032]     Referring to  FIGS. 5A and 5B , the telescope holder  40  can hold any of a variety of different models of telescopes, for example, the telescope  81  shown in  FIG. 5A  or the telescope  83  shown in  FIG. 5B , or a periscope (not shown).  
         [0033]      FIGS. 6A  to  6 E show an alternate form of the present invention. According to this embodiment, the base block  61  has a horizontally extended screw hole  911  and a vertically extended screw hole  933 ; the camera platform  30  has a horizontally extended insertion hole  441 ; the telescope holder  40  has a vertically extended insertion hole  45  in the lower part  43 ; a horizontal adjustment screw  91  is inserted through the horizontally extended insertion hole  441  and threaded into the horizontally extended screw hole  911  of the base block  61  and a vertical adjustment screw  93  is inserted through the vertically extended insertion hole  45  and threaded into the vertically extended screw hole  933  of the base block  61 ; a horizontal adjustment member  951  is fastened to the horizontal adjustment screw  91  for rotating the horizontal adjustment screw  91  to move the base block  61  horizontally relative to the camera platform  30 ; a vertical adjustment member  952  is fastened to the vertical adjustment screw  93  for rotating the vertical adjustment screw  93  to move the base block  61  vertically relative to the telescope holder  40 .  
         [0034]     Further, the bottom mounting plate  439  may be eliminated, and the screw hole  437  may be directly formed in the bottom side of the lower part  43  of the telescope holder  40 .  
         [0035]     Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.