Patent Description:
The disclosure relates to cameras, and in particular, to a camera mounting assembly and a camera.

This section provides merely background information related to the disclosure and which is not necessarily refer to prior art.

In many cases, a camera needs to shoot at a fixed point, and needs to be connected and fixed with an external structure by mounting assemblies. Currently, many mounting assemblies are for small cameras and have average robustness, when facing a heavier camera, there is a problem of low reliability and easy loosening.

<CIT> discloses a camera mounting assembly according to the preamble of claim <NUM>.

The disclosure provides a camera mounting assembly and a camera, which can firmly fix a heavier camera and effectively reduce the risk of the camera shaking and loosening in a vibrating environment.

It should be understood that the above general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only, and do not limit the present disclosure.

In order to more clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the disclosure and the prior art, accompanying drawings that need to be used in the embodiments and the prior art will be briefly described below. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are only some of embodiments of the disclosure.

Exemplary embodiments will be described in detail herein, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When referring to the drawings in the following description, the same numbers in different drawings indicate the same or similar elements unless otherwise indicated. The implementations described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all implementations in accordance with the disclosure. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with some aspects of the disclosure as detailed in the appended claims.

Terms in the disclosure are used merely for the purpose of describing particular embodiments and are not intended to limit the disclosure. Unless otherwise defined, technical terms or scientific terms used in the disclosure shall have usual meanings understood by a person with ordinary skill in the art to which the disclosure relates. The terms "first", "second" and the like as used in the specification and claims of the disclosure do not indicate any order, quantity or importance, but are only used to distinguish different components. Similarly, the terms "a" or "an" and the like do not indicate a limitation in number, but rather indicate the presence of at least one. The terms "multiple" or "several" means two and more. Unless otherwise indicated, similar terms such as "front", "rear", "lower" and/or "upper" are for convenience of description only and are not intended to limit one position or one spatial orientation. The terms "include" or "comprise" and the like mean that the elements or objects appearing before "include" or "comprise" cover the elements or objects listed after "include" or "comprise" and their equivalents, and do not exclude other elements or objects. The terms "connected to" or "connected with" and the like are not limited to physical or mechanical connections, but may include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect.

The terms used in the disclosure are merely for the purpose of describing particular embodiments and are not intended to limit the disclosure. The singular forms "a", "the" and "said" used in the disclosure and the appended claims are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term "and/or" as used herein refers to and includes any or all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

<FIG> is a front view of a camera according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The disclosure provides a camera <NUM>, which includes: a camera body <NUM> and a camera mounting assembly <NUM>. The camera mounting assembly <NUM> includes a mounting base <NUM> and a mounting head <NUM>. One of the mounting base <NUM> and the mounting head <NUM> is disposed on the top of the camera body <NUM>, while the other is disposed on an external building or a mounting bracket, etc., thereby a connection between the mounting base <NUM> and the mounting head <NUM> achieves a quick mounting of the camera body <NUM>. In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the mounting head <NUM> is disposed on the top of the camera body <NUM>. For example, the mounting head <NUM> is integrally disposed on the top of the camera body <NUM>, or is disposed on the top of the camera body <NUM> by a detachable structure. In some other embodiments (not shown), the mounting base <NUM> can be disposed on the top of the camera body <NUM>, and can also be of an integrated design or a detachable design. The disclosure takes the mounting head <NUM> disposed on the top of the camera body <NUM> as an example for detailed description. <FIG> is a front view of a camera mounting assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure; <FIG> is a cross-sectional view of the camera mounting assembly shown in <FIG>; <FIG> is a cross-sectional view of the camera mounting assembly shown in <FIG> along an A-A section. The disclosure provides a camera mounting assembly <NUM>, which includes: the mounting base <NUM> and the mounting head <NUM>, wherein the mounting base <NUM> includes a mounting cavity <NUM>, an enclosure wall <NUM> disposed around a periphery of the mounting cavity <NUM>, and multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> and multiple fasteners <NUM> disposed on the enclosure wall <NUM>, the multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> remain relatively fixed to the enclosure wall <NUM>, and extend into the mounting cavity <NUM>, and the multiple fasteners <NUM> are movably disposed in the enclosure wall <NUM>, and can be extended into and out of the mounting cavity <NUM>. The mounting head <NUM> is inserted into the mounting cavity <NUM>, and the mounting head <NUM> includes multiple mounting grooves <NUM> that are matched with the multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> in one-to-one correspondence, and first groove bodies <NUM> that are connected to respective mounting grooves <NUM> correspondingly. The mounting grooves <NUM> extend along an insertion direction 4a of the mounting head <NUM> and penetrate to the top of the mounting head <NUM>. The first groove bodies <NUM> extend along a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction 4a, the multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> enter the first groove bodies <NUM> through the mounting grooves <NUM> corresponding to the multiple pre-hanging members respectively, and are hung to the mounting head <NUM> in the first groove bodies <NUM>, thereby realizing pre-hanging of the mounting head <NUM> with the mounting base <NUM>. In this way, before fixing the mounting head <NUM> with the mounting base <NUM>, the mounting head <NUM> is prevented from being detached from the mounting base <NUM>. The pre-hanging process is simple and convenient to operate, for example, aligning the pre-hanging members <NUM> with the mounting grooves <NUM> before insertion, and inserting the mounting head <NUM> along the insertion direction 4a, and then rotating the mounting head <NUM> so that the pre-hanging members <NUM> enter into the first groove bodies <NUM>, so as to complete the pre-hanging. After the mounting head <NUM> is pre-hung to the mounting base <NUM>, it can be fixed by the multiple fasteners <NUM>, the multiple fasteners <NUM> can exit the mounting cavity <NUM> during pre-hanging to prevent interference with the mounting head <NUM> during insertion. After the mounting head <NUM> is hung to the mounting base <NUM>, the multiple fasteners <NUM> can be extended into the mounting cavity <NUM> to abut against the mounting head <NUM>, and the mounting head <NUM> is clamped and fixed to the mounting base <NUM> by clamping force. The camera mounting assembly <NUM> of the disclosure is simultaneously provided with multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> and multiple fasteners <NUM>, which achieves balanced force during pre-hanging, and can firmly fix a heavier camera, effectively reducing the risk of the camera shaking and loosening in a vibrating environment.

In this embodiment, the mounting base <NUM> and the mounting head <NUM> match with each other, so that the both can be quickly connected, therefore, the mounting base <NUM> is also called a quick mounting base, referred to as quick mount base for short. Correspondingly, the mounting head 42is also called a quick mounting head, referred to as quick mount head for short. In addition, when the mounting head <NUM> is connected with the mounting base <NUM>, the mounting head <NUM> is disposed in the mounting cavity <NUM> in an insertion manner, therefore, the mounting cavity <NUM> is further called an insertion cavity.

Furthermore, the first groove bodies <NUM> are configured to accommodate the pre-hanging members <NUM>, the hanging of the mounting head <NUM> and the mounting base <NUM> can be achieved by the matching of pre-hanging members <NUM> with the first groove bodies <NUM>. Therefore, the first groove bodies <NUM> are further called pre-hanging grooves.

In some embodiments, the multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> are arranged in a centrally symmetrical arrangement, for example, arranged symmetrically with respect to a symmetrical center of the mounting head <NUM>. In this way, horizontal hanging and placing of the mounting head <NUM> can be achieved, thereby preventing the situation that the mounting head <NUM> is tilted after assembling due to an excessive weight of the camera body <NUM>, which affects the use of the camera body <NUM>, and improving the reliability of the camera mounting assembly <NUM> of the disclosure.

In some embodiments, the multiple fasteners <NUM> are arranged in a centrally symmetrical arrangement, the fasteners <NUM> when have been fixed, closely abut against the mounting head <NUM>, and thrust given by the multiple fasteners <NUM> to the mounting head <NUM> converges at a center point, in this way, a fastening effect of the multiple fasteners <NUM> is realized, thereby improving the stability of the camera mounting assembly <NUM> of the disclosure.

Please refer to <FIG>, in some embodiments, the multiple fasteners <NUM> include a first fastener <NUM>, a second fastener <NUM>, and a third fastener <NUM>, wherein an angle interval between every two of the first fastener <NUM>, the second fastener <NUM> and the third fastener <NUM> is <NUM>°. In this way, the first fastener <NUM>, the second fastener <NUM> and the third fastener <NUM> are evenly distributed along the circumferential direction, and jointly clamp the mounting head <NUM>, and the thrust given to the mounting head <NUM> converges at the center point, thereby improving the reliability of the camera mounting assembly <NUM> of the disclosure.

In some embodiments, the multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> may be integrated with the mounting base <NUM>. In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> are screws manufactured individually, which are then fixed to the enclosure wall <NUM>. In this way, the manufacturing process can be simplified and the production cost can be reduced. The pre-hanging members <NUM> are closely connected with the mounting base <NUM>, which enhances the load-bearing capacity of the pre-hanging members <NUM>, thereby improves the reliability of the camera mounting assembly <NUM> of the disclosure.

In some embodiments, mounting steps of the mounting base <NUM> and the mounting head <NUM> of the camera mounting assembly <NUM> according to the disclosure are as follows: <NUM>. inserting the mounting head <NUM> vertically into the mounting cavity <NUM> along the insertion direction 4a, and the multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> penetrate through the multiple mounting grooves <NUM> that are matched with the multiple pre-hanging members in one-to-one correspondence; <NUM>. rotating the mounting head <NUM>, along the first groove bodies <NUM>, to a required angle in a direction of the mounting grooves <NUM> towards the first groove bodies <NUM>; <NUM>. mounting the multiple fasteners <NUM> and fixing them. During the mounting process of the camera mounting assembly <NUM> of the disclosure, only the multiple fasteners <NUM> need to be tightened by tools, In this way, the camera mounting assembly <NUM> of the disclosure can be mounted simply, quickly, and easily used while ensuring stability.

Please refer to <FIG>, along the insertion direction 4a, the multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> are flush in height, the multiple fasteners <NUM> are flush in height, and the multiple fasteners <NUM> and the multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> are located at different heights. The mounting head <NUM> further includes fastening grooves <NUM> extending parallel to the first groove bodies <NUM>, the multiple fasteners <NUM> abut against the mounting head <NUM> within the fastening grooves <NUM>. In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the multiple fasteners <NUM> and the multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> are arranged in two upper and lower rows, the multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> are located above the multiple fasteners <NUM>. The fastening grooves <NUM> are provided below the first groove bodies <NUM>, and the multiple fasteners <NUM> abut against the mounting head <NUM> in the fastening grooves <NUM> to provide a clamping force to the mounting head <NUM>. Adding the fastening grooves <NUM> can prevent the fasteners <NUM> from deflecting, and avoid clamping failure, thus improving the reliability of the camera connection assembly <NUM> of the disclosure. The fastening grooves <NUM> may form a connected groove extending continuously along the circumferential direction of the outer surface of the mounting head <NUM>. The fasteners <NUM> and the pre-hanging members <NUM> are divided into upper and lower layers to facilitate the arrangement of the multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> and the multiple fasteners <NUM> in the circumferential direction. Moreover, the fasteners <NUM> and the pre-hanging members <NUM> are divided into upper and lower layers, which is equivalent to increasing the mounting length and improving the overall mounting reliability.

In other embodiments, along the insertion direction 4a, the multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> are flush in height, the multiple fasteners <NUM> are flush in height, and both the multiple fasteners <NUM> and the multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> are located at the same height, and the multiple fasteners <NUM> abut against the mounting head <NUM> within the first groove bodies <NUM>. In this way, the multiple fasteners <NUM> and the multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> share the first groove bodies <NUM>, which can simplify the structure of the mounting base <NUM>. In some embodiments, the multiple fasteners <NUM> can also be arranged in multiple layers.

In some embodiments, the size (L1) of the portions of the multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> extending into the first groove bodies <NUM> along the extending direction is smaller than the depth (L2) of the first groove bodies <NUM> along this direction (the direction in which the pre-hanging members <NUM> extend into the first groove bodies <NUM>). In this way, a gap can be left between an end of the pre-hanging member <NUM> and a bottom surface of the first groove body <NUM>, so that the mounting head <NUM> can be smoothly rotated to a required angle, making the camera connection assembly <NUM> of the disclosure simple to mount and easy to use.

<FIG> is a front view of the mounting head of the camera mounting assembly according to the embodiment shown in <FIG>. In some embodiments, the first groove bodies <NUM> that are connected to respective mounting grooves <NUM> correspondingly, are connected with each other to form an annular groove on the outer surface of the mounting head <NUM>. In this way, the length size of the first groove body <NUM> is increased, the rotation angle of the mounting head <NUM> is increased, and an adjustable range during pre-hanging is larger. In some embodiments, the mounting head <NUM> is configured as a cylindrical structure, and the first groove bodies <NUM> forms a continuously extending annular groove on the outer surface of the mounting head <NUM>. In addition, the mounting head <NUM> can be configured as a hollow cylindrical structure, thereby reducing weight and achieving lightweight. The thickness of the wall of the mounting head <NUM> needs to be greater than the depth of the mounting groove <NUM>, the first groove body <NUM> and the fastening groove <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the mounting head <NUM> further includes a first limit structure <NUM>, which protrudes from a bottom surface of the first groove body <NUM> and is disposed at a position where the mounting groove <NUM> meets the first groove body <NUM>, and is located at a side of the mounting groove <NUM> facing away from the first groove body <NUM>. The first limit structure <NUM> is configured to limit a rotation direction of the mounting head <NUM> relative to the mounting base <NUM> during the pre-hanging process. That is to say, during the pre-hanging process, the mounting head <NUM> only rotates in a single direction relative to the mounting base <NUM>. In this way, when inserted into the mounting base <NUM>, the mounting head <NUM> can only rotate in one direction relative to the mounting base <NUM>, and when it rotates in an opposite direction, it is blocked by the first limit structure <NUM>, thus ensuring the uniqueness of the angle of rotation of the mounted camera. In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the first limit structure <NUM> adopts a screw fixed to the mounting head <NUM>, the screw protrudes from the bottom surface of the first groove body <NUM> and can limit and block the rotation of the pre-hanging members <NUM>. It should be noted that the arrangement of the first limit structure <NUM> is not limited to this.

Please continue to refer to <FIG>, in some embodiments, the mounting head <NUM> further includes a second limit structure <NUM>, the mounting head <NUM> includes a hanging contact surface <NUM> that is in hanging contact with the pre-hanging member <NUM>, the second limit structure <NUM> protrudes from the hanging contact surface <NUM> in the opposite direction of the insertion direction 4a, and is located at a side of the mounting groove <NUM> facing the first groove body <NUM>. When pre-hanging, the pre-hanging member <NUM> can cross the second limit structure <NUM> to enter the first groove body <NUM>, after pre-hanging, under the gravity of the mounting head <NUM>, the hanging contact surface <NUM> and the pre-hanging member <NUM> maintain contact for limiting the pre-hanging member <NUM>, after being hung, from detaching from the first groove body <NUM>, so as to avoid the risk of the camera body <NUM> falling due to vibration. In this embodiment, the second limit structure <NUM> adopts a structure integral with the mounting head <NUM>. In some other embodiments, the second limit structure <NUM> may further adopt a screw protruding from the hanging contact surface <NUM>.

<FIG> is a perspective schematic view of the mounting base of the camera mounting assembly according to the embodiment shown in <FIG>; <FIG> is an exploded schematic view of the mounting base of the camera mounting assembly according to the embodiment shown in <FIG>; <FIG> is a bottom view of the mounting base of the camera mounting assembly according to the embodiment shown in <FIG>.

Please refer to <FIG>, the multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> include a first pre-hanging member <NUM> and a second pre-hanging member <NUM>, the multiple mounting grooves <NUM> include a first mounting groove <NUM> matched with the first pre-hanging member <NUM> and a second mounting groove <NUM> matched with the second pre-hanging member <NUM>. In an orthographic projection along the insertion direction 4a, the size and/or shape of the first mounting groove <NUM> is different from that of the second mounting groove <NUM>, the size and/or shape of the first pre-hanging member <NUM> is adapted to that of the first mounting groove <NUM>, and the size and/or shape of the second pre-hanging member <NUM> is adapted to that of the second mounting groove <NUM>. In this way, the mounting head <NUM> can be inserted into the mounting cavity <NUM> only when by aligning the matched first mounting groove <NUM> with the first pre-hanging member <NUM> and aligning the matched second mounting groove <NUM> with the second pre-hanging member <NUM>, thereby realizing the uniqueness of the relative position of the mounting base <NUM> and the mounting head <NUM>.

In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the first pre-hanging member <NUM> is a flat head screw, and the second pre-hanging member <NUM> is a round head screw, the two have different external dimensions and shapes, in this way, it is easy to identify the first mounting groove <NUM> and the second mounting groove <NUM> respectively adapted to the two. Of course, the specific arrangement manner of the first pre-hanging member <NUM> and the second pre-hanging member <NUM> is not limited to this.

In some embodiments, the multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> include a first pre-hanging member <NUM> and a second pre-hanging member <NUM>, the first pre-hanging member <NUM> includes a first contact surface <NUM> that is in hanging contact with the mounting head <NUM>, the second pre-hanging member <NUM> includes a second contact surface <NUM> that is in hanging contact with the mounting head <NUM>, along the insertion direction 4a, the first contact surface <NUM> and the second contact surface <NUM> are flush in height. In this way, it can be ensured that the mounting head <NUM> is in a horizontal position after being pre-hung, which in turn ensures that the camera is in a horizontal position.

The first contact surface <NUM> is a portion of the first pre-hanging member <NUM> that is in hanging contact with the mounting head <NUM>, therefore, the first contact surface <NUM> may also be called a first pre-hung surface. Correspondingly, the second contact surface <NUM> is a portion of the second pre-hanging member <NUM> that is in hanging contact with the mounting head <NUM>, therefore, the second contact surface <NUM> may also be called a second pre-hung surface.

In some embodiments, an angular interval between the first contact surface <NUM> and the second contact surface <NUM> is <NUM>°. In this way, the first contact surface <NUM> and the second contact surface <NUM> are far away from each other, so that the force on the mounting head <NUM> in the circumferential direction is more balanced, which can effectively improve the pre-hanging stability of the mounting head <NUM>. The number of pre-hanging members <NUM> is not limited and may include three or more pre-hanging members (not shown). In this way, the number of pre-hanging points can be increased to further improve the hanging stability.

In the illustrated embodiment, the multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> are always fixedly penetrated through the enclosure wall <NUM>, and the multiple pre-hanging members <NUM> can be manufactured separately, the enclosure wall <NUM> further includes a pre-hanging hole <NUM>. In this way, when the mounting head <NUM> cannot be kept horizontal due to wear and tear of the multiple pre-hanging members <NUM>, the pre-hanging members <NUM> can be directly replaced without replacing the entire mounting base <NUM>, which saves costs and facilitates maintenance. In other embodiments, the pre-hanging members <NUM> can be directly integrally manufactured with the mounting base <NUM> to improve the reliability of the camera mounting assembly <NUM> of the disclosure.

Claim 1:
A camera mounting assembly (<NUM>) comprising:
a quick mounting base (<NUM>), comprising an insertion cavity (<NUM>), an enclosure wall (<NUM>) disposed around a periphery of the insertion cavity (<NUM>), and multiple pre-hanging members (<NUM>) and multiple fasteners (<NUM>) disposed on the enclosure wall (<NUM>), wherein the multiple pre-hanging members (<NUM>) remain relatively fixed to the enclosure wall (<NUM>), and extend into the insertion cavity (<NUM>), the multiple fasteners (<NUM>) are movably disposed in the enclosure wall (<NUM>) and can be extended into and out of the insertion cavity (<NUM>);
a quick mounting head (<NUM>), inserted into the insertion cavity (<NUM>), comprising multiple mounting grooves (<NUM>) that are matched with the multiple pre-hanging members (<NUM>) in one-to-one correspondence, and pre-hanging grooves (<NUM>) that are connected to respective mounting grooves (<NUM>) correspondingly, the mounting grooves (<NUM>) extend along an insertion direction (4a) of the quick mounting head (<NUM>), the pre-hanging grooves (<NUM>) extend along a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction (4a), and the multiple pre-hanging members (<NUM>) enter the pre-hanging grooves (<NUM>) through the mounting grooves (<NUM>) corresponding to the multiple pre-hanging members (<NUM>) respectively, and are hung to the quick mounting head (<NUM>) in the pre-hanging grooves (<NUM>), and the multiple fasteners (<NUM>) can abut against the quick mounting head (<NUM>) when extending into the insertion cavity (<NUM>), so that the quick mounting head (<NUM>) is clamped and fixed to the quick mounting base (<NUM>);
the camera mounting assembly being characterised in that along the insertion direction (4a), the multiple pre-hanging members (<NUM>) are flush in height, the multiple fasteners (<NUM>) are flush in height, and the multiple fasteners (<NUM>) and the multiple pre-hanging members (<NUM>) are located at different heights, the quick mounting head (<NUM>) further comprises fastening grooves (<NUM>) extending parallel to the pre-hanging grooves (<NUM>), the multiple fasteners (<NUM>) abut against the quick mounting head (<NUM>) within the fastening grooves (<NUM>).