Accessory such as a camera for mounting in a vehicle

Abstract

A mount for mounting an accessory, the mount comprising: an attachment member to attach the mount to a support structure; and a mount coupling member configured to have a profile complementary to a corresponding accessory coupling member of an accessory to be coupled to the mount. The mount coupling member comprises a first material operative to couple to a second material of an accessory coupling member through an attractive force between the first material and second material; and wherein the attractive force is of a magnitude to permit slidable movement of the mount coupling member relative to an accessory coupling member while maintaining mechanical contact between the mount and an accessory. The first material comprises a complementary configuration with a second material of an accessory coupling member to permit a greater magnitude of the slidable movement in a first direction compared to a second direction transverse to the first direction.

Claims

1. An accessory comprising: an accessory coupling member configured to have a profile complementary to a corresponding mount coupling member of a mount to be coupled to an accessory, and a portion of the accessory disposed within the mount; the accessory coupling member comprising a first material operative to couple to a second material of a mount device coupling member through an attractive force between the first material and the second material; wherein the attractive force is of a magnitude to permit slidable movement of the accessory coupling member relative to the mount device coupling member while maintaining mechanical contact between the accessory and the mount; and the first material comprising a complementary configuration with the second material of the mount device coupling member to permit a greater magnitude of the slidable movement in a first direction compared to a second direction transverse to the first direction.

2. An accessory according to claim 1, wherein the movement in the first direction is of a magnitude to permit maintenance of an orientation of an accessory mounted in the mount for an attachment member fixed to a support structure having an attachment surface plane in a range between 0° to 90°.

3. An accessory according to claim 1, wherein the movement in the second direction is in a range between +/−10° relative to the first direction.

4. An accessory according to claim 1, wherein the first material comprises a complementary configuration with the second material of the mount device coupling member such that the first direction is coaxial to permit rotation of the accessory relative to a mount in a plane transverse to the second direction.

5. An accessory according to claim 4, the first material comprising a complementary configuration with the second material of the mount device coupling member to permit a greater magnitude of the slidable movement in the first direction compared to a third direction transverse to a plane of the first direction.

6. An accessory according to claim 4, wherein the movement in a third direction is in a range between +/−10° relative to a plane of the first direction.

7. An accessory according to claim 1, wherein the first material is a magnetic material, a permanent magnet or a permanent, rare earth magnetic material.

8. An accessory according to claim 1, wherein the accessory coupling member is supported by the mount to expose the first material to provide a coupling surface.

9. An accessory according to claim 1, wherein the accessory coupling member is configured to have a curved profile or convex profile.

10. An accessory according to claim 1, wherein said accessory comprises a housing, and said accessory coupling member comprises a profile complementary to the housing.

11. An accessory according to claim 10, wherein the housing comprises a spherical housing.

12. An accessory according to claim 1, wherein the accessory coupling member extends through a region of the accessory to provide a plurality of positions for coupling the accessory to the mount.

13. An accessory according to claim 1, wherein the accessory is a camera or an in-vehicle camera.

14. An accessory according to claim 1, wherein the accessory is a magnetically mountable in-vehicle camera.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) One or more embodiments of the present invention are described further hereinafter, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

(2) FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an isometric projection of a mount and “eye-ball” camera in a coupled configuration in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a plan view of a mount for mounting an “eye-ball” camera to a support structure in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

(4) FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a view of a mount for mounting an “eye-ball” camera to a support structure in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

(5) FIG. 4a schematically illustrates an isometric projection of an “eye-ball” camera which may be mounted to a mount in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

(6) FIG. 4b schematically illustrates an plan view of an “eye-ball” camera, viewed from a second perspective, which may be mounted to a mount in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and

(7) FIG. 5 schematically illustrates two isometric projections of an “eye-ball” camera which may be mounted to a mount in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(8) FIG. 1 is an illustrative example of a mount 10 and “eye-ball” camera 12 in a coupled configuration in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Mount 10 comprises an attachment member 14 at a first end of the mount 10 and can be removably attached to a structure such as the interior of a vehicle and more specifically a window of the vehicle. The attachment member 14 may be comprised of a self-adhesive material such as a 3M™ sticky foam pad or similar material. Attachment member 14 may also comprise a suction pad so as to allow the mount 10 to be repositioned. The mount 10 also comprises a mount coupling member 16 comprising first material in the form of a Neodymium magnet 20 which is located at a second end of the mount 10. The mount coupling member 16 may be configured so as to be removably attachable to the “eye-ball” camera 12 by way of the magnetic force provided by the Neodymium magnet between the mount coupling member 16 and a camera coupling member 18.

(9) In the illustrated embodiment it can be seen that the mount 10 and “eye-ball” camera 12 can be rotated 21 about their common axes. This provides up to 360 degrees of coaxial rotation in this common axes 21 due to the common shape between the elements of the mount 10 and the “eye-ball” camera 12. Optionally, in other examples, it may be desired to limit the rotation to less than 360 degrees by way of limiting device and the like.

(10) FIG. 2 is an illustrative example of the mount 10 when viewed in a plan view, i.e. when viewed tangentially from the second end of the mount 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The “eye-ball” camera 12 of FIG. 1 is not shown here. In this embodiment, mount 10 comprises a mount coupling member 16 having a concave configuration which matches the shape of magnetisable material on the “eye-ball” camera 12 to which the mount coupling member 16 couples. The “eye-ball” camera is so termed because it is substantially spherical, much like an eye-ball, and so the magnetisable material follows the outer contour of the camera 12. The mount coupling member 16 comprises the Neodymium magnet 20 and a spacer 22 which is located at the centre of the magnet 20. Neodymium has a higher coercivity than iron magnets therefore Neodymium maintains its magnetic properties for longer than is the case for a ferrous magnet. The specific rare earth magnet, such as Neodymium, is chosen to have a curie temperature outside of a reasonably anticipated temperature likely to be experienced in a vehicle.

(11) The spacer 22 is optional and may be of a resilient and/or resistive material such as a silicone material and exposed sufficiently above the surface of the magnet 20 such that it will be in contact with any “eye-ball” camera coupled to the mount 10. The optional spacer 22 of resilient and/or resistive material may be located on a spring such that if material is worn away the spring applies a small outward force tangentially to the surface of it. The force applied by the spring will maintain the distance that the optional spacer 22 of resistive and/or resilient material is exposed above the first material 20. It will be appreciated that any other friction material may be used for this purpose and the force applied to it may be provided by a mechanism other than a spring.

(12) In one or more embodiments, the spring is a magnetic “floating spring” i.e., a cylindrical magnet within a cylindrical cut out of the main magnet which attempts to align itself due to it being the same height and hence is biased to raise the silicone above the surface of the concavity if the arc were continued.

(13) In one or more embodiments the silicone spacer material provides a sliding resistance or friction (“sticktion”) to provide a user with positive tactile feedback as the mount is slidably moved over the camera.

(14) The mount attachment member 14 can be seen to be in a plane which is substantially tangential or perpendicular to the plane of the mount coupling member 16. When the mount 10 is secured to a surface by way of the attachment member 14 the direction normal to the plane of first material 20 will be substantially parallel to the plane of the surface upon which it is attached.

(15) In this embodiment the mount 10 is designed to have a minimal footprint upon the surface that it is mounted upon. In the field of dashcams and specifically rear view dash cams it is advantageous to have a small footprint so as to maintain visibility through the windscreen (windshield) for the driver of the vehicle.

(16) FIG. 4a is an illustrative example showing an isometric projection of the “eye-ball” camera 12 when viewed from a first position in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Such an “eye-ball” camera 12 may be shaped such that it is complementary to the shape of the mount 10. In this embodiment, the “eye-ball” camera is spherical in shape. The “eye-ball” camera 12 comprises a second magnetisable material 24 disposed on its surface 23. The second magnetisable material 24 may be positioned such that it is flush with or proud of the surface 23. It may also be located under the surface of the “eye-ball” camera.

(17) The second magnetisable material 24 has a width 26 and length 28. It will be appreciated that the width 26 and length 28 of the magnetisable material 24 is the length along the surface of the magnetisable material 24 and as such they follow the curve of the shape of the magnetisable material 24. The magnetisable material is a material 24 such that when brought into proximity with the magnet 20 there is an attractive force between the two. Thus, the second material 24 is comprised of material that will experience a magnetic attraction to magnet 20 such as a metal. Other materials may be used such that there is an attractive force between the first and second material of the mount 10 and “eye-ball” camera 12 respectively; the materials are not limited to magnetic materials and the example of such is used for illustrative purposes only.

(18) The shape of the magnetisable material 24 is such that when brought into contact with the mount 10 it fits into the concave shape of the first material 20 and is held in a positive coupling configuration by the magnetic force between the two materials. Due to the spherical shape of the “eye-ball” camera 12 there are a number of possible coupling arrangements between it and the mount 10. This allows a user to couple the “eye-ball” camera 12 at position relative to the mount 10 so long that there is a sufficient magnetic force between the magnet 20 and second magnetisable material 24. The “eye-ball” camera 12 and mount 10 can be moved about the common central points. For example, when positioning the mount 10 onto a support surface by way of the attachment member 14 the user may make a mistake in the angle of placement of said mount 10. Without the flexibility to position the “eye-ball” camera 12 in a number of positions relative to the mount 10 it may be that the “eye-ball” camera is facing the wrong angle for desired use.

(19) Existing technologies use other mounting mechanisms to account for this problem such as using a ball joint type connecting arm and the like. The disadvantage of this is that is increases the quantity of moving parts which can lead to more components to damage. The device will also be held at a greater distance from the support surface on which the mount is fixed meaning that any forces subjected to it by movement of the support surface will be increased. Moreover, when removing the device the position of the arm/ball joint may be altered. This means that when placing the device back, the mount has to be reset. If a universal joint is utilised, there is a significant degree of freedom for a user to incorrectly mount the camera 12 but by restricting the coupling position and movement by appropriately dimensioning the magnet 20 and shaping the magnetisable material 24 the user is restricted to the positions they can orient the camera 12 and maintain coupling to the mount 10 as described further below.

(20) By using a coupling arrangement such as the one described in relation to FIGS. 1-3 above, the user is able to removably couple and decouple the “eye-ball” camera 12 to the mount 10 in a simplified and repeatable manner. The ratio of the width 26 of the second magnetisable material 24 to the width 19 of the magnet 20 is greater than 1. That is, the width 26 of the second magnetisable material 24 is greater than the width 19 of the magnet 20. The technical effect of this is to limit the motion of the “eye-ball” camera 12 in one axis across the width 26 of the “eye-ball” camera 12. The magnet 20 is not required to be in full contact with the second magnetisable material 24 across its whole width 19. The strength of the attractive force between the magnet 20 and second magnetisable material 24 is sufficient to securely maintain the “eye-ball” camera 12 in a coupled position when the magnet 20 is only partially contacting the second magnetisable material 24.

(21) This reduces freedom of movement of the “eye-ball” camera 12 relative to the mount 10 along one direction. That is to say there are a reduced amount of angles at which the device 12 can be relative to the mount 10.

(22) However, the length 28 of the second magnetisable material 24 extends substantially around the device 12 and permits movement of the device in a much greater range of angles when in coupled configuration with the mount 10.

(23) In some embodiments the “eye-ball” camera 12 may be an auxiliary camera for use with a dashcam system within a vehicle. The cable 30 transmits images captured by the “eye-ball” camera 12 to a storage system or other camera which it is connected to. The images captured by the “eye-ball” camera may be captured with a CCD chip or similar system. It is then serialised to be transmitted elsewhere via data and power cable 30.

(24) To estimate the minimum chord length 28 and chord width 26 of the second magnetisable material 24 required to achieve the desired adjustment in the two axis the approach is taken that a complete overlap of second magnetisable material 24 and magnet 20 is required. Optionally, in other estimations of the minimum width and length, the calculation may be done using other approaches such as 50% overlap between the first and second materials. Moreover, reference is made to FIG. 3 which is an illustrative example of an “eye ball” camera 12 showing the symbols for the equations set out below marked thereupon. The following equations show the relationship between width 26 and length 28 of second magnetic material 24 and the desired angles of adjustment:

(25) $\mathrm{Arc}\mathrm{angle}\mathrm{of}\mathrm{the}\mathrm{second}\mathrm{material}24\mathrm{width}={\theta }_{\mathrm{fw}}$$\mathrm{Arc}\mathrm{angle}\mathrm{of}\mathrm{the}\mathrm{magnet}20={\theta }_m$$\mathrm{Horizon}\mathrm{level}\mathrm{angular}\mathrm{adjusmtent}=\frac{{\theta }_{\mathrm{fw}}-{\theta }_m}{2}$

(26) The horizontal level of angular adjustment is the angle about the common central point of and away from the centre line 29 that the “eyeball camera” can be moved while maintaining the complete overlap.

(27) The angular adjustment of the windscreen angle is calculated as:
Arc angle of the second material 24 length=θ.sub.fl
Windscreen angle angular adjusmtent=θ.sub.fl−θ.sub.m

(28) The windscreen angle of angular adjustment is the angle along the centre line 29 about the common central point that the “eyeball camera” can be moved while maintaining the complete overlap between the first and second materials.

(29) With the above definitions the chord width 26 and chord length 28 of the second material 24 can be calculated to match the required adjustments.

(30) $\mathrm{Angle}\mathrm{of}\mathrm{arc}={\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{\mathrm{Chord}\mathrm{length}}{2*R}\right)*2$

(31) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Chord size 31 of first material (mm) 15.00 Magnet 20 arc angle (degrees) 45.86 Angular adjustment from horizontal (assuming mount is 5.00 horizontal) in each direction (degrees) Angular adjustment up and down (degrees) 80.00 Required second material 24 chord width 26 (mm) 18.03 Required second material 24 chord length 28 (mm) 34.28
Table 1 above is a specific example of a calculation for the minimum chord length 28 and chord width 26 of the second material 24 that may be used for a desired angle of adjustment of 5 degrees and 80 degrees. The calculation shows that to achieve this, a chord length and width of the second material that is on the “eyeball camera” 12 is 34.28 mm and 18.03 mm respectively.

(32) FIG. 4b is an illustrative example showing an isometric projection of the “eye-ball” camera 12 when viewed from a second position in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Viewed from this position the second magnetisable material 24 can be seen to extend from the top of the “eye-ball” camera 12 in a lengthwise direction toward the power and data cable 30.

(33) To illustrate the range of angles that the “eye-ball” camera 12 can move relative to the mount 10 while maintaining a coupled configuration FIG. 5 is provided and described. FIG. 5 is an illustrative example showing two isometric projections of the “eye-ball” camera 12 and mount 10 when viewed from a common position in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In this image a camera 32 can be seen to be situated at the front of the “eye-ball” camera 12. At position A the “eye-ball” camera 12 is in a coupled configuration such that the relative angle between the plane of the mounting surface 14 of the mount and the plane of the camera is approximately parallel. At position B the “eye-ball” camera 12 is in a coupled configuration such that the relative angle between the plane of the mounting surface 14 of the mount and the plane of the camera is substantially different to position A. The mount 10 has been moved backwards along the length of the second material 24 of “eye-ball” camera 12 and rotated about the common axis between the “eye-ball” camera and mount.

(34) Any references made herein to orientation (e.g. top, bottom, upper, lower, front, back, and rear) are made for the purposes of describing relative spatial arrangements of the features of the apparatus, and are not intended to be limiting in any sense.

(35) As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary, “or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example, a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true (or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or not present) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (or present).

(36) In addition, the terms “a” or “an” are employed to describe elements and components of the invention. This is done merely for convenience and to give a general sense of the invention. This description should be read to include one or at least one and the singular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is means otherwise.

(37) In view of the foregoing description it will be evident to a person skilled in the art that various modifications may be made within the scope of the invention. For example, embodiments in accordance with the invention are not limited to any of the particular materials disclosed herein. Other materials suitable for performing the function described herein for a particular material may also be utilized in embodiments of the invention. For example, although an embodiment in accordance with the present invention has been described with reference to a rear window in-vehicle camera a skilled person will understand that a forward facing, front window in-vehicle camera may also utilise, and/or be utilised in, an embodiment of the present invention. The mount, “eye-ball” camera and mount assembly taught herein may be utilised for mounting a variety of different camera or accessories or other apparatus whether in a vehicle or elsewhere.

(38) A magnetic force has been described as the force which couples the camera and mount together as it is a particularly suitable force for that purpose but other forces may be employed. In the above-described one or more embodiments, a magnetic material 20 has been disclosed as providing an attractive force. The magnetic material 20 need not be limited to neodymium but may be another rare-earth magnetic material, or a permanent ferrous magnetic material. However, the first material 20 may be of any material such that a material on any corresponding device 12 is attracted to it and need not be limited to a magnetic material and magnet force.

(39) A magnetisable material has been referred to in the foregoing description. Such a material includes a material that is magnetisable to become magnetised itself as well as a material that is merely attracted to a magnet force without becoming magnetised. A specific example would be a metal plate such as a ferrous metal plate, or a region of the eye-ball camera housing impregnated with a magnetisable material such as a ferrous material.

(40) Although and embodiment has been described with a magnet disposed on the mount, the magnet may be disposed on the accessory and the magnetisable material disposed on the mount. Optionally, the magnetisable material may be a magnet also.

(41) The scope of the present disclosure includes any novel feature or combination of features disclosed therein either explicitly or implicitly or any generalisation thereof irrespective of whether or not it relates to the claimed invention or mitigate against any or all of the problems addressed by the present invention. The applicant hereby gives notice that new claims may be formulated to such features during prosecution of this application or of any such further application derived therefrom. In particular, with reference to the appended claims, features from dependent claims may be combined with those of the independent claims and features from respective independent claims may be combined in any appropriate manner and not merely in specific combinations enumerated in the claims.