Digital Camera Patent Abstract
An ergonomically designed digital camera includes a hand grip that
can be comfortably held by one hand and a lens assembly that is
positioned above and connected to the hand grip by a telescoping
and rotating device. The hand grip has one or more buttons including
a shutter trigger located on a front surface of the hand grip, and
one or more command control buttons located on a back surface of
the hand grip. The lens assembly includes a memory device that stores
digital images or videos and a micro display viewfinder located
on a back surface of the lens assembly. The lens assembly may also
include a fill-in flash and/or a telescoping flash. Digital Camera Patent Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An ergonomically designed digital camera, comprising:
a hand grip capable of being comfortably held by one hand;
one or more buttons including a shutter trigger located on a front
surface of the hand
one or more command control buttons located on a back surface of
the hand grip;
a lens assembly, comprising:
a lens located on a front surface of the lens assembly, that is
positioned above and connected to the hand grip by a telescoping
and rotating device; and
a forehead rest located on a back surface of the lens assembly;
and
a memory device, operatively connected to the lens, that stores
digital images or videos.
2. The ergonomically designed digital camera of claim 1, further
comprising a microdisplay viewfinder located on a back surface of
the lens assembly.
3. The ergonomically designed digital camera of claim 2, wherein
the microdisplay viewfinder displays a mode menu controlled by the
one or more command control buttons.
4. The ergonomically designed digital camera of claim 1, further
comprising pull-out or swing-out eye blocker.
5. The ergonomically designed digital camera of claim 1, further
comprising an image stabilization.
6. The ergonomically designed digital camera of claim 1, further
comprising a battery compartment located in the hand grip that uses
one or more of the following batteries to provide power for the
camera: standard AA batteries, lithium batteries, or various rechargeable
batteries.
7. The ergonomically designed digital camera of claim 1, wherein
the telescoping and rotating device is pivotable and/or flexible.
8. The ergonomically designed digital camera of claim 1, wherein
the lens or an image array is rotatable between a portrait position
and a landscape position.
9. The ergonomically designed digital camera of claim 8, wherein
the rotation between the portrait position and the landscape position
is achieved by depressing portrait/landscape rotate buttons.
10. The ergonomically designed digital camera of claim 1, further
comprising a fill-in flash that is located on the front surface
of the lens assembly.
11. The ergonomically designed digital camera of claim 1, further
comprising a telescoping flash that is located on the lens assembly,
wherein the telescoping flash can be raised and/or tilted for red-eye
reduction or special effects.
12. The ergonomically designed digital camera of claim 1, wherein
the forehead rest is padded for comfort.
13. The ergonomically designed digital camera of claim 1, wherein
the forehead rest comprises an anti-slip surface.
14. The ergonomically designed digital camera of claim 1, wherein
the hand grip is a joy-stick type hand grip.
15. The ergonomically designed digital camera of claim 1, wherein
the one or more buttons are designed and located to be depressed
by an index finger and/or other non-thumb fingers on the hand holding
the hand grip.
16. The ergonomically designed digital camera of claim 1, wherein
the shutter trigger is designed and located to be depressed by an
index finger on the hand holding the hand grip.
17. The ergonomically designed digital camera of claim 1, wherein
the one or more command control buttons are designed and located
to be depressed by a thumb on the hand holding the hand grip.
18. The ergonomically designed digital camera of claim 1, wherein
the one or more command control buttons include one or more of the
following: zoom control, flash, delay timer, exposure offset, display
previous picture(s), display next picture(s), delete last picture,
delete all pictures, scrolling key, select, or portrait/landscape
rotate buttons.
19. An ergonomically designed digital camera, comprising:
a hand grip capable of being comfortably held by one hand;
one or more buttons including a shutter trigger located on a front
surface of the hand grip;
one or more command control buttons located on a back surface of
the hand grip;
a lens assembly, comprising:
a lens located on a front surface of the lens assembly, that is
positioned above and connected to the hand grip by a telescoping
and rotating device; and
a forehead rest located on a back surface of the lens assembly;
a memory device, operatively connected to the lens that stores
digital images or videos;
a microdisplay viewfinder located on a back surface of the lens
assembly;
a fill-in flash that is located on a front surface of the lens
assembly; and
a telescoping flash that is located on the lens assembly, wherein
the telescoping flash can be raised and/or tilted for red eye reduction
or special effects.
Digital Camera Patent Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
The technical field is ergonomically designed digital cameras.
BACKGROUND
Digital cameras are becoming increasingly popular, given today's
fast growing computer technology. Among the many advantages, digital
cameras can be made compact because they do not need film, and the
digital images produced by digital cameras can be downloaded easily
to a computer, printer or television, stored electronically, sent
to the internet, and e-mailed to friends and family.
However, the digital cameras available in the market today are
not designed to be comfortably held or operated. Normally, a person
taking a picture has to hold the camera with both hands, and raise
the entire camera to eye level.
Efforts have been made to make digital cameras smaller, lighter,
or even resembling a remote control so that they can be operated
by one hand. However, those efforts have not eased the discomfort
of having to position the hand awkwardly in order to raise the camera
to eye level.
Another problem associated with the traditional cameras and digital
cameras is that in order to switch between a portrait and a landscape
position, a user has to tilt the entire camera 90 degrees, putting
the user's hands in an awkward and uncomfortable position.
Yet another problem associated with the traditional cameras and
digital cameras is that the viewfinder found in most digital cameras
normally has a low resolution display and drains much of the battery
power.
Still another problem associated with the traditional cameras and
digital cameras is that the built-in flash, typically positioned
near the lens, can cause red-eye effect when it flashes.
SUMMARY
An ergonomically designed digital camera takes a big step forward
from the traditional way that digital cameras are built. The camera
enables a user to take pictures with the user's hands in a comfortable
and natural position. The camera includes a hand grip that is designed
to be comfortably held by one hand, and a lens assembly that is
positioned above and may be connected to the hand grip by a telescoping
and rotating device. The hand grip may include one or more buttons
including a shutter trigger located on a front surface of the hand
grip, and one or more command control buttons located on a back
surface of the hand grip. The camera also includes a memory device,
operatively connected to the lens, that stores digital images or
videos. The ergonomically designed digital camera may further include
a portrait/landscape rotate button that enables a user to rotate
the lens or an image array between a portrait position and a landscape
position by simply pushing the button. In addition, the camera may
include a microdisplay viewfinder that offers a high resolution
display and helps to conserve battery power. The camera may also
include a telescoping flash that can be raised high above the lens
to achieve red-eye reduction or other special effects.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The detailed description will refer to the following drawings in
which like numerals refer to like items, and wherein;
FIG. 1(a) is a front view of one embodiment of the ergonomically
designed digital camera.
FIG. 1(b) is an other front view of the embodiment of the ergonomically
designed digital camera.
FIG. 2(a) is a back view of the embodiment of the ergonomically
designed digital camera.
FIG. 2(b) is an other back view of the embodiment of the ergonomically
designed digital camera.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1(a) is a front view of one embodiment of the ergonomically
designed digital camera, which comprises two sections. A lower section
of the digital camera includes a hand grip 100 capable of being
comfortably held by either hand. The hand grip 100 may be designed
to resemble a joy stick used for video games, thus especially appealing
to the "NINTENDO" generation.
The hand grip 100 may include a shutter trigger 110 located on
a front surface of the hand grip 100. The shutter trigger 110 may
be designed and located to be depressed by an index finger on the
hand holding the hand grip 100. The shutter trigger 110 may include
multiple positions to lock in settings before snapping the pictures.
The hand grip 100 may also include additional front surface buttons
(not shown) for controlling additional features such as zoom in
and zoom out. The zoom control buttons may be controlled by other
non-thumb fingers and may control the rate of zoom based on how
far the buttons are pushed. The zoom control buttons may alternatively
be located on a back surface of the hand grip 100 and may be controlled
by the thumb. The hand grip 100 may also include a flat base that
enables the hand grip 100 to sit firmly on a flat surface. A battery
compartment 130 may be located in the base portion of the hand grip
100. Any standard battery may be used to provide power to the ergonomically
designed digital camera, examples being one or more standard AA
batteries, lithium batteries or various rechargeable batteries.
The battery compartment 130 may comprise a battery access (not shown)
that provides access to the battery compartment 130.
An upper section of the digital camera, a lens assembly 200, is
positioned above the hand grip 100 and connected to the hand grip
100 by a telescoping and rotating device 160. The telescoping and
rotating device 160 is shown more clearly in FIG. 1(b) and will
be described in detail later.
The lens assembly 200 may comprise a lens 120 and a fill-in flash
150 both of which may be located on a front surface of the lens
assembly 200. The lens 120 and the fill-in flash 150 may be similar
to standard lenses and flashes commonly found on other digital cameras.
The lens assembly 200 may also include a telescoping flash 140,
which may be connected to the lens assembly 200 by a telescoping
and rotating device 170. The telescoping and rotating device 170
may be similar to a telescoping antenna that can be extended and
rotated freely. The telescoping and rotating device 170 may be designed
to be pivotable and/or flexible, enabling the telescoping flash
140 to be bent in any direction that the user desires. The telescoping
flash 140 may be raised high above eye level for red-eye reduction.
The telescoping flash 140 may also be tilted vertically to achieve
special effects, such as soft lighting, side-lighting for special
shadow effects, etc. FIGS. 1(b) and 2(b) shows more clearly the
telescoping flash 140 in an extended position. The fill-in flash
150 described earlier may be eliminated, switched of for to a reduced
power level, given the more functional telescoping flash 140.
The ergonomically designed digital camera takes discrete still
digital images, compresses and stores the digital data files representative
of the se digital images in a memory device 180. Although described
for still images, many of the benefits described also can apply
to the capture of moving images (videos). The memory device 180
may be similar to a standard memory device found in other digital
cameras. For example, the memory associated with the memory device
180 may be a semiconductor memory such as SRAM, RAM, hard disk,
tape, or flash memory. Depending on the design preference, the memory
device 180 may be located either in the hand grip 100 or in the
lens assembly 200.
A device not shown in the Figures is a microprocessor for controlling
the digital camera. The microprocessor may be similar to a standard
digital camera microprocessor. The microprocessor may execute instructions
to generate the mode menu, take pictures, store digital images or
videos, etc, and may respond to command control buttons 210, which
will be described later in detail, and the shutter trigger 110 to
control the operation of the digital camera. These instructions
may be stored in memory associated with the processor.
FIG. 1(b) is an other front view of the camera. The telescoping
and rotating device 160 that connects the hand grip 100 and the
lens assembly 200 is in an extended position. The telescoping and
rotating device 160, like the telescoping and rotating device 170,
may be similar to a telescoping antenna that can be extended and
rotated freely. The telescoping and rotating device 160 may be designed
to be pivotable and/or flexible, enabling the lens assembly 200
to be bent in any direction that the user desires. Accordingly,
when taking a picture, a user may raise the lens assembly 200 to
eye level while at the same time keeping the hand that is holding
the hand grip 100 in a comfortable and natural position, for example,
at elbow level. This feature greatly reduces the discomfort associated
with having to position the hand awkwardly in order to raise the
camera to eye level. Once adjusted, the telescoping and rotating
device 160 may remain in position by friction or a manual securing
device. The ergonomically designed digital camera may also include
electronic image stabilization (not shown) to reduce images blur
due to small motions of the camera.
FIG. 1(b) also gives a better illustration of the shutter trigger
110 and the battery compartment 130, which are described earlier.
FIG. 2(a) is a back view of the camera. One or more command control
buttons 210 may be located on the upper back surface of the hand
grip 100. The command control buttons 210 may be designed and located
to be depressed by a thumb on the hand holding the hand grip 100.
The command control buttons 210 may include control buttons normally
found on other digital cameras, such as: zoom control buttons, a
flash button, a delay timer button, an exposure offset button, a
display previous picture(s) button, a display next picture(s) button,
a delete last picture button, and a delete all pictures button.
Alternatively, by utilizing a scrolling key and a select button,
the command control buttons 210 may contain only one or two buttons
to achieve the standard functions of a typical digital camera. The
scrolling key and select button may be used to select features displayed
on the microdisplay viewfinder 220, for example, in a mode menu,
which will be described in detail later.
The command control buttons 210 may also include a portrait/landscape
rotate button, so that a user can rotate the lens or an image array
between a portrait position and a landscape position by simply pressing
the button. The portrait position enables the taking of portrait
type pictures, and the landscape position enables the taking of
landscape type pictures. Alternatively, the switch between the portrait
position and the landscape position may be achieved by rotating
the lens assembly 200 manually.
The lens assembly 200 may include a microdisplay viewfinder 220,
which may be located on a back surface of the lens assembly 200.
The microdisplay viewfinder 220 may be used by left or right eye,
and over eyeglasses. The lens assembly 200 may also include a pull-out
or swing-out opaque or translucent eye blocker 240 (shown in FIGS.
2(a) and 2(b)) to cover the eye not looking in the viewfinder. The
eye blocker 240 may overcome the problem most people have when seeing
a different image in each eye or having to close one eye. A microdisplay
is typically defined as a flat-panel display technology under 1-inch
in diagonal. A magnified microdisplay viewfinder 220 in a digital
camera typically optically magnifies the display image but creates
a virtual (as opposed to real) image that appears recessed inside
the viewfinder. As a result, when a user looks into the microdisplay
viewfinder 220, he sees an image that appears much larger and floating
some distance from the viewer. The microdisplay viewfinder 220 may
provide a user with a real time preview of the pictures to be taken
and also a post view of already taken pictures. The microdisplay
viewfinder 220 may also offer much higher resolution than a direct
view display, may be up to 1280.times.1024, that is comparable to
computer screens. The microdisplay viewfinder 220 may also reduce
costs associated with the ergonomically designed digital camera,
because the camera will be less bulky and heavy, and because the
microdisplay may save battery power.
The microdisplay viewfinder 220 may display a mode menu (not shown),
which may be controlled by the command control buttons 210. The
mode menu may be similar to a mode menu found in other digital cameras.
The mode menu comprises options and features which the user may
select and makes the operation of a camera more user friendly, because
a user can see what he is selecting. For example, the mode menu
may allow the user to display previous pictures and delete the displayed
picture by depressing the appropriate command control buttons 210.
The microdisplay may also overlay information over the live or captured
image, such as low light or low battery warnings and/or camera settings.
Alternatively, the ergonomically designed digital camera may use
a regular optical viewfinder, which is commonly used in other cameras.
In addition, the camera may use a regular direct view display, which
is commonly used in other digital cameras. However, the regular
direct view display takes up more space, drains more battery power,
and can be harder to see in high or low ambient light levels.
The lens assembly 200 may also include a forehead rest 230, which
may be located on the upper back surface of the lens assembly 200.
The forehead rest 230 enables a user to lean or rest the digital
camera against his forehead while looking through the microdisplay
viewfinder 220 to enhance stabilization, keeping the camera from
moving or sliding around. The forehead rest 230 may be padded to
increase the comfort level and may contain a high friction surface
to help reduce slipping.
FIG. 2(b) is an other back view of the camera. The telescoping
and rotating device 160, which connects the hand grip 100 and the
lens assembly 200, is in the extended position. As described earlier,
the extended position of the telescoping and rotating device 160
enables the user's hand to stay in a comfortable and natural position
while taking pictures.
The terms and descriptions used here are set forth by way of illustration
only and are not meant as limitations. Those skilled in the art
will recognize that numerous variations are possible within the
spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. |