JP2009141831A - Photographing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To more easily perform photographing in an easy posture and through remote control even for a portion that is difficult to photograph. <P>SOLUTION: A photographing apparatus 1 includes an approximately ladder-shaped frame 5, a motor-driven mount 3 is attached in its lower end portion, and a digital camera 2, a floodlight 4 and the like are placed on the motor-driven mount 3. Furthermore, a stopper member 9 which is protruded to right and left is attached to the frame 5, so that the stopper member 9 is caught in an opening 8a of a structure 8 for preventing the frame from falling. Moreover, the camera 2 is operated by a personal computer 7 connected via a USB cable 10, and the motor-driven mount 3 is operated by a remote controller 6. The photographing apparatus 1 is disposed as illustrated and remotely controlled by the personal computer 7 or the remote controller, so that a lower face of the structure 8 can be easily photographed in an easy posture. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

    The present invention relates to a photographing apparatus capable of photographing by remote control.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when repairing an aging structure, the necessity of the repair is examined based on the image after the structure is photographed with a camera (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ). In addition, a structure is photographed with a camera for a purpose other than the examination of the necessity of renovation.
JP 2003-035528 A

    However, shooting may be difficult depending on the structure. For example, if you want to obtain an image of the ceiling of a tank that stores liquid, if you want to obtain an image of the lower surface of a pier at a port, or if you want to obtain an image of the lower surface of a bridge, the operator cannot easily see The part had to be photographed, and the work was difficult. For example, when acquiring an image of the ceiling surface of the tank, an operator holding a camera or a light enters the tank through the ladder from an opening (see reference numeral 8a in FIG. 3) provided in the ceiling portion, The ceiling surface (see reference numeral 8b in the figure) had to be photographed while being held by the ladder, which was a difficult task. Although there is a method of shooting with a small boat floating in the tank, it was difficult to shoot because the boat shook. In particular, in the case of a tank for storing tap water, it is preferable that an operator does not enter the tank in view of hygiene. Also, since the operator cannot easily approach the lower surface of the pier or the lower surface of the bridge, it was difficult to photograph them.

    An object of the present invention is to provide a photographing apparatus capable of solving the above-described problems.

The invention according to claim 1 is illustrated in FIG. 1, and in the photographing device (1) capable of photographing by remote control,
Camera (2),
An electric mount (3) for swingably supporting the camera (2);
Illumination means (4) for illuminating the subject;
A frame (5) in which the electric mount (3) and the illumination means (4) are attached in the vicinity of one end;
A gantry operating means (6) for controlling the swing position of the camera (2) based on remote control of the electric gantry (3);
Camera operating means (7) for remotely operating the camera (2).

    The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1, wherein the frame (5) includes a plurality of vertical members (5a) and a plurality of horizontal members (5a) spanned between the plurality of vertical members (5a). 5b) and is formed in a substantially ladder shape.

    The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 2, wherein the substantially ladder-like frame (5) is configured to be foldable as illustrated in FIG.

    The invention according to claim 4 is detachably attached to the frame (5) so as to protrude on both sides in the width direction of the frame (5) in the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3. And a stopper member (9).

    Note that the numbers in parentheses are for the sake of convenience indicating the corresponding elements in the drawings, and therefore the present description is not limited to the descriptions on the drawings.

    According to the inventions according to claims 1 and 2, the operator appropriately adjusts the position of the frame so that the camera faces the direction of the subject, fine adjustment of the swing position of the camera is performed by the gantry operating means, Further, by operating the camera operating means, it is possible to take a picture by remote control even for a subject that is in a position that cannot be viewed by an operator.

    According to the invention of claim 3, carrying becomes easy.

    According to the invention which concerns on Claim 4, fall can be prevented using the said stopper member.

    The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 1 is a front view showing an example of the overall configuration of the photographing apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of the folded state of the photographing apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the inside of a tank is photographed using the photographing apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing an image photographed as shown in FIG.

    A photographing apparatus according to the present invention is exemplified by reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1, and includes a camera 2, an electric mount 3 that swingably supports the camera 2, an illumination unit 4 that illuminates a subject, A frame 5 in which the electric gantry 3 and the illumination means 4 are attached in the vicinity of one end; a gantry operating means 6 for controlling the swing position of the camera 2 based on remote operation of the electric gantry 3; and the camera 2 and a camera operation means 7 for remotely operating 2. Thus, the operator appropriately adjusts the position of the frame 5 so that the camera 2 faces the direction of the subject, fine adjustment of the swing position of the camera 2 is performed by the gantry operating means 6, and the camera operating means By operating No. 7, even a subject in a position that cannot be visually recognized by the operator can be easily photographed by remote operation.

    Of these, the frame 5 is preferably configured such that the dimension in the length direction (dimension in the vertical direction on the paper surface) is longer than the dimension in the width direction (dimension in the horizontal direction on the paper surface). The vertical member 5a and the plurality of horizontal members 5b spanned between the plurality of vertical members 5a may be configured in a substantially ladder shape. The frame 5 is preferably about 3 m long so that it can be easily carried, made of a lightweight material such as aluminum, and further provided with a hinge (not shown) as shown in FIG. It is good to constitute so that it can be folded. When the frame 5 is made foldable as described above, it is preferable that a lock member 5c is provided as appropriate so that the frame 5 can be locked in the extended state (the state shown in FIG. 1). The lock member 5c shown in FIG. 2 is a buckle type used for ski shoes, skates, etc. Of course, the lock member 5c is not limited to this, and may have another structure. In addition, it is not necessary to make the whole frame 5 fully extended at the time of photographing, and a part (for example, a portion protruding upward from an opening 8a of the tank 8 described below) is in a folded state. You can keep it.

    Incidentally, reference numeral 8 in FIGS. 1 and 3 represents a tank as an example of a structure photographed by the photographing apparatus 1, and reference numeral 8a represents an opening formed in a ceiling portion of the tank 8. When the photographing apparatus 1 is used while being suspended from the opening 8a, a stopper member 9 longer than the diameter of the opening 8a is provided on the frame 5 in order to prevent the photographing apparatus 1 from dropping. You may provide so that it may protrude in the width direction both sides. The stopper member 9 may be configured to be detachable so that the mounting position can be changed according to the water level in the tank.

    On the other hand, as the above-mentioned electric mount 3, it is preferable to use a type that can be remotely operated by a dedicated remote controller or a personal computer (for example, an electric mount for swinging the astronomical telescope).

    Furthermore, as the camera 2 described above, a digital camera or a video camera that can shoot still images and / or moving images may be used.

    1 shows a personal computer in which software for operating the camera is installed, but the present invention is not limited to this and may be other than a personal computer. For example, use a remote controller that can operate at least on / off of shooting (shutter in the case of a digital camera) (sold as an optional product of the camera, which sends signals by wire or infrared) You may do it. Further, the gantry operating means 6 shown in FIG. 1 is a remote controller dedicated to the electric gantry, but of course is not limited to this. There may be.

    The power supply to the illumination means 4 may be performed by an outlet, a generator, or a battery. The illumination unit 4 does not need to finely adjust the irradiation position when the irradiation range is wide, but it is necessary to adjust the position so that the subject is irradiated when the irradiation range is narrow. For that purpose, it is preferable to support the irradiation means 4 together with the camera 2 on the above-described electric mount 3 so that the camera 2 and the irradiation means 4 are integrally swung. Even when the amount of illumination light is somewhat insufficient, it is possible to determine the state of the subject by correcting with the image correction software.

    In this example, the ceiling surface of the tank (see reference numeral 8b in FIG. 3) was photographed using the photographing apparatus 1 having the structure shown in FIGS. A brief description is given below.

    In the present embodiment, a digital camera (Power Shot S1 IS, manufactured by Canon Inc.) is used for the camera 2, and a dedicated software (Zoom Browser EX, manufactured by Canon Inc.) is installed in the camera operation means 7. A personal computer was used. Reference numeral 11 in FIGS. 1 and 2 denotes a battery box that is a power source of the electric mount 3. Further, the projector (illuminating means) 4 was placed on the electric mount 3 so as to swing together with the camera 2.

    In photographing, the frame 5 was conveyed to the photographing place in a folded state as shown in FIG. 2, and the frame 5 was extended and fixed with a buckle (lock member) 5c.

    The camera 2 and the personal computer 7 were connected by a USB cable 10, and the battery box 11 and the electric mount 3 were connected by a cable 12. Further, the remote controller 6 of the electric mount 3 was connected to the electric mount 3.

    The projector power cord 13, the camera USB cable 10, and the electric mount remote control cable 14 were appropriately fixed to the frame 5 and extended to the outside of the tank.

    When the software of the personal computer 7 is activated, an operation screen appears. When a predetermined icon is clicked with the mouse, the remote photographing mode is set. With this software, white balance, exposure correction, light adjustment correction, zoom, etc. can be performed, so adjustments were made as necessary. The photograph was taken by clicking the shutter icon with the mouse.

    When the inventors actually photographed the tank ceiling surface 8b in the state shown in FIG. 3, an image having a feeling as shown in FIG. 4 was obtained, and the presence or absence of cracks could be sufficiently determined. .

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an example of the overall configuration of the photographing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a state in which the photographing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is folded. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the inside of the tank is photographed using the photographing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing an image photographed as shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Imaging device 2 Camera 3 Electric mount 4 Illumination means (sender)
5 frame 5a vertical member 5b horizontal member 6 gantry operating means 7 camera operating means (notebook computer)
9 Stopper member

Claims (4)

In a photographing device capable of photographing by remote control,
A camera,
An electric mount for swingably supporting the camera;
Illumination means for illuminating the subject;
A frame in which the electric mount and the illumination means are attached in the vicinity of one end;
A gantry operating means for controlling the swing position of the camera based on remotely operating the electric gantry;
Camera operating means for remotely operating the camera;
An imaging apparatus comprising: The frame is formed in a substantially ladder shape by a plurality of vertical members and a plurality of horizontal members spanned between the plurality of vertical members.
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The substantially ladder-shaped frame is configured to be foldable,
The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: A stopper member detachably attached to the frame so as to protrude on both sides in the width direction of the frame;
The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

Images