JP2009288594A - Ball joint structure for arm and underwater photography equipment arm system having the ball joint structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an underwater photography equipment arm system having a ball joint structure with high weight resistance. <P>SOLUTION: The system has a head arm 5 for mounting an auxiliary photographing equipment, which has an end ball member 5a at its one end and an illuminating connection part 5b at its other end and is configured such that the one end is connected to a second end of a two-ball arm 4 by the ball joint structure 20 so as to be rotatable/fixable. The ball joint structure 20 includes: a pair of pressers 6a disposed opposite to each other to sandwich a pair of adjacent end ball members at a fixed interval and holding pressing face members made of hard rubber and disposed in contact with the peripheries of them; a through-hole screw 7 formed through the pair of pressers 6a; and a fastener 9 helically engaged with the screw portion of the screw 7 to fasten the pair of pressers 6a to the pair of adjacent end ball members, thereby bringing the pressing face members into contact with the pair of end ball members. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a ball joint structure between arms and an arm system for an underwater photographing apparatus including the ball joint structure.

  Conventionally, underwater photography devices such as underwater cameras and camera built-in housings are used for underwater photography devices to compensate for less light when photographing fish and underwater plants underwater. An arm system for attaching a photographing auxiliary device such as a target light or a video light is often used.

  A conventional example of such an arm system will be described with reference to FIGS.

  A conventional arm system 51 shown in FIG. 4 has a base plate 52 fixedly attached to the bottom of an underwater photographing device such as an underwater camera or a camera built-in housing, and is slidably fastened to the end of the base plate 52 and is ball-shaped from one end. Both ball arms 54 are provided with a slide fixing bracket 53 projecting an end member 53a and ball-like end members 54a and 54b at both ends, and connected to the slide fixing bracket 53 by a ball joint structure 60 whose one end can be rotated and fixed. A target light connected to the other end of each of the ball arms 54 by a ball joint structure 60 that can be rotated and fixed at one end. And a head arm 55 for attaching a photographing auxiliary device such as the above.

  A specific example of the ball joint structure 60 for connecting the both ball arms 54 and the head arm 55 is shown in an enlarged manner in FIGS.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the ball joint structure 60 includes a pair of ball-shaped end members 54b and 55a to be connected to each other while being spaced apart from each other in an opposing arrangement, and the ball-shaped end members 54b, For example, a pair of square plate-like pressing bodies 61a and 61b that are brought into contact with the outer periphery of 55a, and a hole provided in a corresponding arrangement at the center of the pair of pressing bodies 61a and 61b, the head is one pressing body. A threaded part 62a is brought into contact with the outer surface of the threaded part 61a, the threaded part 62a is protruded outward from the other pressing body 61b, and the threaded part 62a of the threading threaded body 62 is screwed together. Fastening the body 61b to the one pressing body 61a side to fix the pair of ball-shaped end members 54b, 55a to the pair of pressing bodies 61a, 61b, and the pair of pressing bodies 61a, 61b It is disposed, and a spring body 64 to provide a biasing force in a direction away a pair of pushing members 61a, to 61b, a.

  The ball joint structure 60 between the slide fixing bracket 53 and both ball arms 54 has the same configuration as described above.

  In the conventional ball joint structure 60, the contact area between the end surfaces of the pair of pressing bodies 61a and 61b facing the outer periphery of the ball-shaped end members 54b and 55a and the outer periphery of the ball-shaped end members 54b and 55a is shown in FIG. As shown, an O-ring 65 having a circular cross section is interposed.

  When the other pressing body 61b is fastened to the one pressing body 61a by the fastening tool 63, between the end face of the pressing body 61a and the O-ring 65, and between the end face of the pressing body 61b and the O-ring 65. These frictional forces are used to fix each other and to support the photographing auxiliary device attached to the head arm 55 so as to be in a fixed position.

  However, in the case of the above-described conventional arm system 51, as described above, the frictional force generated by the O-ring 65 that does not have a sufficient contact area with the end surface of the pressing body 61a in the ball joint structure 60 is used. Therefore, the fixing forces between the slide fixing bracket 53 and one end of both ball arms 54 and between the other end of both ball arms 54 and one end of the head arm 55 are not necessarily sufficient.

  As a result, when a photographing auxiliary device having a large weight is attached to the arm system 51, the fixing force of the ball joint structure 60 cannot withstand the weight, and the photographing auxiliary device can be held and fixed at a fixed position. The inconvenience arises that underwater photography cannot be performed smoothly.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a support arm system for supplementarily attaching a lighting fixture or the like to an underwater camera, for example.

The support arm system of Patent Document 1 connects a base plate and an arm using a universal joint, but measures are also taken to hold and fix a photographing auxiliary device having a large weight in a fixed position. Absent.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-237689

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is that the ball joint structure has a high weight resistance and a ball joint that can stably hold the photographing auxiliary device at a fixed position even when a large amount of the photographing auxiliary device is attached. There is no arm system for underwater photography equipment having a structure.

  The present invention relates to a base plate that is fixedly attached to the bottom of an underwater photographing device such as an underwater camera or a camera built-in housing, and a slide fixing bracket that is slidably attached to an end of the base plate so that a ball-shaped end member protrudes from one end. And both ball arms that have ball-shaped end members at both ends and are connected to a slide fixing bracket by a ball joint structure in which one end can be rotated and fixed, a ball-shaped end member at one end, and a lighting fixture connecting portion at the other end An arm for underwater photographing equipment comprising: a head arm for mounting a photographing auxiliary device connected to the other end of both ball arms by a ball joint structure capable of rotating and fixing at one end. The system, wherein the ball joint structure is a pair of ball-shaped end portions to be connected And a pair of pressing bodies each holding a planar pressing member made of hard rubber to be brought into contact with the outer periphery of the ball-shaped end member, and the pair of pressing bodies. A through screw body and a threaded portion of the through screw body are screwed together, and the pair of pressing bodies are tightened with the pair of ball-shaped end members sandwiched therebetween, and the planar pressing members are joined to the pair of ball-shaped end members. The most important feature is that it has a clamping tool to be brought into press contact.

  According to the first and second aspects of the present invention, since the contact area between the planar pressing member made of hard rubber provided on the pressing body and the outer periphery of the ball-shaped end member is large, the frictional force is increased and the weight resistance is increased. Therefore, it is possible to provide a ball joint structure capable of stably supporting an object such as an underwater photographing apparatus supported by an arm at a fixed position. In addition, if a spring body that applies an urging force in a direction away from the pair of pressing bodies is added, an operation such as adjusting the position of the pair of arms by loosening the fastening tool to separate the pair of pressing bodies. Becomes easy.

  According to the third and fourth aspects of the present invention, since the contact area between the planar pressing member made of hard rubber provided on the pressing body and the outer periphery of the ball-shaped end member is large, the frictional force increases and the ball joint Since the structure itself is highly resistant to weight, we provide an arm system for underwater photographic equipment that has a ball joint structure that can stably hold the photographic auxiliary equipment in place even when a large weight of auxiliary equipment is attached. can do. In addition, if a spring body that applies a biasing force in a direction away from the pair of pressing bodies is added, the fastening tool is loosened to separate the pair of pressing bodies, and the position of the pair of arms is adjusted to adjust the position of the pair of photographing assisting devices. The operation for changing the position of the camera with respect to the underwater photographing device becomes easy.

  The present invention is for an underwater photographing apparatus having a ball joint structure that can stably hold a photographing auxiliary device in a fixed position even when a photographing auxiliary device having a high weight resistance and a large weight is attached. It has the purpose of providing an arm system.

  The present invention relates to a base plate that is fixedly attached to the bottom of an underwater photographing device such as an underwater camera or a camera built-in housing, and a slide fixing bracket that is slidably attached to an end of the base plate so that a ball-shaped end member protrudes from one end. And both ball arms that have ball-shaped end members at both ends and are connected to a slide fixing bracket by a ball joint structure in which one end can be rotated and fixed, a ball-shaped end member at one end, and a lighting fixture connecting portion at the other end An arm for underwater photographing equipment comprising: a head arm for mounting a photographing auxiliary device connected to the other end of both ball arms by a ball joint structure capable of rotating and fixing at one end. The ball joint structure includes a pair of ball-shaped end members to be connected. Corresponding to a pair of pressing bodies holding a planar pressing member made of hard rubber to be in contact with the outer periphery of the ball-shaped end member while being sandwiched in an opposed arrangement from the outside with a fixed interval, and a center portion of the pair of pressing bodies A through screw body that penetrates the hole provided in the arrangement, makes the head abut against the outer surface of one pressing body, and projects the tip end side of the screw portion outward from the other pressing body, and the screw of the through screw body Between the pair of pressing bodies, and a fastening tool that is screwed into a portion and clamps the other pressing body to the one pressing body side to press-contact each of the planar pressing members against a pair of ball-shaped end members. The above object is achieved by a configuration having a spring body that applies an urging force in a direction away from the pair of pressing bodies.

  Hereinafter, an arm system for an underwater photographing apparatus including a ball joint structure according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an arm system 1 for an underwater photographing device including a ball joint structure 20 according to the present embodiment includes a base plate 2 fixedly attached to a bottom portion of an underwater photographing device 30 such as an underwater camera or a camera built-in housing, The slide fixing bracket 3 has a ball-like end member 3a protruding from one end and ball-like end members 4a and 4b at both ends. Both ball arms 4 connected by a ball joint structure 20 that can be rotated and fixed, a ball-shaped end member 5a at one end, and a lighting fixture connecting portion 5b at the other end, External strobe, target light, and video A head arm 5 is a mounting member of the imaging assist device 31 such as a zeolite, a has.

  A specific example of the ball joint structure 20 for connecting the other end of the both ball arms 4 and one end of the head arm 5 is shown enlarged in FIGS.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ball joint structure 20 sandwiches a pair of ball-shaped end members 4b, 5a to be connected in an opposing arrangement from the outside with a predetermined interval therebetween, and the ball-shaped end members 4b, For example, a pair of square plate-like pressing bodies 6a and 6b that are brought into contact with the outer periphery of 5a and a hole provided in a corresponding arrangement in the center of the pair of pressing bodies 6a and 6b, the head is one pressing body. 6a is brought into contact with the outer surface of the threaded portion in a state where it cannot be removed, and screwed into the threaded portion 7 of the threaded portion 8 projecting outward from the other pressing body 6b and the threaded portion 8 of the threaded threaded body 7. A cylindrical knob-like fastening tool 9 for fastening the other pressing body 6b to the one pressing body 6a and fixing a pair of ball-like end members 4b, 5a to the pair of pressing bodies 6a, 6b, and the pair Between the pressing bodies 6a and 6b of the Pressing member 6a of, and a spring member 10 made of, for example, a coil spring providing a biasing force in a direction spaced 6b, the.

  The ball joint structure 20 between the slide fixing bracket 3 and one end of both the ball arms 4 has the same configuration as described above.

  In the ball joint structure 20, as shown in FIG. 3, the ball-shaped end members 4 b, 5 a are disposed on the respective end surface sides of the pair of pressing bodies 6 a, 6 b facing the outer periphery of the ball-shaped end members 4 b, 5 a. The ball-like end members 6c and 6d are made of hard rubber such as acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), which has a spherical surface on the side of the ball-like end members 4b and 5a. Two pieces each are fitted in an arrangement corresponding to the interval 4b, 5a.

  Next, the function and effect of the underwater photographing apparatus arm system 1 including the ball joint structure 20 of the present embodiment will be described mainly with respect to the weight resistance of the ball joint structure 20.

  According to the arm system 1 for an underwater photographing device including the ball joint structure 20 of the present embodiment, two planar pressing members 6c and 6d made of hard rubber respectively provided on the pair of pressing bodies 6a and 6b, and a pair The frictional force between the ball-shaped end members 4b and 5a and the outer periphery of each of the ball-shaped end members 4b and 5a is remarkably larger than the conventional structure using an O-ring due to the large contact area. Its own weight resistance is significantly higher than that of the conventional example.

  As a result, the underwater photographing apparatus arm system 1 having the ball joint structure 20 is attached to an underwater photographing apparatus 30 such as an underwater camera or a camera built-in housing, and an external strobe having a large weight with respect to the head arm 5; When underwater shooting is performed with a target light or the like and two ball joint structures 20 with the ball arm 4 and the head arm 5 at a desired angle, the external strobe, target light, etc. 30 can be stably held at a fixed position.

  That is, it is possible to smoothly perform underwater photographing on a subject such as fish while stably holding an external strobe, target light, etc. at a fixed position with respect to the underwater photographing device 30.

  Further, since the ball joint structure 20 includes the spring body 10 that applies a biasing force in a direction away from the pair of pressing bodies 6a and 6b, the fastening tool 9 is loosened to separate the pair of pressing bodies 6a and 6b. For example, the operation of the cameraman becomes easy and simple when adjusting the positions of both the ball arm 4 and the head arm 5 to change the position of the external strobe, target light, etc. with respect to the underwater photographing device 30.

  In the above-described embodiment, the single configuration in which the both ball arms 4 and the head arm 5 are disposed on one side of the underwater photographing apparatus 30 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and both the ball arms 4 and the head arm are disposed on both sides of the underwater photographing apparatus 30. Of course, it is also possible to provide an arm system having a double configuration in which 5 are arranged.

  In the above-described embodiment, the arm system including two ball joint structures has been described. However, it is of course possible to provide a simpler arm system including a single (one) ball joint structure. .

  The arm system having the ball joint structure according to the present invention can be widely applied not only to an underwater photographing apparatus but also to a still camera, a video camera and the like for performing land photographing. Furthermore, the present invention can also be applied as a ball joint structure in a mechanism element that connects arms so as to be rotatable and fixed.

It is the schematic which shows the whole arm system provided with the ball joint structure which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is the elements on larger scale of the ball joint structure concerning a present Example. It is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. It is the schematic which shows the whole arm system provided with the conventional ball joint structure. It is the elements on larger scale of the conventional ball joint structure. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 5.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Arm system for underwater photography equipment 2 Base plate 3 Slide fixing bracket 3a Ball-shaped end member 4 Both ball arms 4a Ball-shaped end member 4b Ball-shaped end member 5 Head arm 5a Ball-shaped end member 5b Lighting fixture connection part 6a Press body 6b Press Body 6c Planar pressing member 6d Planar pressing member 7 Penetrating screw body 8 Screw portion 9 Fastening tool 10 Spring body 20 Ball joint structure 30 Underwater photographing device 31 Imaging auxiliary device

Claims (4)

A ball joint structure for connecting a ball-shaped end member provided at each end of arms to be connected so as to be rotatable and fixed,
A pair of pressing bodies holding a planar pressing member made of hard rubber and sandwiching a pair of ball-shaped end members to be connected in an opposing arrangement from the outside with a predetermined interval therebetween, and
A through screw body disposed through the pair of pressing bodies;
A fastening tool that is screwed into a threaded portion of the through screw body, tightens the pair of pressing bodies in a state of sandwiching the pair of ball-shaped end members, and presses and contacts the planar pressing members to the pair of ball-shaped end members. When,
A ball joint structure characterized by comprising: A ball joint structure for connecting a ball-shaped end member provided at each end of arms to be connected so as to be rotatable and fixed,
A pair of pressing bodies holding a planar pressing member made of hard rubber and sandwiching a pair of ball-shaped end members to be connected in an opposing arrangement from the outside with a predetermined interval therebetween, and
Penetrating through a hole provided in a corresponding arrangement at the center of the pair of pressing bodies, causing the head to abut against the outer surface of one pressing body, and projecting the tip end of the screw portion outward from the other pressing body Screw body,
A tightening tool that is screwed into a threaded portion of the through screw body, tightens the other pressing body to one pressing body side, and presses and contacts each of the planar pressing members to a pair of ball-shaped end members;
A spring body that is disposed between the pair of pressing bodies, and applies a biasing force in a direction away from the pair of pressing bodies;
A ball joint structure characterized by comprising: A base plate that is fixedly attached to the bottom of an underwater camera such as an underwater camera or a camera built-in housing;
A slide fixing bracket that is slidably attached to an end of the base plate and has a ball-shaped end member protruding from one end;
Both ball arms having ball-shaped end members at both ends and being connected to a slide fixing bracket by a ball joint structure in which one end can be rotated and fixed;
A mounting head for a photographing auxiliary device, which has a ball-shaped end member at one end and a lighting fixture connecting portion at the other end, and is connected to the other end of the both ball arms by a ball joint structure capable of rotating and fixing at one end. Arm,
An arm system for an underwater photographing apparatus comprising a ball joint structure having
The ball joint structure is
A pair of pressing bodies that hold the planar pressing member made of hard rubber and that are sandwiched between the pair of ball-shaped end members to be connected, facing each other from the outside while being spaced apart from each other, and contacting the outer periphery of the ball-shaped end member; ,
A through screw body disposed through the pair of pressing bodies;
A fastening tool that is screwed into a threaded portion of the through screw body, tightens the pair of pressing bodies in a state of sandwiching the pair of ball-shaped end members, and presses and contacts the planar pressing members to the pair of ball-shaped end members. When,
An arm system for underwater photographing equipment comprising a ball joint structure characterized by comprising: A base plate that is fixedly attached to the bottom of an underwater camera such as an underwater camera or a camera built-in housing;
A slide fixing bracket that is slidably attached to an end of the base plate and has a ball-shaped end member protruding from one end;
Both ball arms having ball-shaped end members at both ends and being connected to a slide fixing bracket by a ball joint structure in which one end can be rotated and fixed;
A mounting head for a photographing auxiliary device, which has a ball-shaped end member at one end and a lighting fixture connecting portion at the other end, and is connected to the other end of the both ball arms by a ball joint structure capable of rotating and fixing at one end. Arm,
An arm system for an underwater photographing apparatus comprising a ball joint structure having
The ball joint structure is
A pair of pressing bodies holding a planar pressing member made of hard rubber and sandwiching a pair of ball-shaped end members to be connected in an opposing arrangement from the outside with a predetermined interval therebetween, and
Penetrating through a hole provided in a corresponding arrangement at the center of the pair of pressing bodies, causing the head to abut against the outer surface of one pressing body, and projecting the tip end of the screw portion outward from the other pressing body Screw body,
A tightening tool that is screwed into a threaded portion of the through screw body, tightens the other pressing body to one pressing body side, and presses and contacts each of the planar pressing members to a pair of ball-shaped end members;
A spring body that is disposed between the pair of pressing bodies, and applies a biasing force in a direction away from the pair of pressing bodies;
An arm system for underwater photographing equipment comprising a ball joint structure characterized by comprising:

Images