WO2020213902A1

WO2020213902A1 - Wearable camera

Info

Publication number: WO2020213902A1
Application number: PCT/KR2020/004969
Authority: WO
Inventors: 김용국; 조성래; 김용진; 김준세; 이지홍
Original assignee: 링크플로우 주식회사
Priority date: 2019-04-15
Filing date: 2020-04-13
Publication date: 2020-10-22
Also published as: KR102136349B1

Abstract

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a wearable camera, which can be worn on the neck by having, in a U-shaped case, three camera modules provided at regular angular intervals and can acquire a 360-degree omnidirectional image, particularly, to provide a wearable camera in which a metallic inner frame is coupled to the inside of a case through insert-injection, thereby enabling the prevention of shape deformation caused by an external influence, and constantly maintains the intervals between camera modules, thereby enabling an improvement in accuracy during stitching work on an image. To achieve the purpose, the wearable camera of the present invention comprises: a case (100) having a rear portion (F) and side portions (S) respectively protruding forward from both ends of the rear portion (F); three camera modules (200) respectively mounted on the rear portion (F) and the side portions (S); a power supply means (300) mounted inside the case (100) so as to supply power to the camera modules (200); and a control module (400), which combines images, captured with the camera modules (200), into one by means of image stitching, so as to generate a 360-degree image.

Description

Wearable camera

The present invention relates to a wearable camera, and in particular, to a wearable camera that can be worn on a body part such as a neck or a head, and is equipped with a plurality of cameras to capture 360 degree images.

A wearable camera refers to a camera device that is mounted on a body part such as a person's neck or head to photograph the user's surroundings, and has the advantage of being able to use both hands freely because the user does not need to carry it with his or her hands.

In general, a conventional wearable camera is formed in a form in which a small camera module is installed in a body formed in the form of an ear set or goggles worn on an ear.

In the wearable camera disclosed in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1254468, a semicircular ring-shaped earring part is fixed to both ends of an elastic wire, and a mounting part for mounting a camera module is provided on the earring part.

In the conventional wearable camera, the camera module can be attached and detached, and the front image can be acquired at the same height as the wearer's gaze, but because the body condition of the wearer is different, the camera flow occurs and the focus is difficult. There is a problem.

In addition, the wearable camera disclosed in Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2005-0089371 includes a frame that can be mounted on the head through an earring, an eye tracker that is mounted on the frame to detect the direction of the wearer's gaze, and the eye tracker detects it. A camera module that changes the direction of the lens according to the direction of the line of sight is provided.

However, since the wearable camera partially obscures the wearer's field of view, it is difficult to secure a field of view when moving, thus risking a safety accident.

In addition, since a conventional wearable camera mainly has one camera module installed and photographing only one location in the front or the rear, it is difficult to grasp the entire situation around the user.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a wearable camera that is provided with a U-shaped case that can be worn on the neck, and a plurality of camera modules are installed in the case so as to be spaced apart from each other to obtain a 360 degree image. It has its purpose to provide.

In addition, there is an object to provide a 360-degree all-round wearable camera with excellent image quality by minimizing the deformation of the case due to external influences such as external force or external heat to maintain a constant position and position between camera modules.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a wearable camera capable of increasing cooling efficiency by rapidly absorbing and dispersing heat generated from an application processor of a control module.

In order to achieve the above object, the wearable camera of the present invention includes: a case 100 comprising a rear portion F and side portions S protruding forward from both ends of the rear portion F; A camera module 200 which consists of three units and is mounted on the rear part F and the side part S, respectively; A power supply means (300) mounted inside the case (100) to supply power to the camera module (200); A control module 400 for generating a 360-degree image by combining the image captured by the camera module 200 into one by image stitching; Includes.

The case 100 includes

internal frames

110a and 120a made of a metal material; Outer frames (110b, 120b) made of a synthetic resin material and injection-molded to be coupled to the inner frames (110a, 120a) by inserting the inner frames (110a, 120a) into the injection mold; Includes.

The

inner frames

110a and 120a are press-formed products made of aluminum, and the

outer frames

110b and 120b are made of a PBT material to which glass fibers are added.

The case 100 includes: a first case 110 in which a first step portion 111 is formed along an outer edge; A second case 120 having a second step portion 121 engaged with the first step portion 111 along an outer edge thereof; An elastic adhesive member 130 applied between the first step portion 111 and the second step portion 121; Includes. Preferably, the elastic adhesive member 130 is applied to the upper end of the first step portion 111 to bond the first step portion 111 and the second step portion 121.

The control module 400 includes a main board 410 on which an application processor 411 is mounted; A first heat dissipation pad 420 attached to the application processor 411; A protective cover 430 mounted on the first heat dissipation pad 420; A vapor chamber 440 mounted on the protective cover 430; Includes.

The control module 400 includes a second heat dissipation pad 450 mounted between the steam chamber 440 and the

inner frames

110a and 120a; It includes more. Since a second heat dissipation pad is mounted between the steam chamber and the inner frame, heat conducted to the first heat dissipation pad 420, the protective cover, the steam chamber, and the second heat dissipation pad may be conducted to the inner frame. The inner frame is a material with high thermal conductivity, has a large area, and at the same time, it is easy to dissipate heat to the outside of the case through the outer frame.

It is preferable that the

inner frames

110a and 120a are formed of aluminum or an aluminum alloy material by a press method.

The case includes a rear portion F and a side portion S protruding forward from both ends of the rear portion F, and has a mounting space therein. One or more camera modules 200 are mounted in the mounting space of the case 100, and the control module processes image data captured by the camera module 200.

The control module 400 is mounted on the rear part F, and includes an application processor 411 and a heat dissipation component. It is preferable that at least a part of the

inner frames

110a and 120a of the case is exposed to the mounting space and the exposed portion contacts the heat dissipating component.

As described above, the wearable camera of the present invention can prevent deformation due to an external force, and thus, it is possible to improve accuracy and efficiency during image stitching by maintaining a constant distance and angle between camera modules.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the elastic support that is in close contact with the neck is provided, so that it can be applied to various body sizes, and when worn, the case is in close contact with the neck without deforming the case, so that the case can be fixed so that it does not fall out easily. , This has the effect of improving durability and safety.

According to an aspect of the present invention, heat of a main board including a processor disposed at the rear portion can be more rapidly diffused and discharged to the outside, thereby increasing cooling efficiency and preventing low-temperature burns of the back neck.

1 is a perspective view of a wearable camera according to an embodiment of the present invention,

2 is an exploded perspective view of a wearable camera according to an embodiment of the present invention,

3 is a perspective view showing a part of the wearable camera according to the embodiment of the present invention,

4 is a perspective view of the wearable camera according to an embodiment of the present invention in a cutaway state,

5 is an exploded perspective view of a control module according to an embodiment of the present invention,

6 is a plan view of a state in which an elastic support is attached to a camera case according to an embodiment of the present invention;

7 is a table showing a tensile force test result of a case of a wearable camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Terms and words used in this specification and claims are not limited to the usual or dictionary meanings, and the inventor is based on the principle that the concept of terms can be appropriately defined in order to describe the user's invention in the best way. It should be interpreted as a meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 to 6, a wearable camera according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a case 100, a camera module 200, a power supply unit 300, and a control module 400.

The case 100 is formed in a U-shape with both ends bent forward to be worn on the user's neck, and the camera module 200, the power supply means 300, and the control module ( 400) is implemented.

More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the case 100 includes a first case 110 disposed below and mounted on an upper portion of the first case 110 to It includes a second case 120 to be coupled. The first and second cases are hermetically bonded by an elastic adhesive member 130. The elastic adhesive member 130 is disposed in the gap between the first case 110 and the second case 120 to couple the first and second cases and secure airtightness at the same time.

The first case 110 has a rear portion F disposed at the rear of the wearer's neck according to the wearing position, and a side portion that protrudes forward from both ends of the rear portion F and disposed on both sides of the neck ( It consists of S).

That is, the first case 110 has a shape such as'U', the middle portion is disposed at the rear of the neck, and both ends are formed to extend forward while surrounding the side portion of the neck. In addition, the first case 110 is formed in a streamlined shape in which the cross section is convex in the downward direction to have a mounting space therein.

Here, the camera module 200, which will be described later, is fixedly installed at each of the rear portion F and both side portions S of the first case 110.

In addition, a first step 111 is formed along an edge of the first case 110. The first step portion 111 is formed to protrude upward from the upper end of the first case 110 along an inner rim.

Meanwhile, the second case 120 is formed to be substantially vertically symmetric with the first case 110, mounted on the first case 110, and fitted and coupled to the first case 110.

Specifically, the second case 120, like the first case 110, has a rear portion F disposed at the rear of the wearer's neck according to the wearing position, and from both ends of the rear portion F to the front. It consists of side portions (S) each protruding and disposed on both sides of the neck.

In addition, the second case 120 is formed in a streamlined shape in which the cross section is convex upward to form an installation space between the first case 110 and the second case 110.

A second step portion 121 is formed along the edge of the second case 120. The second stepped portion 121 is formed to be concave in the upper direction along the inner edge of the lower end of the second case 120.

The second step portion 121 is disposed to be engaged with the first step portion 111 when the second case 120 is coupled to the first case 110. That is, the upper end of the first step 111 and the upper end of the second step 121 (located upward in the drawing) face each other, and the outer circumferential surface of the first step 111 is the second step It is disposed facing the inner peripheral surface of 121.

Specifically, before the first case 110 is coupled to the second case 120, the elastic adhesive member 130 is applied to the upper end of the first step 111, and the first case 110 is When combined with the case 120, the upper end of the first step portion 111 is adjacent to the inner circumferential surface of the second step portion 121, so that the elastic adhesive member 130 is attached to the first step portion 111 The elastic adhesive member 130 fills the gap between the upper end and the outer circumferential surface of the first step part 111 and the upper end and inner circumferential surface of the second step part 121.

In this way, the elastic adhesive member 130 is provided between the upper end of the first step portion 111 and the inner circumferential surface of the second step portion 121, so that the second case 120 is ) Is adhered, but the adhesive does not flow out of the case, improving the appearance quality of the product. At the same time, the airtightness between the first step portion 111 and the second step portion 121 is improved, thereby preventing moisture from penetrating into the interior.

Meanwhile, the wearable camera according to an embodiment of the present invention creates a 360-degree image by stitching images from the three camera modules 200. Here, stitching refers to attaching photographs or images, and it means a task that can acquire an omnidirectional image of a 360° angle by processing several images taken from different angles with software and connecting them into one.

In the assembly process, after fixing various parts such as the camera module in the first case 110 and combining the second case 120 to complete the assembly, the image stitching quality is optimized through software calibration for each wearable camera product. The product is completed. If the positions or angles of the three cameras are post-deformed due to external shock or heat during product movement or use after completion, the stitching quality may deteriorate, resulting in lower image quality, and additional correction may be required during stitching.

That is, an accurate image is output only when the relative position and optical axis between the camera modules 200 are kept constant. To this end, the case in which the camera module is mounted must be implemented as a rigid body that minimizes rear deformation.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first case 110 and the second case 120 are respectively made of a metal material inner frames (110a, 120a) and the inner frames (110a, 120a) by insert injection. ) Is made of an injection-molded outer frame (110b, 120b) to be integrally coupled.

The

inner frames

110a and 120a are made of a metal material, preferably an aluminum material, specifically AL5052, and are each formed in a U-shape by a press method, and a cross section in a streamlined shape convex downward or upward. That is, the

inner frames

110a and 120a are formed to have substantially the same shape as the

outer frames

110b and 120b, but the numerical values may be slightly reduced.

The

outer frames

110b and 120b are injection molded integrally with the

inner frames

110a and 120a after inserting the

inner frames

110a and 120a into an injection mold, and are made of a synthetic resin material, specifically PBT (polybutylene terephthalate). ) And glass fiber are mixed together. Here, PBT is a polyester resin-based engineering plastic that has heat resistance up to 150℃, so it has flame-retardant properties that do not burn easily, and its soft texture makes it suitable for products that come into contact with body parts. At this time, the

outer frames

110b and 120b are molded so that at least a portion of the

inner frames

110a and 120a is exposed to the interior (mounting space) of the

cases

110 and 120.

In order to quantitatively examine the effect of improving the strength of the frame, the first case (110, T1) of the present invention having the inner frame (110a, 120a) and the first case (without the inner frame (110a, 120a)) An experiment was conducted to measure and compare the tensile force of the comparative object (T2) injection-molded in the same shape as 110).

Here, the measuring equipment is a universal testing machine, and the side portions (S) of the first and

second cases

110 and 120 were fixed to the testing machine, respectively, and a force was applied so that the side portions (S) were separated from each other, and a speed of 10 mm/min It was measured at intervals of 5 mm up to 30 mm.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 7, the tensile force of the first cases 110 and T1 was found to be 2.3 times higher than the tensile force of the comparative object T2 on average, and that of the second cases 120 and T3 The tensile force was found to be 2.9 times higher on average than the tensile force of the comparative object (T4).

According to the present invention, by insert-injecting an inner frame molded by an aluminum press method into an exterior material made of a PBT material during case molding, a light, thin, and excellent case can be produced in a time and cost-effective manner. In addition, it is possible to prevent the case 100 from being deformed due to external influences, thereby maintaining the relative position and optical axis of the camera module 200 constant, thereby improving the image stitching quality. Further, the heat dissipation structure of the control module to be described later and the exposed portion of the inner frame 110a of the first case 110 into the case are connected to maximize the heat dissipation effect of the control module.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 6, an elastic support 500 that is in close contact with the neck may be provided on the side S of the case 100.

The elastic support 500 is made of two, one end is fixed to the inner circumferential surface of the side portion (S) of the case 100, the other end protrudes in a curved shape curved in a direction facing each other to be placed in a free state.

The elastic support 500 has an elastic force, and when the case 100 is mounted on the neck, it is in close contact with the neck by the elastic force.

In this way, the elastic support 500 is provided in close contact with the neck on the inner circumferential surface of the side portion S of the case 100, so that when worn, the case 100 is in close contact with the neck without deforming the case 100 100) can be fixed so that it does not come off easily, and this results in an effect of improving safety.

Hereinafter, various parts mounted in the case will be described.

The camera module 200 is a device that converts a subject projected by an image sensor through a lens into an image file, and preferably has a field of view of 120 degrees or more.

The camera module 200 is made up of three, and is mounted on the rear portion (F) and the side portion (S), respectively.

Here, the camera module 200 is fixed within the first case 110 so that three camera modules are spaced apart from each other. Specifically, a rear camera module is disposed at the center of the rear portion F of the first case 110, and a left camera module and a right camera module are respectively disposed at the front end of the side portion S.

The power supply means 300 is a rechargeable battery and is installed inside the case 100. The power supply means 300 is composed of two to balance the weight is installed on each side (S) of the case (100). The power supply means 300 is connected to the camera module 200 and the control module 400 to supply electric energy required for operation.

Meanwhile, the control module 400 is a device that combines images captured by the camera module 200 into one by image stitching to generate a 360-degree image. This stitching operation may be executed in an external server by transmitting image data to an external server through a communication module, but may also be executed in real time by the application processor 411 of the control module 400 in the wearable camera.

More specifically, the control module 400 includes a main board 410, a first heat dissipation pad 420, a protective cover 430, a vapor chamber 440 and a second heat dissipation pad 450.

The main board 410 is a PCB on which the application processor 411 is mounted, and is fixedly mounted on the rear part F of the first case 110.

Since the application processor 411 processes a large-capacity signal at high speed to preview a 4k high-resolution image received from the camera module in real time, considerable heat is generated. Hereinafter, an effective heat dissipation structure for processing such heat is disclosed.

The first heat dissipation pad 420 is made of a material having high thermal conductivity, and is attached to the application processor 411 to rapidly absorb heat generated by the application processor 411 to discharge and transfer heat.

The protective cover 430 is for preventing external electromagnetic noise by covering major electronic components including the processor, and is a shield can for shielding electromagnetic waves, EMI, etc., and the material is generally made of metal such as copper. .

In order to protect the main electronic components including the application processor 411 from external radio noise, the protective cover 430 is fixedly mounted on the main board 410 to cover the application processor 411 in a square case shape. .

The protective cover 430 of the present invention is a shield can for shielding external radio noise, and simultaneously performs a heat dissipation function of transferring heat from the application processor 411 to the vapor chamber. To this end, one side (inside) of the protective cover 430 is disposed in contact with the first heat dissipation pad 420 and the other side is fixedly mounted on the main board 410 so as to contact the vapor chamber 440.

The protective cover 430 is made of aluminum or copper material, preferably made of an alloy of AL1050 and nickel so as to simultaneously shield electromagnetic waves and heat radiation.

On the other hand, the vapor chamber 440 is a heat dissipating device containing a solution, for example water, that causes a phase change by absorbing heat therein, and reduces heat when the solution is vaporized by heat.

The vapor chamber 440 is mounted to come into contact with the protective cover 430 and quickly absorbs the heat of the application processor 411 transferred to the first heat dissipation pad 420 and the protective cover 430. In addition, the vapor chamber 440 is formed in a'L' shape in a longitudinal section, and the protective cover 430 and the side surface are in contact with each other, and the second heat dissipation pad 450 is attached to the bottom surface.

The second heat dissipation pad 450 is made of a material having a high thermal conductivity, the same as the first heat dissipation pad 420, and one surface (upper surface) is in contact with the vapor chamber 440, and the other surface (bottom surface) is It is contact-coupled with the inner frame 110a exposed inside the first case 110.

The inner frame 110a is made of an aluminum material having a high thermal conductivity, and is formed entirely in a U-shape inside the first case 110. In this way, the vapor chamber 440 is thermally connected to the inner frame 110a of the first case 110 by the second heat dissipation pad 450 to spread the heat of the main board to the entire inner frame 110a. And discharged by natural convection with air in the atmosphere through the first case 110. Therefore, the aluminum inner frame 110a increases the strength of the case and rapidly diffuses heat from the main board adjacent to the back neck portion to the entire frame when worn, preventing low-temperature burns and maximizing the heat dissipation effect.

As a partially modified embodiment of the present invention, the heat of the main board is quickly transferred to the inner frame by thermally connecting the second heat dissipation pad directly or indirectly to the first heat dissipation pad and contacting the second heat dissipation pad to a part of the inner frame. The heat dissipation effect can be maximized by spreading it throughout. In addition, the design of the heating component may be changed to be directly or indirectly connected to the inner frame (110a) as well as the inner frame (120b).

On the other hand, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the

internal frames

110a and 120a by using a separate heat dissipation pad or heat pipe in contact with the application processor as well as the camera module 200, in particular, the PCB including the image pickup device. ) And can be thermally connected. As described above, heat generated from a heat generating source including the application processor 411 can be quickly conducted to the inner frame, thereby maximizing a heat dissipation effect.

On the other hand, although not shown in the drawing, a microphone for recording external sound and a speaker module are installed inside the case 100, respectively, and an image captured by the camera module 200 is transmitted to an external storage device. Wireless communication modules such as Wi-Fi and LTE are installed.

The wearable camera according to the embodiment of the present invention having the above configuration is used by being worn so that the rear portion F is disposed on the back of the neck, and one camera module 200 mounted on the rear portion F And images captured by the two camera modules 200 mounted on the side S are collected by the control module 400 and connected to one to generate an image.

In addition, since the

inner frames

110a and 120a made of metal are inserted into the case 100 by insert injection, deformation due to external influences can be prevented, and the distance between the camera modules 200 is kept constant. Thus, it is possible to improve the accuracy during image stitching.

In addition, by thermally connecting heat-generating components, which are various sources of heat, to the exposed

internal frames

110a and 120a through a heat dissipation pad, heat generated from the heat generating source including the application processor 411 is quickly Cooling efficiency can be increased by conducting and dispersing in the inner frame.

The present invention is not limited thereto, and may be modified in various forms by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the following appended claims, and thus such modifications should be interpreted as being within the scope of the present invention. something to do.

Claims

A case consisting of a rear portion and side portions protruding forward from both ends of the rear portion;

A camera module composed of three units and mounted on the rear portion and the side portion;

A power supply means mounted inside the case to supply power to the camera module;

A control module for generating a 360-degree image by combining the image captured by the camera module into one by image stitching; Wearable camera comprising a.
The method of claim 1,

The case,

An inner frame made of a metal material;

An outer frame made of a synthetic resin material and injection-molded to be coupled with the inner frame by inserting the inner frame into an injection mold; Wearable camera comprising a.
The method of claim 2,

The inner frame is a press-molded product of aluminum,

The outer frame is an airable camera, characterized in that made of a PBT material to which glass fiber is added.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

The case,

A first case in which a first step portion protrudes upward along an inner edge;

A second case formed with a second step portion recessed to engage with the first step portion along an inner edge; And

An elastic adhesive member applied to an upper end of the first step portion to bond the first step portion and the second step portion; Wearable camera comprising a.
The method according to claim 2 or 3,

The control module,

A main board on which an application processor is mounted;

A protective cover for preventing external electromagnetic noise by covering electronic components including the processor; And

Including; a steam chamber,

A wearable camera, characterized in that a first heat dissipation pad in which one side contacts the application processor and the other side contacts the protective cover so that heat from the application processor is transferred to the vapor chamber through the protective cover.
The method of claim 5,

A wearable camera, characterized in that a second heat dissipation pad is mounted between the vapor chamber and the inner frame.
A case including a rear portion and side portions protruding forward from both ends of the rear portion, and having a mounting space therein;

One or more camera modules mounted in the mounting space of the case; And

A control module processing image data captured by the camera module; Including,

The control module is mounted on the rear part, and includes an application processor and a heat dissipation component,

The case,

An inner frame made of aluminum or aluminum alloy material; And

An outer frame made of a synthetic resin material and injection-molded so as to be integrally coupled with the inner frame by inserting the inner frame into an injection mold; Wearable camera comprising a.