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US 5,178,352 AGranted
Instrument support device
AssigneeQ Industries, Inc.
InventorJoel W. Johnson
Life of this patent
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AssigneeQ Industries, Inc.
InventorJoel W. Johnson
Estimating the term…
An instrument support device for adjustably receiving a member of a support plate having an outer spherical surface wherein the socket, formed integrally, is an outer and upper ring portion connected to an inner and lower ring portion by intercrossed ribs with upper surfaces of the ring portions and ribs defining segments of a conical surface capable of cooperating with spherical surfaces of differing radii. The lower surface of the socket forms a substantially spherical clamping surface, such that a locking knob can draw a range of spherical surfaces into a clamped relation with the conical support surface. The socket forms a tripod head by having lugs on the upper ring portion that extend out and embrace the elements of the tripod legs so that the tripod legs are mounted from the outside of their respective elements.
An instrument support socket for receiving, and locking with, elements defining an external spherical surface, comprising, an outer and upper ring portion, an inner and lower ring portion, and a plurality of ribs interconnecting said ring portions, said ribs being intercrossed and in planes parallel to the axes of said ring portions, said ring portions and said ribs being formed as one integral piece, the upper surfaces of said ring portions and said ribs defining segments of an annular upwardly opening internal conical surface capable of receiving spherical surfaces having a range of radii, the lower surfaces of said ring portions and said ribs defining segments of a downwardly directed external substantially spherical clamping surface.
An instrument support device comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
Drawings are temporarily unavailable. Open the PDF at USPTO
From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
In more than one direction: with ball-joint
Heads: details concerning attachment of head-supporting legs, with or without actuation of locking members thereof
Changeable in height or length of legs, also for transport only, e.g. by means of tubes screwed into each other: by spreading of the legs
For rotational movement: by friction
Term ended 12 Jan 2010 (estimated)
USPTO file history isn’t available for this patent, so only indexed dates are shown.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,710, issued Apr. 26, 1977, an instrument support socket is disclosed and claimed that includes a support plate with a plurality of feet whose outer surfaces define segments of an annular surface that is a section of an external spherical surface. That spherical surface fits into a ring with a mating annular internal spherical surface. The plate can rock in the ring and, when the surfaces are drawn tightly together, the plate is firmly locked relative to the ring in the position desired.
In the commercial embodiment of this device, the radius of the spherical surfaces defined by the ring and the feet of the mounting plate was 3-1/2 inches. Similar competitive devices have appeared in which the support plate external spherical surfaces are of different radii, such as 50 millimeters (about 2 inches) and 75 millimeters (about 3 inches). A differing size plate does not mesh and lock well with the spherical ring configuration shown in the patent just referred to.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a support socket of the type discussed which receives and locks well with a wide variety of mounting plate external spherical locking configurations.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective, partially broken away, of a support socket embodying the invention shown connected to the upper portions of three tripod legs; and
FIG. 2 is a slightly enlarged section of the support socket taken along the line 2--2 in FIG. 1.
While the invention will be described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that I do not intend to limit the invention to that embodiment. On the contrary, I intend to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Turning to the drawings, there is shown an instrument support socket 10 having an upwardly opening annular surface 11 adapted to receive instrument support plates with external spherical surfaces such as that shown in said U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,710. In the preferred embodiment, the socket 10 is mounted on a set of three tripod legs 12, 13 and 14 and it therefore forms a tripod head.
In accordance with the invention, the socket 10 is formed of an outer and upper ring portion 21 and an inner and lower ring portion 22 which are connected by ribs 23 with the upper surfaces of the ring portions 21, 22 and ribs 23 forming the upwardly opening annular surface 11 as segments of an internal conical surface. An external spherical surface 15 will therefore fit into the surface 11 with circular line contact against the upper surfaces of the ribs 23. As shown in FIG. 3, the invention does not require the supported spherical surface 15 to have a predetermined radius. Rather, the spherical surface may have a wide range of radii as shown by the example surfaces 15 and 15'. Preferably, the ribs 23 are intercrossed and disposed in planes parallel to the vertical central axes of the ring portions 21, 22, and in the illustrated embodiment, the unit is formed as a single integral piece.