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US 5,710,945 AGranted
Resilient camera mount usable on a helicopter
AssigneeMcMahon Helicopter Services, Inc.
InventorRichard C. Thompson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A camera mounting mechanism is attachable to a helicopter to support and isolate an exterior camera against vibrational forces generated by the helicopter during flight maneuvers. Individual shock absorbers are arranged in a ring pattern around a central axis of the mounting mechanism to absorb the vibrational forces.
Claims4
A mechanism for mounting a camera underneath the nose of a helicopter, comprising:
- an annular support ring having a vertical opening, a single central axis (40), a forward portion and a rear portion;
- means for suspending said support ring from the nose of a helicopter;
- a camera mounting plate located above said support ring;
- multiple pairs of shock absorbers trained between said support ring and said camera mounting plate equidistant from said single central axis;
- each of said pair of shock absorbers comprising a front shock absorber located on the forward portion of said support ring and a rear shock absorber located on the rear portion of said support ring;
- the shock absorbers in each of said pairs being located on an imaginary straight line extending diagonally through said central axis;
- each of said shock absorbers having a deflection capability in a first direction tangent to an imaginary circle centered on said single central axis, a second direction normal to the plane of the camera mounting plate, and a third direction parallel to the plane of the camera mounting plate,
- each of said shock absorbers comprising a single cable wound in a helical fashion creating a plurality of equally spaced turns to provide an equal number of right hand turns and left hand turns;
- each cable helix having an axis that is tangent to an imaginary circle centered on said single central axis;
- and
- means disposed in the opening of the support ring and connected to the camera mounting plate for suspending a camera in a position below the support ring whereby the weight of the camera is entirely supported on the wound cables.
8 more elements
A mechanism for mounting a camera underneath the nose of a helicopter, comprising:
- an annular support ring having a central opening, a forward portion, a rear portion, an imaginary transverse centerline separating said forward and said rear portions, and a single central axis (40);
- means for suspending said support ring from the nose of a helicopter;
- a camera mounting plate located above said support ring;
- four pairs of shock absorbers trained between said support ring and said camera mounting plate equidistant from said single central axis;
- the shock absorbers in three of the four pairs comprising a front shock absorber located on the forward portion of said support ring and a rear shock absorber located on the rear portion of said support ring;
- the shock absorbers in the fourth pair being located on said imaginary transverse centerline;
- the shock absorbers in each of said pairs being located on an imaginary straight line extending diagonally through said central axis;
- each of said shock absorbers comprising a single cable wound in a helical fashion creating a plurality of equally spaced turns to provide an equal number of right hand turns and left hand turns;
- each cable helix having an axis that is tangent to an imaginary circle centered on said central axis;
- and
- means disposed in the opening of the support ring and connected to the camera mounting plate for suspending a camera in a position below the support ring whereby the weight of the camera is entirely supported on the wound cables.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.