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US 9,432,561 B2Granted
Camera heat sink
AssigneeGoPro, Inc.
InventorsRudy Lucas Samuels, Scott Patrick Campbell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A camera includes a camera body having a camera lens structured on a front surface of the camera body and electronics internal to the camera body for capturing images via the camera lens. A thermally conductive material is thermally coupled to the electronics and exposed on an external face of the camera body. The thermally conductive material transfers heat produced by the electronics to the external face of the camera, and a removable heat sink removably couples to the thermally conductive material. The camera further includes a housing structured to at least partially enclose the camera body. The housing is structured to enable at least a portion of the removable heat sink to protrude through the housing.
Claims21
A camera system, comprising:
- a camera body having a camera lens structured on a front surface of the camera body;
- electronics internal to the camera body, the electronics for capturing images via the camera lens;
- a thermally conductive material thermally coupled to the electronics and exposed on an external face of the camera body, the thermally conductive material to transfer heat produced by the electronics to the external face of the camera body, wherein the thermally conductive material comprises a first plate and a second plate, the first plate structured to thermally couple to a first subset of the electronics and the second plate structured to thermally couple to a second subset of the electronics, the first plate and the second plate separated by a gap;
- a removable heat sink for removably coupling to the thermally conductive material;
- and
- a housing structured to at least partially enclose the camera body, the housing structured to enable at least a portion of the heat sink to protrude through the housing.
3 more elements
A camera system, comprising:
- a camera body having a camera lens structured on a front surface of the camera body;
- electronics internal to the camera body, the electronics for capturing images via the camera lens;
- a thermally conductive material thermally coupled to the electronics and exposed on an external face of the camera body, the thermally conductive material to transfer heat produced by the electronics to the external face of the camera body, wherein the thermally conductive material comprises a first plate and a second plate, the first plate structured to thermally couple to a first subset of the electronics and the second plate structured to thermally couple to a second subset of the electronics, the first plate coupled to the second plate by a material having a lower thermal conductivity than the first plate and the second plate;
- a removable heat sink for removably coupling to the thermally conductive material;
- and
- a housing structured to at least partially enclose the camera body, the housing structured to enable at least a portion of the heat sink to protrude through the housing.
3 more elements
A camera system, comprising:
- a camera body having a camera lens structured on a front surface of the camera body;
- electronics internal to the camera body, the electronics for capturing images via the camera lens;
- a thermally conductive material thermally coupled to the electronics and exposed on an external face of the camera body, the thermally conductive material to transfer heat produced by the electronics to the external face of the camera body, wherein the thermally conductive material comprises a first plate and a second plate, the first plate structured to thermally couple to a first subset of the electronics and the second plate structured to thermally couple to a second subset of the electronics;
- a removable heat sink for removably coupling to the thermally conductive material, wherein the removable heat sink comprises a first portion structured to thermally couple to the first plate of the thermally conductive material and a second portion structured to thermally couple to the second plate of the thermally conductive material, the first portion and the second portion coupled by a connector having a smaller cross-sectional area than the first portion and the second portion;
- and
- a housing structured to at least partially enclose the camera body, the housing structured to enable at least a portion of the heat sink to protrude through the housing.
3 more elements
A camera system, comprising:
- a camera body having a camera lens structured on a front surface of the camera body;
- a thermally conductive material exposed on an external face of the camera body, the thermally conductive material to transfer heat to the external face of the camera body;
- a removable heat sink for removably coupling to the thermally conductive material;
- and
- a housing structured to at least partially enclose the camera body, the housing structured to enable at least a portion of the heat sink to protrude through the housing;
- electronics internal to the camera body, the electronics for capturing images via the camera lens, and the electronics thermally coupled to the thermally conductive material to transfer heat produced by the electronics to the thermally conductive material, wherein the electronics comprise a processor adapted to detect when the removable heat sink is attached to the camera, and wherein the processor is adapted to operate the camera in a first mode responsive to detecting the removable heat sink is not attached to the camera and to operate the camera in a second mode responsive to detecting the removable heat sink is attached to the camera.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.