Adjustable Apex Camera System

A good sturdy camera tripod, however excellent it may be for much indoor and some outdoor photography, is often seriously at a loss out-of-doors in rough terrain or when performing close-up or copy work indoors or out. When close-up nature photography especially is undertaken in wooded or overgrown country, it is difficult or impossible to maneuver the typical tripod so that it is both stabile and convenient to hand as well as sufficiently close to what is to be pictured. Even indoors, where there are no terrain problems, the usual tripod is too large and inflexible for close-up copy work of various kinds without special attachments for those purposes. One I know of amounts to little more than an addition to the tripod for lowering the camera. Another is a low, "spider-like" stand with three or four legs. But more to the point is the one shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,586,278. This, however, consists of a rather elaborate and cumbersome array of legs and interconnected rods, all not readily assembled or disassembled for transport or storage besides being not really suitable for much inside or outside work. For some nature photography especially it would doubtless take too long to set up before the "subject" would have vanished. Probably it would be too noisy as well, for silence is one of the requisites of nature photography in those cases. At any rate, until my present invention, I am aware of no camera support system specifically addressed to the problems concerned, one which is particularly adapted to indoor and outdoor close-up and copy photography, which is also useful for general photography, and which at the same time is light in weight, silent, flexible and compact.

The camera support system of my invention, which I deem best described as an "adjustable apex camera system", incorporates a pair of supports, each of which is essentially a bipod. One of the bipods is larger than the other and consists of a pair of legs adjustably pivoted to a fixture at their upper ends, one of the legs being of channel shape and the other cylindrical, the lower end of the former having a transverse base whose outer ends and the lower end of the cylindrical leg provide supporting feet. The pivot fixture between the legs, constituting the apex of the larger bipod, carries the smaller of the two bipods which is basically a duplicate of the larger and can be employed apart from the latter in a similar manner for extreme close-up or copy work as well as for ordinary time and other exposures. Various camera mounts are adjustably attached to the apices of either or both bipods and/or to a leg of the larger. The legs themselves of the two bipods can be folded upon each other and the transverse base detached and secured along one leg so that the entire system is in a compact and handy form for transport and storage. When folded the larger of the bipods can also be used in a horizontal position in the manner of an "optical bench" with the camera supported on the one mount and the object to be photographed supported on a small table or in a small vise carried on another of the mounts.

Other and further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the drawings and the more detailed description which follows.

FIG. 1 is an upright perspective view of the two bipods which comprise my apex camera support system, the smaller being shown dismounted from the larger for separate use.

FIG. 2 is also an upright perspective view of my system with the smaller bipod shown in one position on the larger.

FIG. 3 is similar to FIG. 2 except that the smaller bipod is shown in another position on the larger.

FIG. 4 is likewise a perspective view showing my system horizontally disposed for use as an "optical".

FIG. 5 is a further perspective view showing my system folded for transport and storage.

In FIGS. 1 through 3 the larger of the two bipods of my system, generally indicated at 10, is illustrated in the form of a channel shaped leg 11 having side walls 12 between the upper ends of which is secured a first fixture 13 in the form of a mounting block pivoted at one end about an axis defined by a transverse clamp bolt 14. The fixture 13 is bored to slidably receive the upper end of a cylindrical leg 15 which is adjusted lengthwise relative to the fixture 13 by a clamp screw 16. A transverse cylindrical base member 17, parallel to the axis of the clamp bolt 14 and normal to the channeled leg 11, is removably secured as shown at 18 to a tongue formed on the lower end of the leg 11. The lower end of the leg 15 and the outer ends of the base member 17 are preferably fitted with rubber-like tips 19. The latter function as feet for the bipod 10 and support it upright as shown on whatever underlying terrain or surface 20 is involved, whence the fixture 13 forms the apex of the bipod 10. By releasing the clamp bolt 14 and spreading the legs 11 and 15 and/or releasing the clamp screw 16 and sliding the leg 15 through the fixture 13, the overall height of the apex of the bipod 10 can be adjusted relative to the surface 20. These two manners in which the height of the bipod 10 can be adjusted is especially helpful in out-of-doors nature photography where space or obstacles may limit the spread of the legs 11 and 15. Indeed, the leg 15 can be swung sufficiently far about the clamp bolt 14 so that the device in effect doubles its ordinary height and becomes a monopod.

The other end of the fixture 13 is provided with a transverse bore 21 (see FIG. 4) through its upper and lower faces which receives a clamp screw up therethrough to removably engage a typical camera panning head 26. The latter is a well-known proprietary item and features a fixing screw 27 which is adjustably swiveled relative to the body 28 of the head by a clamp screw 29. One side face and the outer end face of the fixture 13 are provided with respective threaded bores 30 and 31 intersecting the bore 21 so that other items, such as a camera flash, reflector, timing equipment, etc., can be mounted on the fixture 13 and so that the latter can be employed in the manner later described in connection with FIG. 4. A similar panning head 35 may be mounted on the leg 15 by means of a second fixture 36. The latter comprises a base block 37 slidably receiving the leg 15 and adjusted therealong by a clamp screw 38. Between a pair of plates 39 fixed as shown to and extending from the free end of the block 37 a second block 40 is adjustably pivoted relative thereto about a clamp bolt 41 and carries the head 35. The fixture 36 thus provides an alternate position for a camera whose height can be adjusted independently of the height of the bipod 10. This feature is especially useful in nature work as well as indoors when the bipod 10 is used in the manner later described in connection with FIG. 4.

The smaller of the two bipods of my system is also illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 3 and generally indicated at 50. It includes a channel shaped stub leg 51 having side walls 52 between the lower ends of which a mounting block 53 is pivoted about a clamp bolt 54 and provided with a bore 55 therethrough for mounting the bipod 50 upon the fixture 13, as later described. Between the upper ends of the channel side walls 52 is pivoted a base block 56 about a clamp bolt 57 parallel to the bolt 54. The block 56 which constitutes the apex of the bipod 50 may, as shown, support another panning head 58 secured by a suitable clamp screw 59 (shown in FIG. 5 in its storage position after removal of the head 58) up through the block 56. The other stub leg of the bipod 50 takes the form of a pair of parallel rods 60 threaded at their upper ends into the lower face of the base block 56 and fixed by wing nuts 61. Slidably disposed on both rods 60 is a tie block 62, whose position is adjusted by clamp screws 63, which helps stabilize the two rods 60. The lower ends of the rods 60 are cranked in opposite directions laterally of the channeled leg 51, the cranked ends being fitted with elastomeric sleeves 64. The latter and the mounting block 53 thus function as feet and support the bipod 50 upright as shown in FIG. 1. The overall height of the apex of the bipod 50 can be adjusted by the spread of the stub legs 51 and 60 and secured by the clamp bolt 57.

The bipod 50 may be used in the manner shown in FIG. 1, wholly apart from the bipod 10, for extreme close-up or copy work in the field or studio when the object to be photographed is not to be disturbed from its setting or need not be specially mounted for photographing. The bipod 50 is also useful by itself as a small, compact camera support when taking ordinary time exposures or when camera stability is needed in any situation, especially where the underlying area available is very limited, such as a rock, a tree stump, and so forth. It can even be used against one's chest to support a camera. The bipod 50 may also be combined with the bipod 10 and employed in the manners shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the bipod 50 in effect then becoming a third fixture on the bipod 10. For this purpose the mounting block 53 is adjustably attached to the outer end of the fixture 13 by means of a clamp screw 65 through the bore 55 and threaded into the end bore 31 of the fixture 13. In these positions the bipod 50 in effect provides a cantilevered extension of the bipod 10 in a multitude of directions for pictures that cannot be taken from the bipod 10 alone owing to intervening obstacles or in other situations which restrict the location or adjustment of the bipod 10.

The leg 15 of the bipod 10, after loosening the clamp bolt 14, can be folded scissors-like into the channel of the leg 11 and then the latter laid in a horizontal or reclining position as shown in FIG. 4, whereupon it is supported by the upper end of the leg 11 and the outer tipped ends 19 of the base member 17 and becomes a kind of "optical bench". In order to increase the rigidity of the bipod 10 in this position, the width of the base block 37 of the fixture 36 is made a close fit between the channel leg side walls 12. A panning head 70 may then be screwed into the bore 31 of the fixture 13 to support a camera and the panning head 35 adjusted to support either a small rectangular table 72 or vise clip 74 mounted on a block 75 screwed on to the head 35. The mounting block 75 may also include a transverse rod 76 therethrough, adjusted by a clamp screw 77, whose outer nutted ends 78 carry a semi-circular transparent wind screen or shield 79. The location of the table 72 or the vise clip 74 relative to the panning head 70 can be adjusted by loosening the clamp screw 38 and sliding the fixture 36 along the leg 15. Of course the positions of the camera and the table 72 or clip 74 on the heads 35 and 70 could be reversed. The table 72 or the clip 74 can also be mounted on the head in the case of the set-up shown in FIG. 2 and then adjusted to a level position. With a camera on the head 58, overhead shots of mounted subjects can thus be taken.

When the system is to be transported or stored, the bipod 10 is folded in the same manner as in FIG. 4 and the fasteners 18 are removed from the base member 17. The latter is then placed alongside the leg 11 and reattached with the fasteners 18 to one side wall 12 in holes 80 (see FIG. 2) provided for that purpose. The bipod 50 is next folded to the position shown in FIG. 5 by loosening the clamp bolts 54 and 57, and then the wing nuts 61 and the clamp screws 63 so that the rods 60 may be rotated to turn their cranked ends 64 inwardly. One or more of the panning heads 26, 35, 58 or 70 may be removed or simply stored in place, as shown in the case of the head 35, whereupon the system will assume more or less the configuration shown in FIG. 5. The bipod 50, if detached from the fixture 13, can be folded up for storage or transport in the same manner.

All the metal parts (except the various clamp screws and bolts) are readily fabricated from light-weight material such as aluminum, the leg 15 and the base member 17 being tubular. Insofar as suitable dimensions are concerned, the legs 11 and 15 of a working prototype of the bipod 10 are each about 24 inches in length and the base member 17 about 12 inches in length, while the stub legs 51 and 60 of the bipod 50 are each about 6 inches in length. If desired, in order to increase the adaptability of the bipod 10 to various terrain, the connection between the channel leg 11 and the base member 17 could be a pivotal one and an additional clamp bolt employed so that the angle between the two can be adjusted. My invention therefore provides an apex camera system which is light-weight and compact as well as readily adapted to various conditions indoors and out. While many of its features are designed for close-up and copy photographic work, it is also readily adapted to general photography indoors and out owing to its flexibility and convenience. Hence, though my invention has been described in terms of a particular embodiment, being the best mode known of carrying out my invention, it is not limited to that embodiment alone. Instead the following claims are to be read as encompassing all adaptations and modifications of my invention falling within its spirit and scope.