Highly-compactable camera crane

{
  "publication_number": "US9568149B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Highly-compactable camera crane",
  "abstract": "A highly-compactable camera crane enables a load platform to be kept level as the boom is raised and lowered. A main boom is comprised of a number of crossed links which pivot at their crossings to allow extension and retraction of the boom and an auxiliary boom of similar crossed link construction couples the load platform to a reference pivot point of the main boom, enabling the load platform to be kept level as the booms are moved up and down relative to the pivot point.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A compactable camera crane comprising: a main boom having a number of crossed links pivotably connected at central and distal points along its length enabling extended and compacted configurations of said main boom; an auxiliary boom having a number of crossed links pivotably connected at central and distal points along its length enabling extended and compacted configurations, said main boom having a length longer than said auxiliary boom; a fulcrum pivotably supporting said main boom at an intermediate position, and pivotably and detachably connected to a distal end of said auxiliary boom; a load platform pivotably connected to a distal end of said auxiliary boom and pivotably and removably connected to a distal end of said main boom; wherein said auxiliary boom is position parallel to said main boom creating a parallelogram configuration with said main boom, fulcrum and load platform such that a top surface of said load platform remains parallel to the ground during movement of said main boom.",
    "2. The compactable camera crane of claim 1, wherein the booms are reversibly fixed into an extended configuration by means of a pivotable rigid arm removably joining distal pivot points of two opposing crossed links.",
    "3. The compactable camera crane of claim 1, wherein counterweight support arms are removably attached to a distal end of the main boom.",
    "4. The compactable camera crane of claim 3, wherein the counterweight support arms are stored for transport in a coaxial orientation on the distal ends of the distal links of the main boom.",
    "5. The compactable camera crane of claim 1, wherein the fulcrum includes a base allowing rotation of the camera crane about the vertical axis of the fulcrum.",
    "6. The compactable camera crane of claim 5, wherein the rotational friction of the fulcrum base can be adjusted.",
    "7. The compactable camera crane of claim 5, wherein a bubble-type leveling device is affixed to a horizontally planar surface of the fulcrum structure.",
    "8. The compactable camera crane of claim 5, wherein the fulcrum structure includes a horizontally planar lower surface designed to be removably connected to a photographic tripod.",
    "9. The compactable camera crane of claim 1, wherein captive pull pins facilitate a removable connection between the distal end of the auxiliary boom and the fulcrum.",
    "10. The compactable camera crane of claim 1, wherein the links are substantially hollow structures.",
    "11. The compactable camera crane of claim 1, wherein the links are substantially square in cross-section.",
    "12. The compactable camera crane of claim 1, wherein the links are substantially rectangular in cross-section.",
    "13. The compactable camera crane of claim 1, wherein the links are substantially circular in cross-section.",
    "14. A compactable camera crane comprising: a main boom having a number of crossed links pivotably connected at central and distal points along its length enabling extended and compacted configurations of said main boom; an auxiliary boom having a number of crossed links pivotably connected at central and distal points along its length enabling extended and compacted configurations, said main boom having a length longer than said auxiliary boom; a fulcrum pivotably supporting said main boom at an intermediate position, and pivotably and detachably connected to a distal end of said auxiliary boom; a load platform pivotably connected to a distal end of said auxiliary boom and pivotably and removably connected to a distal end of said main boom; wherein said auxiliary boom is positioned parallel to said main boom creating a parallelogram configuration with said main boom, fulcrum and load platform such that a top surface of said load platform remains parallel to the ground during movement of said main boom; and a lifting handle disposed at the upper end of the fulcrum structure.",
    "15. The compactable camera crane of claim 14, wherein the booms are reversibly fixed into an extended configuration by means of a pivotable rigid arm removably joining distal pivot points of two opposing crossed links.",
    "16. The compactable camera crane of claim 14, wherein counterweight support arms are removably attached to a distal end of the main boom.",
    "17. The compactable camera crane of claim 14, wherein captive pull pins facilitate a removable connection between the distal end of said auxiliary boom and said fulcrum and the distal end of said main boom and said load platform.",
    "18. A compactable camera crane comprising: a first assembly comprising: a main boom having a number of crossed links pivotably connected at central and distal points along its length enabling extended and compacted configurations; a fulcrum pivotably supporting said main boom at an intermediate position; a second assembly comprising: an auxiliary boom having a number of crossed links pivotably connected at central and distal points along its length enabling extended and compacted configurations, said main boom having a length longer than said auxiliary boom; a load platform pivotably connected to a distal end of said auxiliary boom; wherein a distal end of said extended auxiliary boom is pivotably and detachably connectable to said fulcrum and a distal end of said extended main boom is pivotably and removably connectable to said load platform in a parallelogram configuration such that a top surface of said load platform remains parallel to the ground during movement of said main boom.",
    "19. The compactable camera crane of claim 18, wherein said booms are reversibly fixed into an extended configuration by means of a pivotable rigid arm removably joining distal pivot points of two opposing crossed links.",
    "20. The compactable camera crane of claim 18, wherein captive pull pins facilitate a removable connection between said distal end of said auxiliary boom and said fulcrum, and said distal end of said main boom and said load platform."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "Many lifting and positioning devices use a boom structure to lift and position a load. In some applications, the load platform needs to be kept level as the boom is raised and lowered. Some examples are a boom where the load is a person, or booms used to smoothly move and position an operating motion picture camera.\n\nWith a boom of fixed length, a common technique of maintaining a level load platform is through the use of an auxiliary fixed-length boom or arm, above or below the load-carrying boom, and parallel to the boom. This arrangement forms a parallelogram. If the attachment points for the boom and the second arm are collinear and perpendicular to the ground, and the boom and arm are equal lengths, then the attachment points at the other ends of the boom and arm will also remain collinear and perpendicular to the ground as the boom is raised and lowered. Any platform then attached at the end of the boom, perpendicular to the line formed by the attachment points of the boom and the arm, will thus be parallel to, and therefore level with, the ground at any height of the boom.\n\nA shortcoming of these devices in the current art is their mechanical complexity, requiring time-consuming assembly and disassembly each time they are used. Another shortcoming is that, due to the nature of the boom designs in the current art, they often have a relatively long minimum fixed length dimension even when disassembled, making them difficult to transport.",
  "cpc": [
    "F16M 13/022",
    "F16M 11/046",
    "F16M 11/048",
    "F16M 11/2014",
    "F16M 2200/041",
    "F16M 2200/061",
    "F16M 2200/063",
    "G03B 17/561"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "F16M 13/02",
    "G03B 17/56"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Dan Vance"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2016-06-24",
  "publication_date": "2017-02-14",
  "grant_date": "2017-02-14",
  "priority_date": "2015-06-25",
  "application_number": "US-201615192995-A",
  "family_id": "57601979",
  "cited_by_count": 2,
  "citations": [
    "US3750846A",
    "US4005840A",
    "US4943019A",
    "US6478427B1",
    "US7204650B2",
    "US20150077614A1",
    "US20150334271A1"
  ]
}