Camera housing for a square-profile camera
View Patent ↗A square camera housing accommodates a square camera with a substantially square profile. The square camera housing includes a latching mechanism to secure the camera in the housing, a mounting mechanism to secure the housing to a mounting device, and multiple openings in the housing body to accommodate the camera interface. These features allow the square camera to be inserted and secured in the square camera housing in one of a plurality of orientations relative to the square camera housing.
1. A housing for a camera comprising:
a housing body, the housing body comprising at least a top wall, a left wall, a right wall, and a bottom wall each substantially square in shape, the housing body comprising rounded corners and having a substantially square cross section, the housing body configured to secure a camera with a substantially square cross section, wherein the housing body comprises an interface configured to align with a button of the camera, the interface located in a center of the top wall;
a latching mechanism configured to allow for the insertion or removal of the camera into or from the housing body when the latching mechanism is configured in an open position and to secure the camera within the housing when the latching mechanism is configured in a closed position, wherein a pair of adjacent walls of the housing body are flexibly deflected in the open position and abutting in the closed position; and
a mounting mechanism on the bottom wall of the housing body configured to secure the housing to a reciprocal mounting mechanism.
2. The housing of claim 1 , wherein the camera comprises:
a substantially cubic camera body; and
a lens positioned in a center of a front face of the camera body.
3. The housing of claim 1 , wherein the latching mechanism is coupled to one of the right wall and the left wall of the housing body.
4. The housing of claim 1 , wherein the housing body is formed of flexible material that protects the camera from environmental damage including dust damage and water damage.
5. The housing of claim 1 , wherein the latching mechanism is composed of a plastic or metal.
6. The housing of claim 1 , wherein the latching mechanism includes multiple interlocking hinge mechanisms.
7. The housing of claim 1 , wherein the top wall, the bottom wall, the left wall, and the right wall of the housing body at least partially abut a reciprocal top surface, bottom surface, left surface, and right surface of the camera, respectively.
8. The housing of claim 1 , wherein the camera is configured for insertion into one of a front or rear opening in the housing body when the latching mechanism is configured in the open position.
9. A housing for a camera comprising:
a housing body, the housing body comprising a set of walls including at least a top wall, a left wall, a right wall, and a bottom wall, each wall of the set of walls having substantially the same dimensions, each adjacent pair of walls in the set of walls coupled via a rounded corner, wherein a cross-section of the housing body through the top wall, the left wall, the right wall, and the bottom wall comprises a substantially square cross section, the housing body comprising an interface configured to align with a button of a camera when the housing body secures the camera, the interface located in a center of the top wall of the housing body;
a latching mechanism configured to secure a camera within the housing body in a closed configuration and to allow for the insertion or removal of the camera into or from the housing body in an open configuration, wherein two adjacent walls of the housing body are flexibly deflected in the open configuration and abutting in the closed configuration; and
a mounting mechanism on the bottom wall of the housing body configured to secure the housing to a reciprocal mounting mechanism.
10. The housing of claim 9 , wherein the camera comprises: a substantially cubic camera body; and a lens positioned in a center of a front face of the camera body.
11. The housing of claim 9 , wherein the latching mechanism is coupled to one of the right wall and the left wall of the housing body.
12. The housing of claim 9 , wherein the housing body is formed of flexible material that protects the camera from environmental damage including dust damage and water damage.
13. The housing of claim 9 , wherein the latching mechanism is composed of a plastic or metal.
14. The housing of claim 9 , wherein the latching mechanism includes multiple interlocking hinge mechanisms.
15. The housing of claim 9 , wherein the top wall, the bottom wall, the left wall, and the right wall of the housing body at least partially abut a reciprocal top surface, bottom surface, left surface, and right surface of the camera, respectively.
16. The housing of claim 9 , wherein the camera is configured for insertion into one of a front or rear opening in the housing body when the latching mechanism is configured in the open configuration.
17. A camera system comprising:
a camera comprising a front surface, a rear surface, a top surface, a bottom surface, a left surface, and a right surface, each surface comprising substantially the same width and height, the front surface comprising a lens centered on the front surface, the top surface comprising a button;
a housing body, the housing body comprising a set of walls including at least a top wall, a left wall, a right wall, and a bottom wall, each wall of the set of walls having substantially the same width and height, each adjacent pair of walls in the set of walls coupled via a rounded corner, wherein a cross-section of the housing body through the top wall, the left wall, the right wall, and the bottom wall comprises a substantially square cross section, the top wall of the housing body comprising an interface located in a center of the top wall of the housing body and configured to align with the button on the top surface of the camera when the housing body secures the camera;
a latching mechanism configured to secure a camera within the housing body when the latching mechanism is configured in a closed configuration and allow insertion or removal of the camera into or from the housing body when the latching mechanism is configured in an open configuration; and
a mounting mechanism on the bottom wall of the housing body configured to secure the housing to a reciprocal mounting mechanism;
wherein, when the camera is secured within the housing body, the top wall of the housing body is configured to partially abut the top surface of the camera, the right wall of the housing body is configured to partially abut the right surface of the camera, the left wall of the housing body is configured to partially abut the left surface of the camera, and the bottom wall of the housing body is configured to partially abut the bottom surface of the camera, and
wherein, when the camera is being inserted into or removed from the housing body, at least two adjacent walls of the top wall, the right wall, the left wall, and the bottom wall are flexibly deflected from reciprocal surfaces of the camera.
18. The camera system of claim 17 , wherein the latching mechanism is coupled to one of the right wall and the left wall of the housing body.
19. The camera system of claim 17 , wherein the housing body is formed of flexible material that protects the camera from environmental damage including dust damage and water damage.
20. The camera system of claim 17 , wherein the camera is configured for insertion into one of a front or rear opening in the housing body when the latching mechanism is configured in an open configuration.