Picturetel Corporation

Anthony M Duys

Frank Labuski

Benjamin J Beck

Larry K Baxter

Craig S Clapp

Daniel R Phelps

Video camera

A camera positioning system for rotating a video camera about a rotation axis. The system includes a camera platform to which the camera is rotatably attached; a motor mounted to a base for driving the camera platform to effect rotation of the platform about the axis and relative to the base; a drive for coupling the motor to the camera platform; an electrically driven capacitive sensor assembly for generating electrical position signals for determining a rotational position of the camera platform relative to the base; and a feedback control circuit for using the position signals from the capacitive sensor assembly to control rotational positioning of the motor, resulting in rotating the camera to a desired camera position. The capacitive sensor has a conductive guard plate which helps immunize the capacitive sensor assembly from noise and from ground potentials. The rotation axis can be horizontal or vertical with the camera rotated to effect pan or tilt respectively.

Electrically controlled camera positioning system

Remotely controlled camera

A camera stand for directing a video camera at, alternately, a room scene and a document scene, where the document in the document scene is oriented to be read by a person seated in the room scene, featuring a supporting arm and a rotatable connection connecting the video camera to, and supporting the video camera at a supporting end of, the arm. The rotatable connection allows the video camera to be alternately rotated between a position directed substantially vertically down at the document scene and a position directed substantially horizontally at the room scene. The rotatable connection has a rotation axis inclined at substantially a forty-five degree angle to the vertical, and is connected to the arm so that the video camera rotates from viewing the room scene right-side-up to viewing the document scene right-side-up.

Two-view video camera stand and support method

Growing community of inventors

Newburyport, MA, United States of America

Anthony M Duys