Environmentally controlled camera housing assembly

Abstract

A camera housing assembly for protecting a camera from potentially-damaging environmental conditions, such as high temperatures, humidity and corrosive air-borne particulates, has a housing and an internal heat sink received within the housing. The internal heat sink defines a hollow body extending in the elongated direction of the housing and forming an internal chamber for receiving the camera and for transferring heat away from the chamber and camera. A polymeric insulating material is disposed within an annular space formed between the internal heat sink and housing in order to thermally insulate the internal heat sink from the housing. A thermoelectric cooling device extends through an aperture formed in a wall of the housing, and is thermally coupled between the internal heat sink and an external heat sink mounted to an external wall of the housing for transferring heat from the internal heat sink to the external heat sink. An optically-reflective shroud is mounted to the external heat sink by a plurality of thermal-isolation mounts to thermally insulate the shroud from the external heat sink. The shroud extends over the top surfaces of the external heat sink and housing and extends downwardly adjacent to the sides of the housing in order to reflect radiant energy away from the housing assembly.