The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 12, 2002
Filed:
Dec. 17, 1998
Thao D. Hovanky, Austin, TX (US);
Polycom, Inc., Milpitas, CA (US);
Abstract
A positioning device is provided for rotatably positioning a camera or other article about orthogonal rotational axes. The positioning device includes a carriage supported for rotation about a horizontal axis by a yoke. The yoke is in turn rotatably coupled to a base assembly for rotation of the yoke about a vertical axis. Rotation of the camera about the horizontal and vertical axes is respectively effected by first and second voice coil actuators, each comprising a pair of magnets and at least one coil to which current is supplied. The amplitude and direction of the current supplied to the coil determines the speed and direction of rotation of the camera. The second voice coil actuator preferably includes a coil assembly comprising two opposed coils. This design overcomes the angular range limitations associated with prior art voice coil actuators and enables rotation of the camera about an extended angular range. The device can be advantageously utilized for adjustment of the pan and tilt angles of a video camera in a conferencing system.