Low profile camera housings having concavely curved based surfaces and related systems and methods

Abstract

Low profile concavely curved cameras, camera housings and related systems and methods. These devices, etc., simultaneously reduce snags and other hazards and also provide improved protection to people such as military and first-responder personnel and athletes by improving the attachment of the camera housing to a helmet or other complexly curved convexly curved base substrate.

1 . A low profile, concavely curved camera housing wherein all upper surfaces of the camera housing are low profile and smooth such that no upper surfaces of the housing pose a snag hazard and wherein the camera housing comprises a concave base surface contoured to match and attach directly to a convexly curved base substrate such that the connection between the camera housing and the convexly curved base substrate has no gaps that pose a snag hazard. 
     
     
         2 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the concave base surface comprises a complex curvature comprising multiple radii of curvature contoured to match and attach directly to a curved convexly curved base substrate comprising a corresponding complex curvature comprising multiple radii of curvature. 
     
     
         3 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the housing further comprises a single-motion releasable attachment/detachment element structured to releasably attach and detach the concave base surface to and from the convexly curved base substrate in a single motion by a user. 
     
     
         4 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 2  wherein the single-motion releasable attachment/detachment element is structured to be released using only a single hand of the user. 
     
     
         5 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the concave base surface is rigid. 
     
     
         6 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 2  wherein the base surface of the housing comprises an elastic layer configured to moldably conform to varied curvatures of a complexly curved convexly curved base substrate. 
     
     
         7 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the elastic layer comprises an attachment/detachment element configured to releasably attach the concave base surface to the convexly curved base substrate. 
     
     
         8 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 7  wherein the elastic layer is an attachment/detachment element consisting essentially of a first layer of a hook-and-loop fabric, the first layer of the hook-and-loop fabric configured to attach to a corresponding second layer of the hook-and-loop fabric attached to the convexly curved base substrate. 
     
     
         9 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 8  wherein the elastic layer is an adhesive layer configured to releasably attach to the convexly curved base substrate. 
     
     
         10 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the concave base surface of the camera housing conforms to the convexly curved base substrate such that there are no air gaps between the concave base surface of the camera housing and the convexly curved base substrate. 
     
     
         11 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the camera housing further contains d) a user interface comprising only controls configured such that all can be operated by a single hand of a user without visual interaction by the user with the user interface. 
     
     
         12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 11  wherein the hand is a gloved hand. 
     
     
         14 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 11  wherein the user interface is configured to switch between still photo mode and video record mode. 
     
     
         15 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the camera housing contains a camera. 
     
     
         16 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 15  wherein the camera is unitary with housing elements of the low profile concavely curved camera housing. 
     
     
         17 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 15  wherein the camera is discrete from housing elements of the low profile concavely curved camera housing. 
     
     
         18 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 17  wherein the camera housing comprises a first plug-in docking element configured to dock with the camera and the camera comprises a corresponding, second plug-in docking element configured to dock with camera housing. 
     
     
         19 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 18  wherein the first plug-in docking element and the second plug-in docking element are corresponding male and female members. 
     
     
         20 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 11  wherein the user interface comprises only controls that can be operated by a single hand of a user without visual interaction by the user with the user interface. 
     
     
         21 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 11  wherein all controls of the user interface can be operated by a single gloved hand. 
     
     
         22 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 21  wherein the user interface comprises a single control switch structured to control at least the following operations of the camera: a) power on/power off; and b) a record images function. 
     
     
         23 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 22  wherein the power on/power off and the record images functions are simultaneously engaged upon activating the control switch. 
     
     
         24 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 22  the user interface comprises at least one recording activation element and the user interface is configured such that the camera can be set for a standby mode such that activating the recording activation element during the standby mode causes the camera to begin recording images. 
     
     
         25 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 21  wherein the control switch is a depressible button, a toggle switch, or a knob. 
     
     
         26 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the concave base surface of the camera housing comprises at least two different radii. 
     
     
         27 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the low profile concavely curved camera housing does not include any device that penetrates the convexly curved base substrate. 
     
     
         28 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the camera housing comprises at least one wireless transmitter element structured to send real-time images to remote monitors. 
     
     
         29 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 28  wherein the wireless transmitter element is a Wi-Fi transmitter. 
     
     
         30 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the camera housing comprises a personnel-protection material 
     
     
         31 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the camera housing of the low profile concavely curved camera housing further comprises at least one camera housing optical element disposed in front of the camera lens. 
     
     
         32 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 31  wherein the camera housing optical element disposed in front of the camera lens is structured to be non-distorting such that an image transmitted through the camera housing optical element is substantially undistorted upon reaching a camera lens of the camera. 
     
     
         33 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 31  wherein the camera housing optical element disposed in front of the camera lens is structured to enlarge images passing through the camera housing optical element such that an image transmitted through the camera housing optical element is substantially enlarged a pre-determined amount upon reaching the camera lens. 
     
     
         34 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 31  wherein the camera housing optical element disposed in front of the camera lens is structured to reduce image size of images passing through the camera housing optical element such that an image transmitted through the camera housing optical element is substantially reduced a pre-determined amount upon reaching the camera lens. 
     
     
         35 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 31  wherein the camera housing further comprises an image selector switch structured to select between an enlarged image or a reduced image. 
     
     
         36 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the camera housing further comprises at least one camera housing light-enhancement element. 
     
     
         37 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 36  wherein the camera housing light-enhancement element comprises at least one filter structured to selectively block or reduce selected wavelengths of light. 
     
     
         38 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 37  wherein the filter selectively blocks at least one of infrared (IR) light, near-infrared (NIR) light, visible light and ultraviolet (UV) light. 
     
     
         39 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 37  wherein the camera housing light-enhancement element comprises a night-vision device. 
     
     
         40 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the camera housing further comprises at least one camera housing light emitter. 
     
     
         41 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 40  wherein the camera housing light emitter is structured to variably, selectively emit infrared (IR) light, near-infrared (NIR) light, visible light and ultraviolet (UV) light. 
     
     
         42 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the camera housing further comprises at least one camera housing power source structured to provide power to the camera. 
     
     
         43 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 42  wherein the camera housing is structured to provide power from the camera housing power source to the camera via a plug-in docking element. 
     
     
         44 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 43  wherein the plug-in docking element comprises a first plug-in docking element and a second plug-in docking element which are corresponding male and female members. 
     
     
         45 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the camera housing further comprises surface grips on one or more upper visible surfaces of the camera housing. 
     
     
         46 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 45  wherein the surface grips comprise high-grip material attached to the upper visible surfaces without any protrusions extending significantly from the visible surfaces. 
     
     
         47 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the camera housing further comprises surface grips on one or more visible surfaces of the camera housing. 
     
     
         48 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the convexly curved base substrate is an outer surface of a helmet. 
     
     
         49 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the helmet is a military-level helmet. 
     
     
         50 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 49  wherein the military-level helmet is a Combat Vehicle Crewman (CVC) helmet, an Army Combat Helmet (ACH), a Modular Integrated Communications Helmet (MICH) helmet or a Future Assault Shell Technology (FAST) Helmet. 
     
     
         51 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the convexly curved base substrate is a surfboard. 
     
     
         52 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the convexly curved base substrate is a kayak. 
     
     
         53 . The concavely curved camera housing of  claim 1  wherein the camera housing cannot snag a cord measuring about 5/32″ in diameter. 
     
     
         54 . A system comprising the low profile concavely curved camera housing according to  claim 1  and a convexly curved base substrate. 
     
     
         55 . The system of  claim 54  wherein and the low profile concavely curved camera housing and the convexly curved base substrate are attached to each other. 
     
     
         56 . The system of  claim 54  wherein the convexly curved base substrate and the low profile concavely curved camera housing are structured to interact cooperatively such that the concavely curved camera housing can be repeatedly attached and detached to different parts of the convexly curved base substrate. 
     
     
         57 . The system of any one of  claims 54  wherein the convexly curved base substrate comprises at least one attachment element configured such that the concavely curved camera housing can be repeatedly attached and detached to the convexly curved base substrate. 
     
     
         58 . The system of  claim 57  wherein the convexly curved base substrate comprises a plurality of base substrate attachment elements located at a plurality of distinct locations on the convexly curved base substrate, each of the locations configured to hold the concavely curved camera housing upon attachment. 
     
     
         59 . The system of  claim 58  wherein the plurality of base substrate attachment elements are located at least at a top, front, left side, right side and back of the convexly curved base substrate. 
     
     
         60 . The system of  claim 58  wherein the convexly curved base substrate is a military-level helmet. 
     
     
         61 . The system of  claim 58  wherein the convexly curved base substrate is a kayak. 
     
     
         62 . The system of  claim 58  wherein the convexly curved base substrate is a shoulder pad. 
     
     
         63 . A method comprising manufacturing a concavely curved camera housing according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
         64 . A method comprising manufacturing a system according to  claim 54 . 
     
     
         65 . A method comprising using a concavely curved camera housing according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
         66 . A method comprising using a system according to  claim 54 . 
     
     
         67 . A low profile, camera housing wherein all upper surfaces of the camera housing are low profile and smooth such that no upper surfaces of the housing pose a snag hazard and wherein the camera housing comprises a flat surface contoured such that the connection between the camera housing and a flat base substrate has no gaps that pose a snag hazard. 
     
     
         68 . The camera housing of  claim 67  wherein the housing further comprises a single-motion releasable attachment/detachment element structured to releasably attach and detach the flat base surface to and from the flat curved base substrate in a single motion by a user. 
     
     
         69 . The camera housing of  claim 68  wherein the single-motion releasable attachment/detachment element is structured to be released using only a single hand of the user. 
     
     
         70 . The camera housing of any one of  claim 67  wherein the base surface of the housing comprises an elastic layer configured to moldably conform to varied curvatures of a complexly curved base substrate. 
     
     
         71 . The camera housing of any one of  claims 70  wherein the elastic layer comprises an attachment/detachment element configured to releasably attach the flat base surface to the flat curved base substrate. 
     
     
         72 . The camera housing of  claim 67  wherein the flat base surface of the camera housing is configured to conform to the flat base substrate such that there are no air gaps between the flat base surface of the camera housing and the flat base substrate. 
     
     
         73 . A method comprising manufacturing flat camera housing according to  claim 67 . 
     
     
         74 . A method comprising using a concavely curved camera housing according to  claim 67 .