DEVICE FOR CLAPPING A CLAPPERBOARD AUTOMATICALLY AND PREFERABLY REMOTELY CONTROLLABLE

Technical field

The present invention relates to the technical field of device in the field of film industry.

In particular, the invention relates to a device for clapping the clapperboard automatically, thus also activating it when it is not held by the operator's hand.

Brief outline of prior art

Clapperboard is an onomatopoeic word which indicates one of the most common devices in the field of film industry.

It is simply formed by two rods hinged to one another in scissors-like manner, that is a rod arranged above and a rod arranged below, such that they can be clapped against each other thus making the typical "clap" sound which indicates the beginning of a shooting of a take. Moreover, a panel containing data and information on the take to be shot can be connected on the lower rod.

This device has long been known.

Therefore, the clapperboard device is kept in the operator's hand which arranges it in front of the camera before starting to shoot a scene and the operator activates it by clapping the two rods against each other in order to indicate the beginning of a shot.

In this manner, each scene is clearly identified and separated from the other shots for the subsequent and correct editing.

A first technical drawback concerns the fact that the traditional clapperboard must be manually activated by a movement of splaying/bringing the rods close and this movement may be difficult to perform by the operator in the event that positions and the supporting ground are inaccessible .

Moreover, depending on the kind of shot, the operator which holds the clapperboard may not be able to arrange it in front of the camera.

For example, this is the case of shots taken at a certain height. In this case, according to the current state of art, there is no solution which enables to activate the clapperboard when the shot is at a certain height, since the operator is not able to stay at a certain height with the clapperboard held in front of the camera .

Therefore, generally, in the current solution, the operator stays on the ground holding the clapperboard and the camera, arranged on a moving component, is first lowered and then raised to reach the height for taking the shot. Obviously, this solution is not easy.

Summary of the invention

Therefore, the aim of the present invention is to provide an innovative device, which resolves at least in part said technical drawbacks.

In particular, the aim of the present invention is to provide a device capable of activating a clapperboard automatically so as to enable the activation even in uncomfortable conditions for the operator and consequently which is remotely-controllable if necessary and therefore while shooting at a certain height when the operator cannot be present in front of the camera holding the clapperboard.

These and other aims are therefore achieved with the present device for activating a clapperboard (100), according to claim 1.

This device (1) comprises:

A locking mechanism (13'', 4') configured to lock a first and a second rod in splayed position, for example the two rods forming the same device or the rods of the traditional clapperboard;

An unlocking mechanism (14, 14') configured to act on said locking mechanism so as to clear said first and second rod so that they can rotate from said splayed position to a closing position;

And wherein there are comprised restoring means (16) arranged so as to bring said two rods from said splayed position to said closing position on the unlock of said two rods.

In this manner, all said technical drawbacks are readily resolved.

Therefore, it is possible to arrange the device, manually for example, in the locking splayed position of the rods and, by simply activating the unlocking mechanism, the rods return automatically to the closing position by means of restoring means.

Therefore, it is sufficient to apply this device externally to the traditional preexisting clapperboard, for example by means of Velcro, and it is possible to control the device even remotely.

In particular, it is possible to lock the clapperboard in splayed position and activate it in the closing position when necessary.

Therefore, this enables to operate even at a certain height and remotely.

Advantageously, said unlocking mechanism is remotely- activatable.

The activation of the remote locking mechanism can occur mechanically, through a system equipped with controlling cable and lever which activates the unlocking and enables to activate the clapperboard even when the operator does not hold it in hand.

A preferred embodiment is the remote wireless activation, therefore through remote controls, radio controls and other known types of wireless communications which activate unlocking mechanisms. Obviously, this simplifies a lot the structure of the device in its whole.

Advantageously, this device can provide a first rod (2) and a second rod (3), the said first rod and second rod being hinged to each other so as to rotate according a splaying/closing motion.

In this manner the two rods can be connected to the rods of a preexisting traditional clapperboard, for example by means of either Velcro or screws or bi-adhesive strip, thus becoming a removable application which operates well said clapperboard and structurally simple.

The clapperboard can also be assembled so as to contain this above-described technology and therefore be produced with this integrated technology.

Advantageously, a clapperboard (100) can be provided, comprising :

A first rod (102);

A second rod (103);

Said two rods being hinged to each other so as to rotate according a splaying/closing motion in which they are brought close to one another and vice versa;

According to the invention, the said clapperboard (100) further comprises:

A locking mechanism (13'', 4') configured to lock said first and second rod in said splayed position;

An unlocking mechanism (14, 14') configured to act on said locking mechanism so as to clear said first and second rod so that they can rotate from said splayed position to a closing position, said unblocking mechanism being remotely-controllable;

And wherein restoring means (16) are comprised arranged so as to exert a force suitable for bringing said two rods from said splayed position to said closing position on the unlock of said two rods.

Therefore, the above-described embodiments enable to "charge" manually the clapperboard by manually splaying the two rods which will lock themselves in this splayed position. When it is necessary to activate the clapperboard by means of a remote control, it is possible to activate the unlocking thereof which brings the two rods of the clapperboard to the closed position with a sudden motion by means of the restoring spring which determines the typical "clap" sound.

However, in a further embodiment, it could be useful to have a system which automatically splays the two rods by bringing them to splayed position and if necessary locking them in splayed position and then when necessary it enables them to return to the locking position through the spring which makes the rods clap thus emitting the typical "clap" sound.

Therefore, in this case, it could be provided a device (1) for activating a clapperboard (100) and comprising :

An actuator (814), preferably remotely- controllable, even more preferably wireless remotely- controllable;

An activating mechanism (814'), operated through the activation of said actuator and configured to move the two rods of a clapperboard from a closed position to a splayed position, the mechanism being further configured to enable the clear movement of the rods towards the closed position once a predetermined splayed position of the two rods has been reached. Therefore, elastic restoring means (818) cooperating with said activating mechanism (814' ^' ) are further comprised arranged so as to exert a force suitable for bringing said two rods from said splayed position to said closing position on the unlock of said two rods.

Therefore, in this manner the actuator could be activated to bring the two rods in the splayed position, locking itself before reaching the position of "standstill" in which the two rods are clear to return to the closed position. In this case, the same actuator acts as a lock in the splayed position. When it is activated again, the two rods reach this "standstill" and they are returned to closed position by the spring.

Alternatively, the actuator can be activated in "continuing" manner, hence without interruption it splays the two rods until it reaches the said maximum splayed position (defined standstill) in which the two rods are returned to the closed position by the spring, thus having a continuing and almost immediate activation of the rods, that is splaying and then clapping in closed position.

Additional advantages may be inferred from the remaining dependent claims.

Brief description of the drawings

Additional features and advantages of the present device, according to the invention, will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments thereof, given only by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

Figure 1A depicts an exploded view of an embodiment according to the invention;

Figure IB depicts the exploded view of the preceding figure 1A when assembled;

Figure 1C depicts a further detail in splayed locking position;

Figure 2A depicts in section this first possible embodiment of the invention in which the two rods are closed close to one another;

Figure 2B always depicts in section this first embodiment of figure 1, in which the two rods are splayed;

Figures 3D and 3B depict in enlarged view a detail of the system that locks the two rods in splayed position and when it is unlocked enables the two rods to move towards the closed position;

Figures 4A and 4B depict a second possible embodiment of the invention always in section in closed and splayed position;

Figure 5 depicts a constructive detail in enlarged view always of this second embodiment;

Figures 6 and 7 depict a third embodiment of the invention while figure 8 depicts an exploded view of this third embodiment;

Figure 9 depicts a fourth embodiment of the invention;

Figures 10 and 11 depict a fifth possible embodiment of the invention;

Figures 12 and 13 depict a possible sixth embodiment of the invention;

Figure 14 depicts a further seventh embodiment of the invention;

- Figure 15 depicts a further eighth embodiment of the invention;

Figures from 16 to 20 depict further embodiments of the invention;

Figure 21A depicts this embodiment which is applied to a normal and traditional clapperboard through for example Velcro material so as to enable to transform a traditional clapperboard to an "automatized" clapperboard device;

Figure 21 B depicts a device connected to the traditional clapperboard; the figure also highlights the panel under the lower rod which can act as support for the receiver which can be part of the device in some embodiments ;

Figure 22 depicts a remote control for remotely controlling said device;

Finally, figure 23 depicts the remote control which is preferably wireless, thus through radio control or electric cable control; however, a mechanical remote control through mechanical cable is also possible.

Description of some preferred embodiments

Figures from 1A to 3B depict a first possible preferred embodiment of the invention and described thereinafter in technical detail.

As depicted in figure 2A and figure 2B, there are provided a first rod 2 and a second rod 3 which are hinged to each other through their end 4 so as to splay and close reciprocally in scissors-like manner.

The two rods are preferably identical to each other.

They are overlapping to each another.

The exploded view of figure 1A depicts the mechanical components which are installed in suitable housings (SI, S2) obtained in the two rods (see also figure 1C) so that the two rods can be blocked in a splayed position and they can be released in automatic manner to return to the closed position (in fact, figure C depicts the locking embodiment in splayed position).

Figure IB depicts the same assembled components of figure 1A. The two rods (2, 3) which house such componentry are omitted in figure IB only for clarity purposes. The same is for figure 1A.

According to this embodiment it is provided a L- shaped lever 10 inserted in a suitable groove of rod 3 and fastened to the rod 3 through the hinge (42, 44) (see for example figure 1C and figure 2A or 2B). Therefore, the lever 10 is fixed in its housing and the part 10' thereof (see figure 2A) extends in the housing of the lever 3. The part 10'' is instead emerging from the rod 3 to be inserted in the housing of the overlapping lever 2. When the rod 3 rotates with respect to the rod 2, the L-shaped lever is fixed with respect to the rod 3, hence it rotates in integral manner therewith. Since it is integral therewith, the end 10'' inserts in the housing of the rod 2, during the rotation of the rod 3, it rotates by pushing against a sliding body 15 (see the direction of arrow in figure 3A).

More particularly, moving to figure 2A and figure 2B, it is provided the said body 15 arranged slidingly in a channel obtained in the rod 2. A spring 16 is arranged behind the said body 15 and tends to push it towards the direction of arrow depicted in figure 2A, that is against the end 10'' of the lever 10. Therefore, the body 15 is like a sort of piston sliding in a housing.

Figure 2A depicts an initial condition of rest. When the device in question is splayed manually, that is the rod 3 is rotated in counterclockwise direction to bring it to the embodiment of figure 2B, the part 10'' of rod 10 pushes against the body 15 by pushing it towards the direction of compression of the spring 16, as also depicted in the enlarged figure 3A.

A fixed striker 17 acts as locking constraint to which the other clear end of spring 16 is connected so that the spring can be compressed. In this condition, in which the body 15 is pushed towards the striker 17, the spring comprised between the body 15 and the striker 17 exerts a pushing force which tends to bring the body 15 to the position which moves from the left to the right, that is against the part 10'' of the rod 10.

In this condition, as explained thereinafter, it is generated this elastic force which tends to bring the lever 10 to the initial condition. This initial condition corresponds to the two rods 2 and 3 in closed position close to each other of figure 2A.

Therefore, the system can be blocked in said embodiment with the compressed spring 16 (corresponding to the two rods 2 and 3 in splayed position) with a suitable locking system and then with suitable unlocking system similar to a trigger of a firearm, the system is cleared by making the spring 16 exert its action bringing the system to the initial condition corresponding to the rods (2, 3) in closed position.

Having said that, the locking system and the unlocking system are described in more detail.

The locking system is constituted by two identical walls 4 depicted for example in figure 1A and IB. These walls, in form of suitably worked metallic plates are fitted with a series of notches (dl, d2) on their front wall at different heights, preferably two notches.

The form of lateral walls of predetermined thickness is substantially rectangular and the front wall is worked so as to form said notches.

The two plates 4 are coupled with each other in front of each other at a certain distance so as to comprise between them the L-shaped rod 10, as it is inferable from the exploded view of figure 1A.

The coupling between the two plates 4 is obtained through screws 45' and 46' passing through holes 45 and 46 present on both plates (see also figure IB).

The L-shaped rod is fastened rotatably with respect to the two plates 4' by means of an assembly 40 formed by a bushing 41 and a screw 42. Figure 1A also depicts the receiving hole 43 obtained in the L-shaped rod 10 where the bushing 41 is inserted and the holes 44 obtained in the two plates 4 through which said bushing 41 is always inserted .

The notches (dl, d2) act as lock cooperating with a locking lever 13, always depicted in figure 1A and IB and generally L-shaped as well.

Figure 1C depicts the end 13'' of the locking rod engaging with the corresponding notch d2 which locks the two rods 2 and 3 in splayed position.

Describing the invention in more structural detail, the part 10' of the L-shaped lever 10 supports this further L-shaped locking lever 13. In turn, this locking lever 13 has the upper part 13'' thereof shaped to be inserted in one of the notches obtained in the wall 4 (see figure 2A). The other part 13' leans against an eccentric rotatable element 14' which can be activated in rotation through a small engine 14, preferably an electric small engine (see figure 1).

Therefore, the lever 13 can clearly rotate with respect to the lever 10 by means of the hinge 17 (see figure 3A).

Therefore, the lever 13 is preferably hinged to the end of part 10' related to the lever 10 but it could equally be hinged to the structure of the rod 3 and then disjointed from the lever 10.

Lastly, a spring 18 is connected to the wall 4' (for example by means of a fastening screw) and on the opposite part it is fastened to the part 13'' of the lever 13 so as to pull towards the wall 4' the part 13'' thus making the lever 13 rotate clockwise by pulling it towards the locking notch.

The two walls 4', as already mentioned, are fastened with an internal housing of the upper rod 2 and they are integral therewith since they have two points of constraint, that is point 45' and 46''.

The same walls 4' are fastened in rotatable manner with a single point to the lower rod 3 through the hinge 42.

In this manner, the lower rod 3 can be rotated with respect to the upper rod 2 around the said point 42 by making the two rods pass from the position of figure 3B to the position of figure 3A.

For example, if the upper rod 2 is held in one's hand, the lower rod 3 can be rotated with respect to the upper rod which can be kept fixed.

In the same way, they can be splayed together by drawing them away reciprocally or the upper rod can be rotated by making the lower rod fixed.

In all the cases, the two rods rotate with respect to each another and with the wall 4' which is dragged by the upper rod.

Therefore, the system works as follows:

Starting from the rest condition of figure 2A or 3B, the two rods are splayed, for example the rod 3 is rotated counterclockwise with respect to the rod 2, thus bringing the system to the embodiment of figure 2A and that of figure 2B (or 3B). Therefore, starting from figure 2Ά, after said splaying the vertical portion 13'' of the L- shaped rod 13 slides along the path which shapes the notches (dl, d2) of the wall 4' thus conducting the end of that portion 13'' from the locking position in the notch (dl) to the locking position in the notch (d2) arranged below the notch (dl)(see figure 1C or figure 2B). The spring 18 exerts a restoring force which always maintains the portion 13'' adherent to the profile of the wall 4', thus making said portion 13'' pass from the first rod to the underlying rod.

Contextually, always as depicted in figure 2A, during the counterclockwise rotation of the lever 3, the part 10'' of the L-shaped lever is forced to push towards the direction of the arrow against the body 15, thus making it move towards the fixed lock 17 and therefore causing a compression of the interposed spring 16.

Therefore, when the splaying occurs, that is passing from the embodiment of figure 2A to that of figure 2B, the system locks by snapping since the leg 13'' passes over the notch and bucks the same notch (d2) while the spring 18 in that embodiment tends to pull towards the notch. The spring 16 would tend to push the body 15 against the end 10'' thus exerting a force which would conduct the L- shaped lever 10 to counter-rotate clockwise, thus occurring a clockwise rotation of the rod 3 towards the rod 2. However, it is prevented in this condition by the lever 13 which is locked in the notch thereof and kept in locking position by the lever 18.

Therefore, the activation of the electric small engine 14 fitted with eccentric 14' arranged in contact against the other leg 13' of the lever 13 occurs for the unlocking .

The eccentric acts as lock together with the spring 18 as long as the electric small motor is not working.

To unlock the system, it is necessary to remove the lever 13 from the notch thereof, exactly like a trigger system.

To do that, the small engine 14 is activated. In particular, it is activated the small engine which conducts to rotation the eccentric 14' which pushes onto the lever 13' downwards by rotating (direction depicted in figure 3A). The rotation of the eccentric 14' exceeds the restoring force of the spring 18 thus it conducts to counterclockwise rotation the whole lever 13 thus releasing the leg 13'' from the notch (d2). At this point, the spring 16, which exerts an elastic force against the body 15, moves the body 15 which pushes onto the part 10'', thus making the L-shaped lever 10 rotate clockwise (see the direction of arrow applied to the hinge 42 in figure 2A), thus conducting the lever 3 to rotate towards the rod 2 and passing from the splayed position to the closed position.

As depicted in figure 22 and 23, the type of electric small engine could be remotely-controllable, therefore by remote control, or alternatively, be fitted with electric cable of predetermined length which converges on a control device to activate and/or switch it off.

As depicted schematically in figure 21A and 21B, the described device can be realized as an accessory applied to pre-existing rods of the clapperboard. In fact, figure 21A depicts a traditional clapperboard to which it is connected, for example through Velcro, the described device by fitting the first and the second rod of the device to the two rods of the clapperboard. In this way, the device can be adapted to pre-existing clapperboards.

However, it is not excluded the realization of a clapperboard which comprised the described mechanism within it.

An embodiment of the invention is described in figures 4A, 4B and 5.

As it is inferable from figures, it is substantially equal to the first embodiment and equal parts will be described with the same numbers. The difference between the first and the second embodiment is in the fact that the end 10' of the lever 10 of the first embodiment is replaced by an arm 200' detached from the rest of the lever 10 and slidigly movable .

When said arm 200' is translated close to the remaining part 10 of the lever, it is locked in this position thus configuring the traditional L-shaped lever identical to the first embodiment and with the same operation (see figure 5 "automatic" case).

Moreover, the lever 10 is not hinged to the end of the translatable part 200 but is constrained to the structure of the rod 2.

Therefore, the operation, in the "automatic" embodiment, is identical to the case above, since by rotating the lever 3 with respect to the lever 2, the two rods are splayed and locked in splayed position through the lever 13. The small engine activates the eccentric which acts on the lever 13 by making it counter-rotate so as to release it and making the rod rotate with respect to the rod 2 towards the opposite direction and then return to closed position.

However, it is possible to activate the whole system traditionally "by hand", that is by means of a "clapperboard" in which the two rods are clearly rotated by hand from the scissors-like position to the closed position and vice versa. In fact, it is possible to translate the arm 200' by hand towards the position which pushes and maintains the lever 13 released from the notches. This translation, as depicted in figures, is such as to position the lever 13 in a position where it is always clear, that is it is never engaged with the notches (dl, d2).

In this embodiment the system becomes a traditional manual "clapperboard" in which it is splayed manually and returns to the rest position further favoured by the spring 16. Therefore, neither a lock nor an automatic unlock occur but the operator splays manually the two rods which tend to return to the rest condition by means of the spring 16.

Figures from 6 to 8 depict a further embodiment of the invention.

The concept is always the same, that is the system of the two rods is locked in a splayed position while contextually an elastic restoring force acts and brings the two rods by snapping to the closed position. Therefore, the system is controllable so as to "snap" like a trigger of a firearm, thus enabling the two rods to return by snapping against each other by means of the elastic restoring force.

In this embodiment, it is provided a lever 313 mounted rotatably with respect to the lower rod 3 in the point "0".

Then it is provided an automatic locking/unlocking actuator 314 and a spring 316 which is interposed between the two rods 2 and 3.

When the two rods are splayed, the spring 316 would tend to bring the two rods to the closed position.

On the contrary, the other spring 318 tends to make the lever 313 rotate and push towards the actuator 314 by pushing the lever 313 to engage against a tooth 314' of the actuator.

In fact, the lever 313 has a notch suitable for being engaged with the tooth 314'.

The actuator has an eccentric 315 which pushes the lever 313 to be released from the tooth 314' when it is rotated, thus clearing the locking system and making the spring 316 bring the rods 2 and 3 from the splayed position to the locking position.

Figure 8 also depicts the Velcro through which this device can be applied to a traditional clapperboard, although, as mentioned, the realization of a clapperboard which include this device can be envisaged.

The embodiment of figure 9 is substantially identical to that of figure 8 above.

In this case, the difference is in that the actuator 414 is laying horizontally in the housing thereof and it is provided with a rotatable head 414' with a threading in place of the eccentric. Depending on the direction of rotation of the threading which is always engaged with a notch on the lever 413, the constraining condition of the rod 413 moves to an unlocking position, exactly as per the embodiment of figure 8. In that sense, when the two rods 2 and 3 are splayed and locked in the splayed embodiment, it is selected the actuator 414 which is cleared from the lever 413 by making the threaded head 414' rotate, thus enabling to activate the central spring 416 and bringing the two rods 2 and 3 from the splayed position to the closed position.

Figures 10 and 11 depicts an embodiment identical to that of figure 8 with a smaller rod 3 of reduced length.

All these embodiments can be activated remotely, even wireless, through suitable remote controls or radio controls .

Figure 12 and figure 13 depict an embodiment with mechanical activation wherein, starting from an initial locking position in which the two rods are locked, the system is unlocked so that the restoring spring which connects the two rods (in this case, the spring 616) brings the two rods in the closed position.

The concept is more or less the same. In this case it is present a locking lever 613 which is hinged to the first lever 2; when the two rods are splayed, it is maintained in locking position since the same notch present in the locking lever 613 is engaged against a tooth 613 integral with the other rod 3 by means of the same pulling spring 618. The actuator is in this case of mechanical type and is provided with a cable 614 connected to the locking lever 613 so as to pull the lever physically and make it turn to a clearing position, thus making the spring 616 bring the two rods close to each another .

Other similar embodiments are possible.

For example, the embodiment of figure 15 depicts a rotatable actuator 814 having a sort of rotatable eccentric 814'. The eccentric can be arranged in a position in which it maintains the two rods splayed between them, despite the restoring force of the spring. When the eccentric is rotated, for example 180 degrees, it clears the rods which can move pulled by the spring.

In fact, the peculiarity of this embodiment with rotatable eccentric is in that, differently from the other embodiments, it does not need a manual "armament" in which the operator must "charge" the two rods manually locking them in splayed position.

In this case, starting from the condition of rods in closed position, the whole rotation of the eccentric is such that it splays automatically the two rods and then enables their return to closed position by means of the spring 818. Therefore, this embodiment is fully automatic to conduct rods both to splayed position and obviously bring them to the rest position.

In fact, the eccentric 814' is worked with an inclined profile which is in contact against a support of the rod to determine the divarication. In some parts of it, it is lacking material, so that, once reached these parts, the elastic spring 818 returns clearly the two rods to the closed position.

Figures from 16 to 20 depict a further embodiment which has the same way of operation as described in figure 15 since the step of divarication and return to the closed position is fully automatic and it is not necessary any manual divarication.

More particularly, the divarication is carried out by ordering, through a suitable actuator or small electric engine in general, the rotation of a beveled lever against the underlying beveled one, so that the bevel creates an inclined plane. The sliding of an inclined plane on the other one determines the lifting of the two rods and therefore their rotation. The movement, in particular the rotation of the beveled rod occurs through actuator. The same restoring spring brings the two rods (2, 3) to the closed position when the actuator releases the two overlapping beveled rods.

In this way, automatically, the two rods are brought to splayed position and then to closed position through the restoring spring.