Device for implementation of a temperature reference in a camera for detecting infrared radiation, and a camera comprising said device

• US 20030213897A1
• Filed: 05/16/2002
• Published: 11/20/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Galileo Avionica SpA (Leonardo S.p.A.)
• Original Assignee: Galileo Avionica SpA (Leonardo S.p.A.)
• Inventors: Olivieri, Monica, Pieri, Silvano
• Application Number:
  US10/146,179
• Publication Number:
  US 20030213897A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 250/252.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/33 Transforming infrared radiation cameras or camera modules for generating image signals from infrared radiation H04N23/20; circuitry of SSIS for transforming infrared radiation into image signals H04N25/20

Abstract

In an infrared-radiation detecting camera the following are provided: an optical path with at least one collimator (5) and one scanning mirror (7); infrared-radiation detecting means (11); and at least one temperature reference with a radiating surface (31A) at a controlled temperature. The temperature reference comprises a reflecting prism (17) which receives a radiation emitted by the radiating surface and reflects it in the optical path towards the detecting means (11).

Claims

1. A device for implementing a temperature reference in an infrared-radiation detecting camera comprising a radiating surface (31A) which is kept at a controlled temperature, characterized by a prism (17) which receives a radiation from said radiating surface and reflects it according to a direction that is inclined with respect to said radiating surface towards a detecting optical path.

2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that said radiating surface (31A) is associated to a heat pump (35) which maintains said radiating surface at a controlled temperature.

3. The device according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the radiation coming from said radiating surface undergoes, while traversing said prism, at least one total refraction and one total reflection.

4. The device according to claim 1, claim 2, or claim 3, characterized in that said prism has at least three faces (17A, 17B, 17C), of which a first face (17A) for entrance of the radiation emitted from the radiating surface and a second face (17B) for exit of the radiation that is totally reflected inside the prism.

5. The device according to one or more of the foregoing claims, characterized in that said radiating surface is set, with respect to the reflecting surface of the prism on which the last reflection of the radiation coming from said radiating surface takes place, fully on the side of exit of the radiation from the prism.

6. The device according to claim 4 or claim 5, characterized in that the inclinations of the first face, second face, and third face of the prism are such that the radiation coming from the radiating surface is concentrated in the proximity of the dihedral edge (17S) formed by the second face (17B) and the third face (17C) of the prism.

7. The device according to one or more of the foregoing claims, characterized in that said prism (17) has a first entrance face (17A) through which the radiation coming from said radiating surface (31A) enters;

a second face (17B) forming, with said first face, an angle of aperture whereby the radiation refracted by the first face (17A) is reflected by the internal surface of the second face (17B) towards the third face (17C) of said prism, said third face (17C) forming, with the second face (17B), an angle such that the radiation reflected by the internal surface of the second face (17B) towards the third face (17C) is reflected by the internal surface of the latter towards the second face at an angle such that said radiation is refracted by the second face (17B) and comes out of the prism.

8. The device according to one or more of the foregoing claims, characterized in that the direction of exit of the radiation reflected by said prism is approximately orthogonal to the direction of the radiation entering said prism.

9. The device according to one or more of the foregoing claims, characterized in that said radiating surface (31A) is housed in a container (15) integral with said prism, with an exit window (37) for said radiation emitted by the radiating surface, said window being closed by one face of said prism.

10. The device according to one or more of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that said radiating surface (31) is housed in a container (15) with a window (37) for exit of the radiation emitted from the radiating surface, said window being closed by a component (39) that is separate from said prism.

11. An infrared-radiation detecting camera, characterized in that it comprises at least one device for implementing a temperature reference according to one or more of claims 1 to 10.

12. An infrared-radiation detecting camera, comprising:

an optical path with at least one collimator (5) and one scanning mirror (7);

infrared-radiation detecting means (11); and

at least one temperature reference with a radiating surface (31A) at a controlled temperature;

characterized in that said temperature reference comprises a reflecting prism (17) which receives a radiation emitted from said radiating surface and reflects it in the optical path towards said detecting means (11).

13. The infrared-radiation detecting camera according to claim 12, characterized in that said radiating surface is associated to a heat pump (35) which maintains the radiating surface at a controlled temperature.

14. The infrared-radiation detecting camera according to claim 12 or claim 13, characterized in that the radiation coming from said radiating surface undergoes, in said prism, at least one total refraction and one total reflection.

15. The infrared-radiation detecting camera according to claim 12, claim 13, or claim 14, characterized in that said prism has at least three faces (17A, 17B, 17C), of which a first face (17A) for entrance of the radiation emitted from the radiating surface and a second face (17B) for exit of the radiation that is reflected inside the prism.

16. The infrared-radiation detecting camera according to one or more of claims 12 to 15, characterized in that said prism (17) has a first entrance face (17A) through which at least one part of the radiation coming from said radiating surface (31A) enters;

a second face (17B) forming, with said first face, an angle of aperture whereby the radiation refracted by the first face (17A) is reflected by the internal surface of the second face (17B) towards the third face (17C) of said prism, said third face (17C) forming, with the second face (17B), an angle such that the radiation reflected by the internal surface of the second face (17B) towards the third face (17C) is reflected by the internal surface of the latter towards the second face at an angle such that said radiation is refracted by the second face (17B) and comes out of the prism.

17. The infrared-radiation detecting camera according to one or more of claims 12 to 16, characterized in that the reflecting face (17C) of the prism (17) on which the last reflection of the radiation takes place before the radiation comes out of the prism lies on a focal plane (3) of an entrance objective (1).

18. The infrared-radiation detecting camera according to claim 17, characterized in that the radiating surface is fully arranged, with respect to the focal plane (3) of the entrance objective (1), on the side opposite to that of entrance of the radiation coming from the environment and picked up by said entrance objective.

19. The infrared-radiation detecting camera according to one or more of claims 12 to 18, characterized in that the direction of exit of the reflected radiation is approximately orthogonal to the direction of the radiation entering said prism.

20. The infrared-radiation detecting camera according to one or more of claims 12 to 19, characterized in that said prism has a dihedral edge (17S) formed by the exit face (17B) of the reflected radiation and by the face (17C) on which the last reflection of the radiation takes place before the radiation comes out of the prism, said dihedral edge lying in a position corresponding to the edge of the image detected by said camera.

21. The infrared-radiation detecting camera according to one or more of claims 12 to 20, characterized in that said radiating surface (31A) is housed in a container (15) integral with said prism, with an exit window (37) for said radiation emitted by the radiating surface, said window being closed by one face of said prism.

22. The infrared-radiation detecting camera according to one or more of claims 12 to 20, characterized in that said radiating surface (31A) and said heat pump are set in a container (15) with a window (37) closed by a component (39) separate from said prism.

23. The infrared-radiation detecting camera according to claim 22, characterized in that said container (15) is fixed with respect to the detecting camera, and in that said prism (17) is mobile together with at least one part of the optical components of said camera to enable focusing of the image picked up by said detecting camera.