PORTABLE DEVICE FOR VIEWING AND IMAGING

• US 20090175032A9
• Filed: 02/18/2005
• Published: 07/09/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xenonics, Inc. (Xenonics Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Xenonics, Inc. (Xenonics Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Magerman, Alan, Maddox, Stephen, Kennedy, Jeffrey
• Granted Patent: US 7,581,852 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 362/157
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 8/003 Searchlights, i.e. outdoor lighting device producing powerful beam of parallel rays, e.g. for military or attraction purposes searchlights mounted on a vehicle B60Q1/245
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 33/0052 Audio or video equipment, e.g. televisions, telephones, cameras or computers; Remote control devices therefor
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 9/20 Dichroic filters, i.e. devices operating on the principle of wave interference to pass specific ranges of wavelengths while cancelling others
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 23/00 Telescopes, e.g. binoculars; Periscopes; Instruments for viewing the inside of hollow bodies; Viewfinders; Optical aiming or sighting devices
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 23/12 with means for image conversion or intensification
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/56 provided with illuminating means

Abstract

A portable searchlight with a focused beam operating both in the infrared and visible portions of the spectrum with a range of approximately 400 meters includes telescopic lens system integrated with an illumination system. The beam of the searchlight and the telescopic lens are automatically aligned to both focus on the distant object. The telescopic lens system is combined with a digital camera system and an LCD display. The searchlight includes an eyepiece lens so that a user may choose to either view a display screen or use the eyepiece lens to optically observe the field of view. Because the image is digital, the invention allows for the possibility of real time imaging processing in the portable device and/or the ability to transmit image data to remote receivers.

Claims

1. A portable hand-held device having illuminating, telescopic viewing and imaging capabilities comprising:

a searchlight for illuminating a scene at a predetermined range of distances and having a hand-held body;

an optical telescopic viewing system to generate an optical image of the scene, which optical telescopic viewing system is integrally included within the hand-held body in a selectively deployed and in a selectively stored configuration; and

an image sensing and display system for receiving the optical image of the scene and generating an electronic image therefrom, which image sensing and display system is integrally included with the hand-held body in a selectively deployed and in a selectively stored configuration.

2. The portable hand-held device of claim 1 where the searchlight has a defined beam to provide long-range illumination at the predetermined range of distances and further comprising circuitry to generate a digital image signal in order to provide in combination with the optical telescopic viewing system a focused imaging at the illuminated predetermined range of distances.

3. The portable hand-held device of claim 2 where the digital image signal is provided as an output signal for transmission to a remote recipient.

4. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the telescopic viewing system can accurately focus on objects with a magnification of approximately 20×

or greater.

5. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the telescopic viewing system focuses light from a predetermined range along an optical axis of the telescopic viewing system and collimates the light from the predetermined range, and wherein the optical axis of the telescopic viewing system is accurately adjusted to the beam location at the predetermined range.

6. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the searchlight, the optical telescopic viewing system and the image sensing and display system are simultaneously operable at wavelengths in the visible portion and infrared portion of the spectrum.

7. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the optical telescopic viewing system comprises an eyepiece for viewing an image optically obtained by the optical telescopic viewing system and wherein the image sensing and display system comprises an alternatively usable video screen for simultaneously viewing an image optically obtained by the optical telescopic viewing system and converted to a digital format by the image sensing and display system.

8. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the image sensing and display system generates color image data.

9. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the image sensing and display system comprises a solid-state dual mode camera, capable of selectively constructing images either in color or monochrome.

10. The portable device of claim 1 further comprising a circuit for digital imaging processing the electronic image.

11. A portable device having illuminating, telescopic viewing and imaging capabilities, the device comprising:

a searchlight housing;

a telescopic lens assembly integrally connected to the searchlight housing, wherein the telescopic lens assembly is movable with respect to the searchlight housing and wherein the telescopic lens is configured when deployed to receive light from a distant scene that is illuminated by the device and to form an optical image thereof.

a view finder having an eyepiece optically coupled to the telescopic lens assembly and having an adjustable position with respect the searchlight housing, wherein the view finder is pivotable about a position with respect to the searchlight housing;

a video display optically coupled to the telescopic lens assembly and generating an electronic image, the video display having an adjustable position with respect the searchlight housing, wherein the video display is pivotable about a position with respect to the searchlight housing.

12. The portable device of claim 11 wherein the view finder, video display and the telescopic lens assembly comprise modular interchangeable components for ease of manufacture and replacement of the components.

13. The portable device of claim 11 wherein the telescopic lens assembly is capable of magnifying objects in the distant scene up to approximately 20×

or greater.

14. A hand-held device for illuminating and imaging a distant object comprising:

a high intensity searchlight for delivering a focused spotlight beam at a predetermined range of distances, the device having a hand-held body;

an optical telescope integrally included on or within the hand-held body for receiving a reflected imaged from the focused spotlight beam at the predetermined range of distances; and

an electronic display for generating a digital image from the received reflected image at the predetermined range of distances, the electronic display integrally included on or within the hand-held body.

15. The device of claim 14 further comprising an optical viewfinder optically coupled to the telescope, the viewfinder integrally included on or within the hand-held body.

16. The device of claim 14 where the optical telescopic and the searchlight are automatically focused on the same distant object.

17. The device of claim 14 where the digital image is provided by the electronic display as an output signal for transmission to a remote recipient.

18. The device of claim 14 wherein the telescope has a magnification of approximately 20×

or greater.

19. The device of claim 14 wherein the searchlight, the telescope and the electronic display are simultaneously operable at wavelengths in the visible portion and infrared portion of the spectrum.

20. The device of claim 14 further comprising a circuit for digital imaging processing the electronic image.