STABILIZED OBSERVATION WITH LRF FUNCTION

• US 20170211932A1
• Filed: 01/18/2017
• Published: 07/27/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Safran Vectronix AG (Safran SA)
• Original Assignee: Vectronix AG (Safran SA)
• Inventors: ZADRAVEC, Dusan, KUNZ, Daniel
• Granted Patent: US 11,385,054 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 3/04 Adaptation of rangefinders for combination with telescopes or binoculars
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 3/08 Use of electric radiation detectors
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/08 for measuring distance only indirect measurement G01S17/46; active triangulation systems G01S17/48
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/646 compensating for small deviations, e.g. due to vibration or shake movement of one or more optical elements for control of motion blur in cameras, projectors or printers G03B2205/0007; image stabilisation in cameras peculiar to the presence or use of an electronic image sensor H04N23/68

Abstract

The invention relates to a hand-held observation device. The observation device is characterized in that a first observation channel comprises a first opto-mechanical stabilization unit for actively and equally stabilizing, during an observation, a first observation optical axis and an LRF axis of an integrated laser range finder by compensating for hand jitter during the observation, the first opto-mechanical stabilization unit being adapted for continuously adjusting and setting a lateral position (with respect to the optical axis) of at least one lens of the objective optical system of the first optical observation channel, in a way automatically controlled by an electronic processing and control unit, which reads and processes the gyro sensor data, particularly in a way wherein the adjusting of the lateral position of the at least one lens equally stabilizes the first observation optical axis and the LRF axis in one go.

Claims

1. A hand-held observation device, comprising

at least a first optical observation channel for observations defining a first observation optical axis by receiving and imaging optical light rays onto an image plane, in particular the light rays being within the visible wavelength range for optical observations by the eye of an observer,

a gyro sensor unit for recording gyro sensor data giving indication about hand-jitter during observation,

a laser range finding unit (LRF) for determining the distance along a LRF axis between the observation device and a target, the laser range finding unit comprising a laser transmission channel and a laser receiver channel, in particular wherein the laser transmission and the laser receiver channels are overlapping away from the device (i.e. substantially coaxial) and thus defining the LRF axis, and

the laser transmission channel and/or the laser receiver channel being coupled into the first observation channel,

wherein

the first observation channel comprising a first opto-mechanical stabilization unit for actively and equally stabilizing, during an observation, the first observation optical axis and the LRF axis by compensating for hand-jitter during the observation, the first opto-mechanical stabilization unit being adapted for continuously adjusting and setting a lateral position of at least one lens of the objective optical system of the first optical observation channel, in a way automatically controlled by an electronic processing and control unit, which reads and processes the gyro sensor data, particularly in a way wherein the adjusting of the lateral position of the at least one lens equally stabilizes the first observation optical axis and the LRF axis in one go.

2. The hand-held observation device according to claim 1, wherein

the lateral position of the at least one lens of the first opto-mechanical stabilization unit being based on the gyro sensor data, the power of the lens and its position within the system, the wavelength of the laser light, and the focal lengths pertaining to the laser transmission channel and the laser receiver channel.

3. The hand-held observation device according to claim 1,

wherein

the observation device being based on a monocular optical system comprising one first observation channel with the first opto-mechanical stabilization unit, in particular with

the laser transmission channel, comprising an additional stabilization unit, being separate from the first observation channel and the laser receiver channel being coupled into the first observation channel by a beamsplitter, or

both the laser transmission and receiving channels are coupled into the first observation channel by at least one beamsplitter, the beamsplitter particularly being a semi-reflecting mirror or a prism.

4. The hand-held observation device according to claim 1,

wherein

the observation device being based on a binocular optical system with a first and a second binocular channel.

5. The hand-held observation device according to claim 4,

wherein

the first binocular channel, comprising the first observation channel and the laser transmission channel, being used for transmission of the laser light towards the target, and the second binocular channel, comprising a second observation channel and the laser receiver channel, being used for receiving of the laser light reflected at the target, the first and second observation channels respectively comprising the first and a second opto-mechanical stabilization unit, in particular with

the laser transmission channel being coupled into the first observation channel and the laser receiver channel being coupled into the second observation channel, in particular wherein coupling happens by two beamsplitters, respectively, the beamsplitters particularly being semi-reflecting mirrors or prisms, or

the laser transmission channel, comprising a third stabilization unit, being separate from the first observation channel and the laser receiver channel being coupled into the second observation channel by a beamsplitter, the beamsplitter particularly being a semi-reflecting mirror or a prism.

6. The hand-held observation device according to claim 4,

wherein

the first and the second binocular channels having identical opto-mechanical setups respectively comprising the first observation channel with the first opto-mechanical stabilization unit and the second observation channel with the second opto-mechanical stabilization unit, and the two binocular channels respectively comprising a first and a second laser range finding unit, wherein for each laser range finding unit the respective laser transmission and laser receiver channels are overlapping and form a first and a second laser range finding channel, and

the first and second laser range finding channels are respectively coupled into the first and second observation channels, the coupling being done by a first and a second beamsplitter, respectively, in particular the beamsplitters being semi-reflecting mirrors or prisms.

7. The hand-held observation device according to claim 4,

wherein

the first binocular channel being solely used as the first observing channel, comprising the first opto-mechanical stabilization unit, whereas the second binocular channel comprises the second observation channel with the second opto-mechanical stabilization unit and the laser range finding unit, comprising the laser transmission channel and the laser receiving channel, with

the laser transmission channel, comprising the third opto-mechanical stabilization unit, being separate from the second observation channel and the laser receiver channel being coupled into the second observation channel by a beamsplitter, or

both the laser transmission and receiving channels being coupled into the second observation channel by a beamsplitter or several beamsplitters, particularly by a combination of beamsplitters.

8. The hand-held observation device according to claim 1,

wherein

the first opto-mechanical stabilization unit and if applicable the second and/or the third opto-mechanical stabilization units, the gyro sensor unit, and the electronic processing and control unit are embedded in one single attachment unit, which is detachable from the observation device.

9. The hand-held observation device according to claim 1,

wherein

the first observation channel comprising a first opto-electronic display means for real-time processing and digitally displaying the image plane of the first observation channel and providing additional displaying functionalities, in particular for displaying range information and/or color rendering for enhancing contrast and/or for displaying image information detected outside of the visual wavelength range.

10. The hand-held observation device according to claim 1,

wherein

the first observation channel comprising a first visual observation channel, in particular comprising the first opto-electronic display means, for real-time observing of the image plane of the first observation channel by eye, and an additional first electronic imaging channel comprising electronic imaging means, particularly CCD sensors and/or CMOS sensors and/or infrared detectors, for digitally storing image information of the image plane of the first observation channel and making said information available for external post-processing.