Apparatus for providing a simulated view to hand held binoculars
First Claim
1. Apparatus for providing selected visual scenes to an observer comprising:
- a first eye piece and a further eye piece for viewing said selected visual scenes by said observer, said first eye piece and said further eye piece being suitable for orienting in a selected direction;
source means for generating electric signals representative of said selected visual scenes;
display means for receiving and converting said electrical signals into a visual representation of said selected visual scenes;
optical transporting means for receiving said visual representation from said display means and transporting said visual representation to said first eye piece and to said further eye piece for viewing by said observer; and
means for connecting said transporting means and said first eye piece and said further eye piece to provide said selected visual scenes to both said first and further eye pieces.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for presenting a scene generated by an electronic visual scene generator to an observer looking through a pair of binoculars 32 is disclosed. The scene presented by the binoculars is an enlarged or magnified portion of a panoramic scene presented on a screen 12 also generated by the visual scene generator 28 and suitable for viewing by the observers unaided eye. In the described embodiment, electronic signals representative of a scene are generated by digital generator 28. These electrical signals are then applied to three small CRT'"'"'s 72, 74 and 70 each of which has a different color such as red, green and blue where the visual scene is produced by the CRT'"'"'s three colors. The three CRT'"'"'s colored images are then combined by means of beam splitters, filters and mirrors 44 to provide a single full colored scene which is then transported to both eye pieces of a pair of hand held binoculars 32 or to the eye piece of a periscope 48 by means of a fiber optic cable 36 and 50 respectively. A panoramic scene on screen 12 and suitable for viewing by the unaided eye and generated by the digital generator 28 is also provided by suitable means such as a CRT projector 14. Thus, by monitoring the orientation of the binoculars 32 a magnified or enlarged view (such as 8×) of a portion of the panoramic view can be provided by the binoculars, for example, according to the orientation. Thus, in accordance with the embodiment described the observer or tank commander can closely inspect by means of the binoculars a selected portion of the panoramic scene as would be the case in a real life situation.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. Apparatus for providing selected visual scenes to an observer comprising:
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a first eye piece and a further eye piece for viewing said selected visual scenes by said observer, said first eye piece and said further eye piece being suitable for orienting in a selected direction; source means for generating electric signals representative of said selected visual scenes; display means for receiving and converting said electrical signals into a visual representation of said selected visual scenes; optical transporting means for receiving said visual representation from said display means and transporting said visual representation to said first eye piece and to said further eye piece for viewing by said observer; and means for connecting said transporting means and said first eye piece and said further eye piece to provide said selected visual scenes to both said first and further eye pieces. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. Apparatus for providing selected scenes to an observer comprising:
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first and further eye pieces for viewing said selected scenes by said observer, said first and further eye pieces comprising the eye pieces of hand held binoculars suitable for orientation in a selected direction; source means for digitally generating electrical signals represents of said selected scenes, the selection of one of said selected scenes being generated in response to a control signal; three CRT means for receiving and converting said electrical signals into a visual representation of said selected scenes, each of said three CRT'"'"'s producing said selected visual scenes in three different and distinct colors; means for combining said three distinctly colored visual scenes from said three CRT'"'"'s such that a single visual scene representing a full color scene is produced; optically transporting means for receiving said full color representation from said three CRT'"'"'s, and transporting said full color visual representation to said first and further eye pieces of said hand held binoculars for viewing by said observer; and means for determining the orientation of said first and further eye pieces of said hand held binoculars and for providing said control signal which is representative of said orientation and binoculars.
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10. A method for providing selected visual scenes to an observer comprising the steps of:
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viewing said selected visual scenes through a first eye piece and a further eye piece by orientating said first and further eye pieces in a selected direction; digitally generating said visual scenes and providing electrical signals representative of said selected visual scenes; receiving and converting said electrical signals into a visual representation of said selected visual scenes for displaying on a display means; and optically transporting said visual representation from said display means to said first eye piece and to said further eye piece for viewing by said observer. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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Specification