Helmet-mounted night vision system and secondary imager
First Claim
1. A night vision system comprising:
- night vision goggles apparatus adapted to be positioned substantially in front of a user'"'"'s face for receiving incoming light from an object and for converting the incoming light to an intensified visible light for presentation to an eye of the user;
a visor mounted to a helmet to be worn by the user and adapted to be positioned substantially in front of the night vision goggles apparatus relative to the user'"'"'s face such that the night vision goggles apparatus is generally positioned between the visor and the user'"'"'s face; and
connecting means on said night vision goggles apparatus and on said visor for connecting the visor to the night vision goggles apparatus for retaining the visor in position substantially in front of the night vision goggles apparatus relative to the user'"'"'s face and for retaining said night vision goggles apparatus generally between said visor and the user'"'"'s face.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A helmet-mounted night vision system that is compact, light in weight and ejection-safe. The system incorporates a night vision goggles apparatus for receiving incoming infrared and/or visible light from a viewed object and for converting the incoming light to an intensified visible light for presentation to an eye of a user, a visor mounted to a helmet to be worn by the user and adapted to be positioned in front of the night vision goggles apparatus, and connecting structure for connecting the visor to the night vision goggles apparatus for retaining the visor in position in front of the night vision goggles apparatus. By ensuring that the visor is safely retained in front of and substantially fully covers the goggles apparatus at all times, the system of the invention is rendered ejection-safe. The system also provides the user with numerous other structural and operational advantages.
66 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A night vision system comprising:
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night vision goggles apparatus adapted to be positioned substantially in front of a user'"'"'s face for receiving incoming light from an object and for converting the incoming light to an intensified visible light for presentation to an eye of the user; a visor mounted to a helmet to be worn by the user and adapted to be positioned substantially in front of the night vision goggles apparatus relative to the user'"'"'s face such that the night vision goggles apparatus is generally positioned between the visor and the user'"'"'s face; and connecting means on said night vision goggles apparatus and on said visor for connecting the visor to the night vision goggles apparatus for retaining the visor in position substantially in front of the night vision goggles apparatus relative to the user'"'"'s face and for retaining said night vision goggles apparatus generally between said visor and the user'"'"'s face. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10)
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9. Night vision goggles apparatus comprising:
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first and second housing adapted to be positioned substantially in front of a user'"'"'s face for substantially covering left and right eyes, respectively, of the user, each of said first and second housings including an optical imaging system for receiving light from an external object and for presenting an intensified visible image of said object to its respective eye, each of said optical imaging systems being positioned adjacent to and generally following contours of the user'"'"'s face and including an objective optical system having an input end for receiving said light from said external object and for providing an image of said object at an output end thereof, said input end of said objective optical system being positioned at a location above the eyes of the user and adjacent a side of the user'"'"'s face; an image intensifier tube for converting the image at the output end of the objective optical system to an intensified visible image of the object at an output end of the image intensifier tube; and an eyepiece optical system for receiving the intensified visible image at the output end of the image intensifier tube and for presenting the intensified visible image to a respective eye of the user. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. Night vision apparatus comprising:
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an objective optical system having an input end for receiving light from an external object and for providing an image of said object at an output end thereof, an image intensifier tube for converting the image at the output end of the objective optical system to an intensified visible image of the object at an output end thereof; a secondary imager positioned adjacent the output end of said image intensifier tube for providing a secondary image adjacent the output end of the image intensifier tube; and an eyepiece optical system for receiving the intensified visible image at the output end of the image intensifier tube and the secondary image from the secondary imager and for presenting the intensified visible image and the secondary image to an eye of the user. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification