Optical system of collimation notably for helmet display unit

• US 5,453,877 A
• Filed: 10/19/1989
• Issued: 09/26/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/1988
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Thomson-CSF (Thales SA)
• Original Assignee: Thomson-CSF (Thales SA)
• Inventors: Gerbe, Jean-Pierre, Migozzi, Jean-Blaise
• Primary Examiner(s): Dzierzynski, Paul M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, THONG Q
• Application Number:
  US07/424,200
• Time in Patent Office: 2,168 Days
• Field of Search: 350/172, 350/174, 350/3.7, 350/3.72, 340/705, 359/618, 359/629-633, 359/641
• US Class Current: 359/633
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 17/008 Systems specially adapted to form image relays or chained systems
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 17/0812 off-axis or unobscured systems in which all of the mirrors share a common axis of rotational symmetry
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 17/086 wherein the system is made of a single block of optical material, e.g. solid catadioptric systems
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/017 Head mounted
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0172 characterised by optical features

Abstract

The system is designed to be mounted in a air pilot'"'"'s helmet. It uses a confocal assembly with a first parabolic mirror and a second parabolic mirror, placed downline of a collimation objective which gives a collimated radiation. The first mirror is totally reflective and the second mirror is semi-transparent to simultaneously transmit, by reflection, the collimated radiation and, by transparency, for example the view of the external landscape. These two mirrors are integrated into the ends of a plate with two parallel faces. The collimated radiation penetrates the plate by one of the parallel faces, gets reflected on the first mirror, undergoes a succession of total reflections on the parallel faces and then gets reflected on the second mirror before leaving the plate, still doing so through one of the two faces.

Claims

1. An optical system of collimation comprising, in series:

a source of images to provide a light radiation, a collimation objective to collimate the radiation, a combiner comprising a confocal assembly with a first parabolic mirror and a second parabolic mirror and a transparent plate, the first mirror being reflective to reflect the collimated radiation towards the second mirror, and the second mirror being partially transparent to enable, simultaneously, the transmission by reflection, towards an observer, of the radiation received from the first mirror, and the transmission by transparency, towards the observer, of an external radiation, the transparent plate having two ends, a first face and a second face which are parallel, the two ends being formed, respectively, by the two parabolic mirrors, and wherein an optical path of the collimated radiation between the objective and the observer comprises, subsequently, a first crossing of one of the two parallel faces, a reflection on the first mirror, several total reflections on the parallel faces, a reflection on the second mirror and a second crossing of one of the two parallel faces, wherein the plate is formed by several elements, each of the two parallel faces being formed by a surface for each element, and the surfaces being arranged so as to constitute a folded version of the system.