Infrared video camera system with uncooled focal plane array and radiation shield
First Claim
1. An uncooled infrared sensor assembly comprising:
- (a) an uncooled infrared sensor having an active surface for providing an analog video signal in response to infrared radiation falling thereon;
(b) a radiation shielding chamber formed to surround the uncooled infrared sensor for shielding radiation from said active surface, the chamber providing continuous walls for shielding the sensor and a shield aperture for defining a field of view of said active surface thereby limiting the radiation entering the chamber to a prescribed solid cone angle defined by the shield aperture; and
,(c) wherein the chamber walls provide a substantially uniform non-varying infrared radiation scene to the active surface for all angles not included in the prescribed solid cone angle.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An infrared video camera system comprises an uncooled infrared sensor mounted and a thermally conductive thin walled radiation shield for shielding radiation from reaching an active surface of the uncooled infrared sensor. A TEC maintains the sensor active surface and the radiation shield at a substantially constant temperature. The uncooled infrared sensor and radiation shield are further housed in a hollow thermally conductive vacuum cover which is vacuum sealed with a base assembly and includes a vacuum sealed infrared transparent window in an aperture at a top end of the vacuum cover for allowing infrared radiation to reach the active surface and for forming a vacuum chamber enclosing the infrared sensor and radiation shield. A relay optical cell mounted to a camera body comprises at least one optical element for relaying an image formed at its entrance onto the active surface. An imaging optical assembly is interchangeably mounted to the relay optical cell and comprises at least one optical element for imaging an infrared scene to be imaged onto the entrance aperture of the relay cell. A plurality of different field of view imaging optical assemblies are interchangeably mounted without substantially changing the field of view of the sensor active surface.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. An uncooled infrared sensor assembly comprising:
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(a) an uncooled infrared sensor having an active surface for providing an analog video signal in response to infrared radiation falling thereon; (b) a radiation shielding chamber formed to surround the uncooled infrared sensor for shielding radiation from said active surface, the chamber providing continuous walls for shielding the sensor and a shield aperture for defining a field of view of said active surface thereby limiting the radiation entering the chamber to a prescribed solid cone angle defined by the shield aperture; and
,(c) wherein the chamber walls provide a substantially uniform non-varying infrared radiation scene to the active surface for all angles not included in the prescribed solid cone angle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An infrared video camera system, comprising
(a) a camera body for housing an electronics module; -
(b) an uncooled infrared sensor having an active surface for providing an analog video signal in response to infrared radiation falling thereon, the analog video signal being communicated to the electronics module for signal processing thereby; (c) a radiation shielding chamber formed to surround the uncooled infrared sensor for shielding radiation from said active surface, the shielding chamber providing continuous walls for shielding the sensor and a shield aperture for defining a field of view of said active surface thereby limiting the radiation entering the chamber to a prescribed solid cone angle defined by the shield aperture; and
,(d) wherein the chamber walls provide a substantially uniform non-varving infrared radiation scene to the active surface for all angles not included in the prescribed solid cone angle. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. In an infrared imaging system which includes an uncooled infrared sensor for providing an analog signal in response to infrared radiation falling onto an active surface thereof, a method for artificially creating a reference background image comprising the steps of:
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(a) sufrounding the uncooled infrared sensor with a radiation shielding chamber comprising a continues surrounding wall and a shield aperture formed in the surrounding wall; (b) defining a field of view of the active surface by sizing and positioning the shield aperture to limit the radiation entering the chamber to a prescribed solid cone angle defined by the shield aperture; and
,(c) wherein the continuous surrounding chamber wall provides said reference background image to the active surface for all angles not included in the prescribed solid cone angle. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification