Extreme temperature radiometry and imaging apparatus

• US 6,255,650 B1
• Filed: 12/11/1998
• Issued: 07/03/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Teledyne FLIR LLC (Teledyne Technologies Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: FLIR Systems, Inc. (Teledyne Technologies Incorporated)
• Inventors: Krivoy, Raul, Burke, Michael W., Rae, John R., Evans, Stewart W., Foster, Scott A., Warner, Charles C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Epps, Georgia
• Assistant Examiner(s): HANIG, RICHARD E
• Application Number:
  US09/210,167
• Time in Patent Office: 935 Days
• Field of Search: 250/330, 250/332, 250/339.04, 250/339.14, 250/339.15, 250/341.8, 250/342, 348/64, 348/164, 359/815, 345/8, 345/9, 2/5, 2/63
• US Class Current: 250/330
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0112 comprising device for genereting colour display
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0118 comprising devices for improving the contrast of the display / brillance control visibility
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0123 comprising devices increasing the field of view
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0138 comprising image capture systems, e.g. camera
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 23/125 head-mounted
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/017 Head mounted

Abstract

A head-up display, an IR camera and associated electronics including power are integrated into portable, self-contained, wrap-around, face-worn vision-enhancement apparatus useful in environments of dense air-borne particulate and thermal extremes such as encountered in fire fighting situations, in accordance with the invention. Reflective and opaque lenses are provided at approximately eye level for IR, vision display and blinding purposes, respectively, to produce a clear bright picture of a scene otherwise obscured by darkness or obscurants. The IR camera is integral with wrap-around system along with a self-contained power supply so that the system is portable and requires no umbilical cord or other external connections. An optical axis of the IR camera and an axis describing the user'"'"'s virtual line of sight through the viewing eye converge at a nominal arm'"'"'s length in front of the user'"'"'s viewing eye, e.g. 3 feet away. The imager is preferably an un-cooled focal plane array and associated imaging, storing, processing and displaying electronics are cooled in the extreme thermal environment using an integral plural phase heatsink. The apparatus is separate from, but compatible with, helmets and SCBA gear worn by the user so that it can easily be installed and removed by an individual user. Extended hands-free operation is provided in a lightweight package providing enhanced vision via color-coded temperature banding for display purposes, the color coding being performed in microprocessor-based firmware that forms part of the electronics. The apparatus may be temporarily affixed via a clip to the brim of a helmet and may be easily shifted on the user'"'"'s face from its normal night-vision position to a temporary stowed position in front of the forehead whereby the user has virtually unobstructed binocular vision.

Claims

1. A portable infrared camera system for use in fire-fighting, comprising:

an optical engine including an infrared camera and a display;

a battery adapted to power the optical engine; and

a self-contained, plural-phase, heat sink thermally connected to the optical engine to receive and store heat from the camera, the heat sink being optimized to preferentially store received heat internally rather than dissipate it to the environment whereby the system can be used for an extended period of time in an environment with a temperature above the temperature of the heat sink.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the heat sink comprises paraffin wax.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the heat sink includes material selected from the group comprising wax, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, fatly acids, salt hydrates, fused salt hydrates, and metallic eutectic compounds.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the heat sink comprises a material that melts at a temperature between approximately 65°

C. and approximately 75°

C.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the system has a weight of approximately four pounds or less.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the optical engine is configured to create an image on the display corresponding to a scene viewed by the camera and wherein portions of the image corresponding to those portions of the scene that are within a target temperature range are highlighted in a way to make it possible for a user to readily distinguish portions of the scene within the target temperature range from portions of the scene outside the target temperature range.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the highlighted portions have a different color than the remainder of the image.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein portions of the image representing corresponding portions of the scene in a second temperature range outside the target temperature range are represented in gray scale based on temperature.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the image is further color coded to represent those portions of the scene that are at a temperature above an avoidance temperature in a color that is visually distinct from all other portions of the image, thereby distinguishing those portions of the scene that are at a dangerously high temperature.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the image is further color coded to represent those portions of the scene that are at a temperature near human body temperature in a color that is visually distinct from all other portions of the image, thereby facilitating location of victims in a fire.

11. An apparatus for use in fire-fighting to view a scene in infrared in an elevated temperature environment, comprising:

an infrared camera having a nominal maximum operating temperature; and

a self-contained, plural-phase heat sink thermally connected to the camera to receive and store heat from the camera substantially without dissipation of such heat to the environment when the temperature of the environment is above the nominal maximum operating temperature of the camera, the heat sink having sufficient heat storage capacity to allow the camera to operate for at least several minutes in an environment having a temperature above the nominal maximum operating temperature of the camera.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the heat sink includes material selected from the group comprising wax, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, fatty acids, salt hydrates, fused salt hydrates, and metallic eutectic compounds.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the system includes a display and is configured to create an image on the display corresponding to a scene viewed by the camera and wherein portions of the image corresponding to those portions of the scene that are within a target temperature range are highlighted in a way to make it possible for a user to readily distinguish portions of the scene within the target temperature range from portions of the scene outside the target temperature range.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the highlighted portions have a different color than the remainder of the image.

15. A portable, self-contained apparatus for use in fire-fighting to view a scene in infrared where the environmental temperature is above room temperature, comprising:

an optical engine including an infrared camera and a display;

a battery adapted to power the optical engine; and

a self-contained, plural-phase heat sink thermally connected to the camera to receive and store heat from the camera, the heat sink being substantially enclosed in a housing and thereby being substantially isolated from direct thermal contact with the environment.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the heat sink includes a plural-phase polymer adapted to melt upon absorption of heat to store heat from the camera.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the optical engine is disposed in the housing with the heat sink.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the heat sink includes material selected from the group comprising wax, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, fatty acids, salt hydrates, fused salt hydrates, and metallic eutectic compounds.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the optical engine is configured to create an image on the display corresponding to a scene viewed by the camera and wherein portions of the image corresponding to those portions of the scene that are within a target temperature range are highlighted in a way to make it possible for a user to readily distinguish portions of the scene within the target temperature range from portions of the scene outside the target temperature range.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the highlighted portions have a different color than the remainder of the image.

21. A portable infrared camera system for use in fire fighting, comprising:

an infrared camera adapted to generate pixel data representative of the temperature of corresponding points in a scene viewed by the camera;

a display device adapted to display an page to a user; and

a processor connected to the camera t receive and process the pixel data therefrom to generate an image representative of the scene on the display device, where the processor generates the image on the display with portions of the scene having a temperature within a first predetermined temperature range displayed in a relatively fixed color and with a luminescence that varies with temperature and portions of the scene having a temperature within a second predetermined temperature range adjacent the first predetermined range are displayed in at least one color markedly different from the color for the first predetermined range, whereby a user viewing the displayed image can readily distinguish the portions of the scene in the first predetermined range from the portions of the scene in the second predetermined range.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the second predetermined temperature range is selected to highlight target portions of the scene near human body temperature.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the second predetermined temperature range covers temperatures above a predetermined avoidance temperature.

24. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the luminescence of the displayed image changes with temperature in the second predetermined temperature range.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein the luminescence of the displayed image changes with temperature in the second predetermined temperature range.

26. The system of claim 21, wherein the luminescence of the displayed image changes as a function of temperature in a way that is consistent over the first and second temperature ranges.

27. The system of claim 21, wherein the relatively fixed color for the first predetermined temperature range is a neutral color.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the neutral color is gray.

29. The system of claim 27, wherein the system has a thermal dynamic range and the first predetermined temperature range covers most of the thermal dynamic range.

30. The system of claim 21, wherein the image is further color coded to represent those portions of the scene that are at a temperature above an avoidance temperature in a color that is visually distinct from all other portions of the image, thereby distinguishing those portions of the scene that are at a dangerously high temperature.

31. The system of claim 21, wherein the image is further color coded to represent those portions of the scene that are at a temperature near human body temperature in a color that is visually distinct from all other portions of the image, thereby facilitating location of victims in a fire.

32. The system of claim 21, wherein the luminescence is a non-linear but substantially continuous function of temperature in the first predetermined range.

33. The system of claim 21 further comprising self-contained, phase change heat sink adapted to receive and store heat from the camera.

34. A portable infrared camera system for use in fire-fighting, comprising:

an infrared camera adapted to generate pixel data representative of the temperature of corresponding points in a scene viewed by the camera;

a display; and

a processor adapted to receive pixel data from the camera and produce an image on the display representative of the scene based on the pixel data from the camera, where the image produced on the display by the processor is gray scale with luminescence dependent on temperature for portions of the scene in a second temperature range.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the luminescence of the non-gray colonized portions of the image scales with temperature.

36. The system of claim 34, wherein the luminescence of the non-gray colorized portions of the image is substantially consistent as a function of temperature with the luminescence of the gray scale portions.

37. The system of claim 34, wherein the second temperature rang is selected to coincide with the temperature of human bodies to facilitate location of victims in a fire.

38. The system of claim 34, wherein the second temperature range is selected to colorize, in non-gray color, portions of the image corresponding to portions of the scene with a dangerously high temperature.

39. The system of claim 34, wherein the processor is adapted to produce the image on the display colorized for portions of the scene in a third temperature range, where the colorization for portions of the scene in the third temperature range is markedly different from the colorization for portions of the scene in the second temperature range and is markedly different from the colorization for portions of the scene in the first temperature range whereby a user can readily distinguish &

he portions of the scene in each temperature range from each other.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein the second temperature range is selected to coincide with the temperature of human bodies to facilitate location of victims in a fire.

41. The system of claim 40, wherein the third temperature range is selected to colorize portions of the image corresponding to portions of the scene with a dangerously high temperature.

42. The system of claim 34 further comprising a self-contained, phase change heat sink adapted to receive and store heat from the camera.

43. The system of claim 34, wherein the second temperature range covers temperatures above a predetermined threshold temperature.

44. The system of claim 34, wherein the camera is radiometrically calibrated.