Video enhanced night vision goggle

• US 6,560,029 B1
• Filed: 12/21/2001
• Issued: 05/06/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Exelis Incorporated (L3Harris Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: ITT Manufacturing Enterprises, Inc. (ITT, Inc.)
• Inventors: Brillhart, Steven A., Mattey, David E., Willey, Charles D., Dobbie, Blair R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Epps, Georgia
• Assistant Examiner(s): HINDI, OMAR Z
• Application Number:
  US10/024,140
• Time in Patent Office: 501 Days
• Field of Search: 359/631, 359/630, 359/146, 359/629, 359/13, 359/632, 359/633, 345/8, 348/158, 348/216, 351/243, 2/5, 2/61, 2/62, 2/66
• US Class Current: 359/631
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 23/125 head-mounted
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0176 characterised by mechanical features
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/33 Transforming infrared radiation cameras or camera modules for generating image signals from infrared radiation H04N23/20; circuitry of SSIS for transforming infrared radiation into image signals H04N25/20

Abstract

A man portable video enhanced night vision goggle comprised of a head mount assembly, an image intensified video camera, and a display. A thermal camera may also be provided and the images from the video camera and the thermal camera may be electronically fused on the display.

Claims

1. A man portable video enhanced night vision goggle device, comprising:

a head mount adapted for being worn on the head of a user;

an image intensified video camera secured to the head mount;

a display comprised of an electrically operated flat panel and an optical eyepiece, which is secured to the head mount with a mounting means which is configured to enable placement of the eyepiece when the head mount is word by a user directly in front of the user'"'"'s eye with both the flat panel and eyepiece being located forward of the user'"'"'s eyes; and

an electrical connection between the image intensified video camera and the display;

wherein the head mount is comprised of mounting strap means and platform means to which the video camera and display are secured and wherein the mounting strap means and platform means are securable to each other.

2. The man portable device of claim 1 wherein the mounting strap means comprises a first strap for passing over the center of the user'"'"'s head from front to back and wherein the platform means has a first portion which is adapted for placement across at least part of the user'"'"'s forehead.

3. The man portable device of claim 2 wherein the platform means has a second portion extending from the first portion in such position as to be adjacent a user'"'"'s cheek, wherein the first portion is for securing the display and the second portion is for securing the video camera.

4. The man portable device of claim 3 wherein the electrical connection is inside the strap means.

5. The man portable device of claim 4 wherein the mounting strap means further includes a second strap for passing behind the nape of a user'"'"'s neck.

6. The man portable device of claim 5 wherein a self-contained power source is secured to the second strap.

7. The man portable device of claim 5 wherein the platform means includes a recessed region for providing clearance for a user'"'"'s ear or eyeglass temple.

8. The man portable device of claim 5 wherein the first portion of the platform means is for extending substantially all the way across a user'"'"'s forehead, and wherein the platform means includes a third portion extending from the first portion in such position to be adjacent a user'"'"'s other cheek.

9. The man portable device of claim 4 wherein the first portion of the platform means is dimensioned for extending to an end which is only part way across a user'"'"'s forehead, and wherein there is at least one strap attachment slot located near such end.

10. The man portable device of claim 4 wherein the display is pivotally mounted from projections which extend from the first portion of the platform means.

11. A night vision goggle device, comprising:

a first mounting strap conformable to the shape of an arc for passing over the top of an observer'"'"'s head;

a forehead band attached to the mounting strap for extending at least part way across an observer'"'"'s forehead;

a mounting member extending from the forehead band at one side thereof having an image intensified video camera secured thereto; and

a mount on the forehead band to which a video display module is secured.

12. The goggle device of claim 11 further comprising a second mounting strap for passing behind the nape of an observer'"'"'s neck, a battery pack being secured to the second mounting strap.

13. The goggle device of claim 12 wherein means are provided for maintaining optical alignment between the video camera and the display.

14. The goggle device of claim 11 wherein the mount on the forehead band comprises a pair of mounting projections for pivotally mounting a video display module therebetween.

15. A man portable video enhanced night vision device, comprising;

a head mount assembly comprised of a flexible mounting strap for passing over a user'"'"'s head and a mounting platform attachable to the mounting strap and arranged to extend peripherally around a user'"'"'s forehead and a side of the user'"'"'s head;

an image intensified video camera; and

a display which is physically separate from the video camera but which is electrically connected thereto;

wherein the video camera and the display are secured to the mounting platform at different peripheral positions therearound, so that the weight of these components is distributed around a user'"'"'s head.

16. The man portable device of claim 15 wherein the head mount assembly does not include a helmet.

17. The man portable device of claim 16 wherein the mounting strap is arranged to pass over a user'"'"'s head from front to back.

18. The man portable device of claim 17 further comprising a nape strap for passing behind the neck of the user, and a battery pack for providing electrical power, wherein the battery pack is mounted on the nape strap to further distribute the weight of the device.

19. The man portable device of claim 15 wherein the display is comprised of an electrically operated flat panel and an optical eyepiece, and wherein the display is secured to the mounting platform in such manner that when the device is worn by a user, both the flat panel and eyepiece are located forward of a user'"'"'s eyes.

20. The man portable device of claim 19 wherein the image processor is physically embodied either in stacked chips or in a multichip module (MCM) cube.

21. The man portable device of claim 20 wherein each of the video camera and display are in the form of plug connectable modules.

22. The man portable device of claim 21 wherein the display includes a driver, and wherein the driver is physically embodied either in stacked chips or in a multi-chip module (MCM) cube.

23. The man portable device of claim 22 further including a power supply for the video camera including a power supply controller, wherein the power supply controller is embodied either in stacked chips or in a multi-chip module (MCM) cube.

24. The man portable device of claim 19 further including an image processor, which is electrically connected between the video camera and the display.

25. The man portable device of claim 24 wherein the image processor comprises means for performing contrast stretching, detection/enhancement, aperture correction, averaging, and/or mixing and overlaying of intensified video with externally inputted video.

26. The video enhanced night vision device of claim 24 wherein the image processor is arranged to accept an auxiliary input electrical signal indicative of indicia to be displayed and to feed data related thereto to the display to cause the indicia to be displayed at the same time as the video from the image intensified video camera.

27. The man portable device of claim 24 further comprising a thermal camera which is secured to the head mount assembly, wherein electrical signals from the thermal camera are fed to the image processor, and the image processor is arranged to provide data to the display indicative of both signals from the image intensified video camera and the thermal camera in such manner that the respective image intensified video and thermal video images are in spatial correspondence with each other and overlie each other on the display.

28. The man portable device of claim 24 further comprising a power supply for the image intensified video camera, wherein the image intensified video camera includes an image intensifier tube having a cathode, microchannel plate, and screen, and wherein the tube power supply includes an auto-gate means for controlling a voltage which is applied to the cathode.

29. The man portable device of claim 28 further comprising means for receiving video signals outputted from the video camera for controlling the auto-gate based on such signals.

30. The man portable device of claim 29 further including means incorporating non-uniformity look up and coefficients tables for compensating for inherent non-uniformities of the video camera.

31. The man portable device of claim 29 wherein the image processor includes a pair of “

ping pong”

video frame buffers for alternately storing video signals and feeding signals to the display.

32. The man portable device of claim 31 wherein the image processor includes a third buffer for storing signals from a thermal camera.

33. A man portable video enhanced night vision goggle device, comprising:

an image intensified video camera;

a display;

a self-contained electrical power source; and

means including a strap for passing over and contacting the center of a user'"'"'s head and a platform for contacting a user'"'"'s forehead for mounting the video camera, display and electrical power source on the head of a user without the use of a helmet so that each of the video camera, display, and power source is located at a different longitudinal position around the user'"'"'s head, so as to distribute the weight of these components therearound.

34. A man portable video enhanced night vision goggle device, comprising:

a head mount adapted for being worn on the head of a user;

an image intensified video camera secured to the head mount, the image intensified video camera including an image intensifier tube;

a display comprised of an electrically operated flat panel and an optical eyepiece, which is secured to the head mount in such position that when the head mount is worn by a user, both the flat panel and the eyepiece are located forward of the user'"'"'s eyes;

an electrical connection between the image intensified video camera and the display;

a power supply for the image intensifier tube;

wherein the image intensifier tube has a cathode, microchannel plate, and screen, and wherein the power supply includes auto-gate means for controlling a voltage which is applied to the cathode and means for receiving the video signals outputted from the video camera for controlling the auto-gate based on such signals; and

a thermal camera and an image processor which are secured to the head mount, wherein electrical signals from the video camera and thermal camera are fed to the image processor, and the image processor is arranged to provide data to the display indicative of both signals from the image intensified video camera and the thermal camera in such manner that the respective image intensified video and thermal video images are in spatial correspondence with each other and overlie each other on the display.

35. A man portable video enhanced night vision goggle device, comprising:

a head mount adapted for being worn on the head of a user;

an image intensified video camera and a thermal camera secured to the head mount;

a display comprised of an electrically operated flat panel and an optical eyepiece, which is secured to the head mount in such position that when the head mount is worn by a user, both the flat panel and the eyepiece are located forward of the user'"'"'s eyes;

an image processor; and

an electrical connection between said cameras, the image processor, and the display;

wherein electrical signals from the video camera and thermal camera are fed to the image processor, and the image processor is arranged to provide data to the display indicative of both signals from the image intensified video camera and the thermal camera in such manner that the respective image intensified video and thermal video images are in spatial correspondence with each other and overlie each other on the display.

36. A man portable video enhanced night vision goggle device, comprising:

a head mount adapted for being worn on the head of a user;

an image intensified video camera secured to the head mount;

a display comprised of an electrically operated flat panel and an optical eyepiece, which is secured to the head mount with a mounting means which is configured to enable placement of the eyepiece when the head mount is word by a user directly in front of the user'"'"'s eye with both the flat panel and eyepiece being located forward of the user'"'"'s eyes; and

an electrical connection between the image intensified video camera and the display;

wherein the head mount is comprised of mounting strap means and platform means to which the video camera and display are secured wherein the mounting strap means and platform means are securable to each other;

wherein the mounting strap means comprises a first strap for passing over the center of the user'"'"'s head from front to back and wherein the platform means has a first portion which is adapted for placement across at least part of the user'"'"'s forehead;

wherein the platform means has a second portion extending from the first portion in such position as to be adjacent a user'"'"'s cheek, wherein the first portion is for securing the display and the second portion is for securing the video camera;

wherein the electrical connection is inside the strap means;

wherein the mounting strap means further includes a second strap for passing behind the nape of a user'"'"'s neck; and

wherein the first portion of the platform means is for extending substantially all the way across a user'"'"'s forehead, and the platform means includes a third portion extending from the first portion in such position to be adjacent a user'"'"'s other cheek, further comprising a thermal camera secured to the second or third portions of the platform means.

37. A man portable video enhanced night vision goggle device comprising:

a head mount assembly comprised of a mounting strap for passing over and contacting a user'"'"'s head and a mounting platform;

an image intensified video camera;

a display; and

an electrical connection for connecting the image intensified video camera and the display;

wherein both the image intensified video camera and the display are secured to the mounting platform.

38. The man portable device of claim 37 wherein the mounting platform is arranged to extend across a user'"'"'s forehead and wherein the display is secured to the mounting platform such that during use it is generally in front of a user'"'"'s eye while the video camera is secured to the mounting platform such that during use it is to one lateral side of a user'"'"'s face.

39. The man portable device of claim 38 wherein the mounting platform is arranged to generally conform to the shape of a user'"'"'s forehead.

40. The man portable device of claim 39 wherein the mounting strap is arranged to pass over the top center of a user'"'"'s head from front to back.

41. The man portable device of claim 40 wherein the head mount assembly also has a nape strap for passing behind the nape of the user'"'"'s neck.

42. The man portable device of claim 39 wherein a part of the mounting platform is arranged to extend around a side of the user'"'"'s head, and

the video camera is secured to said part of the mounting platform.

43. The man portable device of claim 42 wherein said part of the mounting platform has a portion which extends downwardly in the direction of a user'"'"'s cheek, and wherein said video camera is secured to said portion.

44. The man portable device of claim 43 wherein said portion of the mounting platform which extends downwardly has a recessed region for accommodating a user'"'"'s eyeglass temples.

45. The man portable device of claim 43 wherein the mounting strap is arranged to pass over the top center of a user'"'"'s head from front to back.

46. The man portable device of claim 39 wherein the mounting platform is arranged to extend around at least one side of the user'"'"'s head in contact therewith.

47. A man portable video enhanced night vision device comprising a head mount assembly comprised of a mounting strap for passing over and contacting the top of a user'"'"'s head and a mounting platform having the same general curvature as the front and side of a user'"'"'s head and arranged to extend peripherally about the front and side of a user'"'"'s head, an image intensified video camera, a display, and an electrical connection for connecting the video camera and the display, wherein the display is secured to the mounting platform such that it is generally in front of a user'"'"'s eye while the video camera is secured to a portion of the mounting platform which extends about the side of a user'"'"'s head, such that the video camera is to one lateral side of a user'"'"'s head.

48. The man portable device of claim 47 wherein the mounting platform is arranged to extend around the front and side of a user'"'"'s head while in contact with the user'"'"'s head.

49. The man portable device of claim 47 wherein the image intensified video camera is secured to the mounting platform such that it is to one side of a user'"'"'s cheek.

50. A man portable video enhanced night vision device comprising:

a head mount assembly comprised of a mounting strap for passing over and contacting a user'"'"'s head and a mounting platform arranged to extend about the front and at least one side of a user'"'"'s head;

an image intensified video camera;

a thermal camera;

a microdisplay;

the microdisplay being secured to the platform;

the image intensified video camera being secured to a portion of the platform which extends around a side of the user'"'"'s head;

the infrared camera being secured to a portion of the platform which extends around a side of a user'"'"'s head;

an image processor; and

an electrical connection for connecting the cameras, the image processor and the microdisplay;

wherein electrical signals from the image intensified video camera and thermal camera are fed to the image processor, and the image processor is arranged to provide data to the display indicative of both signals from the image intensified video camera and the thermal camera in such manner that the respective image intensified video and thermal video images are in spatial correspondence and overlie each other on the display.