Portable device for viewing and imaging

• US 7,581,852 B2
• Filed: 02/18/2005
• Issued: 09/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Xenonics, Inc. (Xenonics Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Xenonics, Inc. (Xenonics Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kennedy, Jeffrey P., Maddox, Stephen L., Magerman, Alan P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Negron; Ismael
• Application Number:
  US11/060,903
• Publication Number:
  US 20050190550A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,656 Days
• Field of Search: 362/8, 362/253, 362/458, 396/61, 396/62, 396/175, 396/431, 396/176, 396/432, 250/330, 250/331, 313/524, 359/429, 359/822, D16/209, D16/212, D16/206
• US Class Current: 362/253
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 8/003 Searchlights, i.e. outdoor lighting device producing powerful beam of parallel rays, e.g. for military or attraction purposes searchlights mounted on a vehicle B60Q1/245
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 33/0052 Audio or video equipment, e.g. televisions, telephones, cameras or computers; Remote control devices therefor
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 9/20 Dichroic filters, i.e. devices operating on the principle of wave interference to pass specific ranges of wavelengths while cancelling others
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 23/00 Telescopes, e.g. binoculars; Periscopes; Instruments for viewing the inside of hollow bodies; Viewfinders; Optical aiming or sighting devices
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 23/12 with means for image conversion or intensification
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/56 provided with illuminating means

Abstract

A portable searchlight with a focused beam operating both in the infrared and visible portions of the spectrum with a range of approximately 400 meters includes telescopic lens system integrated with an illumination system. The beam of the searchlight and the telescopic lens are automatically aligned to both focus on the distant object. The telescopic lens system is combined with a digital camera system and an LCD display. The searchlight includes an eyepiece lens enabling an user to choose either viewing a display screen or using the eyepiece lens to optically observe the field of view.

Claims

1. A portable hand-held device having illuminating, telescopic viewing and imaging capabilities comprising:

a searchlight comprising a light source and a reflector, the reflector being movable relative to the light source, for illuminating a scene at a predetermined range of distances determined by the relative position of the reflector and the light source and having a hand-held body, the searchlight being within the body, the body having a lens assembly receiving cavity and a video screen receiving cavity defined therein;

an optical telescopic viewing system comprising a lens assembly to generate an optical image of the scene, which optical telescopic viewing system is integrally included with the hand-held body, the lens assembly being selectively movable independent of the searchlight between a deployed configuration and a stored configuration within the lens assembly receiving cavity; and

an image sensing and display system for receiving the optical image of the scene and generating an electronic image therefrom, which image sensing and display system is integrally included with the hand-held body and comprises an alternatively usable video screen for simultaneously viewing an image optically obtained by the optical telescopic viewing system and converted to a digital format by the image sensing and display system video display, the video screen being selectively movable between a deployed and a stored configuration within the video screen receiving cavity of the hand-held body.

2. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the telescopic viewing system can accurately focus on objects with a magnification of approximately 20 times or greater.

3. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the telescopic viewing system focuses light from the predetermined range along an optical axis of the telescopic viewing system and collimates the light from the predetermined range, and wherein the optical axis of the telescopic viewing system is accurately adjusted to the beam location at the predetermined range.

4. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the searchlight, the optical telescopic viewing system and the image sensing and display system are simultaneously operable at wavelengths in the visible portion and infrared portion of the spectrum.

5. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the image sensing and display system generates color image data.

6. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the image sensing and display system comprises a solid-state dual mode camera, capable of selectively constructing images either in color or monochrome.

7. The portable device of claim 1 further comprising a circuit for digital imaging processing the electronic image.

8. The portable hand-held device of claim 1 where the searchlight has a defined beam to provide long-range illumination at the predetermined range of distances and further comprising circuitry to generate a digital image signal in order to provide in combination with the optical telescopic viewing system a focused imaging at the illuminated predetermined range of distances.

9. The portable hand-held device of claim 8 where the digital image signal is provided as an output signal for transmission to a remote recipient.

10. The portable device of claim 1 wherein the optical telescopic viewing system comprises an eyepiece for viewing an image optically obtained by the optical telescopic viewing system.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein said eyepiece has a deployed configuration and a stored configuration, and said body has an eyepiece receiving cavity, the eyepiece being received in said eyepiece receiving cavity when in said stored configuration.

12. A hand-held device for illuminating and imaging a distant object comprising:

a high intensity searchlight for delivering a focused spotlight beam at a predetermined range of distances, the searchlight having a light source and a reflector, the reflector being movable relative to the light source to determine the predetermined range of distances, and a hand-held body;

an optical telescope integrally mounted on the hand-held body and selectively movable between a deployed configuration and a storage configuration within the hand-held body for receiving a reflected image from the focused spotlight beam at the predetermined range of distances; and

an electronic display for generating a digital image from the received reflected image at the predetermined range of distances, the electronic display integrally mounted on the hand-held body and selectively movable between a deployed configuration and a storage configuration within the hand-held body.

13. The device of claim 12 further comprising an optical viewfinder optically coupled to the telescope, the viewfinder integrally included on or within the hand-held body and selectively movable between a deployed configuration and a storage configuration within the hand-held body.

14. The device of claim 12 where the optical telescopic and the searchlight are automatically focused on the same distant object.

15. The device of claim 12 where the digital image is provided by the electronic display as an output signal for transmission to a remote recipient.

16. The device of claim 12 wherein the telescope has a magnification of approximately 20 times or greater.

17. The device of claim 12 wherein the searchlight, the telescope and the electronic display are simultaneously operable at wavelengths in the visible portion and infrared portion of the spectrum.

18. The device of claim 12 further comprising a circuit for digital imaging processing the electronic image.

19. A portable device having illuminating, telescopic viewing and imaging capabilities, the device comprising:

a searchlight housing having a searchlight therein, the searchlight comprising a light source and a reflector, the reflector being movable relative to the light source;

a telescopic lens assembly integrally connected to the searchlight housing, wherein the telescopic lens assembly is movable with respect to the searchlight housing and wherein the telescopic lens is configured to receive light directly from a distant scene that is illuminated by the searchlight and to form an optical image thereof when deployed and wherein the telescopic lens assembly is configured to be received within the searchlight housing when stowed;

a view finder having an eyepiece optically coupled to the telescopic lens assembly and having an adjustable position with respect to the searchlight housing, wherein the view finder is pivotable independently of the telescopic lens assembly about a position with respect to the searchlight housing and wherein the view finder is configured to be received within the searchlight housing when stowed;

a video display optically coupled to the telescopic lens assembly and generating an electronic image, the video display having an adjustable position with respect to the searchlight housing, wherein the video display is pivotable independently of the telescopic lens assembly about a position with respect to the searchlight housing and wherein the video display is configured to be received within the searchlight housing when stowed.

20. The portable device of claim 19 wherein the view finder, video display and the telescopic lens assembly comprise modular interchangeable components for ease of manufacture and replacement of the components.

21. The portable device of claim 19 wherein the telescopic lens assembly is capable of magnifying objects in the distant scene up to approximately 20 times or greater.

22. The device of claim 19, wherein said searchlight housing has an eyepiece receiving cavity, a video display receiving cavity, and a telescopic lens assembly receiving cavity.

23. A portable, hand-held digital night vision camera and viewer, comprising:

a housing;

a light generator within the housing, the light generator emitting at an output of the housing a high intensity infrared (IR) only light beam directed so as to illuminate a target scene;

a lens assembly mounted on the housing, the lens assembly receiving IR light returned from the target scene illuminated by the light generator, the lens assembly focusing the received IR light and providing a focused IR signal;

a charge coupled device (CCD) within the housing responsive to the focused IR signal from the lens assembly and providing monochrome output IR image data indicative of the focused IR signal;

signal processing circuitry within the housing responsive to the IR image data and providing an output video signal; and

a display mounted on the housing that receives the output video signal and displays a visible monochrome image of the target scene to a viewer.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the signal processing circuitry comprises variable electronic magnification of the image.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the lens assembly is capable of magnifying objects in the target scene up to approximately 20 times.

26. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the signal processing circuitry is adapted to cause any portion of an image which is moving relative to other portions of the image to be highlighted or falsely colored.

27. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the high intensity IR only light beam is directed so as to impinge and illuminate a target scene at a range located 400 meters or farther from the housing.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the lens assembly is aligned to coincide with the position of the IR beam at the range of the target scene.

29. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the light generator comprises a lamp and a filter for blocking wavelengths of light up to IR wavelengths mounted on the housing forward of the lamp.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the lamp is a xenon or metal halide arc lamp.

31. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the light generator further comprises a reflector.