System and method for measuring a size of a distant object
First Claim
1. A system for measuring a size of a feature of a distant object, comprising:
- a rangefinder operable to determine a range to the distant object and to generate an output signal indicative of the range;
an aiming mark to facilitate aiming the rangefinder at the distant object;
an optical sighting device including a visual display displayed in a field of view of the optical sighting device, the visual display comprising;
a variable scale having a gauge for measuring the feature of the distant object and an indicia associated with the gauge; and
the variable scale responsive to the output signal of the rangefinder to alter the gauge or the indicia, or both, so that the indicia represents a linear dimension at the determined range that is subtended by the gauge, whereby the size of the feature is estimable by a visual comparison between the gauge and the feature, with reference to the indicia.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Measuring the size of a distant object using a gauge sized according to a range to the object is provided. A user may select an initial target scale size and use an aiming mark to align a rangefinder with the object before determining the range. Indicia may be associated with the gauge, both of which could be displayed in a field of view of an optical sighting device, such as a rangefinder, riflescope, or spotting scope. In addition, the gauge or the indicia, or both may be alterable in response to the determined range. While looking through an eyepiece of the optical sighting device, the user may align the gauge with the object and estimate its size by visually comparing the gauge and object with reference to the indicia. The gauge may be geometrically shaped and may contain a series of spaced apart measuring marks having a logarithmic spacing.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A system for measuring a size of a feature of a distant object, comprising:
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a rangefinder operable to determine a range to the distant object and to generate an output signal indicative of the range; an aiming mark to facilitate aiming the rangefinder at the distant object; an optical sighting device including a visual display displayed in a field of view of the optical sighting device, the visual display comprising; a variable scale having a gauge for measuring the feature of the distant object and an indicia associated with the gauge; and the variable scale responsive to the output signal of the rangefinder to alter the gauge or the indicia, or both, so that the indicia represents a linear dimension at the determined range that is subtended by the gauge, whereby the size of the feature is estimable by a visual comparison between the gauge and the feature, with reference to the indicia. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for measuring a feature of a distant animal, comprising:
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a rangefinder operable to determine a range to the animal and to generate a first output signal indicative of the range; an aiming mark to facilitate aiming the rangefinder at the animal; a user input device operable to receive a scale size input and to generate a second output signal indicative of the scale size; an optical sighting device including a visual display displayed in a field of view of the optical sighting device, the visual display comprising; a geometrically shaped gauge having at least two points for measuring the feature of the animal; and the visual display responsive to the first output signal of the rangefinder and the second output signal of the input device to alter the gauge so that the at least two points of the gauge have a separation subtending a linear dimension at the determined range corresponding to the scale size input, whereby the size of the feature is estimable by a visual comparison between the gauge and the feature. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of measuring a size of a feature of a distant object in a field of view of an optical sighting device, comprising:
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aiming the optical sighting device at the object until the object is visible in the field of view of the optical sighting device; measuring a range from the optical sighting device to the object and generating a measured range signal representing the range; displaying a visual display in the field of view, the visual display including a gauge and associated numerical indicia; automatically altering the visual display in response to the measured range signal so that the numerical indicia represents a linear dimension at the measured range that is subtended by the gauge; aligning the gauge with the feature of the object in the field of view; and reading the gauge and the indicia to determine the size of the feature of the object. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A reticle for an optical sighting device, comprising:
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an aiming mark to facilitate aiming the optical sighting device at a distant object when the reticle is positioned in a field of view of the optical sighting device; a first data readout operable to indicate a range to the distant object as determined by a rangefinder when the reticle is positioned in the field of view of the optical sighting device; a variable scale having a gauge for measuring a size of a feature of the distant object and an indicia associated with the gauge, the gauge comprising a series of logarithmically spaced apart measuring marks selectively displayed in the field of view of the optical sighting device; the variable scale responsive to the range determined by the rangefinder and a scale size input to; display a first one of the measuring marks, a second one of the measuring marks, and a third one of the measuring marks so that a linear dimension at the determined range that is subtended by a separation between the first displayed measuring mark and the second displayed measuring mark corresponds to the scale size input and a linear dimension at the determined range that is subtended by a separation between the first displayed measuring mark and the third displayed measuring mark is greater than the scale size input, and display the indicia so that the indicia represent the linear dimension at the determined range that is subtended by the separation between the first displayed measuring mark and the second displayed measuring mark and the linear dimension at the determined range that is subtended by the separation between the first displayed measuring mark and the third displayed measuring mark; and the variable scale positioned relative to the aiming mark to facilitate measuring the size of the feature by a visual comparison between the gauge and the feature, with respect to the indicia. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. A method of measuring a size of a feature of a distant object on a display, the method comprising:
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capturing an image of the object using an image capture device; measuring a range from the image capture device to the object; associating the measured range with the captured image; displaying the captured image on the display; selecting two points on the displayed image corresponding to the size of the feature to be measured; calculating the size of the feature based on the two selected points and the associated measured range; and displaying the calculated size on the display. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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Specification