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EP0396128A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Catadioptric projector, catadioptric projection system and process
Assignee: Raytheon Co
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Filing: 1990-05-03
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2010-05-03
Abstract
Abstract Catadioptric area-of-interest display projectors (1) produce displays having resolution of substantially less than 10 arc minutes per line over a wide field of view. Such projectors (1) include an external entrance pupil (21) for receiving images of substantially collimated light, and optics (2-17) for conveying such light onto and through an opening (19) in the surface (35) of an aspheric mirror (18), and then through an opening (20) in a spherical mirror (33) so that light emerging from the opening (20) in the spherical mirror (33) is displayed on a curved screen surface with such high resolution. A projector system includes this projector (1) and a mirror for steering collimated light from the entrance pupil (21) of the projector (1) into the projector optics. This system, when placed in a flight simulator at the periphery of a flight simulator dome for projection of such light images onto the inner curved surface of the dome, provides high resolution images to viewers located at the center of the dome.
Inventors
- 👤 Eric C. Haseltine
- 👤 Helene H. Jones
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 12:44
CPC Classifications
G; G02; G02B; G02B17/00; G02B17/08; G02B17/0852; G02B17/0804; G02B17/0816; G09; G09B; G09B9/00; G09B9/02; G09B9/08; G09B9/30; G09B9/32; G09B9/326
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim
115 words
A catadioptric projector comprising means for producing areas-of-interest displays having resolution of substantially less than 10 arc minutes per line, characterized by: - entrance pupil means (21) for receiving beams of substantially collimated light; - means (2-17) for imaging said entrance pupil (21) onto an opening (19) in the surface (35) of aspheric mirror means (18), said imaging means (2-17) being linked to said entrance pupil means (21); - aspheric mirror means (18) linked to said imaging means (2-17) and including an opening (19) for transmitting light received from said imaging means (2-17); and - spherical mirror means (33) having an opening (20) for receiving and for transmitting light from said aspheric mirror means (18).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
115 words
A catadioptric projector comprising means for producing areas-of-interest displays having resolution of substantially less than 10 arc minutes per line, characterized by: - entrance pupil means (21) for receiving beams of substantially collimated light; - means (2-17) for imaging said entrance pupil (21) onto an opening (19) in the surface (35) of aspheric mirror means (18), said imaging means (2-17) being linked to said entrance pupil means (21); - aspheric mirror means (18) linked to said imaging means (2-17) and including an opening (19) for transmitting light received from said imaging means (2-17); and - spherical mirror means (33) having an opening (20) for receiving and for transmitting light from said aspheric mirror means (18).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
23 words
The projector of claim 1, characterized by means for combining a plurality of image sources (40, 42) for transmission through said projector (1).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
19 words
The projector of claim 2, characterized in that said combining means comprises a beam-combiner (6) within said projector (1).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
44 words
The projector of any of claims 1 through 3, characterized in that the means (2-17) for said imaging comprises an optical objective (2-5, 7, 8) linked to said entrance pupil (21), and a refractive relay (9-17) linked to said optical objective (2-5, 7, 8).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
96 words
The projector of claim 4, characterized in that said optical objective (2-5, 7, 8) and said refractive relay (9-17) form a rotationally symmetric coaxial system, and that said aspheric and spherical mirrors (18, 33) are tilted to deviate the line of sight from an optical axis (36) of the projector (1) sufficiently to cause light emerging from said projector (1) to be deflected from the optical axis (36) of the system sufficiently so that a viewer looking directly at the opening (20) in the spherical mirror (33) cannot see light passing through said exit opening (20).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
176 words
A catadioptric area-of-interest display projector system including means for steering collimated light into a catadioptric projector (1), characterized by: - means for producing displays having resolution of substantially less than 10 arc minutes per line and including an external entrance pupil (21) as means for receiving beams of substantially collimated light; - means (2-17) for imaging said entrance pupil (21) onto an opening (19) in the surface (35) of an aspheric mirror (18), said imaging means (2-17) being linked to said entrance pupil (21); - means for imaging the opening (19) in the aspheric mirror (18) onto an opening (20) in a spheric mirror (33), said aspherical mirror (18) being linked to the imaging means (2-17) and said spherical mirror (33) being linked to the aspheric mirror (18); and - with said projector (1) and said steering means being positioned outside a dome (22) forming part of a flight simulator system, said projector (1) being designed to project a field of view of at least ± 56° on the inner surface (26) of said dome (22).
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
176 words
A catadioptric area-of-interest display projector system including means for steering collimated light into a catadioptric projector (1), characterized by: - means for producing displays having resolution of substantially less than 10 arc minutes per line and including an external entrance pupil (21) as means for receiving beams of substantially collimated light; - means (2-17) for imaging said entrance pupil (21) onto an opening (19) in the surface (35) of an aspheric mirror (18), said imaging means (2-17) being linked to said entrance pupil (21); - means for imaging the opening (19) in the aspheric mirror (18) onto an opening (20) in a spheric mirror (33), said aspherical mirror (18) being linked to the imaging means (2-17) and said spherical mirror (33) being linked to the aspheric mirror (18); and - with said projector (1) and said steering means being positioned outside a dome (22) forming part of a flight simulator system, said projector (1) being designed to project a field of view of at least ± 56° on the inner surface (26) of said dome (22).
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
83 words
The projector of claim 6, characterized in that said steering means is a servo-driven, gimballed mirror (48, 51) located at the entrance pupil (21) having sufficient freedom of rotation to steer area-of-interest images from a varying field of view into said projector (1) in response to signals generated by the head and eye movements of a person viewing the images emerging from the projector (1), or by signals generated from sources independent of a person viewing the images emering from the projector (1).
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
75 words
The projector of claim 6 or 7, characterized by means for delivering a plurality of image sources to said projector (1), and means for steering collimated light from the entrance pupil (21) into said projector (1), in response to signals generated by head and eye movements of a person viewing the images emerging from the projector (1), or by signals generated from sources independent of a person viewing the images emerging from the projector (1).
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
42 words
The projector of any of claims 6 through 8, characterized in that said projector (1) has a circular output field of view of at least ± 56°, and a resolution over said field of view of about 1 arc minute per line.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
124 words
A method for projecting at least one image source onto the inner surface (26) of a dome (22) with a resolution of less than 10 arc minutes per line resolution over a field of view of at least ± 56°, characterized by: - directing collimated light into the entrance pupil (21) of a projector (1); - imaging said entrance pupil (21) onto the opening (19) in an aspheric mirror (18); - imaging the pupil (21) at said aspheric mirror opening (19) onto the opening (20) in the surface (34) of spherical mirror means (33); and imaging light emerging from the opening (20) in said spherical mirror (33), which is located on the periphery of a dome (22) onto the curved inner dome surface (26).
Claim 13
Independent Claim
124 words
A method for projecting at least one image source onto the inner surface (26) of a dome (22) with a resolution of less than 10 arc minutes per line resolution over a field of view of at least ± 56°, characterized by: - directing collimated light into the entrance pupil (21) of a projector (1); - imaging said entrance pupil (21) onto the opening (19) in an aspheric mirror (18); - imaging the pupil (21) at said aspheric mirror opening (19) onto the opening (20) in the surface (34) of spherical mirror means (33); and imaging light emerging from the opening (20) in said spherical mirror (33), which is located on the periphery of a dome (22) onto the curved inner dome surface (26).
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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