Patent NL59134C successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
Patent US5281960A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US5281960A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Helmet mounted display
Assignee: Silhouette Technology Inc
•
Filing: 1991-11-19
•
Granted: 1994-01-25
•
Expires: 2011-11-19
Abstract
Abstract An optical display system is disclosed having a preferred application in a helmet mounted heads-up display. The display system includes an image source (42-46) for generating an image which includes a plurality o fields sequentially displayed by the image source to form the image with a two-dimensional array of pixels forming each field and the fields having a spatially modulated light intensity. An image display (50) is coupled to the image source for displaying the fields. The image display produces for each field a two-dimensional display having a fixed number of light emitting points (65) which are disposed along each dimension of the two-dimensional array with each light emitting point being spaced apart from adjacent light emitting points by a fixed distance. An actuator (52) is provided for moving the light emitting points in unison in a repeated pattern relative to a field of view of the displayed image with motion of each of the light emitting points along two axes during the repeated pattern delineating an area which is a fraction of an area of the displayed image produced by the image display. Movement of the light emitting points through successive positions of the repeated pattern is synchronized with the successive display of individual fields by the image source.
Inventors
- 👤 Eugene J. Dwyer, III
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-28 03:18
CPC Classifications
G; G09; G09G; G09G3/00; G09G3/001; G09G3/002
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 62
Claim 1
Independent Claim
194 words
An optical display system comprising: an image source for generating an image which includes a plurality of fields sequentially displayed by the image source to form the image with a two-dimensional array of pixels forming each field and the fields having a spatially modulated light intensity; and an image display, coupled to the image source, for displaying the fields and including for each field a two-dimensional array having a fixed number of light emitting points with at least two light emitting points being disposed along each dimension of the two-dimensional array and each light emitting point being spaced apart from adjacent light emitting points by a fixed distance and an actuator for moving the light emitting points in unison in a repeated pattern relative to a field of view of the displayed image with motion of each of the light emitting points in two-dimensions during the repeated pattern delineating an area which is a fraction of an area of the displayed image produced by the image display and moving of the light emitting points through successive positions of the repeated pattern being synchronized with the successive display of individual fields by the image source.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
194 words
An optical display system comprising: an image source for generating an image which includes a plurality of fields sequentially displayed by the image source to form the image with a two-dimensional array of pixels forming each field and the fields having a spatially modulated light intensity; and an image display, coupled to the image source, for displaying the fields and including for each field a two-dimensional array having a fixed number of light emitting points with at least two light emitting points being disposed along each dimension of the two-dimensional array and each light emitting point being spaced apart from adjacent light emitting points by a fixed distance and an actuator for moving the light emitting points in unison in a repeated pattern relative to a field of view of the displayed image with motion of each of the light emitting points in two-dimensions during the repeated pattern delineating an area which is a fraction of an area of the displayed image produced by the image display and moving of the light emitting points through successive positions of the repeated pattern being synchronized with the successive display of individual fields by the image source.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
45 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 1 wherein: the motion of the light emitting points in each of the two dimensions defining the area of the repeated pattern is through a plurality of the successive positions in displaying the fields of the image.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
28 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 2 wherein: the image source comprises a cathode ray tube which modulates the light intensity of the spatially modulated fields.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
56 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 3 wherein: each field is comprised of an n×m array of pixels which are sequentially scanned by the cathode ray tube wherein n is a number of pixels of a field extending in a first dimension and m is a number of pixels extending in a second dimension.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
109 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 2 wherein: the area delineated by the repeated pattern has a length of ax and a width of bx with a cross-sectional area of abx 2 with a being an integer equal to or greater than 2, b being an integer equal to or greater than 2 and x being dimension of the light emitting points with a position of each light emitting point during movement of the array of points through the repeated pattern by the actuator moving a distance equal to x along the length or along the width in synchronism with successive fields displayed by the image source.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
65 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 2 further comprising: a fiber optical bundle having a plurality of individual fibers for transmitting light from the pixels of the image source to the light emitting points of the image display with an individual optical fiber of the bundle which is optically coupled to a pixel transmitting light between a pixel and a light emitting point.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
39 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 6 wherein: the actuator moves an end of the fiber optic bundle coupled to the image display with the individual fibers of the end being spaced apart by the fixed distance.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
32 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 6 wherein: the actuator refracts light emitted from ends of the fiber optical bundle to move the light emitting points through the repeated pattern.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
40 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 6 wherein: the image display is part of a helmet mounted head-up display movable relative to the image source and provides images to be visually observed by a person wearing the helmet.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
68 words
An optical display in accordance with claim 9 wherein: the fiber optic bundle transmits an input optical image to the helmet back to the image source; and further comprising an image analyzer for analyzing the input image transmitted by the fiber optic bundle and controlling transmitting an image from the image source which was generated in response to an analysis of the transmitted image by the image analyzer.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
50 words
An optical display in accordance with claim 10 wherein: the input image is inputted from an optical system optically coupled to a field of view of the helmet; and the transmitted image from the image source is an enhancement of an object in the field of view of the helmet.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
37 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 11 wherein: the input image includes an infrared image of the field of view of the helmet; and the transmitted image from the image source enhances the infrared image.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
83 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 6 further comprising: a mask having an array of spaced apertures with an individual aperture being optically coupled to an individual fiber so that light emitted from one optical fiber passes through the aperture to provide a spacing between the light emitting points as viewed from the field of view which is defined by a spacing between the apertures; and the mask is moved by the actuator through the repeated pattern to display the image.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
32 words
An optical display in accordance with claim 13 wherein: a dimension of the apertures is smaller than a dimension at an end of each fiber which is attached to the image display.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
34 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 2 wherein the actuator comprises: at least one pair of piezoelectric elements for moving the light emitting points along orthogonal axes to produce the repeated pattern.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
34 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 2 wherein the actuator comprises: at least one pair of electromagnetic coils for moving the light emitting points along orthogonal axes to produce the repeated pattern.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
48 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 2 wherein the actuator comprises: at least one electrically activated light refractor optically coupled to a light output of the light emitting points at the image display for refracting the light output along orthogonal axes to produce the repeated pattern.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
45 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 2 wherein the actuator comprises: at least one mirror optically coupled to a light output of the light emitting points at the image display for reflecting the light output along orthogonal axes to produce the repeated pattern.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
45 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 2 wherein the actuator comprises: at least one lens optically coupled to a light output of the light emitting points at the image display for deflecting the light output along orthogonal axes to produce the repeated pattern.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
35 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 2 wherein the image source comprises: a plurality of image producing devices with each device providing a part of each field with the parts being spatially non-overlapping.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
35 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 2 wherein the image source comprises: a plurality of image producing devices with each device providing a different input image with the input images being spatially overlapping.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
32 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 21 wherein the input images comprise: different colored images which are combined to produce a color displayed image of a single field of view.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
56 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 6 wherein the image display further comprises: a mechanism for sensing a position of the fiber optic bundle at an end optically coupled to the light emitting points; and wherein the actuator is responsive to the sensed position for controlling movement of the actuator through the repeated pattern.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
147 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 23 wherein: the mechanism for sensing comprises at least one input fiber of the bundle coupled to a light source and having an output which outputs light onto a target area which is fixed in position with respect to a viewing field of the display having reflective areas and at least one output optical fiber having an input disposed adjacent to the output of the input fiber having an output coupled to a photosensitive device with an output from the photosensitive device occurring when the light output of the at least one input fiber projects light which is reflected by one of the reflective areas to the input of the at least one output optical fiber which is processed by the actuator to provide a signal indicating the position of the light emitting points to control the repeated pattern.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
97 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 6 comprising: a look-up table storing data of at least a transmission characteristic of individual fibers which are optically coupled to a pixel of the image source and a single light emitting point of the image display; and wherein the image source is responsive to the stored data to control a light intensity of light which is outputted by the image source to each fiber optically coupled to a pixel to provide at least a uniform light transmission characteristic for the fibers optically coupled to the light emitting points.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
41 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 25 wherein: the at least one stored characteristic includes a multiplicative factor which is used to control the light intensity of the pixels to at least normalize the transmissivity of the fiber bundle.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
92 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 2 wherein the image display further comprises: a mask having an array of spaced apertures which are spaced with an individual aperture being optically coupled with an individual pixel so that light emitted from one pixel passes through the aperture to the field of view to provide spacing between the light emitting points as viewed from the field of view which is defined by spacing between the apertures; and the mask is moved by the actuator through the repeated pattern to display the image.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
30 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 27 wherein: a maximum dimension of the apertures is smaller than a maximum dimension of a pixel optically aligned with the aperture.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
20 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 28 wherein: the image source comprises a back lighted liquid crystal display.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
17 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 28 wherein: the image source comprises an electroluminescent panel.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
16 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 28 wherein: the image source comprises a CRT.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
20 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 2 wherein: the image source comprises an array of light emitting diodes.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
43 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 2 wherein: the image source and the image display are not movable relative to each other with only the actuator producing relative motion of the light emitting points with respect to the field of view.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
32 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 2 wherein: the image source and the image display are fixed relative to each other and are not movable physically relative to each other.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
140 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 34 wherein the actuator comprises: an array of light valves disposed between the image source and the field of view with a number of light valves being equal to the fixed number of light emitting points and with individual light valves being aligned with a single pixel and containing an array of apertures which each respectively correspond to a different position of a single light emitting point with each aperture being switchable to pass light from the display pixel; and the system further comprising a controller for synchronizing the display of the fields of the image and the switching of the apertures to produce movement of the light emitting points through the repeated pattern with each successive position of a light emitting point corresponding to a different field of the image source.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
198 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 34 wherein: the image source comprises a light source, a filter which sequentially filters light produced by the light source with each sequential filtration filtering the light with a comb filter-like characteristic having spaced apart pass band characteristics with each sequential filtration having a different pass band characteristic with all of the filtrations collectively passing a spectrum of light comprising the image and an array of pixels being controlled by a system controller to pass the sequential filtration of light through the pixels to produce the image; and the actuator comprises an array of light valves disposed between the image source and the field of view with individual light valves being aligned with a single pixel and containing an array of apertures which each respectively correspond to a different position of a single light emitting point with each aperture having a frequency pass band characteristic matching only one comb filter characteristic of one of the sequential filtrations; and wherein a system controller synchronizes selection of the filter characteristics and control of the pixels so that a single filtration and control of the pixels occurs with each field of the image.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
33 words
An optical display system in accordance with claim 36 wherein: the filter is a rotating filter wheel having a plurality of sectors with each sector having a different comb filter pass band characteristic.
Claim 39
Independent Claim
167 words
A method of optical display of an image comprising: generating an image including a plurality of fields which are sequentially displayed to form an image with a two-dimensional array of pixels forming each field having a spatially modulated light intensity; optically coupling the fields of the image to a two-dimensional array of a fixed number of at least two light emitting points spaced apart by a fixed distance displaced along each dimension of the two-dimensional array; and moving the light emitting points in unison in two dimensions in a repeated pattern relative to a field of view of the displayed image with movement of each light emitting point in two dimensions during the repeated pattern delineating an area which is a fraction of an area of the displayed image produced by the display of the image at the field of view and moving the light emitting points through successive positions of the repeated pattern being synchronized with the successive display of individual fields by the image source.
Claim 40
Independent Claim
167 words
A method of optical display of an image comprising: generating an image including a plurality of fields which are sequentially displayed to form an image with a two-dimensional array of pixels forming each field having a spatially modulated light intensity; optically coupling the fields of the image to a two-dimensional array of a fixed number of at least two light emitting points spaced apart by a fixed distance displaced along each dimension of the two-dimensional array; and moving the light emitting points in unison in two dimensions in a repeated pattern relative to a field of view of the displayed image with movement of each light emitting point in two dimensions during the repeated pattern delineating an area which is a fraction of an area of the displayed image produced by the display of the image at the field of view and moving the light emitting points through successive positions of the repeated pattern being synchronized with the successive display of individual fields by the image source.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
42 words
A method of optical display in accordance with claim 38 wherein: the motion of the emitting points in each of the two dimensions defining the area of the repeated pattern is through a plurality of the successive positions in displaying the fields.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
108 words
A method in accordance with claim 29 wherein: the area delineated by the repeated pattern has a length of ax and a width of bx with a cross-sectional area of abx 2 with a being an integer equal to or greater than 2, b being an integer equal to or greater than 2 and x being a dimension of the light emitting points with a position of each light emitting point during movement of the array of points through the repeated pattern by the actuator moving a distance equal to x along the length or along the width in synchronism with successive fields displayed by the image source.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
55 words
A method in accordance with claim 39 wherein: a fiber optic bundle having a plurality of individual fibers transmits light from each of the pixels to the light emitting points with an individual optical fiber of the bundle which is optically coupled to a pixel transmitting light between a pixel and a light emitting point.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
41 words
A method in accordance with claim 41 wherein: an end of the fiber optic bundle coupled to the light emitting points is moved through the repeated pattern with the individual fibers of the end being spaced apart by the fixed distance.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
30 words
A method in accordance with claim 41 wherein: light emitted from each fiber of the fiber optical bundle is refracted to move the light emitting points through the repeated pattern.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
45 words
A method in accordance with claim 39 wherein: the fiber optic bundle transmits light from an image source to a helmet mounted head-up display which is movable relative to an image source and provides images to be visually observed by a person wearing the helmet.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
55 words
A method in accordance with claim 44 further comprising: transmitting an input optical image to the helmet through the fiber optic bundle to the image source; analyzing the transmitted input image; and transmitting from the image source through the fiber optic bundle to the helmet an image produced in response to the analyzed input image.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
45 words
A method in accordance with claim 45 wherein: the input optical image is optically coupled to a field of view of the helmet; and the transmitted image from the image source is an enhancement of an object in a field of view of the helmet.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method in accordance with claim 46 wherein: the input image includes an infrared image from the field of view of the helmet.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
63 words
A method in accordance with claim 41 further comprising: transmitting light from the fiber optic bundle through an array of apertures which are spaced in a mask attached to an end of the fiber optic bundle with the individual apertures corresponding to the individual light emitting points and providing spacing between the light emitting points; and moving the mask through the repeated pattern.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
46 words
A method in accordance with claim 47 wherein: a dimension of the apertures is smaller than a dimension of an end of each fiber which is attached to the mask; and light transmitted through each aperture to the field of view is restricted by the aperture.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method in accordance with claim 39 wherein: the moving of the light emitting points in unison in the repeated pattern is along orthogonal axes.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
21 words
A method in accordance with claim 50 wherein: the movement along orthogonal axes is produced by at least one control element.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method in accordance with claim 39 wherein: the image is comprised of a plurality of spatially non-overlapping parts provided from different image producing devices.
Claim 55
Dependent Claim
22 words
A method in accordance with claim 39 wherein: the image is comprised of spatially overlapping parts provided from different image producing sources.
Claim 56
Dependent Claim
31 words
A method in accordance with claim 39 wherein: the image is comprised of different colored images provided from different image producing sources which are combined to produce a color displayed image.
Claim 57
Dependent Claim
40 words
A method in accordance with claim 41 further comprising: sensing a position of the array of light emitting points; and controlling the movement of the array of light emitting points through the repeated pattern in response to the sensed position.
Claim 58
Dependent Claim
68 words
A method in accordance with claim 39 further comprising: controlling a light intensity of the pixels in response to a look up of stored data of at least a transmission characteristic of individual fibers which are optically coupled to a pixel and to a light emitting point to provide at least a uniform transmission characteristic for the optical fibers coupled between the pixels and the light emitting points.
Claim 59
Dependent Claim
37 words
A method in accordance with claim 56 wherein: the stored characteristic is at least a multiplicative factor which is used to control the light intensity of the pixels to at least normalize the transmissivity of the fibers.
Claim 60
Dependent Claim
84 words
A method in accordance with claim 39 wherein: the light emitting points are produced by passing light from each pixel through an associated aperture in a mask having spaced apertures optically coupled to the field of view so that light emitted from one pixel passes through one aperture to provide spacing between the light emitting points as viewed from the field of view which is defined by a space between apertures; and the mask is moved through the repeated pattern to display the image.
Claim 61
Dependent Claim
28 words
A method in accordance with claim 58 wherein: a maximum dimension of the apertures is smaller than a maximum dimension of a pixel optically aligned with the aperture.
Claim 62
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method in accordance with claim 39 wherein: movement of the light emitting points is produced by relative motion between the light emitting points and the field of view.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
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| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2001-01-24 | 2001-07-26 | 2002-01-25 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2005-01-24 | 2005-07-26 | 2006-01-25 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |