US5319490A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Helmet mounted display including synchronously moving tilted mechanisms
Assignee: Hughes Training Inc
•
Filing: 1992-09-16
•
Granted: 1994-06-07
•
Expires: 2012-09-16
Abstract
Abstract An improved helmet mounted display. The inventive display includes a laser and a fiber optic cable having an array having two sets of rows of optical fibers and being mounted to receive input from said laser at a input end and to illuminate a screen with light from said laser via an output end thereof. A particularly novel aspect of the invention is the provision of a first mechanism at the input end of the fiber optic cable for illuminating a first set of rows of fibers in the array with light from the laser during a first scanning interval and for illuminating a second set of rows of fibers in the array with light from the laser during a second scanning interval. A second tilting mechanism is mounted at the output end of the fiber optic cable for directing illumination from the first set of rows of fibers in the array to a screen during the first scanning interval and for directing illumination from the second set of rows of fibers in the array to the screen during the second scanning interval. An actuator is provided for moving the first and second tilting mechanisms synchronously. In a specific implementation, the first and second tilting mechanisms are glass plates and the actuator is a piezo-electric transducer. By repeating a scan over a second set of fibers, the visibility of dead spots in the output image from broken fibers is mitigated.
Inventors
- 👤 David A. Ansley
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 10:29
CPC Classifications
G; G09; G09B; G09B9/00; G09B9/02; G09B9/08; G09B9/30; G09B9/32; G09B9/326; G02; G02B; G02B27/00; G02B27/01; G02B27/017; G02B27/0172; G09B9/307; G02B27/0101; G02B2027/014; G02B27/0149; G02B2027/0154; G02B6/00; G02B6/04
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 22
Claim 1
Independent Claim
255 words
An improved helmet mounted display comprising: a laser; a scanning means for scanning a light beam from said laser to form an image; a transmission medium including an array having two sets of rows of optical elements and being mounted to receive input from said scanning means at an input end and to illuminate a screen with light from said laser via an output end thereof; first tilting means mounted at the input end of said transmission medium for illuminating a first set of rows of said elements in said array with laser light from said scanning means during a first scanning interval and for illuminating a second set of rows of elements in said array with laser light from said scanning means during a second scanning interval, said second set of rows being disposed between said first set of rows; second tilting means mounted at the output end of said transmission medium for directing illumination from said first set of rows of elements in said array to a screen during said first scanning interval and for directing illumination from said second set of rows of elements in said array to said screen during said second scanning interval; and means for synchronously actuating said first and second tilting means so that said first and second tilting means are fixed in position at respective first scanning interval tilting angles during said first scanning interval, and said first and second tilting means are actuated to respective fixed second scanning interval tilting angles during said second scanning interval.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
255 words
An improved helmet mounted display comprising: a laser; a scanning means for scanning a light beam from said laser to form an image; a transmission medium including an array having two sets of rows of optical elements and being mounted to receive input from said scanning means at an input end and to illuminate a screen with light from said laser via an output end thereof; first tilting means mounted at the input end of said transmission medium for illuminating a first set of rows of said elements in said array with laser light from said scanning means during a first scanning interval and for illuminating a second set of rows of elements in said array with laser light from said scanning means during a second scanning interval, said second set of rows being disposed between said first set of rows; second tilting means mounted at the output end of said transmission medium for directing illumination from said first set of rows of elements in said array to a screen during said first scanning interval and for directing illumination from said second set of rows of elements in said array to said screen during said second scanning interval; and means for synchronously actuating said first and second tilting means so that said first and second tilting means are fixed in position at respective first scanning interval tilting angles during said first scanning interval, and said first and second tilting means are actuated to respective fixed second scanning interval tilting angles during said second scanning interval.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
14 words
The invention of claim 1 wherein said first tilting means includes a glass plate.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
14 words
The invention of claim 2 wherein said second tilting means includes a glass plate.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
21 words
The invention of claim 3 wherein said means for synchronously actuating said first and second tilting means includes a piezoelectric transducer.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
13 words
The invention of claim 1 wherein said first tilting means includes a mirror.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
14 words
The invention of claim 5 wherein said second tilting means includes a glass plate.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
19 words
The invention of claim 6 wherein said means for synchronously actuating said second tilting means includes a piezoelectric transducer.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
257 words
An improved helmet mounted display comprising: a laser; a scanning means for scanning a light beam from said laser to form an image; a fiber optic cable having an array having two sets of rows of optical fibers and being mounted to receive input from said scanning means at an input end and to illuminate a screen with light from said laser via an output end thereof; first tilting means mounted at the input end of said fiber optic cable for illuminating a first set of rows of fibers in said array with laser light from said scanning means during a first scanning interval and for illuminating a second set of rows of fibers in said array with laser light from said scanning means during a second scanning interval, said second set of rows being disposed between said first set of rows; second tilting means mounted at the output end of said fiber optic cable for directing illumination from said first set of rows of fibers in said array to a screen during said first scanning interval and for directing illumination from said second set of rows of fibers in said array to said screen during said second scanning interval; and means for synchronously actuating said first and second tilting means so that said first and second tilting means are fixed in position at respective first scanning interval tilting angles during said first scanning interval, and said first and second tilting means are actuated to respective fixed second scanning interval tilting angles during said second scanning interval.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
257 words
An improved helmet mounted display comprising: a laser; a scanning means for scanning a light beam from said laser to form an image; a fiber optic cable having an array having two sets of rows of optical fibers and being mounted to receive input from said scanning means at an input end and to illuminate a screen with light from said laser via an output end thereof; first tilting means mounted at the input end of said fiber optic cable for illuminating a first set of rows of fibers in said array with laser light from said scanning means during a first scanning interval and for illuminating a second set of rows of fibers in said array with laser light from said scanning means during a second scanning interval, said second set of rows being disposed between said first set of rows; second tilting means mounted at the output end of said fiber optic cable for directing illumination from said first set of rows of fibers in said array to a screen during said first scanning interval and for directing illumination from said second set of rows of fibers in said array to said screen during said second scanning interval; and means for synchronously actuating said first and second tilting means so that said first and second tilting means are fixed in position at respective first scanning interval tilting angles during said first scanning interval, and said first and second tilting means are actuated to respective fixed second scanning interval tilting angles during said second scanning interval.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
14 words
The invention of claim 8 wherein said first tilting means includes a glass plate.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
14 words
The invention of claim 9 wherein said second tilting means includes a glass plate.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
21 words
The invention of claim 10 wherein said means for synchronously actuating said first and second tilting means includes a piezoelectric transducer.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
13 words
The invention of claim 8 wherein said first tilting means includes a mirror.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
14 words
The invention of claim 12 wherein said second tilting means includes a glass plate.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
19 words
The invention of claim 13 wherein said means for synchronously actuating said second tilting means includes a piezoelectric transducer.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
42 words
The invention of claim 1 wherein said scanning means scans said light beam to form a raster-scanned image focussed on said input end of said transmission medium, said image formed by alternating even and odd television frames of rows of raster lines.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
45 words
The invention of claim 15 wherein said actuating means is actuated to change between said first and second scanning interval tilting angles during a time interval when said scanning means reset upon completing said even frame and before commencing to display said odd television frame.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
90 words
The invention of claim 15 further comprising means for selectively modulating the intensity of laser light from said laser during one of said even or odd frames to increase the intensity of pixels obscured by defects in particular ones of said optical elements during the other of said even or odd frames, to obtain a time averaged intensity of image pixels for pixels obscured by said optical element defects which is substantially the same as the time averaged intensity of image pixels for pixels not obscured by optical element defects.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
42 words
The invention of claim 8 wherein said scanning means scans said light beam to form a raster-scanned image focussed on said input end of said transmission medium, said image formed by alternating even and odd television frames of rows of raster lines.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
45 words
The invention of claim 18 wherein said actuating means is actuated to change between said first and second scanning interval tilting angles during a time interval when said scanning means resets upon completing said even frame and before commencing to display said odd television frame.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
83 words
The invention of claim 18 further comprising means for selectively modulating the intensity of laser light from said laser during one of said even or odd frames to increase the intensity of pixels obscured by broken optical fibers during the other of said even or odd frames, to obtain a time averaged intensity of image pixels for pixels obscured by said broken fibers which is substantially the same as the time averaged intensity of image pixels for pixels not obscured by broken fibers.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US3603665A
Cited
US4105336A
Cited
GB1546827A
Cited
GB1581926A
Cited
US4141624A
Cited
GB2009959A
Cited
GB2013924A
Cited
GB2081923A
Cited
US4500204A
Cited
US4534615A
Cited
EP0202987A1
Cited
US5006201A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1997-06-06 | 1997-12-06 | 1998-06-07 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2001-06-06 | 2001-12-06 | 2002-06-07 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2005-06-06 | 2005-12-06 | 2006-06-07 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |