Head gear display system using off-axis image sources

Claim 1

A head gear display system, intended to be mounted to head gear, for projecting visual information toward the eye of the wearer of said head gear display system, the head gear display system comprising: a toricly shaped reflective surface spatially located between the eye of the wearer of the head gear display system and an external scene, said toricly shaped reflective surface having a central optical axis associated therewith; display source means for generating a visual image to provide visual information at a display surface, and where associated with said display surface is an image plane and a central image reference axis perpendicular to said image plane; first and second lenses spatially positioned such that said visual image passes successively through said first and second lenses and impinges on said toricly shaped reflective surface, said first and second lenses each having a central axis associated therewith and arranged such that said central axis of said first lens is aligned with said central lens axis of said second lens, and said central axis of said first and second lenses are tilted and decentered relative to said central image reference axis; and said toricly shaped reflective surface is partially reflective and partially transmissive, and is spatially oriented such that said central axis associated therewith is tilted and decentered relative to said central axes of said first and second lenses, and said toricly shaped reflective surface is configured to reflect, at least in part, said impinging visual image, thereon, toward the eye of the wearer of said head gear display system.