Wide angle viewing system for limited visibility conditions

Claim 1

An apparatus for detecting radiant energy from a scene and displaying an image thereof comprising: a. a first housing rigidly attached to a support member, said housing having a radiant energy admitting window for admitting radiant energy from a field of view of a scene; b. a second housing rotatably mounted in said first housing; c. an optical system, a radiant energy detector means, and a transducer means mounted for synchronous rotation with said second housing, said optical system including means for selectively forming a first optical path from the window of the first housing for radiant energy emanating from a first portion of the scene of the field of view and a second optical path from the window of the first housing for radiant energy emanating from a second portion of the scene of the field of view, said radiant energy detector means positioned to receive radiant energy from the optical system and produce electrical representations thereof, and said transducer means operatively responsive to the electrical representations of the radiant energy detector means for producing a wide angle image of the field of view of the scene; d. a means for rotating the second housing for scanning the field of view of the scene; and e. a display means for displaying the image of the field of view of the scene.

Claim 2

An apparatus for detecting radiant energy from a scene and displaying an image thereof comprising: a. a first housing rigidly attached to a support member, said housing having a radiant energy admitting window for admitting radiant energy from a field of view of a scene; b. a second housing rotatably mounted in said first housing; c. an optical system, a radiant energy detector means, and a transducer means mounted for synchronous rotation with said second housing, said optical system including means for selectively forming a first optical path from the window of the first housing for radiant energy emanating from a first portion of the scene of the field of view and a second optical path from the window of the first housing for radiant energy emanating from a second portion of the scene of the field of view, said radiant energy detector means positioned to receive radiant energy from the optical system and produce electrical representations thereof, and said transducer means operatively responsive to the electrical representations of the radiant energy detector means for producing a wide angle image of the field of view of the scene; d. a means for rotating the second housing for scanning the field of view of the scene; and e. a display means for displaying the image of the field of view of the scene.

Claim 3

A system for scanning a predetermined portion of the surface of the earth and for generating a display, comprising: a. a rotating support member, b. a detector means rigidly coupled to said rotating support member; c. an optical system having at least one scanning element angularly disposed to the field of view to define upon rotation a wide angle view, said scanning element coupled to and rotating with said rotating support member for collecting and focusing radiating energy alternately from first and second portions of the surface of the earth onto said detector means, said detector means alternately producing first and second electrical signals representative of radiant energy emanating from said first and second portions of said surface of the earth; d. A transducer means coupled to and rotating with said rotating support member in synchronism with said optical system responsive to said first and second electrical signals for producing first and second visual images of said first and second portions of the earth respectively; e. A projection means for alternately projecting the first and second visual images; f. a display screen for receiving the first and second visual images, said display screen configured to present a substantially true image of the scene; and g. a means for rotating the second housing for scanning the field of view and alternately projecting the first and second visual images at a rate to produce a combined wide angle visible display of the scene of the field of view on the display screen.

Claim 4

A system for scanning a predetermined portion of the surface of the earth and for generating a display, comprising: a. a rotating support member, b. a detector means rigidly coupled to said rotating support member; c. an optical system having at least one scanning element angularly disposed to the field of view to define upon rotation a wide angle view, said scanning element coupled to and rotating with said rotating support member for collecting and focusing radiating energy alternately from first and second portions of the surface of the earth onto said detector means, said detector means alternately producing first and second electrical signals representative of radiant energy emanating from said first and second portions of said surface of the earth; d. A transducer means coupled to and rotating with said rotating support member in synchronism with said optical system responsive to said first and second electrical signals for producing first and second visual images of said first and second portions of the earth respectively; e. A projection means for alternately projecting the first and second visual images; f. a display screen for receiving the first and second visual images, said display screen configured to present a substantially true image of the scene; and g. a means for rotating the second housing for scanning the field of view and alternately projecting the first and second visual images at a rate to produce a combined wide angle visible display of the scene of the field of view on the display screen.

Claim 5

An apparatus for detecting radiant energy from a scene and displaying an image thereof comprising: a. a first housing rigidly attached to a support member, said housing having a radiant energy admitting window for admitting radiant energy from a field of view of a scene; b. a second housing rotatably mounted in said first housing; c. an optical system, a radiant energy detector means and a transducer means mounted for synchronous rotation with said second housing; said optical system including a prism, an afocal lens system, a main imaging lens, and a converging lens forming an optical path for the field of view, said prism operating to deflect the line of sight of the object field, said afocal lens system responsively operative to radiant energy passing the prism for demagnifying the field of view, said main imaging lens positioned to receive the demagnified field of view for reducing aberations, and said converging lens operative to focus the field of view on the detector array, said radiant energy detector means positioned to receive radiant energy from the optical system and produce electrical representations thereof, and said transducer means operatively responsive to the electrical representations of the radiant energy detector means for producing a wide angle image of the field of view of the scene; d. a display means for displaying the image of the field of view of the scene; and e. a means for rotating the second housing for scanning the field of view of the scene and writing the scene upon the display means.

Claim 6

An apparatus for detecting radiant energy from a scene and displaying an image thereof comprising: a. a first housing rigidly attached to a support member, said housing having a radiant energy admitting window for admitting radiant energy from a field of view of a scene; b. a second housing rotatably mounted in said first housing; c. an optical system, a radiant energy detector means and a transducer means mounted for synchronous rotation with said second housing; said optical system including a prism, an afocal lens system, a main imaging lens, and a converging lens forming an optical path for the field of view, said prism operating to deflect the line of sight of the object field, said afocal lens system responsively operative to radiant energy passing the prism for demagnifying the field of view, said main imaging lens positioned to receive the demagnified field of view for reducing aberations, and said converging lens operative to focus the field of view on the detector array, said radiant energy detector means positioned to receive radiant energy from the optical system and produce electrical representations thereof, and said transducer means operatively responsive to the electrical representations of the radiant energy detector means for producing a wide angle image of the field of view of the scene; d. a display means for displaying the image of the field of view of the scene; and e. a means for rotating the second housing for scanning the field of view of the scene and writing the scene upon the display means.