Computerized binoculars

Claim 2

A viewing device comprising a casing for housing optical components including an objective lens and an eyepiece, these components providing a view along an optical axis (AA'), and a focusing component operator adjustable from outside the casing, the optical components forming an image of a field of view, said viewing device also including, inside the casing: components to display a luminous image formed of pixels which can be controlled by a computer, at least one reflex optical component to superimpose the image from the display components on the image of the field of view, and, mounted on the casing, sensors to determine direction of the device line of sight and to measure an angle relative to a geographical reference, with the possibility of connecting these sensors to a computer via links.

Claim 3

The device of claim 1, in which the direction sensors are a magnetometer and an inclinometer.

Claim 4

The device of claim 1, in which the direction sensors are three gyrometers which can be connected to a computer by links.

Claim 5

The device of claim 1 in which the components that generates a luminous image is a light-emitting screen.

Claim 6

The device of claim 1, in which the components which generate a luminous image consists of a liquid crystal screen illuminated by lighting components.

Claim 7

The device of claim 5, in which the lighting components consist of a light-emitting plate and a reflex mirror.

Claim 8

The device of claim 1, in which the image reflex device consists of at least one lens and a semi-transparent mirror.

Claim 9

The device of claim 1, in which the reflex device consists of a least one lens, a mirror and a semi-transparent slide.

Claim 10

The device of claim 1, in which the reflex device is a hologram which acts as a mirror and fulfils a focussing function.

Claim 11

The device of claim 1, further comprising between the objective lens (13) and the reflex optical component (10) an electrically-controlled variable optical transmission attenuator (15).

Claim 12

The device of claim 10, in which the attenuator consists of a liquid crystal held between two thin transparent slides to which electrodes are fixed.

Claim 13

The device of claim 1, in which the casing also includes a range finder whose line of sight is parallel to a line of sight of the optical axis.

Claim 14

The device of claim 1, further comprising a connector on said casing to connect the device to computer components outside said casing.

Claim 15

The device of claim 13, said components outside said casing comprising a computer to which the casing can be connected, a link running between the computer and the casing via said connector; the computer having sets of instructions in which at least one of the sets allows calculation of memory addresses from data which includes values coming from the sensor.

Claim 16

A device as described in claim 14, in which the computer is also connected to a localization receiver via a link.

Claim 17

The device of claim 14 in which the computer is also connected to a transceiver via a link.

Claim 18

The device of claim 1, which also includes, mounted on the casing, at least one keypad, each pad containing one or several buttons which can be connected to a computer via links.

Claim 19

The device of claim 17, in which one of the keypads has only two 3-position buttons and the other has only one button.

Claim 20

A viewing device comprising (a) a casing for housing an objective, an eyepiece, means to display a luminous image formed of pixels which can be controlled by a computer having memories each having an address, and at least one reflex optical component to superimpose the displayed image to an image of a field of view of the viewing device, this field of view being determined by an optical axis and an aperture angle of the viewing device, the improvement comprising (b) sensors attached to the casing to determine a direction of the device line of sight, (c) means to link data coming from the sensors to a computer, (d) the computer having sets of instruction in which at least one of the sets allows calculation of memories addresses from data which include values coming from the sensors.

Claim 21

A viewing device comprising (a) a casing for housing an objective, an eyepiece, means to display a luminous image formed of pixels which can be controlled by a computer having memories each having an address, and at least one reflex optical component to superimpose the displayed image to an image of a field of view of the viewing device, this field of view being determined by an optical axis and an aperture angle of the viewing device, the improvement comprising (b) sensors attached to the casing to determine a direction of the device line of sight, (c) means to link data coming from the sensors to a computer, (d) the computer having sets of instruction in which at least one of the sets allows calculation of memories addresses from data which include values coming from the sensors.

Claim 22

A viewing device comprising a casing for housing optical components including an objective lens and an eyepiece, these components providing a view along an optical axis (AA'), and a focusing component operator adjustable from outside the casing, the optical components forming an image of a field of view, said viewing device also including, inside the casing: components to display a luminous image formed of pixels which can be controlled by a computer, at least one reflex optical component to superimpose the image from the display components on the image of the field of view, and, mounted on the casing, a sensor to determine direction of the device line of sight and to measure an angle relative to a geographical reference, with the possibility of connecting these sensors to a computer via links, a connector on said casing to connect the device to components outside said casing, said components comprising a computer to which the casing can be connected, a link running between the computer and the casing via said connector; and the computer having sets of instructions in which at least one of the sets allows calculation of memory addresses from data which includes values coming from the sensor.

Claim 23

A viewing device comprising a casing for housing optical components including an objective lens and an eyepiece, these components providing a view along an optical axis (AA'), and a focusing component operator adjustable from outside the casing, the optical components forming an image of a field of view, said viewing device also including, inside the casing: components to display a luminous image formed of pixels which can be controlled by a computer, at least one reflex optical component to superimpose the image from the display components on the image of the field of view, and, mounted on the casing, a sensor to determine direction of the device line of sight and to measure an angle relative to a geographical reference, with the possibility of connecting these sensors to a computer via links, a connector on said casing to connect the device to components outside said casing, said components comprising a computer to which the casing can be connected, a link running between the computer and the casing via said connector; and the computer having sets of instructions in which at least one of the sets allows calculation of memory addresses from data which includes values coming from the sensor.