GB2061545A - Optical Sight Having Two Rotatable Optical Wedges - Google Patents
Optical Sight Having Two Rotatable Optical Wedges Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- GB2061545A GB2061545A GB8026436A GB8026436A GB2061545A GB 2061545 A GB2061545 A GB 2061545A GB 8026436 A GB8026436 A GB 8026436A GB 8026436 A GB8026436 A GB 8026436A GB 2061545 A GB2061545 A GB 2061545A
- Authority
- GB
- United Kingdom
- Prior art keywords
- sight
- optical
- servo motor
- wedges
- motor assembly
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
- 230000003287 optical effect Effects 0.000 title claims abstract description 38
- 230000006641 stabilisation Effects 0.000 claims description 16
- NIOPZPCMRQGZCE-WEVVVXLNSA-N 2,4-dinitro-6-(octan-2-yl)phenyl (E)-but-2-enoate Chemical compound CCCCCCC(C)C1=CC([N+]([O-])=O)=CC([N+]([O-])=O)=C1OC(=O)\C=C\C NIOPZPCMRQGZCE-WEVVVXLNSA-N 0.000 description 4
- 239000005304 optical glass Substances 0.000 description 2
- BQCADISMDOOEFD-UHFFFAOYSA-N Silver Chemical compound [Ag] BQCADISMDOOEFD-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 229920003023 plastic Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 239000004033 plastic Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000010970 precious metal Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000001681 protective effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 229910052709 silver Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000004332 silver Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000003019 stabilising effect Effects 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B26/00—Optical devices or arrangements for the control of light using movable or deformable optical elements
- G02B26/08—Optical devices or arrangements for the control of light using movable or deformable optical elements for controlling the direction of light
- G02B26/0875—Optical devices or arrangements for the control of light using movable or deformable optical elements for controlling the direction of light by means of one or more refracting elements
- G02B26/0883—Optical devices or arrangements for the control of light using movable or deformable optical elements for controlling the direction of light by means of one or more refracting elements the refracting element being a prism
- G02B26/0891—Optical devices or arrangements for the control of light using movable or deformable optical elements for controlling the direction of light by means of one or more refracting elements the refracting element being a prism forming an optical wedge
-
- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F41—WEAPONS
- F41G—WEAPON SIGHTS; AIMING
- F41G3/00—Aiming or laying means
- F41G3/22—Aiming or laying means for vehicle-borne armament, e.g. on aircraft
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B27/00—Optical systems or apparatus not provided for by any of the groups G02B1/00 - G02B26/00, G02B30/00
- G02B27/64—Imaging systems using optical elements for stabilisation of the lateral and angular position of the image
- G02B27/646—Imaging systems using optical elements for stabilisation of the lateral and angular position of the image compensating for small deviations, e.g. due to vibration or shake
Landscapes
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Optics & Photonics (AREA)
- Aviation & Aerospace Engineering (AREA)
- General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Telescopes (AREA)
Abstract
An optical sight, e.g. a stabilisable optical gun sight, comprises an optical system having an eye piece 1 and an objective lens 2 and between the eyepiece 1 and objective lens 2, two optical wedges 8 and 9 which are arranged to be driven differentially and together in order to deflect the line of sight 3 through the optical system e.g. in response to servo control signals applied to the driving means. <IMAGE>
Description
SPECIFICATION
Improvements in or Relating to Optical Sights
This invention relates to optical sights and in particular to optical sights which are required to be stabilised.
Whilst the invention is applicable generally to optical sights which are required to be stabilised, such as may be used for cameras in some cases, the principal concern of the present invention is optical gun sights for use with the gun control system of fighting tanks.
The present invention seeks to provide improved optical sights and in particular improved stabilisable gun sights for fighting tanks.
According to this invention an optical sight comprises an optical system including an eye piece and an objective lens and between said eye piece and said objective lens two serially arranged optical wedges mounted so as to be rotatable both relatively one with respect to the other and together about said optical axis whereby the line of sight through said optical system may be moved.
Preferably said optical sight is a stabilisable optical sight and means are provided for applying servo control signals to driving means for said optical wedges whereby in operation said sight tends to be stabilised against movements of a body on which said sight is carried.
Preferably said two wedges are mounted on parts which are arranged freely to be rotatable within a casing each part carrying a bevel gear with the two bevel gears arranged to be driven differentially by a bevel pinion driven by a first servo motor assembly.
Preferably said first servo motor assembly is itself mounted upon a further part which is arranged freely to be rotatable within said housing which further part is driven by a further servo motor assembly mounted on said casing whereby operation of said further servo motor assembly causes said further part and said first servo motor assembly and said differential pinion gear to be rotated together thus causing said two optical wedges to be rotated together.
Preferably each servo motor assembly comprises a servo motor and a gear box drive and a positional transducer and for each servo motor assembly a servo amplifier control loop is provided comprising an input terminal for error control signals a comparator connected to derive input from said input terminal and from the output of said positional transducer (usually via scaling means e.g. a potentiometer) and a servo amplifier connected to the output of said comparator via a signal processing circuit as required, the output of said amplifier being connected to drive said servo motor.
According to a feature of this invention a gun control system for a fighting tank including a gun barrel stabilisation system comprising means for developing stabilisation error signals resulting from movement of said tank and means for utilising said stabilisation error signals to drive a gun barrel in elevation and a turret carrying said gun barrel in azimuth to provide stabilisation includes a gun sight as described above arranged to provide compensation for stabilisation error remaining in said gun barrel stabilisation system.
The invention is illustrated in and further described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figures 1 to 3 schematically illustrate essential features of a stabilised gun sight in accordance with the present invention and Figure 4 is a section through one practical example of stabilisable gun sight in accordance with the present invention.
Referring to Figure 1 the sight consists of an eye piece 1 and an objective lens 2 forming an optical system through which the tank gunner looks along a line of sight 3.
Positioned between the eye piece 1 and the objective lens 2 is a series combination of two optical glass wedges 8 and 9. It will be seen that one is inverted relative to the other. The wedges 8 and 9 are rotatable about the optical axis 3 both one relative to the other and together. Controlling the relative rotation of one wedge with respect to the other and the absolute rotation of the combination of the two wedges will enable the line of sight 3 to be moved in any co-ordinate direction as best seen from Figures 2 and 3.
In Figure 1 the wedges 8 and 9 are shown orientated with their vertical axis in alignment.
Figure 2 shows the two wedges 8 and 9 after rotation through angles of +0 and -() respectively. The movement of the scene to the gunner's eye depends upon the geometry of the wedges 8 and 9 (referring to Figure 3 the angle a of the wedges and the spacing D) and also upon the angles +0 and -o through which the wedges 8 and 9 have been turned.
The movements of the wedges 8 and 9 are controlled by a servo control system 6 which derives error signals in X and Y co-ordinates which represent the deviation required of the line of sight 3 in order to stabilise the system and take into account gun pointing error arising from movement of the tank. Control signals are applied to driving servos (not shown in Figure 1) of the wedges 8 and 9 in order to provide the required compensating rotation.
It is, of course, well known per se to derive such error signals and the majority of present day fighting tanks are equipped with stabilising systems, based upon gyroscopes for example, and commonly such error signals are utilised to adjust the direction in which the gun barrel is pointing by means of servos adjusting the elevation of the gun barrel and the rotation of a turret carrying the said gun barrel. For the purposes of the present explanation it may be assumed that the gun sight schematically illustrated in Figure 1 is utilised in such a tank in which a basic stabilisation system is employed utilising servos to control elevation of the gun barrel and the rotation of the turret. Thus in this case the stabilisation provided within the gun sight itself is not required to achieve total stabilisation but merely to take into account any remaining stabilisation error in the system.
The assembly comprising the wedges 8 and 9 and any driving servos therefor is mounted as a unit such that under control of the gunner the unit may be swung out of the optical path of the system so as to afford the gunner with a "genuine bore sight" view.
Referring to Figure 4 this shows in section an instrument assembly containing the two wedges 8 and 9 which is interposed between the eye piece 1 and the objective lens 2 of the gun sight represented in Figure 1 in the position occupied in that figure by lens 4. The optical axis of the assembly is represented at 10. Wedge 9 is mounted upon a part 11 which is freely rotatable about the optical axis 10 on bearings 12. The part 11 housing wedge 9 is formed with a flange on which is cut a bevel gear 14 which engages with a bevel pinion 13.
Wedge 8 is mounted upon another part 14 which is also arranged to be freely rotatable about the axis 10 by means of bearings 12. Part 14 is also formed with a flange upon which a bevel gear 1 5 is cut.
Bevel gear 1 5 is also in mesh with bevel pinion
13 so that when bevel pinion 1 3 is rotated bevel gears 14 and 1 5 are driven differentially.
Bevel pinion 13 is driven by a worm and wheel gear assembly 16 by means of a motor/gear box assembly 17.
Whilst not separately represented, the motor/gear box assembly 17 also includes a positional transducer in the form of a digital encoder or an AC resolver or a conducting plastics potentiometer.
As will now be appreciated, as bevel gear 13 is turned via the gear assembly 1 6 by motor/gear box 17 a differential movement is imparted to the two optical wedges 8 and 9 with respect to a third, freely rotatable, part 1 8 which houses the motor/gearbox 17. Third part 18 carries a slip ring assembly 1 9 consisting of polished coin silver slip
rings spaced by paxolin shims and insulated from
Fart 18 by a paxolin tube 20. A brush holder 21
carries precious metal wire brushes which contact the slip rings of slip ring assembly 20. Flying leads to the brushes of brush gear holder 21 are taken via a suitable grommet in one end cover 22 of the
assembly.The slip rings and brush gear assembly
19 and 21 permits supplies and positional feed
back signals to be routed to and from the
differential wedge-driver motor/gearbox assembly 1 7. The whole assembly so far described is
encased by the aforementioned end cover 22, an
opposite end cover 23 and an outer cylindrical
main frame 24.
In order to provide for absolute rotation of the
optical glass wedges 8 and 9 together, the freely
rotatable part 18 is itself provided with a gear 25
which is meshed with a driving bevel gear 26
extending through a suitable aperture in the main
frame 24. Bevel gear 26 is itself driven by a
second motor/gearboxXpositional transducer
assembly 27 fixedly mounted to the outside of
main frame 24 and housed under a protective cover 28.
Thus by applying suitable servo control signals to motor assembly 27 the wedges 8 and 9 can be
rotated together about the axis 10 whilst the
relative rotation of the wedges 8 and 9 may be determined by servo control signals applied to the
motor assembly 1 7. As will be appreciated,
referring again to Figure 3, defining the required shift of the line of sight in RO terms the relative
rotation of the wedges 8 and 9 will determine R and the absolute rotation of the wedges 8 and 9 together will determine fl.
Claims (7)
1. An optical sight comprising an optical system including an eye piece and an objective lens and between said eye piece and said objective lens two serially arranged optical wedges mounted so as to be rotatable both relatively one with respect to the other and together about said optical axis whereby the line of sight through said optical system may be moved.
2. A sight as claimed in claim 1 wherein said optical sight is a stabilisable optical sight and means are provided for applying servo control signals to driving means for said optical wedges whereby in operation said sight tends to be stabilised against movements of a body on which said sight is carried.
3. A sight as claimed in claim 1 or 2 and wherein said two wedges are mounted on parts which are arranged freely to be rotatable within a casing each part carrying a bevel gear with the two bevel gears arranged to be driven differentially by a bevel pinion driven by a first servo motor assembly.
4. A sight as claimed in claim 3 and wherein said first servo motor assembly is itself mounted upon a further part which is arranged freely to be rotatable within said housing which further part is driven by a further servo motor assembly mounted on said casing whereby operation of said further servo motor assembly causes said further part and said first servo motor assembly and said differential pinion gear to be rotated together thus causing said two optical wedges to be rotated together.
5. A sight as claimed in claim 4 and wherein each servo motor assembly comprises a servo motor and a gear box drive and a positional transducer and for each servo motor assembly a servo amplifier control loop is provided comprising an output terminal for error control signals a comparator connected to derive input from said input terminal and from the output of said positional transducer and a servo amplifier connected to the output of said comparator via a signal processing circuit as required, the output of said amplifier being connected to drive said servo motor.
6. An optical sight substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
7. A gun control system for a fighting tank including a gun barrel stabilisation system comprising means for developing stabilisation error signals resulting from movement of said tank and means for utilising said stabilisation error signals to drive a gun barrel in elevation and a turret carrying said gun barrel in azimuth to provide stabilisation and including a gun sight as claimed in any of the above claims arranged to provide compensation for stabilisation error remaining in said gun barrel stabilisation system.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB8026436A GB2061545B (en) | 1979-09-05 | 1980-08-13 | Optical sight having two rotatable optical wedges |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB7930786 | 1979-09-05 | ||
| GB8026436A GB2061545B (en) | 1979-09-05 | 1980-08-13 | Optical sight having two rotatable optical wedges |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| GB2061545A true GB2061545A (en) | 1981-05-13 |
| GB2061545B GB2061545B (en) | 1983-06-08 |
Family
ID=26272765
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB8026436A Expired GB2061545B (en) | 1979-09-05 | 1980-08-13 | Optical sight having two rotatable optical wedges |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| GB (1) | GB2061545B (en) |
Cited By (9)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR2524159A1 (en) * | 1982-02-24 | 1983-09-30 | Precision Grinding Ltd | ARRANGEMENT FOR POSITIONING AN OPTICAL IMAGE IN RELATION TO AN OPTICAL AXIS |
| EP0123627A1 (en) * | 1983-04-26 | 1984-10-31 | Societe D'optique, Precision Electronique Et Mecanique - Sopelem | Image stabilisation device for submarine periscope |
| GB2215089A (en) * | 1988-02-15 | 1989-09-13 | Marconi Co Ltd | Laser beam steering |
| EP0378886A1 (en) * | 1987-11-27 | 1990-07-25 | GEC-Marconi Limited | Optical system |
| DE4028359A1 (en) * | 1989-09-06 | 1991-03-07 | Asahi Optical Co Ltd | IMAGE STABILIZER |
| EP0458373A3 (en) * | 1988-03-10 | 1991-12-11 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Image shake detecting device |
| GB2268285A (en) * | 1989-09-06 | 1994-01-05 | Asahi Optical Co Ltd | Image stabilizing apparatus |
| WO2002097516A1 (en) * | 2001-06-01 | 2002-12-05 | Alexander Mikhailovich Dykhne | Method for eliminating an image defect on display and device for carrying out said method (variants) |
| WO2008003967A1 (en) * | 2006-07-04 | 2008-01-10 | The Secretary Of State For Defence | Viewing apparatus |
-
1980
- 1980-08-13 GB GB8026436A patent/GB2061545B/en not_active Expired
Cited By (16)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR2524159A1 (en) * | 1982-02-24 | 1983-09-30 | Precision Grinding Ltd | ARRANGEMENT FOR POSITIONING AN OPTICAL IMAGE IN RELATION TO AN OPTICAL AXIS |
| EP0123627A1 (en) * | 1983-04-26 | 1984-10-31 | Societe D'optique, Precision Electronique Et Mecanique - Sopelem | Image stabilisation device for submarine periscope |
| FR2545240A1 (en) * | 1983-04-26 | 1984-11-02 | Sopelem | IMAGE STABILIZATION DEVICE FOR A SUBMARINE PERISCOPE |
| EP0378886A1 (en) * | 1987-11-27 | 1990-07-25 | GEC-Marconi Limited | Optical system |
| US4950056A (en) * | 1987-11-27 | 1990-08-21 | Gec-Marconi Limited | Optical system |
| GB2215089A (en) * | 1988-02-15 | 1989-09-13 | Marconi Co Ltd | Laser beam steering |
| EP0458373A3 (en) * | 1988-03-10 | 1991-12-11 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Image shake detecting device |
| GB2268285A (en) * | 1989-09-06 | 1994-01-05 | Asahi Optical Co Ltd | Image stabilizing apparatus |
| DE4028359A1 (en) * | 1989-09-06 | 1991-03-07 | Asahi Optical Co Ltd | IMAGE STABILIZER |
| US5280387A (en) * | 1989-09-06 | 1994-01-18 | Asahi Kogaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Image stabilizing apparatus |
| DE4028359C2 (en) * | 1989-09-06 | 1994-05-19 | Asahi Optical Co Ltd | Image stabilization device |
| GB2268285B (en) * | 1989-09-06 | 1994-05-25 | Asahi Optical Co Ltd | Image stabilizing apparatus |
| US5461513A (en) * | 1989-09-06 | 1995-10-24 | Asahi Kogaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Image stabilizing apparatus |
| WO2002097516A1 (en) * | 2001-06-01 | 2002-12-05 | Alexander Mikhailovich Dykhne | Method for eliminating an image defect on display and device for carrying out said method (variants) |
| WO2008003967A1 (en) * | 2006-07-04 | 2008-01-10 | The Secretary Of State For Defence | Viewing apparatus |
| US8294080B2 (en) | 2006-07-04 | 2012-10-23 | The Secretary Of State For Defence In Her Britannic Majesty's Government Of The United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Northern Ireland | Viewing apparatus capable of moving a subject within the field of view of the center of the viewed image |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| GB2061545B (en) | 1983-06-08 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCNP | Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee |