Inframetrics Inc.

Other

Charles L Confer

Kevin J Haded

Gordon J Burrer

Uri Bin-Nun

Daniel L Manitakos

Andrew C Neilson

Robert J Herring

An infrared video camera system comprises an uncooled infrared sensor mounted and a thermally conductive thin walled radiation shield for shielding radiation from reaching an active surface of the uncooled infrared sensor. A TEC maintains the sensor active surface and the radiation shield at a substantially constant temperature. The uncooled infrared sensor and radiation shield are further housed in a hollow thermally conductive vacuum cover which is vacuum sealed with a base assembly and includes a vacuum sealed infrared transparent window in an aperture at a top end of the vacuum cover for allowing infrared radiation to reach the active surface and for forming a vacuum chamber enclosing the infrared sensor and radiation shield. A relay optical cell mounted to a camera body comprises at least one optical element for relaying an image formed at its entrance onto the active surface. An imaging optical assembly is interchangeably mounted to the relay optical cell and comprises at least one optical element for imaging an infrared scene to be imaged onto the entrance aperture of the relay cell. A plurality of different field of view imaging optical assemblies are interchangeably mounted without substantially changing the field of view of the sensor active surface.

Infrared video camera system with uncooled focal plane array and

A dual-mode resonant scanning system comprising an electronic control circuit and a dual-mode resonant mechanical scanner to produce an essentially triangular scan pattern. The dual-mode mechanical scanner is mechanically tuned to simultaneously oscillate at a predetermined third harmonic frequency and the free running fundamental thereof. The electronic control circuit drives the mechanical scanner to oscillate at the exact fundamental frequency of the predetermined third harmonic frequency and phase locks the fundamental oscillation to the third harmonic oscillation. The dual-mode resonant mechanical scanner includes an optical scanning element having a first mass, a second mass, at least one torsion rod, a rotational actuator and a mechanical ground designed and integrated together such that the mechanical scanner is self resonant at the predetermined third harmonic frequency and at or within a few hertz of the exact fundamental frequency of the predetermined third harmonic frequency. The electronic control circuit includes a mirror-position sensing subsystem, a bandpass filter tuned to the predetermined third harmonic frequency, a divider circuit, a summing circuit, a manual phase and amplitude adjustment, a scan angle automatic gain control circuit and a driving circuit. The exact fundamental oscillation in combination with the third harmonic oscillation produces an essentially constant scan rate through a predetermined scan angle.

Modified dual-mode resonant scanning system

A scan converter circuit for use in a imaging system that uses a sinusoidally oscillating scanning reflector for scanning an object and a constant rate scanned display monitor for displaying an image of the object. The circuit enables a variable time rate of sampling of picture elements in the object field to match a desired constant display rate of picture elements in the CRT display monitor. The circuit comprises a constant rate VCO clock and a sampling clock that produces periodically variable rate pulses, the periodicity of which being phase locked with zero crossings of the oscillating reflector and wherein the pulses are derived from the constant rate VCO clock. The sampling clock enables an image sensor to sample the radiance levels at a rate which varies with the sinusoidal sweep speed of the oscillating reflector. The circuit further includes a memory circuit for buffering and reversing the order of picture element information during at least one sweep direction, and a transfer control circuit for alternately supplying to the CRT display monitor picture element representations from the sensor and the temporary memory so that picture elements obtained during a right-to-left sweep and a succeeding left-to-right sweep are accurately aligned with each other and bear a one-to-one correspondence with picture elements in the image field.

Digital scan converter for image scanning and display system

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Bolton, MA, United States of America

Charles L Confer