Sextant Avionique

Jean-Michel Francois

Jean-Pierre Gerbe

Denis Plantier

Yves Lefort

Patrick Lacroux

Patrick Jolly

Michel Golia

Jean-Pierre Cursolle

The invention relates to a pilot's helmet with a tinted visor that can be locked in raised position during nighttime use by a device using spring-loaded balls, and that can be lowered manually, or automatically when the pilot ejects thanks to a spring-loaded system tending to close the visor.

Helmet with night-vision device providing optimized safety and ergonomy

A compact optical device used to superimpose an intensified infrared image onto a visible image to allow night vision. It can especially be used to make goggles to be worn under the visor of an aircraft or helicopter pilot's helmet. The device includes a combiner located in front of the pilot's eye for directly transmitting visible light to the pilot and an objective for receiving infrared light which is placed above the combiner. An optical system guides the light received by the objective towards the combiner to be forwarded to the pilot's eye. The light is guided in a single plane substantially perpendicular to the plane containing the light received by the objective. The optical system includes a light intensifier, a transport objective, an even number of mirrors to fold the optical circuit and an eye piece.

Compact optical device for night vision and its application to goggles

A device for controlling the position of a symbolic image generated on a combiner by a head-up display system. Two tests are performed alternately: a general position test, using a luminous spot generated on the image; and a combiner position test, using a light source, fixed to the structure of the image generator and using the same collimating unit as this generator. The signals generated by each of these light sources are received by the same position sensor whose output signals are processed by the same circuit that varies the image's X and Y positioning voltages. The circuit incorporates an amplifier equipped with a gain switch that allows the amplifying gain to be set according to which test is being performed at any given time.

Device for controlling the position of an image in a head-up display

Growing community of inventors

Talence, France

Jean-Michel Francois