Mcdonnell Douglas Corporation

Philip D Bear

Gordon H Burkhart

Larry C Walrath

Color night vision goggles (NVG), e.g., binocular-style or monocular-style NVG, which include at least one channel. Each channel includes an objective lens for receiving input radiant energy from a low-luminance scene within the field-of-view of the NVG, an input tunable electro-optical filter positioned in front of the objective lens, an image intensifier device for amplifying input radiant energy transmitted by the input electro-optical filter and the objective lens, and for generating output radiant energy which constitutes an amplified image of the low-luminance scene, an eyepiece lens, an output tunable electro-optical filter disposed between the image intensifier device and the eyepiece lens, and a control circuit for generating a control signal having a prescribed frequency. The input and output electro-optical filters sequentially and synchronously transmit successive ones of a plurality of different spectral bands (e.g., the blue, green, and red color bands) of the input and output radiant energy, respectively, in response to the control signal, during each successive cycle of the control signal, whereby a viewer can perceive a full-color image of the low-luminance scene when looking through the eyepiece lens. The prescribed frequency of the control signal is preferably sufficiently high to ensure that the full-color image is flicker-free. The color NVG are preferably further provided with a gated power supply for supplying current to the image intensifier device, a detector for detecting laser light that may enter the field-of-view of the NVG and for producing a train of electrical output pulses in response to detection of laser light, even when the detected laser light is generated by a continuous wave laser, and a pulse-following circuit responsive to the train of electrical output pulses produced by the detector for producing a corresponding train of gating pulses. The gated power supply is responsive to the gating pulses for selectively interrupting the current supplied by the gated power supply in synchronism with the detected laser pulses, to thereby protect the color NVG from all possible jamming laser threats.

Color night vision goggles capable of providing anti-jamming protection

A lens is produced on the end of a single mode optical fiber by first coupling light into the fiber so that the light projects out the end of the fiber on which the lens is to be produced. The fiber end is then dipped in and out of a drop of negative photoresist and held in a vertical position while the photoresist wicks up the fiber and dries. The dipping and drying is continued until a sufficient lens of photoresist is built up which lens tends to build in the desired shape due to the Gaussian distribution of the light projecting out the end of the fiber and the flow of photoresist up the fiber.

Growing community of inventors

Godfrey, IL, United States of America

Philip D Bear