Other

Blue Sky Research

Gebelein Family Trust

Rolin J Gebelein

David R Shafer

Donald D Varner

James J Snyder

Ronald E Grubman

James Parsons

An apparatus for forming an image has one or more lenses in an optical path, at least one angular-sensitive light transmission filter in the optical path, in which transmission varies with change in angular orientation of the filter with reference to the direction of light in the optical path, and a mechanism for adjusting the angle of the light transmission filter.

Methods and apparatus providing improved visual capabilities of optical instruments

A color-filtering device for enhancing color from a binocular view includes a first variable color filter element a second variable color filter element: and a mechanical assembly for communication of axial rotation to the first and second filter elements.

Method and apparatus providing improved visual capabilities of optical instruments

A wide field monocular is provided which is essentially a wide field virtual telescope. Two of these monoculars can be placed side-by-side to achieve a binocular with an extended monocular field. Also for such binoculars with objective lenses larger than the interocular separation, lunes can be cut from the objective lenses so that they can be placed adjacent each other, with the eyes essentially aligned with the optic axis of each telescope. This provides a remarkable wide field binocular with stereo vision and depth perception.

Binocular with extended monocular field

A helmet-mounted wireless frequency-modulated infrared beam-actuated auxiliary brakelight system capable of reliable operation in all ranges of ambient light while permitting the rider to turn his head from side to side over a large angle approaching 180 degrees or more. The system comprises a frequency-modulated infrared transmitter, in operative combination with a switch for detecting brake system actuation, and a helmet module, including a frequency-modulated infrared receiver and decoder in operative combination with a stop light. Brake system initiation results in switch actuation which causes the transmitter to emit a beam of frequency-modulated infrared energy towards the helmet module. When the beam is received at the helmet module, it is captured using a lens in operative combination with a novel lightpipe which ensures reception over a 180 degree angle. The infrared energy is then transmitted through a solar filter which further discriminates between solar infrared energy and the infrared beam from the transmitter, before being received at an electro-optical circuit. This circuit decodes the frequency-modulated infrared energy and activates the auxiliary brake lamp.

Motorcycle safety helmet system

An apparatus is provided for magnifying the image of distant objects which has the unique feature that, unlike the Galilean telescope, the magnification is largely determined by how far the eye is located from the apparatus. Furthermore, unlike the Loupe, objects to be viewed can be at any arbitrarily large distance from the apparatus. In addition, the apparatus does not require positioning of the eye at the exit pupil of the instrument; it does not require centering of the eye on the optic axis of the instrument; and it does not require refocusing for different object distances. Still, it provides erect, non-inverted images to the viewer. The includes a positive optical element defining an optic axis for the apparatus and having a positive focal length for converging an incoming bundle of rays of electromagnetic radiation. Also included is a negative optical element aligned with the optic axis and separated from said positive optical element by a distance d1, with the negative optical means having a negative focal length that is substantially equal in magnitude to the focal length of the positive optical means and having a focal point on the optic axis. The purpose of the negative optical element is for receiving the incoming bundle of rays of electromagnetic radiation from the positive optical element, and the condition is imposed on the positive and negative optical elements that their focal lengths be greater in magnitude than their separation d1. The apparatus further includes a housing for holding the positive and negative optical elements. Several embodiments are described which have folded optics for viewing objects to the rear which are particularly useful in vehicles.

Magnifier

A mounting device with a clamp and pivotal holders provides mounting to a vehicular rear-view mirror for complementary devices such as a magnification scope or a radar detection device. Hand-held mounting is provided as well.

Vehicular mirror mount

This invention relates to Catadioptric Telescopes having concave spherical mirror reflectors as the primary objective and a refractive correction element for reducing the spherical aberration of the primary mirror, and more particularly to a fast, aberration-free flat field telescope employing a spherical primary mirror and unique sub-aperture sized corrector made preferably of one plano-concave lens element and one plano-convex element both of the same kind of glass. This unique corrector also simultaneously corrects aberrations of the primary including its field curvature. The telescope requires no aspherics and is capable of easy adaptation to a Newtonian style configuration.

Fast, aberration-free flat field catadioptric telescope

The present invention provides in one embodiment a Newtonian type reflecting telescope, preferably using a primary parabolic reflecting mirror, in which a meniscus lens is used to simultaneously correct for coma aberrations of both the primary reflector and of an eyepiece lens used for viewing the image, as well as for spherical aberration of the eyepiece. In some embodiments, the meniscus correcting lens is moveably mounted so that in one position it is used in connection with a viewing eyepiece, correcting the above-mentioned aberrations of primary reflector and eyepiece; while in a second position this same correcting lens is used with a lensless camera mounted on the telescope, in this case properly correcting the system only for the coma of the primary reflector. In all cases, the field of view, and magnification, of the telescope remains unchanged or only negligibly changed. In some additional embodiments, power is added to the meniscus lens to provide a new type of powered corrector. With this new corrector, a rather ordinary telescope, i.e., with an optically slow primary mirror as its objective, can be used in a dual mode, with bright, well corrected, wide field imagery at lower magnification with the corrector in the optical path, and in the ordinary higher power mode when the corrector is removed from the optical path.

Telescope with correcting lens

A reflecting telescope is provided in which a meniscus lens corrects for coma of the primary parabolic reflecting mirror, and also for coma and spherical aberration of an eyepiece, when an eyepiece is used. The meniscus lens may be formed from a plano-concave lens and a plano-convex lens positioned with their planar sides mutually parallel.

Growing community of inventors

Santa Cruz, CA, United States of America

Rolin J Gebelein