Large format biocular lens

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10520720-B2
Application number	US-201715613332-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 5, 2017
Priority date	Jun 5, 2017
Publication date	Dec 31, 2019
Grant date	Dec 31, 2019

Abstract

A novel optical design form for a biocular lens arrangement having a large format focal plane and large eye relief zone is disclosed. Key aspects of a large format biocular lens arrangement are: Lightweight plastic design for all but outermost lens, where more durable glass is desired; a large front aperture for comfortable eye motion; improved eye channel overlapping field of view with minimal distortion; and full color resolution.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A large format biocular lens arrangement, comprising:
a large format display panel having a linear dimension greater than a normal maximum human eye pupil separation of 72 mm;
a first meniscus shaped lens;
a second bi-convex shaped lens to provide a positive optical power;
a third bi-convex shaped lens to provide a negative optical power; and
a single outermost bi-convex spherical shaped optical lens to allow left and right eyes to see a biocular view through said single outermost bi-convex spherical shaped optical lens, enabling each of a viewer's eyes to independently see a defined field of vision.

2. The large format biocular lens arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the large format display panel provides up to 2160×3840 illuminated color pixels within approximately a 120×70 mm format size.

3. A large format lens arrangement, comprising:
a large format display panel sized on the order of 140 mm;
a first meniscus shaped lens;
a second bi-convex shaped lens to provide a positive optical power;
a third lens to provide a negative optical power; and
a single outermost bi-convex spherical shaped optical lens, wherein said outermost bi-convex spherical shaped optical lens has a diameter of about 138 mm to allow both eyes of a viewer to directly see through said single outermost bi-convex spherical shaped optical lens and view said large format display panel using said both eyes.

4. The large format biocular lens arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the large format display panel utilizes a standard 5.5″ display diagonal dimension with pixel densities as high as 2160×1440 or 3840×2160 color pixels.

5. The large format biocular lens arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein said first meniscus shaped lens is an acrylic lens having an index value N d of 1.4917, and a dispersion value V d of 55.31.

6. The large format biocular lens arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein said first meniscus shaped lens is an acrylic lens having a weak power of approximately −0.48 diopters.

7. The large format biocular lens arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein said first meniscus shaped lens is an acrylic lens disposed near a final focus to function as a field flattener to reduce field curvature aberrations.

8. The large format biocular lens arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein said second bi-convex shaped lens is an acrylic lens which forms a part of an air-spaced triplet, said bi-convex shape providing approximately 8.60 diopters of positive optical power.

9. The large format biocular lens arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein said second bi-convex shaped lens is an acrylic lens which features a strong aspheric curvature to correct field aberrations.

10. The large format biocular lens arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein said third lens provides a −8.83 diopters of negative power.

11. The large format biocular lens arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein said third lens is based on a polystyrene plastic having an index value of N d 1.5905 and a dispersion value V d of 30.87.

12. The large format biocular lens arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein said third lens is based on a polystyrene plastic which has index and dispersion values which differ from the index and dispersion values of an acrylic lens in order to provide color correction over a visible photopic spectrum.

13. The large format biocular lens arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein said outermost bi-convex spherical shaped optical lens is made of durable S-PHM53 optical glass which has an index value of N d 1.603 and a dispersion value V d of 65.44.

14. The large format biocular lens arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein said outermost bi-convex spherical shaped optical lens has an outer diameter of 138 mm and provides approximately 6.1 diopters of power.

15. The large format biocular lens arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein a large outer diameter of said outermost bi-convex spherical shaped optical lens enables each eye to independently see roughly 36° out of a total 40° horizontal field of view.

16. The large format biocular lens arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein said large format biocular lens arrangement has a compact length of about 223 mm, and is capable of achieving a focal length of about 165 mm.

17. A method of displaying an image for biocular viewing with both eyes using a large format lens arrangement, the steps of the method comprising:
an image is displayed from a large format display panel sized wider than a normal maximum human eye pupil separation of 72 mm;
the displayed image is optically passed through a first meniscus shaped lens to function as a field flattener and flatten a field of the displayed image;
the field flattened image is passed through a second bi-convex shaped lens which provide a positive optical power and additional correction of field aberrations;
the field aberrations corrected image is passed through a third bi-convex shaped lens to provide a negative optical power and a color correction over a visible photopic spectrum; and
the color corrected image is viewed by left and right eyes through a single outermost bi-convex spherical shaped optical lens to allow a biocular view, enabling each of a viewer's eyes to independently see a defined field of vision.

18. The method of displaying an image for biocular viewing with both eyes using a large format biocular lens arrangement according to claim 17 , wherein said first meniscus shaped lens is an acrylic lens disposed near a final focus to function as a field flattener.

19. The method of displaying an image for biocular viewing with both eyes using a large format biocular lens arrangement according to claim 17 , wherein at least one of said lenses are plastic lenses which can be produced by either diamond turning or injection molding, whereas said outermost bi-convex spherical shaped optical lens is a glass lens which may be finished by grinding or polishing.

20. The method of displaying an image for biocular viewing with both eyes using a large format biocular lens arrangement according to claim 17 , wherein said lenses can feature thin film coatings to reduce back-reflections and enhance total transmission of light from said large format display panel.

Assignees

• Us Army

Inventors

• Hall John M

Classifications

• G02B2027/0136

  with a single image source for both eyes · CPC title

• G02B27/0172

  characterised by optical features · CPC title

• G02B2027/0132

  comprising binocular systems · CPC title

• G02B27/025

  and magnifying means · CPC title

• G02B25/04

  affording a wide-angle view, e.g. through a spy-hole · CPC title