A light-mechanical-electrical integrated night vision device quick-release connection structure and night vision device

Abstract

The application discloses a light-mechanical-electric integrated night vision device quick-release connecting structure and a night vision device, and relates to the technical fields of wearable devices and tools, which comprises a male head assembly arranged on a main body of the night vision device and a female seat assembly arranged on a helmet support. The male head assembly comprises at least one guide sliding block and at least one set of elastic electric contact pieces. The female seat assembly comprises a guide groove in sliding cooperation with the guide sliding block, an electric contact surface corresponding to the elastic electric contact pieces, and a locking piece for locking the male head assembly to the female seat assembly. An inclined guide surface is arranged at the entrance of the guide groove, and the inclined guide surface and the free end of the elastic electric contact piece form an interference relationship in space. When the male head assembly slides into the guide groove, the inclined guide surface contacts and compresses the elastic electric contact piece before the electric contact surface, and the compression stroke of the elastic electric contact piece is greater than or equal to the axial distance passed by the elastic electric contact piece from contacting the inclined guide surface to separating from the inclined guide surface.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the fields of wearable devices and tools, and in particular to a quick-release connection structure for an opto-mechanical-electrical integrated night vision device and a night vision device. Background Technology

[0002] Modularization is an important development trend in modern equipment, requiring core functional modules (such as night vision device main units) to be quickly assembled and disassembled on the supporting platform (such as helmets).

[0003] Existing quick-release structures for night vision devices are mostly divided into two categories: one is a purely mechanical quick-release, such as using clips or knobs for locking, but electrical connections require additional cable plugging and unplugging, which is cumbersome and prone to errors in the dark or in emergency situations; the other is a quick-release that integrates electrical connectors, but it is usually complex in structure, bulky, and requires a large insertion and extraction force. Furthermore, the pins of the electrical connectors are prone to wear, bending, or poor contact under repeated insertion and removal and vibration environments, resulting in poor reliability. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides an opto-mechanical-electrical integrated quick-release connection structure for night vision devices and a night vision device, which highly integrates mechanical locking, electrical connection, and guiding alignment functions, and features high reliability, long lifespan, and ease of operation.

[0005] This application provides an opto-mechanical-electronic integrated quick-release connection structure for a night vision device, comprising: a male connector assembly disposed on the night vision device main unit and a female connector assembly disposed on a helmet bracket; The male connector assembly includes at least one guide slider and at least one set of resilient electrical contacts; The female connector assembly includes a guide groove, an electrical contact surface, and a locking element. The guide groove is slidably engaged with the guide slider, and the electrical contact surface corresponds to the elastic electrical contact element. The guide groove has a guide ramp at its entrance, and the guide ramp and the free end of the elastic electrical contact form an interference relationship in space. When the male connector slides into the guide groove, the guide ramp first contacts the electrical contact surface and compresses the elastic electrical contact, and the compression stroke of the elastic electrical contact is greater than or equal to the axial distance it travels from contacting the guide ramp to leaving the guide ramp. The electrical contact surface includes conductive contacts. After the male connector assembly slides into the guide groove, the elastic electrical contact element contacts the electrical contact surface to form an electrical connection. The locking member is used to lock the male connector assembly to the female connector assembly after the male connector assembly slides into the guide groove.

[0006] This application provides a night vision device, including: As described above, the quick-release connection structure for the night vision device is located at both ends of the night vision device bracket 1; The night vision device bracket 1 has its two ends connected to the night vision device main unit 2 via a night vision device quick-release connection structure.

[0007] The quick-release connection structure for the night vision device in this application can solve the following technical problems: In high-vibration, high-impact tactical environments, traditional quick-release electrical connectors (such as pin sockets) are prone to momentary interruptions or a sharp increase in contact resistance, leading to unstable power supply to night vision devices. In existing integrated quick-release structures, the spring pins are prone to jamming or damage due to lateral force during insertion and removal, affecting service life. When users wear gloves or operate in low light conditions, it is difficult to complete the entire process of "insertion, electrical connection, and locking" with one hand, resulting in low operating efficiency.

[0008] The quick-release connection structure of the night vision device in this application integrates mechanical locking, electrical connection, and guiding alignment functions. The quick-release connection structure of the night vision device in this application has the characteristics of high reliability, long life and easy operation.

[0009] The above description is only an overview of the technical solution of this application. In order to better understand the technical means of this application and to implement it in accordance with the contents of the specification, and to make the above and other objects, features and advantages of this application more obvious and understandable, the following are specific embodiments of this application. Attached Figure Description

[0010] Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description of preferred embodiments. The accompanying drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of this application. Furthermore, the same reference numerals denote the same parts throughout the drawings. In the drawings: Figure 1 This is an exploded isometric view of the quick-release structure according to an embodiment of this application; Figure 2 This is a cross-sectional view of the process of the male connector assembly sliding into the female connector assembly according to an embodiment of this application; Figure 3 This is a cross-sectional view of the male connector assembly fully locked onto the female connector assembly according to an embodiment of this application. Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the details of the fit between the dovetail slider and the dovetail groove in an embodiment of this application; Figure 5 This illustrates the modular quick-release relationship between the night vision device bracket and the main unit in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0011] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. While exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure may be implemented in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

[0012] This application provides an opto-mechanical-electronic integrated quick-release connection structure for night vision devices, such as... Figure 1 , Figure 2 As shown, it includes: The male connector assembly is mounted on the night vision device main unit, and the female connector assembly is mounted on the helmet bracket; The male connector assembly includes at least one guide slider and at least one set of resilient electrical contacts; The female connector assembly includes a guide groove, an electrical contact surface, and a locking element. The guide groove is slidably engaged with the guide slider, and the electrical contact surface corresponds to the elastic electrical contact element. The guide groove has a guide ramp at its entrance, which forms an interference relationship with the free end of the elastic electrical contact in space. When the male connector slides into the guide groove, the guide ramp first contacts the electrical contact surface and compresses the elastic electrical contact. The compression stroke of the elastic electrical contact is greater than or equal to the axial distance it travels from contacting the guide ramp to leaving the guide ramp, thereby ensuring that the elastic electrical contact is always compressed during the sliding process and avoiding rigid collision with the guide groove wall.

[0013] The electrical contact surface includes conductive contacts. After the male connector assembly slides into the guide groove, the elastic electrical contact element contacts the electrical contact surface to form an electrical connection. The locking member is used to lock the male connector assembly to the female connector assembly after the male connector assembly slides into the guide groove. Figure 1 , Figure 2 As shown, it also includes a male head housing, on which a bracket adapter 4 is provided, and the guide slider and the elastic electrical contact are provided based on the bracket adapter 4.

[0014] In some embodiments, the elastic electrical contact is a spring-loaded pin 5, which is gold-plated. The stroke of the spring-loaded pin 5 is greater than the depth required for the dovetail slider to fully slide into the dovetail groove, ensuring stable electrical contact. In a specific example, a set of spring-loaded pins 5 can be provided. Each spring-loaded pin 5 is a rod-shaped member with a spring. The pin can extend and retract locally based on the spring. The pin axis direction of the spring-loaded pin 5 is perpendicular to or at an acute angle to the sliding direction of the dovetail slider. The tip face of the spring-loaded pin 5 has multiple concentric annular grooves for scraping off the oxide layer or dirt on the electrical contact surface during sliding.

[0015] In some embodiments, such as Figure 4 As shown, the planar contact 6 is located within the dovetail groove 8. The surface of the planar conductive contact has a micro-arc surface or hemispherical protrusion, including multiple metal contacts. After the spring pin 5 slides in, any metal contact wraps around and contacts at least a portion of the head end of the spring pin 5 to form multi-point contact after locking. Correspondingly, the male connector assembly has a protective rounded corner or bevel at the position corresponding to the spring pin to facilitate insertion.

[0016] The embodiments of this application highly integrate mechanical locking, electrical connection, and guiding alignment functions. The quick-release connection structure of the night vision device in this application has the characteristics of high reliability, long life and easy operation.

[0017] In some embodiments, the guide groove is a dovetail groove 8, and a guide ramp 9 is provided at the entrance of the dovetail groove 8. The guide ramp 9 is used to compress the spring pin 5 back into the male head housing during the sliding process. Figure 2 , Figure 3 As shown, a guide slope 9 is provided at the entrance of the dovetail groove. When the male connector assembly is inserted, the extended surface of the guide slope 9 can contact the end of the spring pin 5 and press it into the male connector housing to achieve clearance.

[0018] In some embodiments, the male connector assembly is further provided with at least one auxiliary guide post, and the female connector assembly is provided with a corresponding auxiliary guide hole; The length of the auxiliary guide post is greater than the free end extension length of the elastic electrical contact, so as to pre-align the male connector assembly before the elastic electrical contact contacts the guide ramp.

[0019] In some embodiments, the locking member is an eccentric cam type hand screw 3, and the end position of its locking stroke is configured such that: when the male head assembly is fully locked, the direction of the locking force applied by the eccentric cam is at an acute angle or perpendicular to the direction of the elastic force of the elastic electrical contact, so as to increase the positive pressure of the electrical contact surface based on a portion of the locking force.

[0020] In some embodiments, the male connector assembly is further provided with at least one auxiliary guide post, and the female connector assembly is provided with a corresponding auxiliary guide hole; The length of the auxiliary guide post is greater than the free end extension length of the elastic electrical contact, so as to pre-align the male connector assembly before the elastic electrical contact contacts the guide ramp.

[0021] This application further describes an exemplary structure and disassembly / assembly process for a quick-release connection structure of a night vision device. A spring pin 5 is fixed to the lower end of the bracket adapter 4. The bracket adapter 4 has two parallel dovetail-shaped sliders and a hand-tightening screw 3 on one side. For example... Figure 5As shown, the female connector assembly 7 (including dovetail groove 8 and flat contact 6) is fixed on the night vision device host 2, and its female connector housing is provided with corresponding dovetail groove 8 and gold-plated flat copper foil contact 6.

[0022] During installation, such as Figure 2 , 3 As shown, the dovetail slider of the male connector assembly is aligned with the entrance of the dovetail groove 8 of the female connector assembly 7, and a thrust is applied. In the initial sliding stage, the end of the spring ejector pin 5 will contact the guide ramp 9 at the entrance of the dovetail groove 8. Under the action of the ramp, the ejector pin is smoothly compressed back into the male connector housing, avoiding rigid collision and scratching between the ejector pin and the groove wall.

[0023] As the male connector continues to be pushed in, when it reaches the designed position, the spring-loaded ejector pin 5 moves to a position directly opposite the planar contact point 6. At this point, the ejector pin pops out under the action of the internal spring, forming a stable surface contact with the planar contact point 6, and the electrical connection is automatically established. Meanwhile, the dovetail slider and the dovetail groove 8... Figure 5 A tight fit is formed in the three directions (X, Y, Z) shown, providing preliminary mechanical positioning and constraints.

[0024] Finally, rotate the hand screw 3 to press the side plane of the bracket adapter against the side plane of the night vision main unit, generating a strong locking force to prevent it from coming off along the dovetail groove slide rail and to prevent the male connector assembly from retracting or loosening due to vibration. At this point, the mechanical locking and electrical connection are complete; the process is smooth, effortless, and reliable.

[0025] During disassembly, loosen the locking screw by rotating it in the opposite direction, and then slide the male assembly out along the dovetail groove. The electrical connection will automatically disconnect the moment it slides out.

[0026] In this embodiment, the free extension length of the spring-loaded ejector pin is 2.5 mm, and its total compression stroke is 1.8 mm. The axial projection length of the guide ramp is 3.2 mm, and the ramp angle is 30°. When the male connector assembly begins to slide in, the spring-loaded ejector pin first contacts the guide ramp. As the sliding depth increases, the ejector pin is gradually compressed. When the sliding depth reaches 2.8 mm, the ejector pin disengages from the guide ramp, at which point its compression has reached 1.5 mm (still less than the maximum stroke of 1.8 mm). Subsequently, the ejector pin contacts the planar conductive contact and continues to be compressed to 1.6 mm. This precise matching of dimensions ensures that the ejector pin remains in an elastically compressed state throughout the entire process and does not reach its limit stroke, thereby avoiding impact damage.

[0027] The quick-release connection structure of this night vision device features a one-step "plug-in-lock" design, making operation extremely simple: users only need to push the male connector along the dovetail groove, and the electrical connection is automatically established during the sliding process. Finally, tightening the hand screw completes the connection. It supports blind operation, greatly improving the speed of device switching.

[0028] It employs a contact method using spring-loaded pins and flat contacts. The spring-loaded pins have a self-cleaning function and constant contact pressure, providing excellent vibration resistance; the flat contacts have no mortises, making them less prone to dust accumulation and damage. Both are gold-plated, resulting in low contact resistance, corrosion resistance, and a lifespan far exceeding that of traditional pin sockets (up to 100,000 insertions and removals).

[0029] The dovetail groove of the night vision device quick-release connection structure in this application provides a large area of ​​guiding and load-bearing surface. Combined with the quick-locking mechanism at the end, the connection is constrained in three directions, resulting in good overall rigidity and the ability to withstand severe impacts and vibrations. The mechanical guide rail, electrical connector, and lock are cleverly integrated into a compact interface without increasing the size and weight of the device.

[0030] This application also proposes a night vision device, such as... Figure 5 As shown, it includes: As described above, the quick-release connection structure for the night vision device is located at both ends of the night vision device bracket 1; The night vision device bracket 1 has its two ends connected to the night vision device main unit 2 via a night vision device quick-release connection structure.

[0031] It should be noted that, in the embodiments of this application, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes that element.

[0032] The sequence numbers of the embodiments in this application are for descriptive purposes only and do not represent the superiority or inferiority of the embodiments.

[0033] The embodiments of this application have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, this application is not limited to the specific embodiments described above. The specific embodiments described above are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Those skilled in the art can make many other forms under the guidance of this application without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims. All of these forms are within the protection scope of this application.

Claims

1. A quick-release connection structure for an opto-mechanical-electronic integrated night vision device, characterized in that, include: The male connector assembly is mounted on the night vision device main unit, and the female connector assembly is mounted on the helmet bracket; The male connector assembly includes at least one guide slider and at least one set of resilient electrical contacts; The female connector assembly includes a guide groove, an electrical contact surface, and a locking element. The guide groove is slidably engaged with the guide slider, and the electrical contact surface corresponds to the elastic electrical contact element. The guide groove has a guide ramp at its entrance, and the guide ramp and the free end of the elastic electrical contact form an interference relationship in space. When the male connector slides into the guide groove, the guide ramp first contacts the electrical contact surface and compresses the elastic electrical contact, and the compression stroke of the elastic electrical contact is greater than or equal to the axial distance it travels from contacting the guide ramp to leaving the guide ramp. The electrical contact surface includes conductive contacts. After the male connector assembly slides into the guide groove, the elastic electrical contact element contacts the electrical contact surface to form an electrical connection. The locking member is used to lock the male connector assembly to the female connector assembly after the male connector assembly slides into the guide groove.

2. The opto-mechanical-electronic integrated quick-release connection structure for night vision devices as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The male connector assembly also includes a male connector housing, on which a bracket adapter (4) is provided, and the guide slider and the elastic electrical contact are provided based on the bracket adapter (4).

3. The quick-release connection structure of the opto-mechatronics integrated night vision device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The guide groove includes at least one dovetail slider, and when at least two dovetail sliders are included, the dovetail sliders are arranged in parallel.

4. The quick-release connection structure of the opto-mechatronics integrated night vision device as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The elastic electrical contact is a spring pin (5). The tip of the spring pin (5) has multiple concentric annular grooves, which are used to scrape off the oxide layer or dirt on the electrical contact surface during the sliding process.

5. The quick-release connection structure of the opto-mechatronics integrated night vision device as described in claim 4, characterized in that, The guide groove is a dovetail groove (8), and a guide ramp (9) is provided at the entrance of the dovetail groove (8). The guide ramp (9) is used to compress the spring pin (5) back into the male head housing during the sliding process.

6. The quick-release connection structure of the opto-mechatronics integrated night vision device as described in claim 4, characterized in that, The electrical contact surface is a planar contact (6), which is located within the dovetail groove (8) and includes multiple metal contacts. After the spring pin (5) slides in, any metal contact wraps around and contacts at least a portion of the head end of the spring pin (5).

7. The quick-release connection structure of the opto-mechatronics integrated night vision device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The locking component is an eccentric cam type hand screw (3), and its locking stroke end position is configured such that: when the male head assembly is fully locked, the direction of the locking force applied by the eccentric cam is at an acute angle or perpendicular to the direction of the elastic force of the elastic electrical contact, so as to increase the positive pressure of the electrical contact surface based on a portion of the locking force.

8. The quick-release connection structure of the opto-mechatronics integrated night vision device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The male connector assembly is also provided with at least one auxiliary guide post, and the female connector assembly is provided with a corresponding auxiliary guide hole; The length of the auxiliary guide post is greater than the free end extension length of the elastic electrical contact, so as to pre-align the male connector assembly before the elastic electrical contact contacts the guide ramp.

9. The quick-release connection structure of the opto-mechatronics integrated night vision device as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The planar conductive contact surface is provided with micro-arc surface or hemispherical protrusion to form multi-point contact after locking.

10. A night vision device, characterized in that, include: The quick-release connection structure for night vision devices as described in any one of claims 1-9 is provided at both ends of the night vision device bracket (1); The night vision device bracket (1) is connected to the night vision device host (2) at both ends via a night vision device quick-release connection structure.

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