Optical Collar Scope Imaging for Shooter-Perspective Aiming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing recording systems for hunts and shots fail to capture the shooter's perspective and are challenging for individuals with vision problems, especially when targeting distant objects.
Innovation Solution
A scope and optical collar system that captures light from a downfield object, diverts it to a camera, and displays the image on a viewer, allowing the shooter to record and aim from their perspective, with optional image enhancement for those with vision issues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a third-party camera is used to record shots, then recording capability is provided, but the shooter's perspective is lost and marksmanship feedback is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the recording camera with the shooter's scope into a single integrated system. The camera is mounted within the scope structure and shares the same optical path, allowing the shooter to see through the scope while the camera simultaneously captures the same view. This merging eliminates the need for separate third-party recording equipment and ensures the recorded footage matches the shooter's exact perspective.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an optical beam splitter as an intermediary element that divides the light path from the scope. One path allows the shooter to view the target directly through the scope, while another path directs a portion of the same light to the camera for recording. This intermediary solution enables both viewing and recording functions without compromising either the shooter's vision or the recording quality.
2Adaptability or versatility
If traditional optics are used, then shooting capability is maintained, but individuals with vision problems cannot effectively target distant objects
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a visual copy of the distant target by capturing the scope's view with a camera and displaying it on a screen. This copy can be enlarged and enhanced to make distant targets more visible and easier to aim at for individuals with vision problems. The camera captures the exact same image the shooter sees, then reproduces it in a format that is more accessible to those with visual limitations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a new dimension to the shooting experience by introducing a digital display interface alongside the traditional optical view. The camera-captured image can be displayed on a screen at a different location and scale, allowing vision-impaired shooters to view the target from a more comfortable distance and with enhanced clarity, effectively adding a dimensional alternative to the direct optical path.
3Loss of information
If scope light path is used for recording, then perspective accuracy is improved, but light availability for both viewing and recording becomes limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a beam splitter as an intermediary optical element that divides the incoming light from the target into multiple paths. One path continues to the shooter's eye through the scope, while another path is redirected to the camera sensor. The beam splitter ensures that both the shooter and the camera receive sufficient light from the same source, maintaining perspective fidelity while providing adequate illumination for both functions simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adjusts optical parameters such as the beam splitter's reflectivity/transmissivity ratio to optimize light distribution between the shooter's view and the camera recording. By carefully controlling these parameters, the system ensures that enough light reaches both the shooter's eye and the camera sensor, preventing either function from being starved of light while maintaining accurate perspective representation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables shooters to accurately and safely aim and record their shots from their perspective, improving marksmanship and allowing individuals with vision problems to participate in hunting and shooting activities.
Implementation Method 1
a beam-splitter optically aligned with the second end of the scope and operable to reflect a portion of the light captured by the scope's first end toward the camera
Data Source
AI summary
A system for assisting one's vision while aiming a firearm, includes a scope (but may also not include a scope) that is operable to capture light from an object downfield, and an optical collar that is operable to divert some or all of the light captured, and generate an image of the object. The scope has a first end and a second end. The first end captures light from the object located downfield from the first end, and looking through the second end, one receives the light captured by the first end, and generates an image of the object from the captured light. The optical collar includes a camera operable to generate an image from light that the camera receives, a beam-splitter optically aligned with the second end of the scope and operable to reflect a portion of the light captured by the scope's first end toward the camera, and a display operable to show the image generated by the camera from the light that the camera receives.