Weapon Sight Light Emission Assembly with Nested Fiber
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional weapon sights face challenges with the installation and longevity of light gathering and emitting elements, leading to reduced brightness and accuracy due to attenuation losses and mechanical interference, particularly with tritium capsules requiring additional casing for safety and longer lengths that shorten the sight radius.
Innovation Solution
A light emission assembly with a light conductive member and a lens configuration that locates the light emitting element inside, using a chamber to reduce length and enhance internal reflection, and a lens to converge and diverge light for a uniform illumination field, independent of ambient conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If the light gathering element is made longer to improve light gathering capability, then the brightness of the aiming indicia is improved, but the attenuation losses increase and the sight radius is shortened
Solution Approach 1:
The light emitting element is nested inside the light gathering element (optical fiber), with the light emitting element positioned within the core or cladding region. This nested configuration allows the light emitting element to couple light directly into the optical fiber without requiring the fiber to extend beyond a minimum length, thereby reducing attenuation losses while maintaining brightness.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a conventional linear arrangement where the light emitting element is external to the optical fiber, to a three-dimensional configuration where the light emitting element is positioned inside the optical fiber cross-section. This dimensional change enables more efficient light coupling and reduces the required fiber length.
2Illumination intensity
If the light gathering element is made longer to improve light gathering capability, then the brightness of the aiming indicia is improved, but the sight radius is shortened
Solution Approach 1:
By nesting the light emitting element inside the light gathering element, the overall length of the sight assembly is reduced. The light emitting element utilizes the internal volume of the optical fiber, eliminating the need for additional external space that would otherwise increase the sight radius.
3Device complexity
If the light emitting element is located adjacent the external surface of the light gathering fiber, then the assembly is simpler, but the components may migrate due to adhesive failure
Solution Approach 1:
The light emitting element is positioned inside the optical fiber, where it is mechanically constrained by the fiber's internal structure. This nested configuration eliminates the need for external adhesives and prevents component migration, significantly improving reliability while maintaining assembly simplicity.
4Illumination intensity
If a tritium capsule is used as the light emitting element, then the aiming indicia is visible in low ambient light, but an additional casing is required for safety
Solution Approach 1:
The tritium capsule is nested inside the optical fiber, which itself serves as the containment structure. The optical fiber's wall thickness and material properties provide the necessary radiation shielding, eliminating the need for an additional external casing while maintaining safety and low-light visibility.
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
This configuration provides a consistently bright and accurate aiming indicia with reduced mechanical interference and enhanced precision by minimizing attenuation and maintaining a longer sight radius.
Implementation Method 1
a light conductive member produced from light conductive material which receives light on the external surface and transmits the light to a viewable end
Implementation Method 2
The light emission assembly can further provide a lens configured to define one illumination field over which the light transmitted by the light conductive material and the emitted light of the light emitting element can spread
Implementation Method 3
a lens to converge and diverge light for a uniform illumination field
Data Source
AI summary
A light emission assembly for weapon sights which provides a viewable illuminated aiming indicia of substantially fixed area and uniform brightness regardless of the ambient light conditions.