Night vision monocular housing and universal system for using same in various applications

Abstract

A night vision monocular housing for containing an assembly of night vision components within, for releasably attaching the assembled night vision device to a universal rail having a plurality of ribs provided on the rail, including at least one raised portion provided on the surface of the housing, a clamping apparatus provided on a surface of the raised portion having first and second parallel protuberant walls defining a channel for snugly seating the universal rail within, the walls each having an inner surface and an outer surface thereof, wherein the inner surface of at least one wall is generally concave providing a mating surface for seating against an adjacent lateral side of the universal rail, and a biasing means for releasably attaching the clamping apparatus to the universal rail. An adapter for a preexisting night vision monocular device to be releasably attached to a rail surface, and a universal assembly for releasably mounting a novel night vision monocular to a particular application and switching the monocular to other mounted applications more quickly and efficiently, are also disclosed.

1 . A novel night vision monocular housing for containing an assembly of night vision components within, for releasably attaching the assembled night vision device to a universal rail having a plurality of ribs provided on the rail, comprising: 
 at least one raised portion provided on the surface of the housing;    a clamping apparatus provided on a surface of the raised portion having first and second parallel protuberant walls defining a channel for snugly seating the universal rail within, the walls each having an inner surface and an outer surface thereof, wherein the inner surface of at least one wall is generally concave providing a mating surface for seating against an adjacent lateral side of the universal rail; and    a biasing means for releasably attaching the clamping apparatus to the universal rail.    
   
   
       2 . The night vision device housing of  claim 1 , wherein the clamping apparatus further comprises a protuberant member perpendicular to the walls for seating in between two consecutive rails of a universal rail.  
   
   
       3 . The night vision device housing of  claim 1 , wherein the concavity of the inner surface of the at least one wall of the clamping apparatus is beveled.  
   
   
       4 . The night vision device housing of  claim 1 , wherein both the first and second walls of the clamping apparatus are generally concave.  
   
   
       5 . The night vision device housing of  claim 1 , wherein the concavity of the inner surface of the at least one wall of the clamping apparatus resembles a dovetail.  
   
   
       6 . The night vision device housing of  claim 4 , wherein the first wall is non-unitarily constructed with the clamping apparatus and both first and second walls having axially aligned bores defined therethrough, the bore of the second wall being threaded, the biasing means comprising: 
 a thumbscrew provided along the axis of the bores, whereby rotation of the threaded screw in a predetermined direction advances the thumbscrew within the threaded bore of the second wall advancing the first wall towards the second walls and securely gripping and attaching the clamping apparatus to the universal rail located between the first and second walls.    
   
   
       7 . The night vision device housing of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first and second walls have a recess defined therethrough, the biasing means comprising: 
 a slidably advancing section provided within the recess, the advancing section and inner surface of the opposite wall having a generally concave contour for tightly seating against adjacent lateral surfaces of the universal rail; the slidably advancing section and opposite wall having axial bores provided therethrough, the bores being axially aligned with one another, and oriented perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the walls, the bore provided within the advancing section being threaded; and    a rotating axial member provided along the axis, whereby the axial member rotates to slidably advance the advancing section out of the recess and towards the adjacent lateral surface of the universal rail securely affixing the clamping apparatus to the universal rail.    
   
   
       8 . The night vision device housing of  claim 1 , wherein the biasing means comprises a lever-actuated eccentric cam, whereby rotation of the lever locks the cam against the adjacent lateral side of the universal rail.  
   
   
       9 . The night vision device housing of  claim 8 , wherein the lever-actuated eccentric cam is in communication with a cam bar disposed adjacent to the cam, the cam bar hingedly fixed to the second wall of the clamping apparatus, whereby rotating the lever operates to bias the cam bar away from the cam securely seating the cam bar under the adjacent lateral side of the universal rail, seating the adjacent lateral surface of the universal rail between the cam bar and the second wall on one side, and tightly seating the lateral surface of the universal rail adjacent to the first wall in the concavity of the inner surface of the first wall.  
   
   
       10 . The night vision device housing of  claim 1 , wherein the universal rail is one of a weapon rail, a rail provided on a head mount adapter, a rail provided on a helmet mount adapter, and a rail provided on a dual monocular bracket.  
   
   
       11 . The night vision device housing of  claim 1 , wherein the raised portion is unitarily constructed with the monocular housing.  
   
   
       12 . The night vision device housing of  claim 1 , wherein the raised portion is of a non-unitary construction with respect to the housing and is attached to a preexisting night vision monocular housing.  
   
   
       13 . The night vision device housing of  claim 1 , further comprising attachment means for attaching two novel night vision monoculars together for use as a binocular.  
   
   
       14 . The night vision device housing of  claim 13 , wherein the attaching means comprises at least one embossment provided on the surface of the housing, the at least one embossment having an axial bore defined therethrough, whereby two housings may be coupled to a hinge apparatus and used as a binocular when the embossments are pinned to the hinge apparatus through the axial bore.  
   
   
       15 . The night vision device housing of  claim 1 , further comprising a battery compartment located generally within the raised portion of the housing.  
   
   
       16 . An adapter for a preexisting night vision monocular device to be releasably attached to a rail surface, the adapter comprising: 
 an upper surface provided with specific attachment provisions required to attach to the preexisting monocular mounting provision; and    a lower surface having a channel defined by first and second parallel frame members projecting from the lower surface of the adapter and extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the channel, the first and second flame members having first and second inner surfaces, respectively, for engaging first and second lateral surfaces of the rail, respectively, wherein at least one of the first and second inner surfaces of the frame member have a groove defined along their longitudinal axis for accommodating the respective adjacent lateral surface of the universal rail within; and    a biasing means for releasably gripping the frame members to the lateral surfaces of the rail attaching the preexisting monocular to the rail.    
   
   
       17 . The adapter of  claim 16 , wherein the attachment provisions provided on the upper surface of the adapter comprises: 
 a first and second wall projecting from the upper surface defining a slot therebetween, wherein the upper surface of the walls have inwardly depending flanges, and the inner surfaces of the first and second walls have grooves provided along their longitudinal axis; and    a male protuberance located perpendicularly within the slot, biased upwardly from the upper surface of the adapter, wherein the inwardly depending flanges function to retain a mounting bracket provided on the surface of the preexisting monocular when the bracket slidably engages with the grooves in the inner surfaces of the first and second walls.    
   
   
       18 . The adapter of  claim 16 , wherein the attachment provisions provided on the upper surface of the adapter comprise at least one threaded member projecting axially upwards from the upper surface for engaging at least one corresponding threaded bore provided in a housing of the preexisting night vision monocular, and a rotating means for the threaded member provided on an adjacent lateral surface of the adapter.  
   
   
       19 . A universal system for releasably mounting a novel night vision monocular to a particular application and switching the monocular to other mounted applications more quickly and efficiently, the system comprising: 
 a night vision monocular housing having a raised portion on at least one surface thereof, the raised portion provided with a clamping apparatus on an end, the apparatus having gripping walls and a biasing means for clamping lateral surfaces of a rail;    a headgear adapter having a first end for attaching to a preexisting headgear and a second end having a rail provided thereon for attaching to the clamping apparatus of the monocular; and    a dual monocular bracket having means for releasably attaching to a preexisting headgear, and also having a rail provided at both longitudinal extremities on the underside thereof for attaching to the clamping apparatus of the monocular at both extremities.    
   
   
       20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the preexisting headgear is one of a helmet mount and a head mount.  
   
   
       21 . The system of  claim 19 , further comprising an attachment apparatus for attaching two novel monoculars together for use as a binocular.