Optoelectronic gunsight

Abstract

A gunsight for aiming a firearm comprises a projector, a viewing screen, an objective window and a plurality of intermediate walls extending between the viewing screen and the objective window. The projector may be positioned to project a reticle pattern onto a forward facing surface of the viewing screen. The viewing screen may be transparent or translucent so that the reticle pattern is visible to a user located rearward of the viewing screen. The projector comprises a light source and a liquid crystal light valve. The reticle pattern may have an appearance corresponding to a user provided image.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A gunsight for aiming a firearm, the firearm having a barrel defining a bore, the bore extending along a bore axis, the bore axis extending in a forward direction and a rearward direction, the gunsight comprising:
 a viewing screen, an objective window and a plurality of intermediate walls extending between the viewing screen and the objective window, the viewing screen, the objective window, and the intermediate walls defining a sealed cavity filled with a dry, inert gas;   a projector positioned and configured to project a reticle pattern onto a forward facing surface of the viewing screen, the projector comprising a light source and a liquid crystal light valve, the liquid crystal light valve comprising a first transparent sheet, a second transparent sheet, and a layer of liquid crystal material disposed between the first transparent sheet and the second transparent sheet, the liquid crystal light valve comprising a plurality of first sheet electrodes arranged in an array of rows and columns, each first sheet electrode being supported by an inner surface of the first transparent sheet, the first sheet electrodes in each row being electrically connected to a row line, the first sheet electrodes in each column being electrically connected to a column line, the liquid crystal light valve comprising one or more second sheet electrodes supported by the second transparent sheet;   the liquid crystal light valve comprising a plurality of pixels, each pixel comprising a portion of the liquid crystal material disposed between one of the first sheet electrodes and one of the one or more second sheet electrodes, each pixel being capable of selectively assuming either a transparent state in which light from the light source passes through the liquid crystal material or an opaque state in which light from the light source does not pass through the liquid crystal material;   a circuit card assembly operatively coupled to the projector, the circuit card assembly comprising a printed wiring board;   an antenna fixed to the printed wiring board;   a transceiver operatively coupled to the antenna for receiving signals from the user input device;   a column driver electrically connected to the plurality of column lines of the liquid crystal light valve;   a row driver electrically connected to the plurality of row lines of the liquid crystal light valve;   control circuitry operatively coupled to the column driver, the row driver and one or more switches.   
     
     
         2 . The gunsight of  claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry directs each pixel of the liquid crystal light valve to assume either the transparent state or the opaque state to produce the reticle pattern. 
     
     
         3 . The gunsight of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the control circuitry includes a non-transitory computer readable medium;   a user-provided image is stored in the non-transitory computer readable medium; and   the control circuitry directs each pixel of the liquid crystal light valve to assume either the transparent state or the opaque state based on the user provided image to produce the reticle pattern so that the reticle pattern has an appearance corresponding to the user provided image.   
     
     
         4 . The gunsight of  claim 1 , wherein the viewing screen has a polygon shape when viewed from a location rearward of the viewing screen, the polygon shape corresponding the shape of a four sided polygon with fillets where each pair of sides meet one another. 
     
     
         5 . The gunsight of  claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry comprises one or more processors, a non-transitory computer readable medium, and one or more instruction sets, wherein the one or more instruction sets are stored in the non-transitory computer readable medium and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more instruction sets including instructions for directing each pixel of the liquid crystal light valve to assume either the transparent state or the opaque state based on a user provided image to produce the reticle pattern so that the reticle pattern has an appearance corresponding to the user provided image. 
     
     
         6 . The gunsight of  claim 5 , wherein the user provided image is stored in the non-transitory computer readable medium. 
     
     
         7 . The gunsight of  claim 5 , wherein the user-provided image comprises a raster image file. 
     
     
         8 . The gunsight of  claim 8 , wherein the raster image file comprises one of a JPG file, a BMP file, and a PNG file. 
     
     
         9 . The gunsight of  claim 1 , wherein the objective window has a polygon shape when viewed from a location forward of the objective window, the polygon shape corresponding to the shape of a four sided polygon with fillets where each pair of sides meet one another. 
     
     
         10 . The gunsight of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more switches include an up switch, a down switch, a left switch, and a right switch. 
     
     
         11 . The gunsight of  claim 10 , wherein:
 the reticle pattern moves one step upward each time the up switch is momentarily closed;   the reticle pattern moves one step downward each time the down switch is momentarily closed;   the reticle pattern moves one step leftward each time the left switch is momentarily closed; and   the reticle pattern moves one step rightward each time the right switch is momentarily closed.   
     
     
         12 . The gunsight of  claim 10 , wherein the control circuitry comprises one or more processors, a non-transitory computer readable medium, and one or more instruction sets, wherein the one or more instruction sets are stored in the non-transitory computer readable medium and configured to be executed by the one or more processors to cause the processor to:
 move the reticle pattern one step upward each time the up switch is momentarily closed;   move the reticle pattern one step downward each time the down switch is momentarily closed;   move the reticle pattern one step leftward each time the left switch is momentarily closed; and   move the reticle pattern one step rightward each time the right switch is momentarily closed.   
     
     
         13 . The gunsight of  claim 12 , wherein the reticle pattern moves a distance corresponding to a width of one pixel of the liquid crystal light valve when the reticle pattern moves one step. 
     
     
         14 . The gunsight of  claim 12 , wherein the reticle pattern moves a distance corresponding to a width of a plurality of pixels of the liquid crystal light valve when the reticle pattern moves one step. 
     
     
         15 . The gunsight of  claim 1 , wherein the projector is positioned to emit light in an upward and rearward direction for directing projecting the reticle pattern onto the forward facing surface of the viewing screen. 
     
     
         16 . The gunsight of  claim 1 , further comprising a mirror positioned below the objective window, wherein the projector is positioned to emit light in a forward direction so that the light emitted by the projector illuminates the mirror. 
     
     
         17 . The gunsight of  claim 16 , wherein the mirror is positioned and dimensioned so that light from the projector that is reflected by the mirror illuminates the forward facing surface of the viewing screen to form the reticle pattern on the forward facing surface of the viewing screen. 
     
     
         18 . The gunsight of  claim 1 , wherein the viewing screen is transparent so that the reticle pattern is visible to a user located rearward of the viewing screen. 
     
     
         19 . The gunsight of  claim 1 , wherein both the objective window and the viewing screen are transparent so that a target scene may be viewed through the objective window and the viewing screen by a user located rearward of the viewing screen. 
     
     
         20 . The gunsight of  claim 1 , wherein the light source comprises a plurality of semiconductor chips, each semiconductor chip comprising a light emitting diode. 
     
     
         21 . The gunsight of  1 , further comprising an activity sensor operatively coupled to the control circuitry. 
     
     
         22 . The gunsight of  claim 21 , wherein the control circuitry comprises one or more processors and a non-transitory computer readable medium, wherein the non-transitory computer readable medium includes one or more instruction sets stored therein and configured to be executed by the one or more processors to cause the one or more processors to:
 detect activity events based on signals from the activity sensor;   measure time since the last activity event was detected to determine a measured time;   compare the measured time to a predetermined threshold value;   change an operating state of the gunsight from a normal operating mode to a sleep mode if the measured time is greater than the predetermined threshold value;   wherein the normal operating mode has a first level of power consumption, the sleep mode has a second level of power consumption, and the first level of power consumption is greater than the second level of power consumption.   
     
     
         23 . The gunsight of  1 , wherein the cavity having a shape generally corresponding to a parallelepiped shape. 
     
     
         24 . The gunsight of  1 , wherein:
 the cavity has a maximum length extending in forward and rearward directions;   the cavity has maximum height extending in upward and downward directions; and   a ratio of the maximum length to the maximum height is less than 3.