Self-contained breathing apparatus having face piece vision system

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a self-contained breathing device. In one aspect, the self-contained breathing device includes a face piece lens, a seal at an edge of the face piece lens, an air supply member at a central portion of the face piece lens, and a vision system embedded in the face piece lens with a portion of the vision system being exposed exterior to the face piece lens.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A self-contained breathing device, comprising:
 a face piece lens;   a seal at an edge of the face piece lens;   an air supply member at a central portion of the face piece lens; and   a vision system embedded in the face piece lens with a portion of the vision system being exposed exterior to the face piece lens.   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the vision system comprises:
 an infrared sensor including an infrared lens assembly and an infrared image sensor for capturing an infrared image of a potential heat source; and   a display including an active-matrix display device and a transparent heads-up display for receiving the infrared image projected from the active-matrix display device.   
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein the infrared sensor is coupled to the transparent heads-up display without incorporating adjustment features needed to accommodate for parallax correction and inter-pupil distance. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein the transparent heads-up display is capable of being aligned with an eye of a user wearing the self-contained breathing device. 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein the display is configured to project multiple vision screens side-by-side to the transparent heads-up display. 
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein the vision system further comprises a housing that encloses the infrared sensor and the display. 
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the vision system comprises a shutter-less camera. 
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the vision system comprises a user control interface having an activation keypad that receives user interactions, and user control electronics that controls the user interactions into electronic control signals. 
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the vision system comprises core control electronics including a power supply, a core electronic circuit electrically coupled to the power supply, and a video output terminal electrically coupled to the core electronic circuit. 
     
     
         10 . The device of  claim 9 , wherein the core control electronics include focal plane electronics electrically coupled to the infrared sensor, control electronics for processing an electrical input signal from the infrared sensor, and power supply electronics electrically coupled to the power supply for regulating power. 
     
     
         11 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the vision system is calibrated manually by placing a hand of a user in front of the infrared lens assembly of the infrared sensor. 
     
     
         12 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the seal is made of a fireproof rubber or flexible tubular material. 
     
     
         13 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the vision system includes a display device having multiple screens to simultaneously display multiple images captured from a user's surrounding environment. 
     
     
         14 . A self-contained breathing device, comprising:
 a face piece lens;   a seal at an edge of the face piece lens;   an air supply member at a central portion of the face piece lens; and   a vision system embedded in the face piece lens, wherein the vision system comprises a display device having multiple screens to simultaneously display multiple images captured from a user's surrounding environment.   
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 14 , wherein a portion of the vision system is exposed exterior to the face piece lens. 
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 14 , wherein the vision system further comprises an infrared sensor including an infrared lens assembly and an infrared image sensor for capturing an infrared image of a potential heat source in the user's surrounding environment. 
     
     
         17 . The device of  claim 16 , wherein the infrared sensor is coupled to the display device without incorporating adjustment features needed to accommodate for parallax correction and inter-pupil distance. 
     
     
         18 . The device of  claim 14 , wherein the vision system comprises a user control interface having an activation keypad that receives user interactions, and user control electronics that controls the user interactions into electronic control signals. 
     
     
         19 . The device of  claim 14 , wherein the vision system comprises core control electronics including a power supply, a core electronic circuit electrically coupled to the power supply, and a video output terminal electrically coupled to the core electronic circuit. 
     
     
         20 . The device of  claim 14 , wherein the seal is made of a fireproof rubber or flexible tubular material.