[54] HEAD MOUNTED VIDEO DISPLAY AND REMOTE CAMERA SYSTEM
[75] Inventors: Charles M. Hanson, Richardson;
Vaughn J. Koester, Dallas; Robert D.
Fallstrom, Richardson, all of Tex.
[73] Assignee: Varo, Inc., Garland, Tex.
[21] Appl. No.: 168,137
[22] Filed: Mar. 14,1988
Related U.S. Application Data
[62] Division of Ser. No. 883,994, Jul. 10, 1986, Pat. No. 4,786,966.
[51] Int. CI.* H04N 7/18; H04N 5/33;
H04N 7/22; H04B 9/00
[52] U.S. CI 358/108; 89/41.05;
224/181; 338/113; 455/617
[58] Field of Search 358/93, 108, 113;
455/617; 224/181; 89/41.05
[56] References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
3,674,925 7/1972 Heckman, Jr 358/113
3,798,796 3/1974 Stauffetal 358/108
4,028,725 6/1977 Lewis 358/113
4,081,716 3/1978 Uemura 315/63
4,091,412 5/1978 Salonimer 358/113
4,222,880 9/1980 Baur et al 358/113
4,280,125 7/1981 Kazan 358/230
4,605,959 8/1986 Colbaugh 358/93
4,703,879 11/1987 Kastendieck 224/181
4,786,966 11/1988 Hanson 358/108
Primary Examiner—Howard W. Britton
Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Baker, Mills & Glast
[57] ABSTRACT
A video system is disclosed having a weapon-mounted video camera (12) transmitting video signals to a remotely located video display (14). The video display is mounted to the helmet (40) of a soldier (36), and includes a sight reticle (50) superimposed on the image of the target (46) so that the soldier (36) can aim the weapon (38) by moving it until the target object (46) as displayed by the video display (14) is aligned with the sight reticle (50). A low probability of transmission interception of the video signals is accomplished by using a nonvisible light carrier wavelength in free space, which wavelength is characterized by a high degree of absorption due to atmospheric water vapor.
9 Claims, 10 Drawing Sheets
