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United States Patent Application	20060010762
Kind Code	A1
Lin; Chen-Yeh ;   et al.	January 19, 2006

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Foreign Application Data

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Date	Code	Application Number
Jun 17, 2004	TW	093117443

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Claims

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1. An optical sight with rangefinder, which comprises: a barrel defined with a cavity extended through therein axially; a photoelectric rangefinding unit disposed in the cavity of the barrel, having a laser emitter, a laser receiver and a range indicator, and defined with a tunnel; an erector lens unit disposed in the tunnel of the photoelectric rangefinding unit, having a reference mark for aiming; an objective lens unit disposed on one end of the barrel; an eyepiece lens unit disposed on the other end of the barrel; an adjusting element disposed on the outside surface of the barrel and extended into the barrel partially, corresponding to at least one of the objective lens unit, the photoelectric rangefinding unit and the erector lens unit thereby adjusting the relative positions of the objective lens unit, the photoelectric rangefinding unit and/or the erector lens unit; and a power supply unit disposed on the barrel, providing an electrical power to generate the rangefinding function; wherein the sidewall of the barrel is formed with a plurality of openings corresponding to the positions of the laser emitter, laser receiver and/or range indicator of the photoelectric rangefinding unit.

2. The optical sight with rangefinder as claimed in claim 1 wherein the photoelectric rangefinding unit comprises a reflecting prism collocating with the laser emitter, the laser receiver and the range indicator.

3. The optical sight with rangefinder as claimed in claim 2 wherein the reflecting prism includes a reflecting surface for reflecting a light with a predetermined wavelength and allowing other light with other wavelengths to pass.

4. The optical sight with rangefinder as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a reticle as the reference mark for aiming.

5. The optical sight with rangefinder as claimed in claim 4 wherein the reticle is positioned at one of the image plane of the objective lens unit and the image plane of the erector lens unit.

6. The optical sight with rangefinder as claimed in claim 5 wherein the emitting beam of the laser emitter is aligned with the center of the reticle.

7. The optical sight with rangefinder as claimed in claim 6 wherein the receiving beam of the laser receiver is aligned with the center of the reticle.

8. The optical sight with rangefinder as claimed in claim 1 wherein the range indicator projects an image on the image plane of the objective lens unit or the image plane of the erector lens unit.

9. The optical sight with rangefinder as claimed in claim 1 wherein the barrel comprises a plurality of sealing sheets utilized to seal the openings of the barrel after assembly and adjustment of the optical sight.

10. The optical sight with rangefinder as claimed in claim 1 further comprising an optical filter positioned in front of the objective lens unit.

11. A method for assembling an optical sight with rangefinder, comprising the steps of: assembling an erector lens unit, a photoelectric rangefinding unit, a barrel formed with a plurality of openings, an objective lens unit, and an adjusting element into a first assembly; adjusting the objective lens unit and the erector lens unit of the first assembly to meet the requirements of the parallax and the point of impact performances; adjusting any one of a laser emitter, a laser receiver and a range indicator of the photoelectric rangefinding unit to meet the requirement of the photoelectric rangefinding performance; assembling an eyepiece lens unit to an end of the barrel; and sealing the openings of the barrel thereby completing assembly of the optical sight with rangefinder.

12. The method for assembling an optical sight with rangefinder as claimed in claim 11, further comprising a step of adjusting the position of a reticle to reach the image plane of the objective lens unit or the image plane of erector lens unit and then fixing the reticle.

13. The method for assembling an optical sight with rangefinder as claimed in claim 12 wherein the requirement of the parallax performance is that there is no parallax at 100 yards, and the requirement of the point of impact performance is that the point of impact is lower than 1 MOA (minute of angle).

14. The method for assembling an optical sight with rangefinder as claimed in claim 12 wherein the adjustment of the laser emitter is implemented through a first opening of the barrel, to align the emitting beam of the laser emitter with the center of the reticle.

15. The method for assembling an optical sight with rangefinder as claimed in claim 12 wherein the adjustment of the laser receiver is implemented through a second opening of the barrel, to align the receiving beam of the laser receiver with the center of the reticle.

16. The method for assembling an optical sight with rangefinder as claimed in claim 11 wherein the adjustment of the range indicator is implemented through a third opening of the barrel, to adjust the position of the characters displayed by the range indicator.

17. The method for assembling an optical sight with rangefinder as claimed in claim 12, further comprising a step of mounting a power supply assembly on the barrel.

18. The method for assembling an optical sight with rangefinder as claimed in claim 17, further comprising a quality test procedure before assembling the optical sight, including an optical performance test, a photoelectric rangefinding performance test, an impact strength test and an air-sealing performance test.

19. The method for assembling an optical sight with rangefinder as claimed in claim 17, further comprising a step of assembling an optical filter to cover the objective lens unit.

20. An optical sight with rangefinder, comprising a barrel, a photoelectric rangefinding unit, an objective lens unit, an eyepiece lens unit and an adjusting elements wherein the barrel is a hollow barrel provided with a cavity extended through therein axially, the photoelectric rangefinding unit is assembled into the cavity of the barrel, a plurality of openings are formed on the sidewall of the barrel for adjusting the photoelectric rangefinding unit without disassembling the optical sight.

21. The optical sight with rangefinder as claimed in claim 20 wherein the barrel further comprises a plurality of sealing sheets utilized to seal the openings of the barrel after assembly and adjustment of the optical sight.

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Description

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to an optical sight and assembly method for the same, and more specifically, to a telescopic optical sight capable of rangefinding and assembly method for the same.

[0003] 2. The Related Art

[0004] In general, an optical system of conventional telescopic sight comprises an objective lens assembly, an erector lens assembly, an eyepiece lens assembly and a scale board with a reticle. The scale board is marked with a rough rangefinding scale. A shooter can rapidly estimate the range to a target by referring to the rangefinding scale. Therefore, such conventional telescopic sight may be used as a simple rangefinder.

[0005] However, the range estimation of conventional telescopic sight is mostly depended on the user's experience that may likely bring a larger tolerance. Accordingly, a telescopic sight progressively takes the precise shooting and rangefinding fields. A conventional telescopic sight has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,623 issued on Jun. 30, 1998. The conventional telescopic sight mainly comprises an objective lens assembly, a laser transmitter (like a laser diode, LD), a laser receiver (like an avalanche photoelectric diode, APD), a range indicator (like a light emitting diode, LED) and three sets of prisms, erector lens unit and eyepiece lens unit which are provided with a dichroic coating. The laser transmitter and the laser receiver both constitute a rangefinder of the telescopic sight. The laser rangefinder operates on a principle of measuring a travel period from emission of a laser pulse or laser pulse sequence by the laser transmitter, via pulse reflection with a target aimed at, to a reflected pulse reception by the laser receiver. One half of the value that this travel period is multiplied by the light speed constant yields the distance between the rangefinder and target. The distance calculation is performed by a calculation device or program disposed within the telescopic sight.

[0006] Generally, several components adapted for conventional telescopic sight, like the objective lens unit, erector lens unit, rangefinding device and eyepiece lens unit, are modularized, individually, and each one is assembled and adjusted respectively into a barrel and then adjusted again after assembled. As the conventional telescopic sight disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,623, the erector lens unit thereof is firstly assembled generally, and then fixed on a fabrication fixture for adjusting a position of a reticle to reach a first image plane. Thereafter, the erector lens unit is mounted within a laser rangefinding unit, and the photoelectric rangefinding functions provided with coordination among the laser transmitter, laser receiver and range indicator are adjusted. The complete-adjusted laser rangefinding unit, the objective lens unit, an adjusting mechanism and a power supply unit are disposed into the barrel, respectively. The parallax of the objective lens unit is adjusted after assembled. Meanwhile, if any lens or the reticle becomes contaminated or slanted, each component should be detached from the barrel for adjusting each component before assembled again. Eventually, the eyepiece lens unit can be assembled with the barrel for accomplishing the assembly of the telescopic sight. A quality control procedure, including an optical performance inspection, a photoelectric rangefinding performance inspection, an impact strength inspection and an air-sealing inspection etc., is processed for the finished telescopic sight. If there is any performance varied within the need of re-adjusting, as aforementioned that any lens or the reticle becomes contaminated or slanted, each component should be detached from the barrel and then adjusted before assembled again. Obviously, each step in the assembly of the conventional telescopic sight, i.e. adjusting and assembling, must be repeated if there is any misstep appearing in the assembly. Understandingly, the assembly procedure of the conventional telescopic sight is more complicated and unfavorable to both the cost and manufacturing.

[0007] For above reasons, it is necessary to provide an optical sight and an assembly method thereof for simplifying the assembly procedure and improving the productibility.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] An object of the present invention is to provide an optical sight with rangefinder capable of easily facilitating adjustment during assembling and the quality assurance procedure after assembled by way of simplifying the assembly procedure and improving the productibility thereof.

[0009] Another object of the present invention is to provide an assembly method of an optical sight with rangefinder capable of facilitating adjustment and the quality assurance procedure after assembled for reducing re-assembled procedures and improving the productibility thereof.

[0010] According above objects of the present invention, there is provided an optical sight with rangefinder comprising an erector lens unit, a photoelectric rangefinding unit, a barrel, an objective lens unit, a plurality of adjusting elements, a power supply unit and an eyepiece lens unit disposed on the barrel. The photoelectric rangefinding unit includes a laser emitter, a laser receiver and a range indicator. The photoelectric rangefinding unit is formed with a tunnel inside passed through therein for containing the erector lens unit. The barrel is a hollow barrel which is formed with a cavity passed through therein axially for containing the erector lens unit. A plurality of openings are formed on sidewall of the barrel corresponding to the positions of the laser emitter, laser receiver and range indicator for conducting the cavity to outside the barrel. The objective lens unit is disposed on one end of the barrel and the eyepiece lens unit is disposed on the other end of the barrel. The adjusting elements are disposed on the barrel corresponding the positions connected with the objective lens unit for adjusting the status of the objective lens unit.

[0011] The assembly method of the optical sight in accordance with the present invention comprises the steps below: [0012] STEP 1: assembling the erector lens unit, the photoelectric rangefinding unit and the barrel formed with a plurality of openings, an objective lens unit and an adjusting element into a first assembly; [0013] STEP 2: adjusting the objective lens unit and the erector lens unit of said first assembly to meet the requirements of the parallax and the point of impact (POI) performances; [0014] STEP 3: adjusting the position of the reticle to reach the image plane of the objective lens unit or the image plane of erector lens unit and then fixing the position of the reticle; [0015] STEP 4: adjusting the focus of the laser emitter and the laser receiver and adjusting the position of the range indicator of the first assembly to meet the requirement of the photoelectric rangefinding performance; [0016] STEP 5: assembling the eyepiece lens unit to an end of the barrel of the first assembly; [0017] STEP 6: assembling the optical filtering unit to position in front of the objective lens unit; [0018] STEP 7: a quality test procedure will be implemented after aforementioned assembling steps. The quality test procedure includes an optical performance test, a photoelectric rangefinding performance test, an impact strength test and an air-sealing performance test. The assembling process will be returned to step 1 if any defect found in the quality test procedure; [0019] STEP 8: sealing the openings of the barrel by utilizing a plurality of sealing sheets thereby completing assembly of the optical sight with rangefinder.

[0020] In contrast to the prior art, the optical sight according to the present invention comprises the openings disposed on sidewall of the barrel corresponding to the positions of the laser emitter, laser receiver and the range indicator for easily facilitating the adjustment of each element. The optical sight according to the present invention is capable of preventing unnecessary disassemblies and re-assemblies for saving the total assembled time and reducing the number of defective products and the cost of production. The assembly method of the optical sight according to the present invention can be adjusted after all elements are assembled. The assembly method of the optical sight according to the present invention can be used to reduce the adjusting times and prevent unnecessary disassemblies and re-assemblies for simplifying the assembly process and improving the yield rate and the productibility of the laser sight.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following description of preferred embodiments thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

[0022] FIG. 1 is an exploded view of an optical sight with rangefinder in accordance with the present invention;

[0023] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an objective lens unit and a photoelectric rangefinding unit before assembled;

[0024] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the assembled optical sight in accordance with the present invention;

[0025] FIG. 4 is a right-side view of the optical sight in accordance with the present invention illustrating that the adjustment of the position where the focus of a laser emitter lay in;

[0026] FIG. 5 is a magnified view of the optical sight shown in FIG. 4 illustrating that the adjustment of the position where the focus of the laser emitter lay in;

[0027] FIG. 6 is a left-side view of the optical sight in accordance with the present invention illustrating that the adjustment of the position where the focus of a laser receiver lay in;

[0028] FIG. 7 is a magnified view of the optical sight shown in FIG. 6 illustrating that the adjustment of the position where the focus of the laser receiver lay in;

[0029] FIG. 8 is an upward view of the optical sight in accordance with the present invention illustrating that the adjustment of the position where the focus of a range indicator lay in; and

[0030] FIG. 9 is a magnified view of the optical sight shown in FIG. 8 illustrating that the adjustment of the position where the display focus of the range indicator lay in.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0031] The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments. It is to be noted that the following description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention are presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only and it is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed.

[0032] With reference to FIG. 1, a laser sight according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, comprises an erector lens unit 1, a photoelectric rangefinding unit 2, a barrel 3, an objective lens unit 4, adjusting elements 5, 51, 52, a power supply unit 6 disposed on the barrel, an optical filter 7 and an eyepiece lens unit 8. The erector lens unit 1 is served to invert and revert the image produced by the objective lens into a normal way and capable of adjusting the magnification of the optical sight. A reticle served as a reference cross-hair mark for aiming a target is disposed within the erector lens unit 1. The photoelectric rangefinding unit 2 is a hollow barrel formed as an approximately rectangular shape. A laser emitter 21, a laser receiver 22 and a range indicator 24 (refer to FIG. 4 to FIG. 9) are contained inside the photoelectric rangefinding unit 2 and a reflecting prism (not shown) collocating with the laser emitter 21, the laser receiver 22 and the range indicator 24 is also disposed therein. The reflecting prism includes a reflecting surface for reflecting a light with a predetermined wavelength and allowing other light with other wavelengths to pass. The power supply unit 6 provides an electrical power to generate the rangefinding function. In addition, the photoelectric rangefinding unit 2 is formed with a tunnel 20 passed through therein for containing aforementioned erector lens unit 1. Generally speaking, in the preferred embodiment according the present invention, the laser emitter 21 may be a laser diode (LD), the laser receiver 22 may be an avalanche photoelectric diode (APD) and the range indicator 23 may be a light emitting diode (LED) panel.

[0033] Please refer to FIG. 1. The barrel 3 is a hollow barrel. A cavity 31 is formed inside the barrel 3 and extended through therein axially for containing aforementioned photoelectric rangefinding unit 2. A first rectangular opening 33 is formed on a right sidewall of the barrel 3 corresponding to the position of the laser emitter 21 of the photoelectric rangefinding unit 2. A second rectangular opening 32 is formed on a left sidewall of the barrel 3 corresponding to the position of the laser receiver 22 of the photoelectric rangefinding unit 2. A third rectangular opening 34 is formed on a bottom sidewall of the barrel 3 corresponding to the position of the range indicator 23 of the photoelectric rangefinding unit 2. The first, second and third rectangular opening 33, 32, 34 are used to conduct the cavity 31 to outside the barrel 3. The assembler or user can adjust the rangefinding performance of the optical sight through the openings without detaching the abovementioned elements. Furthermore, a power supply retainer 30 is formed on the sidewall of the barrel 3 for containing and fixing the power supply unit 6.

[0034] Please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4. The objective lens unit 4 is disposed on one end of the barrel 3 adjacent to the photoelectric rangefinding unit 2. The eyepiece lens unit 8 is disposed on the other end of the barrel 3 adjacent to the erector lens unit 1. The adjusting element 5 and an adjusting element 52 are respectively disposed on the upside surface and right side surface of the barrel 3 corresponding the positions connected with the objective lens unit 4 for adjusting the relative position of the objective lens unit 4. An adjusting element 51 is disposed on the left side surface of the barrel 3 approximating to the position of the second rectangular opening 32 for adjusting the relative positions of the erector lens unit 1 and the photoelectric rangefinding unit 2. The optical filter 7 is positioned in front of the objective lens unit 4 for filtering out the light with specific wavelength and visible light which is unfavorable to the observation. The optical filtering lens unit 7 is used to prevent the defects occurring while laser receiver 22 receiving the reflect laser light and the user observing.

[0035] Please referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. The assembly method of the optical sight with rangefinder in accordance with the present invention comprises the steps below: [0036] STEP 1: assembling the erector lens unit 1, the photoelectric rangefinding unit 2 and the barrel 3 with a plurality of openings 32, 33, 34, the objective lens unit 4 and the adjusting element 5 into a first assembly; [0037] STEP 2: adjusting the objective lens unit 4 and the erector lens unit 1 of said first assembly to meet the requirements of the parallax and the point of impact (POI) performances; [0038] STEP 3: adjusting the position of the reticle to reach the image plane of the objective lens unit 4 or the image plane of erector lens unit 1 and then fixing the position of the reticle; [0039] STEP 4: adjusting the focus of the laser emitter 21 and the laser receiver 22 and adjusting the position of the range indicator 23 of the first assembly to meet the requirement of the photoelectric rangefinding performance; [0040] STEP 5: assembling the eyepiece lens unit 8 to an end of the barrel of the first assembly; [0041] STEP 6: assembling the optical filtering unit 7 to position in front of the objective lens unit 4; [0042] STEP 7: a quality test procedure will be implemented after aforementioned assembling steps. The quality test procedure includes an optical performance test, a photoelectric rangefinding performance test, an impact strength test and an air-sealing performance test. The assembling process will be returned to step 1 if any defect found in the quality test procedure; [0043] STEP 8: sealing the openings 32, 33, 34 of the barrel 3 by utilizing a plurality of sealing sheets thereby completing assembly of the optical sight with rangefinder.

[0044] Following the above description, in step 4, the reticle is positioned at the image plane of the objective lens unit 4 or the image plane of the erector lens unit 1 (i.e. a first focus plane which the focus of the objective lens located in and a second focus plane which the focus of the erector lens unit located in). Generally speaking, the requirement of the parallax performance of the optical sight is that there is no parallax at 100 yards, and the requirement of the POI performance is 1 MOA (minute of angle), i.e. only a tolerance which below one inch can be allowed between the high magnification image and low magnification image at 100 yards. The adjustment of the photoelectric rangefinding performance is mostly implemented by adjusting the positions of the focus of the laser emitter 21 and laser receiver 22 and the range which the range indicator indicates. As shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the adjustment of the focus of the laser emitter 21 is implemented by adjusting the emitting beam of the laser emitter 21 to align with the center of the reticle and adjusting the focus of the laser emitter 21 to be collinear with the reticle and the focus of the image plane through the first rectangular opening 33 located in the right sidewall of the barrel 3. The laser emitter 21 can be adjusted along three axes toward the forward and rearward bi-directions (AB direction), the leftward and rightward bi-directions (CD direction) and the upward and downward bi-directions (EF direction). As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the adjustment of the focus of the laser receiver 22 is implemented by adjusting the receiving beam of the laser receiver 22 to align with the center of the reticle and adjusting the focus of the laser receiver 22 to be collinear with the reticle and the focus of the image plane through the second rectangular opening 32 located in the left sidewall of the barrel 3. The laser receiver 22 can be adjusted along three axes toward the forward and rearward bi-directions (AB direction), the leftward and rightward bi-directions (CD direction) and the upward and downward bi-directions (EF direction). As shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, the adjustment of the displaying focus of the range indicator 23 is implemented by adjusting the position of the characters displayed in the range indicator 23 and adjusting the displaying focus of the range indicator 23 to be collinear with the reticle and the focus of the image plane through the third rectangular opening 34 located in the bottom sidewall of the barrel 3. The range indicator 23 projects an image on the image plane of the objective lens unit 4 or the image plane of the erector lens unit 1. The range indicator 23 can be adjusted along three axes toward the forward and rearward bi-directions (AB direction), the leftward and rightward bi-directions (CD direction) and the upward and downward bi-directions of elevation (HI direction).

[0045] As a result of that the opening 33, 32, 34 are disposed on sidewalls of the barrel 3 corresponding to the position of the laser emitter 21, laser receiver 22 and the range indicator 23, the adjustment of each element can be simplified to prevent unnecessary disassemblies and re-assemblies for saving the total assembled time and reducing the number of defective products and the cost of production. The assembly method of the optical sight according to the present invention can be adjusted after all elements are assembled. The assembly method of the optical sight according to the present invention can be used to reduce the adjusting times and prevent unnecessary disassemblies and re-assemblies for simplifying the assembly process and improving the yield rate and the productibility of the laser sight.

[0046] While the invention has been described in terms of what are presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention need not be limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.

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