Multiplexed infrared imaging system

Claim 2

In an infrared imaging system, a plurality of optic systems, each of which provides a different image output, common detector means for said plurality of optic systems comprising a plurality of detector elements for detecting infrared signals output from each of said optic systems, image scan means including a mechanically driven means operable in each cycle to direct successive segments of an image output from one of said optic systems to said common detector means, and further operable in the same cycle to direct the successive segments of the image output from each of the others of said optic systems to the input of the same common detector means, said mechanically driven means comprising a rotatable member having at least two reflective surfaces for scanning the image outputs of said optic systems, each of which reflective surfaces scans the image output from each of said plurality of optic systems a plurality of times during each rotation and applies said image output to the same detector means, a plurality of storage means, each of which is preassigned to store the image information provided by a correspondingly different one of said optic systems, and means responsive to said image scan means for selectively connecting the signal output of said common detector means to the one of said storage means which is preassigned to store the information for the image being scanned.

Claim 3

In a system as set forth in claim 1 in which said plurality of optic systems include a first and second optic system located at 180* intervals along the path of rotation of said rotatable member, and said common detector means comprises a linear array of elements which are displaced 90* relative to each of the optic systems.

Claim 4

A system as set forth in claim 1 in which said plurality of optic systems includes a first optic system having a field of a first width and a second optic system having a field of a different width, whereby one system simultaneously provides an output having two different fields of view.

Claim 5

A system as set forth in claim 1 in which said plurality of optic systems includes at least a first optic system and a second optic system, said second optic system having one or more scanning devices affixed thereto so that its field of view may be positioned as desired with respect to that of the first.

Claim 6

A system as set forth in claim 1 in which certain of said optic systems include scanning devices for directing the fields of view of such system with respect to the fields of the other optic systems and with respect to the position of the detector set.

Claim 7

A system as set forth in claim 2 which includes means for driving said rotatable member at a first speed which determines the frequency of readout of each vertical segment of said images by said detector means, and in which said means for selectively connecting the signal output of said detector means to one of said storage means operates at a second frequency which determines the frequency of readout of the individual bits of each vertical segment.

Claim 8

In an infrared imaging system, a plurality of optic systems, each of which provides a different image output, common detector means for said plurality Of optic systems comprising a plurality of detector elements for detecting infrared signals output from each of said optic systems, image scan means including a mechanically driven means operable in each cycle to direct successive segments of an image output from one of said optic systems to said common detector means, and further operable in the same cycle to direct the successive segments of the image output from each of the others of said optic systems to the input of the same common detector means, said mechanically driven means including position means which move mechanically with said mechanically driven means and which include indicia markings thereon, a plurality of storage means, each of which is preassigned to store the image information provided by a correspondingly different one of said optic systems, sync means for providing sync signals in response to said indicia on said position means, and means responsive to said sync means for selectively connecting the signal output of said common detector means to the one of said storage means which is preassigned to store the information for the image being scanned.

Claim 9

In an infrared imaging system, a plurality of optic systems, each of which provides a different image output, common detector means for said plurality Of optic systems comprising a plurality of detector elements for detecting infrared signals output from each of said optic systems, image scan means including a mechanically driven means operable in each cycle to direct successive segments of an image output from one of said optic systems to said common detector means, and further operable in the same cycle to direct the successive segments of the image output from each of the others of said optic systems to the input of the same common detector means, said mechanically driven means including position means which move mechanically with said mechanically driven means and which include indicia markings thereon, a plurality of storage means, each of which is preassigned to store the image information provided by a correspondingly different one of said optic systems, sync means for providing sync signals in response to said indicia on said position means, and means responsive to said sync means for selectively connecting the signal output of said common detector means to the one of said storage means which is preassigned to store the information for the image being scanned.

Claim 10

A system as set forth in claim 7 in which said indicia includes a frame mark on said position means for indicating the first vertical segment of each image detected, and segment marks on said position means for indicating the successive vertical segments of the image.

Claim 11

A system as set forth in claim 7 in which said means for connecting the output of said detector means to said storage means includes gating means cyclically operative in response to each sync signal to sequentially read out the signals provided by each detector element for the portion of the image which is directed thereto by said image scan means.

Claim 12

In an infrared imaging system a plurality of optic systems, common detector means comprising a plurality of detector elements for detecting infrared signals output from each of said optic systems, image scan means comprising mechanically driven means operable in each cycle to direct successive segments of an image output from one of said optic systems to said detector means, and further operable in the same cycle to direct the successive segments of an image output from the others of said optic systems to said common detector means, sync means including indicia on said mechanically driven means for generating sync signals, a plurality of storage means, each of which is preassigned to store the image information provided by a correspondingly different one of said optic systems, means enabled by said sync means to selectively connect the signal output of said common detector means to the one of said storage means which is preassigned to store the information for the one of the images being scanned, a plurality of display means, each of which is preassigned to display the signals stored by a different one of said storage means, and circuit means for effecting readout of the stored signals in each storage means to the preassigned one of the display means.

Claim 13

In an infrared imaging system a plurality of optic systems, common detector means comprising a plurality of detector elements for detecting infrared signals output from each of said optic systems, image scan means comprising mechanically driven means operable in each cycle to direct successive segments of an image output from one of said optic systems to said detector means, and further operable in the same cycle to direct the successive segments of an image output from the others of said optic systems to said common detector means, sync means including indicia on said mechanically driven means for generating sync signals, a plurality of storage means, each of which is preassigned to store the image information provided by a correspondingly different one of said optic systems, means enabled by said sync means to selectively connect the signal output of said common detector means to the one of said storage means which is preassigned to store the information for the one of the images being scanned, a plurality of display means, each of which is preassigned to display the signals stored by a different one of said storage means, and circuit means for effecting readout of the stored signals in each storage means to the preassigned one of the display means.

Claim 14

A system as set forth in claim 10 in which each of said display means comprises a cathode ray tube and associated raster generator circuitry for each cathode ray tube, and in which each of said storage means includes discrete readout means for providing the stored signals to its associated display means, and in which said circuit means comprises timer means for providing further sync signals to said raster generator circuitry for each cathode ray tube and simultaneously to the readout means for its associated storage means.

Claim 15

A system as set forth in claim 10 in which said means for selectively connecting the signal output of said detector means to said storage means is enabled by said sync means at a frequency related to the operating frequency of said image scan means, and in which said circuit means for effecting readout of the stored signal to the display means is effected at a video monitoring frequency.

Claim 16

In an imaging system, at least a first and a second optic System, common detector means comprising a plurality of elements which detect infrared radiation in images provided at times by said first optic system and at other times by said second optic system, image scan means including an image scanning member having at least a first and a second reflective surface, means for rotating said image scanning member in a pattern to cause the first reflective surface to direct successive segments of the image output from one of said optic systems to said detector means, and to further direct the successive segments of image output from the second one of said optic systems to the same detector means, and in continued rotation to cause the second reflective surface to successively direct successive segments of the image output of said first and second optic system to the same detector means, the number of such elements in said detector means being determined by and being the same as the number of bits of information to be detected in each segment of said images fed to said detector means, first and second storage means, each of which is preassigned to store the image information provided by a correspondingly different one of said optic systems, select means for selectively connecting the signal output of said detector means to the one of said storage means which is preassigned to store the information for the image being scanned, and a plurality of display means, each of which is operative to display the signals stored by a different one of said storage means.

Claim 17

In an imaging system, at least a first and a second optic System, common detector means comprising a plurality of elements which detect infrared radiation in images provided at times by said first optic system and at other times by said second optic system, image scan means including an image scanning member having at least a first and a second reflective surface, means for rotating said image scanning member in a pattern to cause the first reflective surface to direct successive segments of the image output from one of said optic systems to said detector means, and to further direct the successive segments of image output from the second one of said optic systems to the same detector means, and in continued rotation to cause the second reflective surface to successively direct successive segments of the image output of said first and second optic system to the same detector means, the number of such elements in said detector means being determined by and being the same as the number of bits of information to be detected in each segment of said images fed to said detector means, first and second storage means, each of which is preassigned to store the image information provided by a correspondingly different one of said optic systems, select means for selectively connecting the signal output of said detector means to the one of said storage means which is preassigned to store the information for the image being scanned, and a plurality of display means, each of which is operative to display the signals stored by a different one of said storage means.

Claim 18

An imaging system as set forth in claim 13 which includes position means mechanically rotated with said rotating image scanning member to provide frame signals which indicate the start of scan of the image output of each optic system and segment signals for indicating the scan of successive segments of said image, and sync generator means for generating frame sync signals and segment sync signals in response thereto.

Claim 19

A system as set forth in claim 14 in which said select means nclude storage select means operative in response to a frame sync signal from said position means to selectively connect the output of said detector means to the assigned one of said storage means, and readout means operative in response to said segment sync signals from said position means to provide a series of output signals from said detector means which represent a segment of the image scanned thereby.

Claim 20

An imaging system as set forth in claim 14 in which said image scanning member comprises a rotating member having frame and segment indicia located thereon to indicate the relative position of said image sensor, a light source for illuminating said indicia, a photocell for detecting passage of said marks relative to a given location, and means for connecting the output of said photocell to said sync generator means.