Patent Grant
9395156
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to German Application 10 2013 017 997.1, filed Nov. 29, 2013, and German Application 10 2014 001 028.7, filed Jan. 24, 2014, the entire disclosures of which are herein expressly incorporated by reference.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a fire control sight for a hand-held firearm, a hand-held firearm with such a fire control sight, as well as a method for orienting such a hand-held firearm.
European patent document EP 0 785 406 A2 discloses a grenade launcher that can be mounted on a hand-held firearm is provided with a laser range finder and a digital compass device. The laser range finder is provided with a LED display device by means of which the grenadier can engage the target. With this known device the grenadier is completely dependent on the electronic target engagement device. In the event of a potentially malfunction of the electronic system any redundant target engagement possibility is lacking.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,499,382 B1 discloses an electronic sighting device as target system for a heavy weapon that is fastened so that it can be pivoted and inclined on a stand or another base. This target system is connected to the weapon in such a way that the target system can rotate with the weapon in azimuthal direction and can pivot in the elevation direction. The target system has a camera and a display screen by means of which the grenadier can engage the target. This known device is too large and too heavy for use on a hand-held firearm.
US patent document US 2005/0268521 A1 discloses an electronic sighting device for a firearm equipped with an inclination sensor, an accelerometer and a rate gyro. This sighting device is also large and heavy and less suitable for a hand-held firearm. Moreover, in the event of malfunction of this electronic sighting device no redundancy is available.
Conventional sighting displays frequently use a marking of the holding point inserted into the optical beam path, which has the disadvantage that the aperture angle of the sighting optics must cover the maximum angle of elevation. For distant targets, however, this angle quickly exceeds the conventional sighting aperture angle, since elevations of up to 45° occur. Particularly with these high elevations a distant target (for example 450 meters away) is attacked, a magnifying sight with a small aperture angle would be required for the measurement.
A further generally known solution for the aforementioned target antagonism is the “tilting” of the beam path by means of a motor-powered mirror or a prism inside the sighting optics. Thus there is contradiction between large viewing angles and sufficient magnification. However, such systems have a relatively large inertia of the entire sighting system, which is caused by the motor powered pivoting of the mirror. Moreover, the field of view of the shooter is restricted to the limited aperture angle of the sight.
In the case of all these known electronic sighting devices the shooter must also carry as a fallback solution a conventional control sight, so that in the event of malfunction of the electronic sighting device he can still use the weapon.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to a fire control sight, which through intuitive representations enables a quick and exact elevation control for the shooter without the need for a substantially increased weight on a firearm. Moreover, the fire control sight should have redundancy capability if the electronic auxiliary displays fail. Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are also directed to a hand-held firearm with such a fire control sight as well as a method for orienting such a hand-held firearm.
According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention the fire control sight for a hand-held firearm, in particular for a grenade launcher, is provided with a sight housing, a front sight, a sight guide which has two sight guide side pieces with a plurality of sight crosspieces forming rear sights and is characterized by a range finder, at least one inertial sensor and/or a magnetic field sensor and/or another direction-finding sensor unit, a control computer and a display device for displaying an optimal orientation of the barrel axis of the hand-held firearm determined by the control computer.
This fire control sight according to the invention integrates into a conventional control sight an electro-optical display system that signals the optimal holding point to the shooter and also enables a precise fine orientation by a non-linear optical bar display. The distance data are measured by means of a range finder, for example a laser range finder, and the position the hand-held firearm is determined by means of at least one inertial sensor. Thus the invention consists in the integration into a standard control sight of a display device for display of an optimal orientation of the barrel axis of the hand-held firearm determined by the control computer. The display device is controlled by a control computer, which by means of connected sensors identifies the current location of the hand-held firearm around the pitch angle, the roll angle and the azimuth angle. Furthermore, the distance from the target is determined by a distance measurement with the integrated range finder and the direction to the target is determined by means of the magnetic field sensor or another direction-finding sensor unit (for example by means of gyros). The control computer is provided with or connected to an electronic storage device in which a table of the fire control sight containing projectile parameters is stored. After the measurement of the target position the control computer calculates from these projectile parameters and the recorded measurement data the optimal ballistic trajectory of the projectile to be fired from the hand-held firearm, for example a grenade, and shows the shooter desired elevation on the display arrangement. This inventive combination of a conventional mechanical control sight and an electronic fire control sight may be designated as an “active control sight”.
In this case it is particularly advantageous if, for display of the optimal elevation of the barrel axis of the hand-held firearm, the display device has at least one row of electro-optical elevation signal elements, which are preferably formed by LEDs, extending along at least a portion of a sight guide side piece, and if the control computer is designed in order to supply a control device for the electro-optical elevation signal elements with an elevation display signal.
This particularly advantageous fire control sight constitutes an ideal hybridization of the conventional control sight with the electronic display device mounted thereon. In this way the shooter is offered a sighting device that enables the shooter, on the basis of the electronic display device, to quickly and precisely carry out a target engagement of the weapon but which also on the other hand enables, in the event of failure of the electronic display device or other electronic elements, conventional sighting of a target by means of the mechanical control sight, without having to carry an additional control sight and mount it on the hand-held firearm in the event of failure of the electronic system.
The electro-optical elevation signal elements can preferably each assume different, preferably at least two, display states. If the signal elements are for example formed by LEDs, then they can assume the display states OFF, ON and also when switched on also take on different colors. If the display elements for example are not constructed as separate LEDs but are formed by a display screen, then as an alternative to different colors each display element can also have different shapes.
Furthermore, it is advantageous if the display device for displaying the optimal azimuth orientation of the barrel axis of the hand-held firearm has at least one electro-optical azimuth signal element preferably disposed in the region of the front sight. This additional measure makes it possible not only to optimally adjust the angle of elevation but also to provide the shooter with assistance in the horizontal pivoting of the weapon. In this case it is advantageous if the at least one electro-optical azimuth signal element can assume different, preferably at least two, display states. Here too the same display states are provided as in the elevation display.
It is particularly advantageous if the fire control sight additionally has an air temperature sensor, an air pressure sensor, and/or a humidity sensor. Thus, the calculations of the optimal trajectory of the projectile and thus the calculation of the optimal elevation can be carried out even more precisely.
Moreover it is advantageous if a distance display for displaying the distance measured by the range finder is provided so as to be visible to the shooter.
Exemplary embodiments of the invention are also directed to a hand-held firearm provided with a fire control sight according to the invention. This fire control sight can be mounted for example by means of a Picatinny rail on the hand-held firearm, for example on the grenade launcher. Such a Picatinny rail is a standard toothed rail for quick fitting of accessories to hand-held firearms according to the international standard MIL STD 1913.
Exemplary embodiments of the invention are also directed to a method for orienting a hand-held firearm according to the invention with a target, comprising the steps of
In this method, by means of the display device provided, for example on the sight guide side piece, the calculated angle of elevation and the deviation of the current angle of elevation from the calculated angle of elevation are displayed to the shooter who sights the target through rear sights provided on the sight guide side piece via the front sight, so that in the conventional optical sighting of the target the shooter obtains additional information via the display device by means of which the shooter can orient the hand-held firearm quickly and precisely so that the projectile on its ballistic trajectory reliably strikes the target.
An advantageous modification of this method is characterized in that the display of the deviation of the current angle of elevation from the calculated angle of elevation takes place in step d) by means of at least one row of electro-optical elevation signal elements, preferably LEDs, extending along at least one portion of a sight guide side piece, in such a way that the calculated angle of elevation is displayed by a first elevation signal element in a first color and/or symbol representation at the height of the rear sight with which the target must be sighted by means of the front sight, that one or more of the lower elevation signal elements disposed below the first elevation signal elements are displayed in a second color and/or symbol representation, when the current angle of elevation is smaller than the calculated angle of elevation, that one or more of the upper elevation signal elements disposed above the first elevation signal elements are displayed in the second color and/or symbol representation, when the current angle of elevation is greater than the calculated angle of elevation, and that the first elevation signal element changes its color and/or symbol representation when the current angle of elevation is equal to the calculated angle of elevation. The expression “symbol representation” should be understood to mean, for example, a shape or a brightness state of a signal element. Thus, a change of the symbol representation may, for example, be a change of shape of the display (for example alternation between circle and triangle) or a change of brightness of the display (for example a permanent display or flashing at different frequencies).
With this configuration of the method according to the invention a simple, quick and secure orientation of the barrel axis of the hand-held firearm is achieved. The method sequence is configured so that a shooter without much training can operate the weapon intuitively and the correct operation of the fire control sight according to the invention can be virtually imposed upon the shooter by the special configuration of the so-called active control sight with the elevation signal elements.
Preferably in step c) a calculation of the azimuth angle with respect to the target additionally takes place by means of the control computer and in step d) the deviation of the current azimuth angle from the calculated azimuth angle is additionally displayed by means of the display device. This advantageous functionality, which is based on the measurements of the at least one inertial sensor and/or of the at least one magnetic field sensor ensures that the shooter when sighting the target not only obtains assistance for the elevation orientation of the weapon, but also for the azimuth orientation of the weapon and thus a secure target engagement is also achieved in the horizontal direction.
It is particularly advantageous if the display of the deviation of the current angle of elevation from the calculated angle of elevation takes place in step d) by means of at least one row of electro-optical elevation signal elements, preferably LEDs, extending along at least one portion of a sight guide side piece, in such a way that the calculated angle of elevation is displayed by a first elevation signal element in a first color and/or symbol representation at the height of the rear sight with which the target must be sighted by means of the front sight, that one or more of the lower elevation signal elements disposed below the first elevation signal elements are displayed in a second color and/or symbol representation, when the current angle of elevation is smaller than the calculated angle of elevation, that one or more of the upper elevation signal elements disposed above the first elevation signal elements are displayed in the second color and/or symbol representation, when the current angle of elevation is greater than the calculated angle of elevation, and that the first elevation signal element changes its color and/or symbol representation when the current angle of elevation is equal to the calculated angle of elevation.
The shooter is guided intuitively to the correct azimuth orientation of the weapon by these method steps. In a combination of this guided azimuth orientation with the guided elevation orientation a fast and exact target engagement can be implemented even by shooters without much training.
A combined fire control sight that can be used both in a conventional manner as an optical control sight and also in an electro-optically supported manner is created by the combination according to the invention of a conventional control sight with a display device having, for example, LEDs disposed, for example, in the form of a respective line of lights on the left and right on the side pieces of the sight guide. For example, in the line of lights of the display arrangement LEDs are used with two different color elements, by which three colors (color 1, color 2 and the mixed color 1+2) can be represented. For the sake of simplicity the colors red, green and yellow are proposed here, but also any other colors and color combinations are possible. This simple color coding which is informative per se contributes to the functioning of the fire control sight being self-explanatory and the shooter can almost intuitively carry out the orientation steps of the method according to the invention correctly.
Preferred embodiments of the invention with additional configuration details and further advantages are described and explained in greater detail below with reference to the appended drawings.
In the drawings:
The fire control sight 1 has a sight housing 10, a front sight 12, which can be folded out upwards, and a sight guide 14, which can be folded out upwards.
The display device 5, which is likewise connected to the control computer 4, comprises a plurality of electro-optical signal elements, which can each be supplied by the control computer 4 with an electrical signal in order to light up in one or different colors.
The sight guide 14 shown in
In the sight guide 14 according to the invention on each of the two sight guide side pieces 15, 16 a row from electro-optical elevation signal elements 51, 53 are provided, each of which is formed by a row of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). As is described below, these LEDs are controlled by the control computer 4 so that they can be switched off or switched on, wherein at least some of the LEDs can light up in different colors in the switched-on state.
For this purpose the control computer 4 supplies a control device (not shown) for the electro-optical elevation signal elements 51, 53 with an elevation display signal.
Furthermore it can be seen in the view of
Furthermore the control computer 4 is connected to input and output devices. Thus, for example, an on/off switch 45, a button 46 for starting the distance measurement, a multifunction control switch 47 as well as a data transmission interface 48 are provided and are connected to the control computer 4.
Finally, the control computer 4 is also connected to the display device 5 which, as already described, has the two series of electro-optical elevation signal elements 51, 53 on the respective sight guide side piece 15, 16, the electro-optical signal element on the front sight support 11 (azimuth signal element 54 and azimuth correction signal element 54′, 54″) as well as the display arrangement 22 as additional display.
The sequence of the use of the fire control sight with active optoelectronic control sight, which is illustrated in
For adjustment of the laser range finder 20 on the weapon, that is to say for harmonization of the weapon sight optics with the laser optics, first of all the pilot laser 19 operating in the visible light spectrum of the inside is switched on, aimed at an object 20 meters to 30 meter away and the installation position of the laser range finder 20 is adjusted by for example two adjusting screws so that the spot of the pilot laser 19 is sighted centrally through the weapon sight. This adjustment step takes place at least immediately after the first mounting of the fire control sight on the weapon, but if required can also be carried out again before each use of the weapon.
For target recognition the shooter uses the sight of the weapon that is familiar to the shooter. The shooter orients the weapon conventionally with the target and presses the button 46 for target recognition through the fire control sight. This button 46 is usually connected to a cable on the fire control sight and is fastened to the weapon at a position suitable for the shooter.
The direct distance from the target Z is merely determined by the laser range finder 20. The distance is displayed digitally in the display of the display device 22 designated in
In
As the shooter brings the elevation of the weapon W close to the correctly calculated angle of elevation α, then he sees the image shown in
In the image of
Whereas
Like the view in
In a similar manner the correct azimuth orientation of the weapon is displayed to the shooter, as illustrated in
If the horizontal orientation is correct, then the middle azimuth signal element 54 lights up green and the two lateral azimuth correction signal elements 54′, 54″ light up yellow (
If both the elevation and also the azimuth is correct, all three signal elements, that is to say the azimuth signal element 54, the left azimuth correction signal element 54′ and the right azimuth correction signal element 54″ light up green (
If the optimal orientation of the weapon W is achieved, the shooter fires the shot. If required, the weapon can be reloaded and the target still stored can be attacked again and if need be the target position can be easily corrected, as taking account of the distance display on the display device 22 he deliberately a predetermined distance further or less far.
The multifunction control switch 47 already mentioned and shown schematically in
The brightness of the electro-optical signal elements and of the background lighting for the display of the display device 22 is set automatically as a function of the external brightness. For this purpose the signal of the brightness sensor 73 is evaluated. Moreover, for example by means of the multifunction control switch 47, a residual light amplifier mode can be selected, wherein the brightness of the background lighting of the display of the display device 22 and also the brightness of the electro-optical signal elements is minimized to the extent that it is almost invisible to the naked eye but is still discernible by means of the residual light amplifier.
Moreover, the fire control sight 1 according to the invention has a power saving function as well as an automatic switch-off depending upon a predetermined time limit and upon a movement of the fire control sight or the weapon equipped therewith.
New munition parameters can be loaded into the corresponding memory (for example the flash memory 44) of the fire control sight 1 via the data transmission interface 48. Furthermore status information such as error codes can be read out via the data transmission interface 48 and internal configuration data can be modified.
The foregoing disclosure has been set forth merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting. Since modifications of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur to persons skilled in the art, the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.
Reference signs in the claims, the description and the drawings serve merely for better understanding of the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of protection.
The reference signs designate:
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2013 017 997 | Nov 2013 | DE | national |
| 10 2014 001 028 | Jan 2014 | DE | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6499382 | Lougheed et al. | Dec 2002 | B1 |
| 20050198885 | Staley, III | Sep 2005 | A1 |
| 20050268521 | Cox et al. | Dec 2005 | A1 |
| 20070056203 | Gering et al. | Mar 2007 | A1 |
| 20090266892 | Windauer | Oct 2009 | A1 |
| 20100282843 | Staley, III | Nov 2010 | A1 |
| 20130133213 | Gorsuch et al. | May 2013 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 0 785 406 | Jul 1997 | EP |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20150153137 A1 | Jun 2015 | US |
