Claims
- 1. A method of aligning a laser beam of a small arms transmitter to the barrel of a small arms weapon, comprising the steps of:mounting a small arms transmitter on a fixture pre-aligned with a target reticle; energizing a laser device in the small arms transmitter to cause a laser beam to be emitted thereby; and aligning the laser device so that the laser beam strikes at or near a center of the target reticle to thereby align the laser beam with the barrel of a small arms weapon, wherein the laser device is aligned by bending a portion of a laser tube in which the laser device is mounted.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the fixture simulates a rifle.
- 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the fixture is a rifle.
- 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the laser beam is pointed at a camera connected to a computer which displays an image of the target reticle and an image of the location of the laser beam relative to the target reticle.
- 5. The method of claim 4 wherein a far field lens is located in the optical path between the small arms transmitter and the camera.
- 6. The method of claim 1 and further comprising the step of adjusting a focal length of the laser tube in the transmitter in which the laser device is mounted to achieve a pre-determined divergence of the laser beam.
- 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the fixture is pre-aligned by adjusting an azimuth and an elevation of a moveable portion of the fixture that supports the small arms transmitter.
- 8. A method of determining whether the conventional sights of a small arms weapon have been properly zeroed, comprising the steps of:mounting a laser small arms transmitter on a barrel of a small arms weapon equipped with conventional sights; aligning a laser beam emitted by the transmitter with the barrel, the alignment including bending a portion of a laser tube in which a laser device of the laser small arms transmitter is mounted and providing a downward bias of the laser beam so that the laser beam intersects the path of a bullet fired from the barrel a pre-determined range; aiming the small arms weapon at a target with the convention sights, the target being located at the pre-determined range; detecting whether the laser beam has impacted the target; and providing a signal to a person if the laser beam has struck the target to thereby indicate that the small arms weapon has been properly zeroed.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED U.S. PATENTS AND APPLICATION
This application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/596,674, filed Jun. 19, 2000 of Deepak Varshneya et al., which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,406,298 B1 on Jun. 18, 2002.
US Referenced Citations (11)