BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Turning now to the Drawings, in which like numerals indicate like parts in the several drawings:
FIG. 1 is a tang-mounted peep sight of prior art.
FIG. 2A is a suction cup attachment of prior art.
FIG. 2B is a close up of the suction cup of FIG. 2A.
FIG. 3A . . . 3H is a BIOptic attachment for eyeglasses, with a centering method for a telescope attached to eyeglasses of prior art.
FIG. 4 is side view of the invention.
FIG. 5A is a front view of use of the invention.
FIG. 5B is a front view of a rear sight.
FIG. 6 is a close up view of use of the invention.
FIG. 7A is a view of firearm rear sight, front sight, and a target by a person using the invention.
FIG. 7B is a view of firearm sights and target by a person with near-sighted vision, and without the invention.
FIG. 7C is a view of firearm sights and target by a person with far-sighted vision, and without the invention.
FIG. 8 is a view of two samples of the invention and a carrying case.
FIG. 9 is a front view of the invention showing section A-A′.
FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the invention along section A-A′.
FIG. 11A is a front view of an alternative embodiment of the invention showing section B-B′.
FIG. 11B is a sectional view along section B-B′.
FIG. 12A is front view of an alternative embodiment of the invention, including an optical filter, and showing section C-C′.
FIG. 12B is a sectional view along section C-C′.
FIG. 13 is a sectional view, looking down, of an alternative embodiment of the invention with an off-center aperture, the section taken along section D-D′.
FIG. 14 is a front view of an alternative embodiment of the invention with an off-center aperture, and showing section D-D′.
FIG. 15 illustrates use of the invention in aiming a handgun.
FIG. 16 is a side view of a handgun.
FIG. 17 is an enlarged view of a rear sight of a handgun.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Turning now to FIG. 4, a side view schematic diagram of use of the invention is shown. A firearm barrel 10 has a rear open iron sight 20 and a post front sight 30. It is intended to aim the firearm with barrel 10 at target 40. The inventive optical device 50, hereinafter referred to as an “Eye Pal”, is attached to a front surface 60 of a lens 65 of eyeglasses worn by a person (not shown) aiming the firearm at target 40. The words “Eye Pal” are a trademark of the inventor Charles L. Summers, doing business as Resident Artist. The person's eye 70 has the pupil 75 aligned along sight line 80 (indicated by a dashed line) through an aperture 55 of the Eye Pal 50. Also, the line of sight 80 passes through the rear sight 20 and across the top of post sight 30, and extends beyond barrel 10 of the firearm to intersect the target 40. The rear sight 20 and front sight 30 are adjusted so that a bullet fired by the firearm with barrel 10 will travel along a Galilean trajectory (not shown) and hit the target 40 when the sight line, beginning at the pupil 75 of the person's eye 70, through the aperture 55 of the Eye Pal 50, and through the rear sight 20 and across the top of the post sight 30 intersects the bulls eye 40 of target 42.
The Eye Pal 50 is a collimator, and aperture 55 in Eye Pal 50 collimates the light. Eye Pal 50 is made of opaque material with a hole formed therein to form aperture 55. The opaque material stops unwanted light. A cone of light rays passing through the aperture 55 of the collimator Eye Pal 50 travels through lens 65 of eyeglasses (not shown in FIG. 4, but shown in FIG. 5A) so that the rays are substantially perpendicular to the plane of the lens. Also, the cone of rays enters the eye 70 of the person aiming the firearm with barrel 10 so that the rays impinge on only a small number of rods and cones (not shown) in the person's retina (not shown).
Turning now to FIG. 5A, a person 500 is shown aiming rifle 510. The person 500 is wearing eyeglasses 520. An Eye Pal 50 is attached to eyeglasses 520, and aperture 55 is aligned with the pupil (not shown) of the eye (not shown) of person 500. The aperture 55 is small and difficult to see in FIG. 5A. Eyeglasses 520 are shown as a curved style as is commonly used in manufacture of sunglasses from a plastic material such as polycarbonate.
Turning now to FIG. 6, a close up view of person 500 is shown. Aperture 55 of Eye Pal 50 is more clearly visible in FIG. 6.
The Eye Pal 50 may be made by use of a mold using a liquid which solidifies into a static cling vinyl, by use of an injection molding process. Alternatively, a sheet of static cling vinyl may be punched out to form the inventive Eye Pal 50. The Eye Pal 50 is preferably made of opaque material so that it stops light except at the aperture 55 in the Eye Pal 50. Colors of static cling vinyl of black, red, green, and blue have all been found to be satisfactory.
Eyeglasses may be made of polycarbonate as safety glasses often are, and polycarbonate has been found to work satisfactorily with an Eye Pal 50 made of static cling vinyl. Other materials from which eyeglasses and safety goggles are made have also been found to work satisfactorily with static cling vinyl. The only requirement is that the Eye Pal 50 adhere by electrostatic attraction, or by any surface attraction, to the material of eyeglasses worn by the person aiming the firearm. Goggles (not shown) which fit over eyeglasses may also be used with an Eye Pal 50 adhered to the outer surface of the goggles.
Turning now to FIG. 7A, a target as visualized by a person is shown, where the person has impaired eyesight, and the person is sighting a rifle using the invention. The invention is being used as shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5A, and FIG. 6. The target 40 is in focus and is visualized, the front sight 30 is in focus and is visualized, and the rear sight 20 is in focus and is visualized. FIG. 7A represents a photograph taken by a camera (not shown) occupying the position of the person's eye 70, as shown in FIG. 4. The camera (not shown) photographed the view observed by the person's eye 70 along sight line 80, using the invention.
The view within the cone of light rays passing through aperture 55 is shown inside of circle 71. The view beyond outside diameter 1010 of the inventive Eye Pal 50, as shown in FIG. 9, is visualized beyond circle 73, by the person aiming the firearm. The view beyond outside diameter 1010, that is beyond circle 73, is not shown in FIG. 7A.
The view beyond outside diameter 1010 is a distraction to the person using the inventive Eye Pal 50. This distracting view is reduced by placing aperture 55 off-center in the inventive Eye Pal 50, as shown in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 and the associated discussion herein below.
Turning now to FIG. 7B, the target and rifle sights are shown as seen by a person with near-sighted vision impairment, and without the invention. The rear sight 20 is visualized. The front sight 30 is out of focus for the person and so is not visualized. The target 40 is out of focus, and so is not seen clearly. FIG. 7B illustrates a lack of alignment between rear sight 20, front sight 30, and target 40 because the person attempting to aim the firearm cannot clearly see the front sight 30 and target 40. The person attempting to aim the firearm will most likely miss the target when he fires the firearm because of his vision impairment of not being able to visualize the rear sight and simultaneously visualize the front sight and target.
Turning now to FIG. 7C, the target and rifle sight are shown as seen by a person with far-sighted vision impairment, and without the invention. Both the rear rifle sight and the front rifle sight are out of focus, and the target is in focus. FIG. 7C illustrates an alignment between the rear sight 20, the front sight 30, and the target, even though both the rear sight and the front sight are poorly visualized as illustrated by the fuzziness drawn into FIG. 7C. The alignment illustrated in FIG. 7C is more of a chance outcome rather than an intentional outcome because the person cannot visualize the rear sight and front sight clearly.
Accordingly, without the invention, neither a person with near-sighted vision impairment nor far-sighted vision impairment can aim the firearm. In contrast, the invention makes it possible for both individuals with both near-sighted vision impairment and far-sighted vision impairment to aim the firearm at the target.
Turning now to FIG. 8, a representative view of the inventive Eye Pal 50 is shown with a carrying case. The carrying case is of the plastic type used for contact lenses, and is of the type commonly sold in drug stores. Carrying case 900 has two wells 910 and 920. Well 910 has a cap 912 which snaps onto well 910 to protect the Eye Pal 914 shown in well 910. Well 920 also has a plastic cap 922 which snaps onto well 920 to protect any Eye Pal carried in well 920. Eye Pal 924 is shown lying on a surface outside of carrying case 900. Aperture 55 is indicated in both Eye Pals 914, 924. Eye Pal 924 may be protected in well 920.
Turning now to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, shop drawings of the inventive Eye Pal 50 are shown. FIG. 9 is a front view of the inventive Eye Pal 50, and FIG. 10 is a sectional drawing of FIG. 9, along section A-A′. Eye Pal 50 has an outside diameter 1010 chosen to conveniently fit on commonly worn eyeglasses. A diameter 1010 between about three quarters inch to one inch has been found convenient. Stated in millimeters, diameters 1010 between about 15 millimeters and 25 millimeters have been found convenient.
As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, aperture 55 has diameter 1020. A preferred diameter 1020 of aperture 55 has been found to be about 45/1000 of an inch. Expressed in millimeters this diameter is about 1.1 millimeter to 1.6 millimeters. This preferred range of diameter 1020 of aperture 55 has been used on eyeglasses such as shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5A and FIG. 6.
The optimum diameter 1020 of aperture 55 depends upon the mechanical arrangement of the eyeglasses worn by the person aiming the firearm. When large safety glasses (not shown) which cover ordinary eyeglasses as shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5A, and FIG. 6, et cet. are worn by the person aiming the firearm, the inventive Eye Pal 50 is moved further away from the pupil of the person's eye 70. In this case, a larger diameter 1020 of aperture 55 may be used, as the solid angle subtended by aperture 55 at the retina (not shown) of the person's eye 70 depends upon both the area of aperture 55 and the square of the distance between the aperture and the person's retina. Moving the inventive Eye Pal 50 further away from the retina then requires a larger diameter 1020 for aperture 55 in order to maintain the same solid angle, as obtained by direct application of the inventive Eye Pal 50 to ordinary vision correcting eyeglasses.
When a smaller diameter 1020 of aperture 55 is used, the image visualized by the person becomes “gray”. This effect is spoken of as “graying out”, and is believed to be due to diffraction of light at the aperture 55. This “graying out” is an example of optical effects being diffraction limited.
The preferred embodiment of the invention has been found to be a diameter 1020 of aperture 55 of about 1.1 to 1.6 millimeters, that is around 45/1000 inch to 62/1000 of an inch. When the aperture is moved further away, a larger aperture is indicated, in order to maintain the solid angle subtended by the aperture 55 at the retina of the person aiming the firearm.
The material from which the inventive Eye Pal 50 is made has been found to be conveniently “static cling vinyl”. Static cling vinyl in sheets of about 0.010 inch thickness are cut into circular Eye Pals 50 of about ¾ inches diameter, with about a 45/1000 inch diameter 1020 of aperture 55. Static cling vinyl is available from Grafix Plastics, Cleveland, Ohio, and from other plastics dealers.
Preferably, the inventive Eye Pal 50 is made of opaque material. Opaque material stops light which interferes with the cone of rays passing through the aperture. Only light passing through the aperture is useful in aiming the firearm, and so blocking other light from reaching the person's eye improves the image as the person visualizes the rear sight, front sight, and target.
The surface of the inventive Eye Pal 50 is preferably made a flat finish to reduce reflections. However, the inner surface, toward the eye of the person aiming the firearm, may be made glossy in order to increase adhesion to the surface of the eyeglasses by the static cling vinyl.
Turning now to FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B, an alternative embodiment of the invention is shown. A mold is used to form by an injection molding process the inventive Eye Pal 50 from a liquid static cling vinyl, and the mold is made to leave a rounded shape to the Eye Pal 50. A stepped inner surface 1120 may be used for strength, and to reduce reflections. Dashed circular lines 1110 show ridges arising from the stepped inner surface illustrated in the sectional view of FIG. 11B. The stepped inner surface 1120 forms rings centered on aperture 55.
Reflections of light from the inner surface 1120 of Eye Pal 50 may interfere with visualization of the sights of the firearm and visualization of the target. Reduction of potential reflections, by circular anti-reflective steps in the inner surface 1120 of Eye Pal 50, improves visualization of the rear sight, front sight, and target by the person using the Eye Pal 50.
Turning now to FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B, a further alternative embodiment of the invention is shown. The alternative embodiment of the invention has an optical filter 1210 is inserted in a step formed on the inner part of the rounded shape of the Eye Pal 50. Means for attaching the optical filter are provided by the stepped ridges 1220 formed on the inner surface 1230 of Eye Pal 50. The optical filter may be color filters, polarizers etc., in order to improve visualization of the target, the rear sight, and front sight. A standard size of optical filter has a diameter of about ½ inch, and the Eye Pal 50 is sized to accept such a standard size optical filter.
Turning now to FIG. 13, an alternative embodiment of the invention is shown, where the aperture 1310 is off center from the Eye Pal 1320 and the shape of the Eye Pal 1320 approximates a portion of a spherical surface. Placement of the aperture off-center improves the ability of a user to position the aperture on his eyeglasses. A larger outer diameter of the Eye Pal 1320 may be used to block stray light, and placement of the aperture off-center permits the aperture to be placed closer to the frame of the person's eyeglasses. A simple rotation of 180 degrees of the Eye Pal 1320 before attachment to the person's eyeglasses allows the inventive Eye Pal 1320 to be used by both left handed and right handed persons.
Turning now to FIG. 14, a front view of the alternative embodiment of Eye Pal 1400 of FIG. 13 is shown. Eye Pal 1400 has aperture 1410 off center. The inventive Eye Pal 1400 may be either flat as shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, or may approximate a portion of a spherical surface as shown in FIGS. 11A, 11B, and FIGS. 12A, 12B, and FIG. 13. The markings “L” and “R” indicate either left handed or right handed use.
Turning now to FIG. 15, use of the inventive Eye Pal 50 in aiming a handgun is shown. The person 1525 is wearing eyeglasses 1520. Eye Pal 1510 is attached to lens 1512 of eyeglasses 1520 by electrostatic attraction between the static cling vinyl of the Eye Pal 1510 and the lens 1512 of eyeglasses 1520. The handgun 1528 has rear sight 1530 and front sight 1540. The aperture 55 of the Eye Pal 1510 helps the person 1525 visualize the rear sight 1530, the front sight 1540, and the target (not shown) as indicated in FIG. 4, and as shown in FIG. 7A.
Turning now to FIG. 16, a side view outline drawing of a handgun 1605 is shown. Handgun 1605 has rear sight 1610 and front sight 1620. Front sight 1620 is a blade sight made of a thin sheet of metal. The blade appears to the person aiming the handgun as a vertical shaft given by the thickness of the blade. FIG. 17 gives a front view of the rear sight 1610 of handgun 1605. Rear sight 1610 has triangular grove 1720 which the person aligns with the front sight 1620 and the target (not shown) as illustrated in FIG. 4. The inventive Eye Pal 50 helps the person aiming the handgun to simultaneously visualize the rear sight, the front sight and the target, as illustrated in FIG. 7A.
The foregoing description has been directed to particular embodiments of this invention. It will be apparent, however, that other variations and modifications may be made to the described embodiments, with the attainment of some or all of their advantages. Therefore, it is the object of the appended claims to cover all such variations and modifications as come within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
Patent Application
20080034637
