Microcontroller operated optical apparatus for surveying rangefinding and trajectory compensating functions

An optical apparatus for attachment to a firearm for aiding in aiming the firearm at a target of known or estimable size, for determining the distance between the apparatus and a target, and for providing an aiming indicator compensatory of deviations in the flight path from the optical axis of the apparatus of a projectile to be launched from the firearm, and having a housing defining an optical axis therethrough and supporting objective and ocular lenses spaced apart and in alignment upon the optical axis, the optical axis lying in a predetermined alignment with the bore of the firearm to which it is attached and adjustable with respect thereto, an image erecting lens disposed upon the optical axis between the objective and ocular lenses, the image erecting and ocular lenses defining a plane of focus within the housing whereupon an erect optical image of a target is formable and viewable by an operator, and a sighting reference adjustably aligned with the optical axis and disposed within the housing relative to the plane of focus so that an image of the sighting reference is viewable by an operator in combination with an image of a target, the apparatus further comprising:

• controllably movable indicator means movably mounted within the housing and producing an image which is viewable by an operator in association with a combined image of the sighting reference and that of a target of known or estimable size for use for measuring a size of an image of the target;
• a microcontroller with memory means for storage of permanent and temporary data and instructions and programmed for performing rangefinding operations and calculations related thereto, and for performing ballistic calculations based on previously preformed rangefinding operations and calculations, and for receiving and producing output control signals related to the rangefinding operations and ballistic calculations, including means for producing a first drive signal indicative of a first position of the controllably movable indicator means, the microcontroller subsequently computing a correction factor based on ballistic data stored in the microcontroller memory means and a newly calculated value for a range to said target for use in compensating for a deviation in the path of said projectile from the optical axis of the apparatus, the microcontroller subsequently, upon completion of rangefinding operations and calculations, producing a second drive signal to cause the controllably movable indicator means to move to a second position for use by an operator in sighting upon the target, the second position being such as to compensate for a vertical displacement of the projectile from the optical axis of the apparatus for the calculated range;
• means for input of instructions and data by an operator into the memory means of the microcontroller for affecting the rangefinding operations and calculations made thereby;
• the controllably movable indicator means being responsive to the first drive signal from the microcontroller for moving to a position relative to the sighting reference to define the apparent range to the target and subsequently, for responding to the second drive signal from the microcontroller so as to move to a corrected position for use by an operator in sighting upon the target, said corrected position being such as to compensate for a vertical displacement of the projectile from the optical axis of the apparatus for the calculated range;
• means for selectably moving the controllably movable indicator in response to the drive signals from the microcontroller;
• and
• positional transducer means associated with the movable indicator and responsive to variations in the position thereof and connected to the microcontroller so as to convey to the microcontroller a positioning signal relating to variations in the position of the movable indicator means, the positioning signal being subsequently utilized by the microcontroller in the range finding operations and calculations made thereby.

Apparatus for attachment to a firearm for aiding in the aiming of the firearm at a target of known or estimable size, the apparatus comprising:

• a housing having an optical axis and supporting objective and ocular lenses spaced apart along the optical axis, means disposed between said lenses for defining a plane of focus within the housing upon which an optical image of the target is formable and viewable by an operator, and a sighting reference for alignment with the optical axis and disposed within the housing relative to the plane of focus, so that an image of the sighting reference is viewable by the operator in combination with an image of the target;
• a microcontroller carried on the housing and programmed for performing rangefinding operations and calculations related thereto, the microcontroller including first memory means for storage of permanent instructions and data related to said rangefinding operations and calculations, second memory means for storage of temporary instructions and data related to said rangefinding operations and calculations, and means for producing control signals related to such rangefinding operations and calculations;
• controllably movable indicator means movably mounted within the housing and positioned so that an optical image of the indicator means is formed for viewing by an operator in combination with the image of the sighting reference and the image of the object for use in measuring a size of the image of the object, the controllably movable indicator means being responsive to control signals output from the microcontroller;
• drive means for selectively moving the controllably movable indicator means in response to the control signals output from the microcontroller;
• input means on the firearm selectively controllable by the operator for producing input control signals for use by the microcontroller for affecting rangefinding operations and calculations performed thereby for producing a first output control signal for use by the drive means for producing a first controlled movement of the controllably movable indicator means;
• and
• correction means associated with the microcontroller for producing a second output control signal in response to the position of the movable indicator means and in response to the data in the first and second memory means, the second output control signal being utilized by the drive means for producing a corrective second control movement of the controllably movable indicator means.

An electronic range measuring apparatus comprising:

• a viewing device through which a target of preselected size can be viewed;
• means for displaying an upper target bracketing line and a lower target bracketing line in the viewing device;
• means for producing a first electrical control signal representative of the preselected size of the target;
• means for controlling relative movement between the upper and lower target bracketing lines in response to an input from a manually operated control switch to adjust the spacing between said bracketing lines in response to the user's visually viewing the target through the viewing device to bracket the size of the target;
• means for producing a second electrical control signal representative of the set spacing between the upper and lower target bracketing lines;
• range measuring means responsive to the first and second electrical control signals for automatically producing a third electrical control signal representative of the range from the viewing device to the target as determined from the set distance between said bracketing lines and said preselected size of the target;
• and
• a digital display associated with the range measuring means and responsive to the third electrical control signal for displaying a digital readout of the range measurement.

An automatic range compensating system for a weapon which fires a projectile, comprising:

• an optical device for mounting on the weapon and through which a target can be viewed;
• a microprocessor for mounting on the weapon;
• range measuring means for producing a first control signal representative of the distance from the weapon to the target;
• ballistic data input means for producing a second control signal representative of data characteristic of the trajectory of the projectile fired by the weapon;
• and
• computing means within the microprocessor for receiving the first and second control signals and, in response thereto, producing a third control signal for producing within the field of view of the optical device an aiming compensation indicator as a function of the previously determined distance and ballistic information.