Patent ID: 6487012
Filing Date: 2002-11-26
Classification: G02B,H04N

Abstract:
A hand-held 3-D imaging system, comprising:a) a pair of hand-held prism binoculars having at sleast two refracting telescopes mounted on a frame; b) each of said refracting telescopes having an objective lens, a pair of prisms and an eyepiece whereby a primary optical path is defined within each telescope wherein a beam of light that enters in through the objective lens travels through the prisms and out of the eyepiece; c) at least two beam splitters attached to said binoculars, at least one each within said primary optical path within each telescope, each said beam splitter being positioned such that it diverts a portion of the beam of light in said telescope from said primary optical path onto a secondary optical path; d) a least two optical shutting devices attached to said binoculars, one of said devices within said secondary optical path downstream of each said beam splitter, each said shuttering device capable of cycling alternatively between the states of being transparent and of being opaque; e) means for causing said shuttering devices to alternate between said transparent and opaque states in a coordinated fashion, such that when one device is opaque, the other is transparent; f) a beam combiner attached to said binoculars within said secondary optical path and positioned downstream of each said optical shuttering device such that the separate beams of light being alternatively transmitted through said shuttering devices are recombined into a continuous beam; g) a solid-state imaging sensor attached to said binoculars and positioned downstream of said beam combiner for receiving said continuous beam; h) electronic storage media attached within said binoculars and electronically connected to said solid-state imaging sensor, said electronic storage media capable of electronically storing the images sensed by said sensor; i) electronic processing circuitry attached within said binoculars and electronically connected to said electronic storage media and said solid-state imaging sensor for processing the electronic record signal in each refracting telescope and storing it as electronic data in the electronic storage media; and j) a power source electronically connected to said processing circuitry, said electronic storage media; said beam combiners, said shutter devices, said beam splitters, and said solid-state imaging sensor.