Abstract:
A reticle is provided and may include a vertical line and a horizontal line cooperating to form a center-aiming point. A first plurality of indicia may be located along the vertical line and may each include two normal sides that are formed normal to the vertical line and two parallel sides that are formed parallel to the vertical line. A second plurality of indicia may be located along the horizontal line and may each include two normal sides that are formed normal to the horizontal line and two parallel sides that are formed parallel to the horizontal line.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/579,005, filed on Dec. 22, 2011. The entire disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD 
       [0002]    The present disclosure relates to optical sights and more particularly to a reticle for use with an optical sight. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art. 
         [0004]    Optical sights are conventionally used with weapons to aid a shooter in properly aligning the weapon with a target. For example, a firearm may be equipped with an optical sight to aid a shooter in properly aligning a barrel of the firearm with a desired target. The optical sight may include an optics train that magnifies an image of the target and, further, may include a reticle that is overlaid on the magnified image to aid in properly aligning the firearm with the target. 
         [0005]    Reticles are conventionally etched or otherwise printed on a component of the optical sight to allow the reticle to be visible over a magnified image of a target and, further, typically include a vertical line and a horizontal line that intersect to provide a shooter with a center-aiming point. Conventional reticles may also include a series of indicia spaced along the vertical line and the horizontal line for use in estimating the range to or the size of a target. 
         [0006]    One such prior-art reticle is a so-called Mil-Dot reticle. A Mil-Dot reticle includes a vertical line and a horizontal line that cooperate to form a center-aiming point. Conventional Mil-Dot reticles additionally include a series of solid dots evenly spaced along the vertical line and the horizontal line that may be used by a shooter to estimate the range to or the size of a target. The dots are typically circular with centers of adjacent dots being spaced apart from one another by one milliradian (i.e., one Mil). A milliradian relates to the U.S. military variation of a unit of angle, which is approximately equal to 36 inches (i.e., one yard) at 1,000 yards or 3.6 inches at 100 yards. A shooter may utilize the foregoing information by aligning the Mils of the Mil-Dot reticle with a target of known height to estimate a range to the target. The estimated range can then be used by the shooter to compensate for both bullet drop and wind drifts and, therefore, increases the likelihood that a projectile fired from the firearm will impact the target at a desired location. 
         [0007]    While conventional Mil-Dot reticles allow a shooter to measure the range to objects of known size, to determine the size of objects at known distances, and to compensate for both bullet drop and wind drifts at known ranges, conventional Mil-Dot reticles often obscure targets a long distances. Namely, because the Dots utilized in a conventional Mil-Dot reticle are solid and, further, because targets at long ranges often appear small even when viewed through a magnified optical sight, the solid nature of the dot used in a conventional Mil-Dot reticle can impair the view of the shooter when aligning the Mil-Dot reticle relative to the desired target. Obscuring the view of the shooter obviously impacts the shooter&#39;s ability to view the target and properly align the reticle with the target. Further, the solid Dot does not allow the shooter to estimate where a target falls within a particular Dot and therefore reduces the accuracy of an estimated range-to-target. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0008]    This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features. 
         [0009]    A reticle is provided and may include a vertical line and a horizontal line cooperating to form a center-aiming point. A first plurality of indicia may be located along the vertical line and may each include two normal sides that are formed normal to the vertical line and two parallel sides that are formed parallel to the vertical line. A second plurality of indicia may be located along the horizontal line and may each include two normal sides that are formed normal to the vertical line and two parallel sides that are formed parallel to the vertical line. 
         [0010]    In another configuration, a reticle is provided and may include a vertical line and a horizontal line cooperating to form a center-aiming point. A first plurality of indicia may be located along the vertical line and may each include two first lines that are formed normal to and intersect the vertical line and two second lines that are formed parallel to the vertical line. A second plurality of indicia may be located along the horizontal line and may each include two third lines that are formed normal to and intersect the horizontal line and two fourth lines that are formed parallel to the horizontal line. 
         [0011]    Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. 
     
    
     
       DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a firearm incorporating an optical sight in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure; 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a front view of a reticle in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure for use with the optical sight of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a detailed view of a portion of the reticle of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a detailed view of a portion of the reticle of  FIG. 3 ; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a detailed view of a portion of the reticle of  FIG. 3 . 
       
    
    
       [0018]    Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0019]    Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
         [0020]    Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are not described in detail. 
         [0021]    The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed. 
         [0022]    When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to,” “directly connected to,” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. 
         [0023]    Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments. 
         [0024]    Spatially relative terms, such as “inner,” “outer,” “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper,” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature&#39;s relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly. 
         [0025]    With reference to the figures, an optical sight  10  for use with a firearm  12  is provided. The optical sight  10  may include an optics train  14  that displays a reticle  16  ( FIGS. 2 and 3 ) at an eyepiece  18  of the optical sight  10 . The reticle  16  may be used to align the optical sight  10  and, thus, the firearm  12 , relative to a target (not shown) to increase the likelihood that a projectile fired from the firearm  12  impacts the target at a desired location. 
         [0026]    With particular reference to  FIGS. 2-5 , the reticle  16  may include a vertical line  20  and a horizontal line  22  that cooperate to provide the reticle  16  with a center-aiming point  24 . Specifically, the vertical line  20  intersects the horizontal line  22  at the center-aiming point  24  such that the vertical line  20  and horizontal line  22  are perpendicular to one another and the center-aiming point  24  is located at a center of the eyepiece  18 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , positioning the center-aiming point  24  at a center of the eyepiece  18  essentially divides the eyepiece  18  into four equal segments  26 ,  28 ,  30 ,  32 , each bound by a portion of the vertical line  20 , the horizontal line  22 , and an outer perimeter of the eyepiece  18 . 
         [0027]    The vertical line  20  may include a series of indicia  34  positioned at spaced intervals along the vertical line  20 . The indicia  34  may be evenly spaced apart from one another such that the distance between centers of adjacent indicia  34  is equal to one miliradian (i.e., “Mil”). Spacing adjacent centers of adjacent indicia  34  one Mil apart from one another allows a shooter to measure the range to objects of known size and to determine the size of objects at known distances. For example, one Mil is approximately equal to thirty-six (36) inches or one (1) yard at one thousand (1000) yards and is approximately equal to 3.6 inches at one-hundred (100) yards. A shooter may use the foregoing information by aligning a target with the indicia  34  disposed along the vertical line  20  to estimate the range to an object of known size or to determine the size (i.e., height) of a target at a known distance. 
         [0028]    The indicia  34  may include an aiming point  36  and a pair of alignment marks  38  ( FIG. 4 ). In addition, the indicia  34  may be formed by a first line  40  and a second line  42  that are formed perpendicular to the vertical line  20 . The first line  40  and the second line  42  may each interrupt the vertical line  20  and may be connected to one another by a third line  44  and a fourth line  46 , whereby the third line  44  and the fourth line  46  are perpendicular to the first line  40  and the second line  42  and are parallel to the vertical line  20 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the first line  40 , the second line  42 , the third line  44 , and the fourth line  46  cooperate to provide the indicia  34  with a square shape. Further, because the indicia  34  are formed from lines  40 ,  42 ,  44 ,  46 , each indicia  34  is hollow, thereby allowing a shooter to see through each indicia  34  in an area bounded by the first line  40 , the second line  42 , the third line  44 , and the fourth line  46 . In other words, a shooter may view a target through the indicia  34  and may line up a target within an area bounded by the first line  40 , the second line  42 , the third line  44 , and the fourth line  46 . 
         [0029]    The aiming point  36  may be centrally located within the indicia  34  such that the aiming point  36  is equally spaced from each of the first line  40 , the second line  42 , the third line  44 , and the fourth line  46 . The alignment marks  38  may be positioned along the third line  44  and the fourth line  46  such that the alignment marks  38  are aligned with the aiming point  36  and with one another. Namely, the alignment marks  38  may be positioned such that the alignment marks  38  are coplanar with the aiming point  36 . Regardless of the position of the alignment marks  36  along the third line  44  and the fourth line  46 , each alignment mark  38  extends from respective ones of the third line  44  and the fourth line  46  such that the alignment marks  38  are perpendicular to the third line  44  and the fourth line  46 . Because the alignment marks  38  are perpendicular to the third line  44  and the fourth line  46 , the alignment marks  38  are likewise perpendicular to the vertical line  20  and are parallel to the first line  40  and the second line  42 . 
         [0030]    Centrally locating the aiming point  36  within the indicia  34  provides a shooter with the ability to visually separate each indicia  34  into a top half  48  and a bottom half  50 . The top half  48  of the indicia  34  is an area within each indicia  34  generally between the alignment point  36  and the first line  40  and the bottom half  50  is an area within each indicia  34  generally between the aiming point  36  and the second line  42  ( FIG. 4 ). While the aiming point  36  could be any geometrical shape such as, for example, a circle, a diamond, a square, or a rectangle, providing the aiming point  36  with a top surface and a bottom surface that are substantially planar and parallel to the first line  40  and the second line  42  allows a shooter to more accurately segregate the indicia  34  into the top half  48  and the bottom half  50  during use and facilitates the overall use of the reticle  16 . For example, if the aiming point  36  is square or rectangular, a shooter can more easily align a target within the top half  48  or within the bottom half  50  of the indicia  34  and can rely on the planar surfaces of the aiming point  36  when leveling the firearm  12 . Likewise, providing the alignment marks  38  with a square or rectangular shape allows a shooter to easily align a target with the planar surfaces of the aiming point  36 . 
         [0031]    The vertical line  20  may also include a series of hash marks  52  in addition to the spaced-apart indicia  34 . The hash marks  52  may be disposed between adjacent indicia  34  such that each hash mark  52  is evenly spaced from the aiming points  36  of adjacent indicia  34 . Evenly spacing the hash marks  52  in the foregoing manner necessarily requires that the hash marks  52  are spaced apart from one another along the vertical line  20  such that the distance between adjacent hash marks  52  equals one Mil. As such, the distance between the aiming point  36  of the indicia  34  and an adjacent hash mark  52  is equal to 0.5 Mil. 
         [0032]    With particular reference to  FIGS. 3 and 5 , the horizontal line  22  is shown to include a series of indicia  54 . The indicia  54  are evenly spaced along the horizontal line  22  such that the centers of adjacent indicia  54  are separated by a distance equal to one Mil. As with the indicia  34 , one Mil is approximately equal to thirty-six (36) inches or one (1) yard at one thousand (1000) yards and is approximately equal to 3.6 inches at one-hundred (100) yards. A shooter may use the foregoing information by aligning a target with the indicia  54  disposed along the horizontal line  22  to estimate the range to an object of known size or to determine the size (i.e., width) of a target at a known distance. 
         [0033]    Each indicia  54  may include an aiming point  56  as well as a pair of alignment marks  58  and may be formed by a first line  60  and a second line  62  that extend perpendicular to and interrupt the horizontal line  22 . The first line  60  and the second line  62  may be attached to one another by a third line  64  and a fourth line  66  that extend perpendicular to the first line  60  and the second line  62  and extend parallel to the horizontal line  22 . 
         [0034]    As described and as shown in  FIG. 5 , the first line  60 , the second line  62 , the third line  64 , and the fourth line  66  cooperate to provide the indicia  54  with a square shape. Further, because the indicia  54  are formed by lines  60 ,  62 ,  64 ,  66 , each indicia  54  is hollow, thereby allowing a shooter to see through the indicia  54 . In other words, a shooter may view a target through the indicia  54  and may line up a target within an area bounded by the first line  60 , the second line  62 , the third line  64 , and the fourth line  66 . 
         [0035]    The aiming point  56  may be centrally located within the indicia  54  in an area bounded by the first line  60 , the second line  62 , the third line  64 , and the fourth line  66 . As such, the aiming point  56  may be located within each indicia  54  such that the aiming point  56  is evenly spaced from the first line  60 , the second line  62 , the third line  64 , and the fourth line  66 . 
         [0036]    The aiming point  56  may include virtually any geometric shape such as, for example, a circle, a triangle, a square, or a rectangle. However, forming the aiming point  56  from a shape having substantially flat surfaces that are parallel to the respective lines  60 ,  62 ,  64 ,  66  of the indicia  54  allows a shooter to easily separate each indicia  54  into a left half  68  and a right half  70 . For example, if the aiming point  56  is formed from a square, the aiming point  56  includes outer surfaces that are respectively parallel to the first line  60 , the second line  62 , the third line  64 , and the fourth line  66 . Positioning the aiming point  56  such that the aiming point  56  is centrally located within the indicia  54  and, further, forming the aiming point  56  from a square, allows a shooter to easily segment the indicia  54  into a left half  68  and a right half  70 . 
         [0037]    The alignment marks  58  may be used in conjunction with the aiming point  56  to further aid a shooter in aligning the indicia  54  with a target. For example, the alignment marks  58  may be aligned with the aiming point  56  such that the alignment marks  58  and aiming point  56  are disposed within the same plane. As such, the alignment marks  58  may be used to additionally aid a shooter in segmenting the indicia  54  into the left half  68  and the right half  70 . The alignment marks  58  are respectively associated with the third line  64  and the fourth line  66  and extend from the third line  64  and the fourth line  66  such that the alignment marks  58  are perpendicular to the third line  64  and the fourth line  66 . 
         [0038]    As with the vertical line  20 , the horizontal line  22  may include a series of hash marks  72  that are evenly spaced along the horizontal line  22 . The hash marks  72  may be spaced apart from one another such that adjacent hash marks  72  are separated by one Mil. Further, the hash marks  72  may be located along the horizontal line  22  such that each hash mark  72  is spaced apart from the aiming point  56  of an adjacent indicia  54  by 0.5 Mil. As described, the hash marks  72  are equally spaced apart from one another and, therefore, are equally spaced apart from adjacent indicia  54 . As a result, a hash mark  72  located between a pair of indicia  54  is equally spaced from the aiming point  56  of the adjacent indicia  54  and, therefore, are spaced apart from the aiming point  56  of adjacent indicia  54  by 0.5 Mil. 
         [0039]    With continued reference to  FIGS. 3-5 , operation of the optical sight  10  and reticle  16  will be described in detail. The reticle  16  may be used to aid a shooter in aligning the optical sight  10  and, thus, the firearm  12 , relative to a desired target. In one configuration, the shooter may use the reticle  16  to determine the range to objects of known size or to determine the size of objects at known distances. For example, a shooter may position the optical sight  10  such that the reticle  16  is overlaid over a target having a height approximately equal to ten (10) inches. The shooter may align the center-aiming point  24  of the reticle  16  with a base of the target and may then locate the top of the target along the vertical line  20 . While operation of the reticle  16  will be described below as referencing the height of a target and, thus, will be described in conjunction with the indicia  34  located along the vertical line  20 , a similar operation could be performed to determine the range to a target if a width of the target is known. Such an operation would utilize the indicia  54  of the horizontal line  22  in place of the indicia  34  of the vertical line  20 . 
         [0040]    If the top of the target is aligned with the aiming point  36  of the first indicia  34  up from the center-aiming point  24 , the shooter may determine that the Mil size of the target is equal to one (1). If, however, the top of the target is aligned with the second line  42  of the indicia  34 , the shooter may approximate the Mil size as being less than 1 Mil or approximately 0.875 Mil. The determined Mil size of the target may then be used in conjunction with the approximated height of the target (i.e., ten inches) to determine the number of yards to the target. 
         [0041]    The following equation may be used to estimate the yards to target, whereby the target size is multiplied by a constant and is then divided by the Mil size. The product of the following equation provides the shooter with the estimated number of yards to the target. 
         [0000]      (Target Size×27.778)/(Mil Size)=Yards to Target
 
         [0042]    The indicia  34  of the reticle  16  allow the shooter to determine the exact location of the top of the target within a respective one of the indicia  34  as well as the exact location of the width of the target within a respective one of the indicia  54 . For example, if the top of the target extends into the indicia  34 , the shooter can clearly see where the top of the target falls within the indicia  34 , as the indicia  34  are formed from lines  40 ,  42 ,  44 ,  46  and are therefore hollow. In other words, the hollow nature of the indicia  34  allows the shooter to view the target within the indicia  34  and to align the target within one of the top half  48  and the bottom half  50 . The shooter can then clearly determine whether the top of the target falls within the top half  48  or the bottom half  50  of the indicia  34  and, as a result, can accurately determine the Mil size of the target. 
         [0043]    The foregoing information can be used by the shooter to compensate for both bullet drop and wind drift at known ranges by calculating a range to the target. Allowing the shooter to compensate for bullet drop and wind drift increases the likelihood that a projectile fired from the firearm  12  will impact the target at a desired location. 
         [0044]    In addition to providing a shooter with the ability to determine a range to a target of known size and to determine a size of a target at a known distance, the reticle  16  also provides a shooter with the ability to ensure that the firearm  12  is level. Namely, because the indicia  34 ,  54  include surfaces  40 ,  64 , respectively, that are parallel to ground, a shooter may utilize the indicia  34 ,  54  to properly align the firearm  12  and to ensure the firearm  12  is level. 
         [0045]    The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.