Visor supported display system

A visor supported display system may be worn by a user to enable visual information to be selectively viewed by the user. The visor supported display is arranged with a housing including a main portion that is fixable to an underside of a visor. A movable portion of the housing is movably fixed to the main portion so that it may be moved to a down or open position so that visual information can be viewed. When the viewing of the visual information is no longer necessary, the movable portion may be moved to a closed or up position, improving the forward looking view of the user. A source of the visual information may most preferably be provided separate to, and external of, the visor supported display.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to display devices and systems. More 
particularly, the invention relates to a personal visor supported display 
a wearer employs to selectively view visual information, while enabling 
increased forward looking visibility when the visual information is not 
being viewed. 
2. Background and Objects of the Invention 
The advent of micro-electronic systems has lead to the development of a 
large variety of personal electronic systems that may be belt worn or 
carried in a pocket of a user. Examples of such systems include stereo 
cassette players, Compact disk players, AM/FM radios, handheld games, 
wireless telephones, televisions, specialized and general purpose 
computers, etc. These devices always include means to support the exchange 
of information with the user. For example, when considering a portable 
stereo cassette, a pair of headphones and a simple arrangement of controls 
may be provided as such a means. 
When considering the need to support the delivery of visual information 
(including text and or visual images) to a user via a hands free 
arrangement, it should be noted that presently available personal display 
arrangements significantly restrict the forward looking view or vision of 
a wearer. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,708,449 to Heacock et al. teaches a 
"binocular head mounted display system". However, the Heacock display 
arrangement, as well as others available in the art, are fixed in 
position. Such devices significantly or totally restrict the forward 
looking view of a user. Accordingly, if a wearer of such a display needs 
an improved forward looking view, the display must be lifted and or 
removed. It would be desirable to have a display arrangement that enables 
a wearer to selectively view visual information (when necessary), while 
still allowing at least limited forward looking vision to be maintained. 
In addition, a display means would be most preferred that significantly 
improves a forward looking view when said visual information does not need 
to be viewed. 
Accordingly, the present invention provides new and improved visor 
supported display arrangements having one or more of the following 
capabilities, features, characteristics, and or advantages: 
a compact, self-contained visor supportable display arrangement; 
constructed with a simple housing having a main portion and a moveable 
portion; 
the movable portion movable from a closed position (providing at least a 
partial forward looking view to the wearer) to an open position which 
enables visual information to be viewed by a wearer; 
includes at least one active display element within a display module to 
present the visual information to a user/wearer; 
may include an interface module to operatively couple the visor display to 
a visual information source to enable visual information to be received 
and displayed by the visor supported display; 
may include a reflective surface fixed to the movable portion to enable a 
reflection of an image produced by the display module to be viewed by a 
wearer; 
head worn display arrangement possibly receiving power from the visual 
information source; 
simple architecture; and 
economical construction using a number of off-the-shelf parts and 
components. 
The above listed capabilities, characteristics, and or associated novel 
features of the present invention, as well as others, will become clear 
from a careful review of the description and figures provided herein. 
Attention is called to the fact, however, that the drawings and 
descriptions are illustrative only. Variations are contemplated as being 
part of the invention, limited only by the scope of the appended claims. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with the present invention, a visor supported display is 
provided for use with a head mounted visor worn by a wearer. The visor 
supported display, which enables visual information to be selectively 
viewed by the wearer, includes a housing having a main portion that is 
structured to be fixable to an underside of the visor. A movable (bottom) 
portion is movably fixed to the main portion of the housing, and provides 
access to an interior cavity. The movable portion of the housing is 
structured so as to enable a wearer to selectively move the movable 
portion between a closed (up) position or an open (down) position. When in 
the open position a display means mounted within the housing enables the 
wearer of the visor to view visual information. When visual information is 
no longer being viewed, the movable portion may be moved to a closed 
position, significantly improving the forward looking view of a wearer. 
The visual information provided to the wearer may preferably be provided to 
separate active display elements of at least one display module. Further, 
each display module would be preferably mounted in the main portion of the 
housing with a reflective surface suitably mounted to the movable portion. 
The display module is oriented so that the wearer may view the visual 
information via a reflected image of the visual information (provided by 
the active display elements). At least one lens may be interposed between 
the active display element(s) of the display module and the reflective 
surface. The lens may be arranged to magnify the image of the visual 
information provided by the display module that is reflected and viewed by 
the wearer. The reflective surface may also be suitably curved, say in a 
concaved fashion, to provide a desired magnification effect, and or any 
other controlled and desired image distortion. 
As a function of a particular external visual information source being 
used, as well as the architecture of the visor supported display, an 
interface module may be provided in addition to the display module. The 
interface module would enable visual information to be received from the 
visual information source and displayed for viewing by a user.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS USED IN THE DRAWINGS 
18--cap (having a visor) 
20--visor supported display or visor display 
24--main portion (of housing) 
24a--partition support wall 
26--movable portion (of housing) 
28--interior cavity 
28a--opening 
30--visor (or bill) 
34--hinge means 
40--reflective surface 
44--display module 
44a--active display element (of display module) 
46--interface module (electronics) 
50--lens 
60--visual information source 
64--user interface 
70--power regulator 
72--battery 
74--switch means 
76--on-off switch 
80--coupling means 
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
It is important to establish the definition of several terms that will be 
used throughout this disclosure. The term `visor` is to be defined as a 
forward extending bill extending somewhat horizontally from the forehead 
of a wearer. Accordingly, the position of the visor is essentially above 
the forward looking line of sight of a wearer. The visor may be provided 
as part of a cap, or simply have a strap for maintaining the desired 
position as illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B. The term `housing`, which is 
well known to skilled persons, provides a shell or case that houses and or 
supports essential elements of the display system. The expression 
`discrete visual information` indicates the display system can provide a 
binocular view, enabling one or more images of visual information to be 
viewed. That is, each eye of the wearer may view different visual 
information. Additional terms and expressions will be defined below, as 
required. 
Turning now to FIG. 1A, there is depicted a profile view of a visor 
supported display (system) 20 that may be worn by a wearer. The embodiment 
illustrated is fixed to a baseball style cap 18. The visor supported 
display 20, as can be seen in FIGS. 1A and 1B, includes a main portion 24 
that may be fixed to an underside of the visor 30. The main portion 24 of 
the housing is formed to provide an interior cavity 28 (best seen in FIG. 
3) with an opening 28a. The opening 28a provides access to the interior 
cavity 28, which is arranged to hold items including electronic circuits 
and a suitable display module 44. A movable portion 26 in further provided 
that is movably fixed the main portion 24 by a hinge means 34 so as to be 
movable between a closed (up) position and an open (down) position. When 
the moveable portion 26 is in the closed position, as shown in FIG. 1A, 
the opening 28a is substantially covered or closed. Alternately, when the 
movable portion 26 is in the open position, as shown in FIG. 1B, an image 
of the visual information to be viewed by a wearer is available, 
preferably preserving a portion of the forward looking vision or view of 
the wearer. At minimum, preferred embodiments of the visor supported 
display will enable a user to see the ground immediately in front of 
him/her while the movable portion 26 is in the open position. Clearly, the 
forward looking view or vision of the wearer may also be significantly 
increased by the wearer simply lifting or tilting his/her head back. This 
action will allay the need of the wearer to lift or remove the visor 
supported display 20 to gain increased vision. 
Turning to FIGS. 2a and 2b, views of the visor supported display from the 
vantage point of a wearer/user are depicted. FIG. 2A, which is taken from 
view of line 2A--2A of FIG. 2A, illustrates a forward looking view with 
the movable portion 26 in the closed position. As can be seen, when the 
movable portion 26 is in the closed position, the forward looking view of 
the wearer is significantly improved. FIG. 2B, which is taken from view of 
line 2B--2B of FIG. 1A, illustrates a forward looking view with the 
movable portion 26 in the down position. As shown in FIG. 2B when the 
movable portion 26 is in the down position, the preferred embodiments of 
the invention have a reflective surface 40 fixed to the movable portion 
26. The reflective surface 40 will be discussed in detail below. 
Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, cross section side view of the visor 
supported display 20 are depicted. A display means is provided to enable 
an image of the visual information to be viewed by the wearer. The display 
means would include a suitable display module 44, which is preferably 
mounted in the main portion 24 of the housing, to produce an image of the 
visual information. The image may be magnified by lens 50, when included, 
which may be employed as shown in FIG. 4, or in other suitable known 
arrangements. It should be noted that the mounting angle of any included 
active display elements 44a may be at a substantially different angles 
from that depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4. 
A reflective surface 40, as can be seen in FIGS. 2B through 5B, is suitably 
mounted to an inner surface 26a of the movable portion 26 of the housing. 
The reflective surface 40 and suitable geometry's of the active display 
elements 44a of the display module 44 enable a wearer of the visor 30 to 
view the visual information provided by the display module 44 via a 
reflection when the movable portion 26 is in the open position. 
As shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 6, an interface module 46 may be included that 
enables a visual information source 60, external to the visor supported 
display 20, to deliver (supply) information to the active display elements 
44a of the display module 44. The received information is available for 
viewing by the wearer (assuming the movable portion 26 is in the open 
position). It should be noted that the electronic circuitry of the 
interface module 46 and the display module 44 are to be defined broadly. 
As such, the required components may be provided in such a manner that 
these units may be combined, either partially or entirely. Accordingly, a 
single circuit board may be employed, as shown in FIG. 4, or a plurality 
of circuit boards may be employed as shown in FIG. 3. Skilled persons will 
also recognize the circuitry required for the interface and display module 
44 may vary considerably as a function of the source of the information, 
as well as the particular active display elements 44a included with the 
displace module 44. Therefore, the interface unit 46 and display module 44 
are to be broadly defined with each providable by complicated circuits 
available in the art. As can be seen in FIG. 3, the main portion 24 of the 
housing may include a partition support wall 24a. The partition support 
wall 24a enables the interface module 46 to be mounted under the display 
module 44 (and the active display elements 44a thereof). 
Importantly, the visual information delivered to a wearer is available to 
the wearer `hands-free`. A most preferable embodiment would simply require 
a user to open or flip down the movable portion 26, and the information 
may be viewed. Accordingly, it is contemplated that a switch means 74, for 
example a micro-switch, may be provided to turn off the visor supported 
display when the movable portion 26 is in the closed position, and turn on 
the visor supported display when the movable portion 26 is placed in the 
open position. 
Turning now to FIGS. 5A and 5B, several embodiments of the reflective 
surface 40 are depicted. In FIG. 5A a simple embodiment of the reflective 
surface 40 is shown with a slightly concaved shape. In contrast, the 
embodiment of FIG. 5B provides a binocular reflection surface having two 
equivalent concaved regions. It is contemplated that the arrangement of 
FIG. 5B may best be embodied with a pair of active display elements. Each 
active display element 44a may further generate a distinctive image of 
visual information to be viewed by the user/wearer. The concaved shape 
depicted in FIGS. 5A and 5B provides a reflective surface 40 that may be 
used to magnify or controllably distort (in a desired manner) the image of 
the visual information provided by the display module 44 that is reflected 
and viewed by the wearer. 
Referring to FIG. 6, there is provided a high-level functional block 
diagram of a preferred embodiment of the invention. A visual information 
source 60 may include various electronic and or electro-mechanical devices 
that provide the function of the visual information generator 58. A user 
interface 64 may be provided with the visual information source 60 for 
setup, configuration, and operation. A power regulator 70 may also be 
included to regulate a power source such as a battery 72. A switch, such 
as on-off switch 76 may be provided to enable the wearer, either directly 
or indirectly, to power up and down the visual information source 60 and 
or the visor supported display 20. As can be seen in FIG. 4, a switch 
means 74 may be provided that may be arranged to turn off the visor 
supported display 20, and possibly the visual information source 60. A 
coupling means 80, preferably provided by a suitable electronic cable, may 
be included that enables the visual information source 60 to deliver the 
visual information to the interface module 46 and or the display module 
44. 
As skilled persons will appreciate, the functional convenience provided by 
the structure of the present invention may be especially suited to small 
self-contained computer systems that may be termed `wearable computers`. 
Wearable computers are essentially very portable computer systems that are 
strapped or suitably fixed to a person. The person may use the computer of 
entertainment purposes such as playing games, or important on-the-job 
related work activities or functions. 
It is important to understand that the description of the embodiments of 
the visor supported display 20 provided herein are illustrative only, and 
other equivalent arrangements are certainly possible. For example, an 
embodiment of the display module 44 of FIG. 3 may include an active 
display element 44a, say provided by a high resolution liquid crystal 
display (LCD) type of display. It should also be understood, that the LCD 
display may be mounted to the movable portion 26 of the housing, with the 
reflective surface 40 omitted. Therefore, the main portion 24 of the 
housing may simply contain electronic circuits, including the interface 
module 46 and any required power supply or regulator circuitry. As skilled 
persons will appreciate, as a function of cost and capability, a large 
plurality of other and further modifications may be made without departing 
from the present invention. Therefore, it is intended to claim all such 
modifications and variations as fall within the scope of the appended 
claims.