Abstract:
An improved binocular apparatus, system and method for presenting disparate fields of view is provided. The binocular apparatus and system differently magnifies optical transmissions pertaining to fields of view concurrently and simultaneously presents the optical transmissions pertaining to fields of view disparately.

Description:
FIELD OF INVENTION 
   This invention relates generally to the field of binoculars, and more particularly to binoculars having two monocular barrels presenting disparate fields of view. 
   BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
   A standard binocular typically connotes the combination of an apparatus having two barrels housing identical lens systems. As a result, both barrels present a field of view at the same time, at the same magnification power. The strength of magnification of the binocular is determined by the lenses used and the design of the binocular as is well known in the art. Greater magnification makes it easier to discern objects at a distance, and provides a greater amount of detail to the viewed object. The greater the power of magnification, however, the lesser the field of view presented by the binocular. A limited field of view increases difficulty in targeting or tracking moving objects with precision and accuracy, especially when those objects are either small or moving at a high rate of speed. 
   Accordingly, there is a need for a binocular that concurrently presents disparate fields of view and allows for a detailed presentment of two concurrent magnified states simultaneously without adjusting the binocular. Additionally, there exists a need for an apparatus that can be used to transform a standard binocular into a binocular with disparate field of view lenses that is able to serve the purpose stated above. 
   SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
   The present invention provides improved apparatus and method for presenting disparate fields of view. The foregoing and other features of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of various embodiments of the invention. 
   A first general aspect of the invention provides a binocular comprising: a first barrel, containing a first optics system configured to provide a first magnification and a first field of view; and a second barrel operatively attached to the first barrel said second barrel containing a second optics system configured to provide a second magnification and a second field of view, said second magnification being less than said first magnification, wherein said second field of view is greater than said first field of view, further wherein said first field of view and said second field of view are simultaneously presented by the binocular. 
   A second general aspect of the invention provides a method of directing optical transmissions comprising: providing a binocular system configured to present disparate fields of view, magnifying differently concurrently optical transmissions pertaining to said disparate fields of view; and presenting said magnified optical transmissions pertaining to said disparate fields of view simultaneously. 
   A third general aspect of the invention provides a binocular transforming apparatus comprising: a module; a lens within the module configured to create a lesser magnification and a wider field of view when attached to a first barrel of the binocular; and an attachment system configured to operatively removably attach the module to the first binocular barrel 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     Some of the embodiments of this invention will be described in detail, with reference to the following figures, wherein like designations denote like members, wherein: 
       FIG. 1  depicts a sectional plan view of an embodiment of a binocular with disparate view lenses, in accordance with the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  depicts an embodiment of an optics system, in accordance with the present invention; 
       FIG. 3  depicts an embodiment the field of view from a first binocular barrel, in accordance with the present invention; 
       FIG. 4  depicts an embodiment of the field of view from a second binocular barrel employing a reticle, in accordance with the present invention; 
       FIG. 5  depicts a sectional plan view of an embodiment of a module for transforming a standard binocular into a binocular with disparate view lenses, in accordance with the present invention; and 
       FIG. 6  depicts an array of potential reticle embodiments operable with the second barrel. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Although certain embodiments of the present invention will be shown and described in detail, it should be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims. The scope of the present invention will in no way be limited by the number of constituting components, the materials thereof, the shapes thereof, or the relative arrangement thereof. Rather, these factors are disclosed simply as an example of a potential embodiment. Although the drawings are intended to illustrate the present invention, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. 
     FIG. 1  depicts a sectional plan view of an embodiment of a binocular  10  with disparate view lenses. The binocular may be used in conjunction with daylight, infrared vision, night vision enhancing technologies, or other optical transmissions. The binocular  10  may have a first barrel  20  and a second barrel  40  that may be pivotally connected by a hinging mechanism  12 . The barrels  20  and  40  may house a first optics system  22  and a second optics system  42 , respectively (shown in  FIG. 2 ). The first optics system  22  may comprise a first objective lens system  24 , a first ocular lens system  26 , and a first set of prisms  30  and  32 , while the second optics system  42  may comprise a second objective lens system  44 , a second ocular lens system  46 , and a second set of prisms  50  and  52 . The second optics system  42  may also include a reticle  70  having reticle markings  72 . The functions of the optics systems  22  and  42  are well known within the relevant art and are briefly described below. 
   With continued reference to  FIG. 1  and additional reference to  FIG. 2 , an illustrative example of how light may enter each of the barrels  20  and  40  and pass through their respective objective lens systems  24  and  44  is presented. The objective lens systems  24  and  44  may be mounted within the barrels  20  and  40 . The objective lens systems  24  and  44  may each be comprised of a single biconvex lens or a plurality of lenses, such as lenses  24   a - b  and  44   a - b . The objective lens systems  24  and  44  may form a real inverted image of a presented object. The objective lens systems  24  and  44  may also provide a low level of magnification of the viewed object to create an enlarged image. 
   The light may then pass through each of the two sets of prisms, set  30 / 32  and set  50 / 52 , that may be mounted within each barrel,  20  and  40 , respectively. Each prism set may serve to invert the image back to an upright orientation. The prism sets  30 / 32  and  50 / 52  may also allow the light to travel a greater distance, thus shortening the required length of the barrels  20  and  40 . 
   The optical transmissions may then pass through each ocular lens system  26  and  46 . The ocular lens systems  26  and  46  may be mounted respectively within eyepieces  28  and  48  through which the binocular presents the images of the field of view produced by the optics systems  22  and  42 . The ocular lens systems  26  and  46  may be comprised either of a single biconvex converging lens, or a plurality of lenses, such as lenses  26   a - b  and  46   a - b . The optics systems  22  and  42  may be configured such that the image received by each ocular lens system  26  and  46  may be less than one focal length away resulting in the production of a magnified image. The resulting presented optical image may be a virtual image that appears as an upright and enlarged field of view. The ocular lenses  26  and  46  may be moveable to provide for zoom magnification. Zoom magnification may be accomplished through focus knobs, an automatic toggle lever, a battery control, or by any other zooming alternatives known to those skilled in the art. 
   The extent of the magnification of the images or optical transmissions, as they may be presented through the eyepieces  28  and  48 , may be determined by the effective magnification power of the optics systems  22  and  42 . The magnification power of the optics systems  22  and  42  may be the magnification power of the objective lens systems  24  and  44  multiplied by the magnification power of the ocular lens systems  26  and  46 , respectively. The magnification power of each optics system  22  and  42  may determine the concomitant field of view. Generally, the magnification power has an inverse relationship with the field of view that appears in each eyepiece,  28  and  48 . That is, as the power of the magnification increases for the optics system  22  and  42 , the field of view presented by the binocular in the respective eyepiece  28  and  48  correspondingly narrows. 
   The optics systems  22  and  42  may be configured to provide disparate fields of view. The first optics system  22  may provide a higher powered magnification, while the second optics system  42  may provide a lower powered magnification. The disparate magnifications may be achieved by varying the radii of curvature or the index of refraction of the lenses either in the objective lens systems  24  and  44 , or the ocular lens systems  26  and  46 . Increasing the radius of curvature for a single lens may decrease the power of magnification of that particular lens. Additionally, using a lens with a lower index of refraction may also serve to decrease the power of magnification of that particular lens. The different magnifications may also be achieved by positioning the lenses at different refractive distances from each other or by any other method known within the relevant art. 
     FIGS. 3 and 4  depict a sample embodiment of a first field of view  500  and a sample embodiment of a second field of view  510  that may be rendered by the disparate field of view binocular  10  (shown in  FIG. 1 ).  FIG. 3  represents an embodiment of a sample first field of view  500  that may be presented through the first eyepiece  28 . The first optics system  22  may provide a first magnification and the resulting first field of view  500 . The first optics system may provide a high powered magnification that presents a detailed image of the view presented, while limiting the amount of surrounding view that will be presented through the first eyepiece  28 . For example, the first field of view  500  may encompass a depicted object such as a building having detail presented pertaining to the building, wherein the detail shown corresponds with a first magnification associated with the first field of view.  500 . The first magnification may fall within the range of approximately 8-20× with the resulting field of view being in the range of approximately 100-300 feet at 1000 yards. 
     FIG. 4  represents an embodiment of a sample second field of view that may be presented through the second eyepiece  48 . The second optics system  42  may provide a second magnification that is less than the first magnification presented through eyepiece  28 . As a result, the field of view presented in the second eyepiece  48  will be greater than the field of view presented in the first eyepiece  28 . This presents an optical transmission that displays a central view  500  along with a significant portion of the surrounding environment comprising the second field of view  510 , but yields less detail to the overall optical transmission as compared with central view  500 . This configuration is well suited for targeting or tracking an object. The second magnification may fall in the range of approximately 4-7× with a corresponding second field of view in the range of approximately 400-600 feet at 1000 yards. 
   The binocular  10  with disparate view lenses will concurrently magnify the optical transmissions pertaining to said disparate fields of view differently. Moreover the binocular  10  with disparate view lenses will simultaneously present an object in a differently magnified state providing a great amount of detail presented in a first field of view  500  (as seen in  FIG. 3 ) concurrently with the object as depicted in the wider second field of view  510  (as seen in  FIG. 4 ) to target or track the object. Further, the binocular  10  simultaneously presents disparate fields of view,  500  and  510 , without any adjustment to the binocular. For example, the embodied sample fields of view  500  and  510  may be presented to both eyes of a viewer, such that one eye of the view may behold view  500  while the other eye concurrently beholds view  510 . Hence, the simultaneous view presented by binocular  10  may comprise, by way of example, the side-by-side presentation of views depicted in  FIGS. 3-4 . 
   A reticle  70  may be mounted within the second barrel  40  in the focal plane of the second objective lens  44  (as shown in  FIG. 1 ). The reticle may be a glass or plastic lens etched with markings  72  that correspond to the field of view that appears in the first eyepiece  28  as that view appears in second eyepiece  48 . The reticle  70  may also be a projected image display such as an image produced by the refraction of laser light off an object much like a heads up display of images provided on the canopies of fighter planes or the windshields of automobiles. The markings  72  may exactly match the field of view, or in the alternative, may simply relate to that field of view (as shown in  FIG. 3 ). The markings may be in any configuration known in the art of reticles suited to fulfill their stated purpose.  FIG. 6  depicts an array of sample reticles that may be utilized to occur with the second field of view. Examples of such include but are not limited to those depicted in  FIG. 6 . 
     FIG. 5  depicts a sectional plan view of a module  100  for transforming a standard binocular into a binocular with disparate view lenses. The module  100  may be operatively attached to either barrel of a standard binocular. A standard binocular may have exterior shape and form similar to the binocular  10  depicted in  FIG. 1 . The module  100  may contain an attachment element  110  to facilitate the attachment by covering the objective lens opening of a binocular barrel. The attachment element  110  may be any attachment element suitable for attaching the module to a standard binocular. The module  100  may contain a lens  120  mounted within the module. The lens  120  may serve to decrease the effective magnification power of the lens system located within the barrel  170 . As a result, the lens  120  would provide a wider field of view. The lens  120  may be configured in any manner such that it performs the intended function. Multiple lenses, such as  120   a - b  may also be employed to accomplish the intended function. Moreover, one embodiment may involve the use of a fisheye lens, such as is used in photography, to produce a wider field of view. The module  100  may also contain a reticle  180  mounted within the module  100 . The reticle  801  may contain markings  190  with a similar function as discussed above. 
   While this invention is described in conjunction with the specific embodiments outlined above, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations are apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the embodiments of the invention as set forth above are intended to be illustrative, and in no way limiting. Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.