Source: http://brevets-patents.ic.gc.ca/opic-cipo/cpd/eng/patent/2110307/summary.html
Timestamp: 2019-08-19 14:59:05+00:00
Document Index: 256033568

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 16', 'art 16', 'art 16', 'art 16', 'art 16', 'art 16', 'art 16', 'art 16', 'art 16']

Patent 2110307 Summary - Canadian Patents Database
Canadian Patents Database / Patent 2110307 Summary
(11) CA 2110307
SYSTEME DE POINTAGE POUR ARMES
LOUGHEED, JAMES HUGH (Canada)
SHENEY, DANIEL RAYMOND (Canada)
WARDELL, MARK (Canada)
07/984,692 United States of America 1992-12-02
Une unité mitrailleuse comprend une mitrailleuse montée sur un support de sorte à permettre le pivotement de la mitrailleuse en relation au support en azimut et/ou élévation. Des encodeurs d'angle émettent des signaux de position qui représentent le déplacement angulaire de la mitrailleuse en relation avec le support. Un système de visée comprend un capteur, par exemple un capteur CCD, qui émet un signal vidéo qui représente un champ de vision pour le système de visée, un dispositif d'affichage pour afficher le champ de vision, une interface de saisie manuelle, un générateur d'artefact graphique et un processeur de signal numérique (PSN). Le PSN contrôle les sorties des encodeurs d'angle et commande le générateur d'artefact graphique et combine l'extrant du générateur d'artefact graphique avec l'extrant du capteur CCD, et affiche cette combinaison sur le dispositif d'affichage. Divers artefacts graphiques peuvent être fournis. Des masques peuvent également être fournis pour délimiter la zone de tir. Un curseur peut être repositionné pour se conformer aux exigences de surélévation. Le mouvement de la cible et le tir adverse peuvent être détectés et mis en surbrillance. Des traceurs peuvent être simulés. L'arme peut également être utilisée pour la surveillance, soit seule, soit dans le cadre d'un système d'armement comprenant une pluralité d'armes de ce type et un poste central de commande.
1. A machine gun unit comprising a machine gun mounted to
a support by a mounting permitting pivoting movement of the
machine gun relative to the support in at least one of azimuth
and elevation, position sensing means for providing position
signals representing angular displacement of the machine gun
relative to the support, and an aiming system comprising a sensor
means for providing a scene signal representing a field of view
for the aiming system, display means for displaying the field of
view, input means, graphics artifact generation means, and signal
processing means; the signal processing means being responsive
to the position sensing means and the input means for controlling
the graphics artifact generation means to combine the output of
the graphics artifact generation means with the output of the
sensor means for display by the display means.
2. A machine gun unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
signal processing means and graphics artifact generation means
are operable to generate graphics artifacts delimiting a boundary
of an area of the field of view, and the signal processing means
is operable in response to limit signals input via said input
means to record selected values of said position signals for
either or both of azimuth and elevation to define said boundary
and, subsequently, in dependence upon said position signals, to
control said graphics artifact generation means to adjust the
position of said delimiting graphics artifacts relative to the
displayed field of view to reflect subsequent movement of the
machine gun relative to the support.
3. A machine gun unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
graphics artifact generation means comprises a graphics generator
and a graphics artifact memory, the signal processing means being
operable to store in the graphics artifact memory data for said
artifacts, the graphics generator being synchronized to the
sensor means and operable to create from said data, in each
frame, artifact signals, the graphics artifact generation means
further comprising means for combining said artifact signals with
said scene signals for application to the display means.
4. A machine gun unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
position sensing means comprise angle encoders.
5. A machine gun mounted upon a support means by means of
a mounting permitting pivoting of the machine gun relative to the
support means in at least one of azimuth and elevation;
position sensing means for providing position signals
representing one or both of the azimuthal and elevational angular
displacement of the weapon;
sensor means for providing a signal representing a field of
view of the sensor means;
graphics artifact generation means for providing signals
representing graphics artifacts comprising at least one mask
delimiting an area of the field of view;
display means responsive to the sensor means and the
graphics artifact generation means for displaying a combined
image of the field of view and the graphics artifacts;
signal processing means operable initially in response to
the user-operable input means and the position sensing means to
store specific values of said position signal as boundaries of
said area and subsequently to compare instant values of the
position signal with said specific values and, in dependence upon
such comparison, control the graphics artifact generation means
to display with the displayed field of view at least a portion
of a said mask.
6. A machine gun unit comprising a machine gun mounted to
a support by a mounting comprising a part rotatable in azimuth
relative to said support, said machine gun being mounted upon,
and pivotable in elevation relative to, said part, position
sensing means for providing signals representing angular
displacement of said machine gun relative to said support, and
an aiming system comprising a sensor means mounted to, and
rotatable with, said part for providing a signal representing a
field of view for the aiming system, display means responsive to
the sensor means for displaying the field of view for a user,
input means, graphics artifact generation means for generating
an artifact in the form of a cursor, rangefinder means operable
in response to the input means for providing a range signal
representing range to a designated target, and signal processing
means responsive to the position sensing means for controlling
the graphics artifact generator to combine the output of the
graphics artifact generator with the output of the sensor means
for display by the display means, the arrangement being such that
the cursor is aligned in the display with the aiming point of the
weapon, the signal processing means being further responsive to
at least the range signal to compute a required degree of
superelevation for the machine gun and apply a corresponding
offset to the position signal, thereby displacing the cursor
downwards relative to the displayed field of view by an amount
corresponding to the required superelevation.
7. A weapon comprising a gun mounted upon a support by
means of a mounting permitting pivoting of the gun relative to
the support in at least one of azimuth and elevation;
displacement of the gun;
representing graphics artifacts;
graphics artifact generation means for displaying said graphics
artifacts combined with an image of the field of view;
signal processing means responsive to the position sensing
means for controlling the graphics artifact generation means to
combine the output of the graphics artifact generation means with
the output of the sensor means for display by the display means,
the signal processing means being further operable in response
to a trigger signal from the user-operable input means and
ballistic data input to the signal processing means to compute
parameters for a trajectory of a round and to supply to said
graphics artifact generation means data representing at least a
computed landing point of the round, the graphics artifact
generation means being operable in dependence upon said data to
control the display means to display with the image of the field
of view a graphics artifact in the farm of a spot at a position
in the display corresponding to the computed landing point.
8. A weapon as claimed in claim 7, wherein the signal
processing means is further operable to modify said parameters
in dependence upon elapsed time since said spot was first
displayed so as to cause at least one of the luminance and size
of the spot to diminish.
9. A weapon as claimed in claim 8, wherein the signal
processing means is responsive to the user-operable input means
to vary the rate at which the spot diminishes.
10. A weapon as claimed in claim 8, wherein the signal
so as to cause the spot to trace in the display in successive
frames a computed trajectory for the round.
11. A weapon as claimed in claim 7, wherein the signal
processing means is operable to delete said parameters a
predetermined time after the spot was first displayed.
12. A weapon comprising a gun mounted upon a support by
the support means in at least one of azimuth and elevation;
graphics artifact generation means for displaying the graphics
detection means for detecting when the intensity of pixels
of a particular frame of the signal representing field of view
differs from the intensity of corresponding pixels of a preceding
frame by more than a predetermined threshold value; and
signal processing means operable in response to the
detection means and the position sensing means to determine the
position of the differing pixels relative to the field of view
and control the graphics artifact generation means to cause the
display means to highlight in the display the pixels which have
13. A weapon as claimed in claim 12, wherein the signal
processing means is operable in response to the position sensing
means to correct the positions of differing pixels for angular
displacement of the gun between said particular frame and said
14. A weapon as claimed in claim 12, wherein the signal
precessing means is further operable in response to said position
signal to adjust the position of the graphics artifact relative
to the display in dependence upon angular displacements of the
gun subsequent to the graphics artifact first being displayed.
15. A weapon system comprising a plurality of weapons and
a central command post, each weapon comprising:
a gun mounted upon a support by means of a mounting
permitting pivoting of the gun relative to the support in at
least one of azimuth and elevation;
representing one or both of azimuthal and elevational angular
data interface means;
the data interface means of each of the plurality of weapons
being coupled to said central command station and arranged to
convey said position signals to said central command post.
16. A weapon system as claimed in claim 15, wherein said
central command post includes means for transmitting position
signals to said data interface of a selected one of the plurality
of weapons, the selected data interface being arranged to pass
the received position signals to said signal processing means of
the selected one of the plurality of weapons, the signal
processing means of a said selected one of the plurlaity of
weapons being operable to adjust the position of said graphics
artifact relative to the display in dependence upon the position
signals received from the central command station.
17. A weapon system as claimed in claim 15, wherein, in
each said weapon, said data interface is connected to said sensor
means and arranged to transmit said signal representing field of
view to said central command post, said central command post
having means responsive to a said signal representing field of
view for displaying the image of the field of view of the
selected one of the plurality of weapons.
This invention relates to weapons, especially machine guns
which are pivotally mounted and aimed manually, and is especially
concerned with aiming of such weapons.
Generally, the invention is applicable to so-called '°crew-
served" weapons operated by one or two persons, which typically
includes "light" machine guns, which fire non-explosive rounds,
and "heavy" machine guns, which fire larger rounds or grenades.
Hitherto, such machine guns have been aimed at the target by
sighting by means of a direct-view sight on the weapon barrel,
which limits the effectiveness of such weapons, especially with
battlefield conditions becoming increasingly complicated.
An obj ect of the present invention is to provide an improved
aiming system suitable for machine guns and like weapons.
To this end, according to the present invention, there is
provided a machine gun unit comprising a machine gun mounted upon
a support by means of a mounting permitting pivoting of the
machine gun relative to the support in azimuth and/or elevation,
and position sensing means for providing signals representing
angular displacement of the machine gun relative to the support.
The unit also includes an aiming system comprising sensor means
for providing a video signal representing a field of view for the
aiming system, display means for displaying the field of view for
an operator, input means, graphics artifact generation means, and
signal processing means responsive to the input means for
controlling the graphics artifact generation means to combine the
output of the video artifact generation means with the output of
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the sensor means for display by the display means. The signal
processing means determines the position of the graphics artifact
in the display in dependence upon the signals from the position
When using a machine gun, it is often desirable to set
limits to its field-of-fire so as to avoid fratricide and/or
improve effectiveness by avoiding overlap between fields of fire
of other machine guns.
permitting pivoting of the gun relative to the support means in
at least one of azimuth and elevation;
sensor means for providing a scene signal representing a
field of view for the aiming system;
representing a graphics artifact comprising at least one mask
graphics artifact generation means for displaying an image of the
field of view and the graphics artifact;
signal processing means operable in response to the input
of limit signals via the input means to record specific azimuthal
and/or elevational orientations of the machine gun as boundaries
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of said area and subsequently responsive to the position sensing
means initially to control the graphics artifact generation means
to display at least a part of said at least one mask when the
aiming point of the gun traverses one of said boundaries and
thereafter to adjust the extent of said part in dependence upon
further pivoting of the gun.
The graphics means may conveniently comprise a video
generator and a video memory, while the position sensing means
may conveniently comprise angle encoders.
Embodiments of this aspect of the invention enable the
gunner to preset a field-of-fire, namely those areas of the field
of view which are not masked. In one preferred embodiment, the
signal processing means stores an azimuth reading as the limit
of the field-of-fire and generates the mask to overlay any part
of the image having an azimuthal reading in excess of the stored
azimuthal reading. Preferably, provision is made for storing
right-most and left-most limits and generating overlay masks in
the form of curtains for image areas to the right and to the
left, respectively, of the right-most and left-most limits.
The mask may take the form of a grille or other relatively
transparent graphics artifact which will allow the underlying
features of the scene in the field of view to be seen.
A second aspect of the invention concerns heavy machine guns
which fire grenades or the like and so require substantial
superelevation of the machine gun before a round is fired. It
is desirable for the required degree of superelevation of the
weapon to be determined quickly, at least approximately, so as
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to avoid wasting several rounds. To this end, according to a
second embodiment of the invention, a machine gun unit comprises:
a machine gun mounted upon a support by means of a mounting
comprising a part pivotable in azimuthal directions relative to
the support, the machine gun being mounted upon said part, and
pivotable in elevation relative thereto;
position sensing means for providing a position signal
representing at least the elevation of the weapon;
means for providing a signal representing range to a
graphics artifact generation means for providing an artifact
signal representing a cursor;
field of view and the cursor; and
signal processing means responsive to the range signal and
stored ballistics data to compute a required degree of
offset to the position signal, thereby offsetting the cursor
downwards relative to the image of the field of view by an amount
In use, the user will pivot the weapon upwards until the
cursor is again on the target and then fire the round. The angle
through which the user must pivot the weapon to restore the
cursor is, of course, the required degree of superelevation.
A third aspect of the invention concerns visual indication
of the landing point of rounds fired by the weapon.
Conventionally, such visual indication is provided by
interspersing tracer rounds, which comprise magnesium or other
suitable combustible material, with the live rounds fired by the
weapon. The tracer rounds burn during flight and allow the user
to see their trajectory and where they land. Such tracers have
disadvantages, however, since they replace live rounds, reduce
the machine gun barrel life because they ignite before leaving
the barrel, and may temporarily blind the user, especially when
night vision equipment is being used. With the object of
overcoming these disadvantages, there is provided according to
a third aspect of the invention, a machine gun unit comprising:
permitting pivoting of the machine gun relative to the support
in at least one of azimuth and elevation;
position sensing means for providing signals representing
displacement of the machine gun relative to the support in at
least one of azimuth and elevation; and
an aiming system comprising sensor means for providing a
scene signal representing a field of view for the aiming system,
display means responsive to the sensor means for displaying the
field of view, input means, graphics artifact generation means,
and signal processing means, the signal processing means being
responsive to the position sensing means for controlling the
graphics artifact generation means to combine the output of the
graphics artifact generation means with the output of the sensor
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means for display by the display means, the signal processing
means being further operable in response to a signal from the
input means to compute parameters for a trajectory of a round and
supply parameters to said graphics artifact generation means, the
graphics artifact generation means being operable to generate
therefrom a graphics artifact representing an image of a tracer
round and cambine it with the scene displayed by the display
The signal processing means may be arranged to reduce the
size and/or brightness of the graphics artifacts progressively
Yet another aspect of the invention concerns detecting and
displaying motion of potential targets and/or the source of
opposing fire while the attention of the user is otherwise
Thus, according to another aspect of the invention, there
is provided a machine gun unit comprising a machine gun mounted
upon a support by means of a mounting permitting pivoting of the
The unit also includes an aiming system, comprising sensor means
signal processing means responsive to the position sensing means
and the input means for controlling the graphics artifact
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generation means to combine the output of the video artifact
generation means with the output of sensor means for display by
the display means. The signal processing means comprises
interframe detection means for detecting differences between
pixels of a current frame of the video signal with corresponding
pixels of a preceding frame of the video signal. The signal
processing means records data corresponding to the differing
pixels. The graphics artifact generator uses the data for
generation of corresponding graphics artifacts.
In embodiments for detecting motion, the interframe
difference detecting means detects both positive and negative
differences in magnitude/intensity of corresponding pixels in
successive frames. In embodiments for detecting sources of
opposing fire, the interframe difference detecting means may
detect only positive changes in magnitude/intensity indicating
Weapons embodying one or more of the foregoing aspects of
the invention may be equipped with a data interface enabling them
to communicate with a central command post. According to yet
another aspect of the invention there is provided a weapon system
comprising a plurality of weapons and a central command post,
each weapon comprising:
a gun mounted upon a support means by means of a mounting
signal processing means operable in response to the user
operable input means and position signals to control the graphics
artifact generator thereby to determine the position of the
graphics artifact relative to the displayed scene;
and a data interface coupled to said central command
station, the data interface being arranged to convey signals
between said weapon and said central command post.
Further features of the invention will become apparent from
the following description of preferred embodiments, which are
described by way of example only and with reference to the
Figure 1 illustrates a machine gun unit according to one
Figure 2 is a block schematic diagram of an aiming system
of the unit of Figure 1;
Figure 3 illustrates the display seen by a user of the unit,
showing an overlay for limiting field-of-fire;
Figure 4 illustrates an alternative overlay for designating
a f field-of-f ire "corridor'° ;
Figures 5A, 5B and 5C illustrate operation of a second
embodiment of the invention involving superelevation of the
Figure 6 by is a flowchart illustrating processing in the
Figure 7 depicts video tracers generated in a further
Figure 9 illustrates a fourth embodiment of the invention
for detecting and indicating target motion;
Figure 10 is a flowchart for the embodiment of Figure 9; and
Figure 11 illustrates coordination of the field-of-fire of
several of the weapons by way of a central command post;
In Figure 1, which is a general diagram applicable to
several embodiments of the invention, a machine gun 10 is shown
mounted upon a support, in the form of a tripod 12, by means of
a mounting comprising a base 14 and a cradle part 16. The base
14 couples the cradle part 16 to the tripod 12 and includes a
bearing permitting azimuthal rotation of the cradle part 16
relative to the tripod 12. The cradle part 16 is secured to the
machine gun body 18 by a pair of pivots 20 (only one of which is
shown) permitting pivoting of the machine gun 10, relative to the
tripod 12, to elevate the machine gun barrel. A first position
sensor 22, coupled to base 14, detects azimuthal rotation of the
machine gun 10 relative to the tripod 12. A second position
sensor 24, coupled to cradle part 16, detects elevational
pivoting of the machine gun 10 relative to the cradle part 16.
The position sensors 22 and 24 supply azimuth and elevation
signals, respectively, to a signal processing unit 26 which
could, and usually would, be mounted upon the body of the machine
gun 10, but is shown separate for convenience of illustration.
An image sensor 28 is mounted upon the machine gun 10 and
is "bore-sighted" i.e. has its optical axis aligned with the bore
axis of the machine gun. The image sensor 28 is of the CCD array
kind used in portable video cameras and supplies an analogue
video signal representing the field-of-view. The output of
sensor 28 is coupled to the signal processing unit 26 which
relays the video signal to a display device 30. The display
device 30 comprises a miniature cathode ray tube (CRT) equipped
with a lens and an eyecup, conveniently of the kind used with
camcorders, to allow close-up viewing of the CRT. Where close-up
viewing is not required, the display device 30 may comprise a
monitor. The display device 30 may be mounted directly upon the
weapon but, preferably, and as shown in Figure 1, is positioned
away from the weapon so that the users head need not be adjacent
A handgrip 32 carries the trigger 34 and a set of
thumbswitches 36 which are connected to the signal processing
unit 26 by line 38. The thumbswitches 36 and, in some
embodiments, the trigger 34 constitute a user-operable input
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means enabling the user to control the aiming system by way of
the signal processor 26.
A laser rangefinder 40 has its optical axis aligned with the
bore of the machine gun 10 and is operable by a °'range'° or
"designate target" switch which, conveniently, is one of the
switches 36. Upon operation of the "range" switch, the laser
rangefinder 40 measures the range to the designated target and
supplies the measurement to the signal processing unit 26. In
embodiments of the invention where range is not needed, the laser
Referring now to Figure 2, the signal processing unit 26
comprises a digital signal processor (DSP) 42, a synchronization
circuit 44, a graphics artifact generator 46, an artifact memory
48, a high speed switch 50, a sensor interface 52, and azimuth
and elevation registers 54 and 56, respectively. Although the
azimuth and elevation registers are shown in Figure 2 as part of
the signal processing unit 26, in practice they may be integrated
physically with the corresponding position encoders 22 and 24,
respectively. The encoder interface 52 converts the output of
the azimuth encoder 22 and elevation encoder 24 into
corresponding azimuth and elevation readings for the weapon and
stores the instantaneous readings in the azimuth register 54 and
elevation register 56, respectively. The position encoders 22
and 24 may be of the analogue kind or the digital kind, the
encoder interface 52 being selected accordingly.
During each frame of the video signal, the DSP 42 accesses
the azimuth register 54 and elevation register 56 and uses the
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most recent values of azimuth and elevation to update the
artifact memory 48.
The artifact memory 48 comprises a video store, conveniently
in the form of a random access memory (RAM), which stores the
equivalent of one screen of the display device 30, i.e. one full
frame of the video signal from sensor 18. There is a one-to-one
correspondence between the pixels of the CCD sensor 28, the
locations in the artifact memory 48, and the pixels of the
display device 30. The artifact memory 48 stores data
representing a set of pixels for a graphics artifact in the form
of a cursor 62 (see Figure 3), each pixel being represented by
a word of eight bits. Each eight bit word comprises seven bits
which will determine the predetermined luminance value of the
artifact pixel to be generated. The eighth, most significant bit
is used as a flag or toggle to control the graphics artifact
generator 46. When the DSP 42 writes data words into artifact
memory 48 to create graphics artifact, it will set the most
significant bit of each word to one. In each frame, as the
graphics artifact generator 46 scans the artifact memory 48, it
will determine the state of the eighth bit. If it is zero, the
graphics artifact generator 46 does not generate an artifact
pixel and does not toggle high speed switch 50. When it detects
that the eighth bit is a one, however, the artifact generator
will respond by generating an artifact pixel, with its luminance
determined by the remaining seven bits, and toggling the switch
50 to substitute it for the corresponding scene pixel of the
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Thus, each time it receives a frame pulse from sync circuit
44, the graphics artifact generator 46 scans the artifact memory
48 in "raster scan" fashion, uses the data to generate a
corresponding cursor signal, and operates high speed switch 50
to insert it into the video signal. The high speed switch 50
operates at lOMHz., the pixel rate, and is controlled by the
graphics artifact generator 46 on a pixel-by-pixel basis to
supply to the display device 30 either a "scene" pixel from the
image sensor 28 or an artifact pixel generated by the graphics
artifact generator 46 itself. When the value of the eighth bit
of a word from the artifact memory 48 is zero, the graphics
artifact generator 46 will detect this zero condition and leave
the switch 50 in the normally closed position shown in Figure 2,
allowing the video signal from sensor 28 to pass uninterrupted
to display device 30, which thus displays a "scene°' pixel.
Whenever the eighth bit is not zero, the graphics artifact
generator 46 wall generate a corresponding artifact pixel and
will operate the switch 50 to substitute the artifact pixel for
the corresponding pixel of the video signal representing the
scene. The luminance of this artifact pixel will be determined
by the value, from 1 to 127, represented by the corresponding
word stored in artifact memory 48.
The programming of the DSO 42 includes a subroutine which
"draws" the cursor by writing the appropriate pixel data in the
artifact memory 48. The addresses of the cursor pixel words it
writes in artifact memory 48 are determined relative to the frame
pulse so that, in the scene displayed display device 30, the
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cursor 62 is "drawn" at a position corresponding to the aiming
point of the weapon. Before the next frame pulse is received by
the graphics generator 46, and the cursor 62 redrawn, the DSP 42
updates the artifact memory 48. The apparent position of the
cursor 62, or other artifacts to be described later, can be
changed by changing the addresses of the artifact pixel words.
For most of the embodiments to be described herein, the cursor
is always positioned in the centre of the artifact memory 48, and
hence the displayed image, since the CCD sensor 28 is bore-
sighted to the gun and the artifact memory 48 has a one-to-one
correspondence with the pixels of the CCD sensor 28 and the
display device 30. Thus, the artifact pixels are at a fixed
position relative to the frame pulse and independent of the
readings of the position encoders 22 and 24. They can, however,
be offset from the boresight when, for example, ballistic offsets
axe used, as will be described later.
With suitable selection of the system components and
programming of the signal processing unit, various functions can
be provided by aiming systems embodying the invention.
In an embodiment of the aiming system for displaying limits
to the field--of-fire of the weapon, the DSP 42 is also programmed
with a subroutine which will write into artifact memory 48 data
representing artifact pixels which will create graphics artifacts
in the form of masks 58L and 58R to be displayed with the image
of the field of view as illustrated in Figure 3. Whereas the DSP
42 refreshes the data for cursor 62 in every frame, it will only
write the data to "draw" the masks in certain circumstances.
When drawn, the "mask" graphics artifacts are in the form of an
open grille, the resulting effect being as if "curtains" are
overlaid upon parts of the scene.
For convenience of description, the azimuth scale is
represented as a horizontal scale at the bottom of Figure 3,
although it is not usually displayed. The edges of the mask or
"curtains" 58L and 58R define the boundaries of the permitted
field-of-fire for the weapon and are preset by the operator by
means of two of the thumbswitches 36, designated LEFT and RIGHT.
As shown in Figure 3, the field of view 60 displayed by the
display device 30 may be much less than the range set by the
edges of left and right "curtains°' 58L and 58R, respectively.
In order to set the leftmost limit 58L of the field-of-fire, the
operator will pan the weapon to the left until the cursor 62 is
aligned with a scene feature which constitutes the leftmost limit
of the field-of-fire and will then operate the LEFT thumbswitch.
The DSP 42 detects operation of the thumbswitch and stores in
the LEFT register the current azimuth reading L from the azimuth
register 54 (Figure 2). Likewise, when the user operates the
RIGHT thumbswitch, the DSP 42 stores the current azimuth reading
R from azimuth register 54 in the RIGHT register.
In normal operation, the DSP 42 monitors the frame
synchronization pulses from synchronization circuit 44 and, in
each frame period, adds to the instant azimuth reading in azimuth
register 54 an amount corresponding to one half of the field of
view, and compares the results with the value stored in the RIGHT
register. Also, it subtracts a similar amount and compares the
result with the value stored in the LEFT register. The azimuth
reading needs to be adjusted in this way because the reading in
the register 54, at any instant, represents the angular position
of the centre of the display relative to the viewed terrain. A
portion of the mask will be drawn, however, once the left edge
64 of the field of view traverses the limit 58L, or the right
edge 66 of the field of view traverses the limit 58R. Hence, if
the field of view is 10 degrees, the DSP 42 must adjust the
azimuth reading by the equivalent of 5 degrees in each direction
in order to determine the left edge azimuth and right edge
azimuth readings. For left edge azimuth readings less than the
reading in the LEFT register, the MASK subroutine will draw a
vertical line from top to bottom of the screen at the LEFT limit
and a series of horizontal lines from the LEFT limit to the edge
of the screen. In like manner, when the right edge azimuth
reading is greater than the reading in the RIGHT register, the
DSP 42 will write into the artifact memory 48 data to "draw" the
appropriate portion of the mask 58R to the right of the RIGHT
limit. Graphics generator 46 will raster scan the artifact
memory as before and draw the masks 58L and 58R in the displayed
So long as the field of view 60 does not embrace an azimuth
reading less than L or greater than R (assuming azimuth values
increase to the right), the DSP 42 will write only cursor data
into the artifact memory 48 in each frame. The mask or
'°curtains" 58L/58R will not be displayed. This corresponds to
a field of view 60 as represented in the solid box in Figure 3.
When the weapon is panned so far to the left that part of the
field of view is beyond azimuth reading L, as illustrated by box
60L, the left mask or curtain 58L will encroach upon the field
of view. When the weapon is panned to the right, the left mask
or curtain 60L will disappear. Eventually, when azimuth reading
R is reached, as illustrated by box 60R, the right mask or
curtain will begin to appear. Hecause the masks are in the form
of an open grille or mesh, features of the scene beneath the
masks or curtains 58L and 58R can still be seen.
It will be appreciated that other forms of mask could be
employed. While for most situations it will be sufficient to
limit the field-of-fire in azimuth only, additional registers may
be provided to enable elevational limits to be set in a similar
way. Thus, elevation readings from the elevation encoder 24
stored in elevation register 56 (Figure 2) would be repeatedly
scanned by the DSP 42 which would include a HIGH register and a
LOW register for recording the high and low readings as set by
the operator using HIGH and LOW thumbswitches in a similar manner
to the setting of azimuthal limits respectively.
The invention is not limited to restricting field of view
by masking only azimuthal or elevational extremities. As
illustrated in Figure 4, a pair of fan-like masks 68L and 68R may
each comprise a series of lines diverging towards the top of the
field of view so as to define between the masks a corridor as a
field-of-fire. It is also envisaged that more complex field-of-
fire areas could be delimited. For example, the field of view
could be segmented into grids and selected ones of the grids
masked. More irregular field-of-fire zones could be created by
entering a series of points delimiting the area to be excluded
and programming the DSP 42 to enclose the area by joining the
points. Alternatively, a thumbswitch might be held down to
record the azimuth arid elevation readings while the user pivoted
the weapon so that the cursor traced an irregular outline to be
excluded. Software for implementing such alternatives might
conveniently take the form used in computer-aided drafting.
In the described embodiments, the artifact pixels are
substituted for scene pixels. Of course, if desired, the pixels
could be superimposed or the mask combined with the scene in some
other way. For example, rather than substitute artifact pixels,
the masked areas could be depicted in reverse video.
Figures 5A to 5C and Figure 6 illustrate application of the
invention to machine guns which fire larger rounds, like
grenades, and so require a significant amount of superelevation,
perhaps as much as 30 degrees. In Figures 5A to 5C, components
of the aiming system which correspond to those illustrated in
Figures 1 and 2 are identified by the same reference numbers.
A major difference is that the image sensor 28 is mounted upon
the cradle part 16 and so will only move in azimuth. As before,
azimuthal movement of the cradle part 16 relative to the tripod
12 is measured by a position sensor in the form of angle encoder
22 and elevational movement of the machine gun 10 relative to the
2.~~.~~~r~
cradle part 16, and hence the tripod 12, is measured by angle
encoder 24. Another difference from the field-of-fire embodiment
is that the artifact generator 46 and artifact memory 48 are
configured to generate only a cursor 66 as the graphics artifact
for display with the field of view by the display device 30.
Also, the DSP 42 includes '°offset'° registers, the purpose of
which is to store offset values calculated by the DSP 42 taking
account of ballistic offsets for azimuth and elevation as will
Also, whereas the cursor 66 of the field-of-fire system was
aligned with the boresight in both azimuth and elevation, in this
embodiment, where the CCD sensor 28 is fixed to the cradle 16,
the cursor 66 is only aligned with the boresight in azimuth. In
this case, the elevation encoder 56 must be read to determine 'the
"vertical" position of the cursor in the display. The horizontal
position of the cursor 66 will always be in the centre of the
display unless, as mentioned previously, ballistic offsets are
The user will position the tripod 12 so that the sensor 28
surveys the scene of interest. In this case, the sensor 28 may
have a wider field of view than that used in the system of Figure
2 though, in practice, 10 degrees seems to be adequate. In this
embodiment, a laser rangefinder 40 is used. As mentioned
previously, the laser rangefinder 40 is fixed to the barrel of
the machine gun and "bore-sighted" to it, i.e. it always points
to the aiming point of the weapon. As before, the DSP 42 will
2 ~:~.~~~~1
ensure that the cursor 66 is aligned with the boresight of the
With the cursor 66 on the target as shown in Figure 5A, the
user operates the laser rangefinder 40 by means of one of the
thumbswitches 36 to "designate the target". The DSP 42 detects
operation of the switch and operates the laser rangefinder 40 to
determine the range of the target overlaid at that instant by the
cursor or cross-hair and supply the range measurement to the DSP
42. Using ballistic data previously entered into its memory, and
the measured range, the DSP 42 will calculate offsets, primarily
in elevation, and offset the cursor 66 downwards. The user will
elevate the weapon until the cursor 66 is again on target and
Operation will now be described more specifically with
reference also to the flowchart of Figure 6. When the aiming
system is switched on, or reset, the DSP 42 clears the azimuth
offset and elevation offset registers as indicated by step 70.
In step 72, the DSP 42 then awaits a frame pulse from sync
circuit 44. When a frame pulse is received, the DSP 42 reads the
azimuth and elevation registers 54 and 56, respectively, (step
74) and scans the "Designate Target" thumbswitch, as in decision
step 76. If the Designate Target switch has not been operated,
the DSP 42 will proceed to step 78 and supply the readings from
the azimuth register 54 and elevation register 56 to the artifact
memory 48 to determine the position of the cursor 66. The
artifact generator 46 will then draw the cursor 66, as per step
80 by interspersing cursor pixels with the scene pixels in the
2~~~~~~1
manner previously described. The DSP 42 then scans the Designate
Target thumbswitch again, as in step 82, to determine whether or
not it has been reset and hence the target "undesignated".
Additionally, or alternatively, the DSP 42 may scan the trigger
34 to determine whether or not the weapon has been fired. If it
has not been fired a predetermined time after the target was
first designated, the DSP 42 may deem that the target is no
longer designated.
In this mode, the DSP cycles through the loop 84 of the
flowchart in Figure 6. Each time the DSP 42 receives a frame
synchronization pulse from synchronization circuit 44, it reads
the azimuth and elevation registers 50 and 60, respectively, and
scans the "designate target" switch. So long as the "designate
target" switch has not been operated, the DSP 42 uses the azimuth
and elevation readings to update the contents of artifact memory
40 as indicated by step 78. Hence, as the user moves the aiming
point, the DSP 42 merely adjusts the position of the cross-hairs
66 to reflect movement of the weapon while the user surveys the
scene to select a target.
When the user operates the "designate target" thumbswitch,
with the cursor 66 positioned upon the target in the display, the
outcome of decision step 76 will be positive, and the DSP 42 will
trigger the rangefinder 40, as in step 86. The rangefinder 40
determines the range in the usual way and returns the range
measurement to the DSP 42, as in step 88. The DSP 42 uses the
range measurement and, where applicable, other input data such
as cross-wind speed, to calculate ballistic offsets as in step
90. For the most part, the main ballistic offset will be in
elevation. The azimuthal offset will usually be much less and,
in some cases, might be dispensed with altogether. The
ballistics information may be inputted by way of the manual
interface or input means 36 and/or a data interface 92 (Figure
Having completed the '°offset'° loop comprising steps 86, 88
and 90, the DSP 42 returns to step 78 and this time determines
the position of the cursor 66 taking account of the ballistic
offset values. More particularly, in each frame the DSP 42 will
offset all values written in the artifact memory 48 by the
appropriate amount so that the cursor 66 is shifted relative to
the displayed scene, as shown in Figure 5B, in the opposite
direction to that in which the machine gun barrel must move. If
the offset is greater than the distance to the edge of the
display, the cursor 66 merely remains at the edge of the display
until the machine gun barrel has been elevated an appropriate
amount. In this way, the cursor 66 is never lost beyond the
boundaries of the display.
Once the cursor 66 has been displaced, indicating that the
ballistic offsets have been computed, the user repositions the
barrel until the cursor is aligned once more upon the target, as
illustrated in Figure 5C, and fires the round. In realigning the
cursor 66, the user automatically adjusts the machine gun barrel
by the required amount of superelevation and, where applicable,
azimuthal lead. It will be appreciated that the user does so
without losing sight of the target in the display which leads to
In most cases, if a different field of view is needed, the
user will merely reposition the tripod. In the event that the
field of view of the sensor is insufficient, and a greater degree
of elevation is needed, it would be possible to provide the base
member 14 with a bearing to permit elevational movement and a
lock for locking it relative to the weapon. The user could then
move the weapon about, with the bearing free, and select the
target. Designation of the target could automatically lock the
bearing and permit further elevational movement by means of the
one bearing only. The DSP 42 could then measure the offset as
the output of a second position encoder associated with the
movable bearing.
A third embodiment of the invention enables tracers to be
simulated using graphics artifacts. The machine gun is similar
to that of Figure 2, but differs in that its trigger 34 is of the
double detent kind and the artifact memory 48 has a segment 48A,
shown in broken lines in Figure 2, for storing video tracer data
from the DSP 42, as will be described later. In use, the user
will initially aim the weapon so that the cursor 66 is on the
designated target and depress the double detent trigger switch
to its first position. This will operate the rangefinder 40 to
obtain a range measurement and supply it to the DSP 42. The DSP
42 will use the range reading and ballistics information such as
wind speed and direction, round mass, and so on, previously
stored by DSP 42, to calculate the landing point of a tracer
2~.~0~~~
round. The DSP 42 will then store in the artifact memory 48 the
data required to generate a graphics artifact in the shape of a
spot at the calculated landing point. Artifact generator 46 will
use the tracer data from the artifact memory 48 to generate a set
of pixels for the spot and combine them with the displayed image
in the manner previously described. With the trigger still
depressed to only the first position, the user can then move the
weapon to "walk°' the tracer onto the desired target as would be
done with tracers. At that point, the user can depress the
trigger further to fire the actual round. In succeeding frames,
the DSP 42 will update the data for the video tracer artifacts
in the artifact memory 48 so as to simulate the movement of the
tracer towards the target as the user adjusts the aiming of the
weapon to "walk" the tracers onto the target. The DSP 42 may
also adjust the parameters so that the dot will be smaller and
fainter in later frames until eventually it will disappear
altogether as the DSP 42 erases the tracer data from artifact
memory 48. Figure 7 shows the display seen by a user who is
operating the weapon in °'tracer" mode while moving the aiming
point upwards from right to left, the video tracers comprising
a succession of dots 69.
When using a conventional weapon which fires real tracers,
the user will observe the tracer to first rise and then fall, due
to the ballistic trajectory, and diminish in brightness the
further it is from the weapon. In order to achieve greater
realism, the DSP 42 may adjust the tracer data, primarily by
offsetting the elevation and luminance, so as to modify the
tracer s position relative to the scene image and cause it to
fade with time. Consequently, the user will see a series of dots
which appear at the middle of the bottom of the display, as if
emanating from the weapon, traverse a ballistic trajectory, and
extinguish at a position which the DSP 42 determines to be the
point at which the tracer round would have landed. The closer
the dots are to the target, the smaller and fainter they will be.
zt will be appreciated that the DSP 42 will only estimate
the landing point of the tracer, whereas a real tracer would give
the true landing point. However, the use of video tracers saves
valuable ammunition and wear and tear on the weapon, avoids
blinding the user, and, importantly, does not divulge the
position of the user to the enemy.
Operation of the aiming system to generate these video
tracers will now be described with reference to the flowchart in
Figure 8. Having detected a frame synchronization pulse in step
94, the DSP 42 reads the azimuth and elevation from registers 54
and 56, respectively, in step 96, and scans the fire sensor
switch, i.e. the first position of the trigger 34, in step 98.
2f the trigger has been depressed to the first detent position,
in step 100 the DSP 42 uses a tracer subroutine to compute the
data for generating the appropriate tracer and adds it to a
table, in the Tracer Table segment 48A of the artifact memory 48,
as shown in broken lines in Figure 2, together with the azimuth,
elevation and time.
If the "fire sensor" switch has not been operated, however,
and the result of decision step 98 is negative, the DSP 42
proceeds to step 102 and "ages'° the data in Tracer Table 48A, by
removing from the list any tracers which have been in the list
for a predetermined length of time, and by reducing the luminance
of each of the remaining tracers according to its time on the
list. In step 104, the DSP 42 determines the position of each
video tracer in the displayed scene, taking account of the
instant azimuth and elevation readings, and in step 106 writes
the tracer data into artifact memory 48. The DSP 42 then returns
via loop 108 to step 94 to await the next frame pulse. As
before, upon receipt of each frame pulse, the graphics artifact
generator 46 raster scans the artifact memory 48, generates a set
of tracer pixels, in this case forming a spot for each tracer,
and intersperses them with the scene pixels to combine the
tracers) with the displayed scene.
The type and duration of the tracers may be adjusted by the
user to suit particular situations. In some situations, it is
desirable to have the tracer persist for a relatively long period
of time, typically several seconds. As more tracers remain on
the display, however, each needing to be adjusted to compensate
for movement of the weapon, the processing burden on the DSP 42
may become too much, causing a visible lag in updating of the
tracers. In such circumstances, the gunner may reduce the
persistence time.
It will be appreciated that the use of video tracers is not
limited to battlefield operations, but could also be used for
Figure 9, in which components corresponding to those in
preceding Figures have the same reference numerals, illustrates
an embodiment of the invention suitable for detecting and
indicating changes in the scene. The aiming system is similar
to that of Figure 2, but also comprises change detection means
110, a summation device 112 and differencing means 114. Also,
one of the user-operable thumbswitches 36 is designated for
operation to initiate detection of changes in the field of view
of the image sensor 28.
As shown in Figure 9, the change detection means 110
comprises a video input controller 116 with its input connected
to the output of sensor 28 and its output connected to a first
selector switch 118, which is connected to the respective inputs
of two one-frame buffers 132 and 134, respectively. The outputs
of the frame buffers 120 and 122 are connected by way of a second
selector switch 124 to the input of a video output controller
126. The outputs of the video input controller 116 and video
output controller 126 are connected to the positive and negative
inputs, respectively, of the summation device 112. The output
of the summation device 112 is connected to the input of detector
114, the output of which is connected to the DSP 42. The
switches 118 and 124 are controlled by sync circuit 44 to toggle
each frame to connect each of the frame buffers 120 and 122 in
turn between the video input controller 116 and the video input
controller 126. As can be seen from Figure 9, the switches 118
arid 124 are oppositely poled so that, at any instant, data will
be being written into one of the frame buffers while the previous
frame of video data is being read out of the other frame buffer.
The frame buffers 120 and 122 are memory devices which store
a frame of video data in a similar manner to artifact memory 48.
In operation, the video input controller 116 digitizes the frame
of video signal from sensor 28 and writes it into the frame
buffer 120 or 122 selected by switch 118. At the same time, the
video output controller 126 reads out via switch 124, the frame
of video data from the preceding frame to summation device 112.
The summation device 112 computes the difference in intensity
between pixels in the current frame and the corresponding pixels
in the preceding frame. In order to eliminate changes caused by
angular movement of the weapon between the successive frames, the
DSP 42 monitors the azimuth and elevation readings from azimuth
and elevation registers 54 and 56, respectively, and supplies
correction signals on line 128 to the video output controller
126. The video output controller 126 shifts the position within
the frame buffer at which it starts to read out the digital video
data. This causes a compensating relative shift in the frame of
data applied to the summation device 112.
The corrected data is supplied to the detection means 114
which detects pixels in the current frame which have changed in
intensity relative to the corresponding pixels in the previous
frame by more than a predetermined threshold value. The
detection means 114 detects both large positive and large
negative values of luminance to detect changes caused by movement
of potential targets. If the two frames under comparison cover
different areas, perhaps because the weapon moved, pixels in
areas which do not overlap will be excluded from the processing.
In response to the data from detector 114, the DSP 42 writes
into the graphics artifact memory 48 data for a graphics artifact
in the form of highlighting of the different pixels and hence of
the movement of the potential targets. The highlighting
conveniently takes the form of an increase in luminance of the
"differing°' pixel.
For detecting interframe motion of potential targets, the
DSP 42 will be programmed to operate according to the flowchart
shown in Figure 10. In step 132, the DSP 42 clears the artifact
memory 48 and in step 134 scans the thumbswitches 36 until it
detects that motion detection has been initiated by operation of
the Detect Motion thumbswitch. When it receives the next frame
pulse, step 136, the DSP 42 reads the azimuth and elevation
registers 54 and 56, respectively, in step 138. In step 140, the
DSP 42 subtracts the current azimuth and elevation readings from
the readings for the preceding frame to determine interframe gun
motion, and converts the difference into an equivalent number of
pixels. This involves multiplying the angle encoder measurement
by a factor representing the ratio between the angle encoder
measurement and a corresponding distance in pixels. This ratio
will usually change only if the field of view of the optics
changes. The DSP 42 supplies the number of pixels as an offset
signal to the video output controller 126. In step 142, the DSP
42 reads the positions of the changed pixels from the detector
114, ensures in step 144 that the artifact memory has been
erased, and in step 146, writes into artifact memory 48 the data
for generating the graphics artifacts at the detected positions.
The data includes coordinates for the changed pixels artifacts
and sets the luminance to maximum or saturation. The graphics
generator 46 uses the data from the artifact memory 48 to
generate substitute pixels and intersperses them with those from
the image sensor 28 as previously described. Since the DSP 42
has increased the luminance, any changes will be highlighted in
the displayed scene.
If the "Detect Motion" thumbswitch has not been reset, it returns
to step 136 and repeats the sequence. If, however, step 148
reveals that the "Detect Motion" thumbswitch has been reset, the
DSP 42 returns to step 132, erases the artifacts from memory 48,
and continues to scan the thumbswitches until motion detection
is enabled again. Duplication of the steps of scanning the
"Detect Motion" thumbswitch and erasing the artifact memory 48
(steps 132, 134, 144 and 148) ensure that the graphics artifact
generator 46 does not continue to highlight the motion in the
display when motion detection has been discontinued.
The DSP 42 may maintain the changed pixel data causing the
highlighting to persist for a predetermined length of time. The
display will show all movement during that time, continuous
movement showing as a highlighted trail. Consequently, the
display will show not only the moving target but also where the
movement commenced, which may be of significance. This is of
advantage for surveillance purposes, since the weapon can be left
unattended. When the weapon is actually being used, however, a
shorter persistence may be preferred, for example, just long
enough to register movement in one area of the field of view
while the user's attention was focused on a different area.
With only slight changes to the detection device 114 and the
programming of the DSP 42, the system may also detect and
indicate opposing fire. When opposing fire occurs, gun flash
will show as a sudden increase in intensity of a group of pixels.
The summation device 112 and detection device 114 will detect
large positive changes between corresponding pixels of successive
frames, indicative of gun flashes and highlight them as before.
Where both motion detection and opposing fire detection are used
at the same time, the thresholds of the detector 114 and the
programming of the DSP 42 may be arranged to discriminate between
slight movements and gun flashes and emphasize the latter in some
way, for example by increasing the luminance to a maximum. An
opposing gun flash would be characterized by a cluster of pixels
that had a large positive change in intensity. Movements of
objects in the scene would cause both positive and negative
intensity changes of a smaller magnitude.
The aiming system of any of the embodiments described
herein may include a data interface 92, as illustrated in Figure
2, enabling communication of data between the aiming system and
those of other similar weapons and/or a central command post.
Figure 11 illustrates, by way of example, three weapons 150, 152
and 154, each with such a modified aiming system including a data
interface 92 coupling it to a central command post 156 and
allowing transmission of azimuth and/or elevation readings
between the respective aiming systems and the command post. Such
an arrangement allows the fields of fire of the three weapons to
be coordinated by the operator of the central command post.
Additionally, other information could be transmitted for
automatic display at the weapon. For example, information about
an approaching target might be communicated to the gun crews, via
their display devices, to assist in its identification.
Although they are shown coupled by cables, it will be
appreciated that other kinds of data links could be employed to
connect the weapons to the command post.
It will be appreciated that an advantage of embodiments of
the invention, which comprise an aiming system having a display
device attached to the machine gun, is that they can be used for
surveillance. This applies whether the weapons are used
The data interfaces 92 could, advantageously be used to
connect a recording device, for example a video recorder, so that
the signal supplied to the display and other the information from
the DSP and image sensor could be recorded for later analysis.
This could be especially advantageous in view of the need to
review actions by either the military or civil police officers,
particularly for legal reasons.
Forecasted Issue Date 2004-06-29
(22) Filed 1993-11-30
(41) Open to Public Inspection 1994-06-03
Filing $0.00 1993-11-30
Registration of Documents $0.00 1994-10-28
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 2 1995-11-30 $100.00 1995-09-01
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 3 1996-12-02 $100.00 1996-11-26
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 4 1997-12-01 $100.00 1997-09-22
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 5 1998-11-30 $150.00 1998-09-16
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 6 1999-11-30 $150.00 1999-09-28
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 7 2000-11-30 $150.00 2000-10-26
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 8 2001-11-30 $150.00 2001-11-07
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 9 2002-12-02 $150.00 2002-10-01
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 10 2003-12-01 $200.00 2003-10-22
Final $300.00 2004-04-16
Registration of Documents $100.00 2004-05-18
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 11 2004-11-30 $250.00 2004-10-13
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 12 2005-11-30 $250.00 2005-10-17
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 13 2006-11-30 $250.00 2006-10-16
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 14 2007-11-30 $250.00 2007-10-15
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 15 2008-12-01 $450.00 2008-10-17
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 16 2009-11-30 $450.00 2009-11-20
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 17 2010-11-30 $450.00 2010-10-25
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 18 2011-11-30 $450.00 2011-10-13
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 19 2012-11-30 $450.00 2012-10-10
LOUGHEED, JAMES HUGH
SHENEY, DANIEL RAYMOND
Representative Drawing 1999-07-12 1 7
Representative Drawing 2003-10-01 1 8
Claims 1995-04-08 9 291
Drawings 1995-04-08 8 157
Description 1995-04-08 32 1,246
Cover Page 1995-04-08 1 47
Cover Page 2004-05-27 1 46
Prosecution-Amendment 2000-10-26 1 32
Fees 2003-10-22 1 29
Correspondence 2004-08-24 1 26
Fees 2001-11-07 1 31
Fees 2002-10-01 1 29
Correspondence 2004-04-16 1 28
Correspondence 2004-07-07 1 29
Fees 1996-11-26 1 37
Fees 1995-09-01 1 32