Patent Description:
Reticles are used in viewing optics for aiming and for measuring distances or sizes of objects. Commonly referred to as "crosshairs," various types of reticles can be used in viewing optics, such as riflescopes. The reticle is placed at a focal plane, and carried by an erector tube. The erector tube houses both the magnifying lenses and the reticle assembly within a main tube. The erector tube moves as a shooter or spotter adjusts the scope for windage and elevation. Securing and accurately positioning the reticle within the erector tube is critical to the accuracy of the scope.

Glass etched reticles have become popular in sighting devices used in the consumer, military, and law enforcement markets. A glass etched reticle is a glass substrate with a pattern etched into the glass. Then, using a vapor deposit chamber, various substances can be deposited into the etched pattern. For black features, chrome is generally used. For "illuminated" features, titanium dioxide or sodium silicate is generally used. This fine powder reflects light from a LED, which is positioned at the edge of the reticle housing and out of view of the user, towards the user's eye, and makes the reticle pattern appear to glow so it is easy to see in low light situations.

Most viewing optics with variable magnification have two focal planes. Generally, a reticle can be placed at the first focal plane, the second focal plane or both. There are distinct advantages and disadvantages to both first and second focal plane reticles.

First focal plane reticles generally have smaller features, which usually prevents the use of wire reticles, because the wires are too big. Therefore, glass etched reticles are generally used for first focal plane reticles. The first focal plane is in front of the zoom magnification system (that is, the erector system), and thus, the reticle and image will change in size in proportion to one another: when the image gets bigger, the information on the reticle gets bigger at the same rate. One advantage to this is that any measurement marks on the reticle will be accurate at any magnification setting the user chooses.

As the image is magnified, the information on the reticle appears to get larger along with the image at the same rate, so all reticle markings will be accurate to its designed scale of measurement. One disadvantage, however, is that as the lines which make-up the reticle will get thicker to the user's eye, it may become difficult to see small targets because more of the viewable area is obscured. If the lines are made too thin, at low magnification (desirable for larger fields of view and moving targets) the lines could be too thin to be seen clearly. On the other hand, if the lines are thicker and work well at low magnification, they may appear to be too thick at higher magnifications.

In second focal plane reticles, by contrast, the advantages and disadvantages are largely the opposite of those of first focal plane reticles. Second focal plane reticles do not adjust in size or scale when the magnification of the image is changed because they are located behind the erector system. Therefore, a second focal plane reticle is generally sized for a specific magnification setting of the riflescope.

In order for the measurement marks on a second focal plane reticle to be accurate, the scope must be set at a precise magnification setting for which the given reticle is designed. In order to use the measurement marks in another magnification, therefore, the user would need to mathematically calculate the difference for accurate use. Because the thickness of the lines on a second focal plane reticle do not change with the magnification setting, the lines can be optimized for a desired thickness, and at any magnification the lines will appear the same thickness to the user's eye.

Alignment of dual focal plane reticles is also challenging. In many dual focal plane reticles, both reticles include vertical and/or horizontal stadia lines or markings including, but not limited to, "crosshair" lines. In addition, reticles also typically employ other markings including, but not limited to: subtension markings, hash marks, dots, horseshoes, or other shapes or patterns. Such markings may provide a shooter with information including, but not limited to, measuring distances, object sizes, and how to compensate for holdover and crosswinds. Including lines or markings on both reticles makes the alignment of the reticles to each other extremely important. If the reticles were to be misaligned for any reason, the user may see two sets of crosshairs and subtension marks, which would confuse and distract the shooter. Such misalignment could occur because the reticles are physically misaligned, or if the user simply turns his or her head off axis.

Another important consideration for reticles is illumination. Reticle illumination has been used for many years in traditional style riflescopes, but there have been illumination problems. A discussion of glass reticle technology will be useful background. Years ago, glass reticles were invented because they had the advantage of enabling "floating" reticle features. The term "floating," when applied to a reticle, means that any design can be placed onto the glass surface without any other physical support, that is, the designs do not need to be connected. Floating reticles are unlike wire reticles, as the latter require all the reticle features to be supported by being connected to a frame in some way, much like a stencil or a neon sign.

A glass reticle, or a reticle on a transparent substrate, makes possible any pattern that is imaginable. As noted above, glass reticle makers will etch glass with a pattern, and then fill the etched areas with various different materials, depending on different factors. Commonly, chrome is used as a material for filling the etched portion for use in non-illuminated features. For illuminated features, glass reticle makers commonly use a reflective material such as but not limited to titanium dioxide and sodium silicate. Usually, in a glass reticle there is a second piece of glass cemented over the reticle pattern to protect the pattern, thereby creating a doublet.

However, most glass illuminated reticles are not bright enough to be used in bright daylight situations because current technology cannot make them bright enough. There are exceptions to this generality, but they also have their drawbacks. Traditional reticle illumination involves the use of an LED placed at the edge of the glass reticle. The light from the LED reflects off the reflective material towards the observer's eye, and thus creates an illuminated pattern. This method results in a desirable illuminated pattern for low light situations. Titanium dioxide and sodium silicate are actually very finely ground powders of these materials. When the light from the LED hits these materials, the light scatters in all directions. Some of that light goes to the user's eye. But it is inefficient since it scatters light in all directions. The result is that not enough light is reflected for bright daylight situations.

One alternative way to provide brighter illumination is the use of light piped through an optic fiber to the center of the reticle to make a bright center dot or other shape. This is currently used in the Vortex Razor <NUM>-6x24 scope, for example. The light piped through the optic fiber may be ambient light or may also be provided by an LED or other suitable light source. Illumination via the optic fiber with an LED results in a very bright reticle that can be seen in bright daylight, and does not dim when the user moves his/her head off axis. The problem with this design is that it can only be used in the second focal plane. The reason is that placement in the first focal plane would require the illuminated shape to be much smaller to appear the correct size to the user and it is difficult to get optic fibers sufficiently small, or at least to make the center dot small enough.

In addition, using an optic fiber is difficult to do using glass reticle technology without making the fiber optic cable visible to the observer, which obstructs the view and is distracting. Moreover, optic fibers have the drawback of only having an illuminated center dot, or chevron, or other similarly small and compact shape.

Another system used for bright illuminated patterns is diffraction grated reticles. In some instances, this technology may produce a very bright center dot. However, the problem is the manner in which the light is provided to the diffraction pattern.

<CIT> discloses a prism system that reflects light to the diffraction pattern to create a bright center dot. The problem with this design is that it relies on a relatively large prism system that needs to be placed on the edge of the scope housing. This arrangement makes it difficult to put an illuminated reticle in the first focal plane because the larger housing arrangement would likely interfere with the scope turrets.

Another problem with this design is that the reticle moves much more in the first focal plane while adjusting the turrets. Because the prism functions to focus the light onto the diffraction pattern, this design requires focusing on a "moving target," meaning that the reflected light may not always be aimed properly onto the diffraction reticle pattern.

Others have used diffraction grated reticles in the first focal plane using a lens in combination with very tight tolerances. This provides the desired daylight brightness in the first focal plane, but as the user moves his/her head off axis, the brightness is lost, and in some cases the scope dims to almost black.

Although illuminated reticles have been used for many years, they have not been fully optimized. For example, the use of transparent organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens or other electronic reticles is known, but improvements are needed for this technology. For example, <CIT> discloses a transparent OLED screen reticle as well as other types of electronic reticles, and various electronic reticle shapes.

One problem with electronic reticles including OLED reticles, however, is that if battery power is lost, so too is the reticle. In this situation, there are no aiming options. Another disadvantage is that it can be complicated to connect the OLED screen to the magnification. Such difficulty leads to more opportunities for failure and an increase in cost and complexity.

<CIT> discloses a dual focal plane optical sighting device, such as a riflescope, having two focal planes, with a first/second reticle at the first/second focal plane. The recticle at the first focal plane is a glass etched recticle; the recticle at the second focal plane is a wire recticle. The two recticles have different patterns or markings providing the appearance of a single recticle or complementary markings when viewed through the optical sighting device.

As such, there is a need for a glass reticle with the advantages of a wire or metal reticle with fiber optic illumination. A need also exists for a reticle having improved illumination and reticle options.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a viewing optic as defined in claim <NUM>. Embodiments and optional and/or preferable features are defined in the dependent claims.

The apparatuses and methods disclosed herein will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the disclosure are shown. The apparatuses and methods disclosed herein may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that the disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the set of features and/or capabilities may be readily adapted within the context of a standalone weapons sight, front-mount or rear-mount clip-on weapons sight, and other permutations of filed deployed optical weapons sights. Further, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various combinations of features and capabilities may be incorporated into add-on modules for retrofitting existing fixed or variable weapons sights of any variety.

It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being "on", "connected to" or "coupled to" another element or layer, it can be directly on, connected or coupled to the other element or layer. Alternatively, intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly on," "directly connected to" or "directly coupled to" another element or layer, there are no intervening elements or layers present.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, component, region, or section from another element, component, region, or section. Thus, a first element, component, region, or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, or section without departing from the disclosure.

Spatially relative terms, such as "beneath," "below," "lower," "above," "upper," and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated <NUM>° or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.

The numerical ranges in this disclosure are approximate, and thus may include values outside of the range unless otherwise indicated. Numerical ranges include all values from and including the lower and the upper values, in increments of one unit, provided that there is a separation of at least two units between any lower value and any higher value. As an example, if a compositional, physical or other property, such as, for example, molecular weight, viscosity, etc., is from <NUM> to <NUM>,<NUM>, it is intended that all individual values, such as <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, etc., and sub ranges, such as <NUM> to <NUM>, <NUM> to <NUM>, <NUM> to <NUM>, etc., are expressly enumerated. For ranges containing values which are less than one or containing fractional numbers greater than one (e.g., <NUM>, <NUM>, etc.), one unit is considered to be <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> or <NUM>, as appropriate. For ranges containing single digit numbers less than ten (e.g., <NUM> to <NUM>), one unit is typically considered to be <NUM>. These are only examples of what is specifically intended, and all possible combinations of numerical values between the lowest value and the highest value enumerated, are to be considered to be expressly stated in this disclosure. Numerical ranges are provided within this disclosure for, among other things, distances from a user of a device to a target or from one component of a device to another component of a device.

The term "and/or" as used in a phrase such as "A and/or B" herein is intended to include both A and B; A or B; A (alone); and B (alone). Likewise, the term "and/or" as used in a phrase such as "A, B, and/or C" is intended to encompass each of the following embodiments: A, B, and C; A, B, or C; A or C; A or B; B or C; A and C; A and B; B and C; A (alone); B (alone); and C (alone).

As used herein, a "center pattern" describes any pattern that can be used advantageously for close range shooting. A center pattern may be simply a center dot, broken circle, horseshoe, or any pattern that is considered easy to use as an aiming point for close range shooting. This center pattern needs to be very bright so that it can be seen in bright daylight situations and against the brightest of backgrounds. For this reason, scopes that have been very popular for close range shooting include scopes with a very bright center dot or "center pattern" for an aiming point.

As used herein, a "complete reticle pattern" refers to a reticle pattern having sufficient markings that no further information from additional reticles is needed. In one embodiment, a complete reticle pattern includes horizontal and vertical stadia lines along with one or more additional markings including but not limited to subtension markings, numbers, and symbols.

As used herein, an "erector sleeve" is a protrusion from the erector lens mount which engages a slot in the erector tube and/or cam tube or which serves an analogous purpose. This could be integral to the mount or detachable.

As used herein, an "erector tube" is any structure or device having an opening to receive an erector lens mount.

As used herein, a "firearm" is a portable gun, being a barreled weapon that launches one or more projectiles often driven by the action of an explosive force. As used herein, the term "firearm" includes a handgun, a long gun, a rifle, shotgun, a carbine, automatic weapons, semi-automatic weapons, a machine gun, a sub-machine gun, an automatic rifle, and an assault rifle.

As used herein, the term "viewing optic" refers to an apparatus used by a shooter or a spotter to select, identify or monitor a target. The "viewing optic" may rely on visual observation of the target, or, for example, on infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), radar, thermal, microwave, or magnetic imaging, radiation including X-ray, gamma ray, isotope and particle radiation, night vision, vibrational receptors including ultra-sound, sound pulse, sonar, seismic vibrations, magnetic resonance, gravitational receptors, broadcast frequencies including radio wave, television and cellular receptors, or other image of the target. The image of the target presented to the shooter by the "viewing optic" device may be unaltered, or it may be enhanced, for example, by magnification, amplification, subtraction, superimposition, filtration, stabilization, template matching, or other means. The target selected, identified or monitored by the "viewing optic" may be within the line of sight of the shooter, or tangential to the sight of the shooter, or the shooter's line of sight may be obstructed while the target acquisition device presents a focused image of the target to the shooter. The image of the target acquired by the "viewing optic" may be, for example, analog or digital, and shared, stored, archived, or transmitted within a network of one or more shooters and spotters by, for example, video, physical cable or wire, IR, radio wave, cellular connections, laser pulse, optical, <NUM>. 11b or other wireless transmission using, for example, protocols such as html, SML, SOAP, X. <NUM>, SNA, etc., Bluetooth™, Serial, USB or other suitable image distribution method. The term "viewing optic" is used interchangeably with "optic sight.

As used herein, the term "outward scene" refers to a real world scene, including but not limited to a target.

As used herein, the term "shooter" applies to either the operator making the shot or an individual observing the shot in collaboration with the operator making the shot.

<FIG> shows an exemplary viewing optic <NUM>, having a scope body <NUM>, objective lens end <NUM> and ocular end <NUM>. <FIG> shows a cross-section of the sighting device from <FIG> showing the basic components of optical system <NUM> and moveable optical element <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, optical system <NUM> includes an objective lens system <NUM>, erector system <NUM>, and eyepiece <NUM>. <FIG> shows a riflescope having a body <NUM>, but optical system <NUM> could be used in other types of sighting devices as well. Erector system <NUM> may be included within a moveable optic element <NUM>. In <FIG>, moveable optic element <NUM> also includes a collector <NUM>, as well as first focal plane reticle <NUM> and second focal plane reticle <NUM>. When in use, adjustment of turret assembly <NUM> and turret screw <NUM> causes adjustment of moveable optic element <NUM>.

<FIG> shows a close-up view of an optical system <NUM> in cross-section, illustrating how light rays travel through the optical system <NUM>. Optical system <NUM> may have additional optical components such as collector <NUM>, and it is well known within the art that certain components, such as objective lens system <NUM>, erector system <NUM>, and eyepiece <NUM> may themselves have multiple components or lenses. Optical system <NUM> shown here is drawn as a basic system for illustration of one embodiment of the invention but it should be understood that variations of other optical systems with more or less structural components would be within the scope of the invention as well.

In one embodiment, the disclosure relates to a viewing optic with a reticle system having a transparent substrate etched with a desired pattern, e.g. crosshairs, and a fiber optic reticle coupled to the transparent substrate. In one embodiment, the reticle system can be in the first focal plane or the second focal plane. In one embodiment, the viewing optic may have a reticle system in both the first focal plane and the second focal plane.

In one embodiment, the transparent substrate has a first side facing the objective lens and a second side facing the ocular lens. In one embodiment, the transparent substrate has an objective facing side and an ocular facing side.

In one embodiment, the first side of the transparent substrate has a marking pattern or reticle useful for the user/shooter of the viewing optic. In another embodiment, the second side of the transparent substrate has a marking pattern or reticle useful for the user/shooter of the viewing optic.

In one embodiment, the marking pattern or reticle is on the objective side of the transparent substrate. In yet another embodiment, the marking pattern or reticle is on the ocular side of the transparent substrate. In one embodiment, the marking pattern or reticle is applied by any suitable method including but not limited to etching, engraving, and chromium deposit.

In one embodiment, the transparent substrate is a glass substrate including but not limited to crown glass, e.g. Schott® high transparent crown glass B270 or Schott® borcrown glass BK7. transparent plastics, and polycarbonate.

In one embodiment, the glass reticle can be etched with any desired pattern including but not limited to numbers, dots and other floating features. <FIG> and <FIG> provide representative examples of the types of markings that can be etched on a glass substrate.

<FIG> displays a glass etched reticle <NUM> having subtension lines <NUM>, numbers <NUM> and horizontal <NUM> and vertical <NUM> stadia lines. Of course, any other suitable markings may also be included in glass etched reticle <NUM> without departing from the disclosure. For example, marking patterns as shown in <FIG> and <FIG> can be etched into the glass.

In one embodiment, the transparent substrate has a full and complete reticle pattern. In yet another embodiment, the glass substrate has a full and complete reticle pattern and can function independent of any other markings.

In one embodiment, the reticle system has a fiber optic wire reticle. In one embodiment, the reticle system has an electroformed foil reticle. In one embodiment, the fiber optic wire reticle has a full and complete marking pattern that can function independent of any other marking patterns.

In one embodiment, the fiber optic wire reticle can be coupled to the transparent substrate having markings or a reticle pattern. By coupling the wire reticle to the transparent substrate, the markings remain in alignment.

In one embodiment, the fiber optic wire reticle can be coupled to the objective side of the transparent substrate. In another embodiment, the fiber optic wire reticle can be coupled to the ocular side of the transparent substrate. In still another embodiment, a first fiber optic wire reticle can be coupled to the ocular side of the transparent substrate and a second fiber optic wire reticle can be coupled to the objective side of the transparent substrate.

In one embodiment, the first and second fiber optic wire reticles have complete and full marking patterns. In one embodiment, the first fiber optic wire reticle and the second fiber optic wire reticle have marking patterns that are complementary to one another.

In one embodiment, the fiber optic wire reticle can be coupled to the transparent substrate using epoxy, resin, cement, or any other suitable material. In one embodiment, the wire reticle is coupled to a first side of the transparent substrate. In yet another embodiment, the wire reticle is coupled to as second side of the transparent substrate.

In one embodiment, the fiber optic wire reticle can be cemented to the transparent substrate. In one embodiment, the fiber optic wire reticle can be coupled at the edge of the glass reticle, to avoid any material getting on the glass that is within the field of view of the reticle.

<FIG> depicts a wire reticle <NUM> having vertical and horizontal stadia lines <NUM>, <NUM>, and a target dot <NUM>. Wire reticle <NUM> may include an illuminated target dot <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, illuminated target dot <NUM> may be illuminated by an optic fiber <NUM>, which may be aligned with and track along one of the stadia lines <NUM>, <NUM>. The optic fiber <NUM> shown in <FIG> is exaggerated to make it visible in the illustration, but in practice, the optic fiber appears to disappear into the wire stadia line <NUM>, <NUM> and, except for the illuminated target dot <NUM>, is not visible to the user. Although in the embodiment shown, optic fiber <NUM> is positioned in front of vertical stadia line <NUM>, it may be positioned in front of the horizontal stadia line <NUM> or any other wire included in wire reticle <NUM> without departing from the disclosure.

<FIG> shows a side view of optic fiber <NUM> and target dot <NUM>, which appears as a bright dot to the user when an LED <NUM> is illuminated. LED <NUM> may be powered by a battery, and may be any suitable color. It may also be possible to provide an LED <NUM> that can change color, allowing the user to select a preferred color. One end of optic fiber <NUM> may optionally include a light collector <NUM>, which acts as a funnel of sorts to capture as much light <NUM> as possible. The other end of optic fiber <NUM> is cut at a <NUM> degree angle, which reflects the light passing through the fiber toward the eye of the user. Light <NUM> is collected by light collector <NUM>, passes through optic fiber <NUM>, and reflects off of target dot <NUM>, before traveling to the eye of the user. The targeting dot <NUM> visible to the viewer is actually light <NUM> reflecting off of the <NUM> degree cut of the end of optic fiber <NUM>. As the light passes through optic fiber <NUM> and illuminates the end of the optic fiber opposite the light source. Thus, in an alternative embodiment, optic fiber <NUM> may include a <NUM>° bend at the location of the target dot <NUM> so that the end of optic fiber <NUM> opposite the light source points toward the user's eye without having to cut the optic fiber at an angle.

In one embodiment, the optic fiber <NUM> may include from a <NUM>° to a <NUM>° bend at the location of the target dot <NUM>. In another embodiment, the optic fiber <NUM> may include from a <NUM>° bend to a <NUM>° bend at the location of the target dot <NUM>.

Although LED <NUM> is described here to illuminate the target dot <NUM> in the embodiment shown, any suitable light source may be used, such as a prism, OLED system, other non-LED lamp, or by exposing loops of optic fiber <NUM> to ambient light that may be collected and transmitted to target dot <NUM>.

In one embodiment, the optic fiber <NUM> can be situated on the objective side of the wire reticle <NUM>, and both can be situated on the objective face of the transparent substrate or glass substrate.

<FIG> and <FIG> illustrate a reticle system having a wire reticle coupled to a transparent substrate that achieves an illuminated reticle with the desired dots, numbers, or other floating features. Both the glass etched reticle <NUM> and the wire reticle <NUM> have complete reticle patterns, which are in alignment when viewed through viewing optic <NUM>. The reticle system having a fiber optic reticle (<FIG>) coupled to a glass etched reticle (<FIG>) can be placed in either the first focal plane or the second focal plane. The reticle system disclosed herein allows daylight bright illumination from the fiber optic wire reticle, as well as floating features, such as numbers and dots provided by the glass reticle.

<FIG> shows a view through a viewing optic <NUM> showing a fiber optic wire reticle <NUM> (<FIG>) coupled to glass etched reticle <NUM> (<FIG>) in perfect alignment.

In one embodiment, the reticle system can be in the first focal plane or the second focal plane. In one embodiment, the disclosure relates to a viewing optic having one or more reticle systems as disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the disclosure relates to a viewing optic having a reticle system in the first focal plane and the second focal plane.

In another embodiment, the components of the reticle system can comprise complete and functional markings and complementary to one another. In one embodiment, the glass etched reticle can display a first complete and functional set of markings including horizontal and vertical stadia lines and the fiber optic wire reticle can display a second complete and functional set of markings. In one embodiment, the first and second set of markings is in alignment.

In one embodiment, the disclosure relates to a method of making a reticle system. In one embodiment, the disclosure relates to a method comprising: (a) providing a reticle pattern on a first side of a transparent substrate; (b) coupling a wire reticle with fiber optic illumination to the transparent substrate. In one embodiment, the wire reticle is coupled to the first side of the transparent substrate. In one embodiment the wire reticle is coupled to the transparent substrate at the edges of the transparent substrate.

In one embodiment, the disclosure relates to a method comprising: (a) providing a reticle pattern on an objective side of a transparent substrate; (b) coupling a wire reticle with fiber optic illumination to the transparent substrate. In one embodiment, the reticle pattern includes horizontal and vertical stadia lines.

In one embodiment, the disclosure relates to a viewing optic comprising: an objective lens system; an erector system; an eyepiece; a reticle system having a fiber optic reticle including horizontal and stadia lines coupled to a glass reticle having a marking pattern that is void of horizontal and vertical stadia lines; wherein the marking pattern of the glass etched reticle is superimposed on the stadia lines of the wire reticle when the reticles are viewed through the eyepiece. In one embodiment, the glass etched reticle lacks horizontal and vertical stadia lines.

As an exemplary embodiment, <FIG> shows a glass etched reticle <NUM> having subtension lines <NUM> and numbers <NUM>, but no stadia lines. On its own, glass etched reticle <NUM> would be difficult to use. The marking pattern on the transparent substrate is incomplete as it lacks stadia lines.

<FIG> shows a wire reticle <NUM> having vertical and horizontal stadia lines <NUM>, <NUM>, and a target dot <NUM>. In one embodiment, wire reticle <NUM> may include an illuminated target dot <NUM>.

<FIG> shows a view through a viewing optic <NUM> showing an fiber optic wire reticle <NUM> (<FIG>) aligned to glass etched reticle <NUM> (<FIG>). The markings on the fiber optic wire reticle complete the markings on the glass etched reticle by providing the stadia lines. Together, the fiber optic wire reticle and the glass etched reticle provide a complete marking pattern.

In one embodiment, the disclosure relates to a transparent substrate with desired markings of a reticle pattern. In one embodiment, the horizontal and vertical stadia lines are etched wide enough and deep enough to accept a fiber optic. In one embodiment, chrome or similar material can be deposited into the etched structure so that it is reflective.

In one embodiment, a fiber optic is inserted into the etched structure. The fiber optic provides illumination for the reticle/markings in the transparent substrate.

In one embodiment, the fiber optic is approximately <NUM> microns in diameter. In one embodiment, the fiber optic is from <NUM> micron to <NUM> microns in diameter. In yet another embodiment, the fiber optic is from <NUM> microns to <NUM> microns in diameter.

In one embodiment, a first end of optic fiber may optionally include a light collector, which acts as a funnel of sorts to capture as much light as possible. The second end of optic fiber is cut at about a <NUM>°angle, which reflects the light passing through the fiber toward the eye of the user. The fiber optic is inserted into the etched structure such that the <NUM>° cut is in the center of the reticle and oriented so that the light traveling down the fiber optic will reflect off of the chrome structure and then back towards the user's eye.

In one embodiment, the etched pattern is made of open grooves, i.e. grooves that are open to the surface of the substrate, e.g. essentially having a trapezoidal or about V-shaped cross section. The open grooves can be engraved in the front or back surface of the transparent substrate. The engraved open grooves define sidewall or lateral groove surfaces that extend from a bottom of the engraved open grooves to the substrate surface at an angle to the substrate surface in which the open grooves are engraved.

In one embodiment, the groove surfaces have a surface roughness that is large enough to scatter light directed onto the reticle perpendicular to the substrate surface when the reticle is illuminated, such that the pattern becomes visible relative to the remaining flat (not engraved) substrate surface by said light scattering at the groove surfaces when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the substrate surface. In transmission mode the opaque engraved open grooves appear gray, while the remaining or surrounding flat (not engraved) area of the substrate surface is clear and bright and allows to pass an image of the target to the user's eye.

In one embodiment, the grooves are visible in transmission mode by the specific opaqueness of the engraved grooves directly caused by the surface roughness of the groove surfaces. Thus, advantageously it is not necessary to fill the engraved grooves with an intransparent filling material to produce the light scattering of the sighting pattern, e.g. of the crosshairs or the like.

Claim 1:
A viewing optic (<NUM>) comprising:
a body (<NUM>) with a first end and a second end and having a center axis;
an objective lens system (<NUM>) disposed within the body;
an eyepiece lens (<NUM>) disposed within the body;
an erector lens system (<NUM>) disposed within the body;
the objective lens system, eyepiece lens, and erector lens system forming an optical system having a first focal plane and a second focal plane,
a reticle system (<NUM>,<NUM>) having a fiber optic reticle (<NUM>) with horizontal and vertical stadia lines (<NUM>, <NUM>) coupled to a transparent substrate having a reticle pattern (<NUM>) comprising horizontal and vertical stadia lines (<NUM>,<NUM>),
wherein the fiber optic horizontal and vertical stadia lines (<NUM>,<NUM>) align with the transparent substrate horizontal and vertical stadia lines (<NUM>,<NUM>)