US 12,241,724 B2
Omnidirectional optronic system having two rotation axes
Grégoire Mechain, Elancourt (FR); Bertrand Forestier, Elancourt (FR); Bruno Bustin, Elancourt (FR); and Pascal Rousseau, Elancourt (FR)
Assigned to THALES, Courbevoie (FR)
Appl. No. 18/039,923
Filed by THALES, Courbevoie (FR)
PCT Filed Nov. 30, 2021, PCT No. PCT/EP2021/083478
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jun. 1, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/117532, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 9, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 2012572 (FR), filed on Dec. 3, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2024/0060748 A1, Feb. 22, 2024
Int. Cl. F41G 7/22 (2006.01); G01S 7/495 (2006.01)
CPC F41G 7/224 (2013.01) [F41G 7/2213 (2013.01); F41G 7/2246 (2013.01); F41G 7/2293 (2013.01); G01S 7/495 (2013.01)] 11 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An omnidirectional optronic system with two axes of rotation, a carrier axis and a carried axis, that are perpendicular to each other, comprising an imaging channel and a laser channel, the laser channel being at a point of injection at an entrance of the system and the imaging channel being concentric with the carrier axis, and further comprising:
in the laser channel:
a first reflective surface, arranged at the entrance of the system at the point of injection, said first reflective surface being configured to split the laser channel from the imaging channel, by reflecting a laser beam injected into the system so as to deviate said laser beam from the carrier axis of the system;
a second reflective surface for deflecting the laser beam after being reflected by the first reflective surface toward an exit window, which takes the form of a spherical dome, offset from the imaging channel;
an expander configured to increase a diameter of the laser beam after being reflected by the second reflective surface and to reduce its divergence;
a deflector configured to modify an angular direction of the laser beam after being reflected by the second reflective surface and after passing through the expander inside a cone of apex angle comprised between 3° and 6°;
a third reflective surface and a fourth reflective surface configured to direct the laser beam, after passing through the expander and the deflector, toward the exit window, which is formed as a spherical dome, parallel to the carrier axis; and
a compensator configured to compensate for aberrations in the exit window, which is formed as a spherical dome; and
in the imaging channel:
a first group of lenses and a second group of lenses arranged as an afocal Kepler device; and
a fifth reflective surface, a sixth reflective surface, a seventh reflective surface, and an eighth reflective surface, arranged between the two groups of lenses;
the first reflective surface, the second reflective surface, the expander, the deflector, the third reflective surface, the fifth reflective surface, the sixth reflective surface, and the seventh reflective surface forming a first assembly that rotates as one about the carrier axis; and
the fourth reflective surface, the eighth reflective surface, the second set of lenses, and the compensator forming a second assembly that rotates as one about the carried axis.