Boresight collimating device for wide waveband utilizing a source switching elliptical reflector
View Patent ↗A boresight collimating device using a novel way of achieving multiple source illumination of the pin hole/reticule using one moving part, a rotating elliptical mirror, while maintaining precision alignment of the device is disclosed.
1. An illumination system for a boresight collimating device comprising:
a rotating elliptical mirror that rotates about one of its foci;
a pinhole/reticule located at said foci;
two or more illumination sources;
each of said two or more illumination sources creating a source beam;
each of said two or more illumination sources placed at a location such that when said rotating elliptical mirror is rotated each of said two or more illumination sources is correctly positioned to illuminate said rotating elliptical mirror and to reflect a source beam at the foci of said rotating elliptical mirror wherein when each of said two or more illumination sources is switched on and correctly positioned with respect to said rotating elliptical mirror each of said two or more illumination sources illuminates said pinhole/reticule;
a parabolic mirror having the same foci as said rotating elliptical mirror;
said pinhole/reticule being imaged by said parabolic mirror and said parabolic mirror collimating the light output from each of said two or more illumination sources as said rotating elliptical mirror rotates.
2. The illumination system of claim 1 wherein the rotation of said rotating elliptical mirror also acts as an electrical switch turning on each of said two or more illumination sources when each of said two or more illumination sources is correctly positioned to reflect the source beam at the pinhole/reticule and turning off each of said two or more illumination sources when each of said tow or more illumination sources in not correctly positioned to reflect the source beam at the pinhole/reticule.