ANGLED MIRROR

Abstract

An angled mirror for an armored vehicle includes a housing having a lower look-in window or aperture, an upper look-out window or aperture and a one-part or multipart prism located in the housing. The prism has an outside view surface which remains permanently functional in strongly sandy surroundings due to a layer made of transparent ceramic that is disposed in the look-out window or aperture.

Claims

1. An angled mirror for an armored vehicle, the angled mirror comprising: a housing including a lower look-in window and an upper look-out window; a one-part or multipart prism located in said housing, said prism having an outside view surface; and a layer of transparent ceramic disposed in said look-out window.

2. The angled mirror according to claim 1, wherein said layer is formed of a ceramic tile or multiple ceramic tiles disposed adjacent one another.

3. The angled mirror according to claim 1, wherein said layer is an outermost layer of a plurality of layers disposed on said outside view surface of said prism.

4. The angled mirror according to claim 3, which further comprises a transparent adhesive film or a transparent adhesive mounting said layer to said outside view surface of said prism or to further functional layers applied on said outside view surface of said prism.

5. The angled mirror according to claim 1, wherein said layer is fixed in a position spaced apart from said prism in said housing.

6. The angled mirror according to claim 1, wherein said layer is formed of aluminum oxide or a magnesium aluminate.

7. The angled mirror according to claim 1, wherein said layer is formed of Al.sub.2O.sub.3 or MgAl.sub.2O.sub.4 (spinel).

8. The angled mirror according to claim 1, which further comprises a camera optical unit of a digital camera or a night vision or thermal imaging camera disposed behind said layer of transparent ceramic in a recess formed in said prism or adjacent said prism in said housing.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

[0016] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic, partially sectional, front-elevational view of an angled mirror; and

[0017] FIG. 2 is a partially sectional, side-elevational view of the angled mirror according to FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] Referring now to the figures of the drawings as a whole, there is seen an angled mirror or corner reflector or periscope 1 for an armored vehicle which is formed of a housing 2 including a lower look-in window or aperture 3, an upper look-out window or aperture 4, and a one-part or multipart prism 5 located therein having an outside view surface 8, in front of which a layer 7 made of transparent ceramic is disposed. As shown in FIG. 1, the layer 7 is formed of two ceramic tiles disposed adjacent one another. A camera optical unit 9 of a digital camera or a night vision or thermal imaging camera is disposed behind the layer 7 of transparent ceramic in a recess formed in the prism 5 or adjacent the prism 5 in the housing 2.

[0019] A configuration of one-part layers 7 or of multiple layers 7 disposed in succession and made of transparent ceramic is also possible, but is not shown in the drawing.

[0020] The layer 7 made of transparent ceramic is disposed directly on the outside view surface 8 of the prism 5 and a connection therebetween can be produced by using a transparent adhesive film or a transparent adhesive directly on the prism 5 or on further interposed functional layers, which is also not shown in the drawing, however.

[0021] A layer 7 which is fixed so as to be spaced apart from the prism 5 separately in the housing 1, is also not shown in the drawing.

[0022] The layer 7 made of transparent ceramic is formed, for example, of aluminum oxide, such as Al.sub.2O.sub.3, or of a magnesium aluminate, such as MgAl.sub.2O.sub.4.