Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080291682 | LED luminance-augmentation via specular retroreflection, including collimators that escape the etendue limit - The diffuse reflectivity of an LED source is utilized to recycle some of its emission, thereby enabling a luminaire to escape the étendue limit. Retroreflectors intercept the rays destined for the outer part of the luminaire aperture, which can then be truncated. The resulting smaller aperture has the same beam-width as the full original, albeit with lesser flux due to recycling losses. A reduction to half the original area is possible. | 11-27-2008 |
20090116215 | Optical manifold - Optical systems are described that have at least one source of a beam of blue light with divergence under 15°. A phosphor emits yellow light when excited by the blue light. A collimator is disposed with the phosphor and forms a yellow beam with divergence under 15°. A dichroic filter is positioned to transmit the beam of blue light to the phosphor and to reflect the beam of yellow light to an exit aperture. In different embodiments, the beams of blue and yellow light are incident upon said filter with central angles of 15°, 22°, and 45°. The filter may reflect all of one polarization and part of the other polarization, and a polarization rotating retroreflector may then be provided to return the unreflected light to the filter. | 05-07-2009 |
20100149820 | Zoom luminaire with compact non-imaging lens-mirror optics - A zoomable luminaire has a source of light, a primary reflector with entry and exit apertures, and at least one secondary reflector with entry and exit apertures. The source delivers light into the entry aperture of the primary reflector, and the primary reflector delivers the light at the exit aperture of the primary reflector. The luminaire has a retracted position for producing a beam of a first beam angle, where the primary reflector is nested within the secondary reflector and the secondary reflector does not substantially affect the distribution of the light. The luminaire has at least one extended position for producing a beam of a second width, where the exit aperture of the primary reflector is contiguous with the entry aperture of a secondary reflector so that the light is delivered at the exit aperture of a secondary reflector. | 06-17-2010 |
20100214764 | NEON-TUBE SUBSTITUTE USING LIGHT-EMITTING DIODES - A tubular luminaire efficiently utilizes the light of a line of high-brightness unlensed LEDs to reproduce the homogeneous appearance of a neon tube. The transparent tube has an annular cross-section suitable for cost-effective manufacturing by extrusion. The LEDs are mounted in a line on a circuit board that can be positioned either inside or outside the tube. Their light shines into a cylindrical groove, thereby entering within the material of the tube. Above the groove, the wall of the tube has a spiral shape that reflects the light laterally so that it stays within the annular tube for a considerable path length. Volume scattering by a low density of scattering inclusions causes the light to escape as a homogenous glow. Alternatively, mild surface scattering from the inside surface can be used. | 08-26-2010 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090067179 | OPTICAL DEVICE FOR LED-BASED LAMP - An optical device for coupling the luminous output of a light-emitting diode (LED) to a predominantly spherical pattern comprises a transfer section that receives the LED's light within it and an ejector positioned adjacent the transfer section to receive light from the transfer section and spread the light generally spherically. A base of the transfer section is optically aligned and/or coupled to the LED so that the LED's light enters the transfer section. The transfer section can comprises a compound elliptic concentrator operating via total internal reflection. The ejector section can have a variety of shapes, and can have diffusive features on its surface as well, including a phosphor coating. The transfer section can in some implementations be polygonal, V-grooved, faceted and other configurations. | 03-12-2009 |
20090167651 | ETENDUE-CONSERVING ILLUMINATION-OPTICS FOR BACKLIGHTS AND FRONTLIGHTS - Some embodiments provide luminance-preserving non-imaging backlights that comprise a luminous source emitting light, an input port that receives the light, an injector and a beam-expanding ejector. The injector includes the input port and a larger output port with a profile that expands away from the input port acting via total internal reflection to keep x-y angular width of the source image inversely proportional to its luminance. The injector is defined by a surface of revolution with an axis on the source and a swept profile that is a first portion of an upper half of a CPC tilted by its acceptance angle. The beam-expanding ejector comprising a planar waveguide optically coupled to the output port of the injector. The ejector includes a smooth upper surface, and a reflective lower surface comprising microstructured facets that refract upwardly reflected light into a collimated direction common to the facets. | 07-02-2009 |
20100033946 | LED LUMINANCE-ENHANCEMENT AND COLOR-MIXING BY ROTATIONALLY MULTIPLEXED BEAM-COMBINING - The present embodiments provide methods and systems for use in providing enhanced illumination. Some embodiments include at least two light sources and one or more smoothly rotating wheels, where the one or more wheels comprises at least one mirror sector, the circumferential portion of the mirror sector is the inverse of the number of said sources, a first source of the sources is so disposed that the mirror sector reflects light from the first source into a common output path, where the first source pulsing such that a duty cycle of the first source corresponds to a time the mirror sector reflects light from the first source into the common output path. | 02-11-2010 |
20100038663 | LED LIGHT RECYCLING FOR LUMINANCE ENHANCEMENT AND ANGULAR NARROWING - Some embodiments provide a luminance-enhanced light source. These embodiments include a thin-film LED mounted on a substrate and with a defined upper surface approximately hemispherically emitting light, with the upper surface being diffusely transmissive, a lower first layer of identically defined linear prismatic film separated from the upper surface by a non-evanescent air gap so as to cover the upper surface, a upper second layer of linear prismatic film, identical to but oriented orthogonally to the first layer, and a circumferential vertical reflective wall bordering on both of the first and second layers and extending in height from the substrate to the top of the second layer. | 02-18-2010 |