Luminaire with selectable luminous intensity pattern

• US 10,209,429 B2
• Filed: 08/28/2014
• Issued: 02/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IDEAL Industries Lighting, LLC (Ideal Industries Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: CREE Incorporated (Wolfspeed, Inc.)
• Inventors: van de Ven, Antony P., Tarsa, Eric J., Keller, Bernd P., Jacobson, Benjamin A., de Sugny, Jean-Claude David Ramey
• Primary Examiner(s): Sawhney, Hargobind S
• Application Number:
  US14/472,064
• Publication Number:
  US 20150055371A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,636 Days
• CPC Class Codes: F21Y 2113/13 comprising an assembly of point-like light sources
• CPC Class Codes: F21Y 2115/10 Light-emitting diodes [LED]
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0021 for housing at least a part of the light source, e.g. by forming holes or recesses
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0036 2-D arrangement of prisms, protrusions, indentations or roughened surfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0045 by shaping at least a portion of the light guide
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0053 Prismatic sheet or layer; Brightness enhancement element, sheet or layer
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0068 Arrangements of plural sources, e.g. multi-colour light sources
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0073 Light emitting diode [LED]
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0078 Side-by-side arrangements, e.g. for large area displays
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/12 using optical feedback

Abstract

A luminaire comprises at least one waveguide having a first region that emits a first luminous intensity pattern and a second region that emits a second luminous intensity pattern different from the first luminous intensity pattern. The luminaire further includes a plurality of LED elements and circuitry to control the plurality of LED elements to cause the luminaire to produce a selected one of a plurality of luminous intensity patterns.

Claims

1. A luminaire, comprising:

a first waveguide having a first region with a first light extraction feature that emits a first luminous intensity pattern and a second region with a second light extraction feature that emits a second luminous intensity pattern different from the first luminous intensity pattern, the first light extraction feature being different from the second light extraction feature;

a second waveguide having a third region with a third light extraction feature that emits a third luminous intensity pattern and a fourth region with a fourth light extraction feature that emits a fourth luminous intensity pattern different from the third luminous intensity pattern, the third light extraction feature being different from the fourth light extraction feature, and a combination of the first light extraction feature and the second light extraction feature being different than a combination of the third light extraction feature and the fourth light extraction feature;

a plurality of LED elements comprising a first LED element and a second LED element for emitting light to the first waveguide and a third LED element and a fourth LED element for emitting light to the second waveguide; and

circuitry to control at least one parameter of electrical power delivered to at least one of the first LED element, the second LED element, the third LED element and the fourth LED element to cause the luminaire to produce a selected one of a plurality of luminous intensity patterns, the first waveguide and the second waveguide being supported in a mounting apparatus to provide a light fixture where the light emitted from the first waveguide and the second waveguide is controllable to obtain a commanded illumination pattern.

2. The luminaire of claim 1, wherein the plurality of LED elements includes LED elements having the same color.

3. The luminaire of claim 1, wherein the plurality of LED elements includes LED elements having different color temperatures.

4. The luminaire of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of sets of LED elements, wherein each set of LED elements is associated with one of the luminous intensity patterns.

5. The luminaire of claim 1, wherein the first waveguide includes a light emission surface and the first light extraction feature and the second light extraction feature are disposed adjacent the light emission surface.

6. The luminaire of claim 5, further comprising a substrate arranged such that the first light extraction feature and the second light extraction feature are disposed between the substrate and the light emission surface.

7. The luminaire of claim 5, wherein the first light extraction feature and the second light extraction feature comprise protrusions.

8. The luminaire of claim 7, further comprising a first plurality of protrusions having a first height that are associated with the first region, and a second plurality of protrusions having a second height different than the first height that are associated with the second region.

9. The luminaire of claim 7, wherein the first waveguide comprises a plurality of first waveguides and the second waveguide comprises a plurality of second waveguides, and further comprising a plurality of third waveguides wherein each of the plurality of first waveguides includes protrusions having a first shape, each of the plurality of second waveguides includes protrusions of a second shape different than the first shape, and each of the plurality of third waveguides includes protrusions of a third shape different than the first and second shapes.

10. The luminaire of claim 9, wherein a first set of LED elements, a second set of LED elements, and a third set of LED elements are associated with the plurality of first waveguides, the plurality of second waveguides, and the plurality of third waveguides, respectively.

11. The luminaire of claim 10, wherein the circuit applies electrical power to the first, second, and third groups of LED elements to cause the luminaire to develop one of first, second, and third luminous intensity patterns, respectively.

12. The luminaire of claim 11, wherein the first luminous intensity pattern comprises a wall wash pattern.

13. The luminaire of claim 11, wherein the second luminous intensity pattern comprises a lambertian pattern.

14. The luminaire of claim 11, wherein the third luminous intensity pattern comprises a spot pattern.

15. The luminaire of claim 1, wherein the at least one waveguide exhibits an optical efficiency of at least about 90%.

16. The luminaire of claim 1, wherein the at least one waveguide exhibits an optical efficiency of at least about 95%.

17. A luminaire, comprising:

a plurality of waveguides each having a light emission surface including a plurality of extraction features;

the plurality of extraction features on at least one of the light emission surfaces having a first light extraction characteristic and the plurality of extraction features on at least another one of the light emission surfaces having a second light extraction characteristic where the plurality of extraction features on the at least one of the light emission surfaces is different than the light extraction characteristic of the plurality of extraction features on the at least another one of the light emission surfaces such that the luminous intensity pattern emitted by the at least one of the light emission surfaces is different than the luminous intensity pattern emitted by the at least another one of the light emission surfaces regardless of the spatial orientation of the plurality of waveguides;

a plurality of LED elements associated with the plurality of waveguides; and

circuitry controlling at least one parameter of electrical power delivered to at least some of the LED elements of the plurality of LED elements to cause the luminaire to produce a selected one of a plurality of luminous intensity patterns, the plurality of waveguides being supported in a mounting apparatus to provide a light fixture where the light emitted from the plurality of waveguides is controllable to obtain the selected one of a plurality of luminous intensity patterns wherein the selected one of a plurality of luminous intensity patterns includes at least one of a wall-wash luminous intensity pattern, a near-lambertian luminous intensity pattern, and a spot-light luminous intensity pattern.

18. The luminaire of claim 17, wherein the plurality of extraction features is carried by at least one substrate.

19. The luminaire of claim 18, wherein the plurality of extraction features is carried by multiple substrates each disposed on an associated one of the emission surfaces.

20. The luminaire of claim 19, wherein extraction features are disposed between each substrate and the associated light emission surfaces, and wherein a shape of extraction features carried by one of the substrates is different than a shape of extraction features carried by another of the substrates.

21. The luminaire of claim 19, wherein the plurality of waveguides includes a first plurality of waveguides, a second plurality of waveguides and a third plurality of waveguides wherein each of the first plurality of waveguides includes extraction features comprising protrusions having a first shape, each of the second plurality of waveguides includes extraction features comprising protrusions of a second shape different than the first shape, and each of the third plurality of waveguides includes extraction features comprising protrusions of a third shape different than the first and second shapes.

22. The luminaire of claim 21, wherein first, second, and third sets of LED elements are associated with the first, second, and third plurality of waveguides, and wherein the circuit applies electrical power to at least one of the first, second, and third sets of LED elements in dependence upon a selection signal to cause the luminaire to develop one of first, second, and third luminous intensity patterns.

23. The luminaire of claim 22, wherein the first luminous intensity pattern comprises a wall wash pattern.

24. The luminaire of claim 22, wherein the second luminous intensity pattern comprises a lambertian pattern.

25. The luminaire of claim 22, wherein the third luminous intensity pattern comprises a spot pattern.

26. The luminaire of claim 17, wherein the luminaire exhibits an overall efficiency of at least about 90%.

27. A luminaire, comprising:

multiple waveguides each having at least two light emission surfaces and a light coupling feature, wherein the waveguides have substantially identical shapes;

a mounting apparatus that maintains the multiple waveguides in a side-by-side array wherein each waveguide is disposed adjacent at least one other waveguide;

an optical isolation member disposed between adjacent waveguides;

extraction features disposed on each light emission surface of the waveguides, the extraction features comprising protrusions and disposed on an associated light emission surface, wherein the protrusions associated with one of the light emission surfaces has a first light extraction characteristic and the protrusions associated with another of the light emission surfaces has a second light extraction characteristic different than the first light extraction characteristic;

LED elements optically coupled to an optical coupling feature of each waveguide; and

circuitry adapted to apply electrical power to at least some of the LED elements to cause the luminaire to produce a selected one of a number of luminous intensity patterns.

28. The luminaire of claim 27, wherein the protrusions all have a substantially identical truncated partially spherical shape.

29. The luminaire of claim 28, wherein the protrusions are equally spaced from one another.

30. The luminaire of claim 29, wherein the multiple waveguides include first, second, and third groups of waveguides wherein each light emission surface of the first group of waveguides is associated with protrusions having a first height, each light emission surface of the second group of waveguides is associated with protrusions of a second height different than the first height, and each light emission surface of the third group of waveguides is associated with protrusions of a third height different than the first and second heights.

31. The luminaire of claim 29, wherein the first height is between about 170 μ

m and about 350 μ

m, the second height is between about 350 μ

m and about 475 μ

m, and the third height is between about 475 μ

m and about 580 μ

m.

32. The luminaire of claim 31, wherein the first height is about 280 μ

m, the second height is about 430 μ

m, and the third height is about 550 μ

m.

33. The luminaire of claim 31, wherein the protrusions are carried by an associated substrate portion, and wherein each of the protrusions has a circular base where the protrusion intersects the substrate portion and partial spherical side walls extending between the circular base and a planar top surface.

34. The luminaire of claim 33, wherein each circular base has a diameter between about 0.1 μ

m and about 10 mm.

35. The luminaire of claim 34, wherein each circular base has a diameter of about 1 mm.

36. The luminaire of claim 35, wherein the protrusions are disposed in rows on each substrate portion and each protrusion is spaced from an adjacent protrusion in a same row by a center-to-center spacing distance between about 1.2 mm and about 20 mm.

37. The luminaire of claim 36, wherein the protrusions are disposed in rows on each substrate portion and each protrusion is spaced from an adjacent protrusion in a same row by a center-to-center spacing distance of about 1.25 mm.

38. The luminaire of claim 27, wherein the LED elements comprise LED chips.

39. A luminaire, comprising:

a plurality of waveguides each having a light emission surface;

a plurality of extraction features disposed on the light emission surfaces of the waveguides, wherein the extraction features on at least one of the light emission surfaces have a different light extraction characteristic than the extraction features on at least another of the light emission surfaces, wherein the plurality of extraction features is carried by multiple substrates each disposed on an associated one of the emission surfaces and wherein the plurality of waveguides includes a first plurality of waveguides, a second plurality of waveguides and a third plurality of waveguides wherein each of the first plurality of waveguides includes extraction features comprising protrusions having a first shape, each of the second plurality of waveguides includes extraction features comprising protrusions of a second shape different than the first shape, and each of the third plurality of waveguides includes extraction features comprising protrusions of a third shape different than the first and second shapes;

a plurality of LED elements associated with the plurality of waveguides; and

circuitry controlling at least one parameter of electrical power delivered to at least some of the LED elements of the plurality of LED elements to cause the luminaire to produce a selected one of a plurality of luminous intensity patterns, the plurality of waveguides being supported in a mounting apparatus to provide a light fixture where the light emitted from the plurality of waveguides is controllable to obtain the selected one of a plurality of luminous intensity patterns wherein the selected one of a plurality of luminous intensity patterns includes at least one of a wall-wash luminous intensity pattern, a near-lambertian luminous intensity pattern, and a spot-light luminous intensity pattern.