LIGHT UNIT WITH LIGHT OUTPUT PATTERN SYNTHESIZED FROM MULTIPLE LIGHT SOURCES

• US 20110246146A1
• Filed: 12/30/2010
• Published: 10/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Evolucia Inc.
• Original Assignee: Sunovia Energy Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Sipes, Donald, VanderSluis, Donald, Kauffman, Rick, Fugerer, Robert
• Granted Patent: US 8,635,049 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 703/2
• CPC Class Codes: F21K 9/00 Light sources using semiconductor devices as light-generating elements, e.g. using light-emitting diodes [LED] or lasers
• CPC Class Codes: F21K 9/23 Retrofit light sources for lighting devices with a single fitting for each light source, e.g. for substitution of incandescent lamps with bayonet or threaded fittings
• CPC Class Codes: F21K 9/60 Optical arrangements integrated in the light source, e.g. for improving the colour rendering index or the light extraction
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 8/08 with a standard F21S6/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F21W 2131/103 of streets or roads
• CPC Class Codes: F21Y 2107/00 Light sources with three-dimensionally disposed light-generating elements
• CPC Class Codes: F21Y 2107/10 on concave supports or substrates, e.g. on the inner side of bowl-shaped supports
• CPC Class Codes: F21Y 2115/10 Light-emitting diodes [LED]

Abstract

The present disclosure provides an LED based light unit that produces an output lighting pattern that meets desired lighting characteristics using a reduced number of LED elements. The present disclosure provides a number of point sources that are directed into a desired direction such that, when combined with other point sources, a synthesized light output is provided that minimizes the LED headcount.

Claims

1. A lamp assembly, comprising:

a housing having a plurality of mounting surfaces, the plurality of mounting surfaces comprising surfaces having a plurality of different angles relative to a first plane that is substantially parallel to a surface that is to be illuminated by the lamp assembly; and

at least one solid state light element mounted to each mounting surface, each of at least a subset of the plurality of light elements providing light output along a respective primary axis that intersects a second plane that is perpendicular to the first plane and intersects a centerline of the housing, the output of the plurality of solid state light elements combining to provide a synthesized illumination pattern.

2. The lamp assembly of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of solid state light elements comprise a collimating component that collimates light produced by the associated solid state light element.

3. The lamp assembly of claim 2, wherein the collimating component collimates light output by the solid state light element to a beam angle of 5°

or less.

4. The lamp assembly of claim 3, wherein each of the solid state light elements includes a collimating component that collimates light output by the solid state light element to a beam angle of about 2°

.

5. The lamp assembly of claim 1, wherein additional beam steering optics are not required in order to generate the synthesized illumination pattern.

6. The lamp assembly of claim 1, wherein the solid state light elements are light emitting diodes.

7. The lamp assembly of claim 1, wherein light provided by the solid state lighting element is collimated to provide an angular intensity that is substantially equivalent to the angular intensity of the other of the plurality of solid state lighting elements.

8. The lamp assembly of claim 1, wherein the illumination pattern of the lamp assembly has a uniformity greater than uniformity provided by incandescent or gas discharge lamps.

9. The lamp assembly of claim 1, wherein the illumination pattern is asymmetrical relative to the lamp assembly.

10. The lamp assembly of claim 1, wherein the mounting surfaces comprise a first plurality of mounting surfaces and a second plurality of mounting surfaces, the first plurality of mounting surfaces having, on average, smaller angles relative to the second plane than the second plurality of mounting surfaces.

11. The lamp assembly of claim 10, wherein solid state lighting elements mounted on the first plurality of mounting surfaces provide illumination for a first area of the illumination pattern, and solid state lighting elements mounted on the second plurality of mounting surfaces provide illumination for a second area of the illumination pattern.

12. The lamp assembly of claim 11, wherein the first area is larger than the second area.

13. A solid state lamp assembly, comprising:

a plurality of solid state light elements mounted to the lamp assembly, the lamp assembly configured to provide an illumination pattern and having a primary axis extending substantially perpendicularly from the lamp assembly to a surface to be illuminated by the lamp assembly; and

a mounting surface having a plurality of angles relative to the primary axis, with the plurality of solid state light elements mounted on the mounting surfaces and each providing light output along an output axis that is normal to the mounting surface, the output axis of at least a subset of the plurality of the solid state light elements intersecting a plane containing the primary axis and a centerline of the lamp assembly.

14. The lamp assembly, as claimed in claim 13, wherein the mounting surface comprises more than five different angles relative to the primary axis.

15. The lamp assembly, as claimed in claim 13, wherein the mounting surface comprises more than 10 different angles relative to the primary axis.

16. The lamp assembly, as claimed in claim 13, wherein the solid state light elements include collimating components that collimate light output from the light elements to beam angles of less than approximately 5°

.

17. The lamp assembly, as claimed in claim 13, wherein the solid state light elements include collimating optics are selected to provide uniform angular intensity throughout all of the different angles of the mounting surfaces.

18. The lamp assembly, as claimed in claim 13, wherein the output pattern is asymmetrical relative to a center-line of the lamp assembly.

19. The lamp assembly, as claimed in claim 18, wherein the asymmetrical output pattern includes a first illumination area and a second illumination area that is smaller than the first illumination area.

20. The lamp assembly, as claimed in claim 18, wherein the asymmetrical output pattern includes a first illumination area and a second illumination area that is substantially the same area as the first illumination area.

21. The lamp assembly, as claimed in claim 20, wherein the first illumination area is offset from the second illumination area.

22. A lamp assembly, comprising:

a housing having a primary axis extending substantially perpendicularly from the lamp assembly to a surface to be illuminated by the lamp assembly, the housing comprising a plurality of mounting surfaces;

a plurality of solid state light elements mounted to the mounting surfaces; and

a plurality of collimating components mounted to at least a subset of the solid state light elements that collimate light output from respective light elements; and

a plurality of spreading optics mounted to at least a subset of the collimating components that spread the light output from the collimating component to a beam width selected based on a distance from the light element of an object to be illuminated by the light element.

23. The lamp assembly of claim 22, wherein each of the plurality of solid state light elements provides a beam of light, the plurality of beams from the plurality of solid state light elements combining to provide a synthesized illumination pattern.

24. The lamp assembly, as claimed in claim 22, wherein the mounting surface comprises more than five different angles relative to the primary axis.

25. The lamp assembly, as claimed in claim 22, wherein the mounting surface comprises more than 10 different angles relative to the primary axis.

26. The lamp assembly, as claimed in claim 22, wherein the collimating components collimate light output from the light elements to beam angles of less than approximately 5°

.

27. A method for generating a desired illumination pattern from a solid state lighting assembly, comprising:

modeling light output from a plurality of different solid state light elements as a vector, the direction of each vector is determined based on the pointing of the central lobe of the respective light element output, and the length of each vector is determined based on the intensity of the peak illumination of the light element;

determining a desired intensity pattern that is to be output from the lighting assembly; and

determining the direction and length of a plurality of pointing vectors to achieve the desired intensity pattern.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

determining a configuration of a housing for the lighting assembly based on the determined direction and length of the plurality of pointing vectors.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein a solid state lighting element and associated collimating element are selected based on the length of the associated pointing vector.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein an angle of the surface to which the lighting element is mounted is determined based on the direction of the associated pointing vector.

31. The method of claim 27, wherein the desired intensity pattern has a uniformity of density of greater than uniformity provided by incandescent or gas discharge lamps.

32. The method of claim 27, wherein the pointing vectors include vectors in at least five different directions.

33. The method of claim 27, wherein the pointing vectors include vectors in at least ten different directions.

34. The method of claim 27, wherein a solid state lighting element and associated collimating element are selected to provide an angular intensity that is substantially uniform across the plurality of light elements.