LED inspection lamp

• US 6,979,104 B2
• Filed: 12/31/2001
• Issued: 12/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alltemp Products Company Limited (DiversiTech Holdings, Inc.), R.J. Doran & Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Brasscorp Limited, R.J. Doran & Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Lemons, Thomas M., Klipstein, Donald L., Brass, Jack, Doran, Richard J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cariaco, Alan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lee, Guiyoung
• Application Number:
  US10/029,803
• Publication Number:
  US 20030123254A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,457 Days
• Field of Search: 362/555, 362/558, 362/119, 362/120, 362/187, 362/804, 362/84, 362/183, 362/184, 362/231, 362/244, 362/259, 362/800
• US Class Current: 362/231
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/6447 by visual observation
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/8803 Visual inspection measuring projectors G01B9/08
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2201/062 LED's
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2201/0627 Use of several LED's for spectral resolution
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 362/804 Surgical or dental spotlight

Abstract

An LED inspection lamp has plurality of LED sources for emitting electromagnetic radiation at different peak wavelengths for causing visible fluorescence in different leak detection dyes. A lens is associated with each LED. Radiation passing through lenses is superimposed in target area at target distance. Another LED inspection lamp has plurality of LEDs emitting electromagnetic radiation at a peak wavelength. A lens adaptor has lens housing for attachment to LED inspection lamp with a single LED for causing visible fluorescence, and a lens. Substantially all of the radiation from the LED passes through the lens and is focused in a target area at a target distance from the lenses. LED spot lights have a similar configuration.

Claims

1. An inspection lamp having:

a. Two or more light emitting diodes which produce radiation suitable for causing visible fluorescence of fluorescent materials,

b. A plurality of lenses, a lens of the plurality of lenses forward from each of said light emitting diodes to collimate the radiation from each light emitting diode into a beam,

such that each beam of radiation individually associated with each of said light emitting diodes projects forward from its lens and a plurality of beams of radiation simultaneously produced by a plurality of the light emitting diodes merge together,

wherein the individual beams converge towards each other such that the axes of the beams intersect with each other at a specific distance forward of the lenses, and wherein the individual beams have an angular diameter greater than any angle between any two axes of said beams, such that some area can be illuminated by all said beams at any distance from the lenses greater than distance from the lenses to the point at which the beam axes intersect.

2. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 1 where the lenses are comprised by a single piece of suitable transparent material.

3. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 1 having a handle.

4. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 3 where the handle shares a longitudinal axis with the inspection lamp as a whole.

5. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 3 where the handle does not share an axis with any other major portion of said inspection lamp.

6. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 1 designed to accept one or more dry cells as a source of power.

7. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 1 designed to accept power from an external power source.

8. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 7 where the external power source is a source of direct current with a voltage of substantially 12 volts.

9. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 7 where the external power source is a source of alternating current with a voltage of substantially 110-125 volts.

10. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 7 where the external power source is a source of alternating current with a voltage of substantially 220-240 volts.

11. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 1 having one or more rechargeable cells as a source of power.

12. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 11 further having means to recharge its rechargeable cells.

13. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 1 having dropping resistors to limit the amount of current that flows through at least one of the light emitting diodes.

14. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 1 having non-switching current regulation means to control the amount of current which flows through at least one of the light emitting diodes.

15. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 1 having switching current regulation means to control the amount of current which flows through at least one of the light emitting diodes.

16. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 1 of such design that at least one of the light emitting diodes does not require separate means to limit or control the amount of current flowing through said light emitting diode.

17. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 1 where the light emitting diodes differ significantly in spectral characteristics so as to cause visible fluorescence from fluorescent substances which visibly fluoresce from the output of one or more but not all of said light emitting diodes.

18. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 17 where at least one light emitting diode has a peak wavelength shorter than 425 nanometers and at least one light emitting diode has a peak wavelength longer than 425 nanometers.

19. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 17 having separate switches for each type of light emitting diode comprised within said inspection lamp.

20. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 1 having at least one light emitting diode with a peak wavelength less than 425 nanometers and at least one light emitting diode with a peak wavelength greater than 425 nanometers.

21. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 1 where the lenses are part of a lens assembly that is movable to permit adjustment of beam characteristics.

22. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 21 wherein the distance between the lens assembly and the light emitting diodes is adjustable so as to permit changing the distance at which beam components formed by each light emitting diode and each associated lens element are best-formed.

23. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 21 where the LED locations can be changed to permit adjustment of the angle at which beam elements formed by each lens of the lens assembly converge towards each other.

24. An inspection lamp having:

a. Two or more light emitting diodes which produce radiation suitable for causing visible fluorescence of fluorescent materials,

b. A plurality of lenses, a lens of the plurality of lenses forward from each of said light emitting diodes to collimate the radiation from each light emitting diode into a beam,

such that each beam of radiation individually associated with each of said light emitting diodes projects forward from its lens and a plurality of beams of radiation simultaneously produced by a plurality of the light emitting diodes merge together,

wherein the individual beams converge towards each other such that the axes of the beams intersect with each other at a specific distance forward of the lenses, and wherein each lens has an area and a center of curvature of at least one curved surface displaced from the axis of its associated light emitting diode so as to form a beam having an axis that is not parallel to said axis of said light emitting diode.

25. A lens assembly having a longitudinal axis and convex lenses each having at least one curved surface with a center of curvature at a location other than on a line parallel to said lens assembly axis and passing through the center of the area of said lens, so as to be suitable to comprise the lenses of an inspection lamp as set forth in claim 24.

26. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 24 where the lenses are comprised by a single piece of suitable transparent material.

27. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 24 having a handle.

28. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 27 where the handle shares a longitudinal axis with the inspection lamp as a whole.

29. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 27 where the handle does not share an axis with any other major portion of said inspection lamp.

30. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 24 designed to accept one or more dry cells as a source of power.

31. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 24 designed to accept power from an external power source.

32. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 31 where the external power source is a source of direct current with a voltage of substantially 12 volts.

33. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 31 where the external power source is a source of alternating current with a voltage of substantially 110-125 volts.

34. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 31 where the external power source is a source of alternating current with a voltage of substantially 220-240 volts.

35. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 24 having one or more rechargeable cells as a source of power.

36. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 35 further having means to recharge its rechargeable cells.

37. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 24 having dropping resistors to limit the amount of current that flows through at least one of the light emitting diodes.

38. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 24 having non-switching current regulation means to control the amount of current which flows through at least one of the light emitting diodes.

39. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 24 having switching current regulation means to control the amount of current which flows through at least one of the light emitting diodes.

40. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 24 of such design that at least one of the light emitting diodes does not require separate means to limit or control the amount of current flowing through said light emitting diode.

41. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 24 where the light emitting diodes differ significantly in spectral characteristics so as to cause visible fluorescence from fluorescent substances which visibly fluoresce from the output of one or more but not all of said light emitting diodes.

42. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 41 where at least one light emitting diode has a peak wavelength shorter than 425 nanometers and at least one light emitting diode has a peak wavelength longer than 425 nanometers.

43. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 41 having separate switches for each type of light emitting diode comprised within said inspection lamp.

44. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 24 having at least one light emitting diode with a peak wavelength less than 425 nanometers and at least one light emitting diode with a peak wavelength greater than 425 nanometers.

45. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 24 where the lenses are part of a lens assembly that is movable to permit adjustment of beam characteristics.

46. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 45 wherein the distance between the lens assembly and the light emitting diodes is adjustable so as to permit changing the distance at which beam components formed by each light emitting diode and each associated lens element are best-formed.

47. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 45 where the LED locations can be changed to permit adjustment of the angle at which beam elements formed by each lens of the lens assembly converge towards each other.

48. A lens adaptor, comprising:

a lens housing and a plurality of lenses, the lens housing for attachment to an LED inspection lamp with a plurality of LEDs emitting electromagnetic radiation at a peak wavelength for causing visible fluorescence in a leak detection dye, and each lens of the plurality of lenses is associated with a respective one of the LEDs when the lens housing is attached to the inspection lamp to collimate the radiation from each LED into a beam, such that each beam of radiation individually associated with each of said LEDs projects forward from its lens and a plurality of beams of radiation simultaneously produced by a plurality of the LEDs merge together, wherein the individual beams converge towards each other such that the axes of the beams intersect with each other at a specific distance forward of the lenses, and wherein the individual beams have an angular diameter greater than any angle between any two axes of said beams, such that some area can be illuminated by all said beams at any distance from the lenses greater than distance from the lenses to the point at which the beam axes intersect.

49. A lens and LED assembly for use within a flashlight casing, the assembly comprising:

a plurality of LEDs emitting electromagnetic radiation at a peak wavelength for causing visible fluorescence in a leak detection dye, and a plurality of lenses, each lens of the plurality of lenses is associated with a respective one of the LEDs to collimate the radiation from each LED into a beam, such that each beam of radiation individually associated with each of said LEDs projects forward from its lens and a plurality of beams of radiation simultaneously produced by a plurality of the LEDs merge together, wherein the individual beams converge towards each other such that the axes of the beams intersect with each other at a specific distance forward of the lenses, and wherein the individual beams have an angular diameter greater than any angle between any two axes of said beams, such that some area can be illuminated by all said beams at any distance from the lenses greater than distance from the lenses to the point at which the beam axes intersect.

50. An inspection lamp having:

a. Two or more light emitting diodes which produce radiation suitable for causing visible fluorescence of fluorescent materials,

b. A plurality of lenses, a lens of the plurality of lenses forward from each of said light emitting diodes to collimate the radiation from each light emitting diode into a beam, such that each beam of radiation individually associated with each of said light emitting diodes projects forward from its lens and a plurality of beams of radiation simultaneously produced by a plurality of the light emitting diodes merge together, wherein the lenses are part of a lens assembly that is movable to permit adjustment of beam characteristics, wherein the LED locations can be changed to permit adjustment of the angle at which beam components formed by each lens of the lens assembly converge towards each other, and wherein the distance between lens centers is smaller than the distance between the centers of the light emitting diodes that the lenses are forward from so that the beam components, formed by each lens from the light emitting diode that the lens is forward from, converge towards each other.

51. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 50 where the beam components formed by each lens from its associated light emitting diode converge towards each other so that all beam components coincide at a distance which can be changed by changing the locations of the LEDs.

52. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 51 where the distance between the lens assembly and the light emitting diodes is adjustable so as to permit adjustment of the distance at which beam components are focused in addition to permitting adjustment of the distance at which beam elements are coinciding with each other.

53. An inspection lamp as set forth in claim 52 further incorporating means to restrict the possible adjustments to a range of adjustments where the beam elements are best-formed at the same distance forward from said inspection lamp at which said beam elements are coinciding with each other.

54. A lens adaptor, comprising:

a lens housing and a plurality of lenses, the lens housing for attachment to an LED inspection lamp with a plurality of LEDs emitting electromagnetic radiation at a peak wavelength for causing visible fluorescence in a leak detection dye, and each lens of the plurality of lenses is associated with a respective one of the LEDs when the lens housing is attached to the inspection lamp to collimate the radiation from each LED into a beam, such that each beam of radiation individually associated with each of said LEDs projects forward from its lens and a plurality of beams of radiation simultaneously produced by a plurality of the LEDs merge together,

wherein the individual beams converge towards each other such that the axes of the beams intersect with each other at a specific distance forward of the lenses, and wherein the individual beams have an angular diameter greater than any angle between any two axes of said beams, such that some area can be illuminated by all said beams at any distance from the lenses greater than distance from the lenses to the point at which the beam axes intersect.

55. A lens and LED assembly for use within a flashlight casing, the assembly comprising:

a plurality of LEDs emitting electromagnetic radiation at a peak wavelength for causing visible fluorescence in a leak detection dye, and a plurality of lenses, each lens of the plurality of lenses is associated with a respective one of the LEDs to collimate the radiation from each LED into a beam, such that each beam of radiation individually associated with each of said LEDs projects forward from its lens and a plurality of beams of radiation simultaneously produced by a plurality of the LEDs merge together, wherein the individual beams converge towards each other such that the axes of the beams intersect with each other at a specific distance forward of the lenses, and wherein the individual beams have an angular diameter greater than any angle between any two axes of said beams, such that some area can be illuminated by all said beams at any distance from the lenses greater than distance from the lenses to the point at which the beam axes intersect.