Solid state light source including cooling system
First Claim
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1. An illumination system, comprising:
- a housing;
a plurality of solid state light sources that are mounted to the housing;
a flexible optical cable with a first cable end and a second cable end, said cable having a plurality of optical fibers in which each of the plurality of optical fibers has a first end and a second end and is optically coupled at its first end to one of the plurality of solid state light sources, wherein said cable has a sheath that maintains the plurality of optical fibers in a predetermined spatial relationship to each other along their respective lengths such that the second ends of the plurality of optical fibers lie substantially in a single plane;
a cooling system that is thermally coupled to the plurality of solid state light sources, wherein the plurality of solid state light sources comprises at least six light sources, wherein each of the plurality of optical fibers is butt-coupled to one of the plurality of solid state light sources wherein,A. one of the plurality of optical fibers is a central optical fiber andB. at least five optical fibers inside the sheath are peripheral optical fibers that are;
i. positioned substantially parallel to the central fiber andii. distributed evenly around the periphery of the central fiber.
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Abstract
An illumination system includes a light source having multiple solid state sources, such as LEDs, and emits light of a color temperature of about 5500° K. The system further includes a flexible optical cable formed by a centrally located optical fiber and five corresponding peripheral optical fibers distributed around the center fiber and a sheath for maintaining the optical fibers in a predetermined spatial relationship, with each of the solid state sources is butt-coupled to one end of a single optical fiber. The solid state sources are thermally coupled to a cooling system, which may include fans or other active cooling elements.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. An illumination system, comprising:
- a housing;
a plurality of solid state light sources that are mounted to the housing;
a flexible optical cable with a first cable end and a second cable end, said cable having a plurality of optical fibers in which each of the plurality of optical fibers has a first end and a second end and is optically coupled at its first end to one of the plurality of solid state light sources, wherein said cable has a sheath that maintains the plurality of optical fibers in a predetermined spatial relationship to each other along their respective lengths such that the second ends of the plurality of optical fibers lie substantially in a single plane;
a cooling system that is thermally coupled to the plurality of solid state light sources, wherein the plurality of solid state light sources comprises at least six light sources, wherein each of the plurality of optical fibers is butt-coupled to one of the plurality of solid state light sources wherein,A. one of the plurality of optical fibers is a central optical fiber and B. at least five optical fibers inside the sheath are peripheral optical fibers that are; i. positioned substantially parallel to the central fiber and ii. distributed evenly around the periphery of the central fiber. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
- a housing;
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7. An illumination system, comprising:
- a housing;
a plurality of solid state light sources that are mounted to the housing;
a flexible optical cable with a first cable end and a second cable end, said cable having;
a plurality of optical fibers in which each of the plurality of optical fibers has a first end and a second end and is optically coupled at its first end to one of the plurality of solid state light sources, wherein said cable has a sheath that maintains the plurality of optical fibers in a predetermined spatial relationship to each other along their respective lengths such that the second ends of the plurality of optical fibers lie substantially in a single plane;
a cooling system that is thermally coupled to the plurality of solid state light sources, wherein the plurality of solid state light sources comprises at least six light sources, wherein each of the plurality of optical fibers is butt-coupled to one of the plurality of solid state light sources, wherein said cooling system comprises a first heat sink having a first mounting surface located in the interior of the housing and a second heat sink having a second mounting surface located in the interior of the housing, wherein at least three of the plurality of light sources are thermally coupled to the first mounting surface and at least three of the plurality of light sources are thermally coupled to the second mounting surface, whereinA. one of the plurality of optical fibers is a central optical fiber and B. at least five optical fibers inside the sheath are peripheral optical fibers that are; i. positioned substantially parallel to the central fiber and ii. distributed evenly around the periphery of the central fiber. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
- a housing;
Specification