Illumination system and method for recycling light to increase the brightness of the light source
First Claim
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1. An illumination system for increasing the brightness of a light source, comprising:
- a light source for emitting a plurality of rays of light; and
an optical recycling device for transmitting said plurality of rays of light from said light source, said optical recycling device comprising a single solid optical component having reflective concave surfaces and a lens surface; and
wherein said lens surface of said single solid optical component forms a predetermined cone angle with said light source such that said reflective concave surfaces of said single solid optical component angularly recycles a portion of said plurality of rays of light by reflecting rays of light emitted from said light source outside said predetermined cone angle back to said light source which re-emits said rays of light emitted outside said predetermined cone angle to said angular optical recycling device, thereby increasing the brightness of said light source'"'"'s output;
wherein said lens surface of said single solid optical component transmits rays of light emitted from said light source within said predetermined cone angle from said optical recycling device; and
wherein all of said light rays outside of said predetermined cone angle impact said concave surface before impacting any other surface.
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Abstract
An illumination system for increasing the brightness of a light source comprises an optical recycling device coupled to the light source, preferably light emitting diode (LED), for spatially and/or angularly recycling light. The optical recycling device spatially recycles a portion of rays of light emitted by the LED back to the light source using a reflector or mirror and/or angularly recycles high angle rays of light and transmits small angle rays of light, thereby increasing the brightness of the light source'"'"'s output.
60 Citations
35 Claims
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1. An illumination system for increasing the brightness of a light source, comprising:
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a light source for emitting a plurality of rays of light; and an optical recycling device for transmitting said plurality of rays of light from said light source, said optical recycling device comprising a single solid optical component having reflective concave surfaces and a lens surface; and wherein said lens surface of said single solid optical component forms a predetermined cone angle with said light source such that said reflective concave surfaces of said single solid optical component angularly recycles a portion of said plurality of rays of light by reflecting rays of light emitted from said light source outside said predetermined cone angle back to said light source which re-emits said rays of light emitted outside said predetermined cone angle to said angular optical recycling device, thereby increasing the brightness of said light source'"'"'s output; wherein said lens surface of said single solid optical component transmits rays of light emitted from said light source within said predetermined cone angle from said optical recycling device; and wherein all of said light rays outside of said predetermined cone angle impact said concave surface before impacting any other surface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An illumination system for increasing the brightness of a light source and a method for increasing the method of increasing the brightness, comprising:
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a light source for emitting a plurality of rays of light; and
an angular optical recycling device for transmitting said plurality of rays of light from said light source, said angular optical recycling device comprising a single hollow optical component having an aperture and reflective concave surfaces that are in the shape of a dual paraboloid; andwherein said aperture of said single hollow optical component forms a predetermined cone angle with said light source such that said reflective concave surfaces of said hollow optical component angularly recycles a portion of said plurality of rays of light by reflecting rays of light emitted from said light source outside said predetermined cone angle back to said light source which re-emits said of rays of light emitted outside said predetermined cone angle to said angular optical recycling device, thereby increasing the brightness of said light source'"'"'s output; and wherein said aperture of said single hollow optical component transmits rays of light emitted from said light source within said predetermined cone angle from said angular optical recycling device; and wherein all of said light rays outside of said predetermined cone angle impact one of said dual paraboloid reflective surfaces before impacting any other surface. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for increasing the brightness of a light source, comprising the steps of:
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coupling an optical recycling device to a light source to receive a plurality of rays of light from said light source and to recycle a portion of said plurality of rays of light, said optical recycling device comprising a single solid optical component having reflective concave surfaces and lens surface forming a predetermined cone angle with said light source; angularly recycling a portion of said plurality of rays of light by reflecting rays of light emitted from said light source outside said predetermined cone angle back to said light source by said reflective concave surfaces of said optical component; transmitting rays of light emitted from said light source within said predetermined cone angle from said optical recycling device through said lens surface; re-emitting said rays of light emitted outside said predetermined cone angle to said optical recycling device by said light source, thereby increasing the brightness of said light source'"'"'s output; and wherein all of said light rays outside of said predetermined cone angle impact one of said concave surface before impacting any other surface. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method for increasing the brightness of a light source, comprising the steps of:
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coupling an optical recycling device to a light source to receive a plurality of rays of light from said light source and to recycle a portion of said plurality of rays of light, said optical recycling device comprising a single hollow optical component having a reflective concave surface and an aperture forming a predetermined cone angle with said light source; recycling a portion of said plurality of rays of light by reflecting rays of light emitted from said light source outside said predetermined cone angle back to said light source by said reflective concave surface of said single hollow optical component; transmitting rays of light emitted from said light source within said predetermined cone angle from said optical recycling device through said aperture; and re-emitting said rays of light emitted outside said predetermined cone angle to said optical recycling device by said light source, thereby increasing the brightness of said light source'"'"'s output; and wherein all of said light rays outside of said predetermined cone angle impact said concave surface before impacting any other surface. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification