Remote phosphor LED illumination system
First Claim
1. An illuminator (10A, 10B, 10C), comprising:
- a light-emitting diode module (20) having an LED emission plane (23) for emitting short-wavelength light;
a phosphor module (30A, 30B, 30C) longitudinally spaced apart from the light-emitting diode module (20) and including a phosphor layer (32) for absorbing short-wavelength light and emitting wavelength-converted light, wherein the phosphor module (30A, 30B, 30C) further comprises a generally planar transparent layer (31) parallel and longitudinally directly adjacent to the phosphor layer (32) and facing the light-emitting diode module (20), and wherein the transparent layer (31) includes a lateral edge (34) that supports total internal reflection;
an inner reflector (41) circumferentially surrounding the LED emission plane (23) and extending from the LED emission plane (23) to the phosphor module (30A, 30B, 30C), wherein all the short-wavelength light emitted from the light-emitting diode module (20) either enters the phosphor module (30A, 30B, 30C) directly or enters the phosphor module (30A, 30B, 30C) after a reflection off the inner reflector (41), and wherein the inner reflector (41) contacts the transparent layer (31) continuously around a circumference of the inner reflector (41); and
a concave outer reflector (42) circumferentially surrounding the phosphor layer (32), wherein all the wavelength-converted light emitted from the phosphor module (30A, 30B, 30C) either exits the illuminator (10A, 10B, 10C) directly (71) or exits the illuminator (10A, 10B, 10C) after a reflection off the outer reflector (42) (72);
wherein the transparent layer (31) contacts only a single inner reflector (41) and only a single concave outer reflector (42), and wherein the phosphor layer (32) and transparent layer (31) both extend outward beyond the inner reflector (41), over the entire circumference of the inner reflector (41), such that virtually all the short-wavelength light emitting from the light-emitting diode module (20) that enters the transparent layer (31) is transmitted to the phosphor layer (32) due to total internal reflection within the transparent layer (31).
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Accused Products
Abstract
An illuminator is disclosed, in which an LED module emits short-wavelength light toward a phosphor module, which absorbs it and emits wavelength-conditioned light. The emission is generally longitudinal, with a generally Lambertian distribution about the longitudinal direction. The phosphor module includes a transparent layer, closest to the LED module, and a phosphor layer directly adjacent to the transparent layer. Both layers are oriented generally perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. The illuminator includes a reflector, circumferentially surrounding the emission plane in the LED module and extending longitudinally between the emission plane and the transparent layer. Virtually all the light emitted from the LED module either enters the phosphor module directly, or enters after a reflection off the reflector. The transverse side or sides of the transparent layer support total internal reflection, so that virtually all the light that enters the transparent layer, from the LED module, is transmitted to the phosphor layer. In some applications, the phosphor layer is located at the focus of a concave mirror, which can narrow and/or collimate the light emitted by the phosphor. Adjacent to the phosphor layer and opposite the transparent layer, the phosphor module can include a transparent dome, a heat sink, or nothing.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. An illuminator (10A, 10B, 10C), comprising:
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a light-emitting diode module (20) having an LED emission plane (23) for emitting short-wavelength light; a phosphor module (30A, 30B, 30C) longitudinally spaced apart from the light-emitting diode module (20) and including a phosphor layer (32) for absorbing short-wavelength light and emitting wavelength-converted light, wherein the phosphor module (30A, 30B, 30C) further comprises a generally planar transparent layer (31) parallel and longitudinally directly adjacent to the phosphor layer (32) and facing the light-emitting diode module (20), and wherein the transparent layer (31) includes a lateral edge (34) that supports total internal reflection; an inner reflector (41) circumferentially surrounding the LED emission plane (23) and extending from the LED emission plane (23) to the phosphor module (30A, 30B, 30C), wherein all the short-wavelength light emitted from the light-emitting diode module (20) either enters the phosphor module (30A, 30B, 30C) directly or enters the phosphor module (30A, 30B, 30C) after a reflection off the inner reflector (41), and wherein the inner reflector (41) contacts the transparent layer (31) continuously around a circumference of the inner reflector (41); and a concave outer reflector (42) circumferentially surrounding the phosphor layer (32), wherein all the wavelength-converted light emitted from the phosphor module (30A, 30B, 30C) either exits the illuminator (10A, 10B, 10C) directly (71) or exits the illuminator (10A, 10B, 10C) after a reflection off the outer reflector (42) (72); wherein the transparent layer (31) contacts only a single inner reflector (41) and only a single concave outer reflector (42), and wherein the phosphor layer (32) and transparent layer (31) both extend outward beyond the inner reflector (41), over the entire circumference of the inner reflector (41), such that virtually all the short-wavelength light emitting from the light-emitting diode module (20) that enters the transparent layer (31) is transmitted to the phosphor layer (32) due to total internal reflection within the transparent layer (31). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An illuminator (10A, 10B, 10C), comprising:
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a light-emitting diode module (20) for producing short-wavelength light and emitting the short-wavelength light into a range of short-wavelength light propagation angles, each short-wavelength light propagation angle being formed with respect to a surface normal (55) at the light-emitting diode module (20); a phosphor module (30A, 30B, 30C) for absorbing short-wavelength light (51, 53) and emitting phosphor light (61, 65), the phosphor light (61, 65) having a wavelength spectrum determined in part by a phosphor (32), wherein the phosphor module (30A, 30B, 30C) further comprises a generally planar transparent layer (31) parallel and longitudinally directly adjacent to the phosphor layer (32) and facing the light-emitting diode module (20), and wherein the transparent layer (31) includes a lateral edge (34) that supports total internal reflection; wherein the phosphor module (30A, 30B, 30C) receives an inner portion (51) of the short-wavelength light from the light-emitting diode module (20), the inner portion (51) having a short-wavelength light propagation angle less than a cutoff value (50); a first reflector (41) for receiving an outer portion (52) of the short-wavelength light, the outer portion (52) having a short-wavelength light propagation angle greater than the cutoff value (50), and for reflecting the outer portion (53) of the short-wavelength light to the phosphor module (30A, 30B, 30C), and wherein the first reflector (41) contacts the transparent layer (31) continuously around a circumference of the first reflector (41); a concave second reflector (42) for receiving the phosphor light (61, 65) and reflecting exiting light (62, 66), the exiting light (62, 66) having an angular distribution that is narrower than that of the phosphor light (61, 65); wherein the transparent layer (31) contacts only a single inner reflector (41) and only a single concave outer reflector (42), and wherein the phosphor layer (32) and transparent layer (31) both extend outward beyond the first reflector (41), over the entire circumference of the first reflector (41), such that virtually all the short-wavelength light emitting from the light-emitting diode module (20) that enters the transparent layer (31) is transmitted to the phosphor layer (32) due to total internal reflection within the transparent layer (31).
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17. A method for producing a narrow, wavelength-converted beam, comprising:
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emitting short-wavelength light into a short-wavelength angular spectrum from at least one light-emitting diode, the short-wavelength angular spectrum consisting of a short-wavelength inner angular portion that enters a phosphor module (30A, 30B, 30C) directly, and a short-wavelength outer angular portion that reflects off a first reflector (41) and then enters the phosphor module (30A, 30B, 30C), wherein the phosphor module (30A, 30B, 30C) further comprises a generally planar transparent layer (31) parallel and longitudinally directly adjacent to the phosphor layer (32) and facing the light-emitting diode, and wherein the transparent layer (31) includes a lateral edge (34) that supports total internal reflection, and wherein the inner reflector (41) contacts the transparent layer (31) continuously around a circumference of the inner reflector (41), and wherein the transparent layer (31) contacts only a single inner reflector (41) and only a single concave outer reflector (42), and wherein the phosphor layer (32) and transparent layer (31) both extend outward beyond the inner reflector (41), over the entire circumference of the inner reflector (41); absorbing the short-wavelength light at a phosphor layer (32) in the phosphor module (30A, 30B, 30C) via total internal reflection within the transparent layer (31), such that virtually all light emitted from the light-emitting diode is transmitted to the phosphor layer (32) via the transparent layer (31); emitting wavelength-converted light from the phosphor layer (32); and exiting the wavelength-converted light into a wavelength-converted angular spectrum from the phosphor module (30A, 30B, 30C), the wavelength-converted angular spectrum consisting of a wavelength-converted inner angular portion that joins the wavelength-converted beam directly, and a wavelength-converted outer angular portion that reflects off a concave second reflector (42) and then joins the wavelength-converted beam.
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Specification