Methods and apparatus for implementing color consistency in remote wavelength conversion

• US 9,252,338 B2
• Filed: 04/26/2013
• Issued: 02/02/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/26/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intematix Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intematix Corporation
• Inventors: Edwards, Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Nimeshkumar
• Assistant Examiner(s): DIAZ, JOSE
• Application Number:
  US13/871,383
• Publication Number:
  US 20130286632A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,012 Days
• Field of Search: 313498-512, 362/84, 362/510, 362/166, 362/293
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: F21K 9/64 using wavelength conversion means distinct or spaced from the light-generating element, e.g. a remote phosphor layer
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 3/02 characterised by the shape
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 3/12 the coatings comprising photoluminescent substances
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 9/32 characterised by the arrangement of the photoluminescent material
• CPC Class Codes: F21Y 2115/10 Light-emitting diodes [LED]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/502 Wavelength conversion materials

Abstract

Disclosed is an approach to implement a light emitting device with remote wavelength conversion. Lighting arrangements are disclosed which provides consistent color despite inconsistent light path lengths for phosphor light conversions.

Claims

1. An LED lighting arrangement comprising:

at least one LED operable to emit light of a first wavelength range;

a wavelength conversion component that is operable to emit light of a second wavelength range when excited by light of the first wavelength range from the at least one LED, wherein emitted light from the LED lighting arrangement comprises combined light from both the at least one LED and the wavelength conversion component;

the wavelength conversion component being remote from the at least one LED; and

the wavelength conversion component having differing amounts of photoluminescent materials at different portions of the wavelength conversion component, wherein a visibly uniform color of light is producible from the LED lighting arrangement based at least in part on the differing amounts of photoluminescent materials at different portions of the wavelength conversion component;

wherein the differing amounts of photoluminescent materials at the different portions of the wavelength conversion component are implemented by varying thickness of a photoluminescent material layer on a substrate in the wavelength conversion component; and

wherein the photoluminescent material layer is implemented with a pattern that is not contiguous over the wavelength conversion component.

2. The lighting arrangement of claim 1, wherein the differing amounts of photoluminescent materials at the different portions of the wavelength conversion component are further implemented by varying wall thicknesses for the wavelength conversion component.

3. The lighting arrangement of claim 2, wherein the wavelength conversion component is planar in shape, and a central portion is thicker than an edge portion of the wavelength conversion component.

4. The lighting arrangement of claim 1, in which the pattern comprises at least one of dots or pixels of the photoluminescent materials at variable size or frequency over the photoluminescent material layer.

5. The lighting arrangement of claim 1, wherein the differing amounts of the photoluminescent materials are implemented to generally equalize a ratio of emitted photoluminescent light compared to emitted LED light from the wavelength conversion component.

6. The lighting arrangement of claim 1, wherein more of the photoluminescent materials is provided at portions of the wavelength conversion component receiving having higher levels of LED light and less of the photoluminescent materials is provided at portions of the wavelength conversion component receiving having lower levels of LED light.

7. The lighting arrangement of claim 1, wherein the wavelength conversion component comprises a three-dimensional shape having an aspect ratio that is not one to one.

8. The lighting arrangement of claim 7, wherein the wavelength conversion component comprises a generally dome shape, and the generally dome shape corresponds to an aspect ratio greater than one to one.

9. The lighting arrangement of claim 1, wherein the wavelength conversion component comprises a planar shape, and a combination of the planar shape with a mixing chamber corresponds to an aspect ratio that is not one to one.

10. The lighting arrangement of claim 1, wherein the photoluminescent materials comprise at least one of phosphor material or quantum dots.

11. The lighting arrangement of claim 1, wherein the differing amounts of photoluminescent materials at the different portions of the wavelength conversion component are further implemented by varying concentration of the photoluminescent materials within the wavelength conversion component.

12. An LED lighting arrangement comprising:

at least one LED operable to emit light of a first wavelength range;

a wavelength conversion component that is operable to emit light of a second wavelength range when excited by light of the first wavelength range from the at least one LED, wherein emitted light from the LED lighting arrangement comprises combined light from both the at least one LED and the wavelength conversion component;

the wavelength conversion component being remote from the at least one LED; and

the wavelength conversion component having differing amounts of photoluminescent materials at different portions of the wavelength conversion component, wherein a visibly uniform color of light is producible from the LED lighting arrangement based at least in part on the differing amounts of photoluminescent materials at different portions of the wavelength conversion component;

wherein the differing amounts of photoluminescent materials at the different portions of the wavelength conversion component are implemented by varying wall thicknesses for the wavelength conversion component; and

wherein the wavelength conversion component is generally dome-shaped, and a lower wall portion comprises thicker walls compared to a central wall portion of the wavelength conversion component.

13. The lighting arrangement of claim 12, wherein the differing amounts of photoluminescent materials at the different portions of the wavelength conversion component are further implemented by varying concentration of the photoluminescent materials within the wavelength conversion component.

14. The lighting arrangement of claim 12, wherein the differing amounts of photoluminescent materials at the different portions of the wavelength conversion component are further implemented by varying thickness of a photoluminescent material layer on a substrate in the wavelength conversion component.

15. The lighting arrangement of claim 12, wherein the differing amounts of the photoluminescent materials are implemented to generally equalize a ratio of emitted photoluminescent light compared to emitted LED light from the wavelength conversion component.

16. The lighting arrangement of claim 12, wherein more of the photoluminescent materials is provided at portions of the wavelength conversion component receiving having higher levels of LED light and less of the photoluminescent materials is provided at portions of the wavelength conversion component receiving having lower levels of LED light.

17. The lighting arrangement of claim 12, wherein the photoluminescent materials comprise at least one of phosphor material or quantum dots.

18. A component for an LED lighting arrangement, comprising:

a wavelength conversion component that is operable to emit light of a second wavelength range when excited by light of a first wavelength range from at least one LED, wherein emitted light comprises combined light from both the at least one LED and the wavelength conversion component, and in which differing amounts of photoluminescent materials are present at different portions of the wavelength conversion component, wherein a visibly uniform color of light is producible based at least in part on the differing amounts of photoluminescent materials at different portions of the wavelength conversion component;

wherein the differing amounts of photoluminescent materials at the different portions of the wavelength conversion component are implemented by varying wall thicknesses for the wavelength conversion component; and

wherein the wavelength conversion component is generally dome-shaped, and a lower wall portion comprises thicker walls compared to a central wall portion of the wavelength conversion component.

19. The component of claim 18, wherein the differing amounts of photoluminescent materials at the different portions of the wavelength conversion component are further implemented by varying concentration of the photoluminescent materials within the wavelength conversion component.

20. The component of claim 18, wherein the differing amounts of photoluminescent materials at the different portions of the wavelength conversion component are further implemented by varying thickness of a photoluminescent material layer on a substrate in the wavelength conversion component.

21. The component of claim 18, wherein the differing amounts of the photoluminescent materials are implemented to generally equalize a ratio of emitted photoluminescent light compared to emitted LED light from the wavelength conversion component.

22. The component of claim 18, wherein more of the photoluminescent materials is provided at portions of the wavelength conversion component configured to receive having higher levels of LED light and less of the photoluminescent materials is provided at portions of the wavelength conversion component configured to receive having lower levels of LED light.

23. A component for an LED lighting arrangement, comprising:

a wavelength conversion component that is operable to emit light of a second wavelength range when excited by light of a first wavelength range from at least one LED, wherein emitted light comprises combined light from both the at least one LED and the wavelength conversion component, and in which differing amounts of photoluminescent materials are present at different portions of the wavelength conversion component, wherein a visibly uniform color of light is producible based at least in part on the differing amounts of photoluminescent materials at different portions of the wavelength conversion component;

wherein the differing amounts of photoluminescent materials at the different portions of the wavelength conversion component are implemented by varying thickness of a photoluminescent material layer on a substrate in the wavelength conversion component; and

wherein the photoluminescent material layer is implemented with a pattern that is not contiguous over the wavelength conversion component.

24. The component of claim 23, wherein the differing amounts of photoluminescent materials at the different portions of the wavelength conversion component are further implemented by varying wall thicknesses for the wavelength conversion component.

25. The component of claim 24, wherein the wavelength conversion component is planar in shape, and a central portion is thicker than an edge portion of the wavelength conversion component.

26. The component of claim 23, in which the pattern comprises at least one of dots or pixels of the photoluminescent materials at variable size or frequency over the photoluminescent material layer.

27. The component of claim 23, wherein the differing amounts of the photoluminescent materials are implemented to generally equalize a ratio of emitted photoluminescent light compared to emitted LED light from the wavelength conversion component.

28. The component of claim 23, wherein more of the photoluminescent materials is provided at portions of the wavelength conversion component configured to receive having higher levels of LED light and less of the photoluminescent materials is provided at portions of the wavelength conversion component configured to receive having lower levels of LED light.

29. The component of claim 23, wherein the wavelength conversion component comprises a three-dimensional shape having an aspect ratio that is greater than or less than one to one.

30. The component of claim 29, wherein the wavelength conversion component comprises a generally dome shape, and the generally dome shape corresponds to an aspect ratio greater than one to one.

31. The component of claim 23, wherein the wavelength conversion component comprises a planar shape, and a combination of the planar shape with a mixing chamber corresponds to an aspect ratio that is not one to one.

32. The component of claim 23, wherein the differing amounts of photoluminescent materials at the different portions of the wavelength conversion component are further implemented by varying concentration of the photoluminescent materials within the wavelength conversion component.

33. A method for color tuning an LED lighting arrangement comprising:

identifying at least one LED operable to emit light of a first wavelength range;

configuring a wavelength conversion component that is operable to emit light of a second wavelength range when excited by light of the first wavelength range from the at least one LED, wherein emitted light from the LED lighting arrangement comprises combined light from both the at least one LED and the wavelength conversion component;

the wavelength conversion component being remote from the at least one LED; and

the wavelength conversion component is color tuned by implementing differing amounts of photoluminescent materials at different portions of the wavelength conversion component, wherein a visibly uniform color of light is producible from the LED lighting arrangement based at least in part on the differing amounts of photoluminescent materials at different portions of the wavelength conversion component;

wherein profiles of the at least one LED and the wavelength conversion component are analyzed to configure the differing amounts of the photoluminescent materials to generally equalize a ratio of emitted photoluminescent light compared to emitted LED light from the wavelength conversion component; and

wherein the profile of the at least one LED that is analyzed comprises an emission profile and the profile of the wavelength conversion component comprises an aspect ratio for the wavelength conversion component or for a mixing chamber that incorporates the wavelength conversion component.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the differing amounts of photoluminescent materials at the different portions of the wavelength conversion component is implemented by at least one of (a) varying wall thicknesses for the wavelength conversion component, (b) varying concentration of the photoluminescent materials within the wavelength conversion component, or (c) varying thickness of a photoluminescent material layer on a substrate in the wavelength conversion component.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein simulation is performed to analyze the at least one LED and the wavelength conversion component.

36. The method of claim 33, wherein a physical sample of the wavelength conversion component is analyzed and adjusted to perform color tuning.