Thin illumination system
First Claim
1. An illuminating system, comprising:
- a single LED emitter having a square or rectangular emitting aperture that is d1 by d2,a four sided etendue preserving angle transforming reflector whose input aperture is disposed just above the output emitting aperture of said single LED emitter receiving LED emission,a light guiding pipe whose input aperture receives light from the output aperture of said etendue preserving angle transforming reflector element, said light guiding pipe comprising one or more of a light guide bar having rectangular cross-section and a first refractive index, a tapered light guide bar having rectangular cross-section with a knife edge at one end and a first refractive index, a first optical film having a second refractive index, and a first prismatic lens sheet having a first refractive index plus a specularly reflecting coating deposited upon the facets of said first prismatic lens sheet, said light guiding pipe providing evenly distributed output light along one rectangular edge, collimated in one meridian,a light guiding plate one edge of which is disposed adjacent to said rectangular edge of said light guiding pipe, receiving said evenly distributed output light from said light guiding pipe, said light guiding plate comprising one or more of a light guide plate having rectangular cross-section and a first refractive index, a tapered light guide plate having rectangular cross-section with a knife edge at one end and a first refractive index, a second optical film having a second refractive index, a second prismatic lens sheet having a first refractive index plus a specularly reflecting coating deposited upon the facets of said second prismatic lens sheet, and a plane specularly-reflecting mirror, said light guiding plate providing an evenly distributed output beam across one rectangular output face, said output beam being substantially square or rectangular in cross-section and well-collimated in both output meridians.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention introduces a new class of thin doubly collimating light distributing engines for use in a variety of general lighting applications, especially those benefiting from thinness. Output illumination from these slim-profile illumination systems whether square, rectangular or circular in physical aperture shape is directional, square, rectangular or circular in beam cross-section, and spatially uniform and sharply cutoff outside the system'"'"'s adjustable far-field angular cone. Field coverage extends from +/−5- to +/−60-degrees and more in each meridian, including all asymmetric combinations in between, both by internal design, by addition of angle spreading film sheets, and angular tilts. Engine brightness is held to safe levels by expanding the size of the engine'"'"'s output-aperture without sacrifice in the directionality of illumination. One form of the present invention has a single input light emitter, a square output aperture and the capacity to supply hundreds of lumens per engine. A second multi-segment form of the invention deploys one light emitter in each engine segment, so that total output lumens is determined by the number of segments. Both types of thin light distributing engines provide input light collimated in one meridian and a light distributing element that maintains input collimation while collimating output light in the un-collimated orthogonal meridian, in such a manner that the system'"'"'s far-field output light is collimated in both its orthogonal output meridians. The present invention also includes especially structured optical films that process the engine'"'"'s doubly collimated output illumination so as to increase its angular extent one or both output meridians without changing beam shape or uniformity.
352 Citations
32 Claims
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1. An illuminating system, comprising:
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a single LED emitter having a square or rectangular emitting aperture that is d1 by d2, a four sided etendue preserving angle transforming reflector whose input aperture is disposed just above the output emitting aperture of said single LED emitter receiving LED emission, a light guiding pipe whose input aperture receives light from the output aperture of said etendue preserving angle transforming reflector element, said light guiding pipe comprising one or more of a light guide bar having rectangular cross-section and a first refractive index, a tapered light guide bar having rectangular cross-section with a knife edge at one end and a first refractive index, a first optical film having a second refractive index, and a first prismatic lens sheet having a first refractive index plus a specularly reflecting coating deposited upon the facets of said first prismatic lens sheet, said light guiding pipe providing evenly distributed output light along one rectangular edge, collimated in one meridian, a light guiding plate one edge of which is disposed adjacent to said rectangular edge of said light guiding pipe, receiving said evenly distributed output light from said light guiding pipe, said light guiding plate comprising one or more of a light guide plate having rectangular cross-section and a first refractive index, a tapered light guide plate having rectangular cross-section with a knife edge at one end and a first refractive index, a second optical film having a second refractive index, a second prismatic lens sheet having a first refractive index plus a specularly reflecting coating deposited upon the facets of said second prismatic lens sheet, and a plane specularly-reflecting mirror, said light guiding plate providing an evenly distributed output beam across one rectangular output face, said output beam being substantially square or rectangular in cross-section and well-collimated in both output meridians. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An illuminating system, comprising:
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A linear array of LED emitters whose center-to-center distance between emitters is W, and each having a square or rectangular output aperture that is d1 by d2, A substrate circuit with electrical interconnection means for said array of LED emitters, A linear array of rectangular four sided etendue preserving angle transforming reflectors whose rectangular input apertures are d1 by d2 and have a center-to-center spacing W, with each said input aperture disposed just above said output aperture of each said LED emitter in said array, a light guiding pipe whose input aperture receives light from the output apertures of said etendue preserving angle transforming reflectors a light guiding plate one edge of which is disposed adjacent to said rectangular edge of said light guiding pipe, receiving said evenly distributed output light from said light guiding pipe, said light guiding plate comprising one or more of a light guide plate having rectangular cross-section and a first refractive index, a tapered light guide plate having rectangular cross-section with a knife edge at one end and a first refractive index, a second optical film having a second refractive index, a second prismatic lens sheet having a first refractive index plus a specularly reflecting coating deposited upon the facets of said second prismatic lens sheet, and a plane specularly-reflecting mirror, said light guiding plate providing an evenly distributed output beam across one rectangular output face, said output beam being substantially square or rectangular in cross-section and well-collimated in both output meridians. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification