Patent ID: 9261241
Filing Date: 2016-02-16
CPC Classification: F21K,F21V,F21W,F21Y,F28D,Y02B

Claim Text:
1. A light source assembly configured for attachment to a lighting fixture of a type having a concave reflector and projecting light forward along a longitudinal fixture axis, wherein the concave reflector includes a central opening aligned with the longitudinal fixture axis, the light source assembly comprising: three or more LED assemblies; a heat sink; a heat pipe assembly having a rearward end operatively connected to the heat sink and a forward end that mounts the three or more LED assemblies, wherein a portion of the heat pipe assembly extends through the central opening of the concave reflector and defines a longitudinal light source axis, wherein the heat pipe assembly further has one or more elongated, hermetically sealed interior cavities, wherein a transverse dimension of the one or more cavities is relatively small at the heat pipe assembly's forward end, adjacent to the three or more LED assemblies, and a transverse dimension of the one or more cavities is relatively large at the heat pipe assembly's rearward end, adjacent to the heat sink, and wherein the heat pipe assembly further includes a graded wick in at least one of its one or more interior cavities, the wick having relatively large porosity at the cavity's rearward end and relatively fine porosity at its forward end; and a fastener configured for attachment to the lighting fixture, with the heat sink located rearward of the concave reflector, with the light source axis aligned with the fixture axis, and with the three or more LED assemblies located at or near a focal region of the concave reflector; wherein, in operation, with the light source assembly attached to the lighting fixture, light emitted from the three or more LED assemblies is reflected by the concave reflector and projected forward along the longitudinal fixture axis, and heat generated by the LED assemblies is conducted rearward along the heat pipe assembly to the heat sink.