Patent ID: 6092904
Filing Date: 2000-07-25
Classification: F21V,G02B,G02F,Y10S

Abstract:
A system for illuminating an object on one side of said illuminating system with exciting light to cause said object to fluoresce with light of a wavelength different from a wavelength of the exciting light, and so that said object may be viewed by an observer located on an opposing side of said illuminating system, said system comprising:(a) a light pipe having opposing forward and rearward faces;(b) an arrangement for directing light into said light pipe in a predetermined way, and(c) an arrangement of optical components forming part of said light pipe for reflecting substantially all of the light directed into said light pipe in said predetermined way in a forward direction through the forward face of the light pipe, said light pipe including said arrangement of optical components being substantially transparent to light in the direction across the opposing forward and rearward faces of said light pipe such that the light pipe can be positioned between the object being illuminated and the observer without in any significant way disrupting a view of the object by the observer, said system further including a lamp, wherein a polarizer is placed between the light pipe and said lamp.