Patent ID: 6672740
Filing Date: 2004-01-06
Classification: F21V,G02B

Abstract:
An optical device comprising:a source of electromagnetic radiation; a target to be illuminated with at least a portion of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by said source; a collimating reflector having an optical axis and a focal point on said optical axis, said source being located proximate said focal point of said collimating reflector to produce collimated rays of radiation reflected from said collimating reflector in a direction substantially parallel to said optical axis; and a focusing reflector comprising at least a portion of a paraboloid of revolution, said focusing reflector having an optical axis and a focal point on said optical axis, said target being located proximate said focal point of said focusing reflector, said focusing reflector being positioned and oriented with respect to said collimating reflector so that the collimated rays of radiation reflected from said collimating reflector are reflected by said focusing reflector and focused substantially toward said target, wherein the collimating reflector and the focusing reflector comprise a collimating/focusing reflector pair selected from the group consisting of: (a) a pair of reflectors, each reflector of the pair of reflectors comprising at least a portion of a substantial paraboloid of revolution and having about the same size and shape, with the collimating reflector and focusing reflector having a corresponding size and optical orientation with respect to each other so that substantially each ray of radiation reflected by a surface portion of said collimating reflector is reflected by a corresponding surface portion of said focusing reflector toward said target so as to achieve substantially unit magnification between the source and an image focused onto said target, and (b) a pair of reflectors comprising an ellipsoid/hyperboloid pair of collimating and focusing reflectors, with one of the collimating and focusing reflectors of the ellipsoid/hyperboloid pair having a substantially ellipsoid shape, and the other of the collimating and focusing reflectors having a corresponding substantially hyperboloid shape, with each reflector of the ellipsoid/hyperboloid pair having a corresponding size and optical orientation with respect to each other so that substantially each ray of radiation reflected by a surface portion of said collimating reflector is reflected by a corresponding surface portion of said focusing reflector toward said target so as to achieve about unit magnification between the source and an image focused onto said target of from about 0.5 to about 5.