Patent ID: 6367179
Filing Date: 2002-04-09
Classification: G09F

Abstract:
An optical chassis for illuminating a planar surface region adjacent the optical chassis, comprising;a frame; an optical coupler having an inner chamber and an outer surface profile and mechanically coupled to said frame; a tube-shaped lamp having a length and disposed in said chamber, where said lamp emits light rays each having a trajectory; a mechanical coupler to suspend said lamp within said inner chamber while permitting the lamp to flex along its length in response to vibration; and an emergency exit sign positioned to intersect at least some of said light rays, wherein optical characteristics of said optical coupler are selected to alter the trajectory of light rays emitted from said lamp as the light rays pass through said optical coupler for substantially improving the illumination uniformity at the planar surface region compared to the illumination uniformity of the lamp alone, and wherein said selected optical properties alter the trajectory of light rays to illuminate said emergency exit sign with a uniformity ratio across said emergency exit sign of at most 50:1.