Patent Abstract:
A reflector system having two-axis control through which beam collimation and wide-angle beam overlapping occur, and a method of manufacturing such a system through cutting flat reflective sheeting and forming the resultant flat parts into the three-dimensional reflectors that collect and shape the light from solid state LEDs, wherein each axis may be customized by changing the cutting and bending of the flat pieces.

Full Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application claims priority and is entitled to the filing date of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/714,218 filed Sep. 3, 2005, and entitled “LIGHT SHAPING REFLECTOR SYSTEM FOR LIGHT EMITTING DIODES.” The contents of the aforementioned application are incorporated by reference herein. 
   INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE 
   Applicants hereby incorporate herein by reference any and all U.S. patents and U.S. patent applications cited or referred to in this application. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   Aspects of this invention relate generally to systems for shaping light emission patterns of solid state lighting units or assemblies, and more particularly to systems for shaping the light emitted from Light Emitting Diodes (“LEDs”) used in indoor or outdoor lighting units. 
   2. Description of Related Art 
   LEDs are now available in high power packages that provide high lumen output from a single source. In the context of indoor and outdoor lighting, one challenge in connection with the use of such “high-output LEDs” is collecting and reshaping the light to efficiently illuminate the areas and shapes required by industry lighting standards and the application. These high-output devices have a much larger light emitting area that requires attention to optical design. And unlike previous smaller LEDs that generally have integral refractive optics, high-output LEDs have large area wide-angle light emissions that almost always require secondary optics. High-output LEDs are also known to produce considerable heat and so must be mounted to a thermally dissipating structure to ensure maximum life. 
   The thermal and optical requirements of high-output LEDs require mutual consideration, and while thermally mounted, the optical solution must capture or otherwise use or control light emissions from 360-degrees around the LED&#39;s forward hemisphere and redirect the light toward the axis of the desired illumination pattern. A common illumination pattern required of such a lighting unit usually requires that it be mounted midway in a rectangular lighting pattern that requires the most significant percentage of the light from the LEDs to be directed away from the lighting unit. Additionally, for luminous uniformity from streetlight luminaires or parking garage luminaires, for example, the application can require twenty times more light directed toward the far field than the amount of light required directly beneath the luminaire. Applicants note that as used throughout, the term “luminaire” is to be understood broadly as being any complete lighting unit. 
   Conventional optics of the prior art commonly have a combination of lenses and reflectors to collect the various angles of light emitted from the LED in order to shape its output into appropriate patterns. Refractive designs for wide angles or multiple angles or sharp bending will typically suffer losses due to internal reflections within the refractive lens. 
   Each LED can require different optical solutions or dedicated optics for each application. For example, one industry standard for a streetlight luminaire requires a lighted swath of about 30-feet by 200-feet with the luminaire mounted 24-feet high near the center of that pattern. Additionally, an interior parking garage luminaire must light a swath of about 20-feet by 70-feet from a ceiling mounted luminaire only 8-feet high. The garage luminaire must also light the walls and ceiling, thus it must have considerably different optics than a streetlight luminaire. 
   The demand for LEDs of all kinds for illumination has created a multitude of applications, each requiring special optical shaping of the LED light output pattern. It is known that LED manufacturers are getting more light output with phosphor deposition and optical techniques that don&#39;t necessarily conform to true Lambertian or standard emission patterns, which can challenge or obsolete existing optics already set by LED integrators. A phenomenon created by some manufacturers with white LEDs occurs with their radial phosphor deposition at the LED chip, thereby producing more than one correlated color temperature (“CCT”) emission in the spatial radiation pattern of the same LED. 
   Mass production of a molded optical solution, whether the system is optically refractive with an injection-molded lens or reflective with a deposited metalized finish on a molded substrate, requires intricate tooling and a highly polished mold. Such tools, though capable of mass production, are relatively expensive. Alternately, rapid prototyping methods through which a single part may be fabricated, though capable of smaller quantity production, ultimately cost even many times more than that of a mass production part while still requiring polishing. Either process can take several months or more to complete. 
   Again, each LED illumination product may require dedicated optical solutions for each application. For example, one industry standard for a streetlight luminaire requires a lighted swath of at least 40-feet by 200-feet with the luminaire mounted 24-feet high and situated asymmetrically or off-center of that pattern, or asymmetrical beam shaping. While asymmetrical optics may also be accomplished in molded refractive or reflective parts by adding or removing curvature or angle on a side of the mold, however, this does cause other complications as known in the art: (1) each half of the illumination task of the streetlight requires a different or mirror image mold, likely to require additional financial investment as well, and (2) draft angles and often necessarily symmetrical mold geometry can complicate some asymmetrical parts fabricated with a conventional release mold without special gates or slides, potentially adding further cost and delay to mold fabrication. Furthermore, LED integrators often mix colors of LEDs to affect different CCT, which can be problematic since LED family characteristics vary differently with time and environment. 
   In the prior art, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/085,891 by Applicant Patrick Mullins teaches a technique with a reflector system that uniformly illuminates those areas nearer to the luminaire at luminance levels inversely proportionate to those levels farther away. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,641,284 to Stopa et al., a “linear parabolic” shaped reflector is disclosed having no side lobe reflectors. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,318,886 to Stopa et al., there is disclosed a rectangular array of LEDs, each in a “frustoconical” reflector involving an array of circular light sources that can concentrate the LED light into a group of circular shapes proportionally similar to the shape of the array itself. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,386,824 to Draper and 6,048,084 to Sedovic et al. disclose a rectangular reflector shape as a means to project light in a spot or flood application. U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,865 to Probst et al. discloses a “deep dish” parabola for a spot effect. 
   Aspects of the present invention are then directed to one or more features including but not limited to: (1) affixing the LEDs to a heat dissipating structure for proper cooling to maximize LED life; (2) shaping a reflector system into a rectangular or other shape emission pattern to match illumination requirements so as not to waste illumination in circular “spot” patterns; (3) providing a means to align a portion of the LEDs with an appropriate reflector such that segments of maximum candela light rays around the particular portion of the LEDs are captured and amplified or collimated directly to the far field illumination target; (4) capturing the remaining wide angle light from the aligned portion of LEDs to redirect and shape the light into the appropriate illumination pattern; (5) applying an additional portion of LEDs with their own unique optics to light an area beneath the luminaire and light a full area extending between the luminaire and the aforementioned far field; (6) making an illumination unit that is suitably modular such that opposed segments of a required lighting pattern can be illuminated by adjoining opposing modules, and patterns requiring only a segment of illumination can be illuminated by a single lighting module; (7) fabricating an optical reflector system by laser-cutting, water-jet-cutting, die-cutting or other cutting technique of flat metal or poly reflective (greater than 98% reflective) sheeting material to form and shape into a lens reflector, be it rectangular, circular or any other shape; (8) extracting or dissecting the LED angular output to recombine color temperatures and to match illumination requirements of the application; (9) assembling the formed part with tabs or vanes interlocking within slots that are self supporting and locking, utilizing designated tabs to bend or lock and eliminate additional fasteners; and (10) supporting asymmetrical part shaping without the need for relatively costly duplication or reverse molds or the like. 
   The prior art described above teaches various shaped reflectors formed from various materials and manufacturing methods, but does not teach a reflector system having two-axis control through which beam collimation and wide-angle beam overlapping occur or a method of manufacturing such a system through cutting flat reflective sheeting via laser, water-jet, die, or other such technique to form the resultant flat parts into the three-dimensional reflectors that collect and shape light from solid state LEDs, wherein each axis may be customized by changing only the laser, water-jet, die or other such cutting, bending, or shaping of the flat pieces. Aspects of the present invention fulfill these needs and provide further related advantages as described in the following summary. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   Aspects of the present invention teach certain benefits in construction and use which give rise to the exemplary advantages described below. 
   Aspects of the present invention are directed to light sculpting and beam shaping for an individual LED or for a plurality of LED light sources while affixed to heat sinks or circuit boards. In an exemplary embodiment, the resulting reflector aligns approximately one-half of its light source, hereinafter referred to as “upper LEDs,” within rectangular multi-angle reflectors to collimate or amplify one axis of those light rays that follow or approximate the angles of maximum candela in order to maximize light projection toward the farthest illumination areas of the target. In the case of a single LED, the reflector dissects and directs approximately one-half of the light source. The multiple angles in each of four sides of the exemplary reflector will collect nearly all remaining non-collimated light rays from the upper light source and will shape and redirect this light toward the areas within and adjacent the specified far field points to fill the subject area with luminance. The remaining approximately one-half of the light source, hereinafter referred to as “lower LEDs,” may be directed to illuminate targets beneath and near the luminaire, without refraction, and follow the selected cut-off angles of the reflector that is positioned above the “lower LEDs.” Accordingly, aspects of the reflector of the present invention allow the “lower LEDs” to directly illuminate nearby areas and, in aligning the optical axis of the “lower LEDs” with the same optical axis of the “upper LEDs,” to capture at least four sides of the upper LED light rays for far field targets, whereby using off-axis rays with near targets allows an even greater brightness toward the distant target to be achieved. 
   Further aspects of the present invention teach a reflector system that conforms LED light emissions to a plurality of standards by substitution of only a few parts. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various illumination standards may be met by changing a segment of a reflector angle or dimension. Aspects of the reflector system of the present invention can control or “cut off” multiple axis emissions from one LED or from a plurality of LEDs by moving the reflective angle and position relative to the LED. The reflector is sufficiently small to enable close proximity of high-output LEDs within an array, and by substituting different vanes, a large number of beam variations and shapes are possible. As such, the reflector system of the present invention can be adapted to numerous lighting standards by changing only the size and position of universal, simple and economical parts that are used in a plurality of product styles. 
   Aspects of the exemplary reflector system of the present invention further allow collimation or amplifying for light projection without the use of refraction lenses. As such, the LED lighting system may be encased beneath a single optically clear non-refracting window. It is known that the absence of refractive lenses in the window will yield higher optical efficiency and permit the same production window to be used with all like products regardless of their variations in light pattern distribution. 
   In a further aspect of the invention, the reflector provides two-axis control through which beam collimation and wide-angle beam overlapping occur by design to combine wide angle light rays that can be a different correlated color temperature (“CCT”) than on-axis rays of that same LED. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention allow for the adjustment of color temperature by blending the various color temperatures from the same LED without the need to externally mix LED families. 
   Yet further aspects of the light shaping reflector system and method of the present invention provide for the customization of each axis of the reflector by changing only the laser-, water-jet-, die- or other such cutting of the flat pieces of reflective material from which the reflector is ultimately formed and/or by changing the subsequent bending and forming steps applied to the flat pieces. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that laser, water-jet, die-cutting and other such fabrication methods taught by the present invention can quickly provide optical solutions in which there is no significant difference between prototype and production grade optical quality. Further, laser- and water-jet-cutting methods particularly are known to be fractions of the cost, waste less material and be more accurate than die-cut and other production methods. 
   Other features and advantages of aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of aspects of the invention. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The accompanying drawings illustrate aspects of the present invention. In such drawings: 
       FIG. 1A  is a right perspective view of an exemplary reflector of the present invention; 
       FIG. 1B  is a rear perspective view thereof; 
       FIG. 1C  is left perspective view of an alternative exemplary reflector of the invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of the side view of light rays in an exemplary reflector of the invention; 
       FIGS. 3A-3C  are schematic diagrams of the top view of three levels of light rays in an alternative exemplary reflector of the invention; 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an exemplary luminaire of the invention; 
       FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram illustrating the light distribution for an exemplary reflector of the invention; 
       FIG. 6  is a schematic diagram illustrating the light distribution for an alternative exemplary reflector of the invention; 
       FIG. 7  is a top view of a cutout of an exemplary reflector body to be formed from flat reflective sheeting; 
       FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a body forming tool for shaping the flat part of  FIG. 7  into a three-dimensional part; 
       FIG. 9  is a perspective view of an exemplary reflector body formed from the flat part of  FIG. 7  using the tool of  FIG. 8 ; 
       FIG. 10  is a perspective view of the exemplary reflector body of  FIG. 9  now having horizontal vanes installed therein; 
       FIG. 11  is a perspective view of a plurality of alternative exemplary reflector bodies with vanes installed therein; 
       FIG. 12  is a schematic diagram illustrating the optical ray tracing of an exemplary reflector of the present invention; 
       FIG. 13  is a schematic diagram illustrating the optical ray tracing of an alternative exemplary reflector of the invention; and 
       FIG. 14  is a schematic diagram illustrating the light distribution for an alternative exemplary reflector of the invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   The above described drawing figures illustrate aspects of the invention in at least one of its exemplary embodiments, which are further defined in detail in the following description. 
   Turning first to  FIGS. 1A-1C , there are shown exemplary embodiments of the reflector of the present invention. In  FIGS. 1A and 1B , an exemplary parking garage reflector  10  is shown from the right and the rear, respectively, and in  FIG. 1C , a side perspective view of a streetlight reflector  20  is shown. Referring to  FIG. 1A  there are shown side vanes  11  that wrap around a top vane  12 , an upper intermediate vane  13  and a spaced apart lower intermediate vane  14  to form the reflector  10 . The upper slots  15  formed in the top vane  12  allow some light to pass upward from at least the upper LED  41  ( FIG. 2 ) toward a ceiling (not shown), more about which is explained below. In  FIG. 1B  of the rear of the reflector assembly  10 , there is again shown the side vanes  11 , which can now be seen as having a space therebetween in which are formed a cutout  17  for the upper LED  41  ( FIG. 2 ) and a cutout  18  for the lower LED  42  ( FIG. 2 ). Turning now to  FIG. 1C , there is shown a streetlight reflector assembly  20  having side vanes  22  that wrap around a top vane  21 . In the streetlight context, it is noted that the top vane  21  typically would not have slots for allowing “uplight.” The upper LED cutout  17  and lower LED cutout  18  are again shown in  FIG. 1C  in the context of the streetlight reflector  20  for LED positioning, more about which is said below. As will also be understood more fully from the below discussion on use of the reflectors of the present invention, from  FIGS. 1A-1C  it is illustrated that the streetlight reflector side vanes  22  have an extended forward vane  23  for sharper horizontal beam cutoff than that of the exemplary parking garage reflector side vane  11 . It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while particular configurations of the exemplary parking garage reflector  10  and streetlight reflector  20  have been shown and described, the invention is not so limited. Rather, numerous other configurations of such reflectors are possible in accordance with the principles of the present invention. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 2 , there is shown a schematic diagram of an LED assembly  40  having a vertically positioned upper LED  41  and an offset lower LED  42  positioned relative to each of four horizontal vanes  43 ,  44 ,  45 ,  47  positioned at varying angles within the reflector. For purposes of illustration only,  FIG. 2  depicts the more significant light rays to show relative position on an illuminated target area. The reflector vane  43  is positioned to set an upward cutoff of the lower LED  42  while being also set to an appropriate angle to capture specific angle rays of LED emission to collimate ray  49  toward the target at zero degrees. Also shown from the lower LED  42  is a direct ray  48  that also leaves at zero degrees. A ray  51  goes almost straight down at 80 degrees nearer to the rear or lower LED emission limit. Here it is shown that the lower LED  42  also sends light in a forward and downward direction as depicted with ray  50 . Those skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous other rays not actually shown emit between ray  48  and ray  51  as illuminating a generally downward area beneath the LED reflector assembly  40 . 
   The LED reflector unit  40  further includes a vane  44  beneath the upper LED  41  that sets a downward cutoff limit of 14-degrees as represented by ray  52  in this example, and vane  44  also is of such an angle to redirect and collimate ray  53  toward the target at zero degrees. Similarly, the upper vane  45  captures and redirects ray  54  at zero degrees toward the target, and an additional angle with reflector vane  47  redirects yet another ray  55  at zero degrees toward the target. The upper LED  41  naturally has a direct ray  48  toward the target at zero degrees just as lower LED  42 . In the exemplary embodiment, a ray  56  approximately 10 degrees above horizontal approximates the upper LED emission limit. Through the exemplary embodiment it is shown that a focus at zero degrees has maximum light power by collimating a large number of rays nearly in parallel, with four distinct ray angles from the upper LED  41  and two distinct ray angles from the lower LED  42 . It is noted that a plurality of rays as shown are collimated from both LEDs and secondary bends of either reflector vane  43  and vane  44  can derive additional collimated beams toward the target of greatest distance. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that all angles shown and described for the four vanes  43 ,  44 ,  45 ,  47  are merely exemplary and that numerous other angles in various combinations may be employed in such a reflector  40  of the present invention to achieve varying light emission as required for the particular context. The number and size and shape of the vanes themselves may also vary according to the context. Accordingly, those skilled in the art will understand that the numerous other configurations of the reflector are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
   With continued reference to  FIG. 2 , once again, in the exemplary embodiment, reflector vane  47  sets the upper cutoff of upper LED  41  at 10 degrees as shown with ray  56 . It also is shown that reflector vane  45  has uplight slots  46  to allow rays  57  to provide uplight illumination. The ray diagram of  FIG. 2  is not to limit the scope and illustrates the light control flexibility within an exemplary embodiment, and it should be clear to those skilled in the art that variations in vane angles are made to adjust light emissions to suit particular application needs, where more or less ray angles can be collimated for an application. It should also be clear that  FIG. 2  represents light rays spanning a vertical coverage and that, as illustrated, upper LED  41  spans an area of 24 degrees vertically and lower LED  42  spans the area from −80 degrees up through the −14 degrees covered by the upper LED  41 . The reflector diagram for the LED assembly  40  thus represents the emission angles with the LEDs perpendicular to the floor. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the reflector can be rotated to align the zero axis with a specific target, for example, tilted down 15 degrees to align all zero rays with a floor-wall corner at 30-feet. 
   Turning now to  FIGS. 3A-3C , there are shown top views of ray trace schematics of the exemplary embodiment reflector assembly  60  as viewed looking down into the top of the reflector, as if the top vane was transparent. Here, the upper and lower LEDs  41 ,  42  are shown within a reflector  60  having a first offset pair of side vanes  61   a ,  61   b  followed with a second, forward set of offset side vanes  62   a ,  62   b . These same reflector side vane configurations and angles are true of each of the three schematics, where the LED emissions are separated into three groups of emissions angles for clarification, and those skilled in the art will appreciate that all three sets of light rays represented in the views of  FIGS. 3A-3C  represent concurrently emitted light rays during operation of the unit  60 . The basis for the prescribed angles is derived from the exemplary parking garage lighting application wherein the luminaire must project light more than 10 feet left and more than 10 feet right onto a wall 30-feet distant. Given an objective of 11 feet:
 
ARC TAN 11/30=20 degrees left and 20 degrees right
 
   Turning first to  FIG. 3A , there is shown a segment of rays as non-reflected direct LED ray  63   a  through ray  63   b  with the direct zero degree ray  48  in between.  FIG. 3B  shows LED side lobe emissions as ray  64   a  and ray  65   a  reflected from reflector segment  62   a  and ray  64   b  and  65   b  reflected from reflector segment  62   b  beginning at the next wider angle past the ray  63   a ,  63   b  cutoff, perhaps 22-degrees, or just at the transition from the direct outer rays  63   a ,  63   b  shown in  FIG. 3A  at an angle of +/−21 degrees from horizontal. It can be seen that LED side lobe emissions are gathered and used to enhance the forward projection out to the +/−21 degree area. Similarly, as shown in  FIG. 3C , a group of rays between and including ray  66  to ray  67  reflected from the inner side vane segment  61   a  further enhance projection and extend out to +/−28 degrees. Here in  FIG. 3C , only one group of rays are shown from vane  61   a  for simplicity, and those skilled in the art will appreciate that vane  61   b  has the same set of rays as those shown from vane  61   a , however at respective opposite angles from the rays reflected from side vane  61   a . Once more, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the angles and configurations of the side vanes are merely exemplary and that other orientations, size and numbers of the side vanes may be employed in a reflector unit according to the present invention without departing from its spirit and scope. 
   The schematic diagrams of  FIG. 3  illustrate that nearly all horizontal light rays from the LED are concentrated within a 42 degree horizontal cone, with LED side lobe emissions folded back over the direct ray coverage area to amplify total target luminance within that specific dimension. In the exemplary application, each parking garage luminaire is mounted on approximately 20-foot centers with each luminaire projecting light side by side, and therefore it is to be understood that the additional 7 degrees of the 28-degree beams will overlap and fill in gaps between adjacent luminaires by approximately 6 feet overlap with an adjacent luminaire on each side:
 
TAN 28*30=16 feet left and 16 feet right
 
   Referring now to  FIG. 4 , there is shown a perspective view of an exemplary luminaire unit  70 , with opposing sides  72 ,  74  of the unit each having one or more LED lighting units. Again, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the overall configuration of the luminaire unit  70  is only for illustration and that numerous other forms of the assembly involving various combinations of LED lighting units may be employed within the principles of the present invention. 
   In  FIG. 5  there is shown a streetlight application generally denoted  80  with an exemplary lighting module of the present invention assembled into a luminaire  81  with light ray  83  and ray  85  extending longitudinally and with ray  84  and ray  86  extending in the transverse direction. In this exemplary embodiment, the footprint  82  may represent the ground or pavement, shown as having rough overall dimensions of 30′×200′ when the luminaire is installed at a location approximately 24′ above the target surface  82 . Again, those skilled in the art will appreciate that such an application is merely for illustration as one of a large number of lighting applications for which a reflector unit according to the present invention could be adapted. 
   By way of further illustration, Table 1 below presents a comparison of four standard lighting applications and the field illumination patterns of such, including the streetlight at 24′ off of the ground. 
   
     
       
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
           
         
             
               TABLE 1 
             
             
                 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
                 
               Longitudinal 
                 
                 
             
             
                 
                 
                 
               Transverse 
               Distance 
               Height 
               Longitudinal 
             
             
                 
               Mounting 
               Transverse 
               Angle 
               (from 
               of Far 
               Angle 
             
             
               Application 
               Height 
               Distance 
               (degrees) 
               Luminaire) 
               Field 
               (degrees) 
             
             
                 
             
           
           
             
               Parking 
                8′ 
               20′ 
               51 
               30′ 
               6′ 
               86 
             
             
               Garage 
             
             
               Streetlight 
               24′ 
               30′ 
               32 
               100′  
               0′ 
               75 
             
             
               Billboard 
               1′ to 4′ 
                5′ 
               76 
               10′ 
               0′ 
               84 
             
             
               Wall Pack 
               10 inches 
               10′ 
               84 
               12′ 
               20′  
               85 
             
             
                 
             
           
        
       
     
   
   Upon review of Table 1, above, it is apparent that a parking garage reflector system provides wider area coverage than a streetlight reflector system and that other examples in Table 1 have unique distribution patterns of their own. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that while these examples depict only some of the variations in an exemplary embodiment, the angles shown can be adapted to many different standards and applications by the same basic lighting unit. 
   By way of still further example,  FIG. 6  illustrates a parking garage application generally denoted  100  with the lighting module assembled into a luminaire  101  and projecting light as previously described. Here, a footprint  102  is illuminated by the luminaire  101  extending approximately 24 feet in width  110  and having a length of 60-feet denoted by a drive aisle centerline  103  at 30 feet. The footprint  102  abuts a wall  104  onto which light is projected along a pattern  105  that is roughly 5 feet tall. The horizontal coverage area is seen on one side of the schematic to have a 21-degree horizontal angle  106  and on the opposite side to have a 28-degree horizontal angle  107 . This illustration does clarify the previous description of the 28-degree beam having a 7-degree overlap with the lighting projection by an adjacent luminaire installed on 20-foot spacing  111 , and those skilled in the art will understand that both left and right sides have an equal beam pattern of the wider angle, in this example 28 degrees. 
     FIG. 6  also illustrates the vertical beam angles required to reach the sides  108  of the illumination pattern and also illustrates the vertical beam angle  109  required of the forward projection. These vertical angles are based on an 8-foot mounting height. Once more, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that this and the other applications in which the exemplary reflector unit of the present invention are merely for illustration and that a virtually infinite number of lighting patterns may be achieved depending on the location and orientation of the luminaire and/or the configuration of the reflector assembly as described above. Accordingly, the invention is not so limited. 
   Turning now to  FIGS. 7-11 , there is shown a unique method of manufacturing such a light shaping reflector system of the present invention, which method yields numerous further advantages in conjunction with the design of the reflector itself so as to provide the necessary functionality that is to be achieved even in the context of specific applications, yet without the need for expensive tooling or large quantity production runs. 
   First,  FIG. 7  illustrates a main reflector body  210  having been cut from flat reflective sheeting. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any sheet material having adequate reflective properties for lighting applications, whether now known or later developed, may be employed in the present invention. Such material should also be relatively workable and able to be cut into the desired configuration using laser-, water-jet, die- or other such cutting techniques now known or later developed in the art. Depending on the application, those skilled in the art will further appreciate that the selected material may also need to have certain other properties relating to mechanical integrity, impact strength, and resistance to the elements in the case of an outdoor application, for example. Such sheet material may thus include flat metal or poly that is preferably greater than 98% reflective. Once the main reflector body  210  is cut out in the configuration shown, it will be bent in four places as it is pressed onto a forming tool to form the reflector body  250 , as described more fully below in connection with  FIGS. 8 and 9 . 
   With continued reference to  FIG. 7 , the reflector body  210  is attached with a screw or other fastener between an upper LED aperture  215  and a lower LED aperture  227  to the mounting hole  216 , which will serve as a base and fixed reference point for the subsequent forming operations. More specifically, the body  210  will be bent on a bend-line  231  on the left at about 20 degrees so as to form a first reflective sidewall  212  on the left that will hold a 20-degree angle to the next bend-lines  222 ,  226  where a second or forward reflective sidewall  211  will have 0 degrees, or be perpendicular to the base of the mounting hole  216 . Similarly, the body  210  will be bent along bend-line  230  on the right at 20 degrees so as to form an opposite first reflective sidewall  213  on the right that will hold 20 degrees to the next bend-line  221  on the right where a second reflective sidewall  214  will have 8 degrees relative to the base with the mounting hole  216 . Tabs  217 ,  218 ,  219 ,  220  will be turned substantially forward under which a top reflector (not shown) will be held captive, as described below in connection with the reflector assembly  270  of  FIG. 11 . It will be appreciated that bend-line  226  allows a complex bend and will keep tab  225  in the same plane as sidewall  211  to enhance “street side” illumination in the exemplary streetlight context, as explained below in connection with  FIGS. 12-14 . As above regarding other exemplary reflector designs, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the particular configuration of the flat reflector body  210  shown is merely exemplary and that numerous other configurations may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 
   Also shown in  FIG. 7  are the guide slots  223 ,  224 ,  229  and  232  for horizontal reflector vanes that will be installed in a subsequent assembly step, as shown and described below in connection with  FIG. 10 . Guide slot  223  and slot  229  are aligned parallel after the reflector is formed and are configured in the exemplary embodiment to cooperate in accepting a horizontal reflector vane for the upper LED  215 . Similarly, guide slot  224  on the left aligns with notch  232  on the right side to accept a reflector vane for the lower LED  227 . As such, it will be appreciated that “house side” cut-off by the finished reflector assembly is accomplished by the resulting vane  225  being lower than the “street side” vane  228 , as illustrated schematically by the ray tracing of  FIG. 12  showing that rays will emit beneath the vane  228 . 
   Turning now to  FIG. 8 , there is shown a form  240  beneath an outline of a shaped part  242 . The forming tool  241  is a fixed shape of wood, plastic or other non-abrasive material and may be slightly undersized as required for a particular reflective sheeting material to cause slight over-bending when forming the described angles, so as to overcome any tendency of the sheeting to spring back. The flat reflector body  210  is simply pressed down and in fully onto the forming tool  241  and the resultant shape is a three-dimensional part ready for insertion of the remaining components as described below. It will be appreciated that particular flat reflective materials used can have different bend characteristics and each may need different over-bend amounts, however, excessive over-bend will naturally be compensated for during assembly of the internal vanes and top reflector. It should also be noted that any manually implemented forming method illustrated in  FIG. 8  is not to limit the scope of the present invention, and that many means for bending or forming such materials now known or later developed, whether manual or automated or some combination thereof, is possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 9 , there is shown a left rear perspective view of the formed reflector body  250  that illustrates the forward direction of tabs  217 ,  218 ,  219 ,  220  for securing the reflector top (not shown). In the exemplary embodiment, tab  217  and tab  218  will be turned or bent outward after insertion of the top assembly (not shown) to lock and retain the upper reflector. Also visible in this view are the rear flange mounting hole  251  and the outside surfaces  252 ,  253  of the right sidewalls  213 ,  214  ( FIG. 7 ). It will be appreciated that retaining the reflectors in place by the bending of integral tabs may require a metal or such rigid, workable material, while with poly type reflective sheeting materials such as polycarbonate, mylars or acrylics, these tabs may be solvent bonded, ultrasonically welded or otherwise mechanically attached during assembly in any manner now known or later developed in the art. As seen in  FIG. 3 , vane  225  can be bent farther out with a wider angle if formed by the body forming tool  241  and therefore send more light to the “street side” center area, whereas those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that numerous optical adjustments are possible with the forming tool within the spirit and scope of the invention. 
   In  FIG. 10  there is shown the reflector body  260  ( 250  in  FIG. 9 ) now with a substantially horizontally oriented upper intermediate vane  264  for the upper LED  215  ( FIG. 7 ) and a substantially horizontally oriented lower intermediate vane  265  for the lower LED  216  ( FIG. 7 ). In this step of the exemplary reflector assembly process, a retaining and locking method is disclosed wherein tabs  261 ,  262 ,  263  are employed at each reflector body after the assembly is complete to secure the vanes  264 ,  265  without the need of additional fasteners. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a single LED assembly is shown for simplicity and that a further embodiment involving a plurality of LED assemblies is illustrated in the alternative exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 11 . Accordingly, it will be further appreciated that any number and arrangement of LED assemblies are possible within a reflector system designed and fabricated according to the present invention. 
   Turning to  FIG. 11 , there is shown an alternative exemplary embodiment reflector body  270  positioned among three LED assemblies, with the top reflector  271  secured in place beneath tabs  273 ,  274 ,  275 ,  276  on a central main reflector body. It will be appreciated that each pair of tabs  272   a ,  272   b  on the reflector top  271  bends upward to latch beneath respective tabs  273 ,  276  on each reflector body, and further that tabs  273 ,  276  each bend outward to retain the top reflector  271 . In the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 11 , the vane  279  for the upper LED  215  ( FIG. 7 ) and the vane  280  for the lower LED  216  ( FIG. 7 ) are shown in place as a common assembly for the plurality of LED main reflector bodies. In  FIG. 11  it is further illustrated that the horizontal vane tabs  277 ,  278  both bend together for retaining the respective vanes  279 ,  280  on the reflector body  270 . While in the exemplary embodiment shown in  FIG. 11  the assembly comprises a plurality of LED reflectors sharing common reflector vanes and a common top reflector, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that in practice with particular applications more or less reflector sites may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 
   In  FIG. 12 , there is shown a top schematic diagram of optical ray tracing as from a reflector such as disclosed and described in connection with  FIGS. 10 and 11  in order to illustrate mixing of wide angle light rays with narrow angle light rays and also to illustrate the “street side” light path. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many reflector angles are possible for many illumination patterns and that the actual output footprint  292  ( FIG. 14 ) depends also on the absolute angle of the lighting module  291  ( FIG. 14 ) itself relative to the target. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that numerous alternative embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art consistent with the teachings of this disclosure and so are to be understood to be within the scope of the system and method of the present invention. 
   Turning to  FIG. 13 , there is shown a side schematic diagram illustrating the optical ray tracing of the alternative exemplary reflector of  FIG. 12  in which at least two LEDs are employed; in the exemplary embodiment an upper LED and a lower LED. As with the ray trace shown in  FIG. 12 , that of  FIG. 13  is to be understood as merely illustrative of the mixing of wide angle light rays with narrow angle light rays to produce a relatively greater total target luminance at the desired angle or distance. 
   Referring finally to  FIG. 14 , there is shown a streetlight application generally denoted  290  with an exemplary lighting module of the present invention assembled within a luminaire  291 , whereby light rays  293 ,  295  extend longitudinally and rays  294 ,  296  extend in the transverse direction. In this alternative exemplary embodiment, the target footprint  292  represents an outline of the ground or pavement illumination pattern. Those skilled in the art will appreciate the relationship between the ray tracing schematics and the outline and will further appreciate the correlation to the pre-defined illumination pattern determined by the reflector configuration and shape as described above. As such, it will be appreciated that numerous variations on the general principles of design and construction of the light shaping reflector system and method of the present invention are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 
   While aspects of the invention have been described with reference to at least one exemplary embodiment, it is to be clearly understood by those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited thereto. Rather, the scope of the invention is to be interpreted only in conjunction with the appended claims and it is made clear, here, that the inventors believe that the claimed subject matter is the invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 5