Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US7767948B2/en
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 07:04:57+00:00

Document:
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/589,942, filed Oct. 31, 2006 now U.S. Pat. No. 7, 479,622, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/601,101, filed Jun. 23, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,145,125 to May et al., the contents of both of which are herewith incorporated by reference.
The cavity may be formed of a diffusely reflective plastic material, such as a polypropylene having a 98% reflectivity and a diffuse reflective characteristic. Such a highly reflective polypropylene is available from Ferro Corporation—Specialty Plastics Group, Filled and Reinforced Plastics Division, in Evansville, IN. Another example of a material with a suitable reflectivity is SPECTRALON. Alternatively, the integrating cavity may comprise a rigid substrate having an interior surface, and a diffusely reflective coating layer formed on the interior surface of the substrate so as to provide the diffusely reflective interior surface of the integrating cavity. The coating layer, for example, might take the form of a flat-white paint. A suitable paint might include a zinc-oxide based pigment, consisting essentially of an uncalcined zinc oxide and preferably containing a small amount of a dispersing agent. The pigment is mixed with an alkali metal silicate vehicle-binder, which preferably is a potassium silicate, to form the coating material. For more information regarding the paint, attention is directed to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/866,516, which was filed May 29, 2001, by Matthew Brown.
The deflector 25 comprises a reflective interior surface 29 between the distal end and the proximal end. In the examples, at least a substantial portion of the reflective interior surface 29 of the conical deflector exhibits specular reflectivity with respect to the integrated radiant energy. As discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,225, for some applications, it may be desirable to construct the deflector 25 so that at least some portion(s) of the inner surface 29 exhibit diffuse reflectivity or exhibit a different degree of specular reflectivity (e.g., —quasi-specular), so as to tailor the performance of the deflector 25 to the particular application.
In the examples discussed above relative to FIG. 1 to 4, the LED sources were coupled directly to openings at the points on the interior of the cavity, to emit radiant energy directly into the interior of the integrating cavity. It is also envisioned that the sources may be somewhat separated from the cavity, in which case, the device might include optical fibers or other forms of light guides coupled between the sources and the integrating cavity, to supply radiant energy from the sources to the emission points into the interior of the cavity. FIG. 5 depicts such a system 50, which uses optical fibers.
The temperature sensor 147 may be a simple thermoelectric transducer with an associated analog to digital converter, or a variety of other temperature detectors may be used. The temperature sensor is positioned on or inside of the fixture, typically at a point that is near the LED sources that produce most of the system heat. The temperature sensor 147 provides a signal representing the measured temperature to the microcontroller 129. The system logic, here implemented by the microcontroller 129, can adjust intensity of one or more of the LEDs in response to the sensed temperature, e.g. to reduce intensity of the source outputs to compensate for temperature increases. The program of the microcontroller 129, however, would typically manipulate the intensities of the various LEDs so as to maintain the desired color balance between the various wavelengths of light used in the system, even though it may vary the overall intensity with temperature. For example, if temperature is increasing due to increased drive current to the active LEDs (with increased age or heat), the controller may deactivate one or more of those LEDs and activate a corresponding number of the sleepers, since the newly activated sleeper(s) will provide similar output in response to lower current and thus produce less heat.
B) a control circuit coupled to the LEDs for establishing output intensity of light of a first one of the LEDs and separately establishing output intensity of light of a second one of the LEDS, to set light contributions of the LEDs to the optically integrated light within the cavity and thus set a characteristic of the optically integrated light emitted through the optical passage of the optical integrating cavity.
wherein the control circuit sets the output intensities of the first and second LEDs and thus sets the characteristic of the optically integrated light responsive to the user input relating to the desired characteristic.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein all interior surfaces of the optical integrating cavity are white and are highly diffusely reflective at least with respect to light of colors emitted by the LEDs.
4. The system of claim 3, wherein one or more of the interior surfaces of the optical integrating cavity exhibits a reflectivity over 90%.
the interior surface of the dome is diffusely reflective so as to form the at least one diffusely reflective interior surface and an optical passage.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the interior surface of the plate is diffusely reflective.
7. The system of claim 5, wherein the optical passage is through the plate.
8. The system of claim 5, wherein the interior surface of the dome has a shape corresponding to a substantial portion of a sphere.
9. The system of claim 5, wherein the interior surface of the dome has a shape corresponding to a substantial portion of a cylinder.
the first and second colors are different colors.
11. The system of claim 1, wherein the optical passage comprises an optical aperture through a wall of the cavity.
the plurality of LEDs are positioned to emit light into the interior of the integrating cavity through respective ones of the openings.
13. The system of claim 1, further comprising a deflector having a reflective inner surface coupled to the optical passage to deflect at least some of the optically integrated light emitted through the optical passage and define a field of illumination for the emitted light with respect to the lighting application.
wherein the control circuit maintains the characteristic of the optically integrated light responsive to an output from the sensor.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein the fixture is configured as a downlight.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the LEDs provide sufficient light energy for the optically integrated light emitted through the optical passage to have a level sufficient for a task lighting application.
17. The system of claim 14, wherein the sensor comprises a color sensor for sensing a color characteristic of the optically integrated light in the optical integrating cavity.
18. The system of claim 14, wherein the sensor comprises a light intensity sensor for sensing intensity of light in the optical integrating cavity.
19. The system of claim 4, wherein all interior surfaces of the optical integrating cavity exhibit a reflectivity of at least 98%.
a control circuit coupled to the LEDs for establishing output intensity of light of a first one of the LEDs and separately establishing output intensity of light of a second one of the LEDs, to set light contributions of the LEDs to the optically integrated light within the cavity and thus set a characteristic of the optically integrated light emitted through the optical passage of the optical integrating cavity.
21. The LED downlight of claim 20, wherein all interior surfaces of the optical integrating cavity are white and are highly diffusely.
the LEDs are coupled to supply light to the optical integrating cavity in one or more directions to cause substantial portions of light supplied by the LEDs to initially reflect from the curved diffusely reflective surface of the optical integrating cavity.
the plate extending across at least a substantial portion of the curved diffusely reflective surface so as to form the optical integrating cavity between the reflective surface of the plate and the curved diffusely reflective surface.
24. The LED downlight of claim 23, wherein the optical passage is through the plate.
25. The LED downlight of claim 24, wherein the optical passage comprises an opening through the plate.
26. The LED downlight of claim 22, wherein the diffusely reflective surface of the optical integrating cavity has a shape corresponding to a substantial portion of a sphere.
27. The LED downlight of claim 22, wherein the diffusely reflective surface of the optical integrating cavity has a shape corresponding to a substantial portion of a cylinder.
the plurality of LEDs are positioned to emit light into the interior of the integrating cavity through respective ones of the openings on the reflective surface of the plate in one or more directions toward the curved diffusely reflective surface of the optical integrating cavity.
29. The LED downlight of claim 20, further comprising a deflector having a reflective inner surface coupled to the optical passage to deflect at least some of the optically integrated light emitted through the optical passage and define a field of illumination for the optically integrated light emission through the optical passage facilitating said visible illuminating type lighting application of the downlight.
31. The LED downlight of claim 30, wherein the fixture is configured as a downlight.
32. The LED downlight of claim 31, wherein the LEDs provide sufficient light energy for the optically integrated light emitted through the optical passage to have a level sufficient for a task lighting application.
33. The LED downlight of claim 30, wherein the sensor comprises a color sensor for sensing a color characteristic of the optically integrated light in the optical integrating cavity.
34. The LED downlight of claim 30, wherein the sensor comprises a light intensity sensor for sensing intensity of light in the optical integrating cavity.
a control circuit, responsive to the user desired setting and a signal from the sensor, coupled to the LEDs for establishing output intensity of light of a first one of the LEDs and separately establishing output intensity of light of a second one of the LEDs, to set and maintain light contributions of the LEDs to the optically integrated light within the cavity and thus set and maintain the characteristic of the optically integrated light emitted through the optical passage of the optical integrating cavity into the region or area intended to be occupied in accord with the user desired setting.
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References: Application No. 2
 Application No. 05
 Application No. 05
 Application No. 05740253
 Application No. 05756155
 Application No. 05758377