Patent ID: 7541938

Claim:
An enhanced flame detector for detecting flame in environments where the sun may come within a field of view of the enhanced flame detector, comprising: an optical detector sensitive to the ultraviolet C range and insensitive to ultraviolet A and ultraviolet B; and a concentrator for collecting energy from a flame and directing said energy to said optical detector, said concentrator having a reflecting surface that is reflective for ultraviolet C, said concentrator providing a concentration ratio greater than 1; wherein the concentrator is a non-imaging concentrator having an axis of symmetry of said concentrator, and the detector is substantially cylindrical with a cylindrical axis of symmetry, said detector receiving said energy from said flame through a side of said detector, said side parallel to said cylindrical axis of symmetry, and said concentrator spreads said energy across at least one dimension of said optical detector so that heating from the sun is spread across said at least one dimension of said optical detector when the sun is within said field of view of said enhanced flame detector.