Patent ID: 8292483

Claim:
An electrodeless plasma lamp lighting source optical waveguide system, the system comprising: at least one electrodeless plasma lamp source with an output, the output including emitted light; at least one fiber optic source coupling element with at least one input and at least one output capable of receiving and transmitting light, the input of the fiber optic source coupling element coupled to the output of at least one electrodeless plasma lamp source; and at least one optical waveguide element with at least one optical fiber with a corresponding proximal end input and distal end output, the output of the fiber optic source coupling element coupled to the corresponding proximal end input of at least one optical fiber of the optical waveguide element, such that light emitted from the electrodeless plasma lamp source is transmitted into at least one of the optical fibers of the optical waveguide element and out through at least one of the optical fibers through the distal end output; wherein the electrodeless plasma lamp source includes, a conductive housing having a spatial volume defined within the conductive housing, the spatial volume having an inner region and an outer region; a support body having an outer surface region disposed within or partially within the inner region of the spatial volume of the conductive housing and a conductive material overlying the outer surface region of the support body; a gas-filled vessel having a transparent or translucent body having an inner surface and an outer surface and a cavity formed within the inner surface, the gas-filled vessel comprising a first end region and a second end region and a length defined between the first end region and the second end region; a first coupling-element spatially disposed within the inner region of the conductive housing coupled to the first end region of the gas-filled vessel, the other end of the first coupling-element being electrically connected to the conductive material; an RF source coupling-element spatially disposed within the outer region of the conductive housing and within a predetermined distance from the first coupling-element, one end of the RF source coupling-element being electrically connected to the conductive material; a gap provided between the RF source coupling-element and the first coupling-element, the gap being formed by the predetermined distance; and an RF source comprising an output, the output of the RF source being coupled to the first coupling-element through the gap and the RF source coupling-element.