Patent ID: 8096671

Claim:
A light emitting diode illumination system for utilizing flat thin panels to light up an area in a safe, compact, convenient and economical manner, the system comprising, in combination: an area to be lit up, the area including a ceiling formed of a grid work of rectangular supports, each support having a peripheral ledge; a plurality of rectangular ceiling panels, each ceiling panel having a periphery resting upon some of the peripheral ledges; a plurality of rectangular illumination panels, each illumination panel having four peripheral edges resting upon some of the peripheral ledges remote from the ceiling panels; each of the illumination panels being constructed of an upper plate, a lower plate and an intermediate plate between the upper and lower plates, each of the plates having aligned edges and an upper and a lower surface, the lower surface of the upper plate being in facing contact with the upper surface of the intermediate plate, the upper surface of the lower plate being in facing contact with the lower surface of the intermediate plate, the upper plate being fabricated of an optically reflective material, the lower plate being fabricated of an optically diffusive material, the intermediate plate being fabricated of an optically transparent material; each of the illumination panels including a peripheral frame formed of four edge pieces, each of the edge pieces being in a C-shaped cross sectional configuration to receive and support the peripheral edges of the illumination panels, a pair of hinges separably coupling adjacent edge pieces for selectively providing access to the illumination panels for repair and reconstruction purposes, a plurality of hooks extending upwardly from the upper plate to provide additional support for each illumination panel, a pair of opposed recesses facing each other in the edge pieces; a printed circuit board in a strip-like configuration supported in each edge piece by the recesses, each circuit board having a plurality of light emitting diodes facing the aligned edges of the plates; an electrical connector positioned on the upper surface of the upper plate adapted to disperse electrical power to the light emitting diodes, and electrical lines adapted to couple the electrical connector to a source of electrical potential; and a sensor operatively positioned in proximity to the plurality of light emitting diodes adapted to determine the lumen output of the plurality of light emitting diodes and to provide notification to a user that repair is required if a below acceptable level of lumen output is determined.