Patent ID: 7506997

Claim:
An illumination device, comprising: a plurality of light-emitting diodes; a circuit board receiving and operably connecting said light-emitting diodes; a housing for receiving said circuit board and said light-emitting diodes; and a light-diffusing member adjacent said housing for receiving light emitted from said light-emitting diodes; wherein said circuit board includes a flexible substrate of a predetermined length having a light-reflecting top surface and a bottom surface, and defining a central longitudinal axis, said substrate further defining a plurality of slots oriented substantially longitudinally on one side of said central longitudinal axis along an upper longitudinal axis and on another side of said central longitudinal axis along a lower longitudinal axis, and a conductive trace applied to a surface of said flexible substrate for receiving and operably connecting said light-emitting diodes substantially along said central longitudinal axis, and wherein the flexible substrate of said circuit board is manipulated from a first, substantially flat position to a second position in which said substrate is folded along said upper and lower longitudinal axes into an approximate U-shape, such that when said circuit board is positioned and received in said housing, light from said light-emitting diodes that is not directly emitted into said light-diffusing member is collected and reflected by said circuit board into said light-diffusing member.