Patent ID: 8388190

Claim:
An illumination system for increasing the brightness of a light source, comprising: a light source for emitting a plurality of rays of light in a direction generally centered about an axis, wherein a first plurality of said rays are emitted within a low angle range relative to said axis, and wherein a second plurality of said rays are emitted within a higher angle range up to 90 degrees relative to said axis; and an optical recycling device coupled to said light source for receiving substantially all of said plurality of rays of light from said light source; wherein said recycling device has an annular opening, centered on said axis, for transmitting only said first plurality of said rays, and an annular, concave reflective portion having a reflective surface surrounding said axis, said concave portion extending axially from said opening towards said light source a sufficient distance to capture substantially all of said second plurality of rays and redirect said second plurality of rays of light directly back to said light source which re-emits said portion of said plurality of rays of light to said optical recycling device, thereby increasing the brightness of said light source's output.