Patent ID: 8267547

Claim:
An incandescent illumination system for projecting a beam of light, comprising: an incandescent lamp comprising one or more filaments for emitting visible light and infrared light; and a lighting fixture configured to removably receive and retain the incandescent lamp, the lighting fixture comprising: a socket for supporting the incandescent lamp in a prescribed position, a shroud surrounding at least a portion of the incandescent lamp when it is in its prescribed position, the shroud including a substrate and an infrared-reflective coating disposed on the substrate, and a concave reflector defining a longitudinal fixture axis; wherein the shroud is configured to reflect a substantial portion of the infrared light emitted by the one or more filaments of the incandescent lamp back to the one or more filaments; wherein the shroud further is configured to transmit a substantial portion of the visible light emitted by the one or more filaments of the incandescent lamp to the concave reflector, which in turn reflects such visible light to project a beam of light along the longitudinal fixture axis; and wherein the incandescent lamp comprises an envelope having a closed interior space and a longitudinal axis, wherein the one or more filaments are located in the interior space of the envelope, and forward and rearward filament supports positioned in the interior space of the envelope, with the one or more filaments disposed between them, wherein each filament support comprises a block of material extending transversely across substantially the entire interior space of the envelope and having an average total reflectance of at least 90% across a wavelength range of 500 to 2000 nanometers.