Patent ID: 8083364

Claim:
An illuminator ( 10 A, 10 B, 10 C), comprising: a light-emitting diode module ( 20 ) having an LED emission plane ( 23 ) for emitting short-wavelength light; a phosphor module ( 30 A, 30 B, 30 C) longitudinally spaced apart from the light-emitting diode module ( 20 ) and including a phosphor layer ( 32 ) for absorbing short-wavelength light and emitting wavelength-converted light, wherein the phosphor module ( 30 A, 30 B, 30 C) further comprises a generally planar transparent layer ( 31 ) parallel and longitudinally directly adjacent to the phosphor layer ( 32 ) and facing the light-emitting diode module ( 20 ), and wherein the transparent layer ( 31 ) includes a lateral edge ( 34 ) that supports total internal reflection; an inner reflector ( 41 ) circumferentially surrounding the LED emission plane ( 23 ) and extending from the LED emission plane ( 23 ) to the phosphor module ( 30 A, 30 B, 30 C), wherein all the short-wavelength light emitted from the light-emitting diode module ( 20 ) either enters the phosphor module ( 30 A, 30 B, 30 C) directly or enters the phosphor module ( 30 A, 30 B, 30 C) after a reflection off the inner reflector ( 41 ), and wherein the inner reflector ( 41 ) contacts the transparent layer ( 31 ) continuously around a circumference of the inner reflector ( 41 ); and a concave outer reflector ( 42 ) circumferentially surrounding the phosphor layer ( 32 ), wherein all the wavelength-converted light emitted from the phosphor module ( 30 A, 30 B, 30 C) either exits the illuminator ( 10 A, 10 B, 10 C) directly ( 71 ) or exits the illuminator ( 10 A, 10 B, 10 C) after a reflection off the outer reflector ( 42 ) ( 72 ); wherein the transparent layer ( 31 ) contacts only a single inner reflector ( 41 ) and only a single concave outer reflector ( 42 ), and wherein the phosphor layer ( 32 ) and transparent layer ( 31 ) both extend outward beyond the inner reflector ( 41 ), over the entire circumference of the inner reflector ( 41 ), such that virtually all the short-wavelength light emitting from the light-emitting diode module ( 20 ) that enters the transparent layer ( 31 ) is transmitted to the phosphor layer ( 32 ) due to total internal reflection within the transparent layer ( 31 ).