Patent ID: 7455422

Claim:
A lens assembly for directing light emitted from a light source toward an area to be illuminated, the light source being elongated along a light source longitudinal axis, the lens assembly comprising: an elongate lens extending along a lens longitudinal axis parallel to said light source longitudinal axis and having a central lens portion curved in a plane transverse to the lens longitudinal axis that defines a prismatic face that is oriented toward and spaced from said light source and an opposed, substantially smooth, exterior surface; and a means for generating a plurality of spaced elongate stripes of reduced brightness to control high angle glare in the longitudinal direction optically, comprising a plurality of adjoining elongate prismatic elements formed on the prismatic face of the central lens portion that extend parallel to said lens longitudinal axis, wherein each prismatic element has a curved surface facing said light source, wherein at least a section of the plurality of elongate prismatic elements, in a plane transverse to the lens longitudinal axis, has a shape of a continuous wave, wherein each pair of adjoining elongate prismatic elements form a common elongate cusp edge, wherein each elongate prismatic element of the plurality of adjoining elongate prismatic elements is configured such that a reverse ray impacting the elongate prismatic element proximate the common cusp edge at an angle of incidence ω of at least about 40° will undergo total internal reflection and be reflected back into the area to be illuminated to form a stripe of reduced brightness on the exterior surface of the lens, and wherein each stripe of reduced brightness extends substantially parallel to the lens longitudinal axis.