Patent ID: 8596827

Claim:
A lamp, comprising: solid state light emitters; a bulb; a thermal handling system, comprising: a heat sink; a thermal core formed of a thermally conductive material, positioned in the interior of the bulb supporting the solid state light emitters; and a heat pipe including: a first section extending along the central longitudinal axis of the lamp into the interior of the bulb having a first end coupled through an opening in the thermal core, the coupling of the first end of the heat pipe through the opening in the thermal core being configured to form a hot interface of the heat pipe for receiving heat generated by the solid state light emitters transferred through the thermal core into the heat sink; and a second section connected to the first section and having a second end and forming a spiral in heat communicative contact with the heat sink configured to form a cold interface via the spiral of the heat pipe to an interior surface of the heat sink for transfer of heat from the heat pipe to the heat sink, the heat pipe and the couplings of the heat pipe to the thermal core and the heat sink supporting the thermal core, with the solid state emitters within the interior of the bulb; wherein: at least one of the solid state light emitters is supported on an end of the thermal core in such an orientation so that a principal direction of emission of light from the at least one solid state light emitter is substantially the same as or parallel with a longitudinal axis of the lamp, and a plurality of the solid state light emitters are supported on one or more lateral surfaces of the thermal core in orientations so that principal directions of emission of light from the plurality of the solid state light emitters are radially outward from the thermal core in a plurality of different radial directions; a lighting industry standard lamp base for providing electricity from a lamp socket; and circuitry connected to receive electricity from the lamp base, for driving the solid state emitters to emit light.