1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to the field of lighting and, more particularly, to the control of distribution of light-emitting diode (LED) lighting of high uniformity.
2. Description of the Related Art
Compared with conventional light sources such as ordinary incandescent light bulbs and halogen lamps, LEDs generally offer a number of advantageous characteristics such as longer product life, more compact size, higher shock resistance, lower heat generation and lower power consumption, etc. As a result LEDs are widely employed in a variety of applications as the light source for illumination or indicator of a variety of equipment. Recent developments of new LEDs are in the areas of multiple colors and high brightness. Accordingly, LEDs are further employed in applications such as large outdoor bulletin boards, traffic signals and related fields. In the future, LEDs may even become the primary light source for illumination that not only conserve electricity but also are environmentally friendly.
One trend is to use LEDs as a light source for illumination in medical applications. For instance, surgical headlights based on LEDs for use by surgeons have recently been introduced to the market. However, existing medical applications as well as portable applications of LEDs tend to have one or more of the following problems: non-uniformity of illumination from LED, less-than-desirable reliability of the LED due to thermal problem (e.g., inadequate heat dissipation from the LED), imprecise distribution of LED lighting, glare, poor contrast from LED lighting, etc.
There is, therefore, a need to resolve at least some of the aforementioned problems related to LED lighting in medical and other similar applications.
Various embodiments of an apparatus for illumination are provided.
According to one aspect, an apparatus may comprise a light guide device that includes a hollow light pipe portion, an opening, and a distal end longitudinally opposite from the opening. The opening may be configured to receive at least a portion of an illumination device therein. Either or both of the light pipe portion and the distal end may have a textured surface thereof.
In some embodiments, an external surface or an internal surface, or both the external and internal surfaces, of a first section of the light pipe portion may be textured. Additionally, the external surface or the internal surface, or both the external and internal surfaces, of a second section of the light pipe portion may be non-textured.
In some embodiments, an external surface or an internal surface, or both the external and internal surfaces, of a first section of the light pipe portion may be textured in a first pattern. Additionally, the external surface or the internal surface, or both the external and internal surfaces, of a second section of the light pipe portion may be textured in a second pattern different than the first pattern.
In some embodiments, an external surface or an internal surface, or both the external and internal surfaces, of the distal end may be textured in a first pattern. Additionally, an external surface or an internal surface, or both the external and internal surfaces, of at least a section of the light pipe portion may be textured in a second pattern different than the first pattern.
In some embodiments, the textured surface may comprise a scratched surface.
In some embodiments, the textured surface may comprise a painted surface.
In some embodiments, the textured surface may comprise a surface with optical coating.
In some embodiments, the textured surface may comprise a surface-machined surface.
In some embodiments, the textured surface may comprise a two-dimensional texture. Additionally or alternatively, the textured surface may comprise a three-dimensional texture.
In some embodiments, the light guide device may be made of a thermoplastic material. The thermoplastic material may be acrylic or a type of polycarbonate material. Alternatively, the light guide device may be made of glass or another transparent material.
In some embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise a first illumination device. A portion of the first illumination device is received in the opening of the light guide device.
In some embodiments, the first illumination device may comprise an LED or an laser diode (LD).
In some embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise a power supply coupled to provide electric power to the first illumination device.
In some embodiments, the power supply may comprise an alternating current (AC) power adapter and a power converter to convert an AC power to a direct current (DC) power.
In some embodiments, the power supply may comprise a battery.
According to another aspect, an apparatus may comprise an illumination device, a power supply coupled to provide electric power to the illumination device, and a light guide device. The light guide device may include a hollow light pipe portion, an opening, and a distal end longitudinally opposite from the opening. The opening may be configured to receive at least a portion of the illumination device therein. Either or both of the light pipe portion and the distal end may have a textured surface thereof.
In some embodiments, a first section of the light pipe portion may be non-textured, the external surface or the internal surface, or both the external and internal surfaces, of a second section of the light pipe portion may be textured in a first pattern, and an external surface or an internal surface, or both the external and internal surfaces, of the distal end may be textured in a second pattern different than the first pattern.
According to a further aspect, a method of manufacturing a portion of an illumination apparatus may comprise providing a light guide device having a hollow light pipe portion, an opening configured to receive an illumination device therein, and a distal end longitudinally opposite from the opening. The method may further comprise texturing a respective surface of either or both of the light pipe portion and the distal end.
In some embodiments, texturing a respective surface of either or both of the light pipe portion and the distal end may comprise texturing the respective surface of either or both of the light pipe portion and the distal end by at least one of the following: scratching the respective surface, painting the respective surface, optical-coating the respective surface, surface-machining the respective surface, texturing the respective surface by laser, or melting the respective surface by laser.
This summary is provided to introduce concepts relating to an apparatus for illumination. The proposed techniques are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended for use in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of the present disclosure. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. It is appreciable that the drawings are not necessarily in scale as some components may be shown to be out of proportion than the size in actual implementation in order to clearly illustrate the concept of the present disclosure.
The present disclosure describes embodiments of an apparatus that provides precision-controlled distribution of LED lighting of high uniformity. The disclosed apparatus comprises a light guide device that includes a hollow light pipe portion, an opening, and a distal end longitudinally opposite from the opening. The opening is configured to receive an illumination device, such as an LED-based light source. Either or both of the light pipe portion and the distal end includes a textured surface thereof. The non-textured sections of the light pipe portion tend to result in total internal reflection of the light emitted from the illumination device. However, with one or more sections of the light pipe portion or the distal end, or both, being textured, light emitted from the illumination device will traverse or emit out of the light guide device through the textured sections. Such emitted light tends to have high uniformity. Therefore, desired illumination can be achieved by appropriate size and location of the textured sections on either or both of the light pipe portion and the distal end. The embodiments may also be implemented in applications where the light source is one or more laser diodes.
While aspects of the disclosed embodiments and techniques may be implemented in any number of different applications, for the purpose of illustration the disclosed embodiments are described in context of the following exemplary configurations.
The apparatus 1001 comprises a light guide device 25. In some embodiments, the apparatus 1001 further comprises an illumination device 12. Although
As shown in
In some embodiments, an external surface or an internal surface, or both the external and internal surfaces, of a first section of the light pipe portion 27 is textured. Additionally, the external surface or the internal surface, or both the external and internal surfaces, of a second section of the light pipe portion 27 is non-textured. For example, as shown in
In some embodiments, an external surface or an internal surface, or both the external and internal surfaces, of a first section of the light pipe portion 37 is textured in a first pattern. Additionally, the external surface or the internal surface, or both the external and internal surfaces, of a second section of the light pipe portion 37 is textured in a second pattern different than the first pattern. For example, as shown in
In some embodiments, an external surface or an internal surface, or both the external and internal surfaces, of the distal end 28 or 38 is textured in a first pattern. Additionally, an external surface or an internal surface, or both the external and internal surfaces, of at least a section of the light pipe portion 27 or 37 is textured in a second pattern different than the first pattern. For example, as shown in
In some embodiments, at least a textured surface comprises a scratched surface. In one embodiment, the scratching may be done by laser. In another embodiment, the scratching may be done mechanically by cutting. Alternatively, the scratching may be done chemically by suitable means.
In some embodiments, at least a textured surface comprises a painted surface.
In some embodiments, at least a textured surface comprises a surface with optical coating.
In some embodiments, at least a textured surface comprises a surface-machined surface.
In some embodiments, at least a textured surface comprises a two-dimensional texture. Additionally or alternatively, the textured surface comprises a three-dimensional texture. For example, the textured surface 20, 21, 31, 32 or 33 may comprise two-dimensional texture, three-dimensional texture, or both two-dimensional texture and three-dimensional texture.
In some embodiments, the light guide device 25 is made of a thermoplastic material. The thermoplastic material may be acrylic or a type of polycarbonate material. Alternatively, the light guide device 25 is made of glass or another transparent material.
In some embodiments, a textured surface may be textured by at least one of the following: scratching the respective surface, painting the respective surface, optical-coating the respective surface, surface-machining the respective surface, texturing the respective surface by laser, or melting the respective surface by laser.
In those embodiments where the apparatus 1001 comprises the illumination device 12. The illumination device 12 may comprise an LED light source 11 which includes one or more LEDs. Alternatively, the illumination device 12 may comprise a laser diode (LD) light source which includes one or more LDs.
The apparatus 1001 is illustrated in
In some embodiments, the apparatus 1001 may further comprise a power supply 13 coupled to the illumination device 12 via wires 14 to provide electric power to the illumination device 12. In some embodiments, the power supply 13 comprises an alternating current (AC) power adapter and a power converter to convert an AC power to a direct current (DC) power. In some embodiments, the power supply 13 comprises a battery. In other embodiments, the power supply 13 comprises both an AC power adapter (with an AC-to-DC converter) and a battery.
The light guide device of the present disclosure may come in difference sizes and shapes. The light guide device 25 of
As shown in
In the event that the apparatus 1001 is designed for use in a medical application, such as for illumination of the body cavity of a patient during a surgical operation, the light guide device 25 may be designed so that more than 80% of the light emitted by the LED light source 11 escapes from section A4 of the light guide device 25, approximately or less than 10% of the light emitted by the LED light source 11 escapes from section A2 of the light guide device 25, and less than 5% of the light emitted by the LED light source 11 escapes from each of section A1 and section A3 of the light guide device 25. This would result in a majority of the lighting being uniformly scattered or distributed near the bottom, or section A4, a minority of the lighting being around section A2, and weak lighting being around sections A1 and A3. In a surgical setting, it may be most desirable to have the majority of the lighting around the bottom portion, or section A4, of the light guide device 25 since the bottom portion of the light guide device 25 would be inserted deepest into the body cavity of the patient where lighting is needed the most.
As would be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the amount and location of lighting escaping from a light guide device, such as the light guide device 25, 30 or 40, can be designed by adjusting the size, shape, texturing and location of the textured surfaces of the light guide device 25, 30, 40. Accordingly, the distribution of lighting of high uniformity can be precision-controlled depending on the specific needs of the application in concern.
At 102, a light guide device is provided. The light guide device, such as the light guide device 25 of
At 104, a respective surface of either or both of the light pipe portion and the distal end is textured to have two-dimensional texturing, three-dimensional texturing, or both.
In some embodiments, texturing a respective surface of either or both of the light pipe portion and the distal end may be done by at least one of the following: scratching the respective surface, painting the respective surface, optical-coating the respective surface, surface-machining the respective surface, texturing the respective surface by laser, or melting the respective surface by laser.
In some embodiments, three-dimensional texturing may be done by three-dimensional scattering which may entail mixing some particles as a scattering point, e.g., at internal surface 41 of the light pipe portion 47 of the light guide device 40 of
The above-described techniques pertain to an apparatus that provides precision-controlled distribution of LED lighting of high uniformity. Although the techniques have been described in language specific to certain applications, it is to be understood that the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific features or applications described herein. Rather, the specific features and applications are disclosed as exemplary forms of implementing such techniques. For instance, although the techniques have been described in the context of a medical application, the techniques may be applied in any other suitable context. Additionally, although the description is generally directed to LED-based lighting, the techniques may be implemented in applications where lighting is based on one or more laser diodes.