Claims
- 1. A vehicle lamp assembly comprising:
a solid state first light source emitting light having a dominant wavelength less than about 530 nm when a DC potential is applied thereto; and a second light source, wherein said second light source projects light having a dominant wavelength less than about 635 nm, and wherein the vehicle lamp subassembly emits two different and complementary spectral bands that together form white light.
- 2. The vehicle lamp assembly according to claim 1, wherein said first light source emits blue light.
- 3. The vehicle lamp assembly according to claim 1, wherein said first light source emits visible light.
- 4. The vehicle lamp assembly according to claim 1 and further including a leadframe and an encapsulant, where said first light source is a semiconductor optical radiation emitter and is mounted on said leadframe and encapsulated by said encapsulant.
- 5. The vehicle lamp assembly according to claim 4, where said second light source is a semiconductor optical radiation emitter and is mounted on said leadframe and encapsulated by said encapsulant.
- 6. The vehicle lamp assembly according to claim 1, wherein said first light source projects illumination in response to voltages less than about 13 volts.
- 7. The vehicle lamp assembly according to claim 1, wherein one of said first and second light sources is made in part of a material selected from the group consisting of AlInGaP and AlGaAs.
- 8. The vehicle lamp assembly according to claim 1, wherein one of said first and second light sources is made in part of a material comprising GaN.
- 9. The vehicle lamp assembly according to claim 1, wherein neither of said first and second light sources projects light having a yellow hue.
- 10. The vehicle lamp assembly according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting assembly is a discrete light emitting diode component comprising:
a leadframe; and a polymer enclosure, wherein said first light source is an LED chip disposed on said leadframe and enclosed within said enclosure, and wherein said second light source is a narrow band light emitter, said LED chip and said narrow band emitter are disposed such that, when said LED chip and said narrow band emitter emit light, emissions from said LED chip overlap and mix with emissions from said narrow band emitter to form white light.
- 11. The vehicle lamp assembly according to claim 1, wherein said white light provides an illuminance at some predetermined distance from said vehicle lamp assembly of at least about 11.5 lux.
- 12. The vehicle lamp assembly according to claim 1, wherein said white light provides an illuminance at some predetermined distance from said vehicle lamp assembly of at least about 15 lux.
- 13. A light emitting assembly comprising a first solid state light source and a second light source, said light sources oriented such that when said first and second light sources emit light, light projected from said first and second light sources overlaps and is capable of forming white light, wherein said first light source projects light having a blue hue, and wherein said second light source projects light having a hue other than blue, wherein said first light source includes an LED junction.
- 14. The light emitting assembly according to claim 13, wherein said first light source emits blue light when a DC potential is applied thereto.
- 15. The light emitting assembly according to claim 13, wherein said overlapped white light has an illuminance at some predetermined distance from said light emitting assembly of at least about 11.5 lux.
- 16. The light emitting assembly according to claim 13 and further including a leadframe and an encapsulant, where said first light source is a semiconductor optical radiation emitter and is mounted on said leadframe and encapsulated by said encapsulant.
- 17. The light emitting assembly according to claim 16, where said second light source is a semiconductor optical radiation emitter and is mounted on said leadframe and encapsulated by said encapsulant.
- 18. The light emitting assembly according to claim 13, wherein said second light source is made in part of a material selected from the group consisting of AlInGaP and AlGaAs.
- 19. The light emitting assembly according to claim 13, wherein said first light source is made in part of a material comprising GaN.
- 20. The light emitting assembly according to claim 13 wherein neither of said first and second light sources projects light having a yellow hue.
- 21. The light emitting assembly according to claim 13, wherein the light emitting assembly is a discrete light emitting diode component comprising:
a leadframe; and a polymer enclosure, wherein said first light source is an LED chip disposed on said leadframe and enclosed within said enclosure, and wherein said second light source is a narrow band light emitter, said LED chip and said narrow band emitter are disposed such that, when said LED chip and said narrow band emitter emit light, emissions from said LED chip overlap and mix with emissions from said narrow band emitter to form white light.
- 22. A vehicle lamp assembly for mounting to a vehicle comprising:
at least one white-light emitting discrete LED device, said LED device including: a lead frame, at least one LED chip mounted on said lead frame, and a polymer encapsulant for encapsulating said LED chip on said lead frame, wherein the vehicle lamp assembly emits two different and complementary spectral bands that together form white light.
- 23. A vehicle lamp assembly comprising:
at least one LED chip, wherein the vehicle lamp assembly emits two different and complementary spectral bands other than red and that together forms white light.
- 24. The vehicle lamp assembly of claim 23 and further including a second light source.
- 25. The vehicle lamp assembly of claim 24, wherein said second light source includes a second LED chip.
- 26. The vehicle lamp assembly of claim 23, wherein said at least one LED chip includes two LED chips.
- 27. The vehicle lamp assembly of claim 26, wherein said LED chips are mounted on a common support structure.
- 28. The vehicle lamp assembly of claim 27, wherein said common support structure is a leadframe of a discrete LED device having an encapsulant that encapsulates the LED chips on said leadframe.
- 29. The vehicle lamp assembly of claim 27, wherein said common support structure is a substrate and the lamp assembly further includes an encapsulant that encapsulates the LED chips on said substrate.
- 30. The vehicle lamp assembly of claim 26, wherein said two LED chips each emit light of a different one of the spectral bands emitted from the vehicle lamp assembly.
- 31. The vehicle lamp assembly of claim 23, wherein said at least one LED chip includes a plurality of LED chips.
- 32. The vehicle lamp assembly of claim 31, wherein said plurality of LED chips is packaged in discrete LED device packages.
- 33. The vehicle lamp assembly of claim 32, wherein each LED device package emits white light.
- 34. The vehicle lamp assembly of claim 33 and further including additional LED device packages that emit light of colors other than white.
- 35. The vehicle lamp assembly of claim 33, wherein the vehicle lamp assembly is configured for mounting to the exterior of the vehicle and functions as an illuminator assembly.
- 36. The vehicle lamp assembly of claim 33, wherein the vehicle lamp assembly is configured for mounting to the interior of the vehicle and functions as an illuminator assembly.
- 37. The vehicle lamp assembly of claim 33 and further including a lens, wherein each of said plurality of LED device packages is mounted behind said lens.
- 38. The vehicle lamp assembly of claim 33 and further including a support member, wherein each of said plurality of LED device packages is mounted to said support member.
- 39. The vehicle lamp assembly of claim 38 and further including a lens mounted to said support member, wherein each of said plurality of LED device packages is mounted behind said lens.
- 40. A vehicle lamp assembly comprising:
at least two LED chips, wherein the vehicle lamp assembly emits two different and complementary spectral bands that together form white light.
- 41. The vehicle lamp assembly of claim 40, wherein said LED chips are mounted on a common support structure.
- 42. The vehicle lamp assembly of claim 41, wherein said common support structure is a leadframe of a discrete LED device having an encapsulant that encapsulates the LED chips on said leadframe.
- 43. The vehicle lamp assembly of claim 41, wherein said common support structure is a substrate and the lamp assembly further includes an encapsulant that encapsulates the LED chips on said substrate.
- 44. The vehicle lamp assembly of claim 40, wherein said two LED chips each emit light of a different one of the spectral bands emitted from the vehicle lamp assembly.
- 45. The vehicle lamp assembly of claim 40, wherein none of said at least two LED chips emit red light.
- 46. A light emitting assembly comprising:
a support structure; a first light source carried on said support structure, wherein said first light source is an LED; and a second light source associated with said first light source, said first and second light sources oriented such that when said first and second light sources emit light, light emitted from said first and second light sources overlaps and is capable of forming white light, the light emitted from each of said first and second light sources having a peak wavelength of less than 635 nm, wherein the light emitted from said first light source exhibits color coordinates different from the light emitted from said second source.
- 47. The light emitting assembly of claim 46, wherein said LED emits blue light.
- 48. The light emitting assembly of claim 46, wherein said first light source emits blue light.
- 49. The light emitting assembly of claim 46, wherein said first light source emits visible light.
- 50. The light emitting assembly of claim 46, wherein said support structure is a leadframe.
- 51. A light emitting assembly comprising first and second light sources oriented such that when said first and second light sources emit light, light emitted from said first and second light sources overlaps and is capable of forming white light, the light emitted from each of said first and second light sources having a dominant wavelength below 635 nm, wherein the light emitted from said first light source exhibits color coordinates different from the light emitted from said second light source, wherein said first light source is an LED.
- 52. The light emitting assembly of claim 51, wherein said LED emits blue light.
- 53. The light emitting assembly of claim 51, wherein said first light source emits blue light.
- 54. The light emitting assembly of claim 51, wherein said first light source emits visible light.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/604,056, entitled “LED ASSEMBLY,” filed on Jun. 26, 2000, by Robert R. Turnbull et al., now U.S. Pat. No. 6,523,976, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/148,375, entitled “ILLUMINATOR ASSEMBLY INCORPORATING LIGHT EMITTING DIODES,” filed on Sep. 4, 1998, by Robert R. Turnbull et al., now U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,072, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/664,055, entitled “ILLUMINATOR ASSEMBLY INCORPORATING LIGHT EMITTING DIODES,” filed on Jun. 13, 1996, by Robert R. Turnbull et al., now U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,579. The entire disclosures of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.
Continuations (3)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09604056 |
Jun 2000 |
US |
Child |
10372907 |
Feb 2003 |
US |
Parent |
09148375 |
Sep 1998 |
US |
Child |
09604056 |
Jun 2000 |
US |
Parent |
08664055 |
Jun 1996 |
US |
Child |
09148375 |
Sep 1998 |
US |