Lighting device for disinfecting air in an environment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12508340-B2
Application number	US-202217671684-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 15, 2022
Priority date	Feb 19, 2021
Publication date	Dec 30, 2025
Grant date	Dec 30, 2025

Abstract

A lighting device for disinfecting air in an environment is provided. The lighting device comprises at least one UVC light source for generating a UVC light. The lighting device further comprises a beam-shaping element for shaping the UVC light into a UVC beam, and a beam-reflecting element for substantially completely capturing the UVC beam. The beam-reflecting element is connected downstream of the beam-shaping element in such a way that between the beam-shaping element and the beam-reflecting element there is a disinfection space for air disinfection which is freely accessible to the air, and wherein the beam-reflecting element is further adapted to radiate the detected UVC beam in a controlled manner.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A lighting device configured for disinfecting air in an environment, the lighting device comprising:
at least one ultraviolet-C (UVC) light source configured for generating a UVC light; at least one first visible light source configured for generating a first visible light; a beam-shaping element configured for shaping the UVC light into a UVC beam in the form of a light cone with a predefined maximum aperture angle (θ) in the range of about 10-45°; and a beam-reflecting element in the form of a concave reflector configured for substantially completely reflecting the full UVC beam and radially focusing the resultant reflected UVC beam back to a point of origin of the UVC light, wherein the beam-reflecting element is connected downstream of the beam-shaping element in such a way that, between the beam-shaping element and the beam-reflecting element, there is a disinfection space for air disinfection which is freely accessible to the air, and wherein the beam-reflecting element is configured to emit the reflected UVC beam in a controlled manner such that at least a part of the reflected UVC beam is effectively recycled within the disinfection space, passing through the disinfection space;
at least once in a first direction extending from the beam-shaping element to the beam-reflecting element; and
at least once in a second direction extending from the beam-reflecting element to the beam-shaping element;
wherein in operation of the lighting device:
the UVC light impinges directly on the beam-reflecting element; and
the first visible light does not impinge directly on the beam-reflecting element.

2 . The lighting device according to claim 1 , wherein the beam-reflecting element is in the form of a spherical reflector.

3 . The lighting device according to claim 1 , wherein the lighting device is configured as a ceiling luminaire or a pendant luminaire.

4 . The lighting device according to claim 3 , wherein the lighting device is configured in such a way that, when the lighting device is mounted, the at least one UVC light source radiates primarily in a direction of a room ceiling.

5 . The lighting device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a sensor system configured for providing current sensor information; and control electronics configured for controlling the at least one UVC light source based on the current sensor information provided by the sensor system.

6 . The lighting device according to claim 5 , wherein:
the sensor system comprises at least one of:
a safety sensor configured for providing safety-relevant sensor information;
a presence sensor configured for detecting a presence of an object or a foreign body in the disinfection space;
a person presence sensor configured for detecting the presence of a person in the environment and for transmitting current person presence information to the control electronics; and
an air quality sensor configured for detecting one or more air quality parameters and for transmitting current air quality information to the control electronics; and
the control electronics are configured to at least one of:
control the at least one UVC light source based on the safety-relevant sensor information;
switch off the at least one UVC light source when the presence sensor indicates the presence of the object or the foreign body in the disinfection space;
control the lighting device based on the person presence information; and
control the lighting device based on the current air quality information.

7 . The lighting device according to claim 5 , wherein the sensor system comprises a UVC sensor configured for detecting UVC radiation.

8 . The lighting device according to claim 1 , wherein the beam-reflecting element is in the form of a parabolic reflector, a free-form reflector, or a segmented reflector.

9 . The lighting device according to claim 1 , wherein the beam-shaping element is substantially conical in shape or substantially funnel-shaped.

10 . The lighting device according to claim 1 , wherein the beam-shaping element is a lens optic.

11 . The lighting device according to claim 1 , wherein the beam-shaping element comprises a reflector or reflector array, on which the UVC light impinges in forming the UVC beam.

12 . The lighting device according to claim 1 , wherein the beam-shaping element comprises a lens or lens array, through which the UVC light passes in forming the UVC beam.

13 . The lighting device according to claim 1 , further comprising an adjustable fastening mechanism configured to adjust a distance between the beam-shaping element and the beam-reflecting element.

14 . The lighting device according to claim 1 , further comprising at least one second visible light source configured for generating a second visible light which at least one of:
mixes with the UVC beam in the disinfection space; and substantially overlaps with the UVC beam.

15 . The lighting device according to claim 14 , wherein:
the at least one UVC light source comprises a plurality of UVC light-emitting diodes (LEDs); the at least one second visible light source comprises a plurality of visible light LEDs; and the UVC LEDs and the visible light LEDs are arranged in an alternating pattern such that any two neighboring LEDs differ in type of light emitted.

16 . The lighting device according to claim 14 , wherein:
the at least one UVC light source comprises a plurality of UVC light-emitting diodes (LEDs); the at least one second visible light source comprises a plurality of visible light LEDs; and a quantity of UVC LEDs present is greater than a quantity of visible light LEDs present.

17 . The lighting device according to claim 1 , wherein the beam-reflecting element is configured to be mounted directly onto a room ceiling.

18 . The lighting device according to claim 1 , wherein in operation of the lighting device, the first visible light does not mix with the UVC beam in the disinfection space.

19 . The lighting device according to claim 14 , wherein:
the at least one UVC light source comprises a plurality of UVC light-emitting diodes (LEDs); the at least one second visible light source comprises a plurality of visible light LEDs; and the UVC LEDs and the visible light LEDs are arranged in alternating rows such that a given row includes either UVC LEDs or visible light LEDs.

20 . The lighting device according to claim 1 , wherein the beam-reflecting element has a radius of curvature (r) and is physically separated from the at least one UVC light source by a distance (d) which satisfies the following condition:
½ r<d<= 3/2 r.

21 . The lighting device according to claim 1 , wherein the beam-reflecting element has a radius of curvature (r) and a diameter (D) which satisfies the following condition:
2 r sin θ< D< 4 r sin θ.

Assignees

• Ledvance Gmbh

Inventors

• Bergenek Krister

Classifications

• A61L2209/111

  Sensor means, e.g. motion, brightness, scent, contaminant sensors · CPC title

• A61L2209/12

  Lighting means · CPC title

• F21V33/0064

  Health, life-saving or fire-fighting equipment · CPC title

• F21S8/061 Primary

  with a non-rigid pendant, i.e. a cable, wire or chain · CPC title

• A61L2209/15

  Supporting means, e.g. stands, hooks, holes for hanging · CPC title