Solid state illumination device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9230943-B2
Application number	US-84814310-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 31, 2010
Priority date	Jun 18, 2007
Publication date	Jan 5, 2016
Grant date	Jan 5, 2016

Abstract

A solid state illumination device includes a semiconductor light emitter mounted on a base and surrounded by sidewalls, e.g., in a circular, elliptical, triangular, rectangular or other appropriate arrangement, to define a chamber. A top element, which may be reflective, may be coupled to the sidewalls to further define the chamber. The light produced by the semiconductor light emitter is emitted through the sidewalls of the chamber. The sidewalls and/or top element may include wavelength converting material, for example, as a plurality of dots on the surfaces. An adjustable wavelength converting element may be used within the chamber, with the adjustable wavelength converting element being configured to adjust the surface area that is exposed to the light emitted by the semiconductor light emitter in the chamber to alter an optical property of the chamber.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
at least one semiconductor light emitter;
a base upon which the at least one semiconductor light emitter is mounted, the base comprising electrical connections for the at least one semiconductor light emitter and a heat spreader thermally coupled to the at least one semiconductor light emitter;
at least one sidewall surrounding the at least one semiconductor light emitter and coupled to the base, each sidewall in the at least one sidewall has a first orientation with respect to the base, wherein the at least one sidewall comprises a wavelength converting material; and
a reflective top element coupled to the at least one sidewall, the reflective top element having a second orientation with respect to the base, the second orientation being different than the first orientation, wherein the base, the at least one sidewall and the reflective top element define a chamber that contains the at least one semiconductor light emitter, and wherein light that is emitted from the chamber is emitted from each sidewall in the at least one sidewall comprising the wavelength converting material.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a reflective element between the at least one semiconductor light emitter and the at least one sidewall and between a light emitting area of the semiconductor light emitter and the base.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sidewall has a configuration of selected from one of a circular, elliptical, triangular, and rectangular configuration.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the wavelength converting material is formed by a plurality of dots on a surface of the at least one sidewall.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the top element comprises a wavelength converting material on the inside of the chamber.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a transparent optical material that fills the chamber.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the top element is one of concave to extend into the chamber and convex to extend out of the chamber.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sidewall has a first diameter where the at least one sidewall is coupled to the top element, and a second diameter where the at least one sidewall is coupled to the base, the second diameter is larger than the first diameter.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sidewall comprises an interior portion and an exterior portion, the exterior portion defines a cavity, wherein the base and top element are coupled to different ones of the interior portion and the exterior portion, the interior portion slides into the cavity defined by the exterior portion.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising at least one reflective element optically coupled to the at least one sidewall on the outside of the chamber and configured to reflect light emitted through the at least one sidewall into a forward direction that is generally orthogonal to normal to a surface of the at least one sidewall.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the apparatus is one of a reflector lamp and a backlight.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the at least one reflective element is a first light guide and a second light guide, wherein the chamber is between the first light guide and the second light guide.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , the apparatus further comprising an optically diffuse front plate that is optically coupled to the first light guide and the second light guide so that light reflected into a forward direction is diffused by the optically diffuse front plate.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 , the apparatus further comprising:
a second at least one semiconductor light emitter;
a second base upon which the second at least one semiconductor light emitter is mounted;
a second at least one sidewall surrounding the second at least one semiconductor light emitter and coupled to the second base; and
a second reflective top element coupled to the second at least one sidewall, wherein the second base, the second at least one sidewall and the second reflective top element define a second chamber that contains the second at least one semiconductor light emitter, and wherein light produced by the second at least one semiconductor light emitter is emitted through the second at least one sidewall;
wherein the at least one reflective element is optically coupled to the second at least one sidewall on the outside of the second chamber and configured to reflect light emitted through the second at least one sidewall into the forward direction that is generally orthogonal to normal to a surface of the second at least one sidewall.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the at least one reflective element is a first light guide and a second light guide coupled to the chamber, wherein the chamber is between the first light guide and the second light guide; and a third light guide and a fourth light guide coupled to the second chamber, wherein the second chamber is between the third light guide and the fourth light guide.

16. The apparatus of claim 1 , the apparatus further comprising:
an optically translucent housing that encloses the chamber defined by the at least one sidewall; and
a base electrically coupled to the at least one semiconductor light emitter and coupled to the optically translucent housing.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the base is a first base, the apparatus further comprising a second base coupled to the optically translucent housing and a connector coupled to the first base, wherein the first base is coupled to the optically translucent housing through the connector and the second base.

18. An apparatus comprising:
at least one semiconductor light emitter;
a base upon which the at least one semiconductor light emitter is mounted, the base comprising electrical connections for the at least one semiconductor light emitter and a heat spreader thermally coupled to the at least one semiconductor light emitter;
at least one sidewall surrounding the at least one semiconductor light emitter and coupled to the base, each sidewall in the at least one sidewall has a first orientation with respect to the base, wherein light produced by the at least one semiconductor light emitter is emitted through each sidewall in the at least one sidewall;
a reflective top element coupled to the at least one sidewall, the reflective top element having a second orientation with respect to the base, the second orientation being different than the first orientation, the at least one sidewall, the reflective top element, and the base define a chamber having a diameter and a height, wherein the height to diameter ratio of the chamber is 2 or greater.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the at least one sidewall has a top element edge opposite the portion that is coupled to the base, the top element portion being coupled together.

20. The apparatus of claim 18 , further comprising:
a reflective element between the at least one semiconductor light emitter and the at least one sidewall and between a light emitting area of the semiconductor light emitter and the base.

21. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the at least one sidewall has a configuration of selected from one of a circular, elliptical, triangular, and rectangular configuration.

22. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the at least one sidewall comprises a wavelength converting material.

Assignees

• Harbers Gerard
• Pugh Mark A
• Xicato Inc

Inventors

• Harbers Gerard
• Pugh Mark A

Classifications

• H10W90/00

  Package configurations · CPC title

• G02B6/0021

  for housing at least a part of the light source, e.g. by forming holes or recesses · CPC title

• G02B6/0078

  Side-by-side arrangements, e.g. for large area displays · CPC title

• G02B6/0073

  Light emitting diode [LED] · CPC title

• F21V14/08

  by movement of the screens {or filters} · CPC title