Laser flashlight

A hand-held laser flashlight for emitting an eyesafe light dispersion pattern into the eyes of a person, the laser flashlight comprising:

• a housing having an exit face;
• an emitter disposed within the housing for emitting a coherent light beam towards the exit face of the housing along an optical axis, the emitter having up to a maximum power;
• an optical system disposed within the housing along the optical axis, intermediate the emitter and the exit face, configured to provide an output laser beam having a spatial profile that is substantially gaussian, a wavelength, and an intensity;
• and
• a light transmissive beam expander disposed along the optical axis proximate to the exit face of the housing, the beam expander being configured and adapted for limiting the intensity of the output laser beam at the eyes of the person, for any power of the emitter, up to and including the maximum power, to a level which is always less than the ANSI safety standard adapted for the wavelength of the output laser beam.

A laser flashlight for emitting an eyesafe light dispersion pattern into an ambient environment comprising:

• a housing having a light emitting end;
• an emitter disposed within the housing emitting a coherent light having a power toward the light emitting end of the housing along an optical axis upon the application of electricity;
• a power supply for selectively applying electricity to the laser emitter;
• an optical resonator disposed within the housing, along the optical axis, intermediate the emitter and the light emitting end of the housing, the optical resonator including a laser element pumped by the emitter, a frequency converter, and coupling optics, the resonator producing an output laser beam having a wavelength, an intensity, and a spatial profile that is substantially TEM00 mode;
• and
• a light transmissive beam expander disposed proximate to the light emitting end of the housing and along the optical axis, the beam expander receiving and dispersing the output laser beam;
• wherein for any power of the coherent light, the intensity of the output laser beam at the light emitting end of the housing and at all distances beyond is always less than the ANSI standard for laser safety adapted for the wavelength of the output laser beam.

A laser flashlight for emitting a light dispersion pattern into an ambient environment comprising:

• housing means for providing a housing, the housing means having a light emitting end;
• emitter means disposed within the housing means for emitting a coherent light having a power toward the light emitting end of the housing means along an optical axis;
• power supply means for selectively applying electricity to the laser emitter means;
• optical means disposed within the housing means, intermediate the emitter means and the light emitting end of the housing means, the optical means including laser means for receiving the coherent light and emitting an output laser beam to the light emitting end of the housing means, the output laser beam having a wavelength, an intensity, and a spatial profile that is substantially TEM00 mode;
• and
• beam expander means disposed proximate to the light emitting end of the housing means for receiving and dispersing the output laser beam;
• wherein for any power of the coherent light, the intensity of the output laser beam at the light emitting end of the housing means and at all distances beyond is always less than the ANSI standard for laser safety adapted for the wavelength of the output laser beam.