US 5,634,711 AGranted

Portable light emitting apparatus with a semiconductor emitter array

OwnerJohn Kennedy, Roy Kayserinventors

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Abstract

A hand-held portable light emitting device is suitable for medical and industrial photocuring and phototherapy applications. The hand-held portable light emitting device has: (a) a portable housing having a front end and a rear end; (b) a semiconducting light emitter having a matrix of a plurality of light emitting diodes mounted at the front end of the housing to emit light energy suitable for initiating a photo-reaction; (c) a power supply connected to the light emitter to provide the electrical power for energizing the diodes to emit the light energy; (d) a controller connected to the light emitter and the power supply, to vary the level of the light energy; (e) a mount at the front end of the housing; and (f) an optical assembly mounted to the mount, to direct the light energy generated from the diodes to a photoreaction site near the optical assembly.

Claims31

Dependent claims

A hand-held portable light emitting device comprising:

(a) a portable housing having a front end and rear end;
(b) light emitting semiconducting means having a matrix of a plurality of light emitting diode means mounted at said front end, said light emitting diode means being operative to emit light energy, suitable for initiating a photo-reaction;
(c) power means coupled to said semiconducting means and operative to provide the electrical power for energizing said plurality of light emitting diode means to emit said light energy;
(d) control means connected to said semiconducting means and said power means, and operative to vary a level of said light energy;
(e) mounting means provided at said front end of said housing;
(f) an optical assembly mounted to said mounting means, said optical assembly being operative to direct said light energy generated from said light emitting diode means to a photoreaction location disposed adjacent to said optical assembly;
(g) wherein said control means comprises drive means for driving said light emitting semiconductor means and a controller for controlling said drive means;
(h) wherein said drive means includes pulse means for pulsing said light emitting semiconductor means to emit energy suitable for photocuring or phototherapy;
and
(i) wherein said pulse means comprises pulse width modulation means having an oscillator for producing a square-wave output, a sawtooth waveform generator for producing a sawtooth waveform from said square-wave output, and a pulse width modulator for producing an output control signal having a duty cycle and said duty cycle being variable in response to a control input signal generated by said controller and said drive means being responsive to said output control signal for pulsing said light emitting semiconductor means.

7 more elements

A hand-held portable light emitting device comprising:

(a) a portable housing having a front end and rear end;
(b) light emitting semiconducting means having a matrix of a plurality of light emitting diode means mounted at said front end, said light emitting diode means being operative to emit light energy suitable for initiating a photo-reaction;
(c) power means coupled to Said semiconducting means and operative to provide the electrical power for energizing said plurality of light emitting diode means to emit said light energy;
(d) control means connected to said semiconducting means and said power means, and operative to vary a level of said light energy:
(e) mounting means provided at said front end of said housing;
(f) an optical assembly mounted to said mounting means, said optical assembly being operative to direct said light energy generated from Said light emitting diode means to a photoreaction location disposed adjacent to said optical assembly;
(g) wherein said control means comprises drive means for driving said light emitting semiconductor means and a controller for controlling said drive means;
(h) wherein said drive means includes pulse means for pulsing said light emitting semiconductor means to emit energy suitable for photocuring or phototherapy;
and
(i) wherein said pulse means includes overload sensing means coupled to said light emitting semiconductor means for sensing an overload condition in said light emitting semiconductor means and producing an overload condition signal.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 08/305,514Filed 13 Sep 1994 · continuation in part
Priority: 13 Sep 1993
Granted: 3 Jun 1997
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification15 codes

A61C 19/004
Apparatus for curing resins by radiation: hand-held apparatus, e.g. guns
A61N 5/06
Radiation therapy: using light
A61N 5/062
Apparatus adapted for a specific treatment: photodynamic therapy, i.e. excitation of an agent
H05B 45/22
Controlling the colour of the light: using optical feedback