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AssigneeRemote Source Lighting International, Inc.
InventorsAndrew P. Riser, Ronald F. Rykowski, Stephen S. Wilson
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An optical fiber manifold is provided for coupling light from an illumination source to a plurality of spaced, large diameter output fibers, or "light pipes", which are used for a variety of purposes, such as illuminating pools, spas, hazardous material zones, jail cells, and other applications where direct lighting is dangerous, difficult to maintain, or subject to vandalism. The manifold employs an illumination reflector(s) which has been customized to maximize the efficiency of light transmission between the illumination source, such as an arc lamp, and the cores of the plurality of output fibers. A method of fabricating the customized illumination reflector includes mapping the radiation patterns of the particular illumination source to be utilized, creating a database of those radiation patterns, and utilizing the database to generate an optimal illumination reflector configuration. The computer-generated reflector will virtually always be a non-conic section, because the illumination source is not ideal.
An optical fiber manifold for coupling light from an illumination source to a plurality of output optical fibers, said output optical fibers each having a proximal end for receiving said light and said manifold including an illumination reflector for receiving illumination from said illumination source and redirecting the illumination to the proximal ends of each of said output optical fibers, said illumination reflector being made via a locus of mapped radiation patterns of the illumination source which are created using a database of the radiation patterns emitted by the illumination source in order to provide optimal distribution and intensity of illumination.
A method of fabricating an optical component of an illumination system having an illumination source, the illumination system comprising an optical fiber manifold for coupling light from the illumination source to a plurality of output optical fibers and the optical component comprising an illumination reflector, the method comprising:
An optical fiber manifold for coupling light from an illumination source to a plurality of output optical fibers, said output optical fibers each having a proximal end for receiving said light and said manifold comprising a lens having a plurality of segments which each have a discrete focal point, each of the segments having a longitudinal axis coincident with the principal local propagation vector of the light received from the illumination source and being adapted to converge the light from said illumination source to its respective focal point, the proximal end of each of said optical fibers being located at the focal point of a corresponding lens segment for receiving light therefrom.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.