Luminaire having a mock light source for improved source brightness control and method

A luminaire having a mock linear light source for improved source brightness control comprising

• at least one elongated housing having an elongated downlight opening,
• an active tubular light source operatively held in said housing above said downlight opening, said light source having a bottom surface portion which aces the downlight opening of said housing and which is ordinarily exposed therethrough, and
• at least one elongated light diffuser cover strip operatively positioned in said housing below and in proximity to the bottom surface portion of said active tubular light source, said light diffuser cover strip extending upwardly about the bottom surface portion of said light source at least to, but not substantially beyond a defined cutoff angle which prevents exposure of said light source through the downlight opening of said housing, said diffuser cover strip being exposed through said downlight opening for providing an observable source of reduced brightness at the approximate position of said active tubular light source to simulate a relatively low brightness light source within said housing.

An indirect-direct luminaire having an observable mock light source for improved source brightness control comprising

• a housing having a bottom downlight opening and top uplight opening,
• at least one light source operatively held in said housing above said downlight opening, said light source having a bottom surface portion which faces the downlight opening of said housing and which is exposed therethrough, and a top surface portion facing said top opening for providing indirect lighting therethrough, and
• at least one brightness reduction cover element operatively positioned in said housing below and in proximity to the bottom surface portion of said light source, said brightness reduction cover element extending upwardly about the bottom surface portion of said light source a sufficient distance to prevent exposure of said light source through the downlight opening of said housing without substantially affecting the indirect lighting produced through the top opening of said housing, said brightness reduction cover element being exposed through said downlight opening for providing an observable source of reduced brightness at the approximate position of said light source to simulate a relatively low brightness light source within said housing.

A luminaire having an active high output fluorescent lamp with high surface brightness comprising

• an elongated housing for said high output lamp, said housing having an elongated downlight opening, and
• a light diffuser cover strip operatively positioned in said housing below and in proximity to a bottom surface portion of said high output fluorescent lamp and being observable through the downlight opening of said housing, said light diffuser cover strip extending upwardly about the bottom surface portion of said active high output fluorescent lamp in a substantially semi-cylindrical shape and simulating the tubular shape of a fluorescent lamp which is larger than and has a reduced surface brightness as compared to the active high output fluorescent lamp of said luminaire.

A method of producing direct and indirect lighting from at least one active light source having top and bottom surface portions with relatively high surface brightness comprising

• producing uplight for indirect lighting directly from the top surface portion of said at least one light source, and
• producing downlight for direct lighting through at last one brightness reduction cover clement positioned below and in close proximity to the bottom surface portion of said light source, said brightness reduction cover element being sized and shaped to surround the bottom surface portion of said light source so as to simulate a relatively low brightness light source having a larger surface area than the surface area of said light source, and said brightness reduction cover element further being positioned so that indirect lighting produced by said uplight from the top surface portion of the light source is not affected by said brightness reduction cover element.