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US 9,752,754 B2Granted
Luminaire exhibiting secondary glow characteristics
AssigneeABL IP Holding LLC
InventorsNicholas R. Trincia, Xiaoping Wu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A luminaire includes a housing having at least one sidewall with an observable outer surface and a light feed edge. The housing sidewall is characterized in that light introduced through a light feed edge of the sidewall will propagate by internal reflections through the sidewall and will be extracted from the outer surface of the sidewall. A fractional amount of light emitted by the luminaire's light source is directed to the sidewall's light feed edge. When extracted, this fractional amount of source light produces an observable and aesthetically pleasing glow of light on the sidewall of the housing.
Claims31
A luminaire comprising:
- a housing having at least one sidewall, a top opening, and a bottom through which light can travel, said housing sidewall having an observable outer surface and a light feed edge positioned at the top opening of the housing, and being characterized in that light introduced into the sidewall through the light feed edge thereof will propagate by internal reflections within the sidewall,
- a light source associated with the top opening of the housing, wherein light emitted by said light source emanates from the top opening in an indirect light distribution pattern,
- a light source associated with the bottom of the housing, wherein light emitted by said light source emanates from the bottom of the housing in a direct light distribution pattern,
- optical control means positioned at or near the level of the top opening of the housing for directing a portion of the light emitted by the light source associated with the top opening of the housing to the light feed edge of the sidewall of the housing, wherein said portion of light is introduced into the sidewall of the housing through the light feed edge thereof, said housing sidewall further being characteristic in that light propagating within the sidewall is extracted through the outer surface thereof to produce a secondary observable glow of light thereon.
1 more element
A luminaire comprising:
- a linear form housing having a length, a top and a bottom, and at least one linear form sidewall extending upward from the bottom to the top of the housing, said housing sidewall having an observable outer surface and terminating at an inwardly turned linear light feed edge at the top of said housing which extends substantially the length of said housing, said housing sidewall being characterized in that light introduced into the sidewall through the linear light feed edge thereof will propagate by internal reflections within the sidewall,
- a plurality of small area light sources distributed in and along the length of said housing for emitting light in a generally upward direction,
- a linear top lens element covering said small area light sources, said linear top lens element being formed to spread light emitted by the small area light sources above said housing in an indirect light distribution pattern such that a small portion of the light emitted by the small area light sources is introduced into the inwardly turned light feed edge of the housing sidewall,
- said sidewall further being characteristic in that light propagating within the sidewall is extracted through the outer surface thereof to produce a secondary observable glow of light thereon.
1 more element
A luminaire comprising:
- a symmetrical linear form housing having a length, a top and a bottom, and linear form opposed sidewalls extending between the bottom and the top of the housing, each of said housing sidewalls having an observable outer surface and terminating at an inwardly turned linear light feed edge which extends substantially the length of said housing, said opposed housing sidewalls being characterized in that light introduced into the sidewalls through the linear light feed edges thereof will propagate by internal reflections within the sidewalls,
- a source of light distributed substantially midway between the opposed housing sidewalls along the length of the housing for emitting light which emanates from the housing, and
- a horseshoe shaped linear lens element covering said source of light, said horseshoe shaped linear lens element being formed to spread the light emitted by the source of light in a substantially symmetrical light distribution pattern such that a small portion of the light emitted by the source of light covered by the horseshoe shaped linear lens element is introduced into the inwardly turned light feed edges of the opposed housing sidewalls,
- said opposed housing sidewalls further being characteristic in that light propagating within the sidewalls is extracted through the outer surfaces thereof to produce a secondary observable glow of light thereon.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.