Daylight Illumination Device Using Fluorescent Dyes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Illumination devices that simulate neon lighting struggle to maintain even light distribution and brightness, especially in daylight conditions where sunlight can wash out the emitted light, making them less visible.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating fluorescent and/or phosphorescent dyes into a light-diffusing member within the device, which absorbs sunlight and emits additional light of longer wavelengths, combined with a light source that emits light unabsorbed by the dyes, ensuring light visibility during the day while maintaining color integrity at night.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If fluorescent and phosphorescent dyes are incorporated into the light-diffusing member to increase visibility in daylight, then the light output and visibility are improved, but the color integrity and brightness may be compromised due to absorption of light at certain wavelengths
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by carefully selecting the wavelength characteristics of the dyes and light source. The dyes are chosen to absorb specific wavelengths (primarily blue light) while the light source is selected to emit wavelengths that are either unabsorbed or minimally absorbed. This wavelength parameter optimization allows the dyes to provide daylight enhancement while preserving color integrity and brightness of the emitted light.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite materials by combining fluorescent and phosphorescent dyes within the light-diffusing member material. This composite structure allows multiple dye types with different absorption and emission characteristics to work together, enabling broad spectral coverage for daylight visibility while maintaining color fidelity through the synergistic effect of different dye materials.
2Ease of manufacture
If the light source emits light that is largely unabsorbed by the dyes to maintain color integrity, then the color fidelity is improved, but the overall light output and visibility enhancement are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the wavelength parameters of both the dyes and light source to achieve a balance. By selecting dyes with specific absorption spectra and pairing them with light sources having complementary emission spectra, the system maximizes unabsorbed light transmission for color fidelity while ensuring sufficient absorption of specific wavelengths to provide visibility enhancement through fluorescent and phosphorescent conversion.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs the concept of copying by using the light source to first illuminate the dyes, which then re-emit light at different wavelengths. The dyes act as optical copies that transform the incident light into enhanced visible output, creating a multiplied light output that maintains color integrity through the selective wavelength conversion process.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution significantly increases the visibility of the illumination device in daylight conditions by enhancing light output without compromising the color integrity or brightness, addressing the issue of sunlight washing out the light emitted.
Implementation Method 1
The dyes absorb light at certain wavelengths and then emit light of a lesser energy at longer wavelengths
Implementation Method 2
fluorescent and/or phosphorescent dyes that are mixed in and encapsulated in the material that comprises the light-diffusing member
Implementation Method 3
a profiled rod of material having waveguide properties that preferentially scatters light entering one surface
Implementation Method 4
As a waveguide, it tends to preferentially direct light entering the waveguide, including the light entering a surface thereof, along the axial direction of the waveguide
Data Source
AI summary
An illumination device for use in daylight conditions includes a light-diffusing member provided with one or more dyes and a light source extending along and positioned adjacent a light-receiving surface of the light-diffusing member, with the light source emitting light that is substantially unabsorbed by the dyes as it passes through the light-diffusing member. Accordingly, in daylight conditions, the dyes are activated by sunlight to emit light such that light perceived along a light-emitting surface of the light-diffusing member is a combination of light from said light source and light from the dyes, thus increasing the output of the illumination device in daylight conditions.