Homogenising Prism Sheet for Compact Artificial Skylight Arrays

The collimating system is divided into multiple discrete collimating apparatuses arranged in an array, where each apparatus contains its own light source and collimating optic. This segmentation allows the system to achieve a large effective aperture through the combined output of multiple smaller optics rather than requiring a single large-depth optic, thereby maintaining compact individual component depths while achieving a large overall beam size.

The invention transitions from a single-axis depth problem to a two-dimensional array configuration. By arranging multiple collimating apparatuses in an array pattern, the system achieves large beam size through lateral expansion in the array plane rather than through increasing the depth of individual optics, effectively solving the space constraint by utilizing dimensional redistribution.

The homogenising optical arrangement merges the light output from multiple adjacent collimating apparatuses by causing their light beams to overlap and superimpose. This combining effect integrates the discrete non-uniform radiance profiles of individual apparatuses into a unified, flattened radiance profile that eliminates hot spots and achieves uniform illumination across the entire beam cross-section.

The homogenising optical arrangement specifically addresses radiance profile uniformity by designing the optical paths and beam overlap regions to produce a substantially continuous and flattened relative radiance profile. This homogenisation process ensures that the combined light from all array elements exhibits uniform intensity distribution, eliminating the non-uniform hot spots characteristic of traditional single-element collimating systems.

The skylight system is segmented into multiple independent collimating apparatuses arranged in an array, with each apparatus contributing a portion of the total light output. This segmentation allows the use of shallow-depth individual units that can be tightly integrated in a compact configuration, while the collective array output, when homogenised, achieves uniform light distribution that would be difficult to obtain from a single shallow element.

The invention resolves the depth-uniformity contradiction by transitioning from a single-volume optimization problem to a multi-element array configuration. By distributing the light-generating function across multiple shallow apparatuses arranged in an array and using homogenising optics to combine their outputs, the system achieves uniform light distribution through dimensional redistribution rather than through increasing individual element depth.