Segmented Optical Element for Aircraft Cabin Lighting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing lighting solutions with high light divergence are not practical for applications with limited space, such as aircraft cabin claddings, due to the large size of optical components and heat dissipation issues.
Innovation Solution
A lighting device featuring a semiconductor-based light source, such as an LED, coupled with an optical element that reduces light divergence and changes the light direction. The optical element includes a light entry surface and a light exit surface with a larger cross-sectional area, allowing for total reflection and reducing the beam angle of the emitted light.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If standard TIR optics are used to reduce light divergence, then the beam angle is reduced, but the installation space increases due to large component size
Solution Approach 1:
The optical element is divided into multiple light-guiding elements (e.g., 3-7 individual light guides) arranged in parallel. Each light-guiding element has a smaller cross-section than conventional TIR optics, allowing the light cone to be reduced in size while maintaining the desired beam angle. This segmentation enables the system to achieve narrow beam distribution without requiring large installation space.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from conventional two-dimensional optical elements to three-dimensional light-guiding structures with varying cross-sections along the light path. The light-guiding elements are designed with larger cross-sections at the light entry surface and smaller cross-sections at the light exit surface, creating a tapered configuration that reduces the light cone in the longitudinal dimension while controlling beam angle in the angular dimension.
2Illumination intensity
If conventional optics with large diameter are used, then light divergence is reduced, but heat dissipation becomes problematic
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the optical system into multiple separate light-guiding elements, the patent increases the surface area available for heat dissipation. The gaps between individual light guides provide additional thermal pathways, allowing heat to escape more efficiently from the LED region. This segmentation approach enables better thermal management compared to solid conventional optics of equivalent optical performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The light-guiding elements are designed with non-uniform cross-sections, being larger at the light entry surface where heat generation occurs and smaller at the light exit surface. This local variation in geometry optimizes both heat dissipation at the heat-generating region and light beam control at the exit region, addressing thermal and optical requirements simultaneously.
3Volume of moving object
If the light exit is positioned obliquely to reduce installation space, then space is saved, but the light cone divergence increases
Solution Approach 1:
The use of multiple discrete light-guiding elements allows the system to accommodate oblique mounting configurations without significantly increasing light cone divergence. The segmented structure provides flexibility in positioning and orientation while maintaining controlled beam patterns, as each element can be optimized for its specific angular relationship to the housing surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The light-guiding elements are designed with pre-determined cross-sectional variations and optical properties that compensate for oblique installation angles. By incorporating the divergence compensation into the element design itself, the system maintains narrow beam angles even when installed at angles relative to the housing surface, eliminating the need for additional corrective optics.
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 effectively reduces light divergence, allowing for a narrower beam angle and improved light distribution in limited spaces, while also enhancing heat dissipation and reducing installation space requirements.
Implementation Method 1
each comprise an interface extending between the light entry surface and the light exit surface for reflection, in particular for total reflection at this interface, of the coupled-in light
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a lighting device with a light source and an optical element for reducing divergence and preferably for changing the direction of the light, as well as a corresponding optical element, wherein the optical element comprises a light-intake surface for coupling in light with a primary emission characteristic and a light-emission surface for coupling out the coupled-in light with a secondary emission characteristic, wherein the secondary emission characteristic has a beam angle which is smaller than the beam angle of the primary emission characteristic in order to reduce the divergence of the light, and wherein preferably the optical axis of the light-emission surface is inclined to the optical axis of the light-intake surface in order to change the direction of the light.and wherein the optical element comprises a plurality of light-guiding elements which each form part of the light-entry surface and part of the light-emission surface of the optical element and each comprise an interface extending between the light-entry surface and the light-emission surface for the reflection of the coupled-in light, and wherein the light-guiding elements each have a cross-section at the light-emission surface which is larger than the cross-section at the light-entry surface, such that the light-emission surface of the optical element is larger than the light-entry surface of the optical element.