Virtual filaments that mimic conventional light bulb filaments

Julio Chaves; Fernando Munoz; Juan Carlos Minano; Pablo Benitez; Bill Parkyn; Waqidi Falicoff; Yupin Sun

doi:10.1117/12.561570

29 September 2004 Virtual filaments that mimic conventional light bulb filaments

Julio Chaves, Fernando Munoz, Juan Carlos Minano, Pablo Benitez, Bill Parkyn, Waqidi Falicoff, Yupin Sun

Proceedings Volume 5529, Nonimaging Optics and Efficient Illumination Systems; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.561570
Event: Optical Science and Technology, the SPIE 49th Annual Meeting, 2004, Denver, Colorado, United States

Abstract

Conventional incandescent light bulbs have a wire filament acting as an extended light source with nearly constant intensity throughout its quasi-spherical emission pattern. Here we present a novel family of optical devices that make use of commercially available Lambertian or near-Lambertian LED light sources, in conjunction with tailored optical element bonded to the top surface of the LED. These hybrid devices can emulate the output of traditional incandescent filaments, or can be designed to produce a wide range of light output beam patterns. We call these new devices Virtual Filaments, as they can be designed to appear the same as an incandescent filament, with a similar light output pattern, and having a similar focal position above the base. These new lamps can then be used in the same applications as those they replace, thus eliminating the need to redesign or replace the original luminaire. We present several possible optical designs that can be used with a number of standard LEDs to replace standard incandescent bulbs. In one example we show a design that provides an output with near-uniform intensity across a full beam angle of 300 degrees, from a focal position 20 mm above an LED. Other major advantages of these new devices include their ability to be given sharp cutoffs, to homogenize non-uniform LED light sources and to color-mix the output of RGB LEDs.

Citation Download Citation

Julio Chaves, Fernando Munoz, Juan Carlos Minano, Pablo Benitez, Bill Parkyn, Waqidi Falicoff, and Yupin Sun "Virtual filaments that mimic conventional light bulb filaments", Proc. SPIE 5529, Nonimaging Optics and Efficient Illumination Systems, (29 September 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.561570

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