Fiber optical illumination system
US6892013B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 15, 2003 |
| Grant date | May 10, 2005 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 23, 2023 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B6/4206
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A fiber optical illumination delivery system, which is effective in reducing the effects of source coherence. The system preferably utilizes either a single bundle of optical fibers, or serial bundles of optical fibers. In the single bundle embodiment, the differences in optical lengths between different fibers of the bundle is preferably made to be equal to even less than the coherence length of the source illumination. In the serial bundle embodiment, the fibers in the other bundle are arranged as groups of fibers of the same length, and it is the difference in lengths of these groups which is made equal to, or even more preferably, less than the overall difference in length between the shortest and the longest fibers in the other bundle. Both of these fiber systems enable construction of illumination systems delivering a higher level of illumination, but without greatly affecting the coherence breaking abilities of the system, thus enabling a generally more applicable system to be constructed.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.