KR20010010725A - Multi-color semiconductor lamp and method of providing colored illumination - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A multicolor semiconductor lamp and a method for color lighting are provided to generate various color lights of a wide range by using only one semiconductor light source. CONSTITUTION: A semiconductor light source(10) is used for outputting light. A dispersion prism(20) is located a front portion of the semiconductor light source(10). The dispersion prism(20) has an input face and an output face for receiving and transmitting the light to divide the receive light into various color components. A fixing lens(30) is arranged at an output portion of the dispersion prism(20). The semiconductor light source(10), the dispersion prism(20), and the fixing lens(30) are installed within a lamp housing(40).

Description

MULTI-COLOR SEMICONDUCTOR LAMP AND METHOD OF PROVIDING COLORED ILLUMINATION}

Technical Field of the Invention

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to semiconductor lamps, and more particularly, to a multi-color semiconductor lamp and a color illumination method.

Related prior art

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Semiconductor devices capable of generating light output of different colors are well known. Such prior art semiconductor devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Various types of semiconductor devices are disclosed. The light emitting diodes can be individually controlled and therefore operate alone or together, resulting in different color light outputs. The semiconductor device shown in this patent requires a relatively complex control circuit to individually control differently colored light emitting diodes in order to generate a wide variety of different color light outputs.

In addition, semiconductor devices capable of generating light output of multiple wavelengths are well known. Such prior art semiconductor devices are disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,077,588, where the semiconductor devices can be operated to emit infrared and visible light. U. S. Patent 5,585, 648 discloses a semiconductor device capable of emitting a spectrum from green to ultraviolet light. While the light output of the semiconductor device disclosed in this patent is of multiple wavelengths, it is not sufficient to generate a wide range of light outputs of different colors.

In addition, semiconductor devices capable of generating white light are known and such prior art semiconductor devices are disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,684,309. US 5,684,309 discloses a light emitting diode comprising stacked active layers of indium gallium nitride separated by a barrier layer of aluminum gallium nitride or aluminum indium gallium nitride. U. S. Patent No. 5,743, 629 discloses an illumination system that is reflected by a reflector to obtain nonwhite light emitted from a light emitting diode as white light. The devices disclosed in this patent can be designed to generate light with a specific color, but cannot provide multicolor illumination.

Accordingly, a main object of the present invention is to provide a multicolor semiconductor lamp and a method of illuminating the color using a single semiconductor light source to generate light output of various colors in a wide range.

1 is a partial cross-sectional schematic diagram showing a first preferred embodiment of a multicolor semiconductor lamp according to the invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view of a circuit block diagram of a multicolor semiconductor lamp according to the present invention.

3A to 3H are timing diagrams showing the relationship between the ramp voltage output of a ramp voltage generator according to the present invention and other pulses of the pulse generator.

4 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram showing a second preferred embodiment of a multicolor semiconductor lamp according to the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a partial cross-sectional schematic diagram showing a third preferred embodiment of a multicolor semiconductor lamp according to the invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

10: light source 20, 20 ': prism

21: input side 22: output side

23: base 24: pivot

30 lens 40 lamp housing

41, 42, 43, 44: terminal

50: piezoelectric member

51 ceramic substrate 52, 210, 220: electrode

60 lamp voltage generator 70 switching circuit

80 pulse generator 100 reflection base

According to a first aspect of the invention, a multicolor semiconductor lamp comprises: a semiconductor light source operable to generate light output;

A prism having an input surface and an output surface positioned in front of the light source and receiving light output, and separating the light output emitted from the light source into a plurality of color components radiated at various angles from the output surface;

A lens disposed in front of the output face of the prism such that the vertices of the connected conical focus portions are located at the output face of the prism;

Means for changing a spatial position of one of the light source and the prism relative to the other of the light source and the prism; And

The spatial position of one of the light source and the prism is changed so that one of the selected color components is made for operating the light source when it is registered in the conical focusing part of the lens.

According to a second aspect of the invention, a color illumination method comprises the steps of providing a dispersion prism between a semiconductor light source and a lens:

Here, the dispersion prism has an input surface positioned in front of the light source to receive light output from the light source, and the light output can be separated into a plurality of color components radiated at different angles from the output surface of the prism, and the lens is prism. Placed in front of the output face of the lens such that the conical focus associated with the lens is positioned at the output face of the prism;

Changing a spatial position of one of the light source and the prism relative to the other of the light source and the prism; And

The spatial position of one of the light source and the prism is changed to operate the light source when one of the selected color components is registered in the conical focusing portion of the lens.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

For ease of explanation, the same reference numerals are given to the same members.

Referring to FIG. 1, the multicolor semiconductor lamp of the first preferred embodiment according to the present invention consists of a semiconductor light source 10, a dispersion prism 20, a fixed lens 30 and a lamp housing 40.

In this embodiment, the semiconductor light source 10 is a light emitting diode or a laser diode that generates light output during operation.

The dispersion prism 20 is made of a transparent material having optical refractive power and selected from crystal, glass and plastic. The prism 20 has an input surface 21, an output surface 22, and a base 23 positioned in front of the light source 10 to receive light output. The input surface 21 is perpendicular to the base 23. The prism 20 separates the light output of the light source 10 into a plurality of color components radiated at various angles on the output surface 22.

Preferably, the light source 10 generates white light when actuated so that seven of the primary color components (red, green and blue) and the secondary color components (orange, yellow, purple and purple) are output surface 22. It can be radiated to.

Since the lens 30 having the convex light output surface is located in front of the prism 20 output surface 22, the conical focusing portion coupled with the lens is positioned at the output surface 22 of the prism 20. The conical focusing portion has a border that forms a 30 ° angle with the optical axis of the lens 30.

The light source 10, the prism 20 and the lens 30 are mounted in the lamp housing 40. The two terminals 43, 44 extend out of the lamp housing 40 and are connected to the voltage node of the light source 10.

In a first preferred embodiment, the spatial position of the light source 10 relative to the prism 20 can be changed. For this reason, the light source 10 is installed in the reflective base 100 mounted at one end of the extended piezoelectric member 50, and can move relative to the prism. The other end of the piezoelectric member 50 is mounted to the lamp housing 40. The piezoelectric member 50 includes a ceramic substrate 51 and an electrode 52 which surrounds the ceramic substrate 51 at both sides.

1 and 2, the electrode 52 of the piezoelectric member 50 has two terminals 41, 42 extending out of the lamp housing 40 to be connected to the ramp voltage generator 60. Is electrically connected to the The ramp voltage generator 60 applies a bipolar periodic ramp voltage output to the electrode 52 (see a in FIG. 3), so that the piezoelectric member 50 has a magnitude of the ramp voltage output. And the light output incident angle of the light source 10 at the input surface 21 of the prism 20.

An experiment was conducted to demonstrate the effect of changing the spatial position of the light source 10 on the prism 20 on the reflection angle of the color component reflected on the output surface 22 of the prism 20. The light source 10 is combined with red (red wavelength is between 622-780 nm) and the first color component with wavelength 652.272, yellow (yellow wavelength is between 577-597 nm) and wavelength 589.262 When combined with a second color component of phosphorus (green wavelength is between 492-577 nm) and a third color component of wavelength 546.074, blue (blue wavelength is between 455-492 nm) When combined with this fourth color component of 486.133, and purple (purple wavelength is between 390-455 nm) it produces a white light output with a fifth color component of wavelength 435.835. Prism 20 has a prism angle of 90 ° (angle between input face and base) and the following refractive indices: 1.456372 for red color component, 1.458407 for yellow color component, 1.460079 for green color component, and blue color component for 1.463131, glass prism with a refractive index of 1.466694 for the purple color component. Tables 1 and 3 show the refraction and emission angles for different color components, respectively, at incidence angles of 47.02 °, 48 ° and 49 °.

Table 1

Wavelength (nm) Refraction angle Radial angle 656.272 30.15483459 83.15463919 589.262 30.10839893 83.8574767 546.074 30.07035952 84.50148278 486.133 30.00118559 85.9310302 435.835 29.92085454 89.22452406

TABLE 2

Wavelength (nm) Refraction angle Radial angle 656.272 30.68190221 77.03392277 589.262 30.63447827 77.38634892 546.074 30.59563 77.68332837 486.133 30.52498681 78.24444754 435.835 30.44295217 78.93492826

TABLE 3

Wavelength (nm) Refraction angle Radial angle 656.272 31.21239837 72.8363937 589.262 31.16396881 73.09753575 546.074 31.12429751 73.31506349 486.133 31.05215946 73.71940698 435.835 30.96839171 74.20417713

From the data shown in Tables 1 to 3, it is evident that light of different wavelengths is emitted by the prism 20 at different angles, as is known. In addition, by changing the light output incident angle of the light source 10, the color component of the light source can be selectively registered in the conical focusing portion of the lens 30. In such a manner, it can be visually recognized that the color of the light emitted from the lens 30 in the multi-color semiconductor lamp of the present invention depends on the color component registered in the conical focusing portion of the lens 30.

In order to enable the semiconductor lamp to generate light output of different colors, the light source 10 is instantaneously at the moment when one selected color component is registered in the conical focusing portion of the lens 30 by changing its spatial position with respect to the prism 20. Will only work. For this reason, a switching circuit 70 in the form of a switching transistor Q1 is used to connect one of the terminals 43 and 44 to ground. The other of the terminals 43 and 44 is connected to an external voltage source Vcc. The pulse generator 80 is electrically connected to the control input of the switching circuit 70, i.e., the base terminal of the switching transistor Q1, within a predetermined interval of the ramp voltage output from the ramp voltage generator 60. It can be operated to generate a pulse. In FIG. 3A, the time of ramp voltage output is the duration of transition from the minimum value Vmin, i. The pulse generated from the pulse generator 80 changes the spatial position of the light source 10 so that the switching circuit 70 turns on the light source 10 at the moment when the selected one color component is registered in the conical focus portion of the lens 30. To the control input of the switching circuit 70 to enable operation. Therefore, if the light output of the light source 10 has seven color components, i.e. purple, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red, the pulse generator 80 may be ramped as shown in Figures 3b-3h. It can be controlled to generate one pulse selected from seven different pulses which occur at different times of a predetermined interval of the ramp voltage output of the voltage generator 60 and each correspond to several color components of the light output of the light source 10. . Thus, the semiconductor lamp can generate light output of various colors.

Preferably, the periodic lamp voltage output of the lamp voltage generator 60 is at least 16 Hz, allowing visual recognition of the continuous light output from the semiconductor lamp of the present invention. In addition, the color components are combined to generate a wider range of color light output. This is done in conjunction with the registration of the various color components of the light output of the light source 10 to the conical focusing portion of the lens 30 within the same time as the lamp voltage output of the lamp voltage generator 60, ie within the duration of the lamp voltage output. Can be. By doing so, it is possible to visually recognize the combined color light output of the color components that have been continuously registered in the conical focusing portion of the lens 30.

4 shows a second preferred embodiment of a multicolor semiconductor lamp according to the invention. Unlike the previous embodiment, it is the prism 20 that can be moved relative to the light source 10. In particular, the prism 20 is pivoted to the lamp housing 40 about the pivot 24 and mounted to one end of the piezoelectric member 50. The light source 10 is installed in the reflective base 100 mounted to one of the terminals 43 and 44 of the lamp housing 40. A ramp voltage generator 60 (see FIG. 2) is a bipolar periodic ramp voltage output (see FIG. 3 a) to the electrodes 52 of the piezoelectric member 50 via terminals 41 and 42 on the lamp housing 40. The piezoelectric member 50 changes the spatial position of the prism 20 with respect to the light source 10 by applying a deformity according to the magnitude of the lamp voltage output. In other words, the prism 20 is pivoted about the pivot 24 to change the angular direction of the input surface 21 and the output surface 22 of the prism with respect to the light source 10 and the lens 30, respectively. In FIG. 2, the spatial position of the prism 20 is changed by controlling the pulse generator to provide a pulse to the switching circuit 70 within a predetermined interval of time of the ramp voltage output generated from the ramp voltage generator 60. The switching circuit 70 enables the light source 10 to operate at the moment when the selected one color component is registered in the conical focusing portion of the lens 30.

5 shows a third preferred embodiment of the semiconductor lamp according to the invention. Unlike the previous embodiment, no extended piezoelectric member is used. Instead, the prism 20 'is a transparent piezoelectric crystal prism with light refractive power. The prism 20 'includes a pair of electrodes 210 and 220 at the input face 21 and the output face 22, respectively. The electrodes 210 and 220 are connected to the terminals 41 and 42 of the lamp housing 40, respectively. The light source 10 is mounted on a reflective base mounted on one of the terminals 43, 44 of the lamp housing 40. When the lamp voltage generator 60 (see FIG. 2) applies a bipolar periodic lamp voltage output (see a in FIG. 3) to the electrode via the terminals 41, 42 of the lamp housing 40, the prism 20 ′. ) Changes in accordance with the magnitude of the lamp voltage output to change the spatial position of the prism 20 'with respect to the light source 10. That is, the angular direction of the input surface 21 and the output surface 22 of the prism 20 'with respect to each one of the light source 10 and the lens 30 is changed. Of course, the emission angle of the color component is also changed at the output surface 22 of the prism 20 '. In FIG. 2, the spatial position of the prism 20 is changed by controlling the pulse generator to provide a pulse to the switching circuit 70 within a predetermined interval of time of the ramp voltage output generated from the ramp voltage generator 60. The switching circuit 70 enables the light source 10 to operate at the moment when the selected one color component is registered in the conical focusing portion of the lens 30.

The above-described embodiments are merely examples in all respects, and should not be construed as limiting, and the present invention can be implemented in various other forms without departing from the spirit and the main features.

The light source according to the invention is operated when one color component selected by registering the spatial position of one of the light source and the prism with respect to the other of the light source and the prism is registered in the conical focusing portion of the lens, so that the semiconductor lamp has a variety of colors. Will generate a light output.

Claims (35)

A semiconductor light source operable to generate light output; A dispersing prism positioned in front of the light source and having an input surface and an output surface receiving the light output, and separating the light output emitted from the light source into a plurality of color components and radiating the light output at various angles on the output surface 22; A lens disposed on the front surface of the output surface of the prism such that the vertex of the conical focusing portion connected is located at the output surface of the dispersion prism; Means for changing a spatial position of one of the light source and the prism relative to the other of the light source and the prism; And And means for operating the light source when one of the selected color components is registered in the conical focusing portion of the lens by varying the spatial position of one of the light source and the prism. The method of claim 1, wherein the position changing means, An extended piezoelectric member having one end connected to the light source to enable the light source to operate with respect to the prism; And A ramp voltage generator means electrically connected to the piezoelectric member to apply a periodic ramp voltage output, And the piezoelectric member varies in response to the magnitude of a ramp voltage output to change the light output incident angle of the light source at the input surface of the prism. 3. The multicolor semiconductor lamp of claim 2, wherein the piezoelectric member comprises a ceramic substrate and includes two electrodes surrounding the ceramic substrate on both sides and electrically connected to the ramp voltage generator means. (lamp). 3. The multicolor semiconductor lamp of claim 2, wherein the ramp voltage output is bipolar. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating means, A switching circuit adapted to connect the light source and an external voltage source; And Consisting of a pulse generator means electrically connected to the switching circuit and operable to generate a pulse within a predetermined interval of time of the ramp voltage output which is the transition duration from minimum to maximum, Wherein the pulse is provided so that the switching circuit can operate the light source at the moment when one of the selected color components is registered in the conical focusing portion of the lens as the spatial position of the light source is changed. Semiconductor lamps. 3. The multicolor semiconductor lamp of claim 2, wherein the periodic ramp voltage output has a frequency of at least 16 Hz. The method of claim 1, wherein the position changing means, An elongated piezoelectric member for sharing said one end with a mounted prism such that said prism can operate with respect to said light source; And A ramp voltage generator means electrically connected to the piezoelectric member to apply a ramp voltage output, And the piezoelectric member is deformed according to the magnitude of the ramp voltage output to change the spatial position of the prism with respect to the light source. 8. The multi-color semiconductor lamp of claim 7, wherein the piezoelectric member comprises two electrodes including a ceramic substrate, the two electrodes surrounding the substrate on both sides and electrically connected to the ramp voltage generator means. lamp). 8. The multicolor semiconductor lamp of claim 7, wherein the ramp voltage output is bipolar. 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the actuating means comprises: a switching circuit adapted to connect the light source and an external voltage source; And Consisting of a pulse generator means electrically connected to the switching circuit and operable to generate a pulse within a predetermined interval of time of the ramp voltage output which is the transition duration from minimum to maximum, Wherein the pulse is provided so that the switching circuit can operate the light source at the moment when one of the selected color components is registered in the conical focusing portion of the lens as the spatial position of the light source is changed. Semiconductor lamps. 8. The multicolor semiconductor lamp of claim 7, wherein the periodic ramp voltage output has a frequency of at least 16 Hz. The multicolor semiconductor lamp of claim 1, wherein the prism is made of a transparent material having optical refractive power and selected from crystal, glass, and plastic. The semiconductor lamp of claim 1, wherein the prism is a piezoelectric crystal prism having optical refractive power. The method of claim 13, wherein the prism, A pair of electrodes; And Said position changing means including a ramp voltage generator means electrically connected to said electrode and periodically applying a ramp voltage output thereto; To change the spatial position of the input and output surfaces of the prism with respect to the light source and the lens and to vary the magnitude of the ramp voltage output to change the radiation angle of the color components at the output surface of the prism. A multicolored semiconductor lamp characterized by. 15. The multicolor semiconductor lamp of claim 14, wherein the electrodes are provided on input and output surfaces of the prism, respectively. 15. The multicolor semiconductor lamp of claim 14, wherein said ramp voltage output is bipolar. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the actuating means comprises: a switching circuit adapted to connect the light source and an external voltage source; And Consisting of a pulse generator means electrically connected to the switching circuit and operable to generate a pulse within a predetermined interval of ramp voltage output time, the transition duration from the minimum value to the maximum value, Wherein the pulse is provided so that the switching circuit can operate the light source at the moment when one of the selected color components is registered in the conical focusing portion of the lens as the spatial position of the light source changes. Semiconductor lamps. 15. The multicolor semiconductor lamp of claim 14, wherein the periodic ramp voltage output is at a frequency of at least 16 Hz. The multicolor semiconductor lamp of claim 1, wherein said light source is a light emitting diode. The multicolor semiconductor lamp of claim 1, wherein said light source is a laser diode. The multicolor semiconductor lamp of claim 1, wherein the prism further comprises a base, the input surface of the prism being perpendicular to the base. The multicolor semiconductor lamp of claim 1, further comprising a lamp housing having the light source and mounted therein with the prism and the lens. Providing a dispersing prism between the semiconductor light source and the lens: wherein the prism has an input surface positioned in front of the light source for receiving light output from the light source and the plurality of colors radiated at different angles from the output surface of the prism Components, and the lens is placed in front of the output face of the prism so that the vertices of the conical focus portion connected to the lens are located at the output face of the prism; Changing a spatial position of one of the light source and the prism relative to the other of the light source and the prism; And And operating a light source when one of the selected color components is registered in the conical focusing portion of the lens by changing the spatial position of the one of the light source and the prism. The method of claim 23, wherein the changing of the position comprises: Mounting the light source at one end of the extended piezoelectric member to allow the light source to move relative to the prism; And A color, characterized in that the piezoelectric member is deformed according to the magnitude of the ramp voltage output and a periodic ramp voltage output is applied to the piezoelectric member to change the light output incident angle of the light source at the input surface of the prism. Illumination method. The method of claim 23, wherein the operating step, Generating a pulse within a predetermined interval of time, the duration at which the ramp voltage output transitions from a minimum value to a maximum value; And As the spatial position of the light source is changed, the switching circuit provides a pulse to the switching circuit that can connect the light source and an external voltage source to operate the light source at the moment when one of the selected color components is registered in the conical focusing part of the lens. Color illumination method, characterized in that made. The method of claim 23, wherein the changing of the position comprises: Mounting a light source on one end of the piezoelectric member extended to be operable relative to the prism; And A color, characterized in that the piezoelectric member is deformed according to the magnitude of the ramp voltage output and a periodic ramp voltage output is applied to the piezoelectric member to change the light output incident angle of the light source at the input surface of the prism. Illumination method. The method of claim 25, wherein the operating step, Generating a pulse within a predetermined interval of time, the duration at which the ramp voltage output transitions from a minimum value to a maximum value; And At the moment when the spatial position of the first prism is changed so that one of the selected color components is registered in the conical focusing portion of the lens, the switching circuit provides a pulse to the switching circuit which can connect the light source and an external voltage source to operate the light source. Color illumination method characterized by consisting of steps. 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the prism is made of a transparent material having optical refractive power and selected from crystals, glass, and plastics. 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the second prism is a transparent piezoelectric crystal prism having optical refractive power. The device of claim 29, wherein the prism is provided with a pair of electrodes, In the repositioning step, the prism is deformed according to the magnitude of the lamp voltage output to change the spatial position of the input and output surfaces of the prism with respect to the light source and the lens, and to change the radiation angle of the color components at the output surface of the prism. And applying a ramp voltage output to the electrode. The method of claim 23, wherein the operating step, Generating a pulse within a predetermined interval of time, the duration at which the ramp voltage output transitions from a minimum value to a maximum value; And As the spatial position of the second prism is changed, at the moment one of the selected color components is registered in the conical focusing part of the lens, the switching circuit provides a pulse to the switching circuit which can connect the light source and an external voltage source to operate the light source. Color illumination method characterized by consisting of steps. 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the light source is a light emitting diode. The method of claim 23, wherein the light source is a laser diode. A semiconductor light source operable to generate light output; A dispersing prism positioned in front of the light source and having an input surface and an output surface receiving the light output, and separating the light output emitted from the light source into a plurality of color components to radiate at different angles on the output surface; A lens disposed in front of the output surface of the prism such that the vertices of the conical converging portions connected are located at the output surface of the dispersion prism; And And a lamp housing in which the light source, the prism and the lens are mounted. Wherein the spatial position of one of the light source and the prism can be changed relative to the other of the light source and the prism. 35. The multi-color semiconductor as claimed in claim 34, wherein the light source is operable when one color component selected by the spatial position of one of the light source and the prism is registered in the conical focusing portion of the lens. Lamp.