Optomechanical system for injecting light, optical coupler of said system illuminating device with said system

Abstract

A system for injecting light, includes an optical coupler having: a lens having a convex entrance face of radial extent R1, a convex central exit face and a peripheral exit face; a cavity, containing the entrance face and with an entrance lateral surface; and a peripheral reflective surface, encircling the lens and the cavity, extending beyond the entrance face; an optical collector, with an entrance, a collecting surface facing the central exit face, and a numerical aperture NA smaller than 1, the collector including a jacket having an end surface; and a member for aligning the optical collector, the optical coupler and the aligning member being integrally formed or being indirectly or directly fastened together, the central distance eF on the axis Oz between the collecting surface and the central exit face being nonzero and smaller than 5 mm, and the system including a stop for the end surface.

1 .- 25 . (canceled) 
     
     
         26 . An illuminating system, comprising:
 a light source configured to emit light;   an optomechanical system optically coupled to the light source, said optomechanical system comprising
 an optical coupler that comprises a body of axis Oz, O being a center of an entrance of the optical coupler, including integrally formed:
 a lens of axis coincident with the axis Oz, of maximum width W, the lens comprising
 a convex entrance face of radial extent R1; 
 a convex central exit face, defined by a central extent H, on the axis Oz, and of radial extent R A ; and 
 a peripheral exit face that comprises a part joined to the central exit face, said part being flat or concave or frustroconical and flared in the direction of an exit of the optomechanical system; 
 
 a cavity, of axis coincident with the axis Oz, comprising a bottom containing the convex entrance face, and comprising an entrance lateral surface; 
 a peripheral reflective surface, encircling the lens and the cavity, of axis coincident with the axis Oz, able to internally reflect light emitted by the light source and refracted by the entrance lateral surface, said peripheral reflective surface extending beyond the convex entrance face in a direction of the exit of the optical coupler; 
 
 an optical collector of axis coincident with the axis Oz, with a collecting surface, facing the convex central exit face, of millimeter-size radial extent R INT , and a numerical aperture NA smaller than 1, the optical collector comprising a jacket having an end surface, the convex central exit face and the peripheral exit face being spaced apart from the collecting surface, the optical collector comprising a bundle of optical fibers to transmit said light; and 
 an aligning member for aligning the optical collector with the optical coupler, the optical coupler and the aligning member being integrally formed or being indirectly or directly fastened together, 
 a central distance e F  on the axis Oz between the collecting surface and the convex central exit face being nonzero and smaller than 5 mm, 
 and the optomechanical system comprising a stop surface against which the end surface abuts, 
 wherein the end surface of the jacket extends toward the axis Oz beyond the stop surface, and the end surface is facing the peripheral exit face; 
   a light-extracting medium optically coupled to said optomechanical system to transmit light outputted by the optomechanical system, and   a carrier configured to support said light-extracting medium.   
     
     
         27 . The illuminating system of  claim 26 , wherein the carrier is plasterboard, a transparent board or a translucent board. 
     
     
         28 . The illuminating system of  claim 26 , wherein the light-extracting medium comprises
 a ribbon of optical fibers, or   a light-emitting fabric comprising a woven textile including optical fibers woven into a textile, or   a fibrous structure, or   a semitransparent or transparent sheet or film coupled to an injection ribbon made of optical fibers, said film comprising a system for scattering light.   
     
     
         29 . The illuminating system of  claim 26 , wherein the light source is a light-emitting diode. 
     
     
         30 . The illuminating system of  claim 26 , wherein R INT  is smaller than 3.0 mm. 
     
     
         31 . The illuminating system of  claim 26 , wherein the optical coupler is defined by the following dimensions:
 1.88R INT <W<3.1R INT ;   0.41R INT <R A <0.68R INT ; and   0.4R INT <R 1 <0.66R INT .   
     
     
         32 . The illuminating system of  claim 26 , wherein the optical coupler is defined by the following dimensions:
 W smaller than 10 mm;   H smaller than W;   R A  larger than 1.2 mm and smaller than 1.6 mm;   R1 larger than 1.2 mm and smaller than 1.6 mm; and   hE′, maximum depth of the bottom larger than 1.4 mm and smaller than 1.8 mm.   
     
     
         33 . The illuminating system of  claim 26 , wherein the stop surface is frustroconical and the end surface has a complementary shape to the stop surface. 
     
     
         34 . The illuminating system of  claim 26 , wherein on at least one surface portion closest to the bottom of the cavity, the entrance lateral surface is frustroconical and flared in the direction of the entrance of the optical coupler. 
     
     
         35 . The illuminating device of  claim 26 , further comprising a source carrier to support the light source, said source carrier and said optomechanical system being supported by the carrier. 
     
     
         36 . The illuminating device of  claim 26 , wherein the width W is of subcentimeter-size. 
     
     
         37 . The illuminating device of  claim 26 , wherein H is smaller than W. 
     
     
         38 . The illuminating device of  claim 26 , wherein the light-extracting medium has a thickness smaller than 5 mm.