Illumination assembly for dental and medical applications

Abstract

A small, lightweight, high intensity illumination assembly for use in dental and medical applications. The illumination assembly includes attachment means for removable attachment to headgear such as eyeglasses, face shields, or headbands, and lenses, loupes, and binoculars associated with such headgear. The illumination assembly is able to achieve extremely light weight by using only a single optical element therein, e.g., an aspheric condensing lens, binary optical element, or holographic optical means, and by piping illumination to the optical element from a remote light source by use of a flexible light guide, e.g., a fiberoptic bundle.

1. An illumination assembly comprising:
 a. a light guide having an output end and an input end, the input end being adapted for connection to a remote illumination source;  
 b. a housing having a light guide opening and an illumination opening, the output end of the light guide extending within the housing and being aligned to illuminate the illumination opening;  
 c. an aspheric lens mounted within the illumination opening; and  
 d. attachment means for removably attaching the housing to headgear.  
 
     
     
       2. The illumination assembly of  claim 1  wherein the light guide comprises a fiberoptic bundle. 
     
     
       3. The illumination assembly of  claim 1  wherein the light guide has a diameter of less than 3 millimeters. 
     
     
       4. The illumination assembly of  claim 1  wherein the housing includes a housing base telescopically engaged to the housing, wherein the output end of the light guide is attached to the housing base to provide an adjustable relationship between the output end an the aspheric lens. 
     
     
       5. The illumination assembly of  claim 4  wherein the housing includes a helical groove therein, and a key riding within the helical groove. 
     
     
       6. The illumination assembly of  claim 1  in combination with eyeglasses, wherein the attachment means is removably attached to the eyeglasses. 
     
     
       7. The illumination assembly of  claim 1  in combination with binocular telescopes, wherein the attachment means is removably attached to the binocular telescopes. 
     
     
       8. The illumination assembly of  claim 1  wherein the housing includes an attachment bevel for filter attachment surrounding the illumination opening. 
     
     
       9. The illumination assembly of  claim 1  wherein the light guide opening and the illumination opening are both generally circular and are coaxial. 
     
     
       10. The illumination assembly of  claim 1  wherein the attachment means comprises a clip pivotally mounted to the housing. 
     
     
       11. The illumination assembly of  claim 1  wherein the aspheric lens has a diameter of less than 2 centimeters. 
     
     
       12. An illumination assembly comprising:
 a. a housing having a light guide opening and an opposing illumination opening;  
 b. a housing base adjustably engaged to the housing, the housing base being adapted to support a light guide to illuminate the illumination opening;  
 c. a positive lens mounted in the illumination opening, the positive lens including an aspheric face adjacent the housing base and an opposing generally planar face; and  
 d. attachment means, pivotably attached to the housing base, for removably attaching the housing base to headgear.  
 
     
     
       13. The illumination assembly of  claim 12  having a mass of less than 10 grams. 
     
     
       14. The illumination assembly of  claim 12  having a maximum dimension of less than 2 inches. 
     
     
       15. The illumination assembly of  claim 12  wherein the lens has a diameter of less than 2 centimeters. 
     
     
       16. The illumination assembly of  claim 12  in combination with a light guide supported within the housing base. 
     
     
       17. The illumination assembly of  claim 16  wherein the light guide is a fiberoptic bundle. 
     
     
       18. The illumination assembly of  claim 12  wherein the housing is telescopically engaged to the housing base. 
     
     
       19. The illumination assembly of  claim 18  including a key located between and rotatably engaging the housing and housing base. 
     
     
       20. The illumination assembly of  claim 12  wherein the housing includes an attachment bevel surrounding the illumination opening, the attachment bevel being adapted for attachment of a filter. 
     
     
       21. An illumination assembly for dental and medical application comprising:
   a. a lightweight, flexible light guide having an input end and an output end, the input end being adapted for connection to a remote illumination source;        b. a small, lightweight housing having an input end having an interior surface that defines a light guide opening and an output end having an interior surface that defines an illumination opening, the output end of the light guide extending within the light guide opening and being aligned so that light therefrom illuminates the illumination opening;        c. only a single lens mounted within the interior surface of the output end of the housing, said lens being an aspheric lens thereby providing a light source of such weight and size that it may be mounted to headgear so that an illumination beam therefrom substantially corresponds to the user's line of sight; and        d. means for attaching the housing to the headgear.     
     
     
       22. The illumination assembly of  claim 21  wherein the light guide is a fiber optic bundle having a diameter less than about  3  millimeters. 
     
     
       23. The illumination assembly of  claim 21  wherein the light guide is a fiber optic bundle having a diameter less than about  2  millimeters. 
     
     
       24. The illumination assembly of  claim 21  wherein the housing includes a housing base telescopically engaged to the housing, wherein the left guide is fiber optic bundle, wherein the output end of the light guide is attached to the housing base, and wherein means are provided for adjusting the distance between the output end and the aspheric lens. 
     
     
       25. The illumination assembly of  claim 23  wherein the housing includes a helical groove therein, and a pin riding within the helical groove. 
     
     
       26. An illumination assembly for dental and medical applications comprising:
   a. a lightweight, flexible fiberoptic bundle including several optical cables and having an input end and an output end, the input end being adapted for connection to a remote illumination source;        b. a small, light weight housing including an input end having an interior surface that defines a light guide opening and an output end having an interior surface that defines an illumination opening, the output end of the fiberoptic bundle extending within the light guide opening and being aligned so that light therefrom illuminates the illumination opening;        c. only a single lens mounted within the interior surface of the output end of the housing, said lens being an aspheric refractive lens, thereby providing a light source of such weight and size that it may be mounted to head gear so that an illumination beam therefrom substantially corresponds to the user's line of sight; and        d. means for attaching the housing to the headgear.     
     
     
       27. The illumination assembly of  claim 21  or  26  in combination with an implement mountable on a user's head, wherein the attaching means is removably attachable to the implement. 
     
     
       28. The illumination assembly of  claim 27  wherein the implement mountable on the users head is eyeglasses. 
     
     
       29. The illumination assembly of  claim 28  wherein a binocular telescope is mounted on the eyeglasses and the attaching means is removably attached to the binocular telescope as that the housing is substantially coaxial with the line of sight of the telescope. 
     
     
       30. The illumination assembly of  claim 21  or  26  wherein the attachment means comprises a clip for removably attaching the housing to the headgear substantially coaxial with the user's line of sight. 
     
     
       31. The illumination assembly of  claim 29  wherein the clip is pivotally mounted to the housing. 
     
     
       32. The illumination assembly of  claim 21  or  26  wherein the aspheric lens has a diameter of less than  2  centimeters. 
     
     
       33. The illumination assembly of  claim 21  or  26  wherein said illumination assembly without the light guide and mounting means has a weight of less than about  10  grams. 
     
     
       34. The illumination assembly of  claim 21  or  26  wherein said lens include an aspheric face and an opposing planar face, the lens being mounted such that said aspheric face faces inwardly. 
     
     
       35. An illumination assembly comprising:
   a. a light guide having an output end and an input end, the input end being adapted for connection to a remote illumination source;        b. a housing having a light guide opening and an illumination opening, the output end of the light guide extending within the housing and being aligned illuminate the illumination opening;        c. only a single optical element, the single optical element being a single aspheric lens mounted within the housing; and        d. attachment means for removably attaching the housing to headgear.     
     
     
       36. The illumination assembly of  claim 35  wherein the light guide comprises one or more fiberoptic cables. 
     
     
       37. The illumination assembly of  claim 35  wherein the light guide comprises a liquid- filled light guide.   
     
     
       38. The illumination assembly of  claim 35  wherein the light guide has a diameter of about  3  millimeters or less. 
     
     
       39. The illumination assembly of  claim 35  wherein the housing includes a housing base coupled to the housing, wherein the output end of the light guide is coupled to the housing base. 
     
     
       40. The illumination assembly of  claim 39  wherein the output end of the light guide is attached to the housing base to provide an adjustable relationship between the output end and the aspheric lens. 
     
     
       41. The illumination assembly of  claim 39  wherein the housing includes a housing base telescopically engaged to the housing. 
     
     
       42. The illumination assembly of  claim 39  wherein the housing includes a helical groove therein, and a pin riding within the helical groove. 
     
     
       43. The illumination assembly of  claim 35  in combination with an implement mounted on a users head, wherein the attachment means is removably attached to the implement mounted on a users head. 
     
     
       44. The illumination assembly of  claim 43  wherein the implement mounted on the users head is eyeglasses. 
     
     
       45. The illumination assembly of  claim 44  wherein the implement mounted on the users head is a binocular telescope. 
     
     
       46. The illumination assembly of  claim 35  wherein the housing includes an exterior attachment bevel for filter attachment surrounding the illumination opening. 
     
     
       47. The illumination assembly of  claim 35  wherein the housing includes an interior attachment bevel. 
     
     
       48. The illumination assembly of  claim 35  wherein the light guide opening and the illumination opening are both generally circular and are coaxial. 
     
     
       49. The illumination assembly of  claim 35  wherein the attachment means comprises a clip for removably attaching the housing to headgear. 
     
     
       50. The illumination assembly of  claim 35  wherein the attachment means comprises a bracket for removably attaching the housing to headgear. 
     
     
       51. The illumination assembly of  claim 49  wherein the clip is pivotally mounted to the housing. 
     
     
       52. The illumination assembly of  claim 35  wherein the aspheric lens has a diameter of less than  2  centimeters.