The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 20, 2001
Filed:
Apr. 07, 1997
Kevin F. Leadford, Crawfordsville, IN (US);
Jeffrey Mansfield Quinlan, Crawfordsville, IN (US);
NSI Enterprises, Inc., Atlanta, GA (US);
Abstract
Luminaires intended to deliver maximal light flux to a playing field with improved uniformity, the invention provides primary reflector structures having shaped facets, the several reflectors being capable of maximizing lumen delivery onto the playing field when considered relative to economy of manufacture. In certain embodiments of the invention, a shielding device or flux manager is employed for producing target extinctions by management of flux to precisely pass flux nearby original arc and through a second bounce off the reflector structure to direct that flux back into the beam. A virtual arc is thus produced in proximity to the original arc with the virtual arc acting as a second source. The flux manager acts to reduce glare and “spill” light. Performance optimization is further provided in embodiments using the flux manager through additional use of a multi-faceted reflector insert which re-aims light which would have been incident on portions of the reflector structure and which light is blocked by the flux manager. The improved light distribution provided by the luminaires of the invention allow use of fewer luminaires for a given playing field lighting performance.