LIGHTING SYSTEMS AND ASSOCIATED METHODS COMBINING VISIBLE AND NON-VISIBLE LIGHT CONVERTING PHOSPHOR

Abstract

A lighting system combining visible and non-visible light converting phosphor, wherein the lighting system includes: a light emitting diode (LED) package; at least one light emitting diode (LED) chip associated with the light emitting diode (LED) package; a phosphor material associated with at least a portion of the at least one light emitting diode (LED) chip, wherein the phosphor material includes: a first converting material that emits in the visible light spectrum; and a second converting material that emits in the non-visible light spectrum; and wherein the first converting material and the second converting material controllably regulate light output of the lighting system.

Claims

1. A method, comprising: providing a first lighting system that comprises a first light output, wherein the first lighting system further comprises a first light emitting diode (LED) package comprising a first group of LED chips; in response to determining the first light output of the first lighting system, associating, based on the first light output, the first lighting system with a manufacturing bin represented by binning parameters comprising a defined LED output intensity of the first group of LED chips; and providing a second lighting system that comprises a second light output and disposing the second lighting system in the manufacturing bin represented by the binning parameters comprising the defined LED output intensity of the first group of LED chips, wherein the second lighting system further comprises a second LED package, and wherein the providing further comprises mounting a second group of LED chips on the second LED package, and covering the second group of LED chips with a phosphor material comprising a first defined amount of visible light-based material and a second defined amount of non-visible light-based material to facilitate generation of the second light output that is associated with the manufacturing bin represented by the defined LED output intensity of the first group of LED chips, wherein the phosphor material comprises a first defined amount of the visible light-based material and a second defined amount of the non-visible light-based material, wherein the visible light-based material emits first electromagnetic radiation in a visible light spectrum, and wherein the non-visible light-based material emits second electromagnetic radiation in a non-visible light spectrum.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the covering of the second group of LED chips further comprises: in response to the second group of LED chips being determined to comprise a measured LED output intensity that is greater, by a first margin, than the defined LED output intensity of the first group of LED chips, combining, based on a weight ratio of the visible light-based material to the non-visible light-based material, the first defined amount of the visible light-based material with the second defined amount of the non-visible light-based material to facilitate a reduction in the measured LED output intensity of the second group of LED chips.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the measured LED output intensity is a first measured LED output intensity, and wherein the covering of the second group of LED chips further comprises: in response to the second group of LED chips being determined to comprise a second measured LED output intensity that is less than the defined LED output intensity of the first group of LED chips, not combining the first defined amount of the visible light-based material with the second defined amount of the non-visible light-based material to facilitate non-adjustment of the second measured LED output intensity of the second group of LED chips.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the measured LED output intensity of the second group of LED chips is a first measured LED output intensity, wherein the weight ratio is a first weight ratio, and wherein the covering of the second group of LED chips further comprises: in response to the second group of LED chips being determined to comprise a second measured LED output intensity that is greater, by a second margin that is less than the first margin, than the defined LED output intensity of the first group of LED chips, combining, based on a second weight ratio of the visible light-based material to the non-visible light-based material, the first defined amount of the visible light-based material with a third defined amount of the non-visible light-based material to facilitate a reduction in the second measured LED output intensity of the second group of LED chips, wherein the second defined amount of the non-visible light-based material is greater than the third defined amount of the non-visible light-based material, and wherein the first weight ratio is less than the second weight ratio.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the visible light-based material comprises yttrium aluminum garnet.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the visible light-based material comprises yttrium aluminum garnet doped with at least one of an alkali metal, an alkaline earth metal, a transition metal, a lanthanide, or an actinide.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the visible light-based material comprises lutetium aluminum garnet.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the visible light-based material comprises a nitride.

9. The method of claim 9, wherein the nitride comprises at least one of an interstitial nitride, gallium nitride, or an indium gallium nitride.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the visible light-based material comprises a silicate.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the silicate comprises a europium doped silicate.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the visible light-based material is selected from a group comprising yttrium aluminum garnet, yttrium gallium garnet, lutetium aluminum garnet, lutetium gallium garnet, nitride, and silicate.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-visible light-based material comprises gadolinium gallium aluminum garnet.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-visible light-based material comprises oxo(oxochromiooxy)chromium.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-visible light-based material comprises chromium(III) oxide.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-visible light-based material comprises gadolinium gallium aluminum garnet and chromium(III) oxide.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein a weight ratio of the gadolinium gallium aluminum garnet to the chromium(III) oxide ranges from approximately 99:1 to approximately 90:10.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein a ratio of Al.sup.3+ to Ga.sup.3+ in the gadolinium gallium aluminum garnet ranges from approximately 0.25:1 to approximately 0.95:1.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein a ratio of Al.sup.3+ to Ga.sup.3+ in the gadolinium gallium aluminum garnet ranges from approximately 0.5:1 to approximately 0.7:1.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the second group of LED chips comprises at least one of a blue LED chip or an ultraviolet LED chip.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] Certain embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by the accompanying figures. It will be understood that the figures are not necessarily to scale and that details not necessary for an understanding of the invention or that render other details difficult to perceive may be omitted.

[0038] It will be further understood that the invention is not necessarily limited to the particular embodiments illustrated herein.

[0039] The invention will now be described with reference to the drawings wherein:

[0040] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a lighting system combining visible and non-visible light converting phosphor, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

[0041] FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for manufacturing the lighting system combining visible and non-visible light converting phosphor, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

[0042] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of the lighting system combining visible and non-visible light converting phosphor, in accordance with multiple embodiments of the present invention; and

[0043] FIG. 4 illustrates a spectrum of light output consisting of both visible and non-visible range, in accordance with multiple embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0044] While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and described herein in detail several specific embodiments with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments illustrated.

[0045] It will be understood that like or analogous elements and/or components, referred to herein, may be identified throughout the drawings by like reference characters. In addition, it will be understood that the drawings are merely schematic representations of one or more embodiments of the invention, and some of the components may have been distorted from their actual scale for purposes of pictorial clarity.

[0046] Various embodiments of the present invention relate to lighting systems and methods combining visible and non-visible light converting phosphor, aimed at limiting the number of bins by combining visible light converting phosphor (the type of phosphor which converts visible light from one wavelength or light output to another visible light of a different wavelength or light output) with non-visible light converting phosphor (the type of phosphor which converts visible light to non-visible wavelengths, like infrared or ultraviolet). Consequently, some of the visible light is converted to non-visible light range (e.g., heat).

[0047] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a lighting system 100 combining visible and non-visible light converting phosphor. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the lighting system 100 combining visible and non-visible light converting phosphor includes, a light emitting diode (LED) package 104, a light emitting diode (LED) chip 102 mounted on the light emitting diode (LED) package 104, a phosphor material 106 covering the light emitting diode (LED) chip 102. In use, the phosphor material 106 includes a first converting material and a second converting material.

[0048] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the first converting material is phosphor which emits in the visible light spectrum and the second converting material is phosphor material that emits in the non-visible spectrum of light. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the phosphor material can contain one or more than one phosphor types, as desired in a specific end use application of the invention. As used herein, “phosphor” refers to any material that converts the wavelengths of light irradiating it and/or that is fluorescent and/or phosphorescent and the specific components and/or formulation of the phosphor are not limitations of the present invention.

[0049] In one embodiment of the present invention, the first converting material preferably comprises yttrium aluminum garnet (e.g., Y.sub.3,Al.sub.5O.sub.12) which may optionally be doped with alkali metal, an alkaline earth metal, a transition metal, a lanthanide, and/or an actinide (e.g., Y.sub.3-xAl.sub.5-yD.sub.(x,y)O.sub.12), wherein D is a dopant and wherein x and y are the same or different dopant).

[0050] In another embodiment of the present invention, the first converting material preferably comprises lutetium aluminum garnet (e.g., Al.sub.5Lu.sub.3O.sub.12) which may optionally be doped with alkali metal, an alkaline earth metal, a transition metal, a lanthanide, and/or an actinide (e.g., Al.sub.5-xLu.sub.3-yD.sub.(x,y)O.sub.12), wherein D is a dopant and wherein x and y are the same or different dopant).

[0051] In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the first converting material preferably comprises a nitride, such as, but not limited to, interstitial nitride, gallium nitride (e.g., GaN), and/or indium gallium nitride (e.g., InGaN, In.sub.xGa.sub.1-xN).

[0052] The first converting material of the present invention may also comprise a silicate, such as europium doped silicate.

[0053] It will be understood that, unless otherwise specified, the first converting materials provided herein, or their precursors, are available from commercial chemical vendors, such as Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Co., of St. Louis, Miss.

[0054] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the second converting material preferably comprises gadolinium gallium aluminum garnet (e.g., Gd.sub.3,Ga.sub.5-x,Al.sub.xO.sub.12).

[0055] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the second converting material preferably comprises oxo(oxochromiooxy)chromium and/or chromium(III) oxide (e.g., Cr.sub.2O.sub.3).

[0056] In yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the second converting material comprises a combination of gadolinium gallium aluminum garnet and chromium(III) oxide, wherein the weight ratio of gadolinium gallium aluminum garnet to chromium(III) oxide ranges from approximately 99:1 to approximately 90:10. In this embodiment, the ratio of Al.sup.3+ to Ga.sup.3+ in the gadolinium gallium aluminum garnet preferably ranges from approximately 0.25:1 to approximately 0.95:1, and more preferably ranges from approximately 0.5:1 to approximately 0.7:1.

[0057] It will be understood that, unless otherwise specified, the second converting materials provided herein, or their precursors, are available from commercial chemical vendors, such as Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Co., of St. Louis, Miss.

[0058] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the weight ratio of the first converting material to the second converting material preferably ranges from approximately 50:1 to approximately 2:1, and more preferably ranges from approximately 25:1 to approximately 5:1.

[0059] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the light emitting diode (LED) chip 102 is a blue LED chip and/or a UV LED chip. In use, the light emitting diode (LED) chips 102 belong to one or more LED bins. Generally, the LED bins have a corresponding light output performance with respect to a light wavelength and/or light brightness, and/or other similar parameters. Those of ordinary skills in the art will appreciate that the combination of the first converting material and the second converting material provides one or more characteristics to the system 100. In use, such characteristics are dependent upon the first converting material that converts light in visible spectrum, and the second converting material that converts light in non-visible spectrum, as explained hereinabove.

[0060] FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of a method 200 for manufacturing the lighting system combining visible and non-visible light converting phosphor. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the method 200 of manufacturing a lighting system combining visible and non-visible light converting phosphor, includes the steps of, providing a light emitting diode (LED) package; mounting at least one light emitting diode (LED) chip on the light emitting diode (LED) package; and, covering the at least one light emitting diode (LED) chip with a phosphor material. In use, the phosphor material includes a first converting material and a second converting material, and the spectral appearance of the lighting system is dependent upon a combination of the first converting material and the second converting material.

[0061] In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the method 200 further includes disposing the light emitting diode (LED) chip in at least one LED bin, as discussed above.

[0062] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of the lighting system 300 combining visible and non-visible light converting phosphor, in accordance with multiple embodiments of the present invention. As seen therein, material 302 refers to a combination of non-visible light converting phosphor material and visible light converting phosphor material. Additionally, material 304 refers to visible light converting phosphor material and material 306 refers to non-visible light converting phosphor material. Also, material 308 refers to clear material, 310 refers to visible light converting phosphor material and 312 refers to non-visible light converting phosphor material. Consequently, as may be seen, different types of materials may be employed for multiple embodiments as disclosed herein.

[0063] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the first converting material includes a generic material that absorbs light of a shorter wavelength from the LED chip and converts it into polychromatic light with longer wavelengths in the visible wavelength range. In use, the typical visible range output is from 480 nm to 650 nm. In addition, the second material absorbs light of a shorter wavelength from the LED chip and converts it into light with longer wavelength in the non-visible wavelength range or greater than 680 nm. FIG. 4 illustrates a spectrum of the light output consisting of both the visible and non-visible range. As illustrated therein, 402 represents the LED, 404 represents visible light converting phosphor material and 406 represents non-visible light converting phosphor material.

[0064] Subsequently, the first converting material allows the flexibility to vary the quantity of converting material used to derive the desired color. In use, the second converting material is used to absorb the light from the LED chip for converting it to light in the non-visible range, and, in turn, reduces the total visible light to the eye. As a result, the converted non-visible light does not influence the visible color and hence it is convenient to be used as a means to vary and control the total visible light output.

[0065] Furthermore, for practical applications, LED chips with higher light output (or higher optical power) are mixed with more quantity of the second converting material to reduce the total visible light output. Similarly, LED chips with lower light output (or lower optical power) are mixed with lower quantity or may even be employed without the second converting material. Consequently, with such control, the range of visible light output or the number of bins can be reduced as disclosed herein.

[0066] Therefore, as may be seen, various embodiments of the present invention disclose lighting systems and methods combining visible and non-visible light converting phosphor, which provide significant advantages, such as, for example, but not limited to, controlling the wavelength and the intensity of the LEDs and tuning the LEDs into specific bins, thereby reducing the number of bins.

[0067] The present invention is also directed to a method for matching light output of a first lighting system and a second lighting system, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a first lighting system having a light output, said first lighting system comprising: (1) a light emitting diode (LED) package; (2) at least one light emitting diode (LED) chip associated with the light emitting diode (LED) package; and (3) a phosphor material associated with at least a portion of the at least one light emitting diode (LED) chip; (b) determining the light output of the first lighting system and establishing binning parameters; (c) providing a second lighting system having a light output, said second lighting system comprising: (1) a light emitting diode (LED) package; (2) at least one light emitting diode (LED) chip associated with the light emitting diode (LED) package; and (3) a phosphor material associated with at least a portion of the at least one light emitting diode (LED) chip, wherein the phosphor material comprises: (a) a first converting material, wherein the first converting material emits in the visible light spectrum; and (b) a second converting material, wherein the second converting material emits in the non-visible light spectrum; and (d) substantially matching the light output of the second lighting system to the light output of the first lighting system via the first and second converting materials of the second lighting system to comport with the established binning parameters.

[0068] The foregoing description merely explains and illustrates the invention and the invention is not limited thereto except insofar as the appended claims are so limited, as those skilled in the art who have the disclosure before them will be able to make modifications without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0069] While certain embodiments have been illustrated and described, it should be understood that changes and modifications can be made therein in accordance with ordinary skill in the art without departing from the technology in its broader aspects as defined in the following claims.

[0070] The embodiments, illustratively described herein may suitably be practiced in the absence of any element or elements, limitation or limitations, not specifically disclosed herein. Thus, for example, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “containing,” etcetera shall be read expansively and without limitation. Additionally, the terms and expressions employed herein have been used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the claimed technology. Additionally, the phrase “consisting essentially of” will be understood to include those elements specifically recited and those additional elements that do not materially affect the basic and novel characteristics of the claimed technology. The phrase “consisting of” excludes any element not specified.

[0071] The present disclosure is not to be limited in terms of the particular embodiments described in this application. Many modifications and variations can be made without departing from its spirit and scope, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Functionally equivalent methods and compositions within the scope of the disclosure, in addition to those enumerated herein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing descriptions. Such modifications and variations are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims. The present disclosure is to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to particular methods, reagents, compounds compositions or biological systems, which can of course vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting.

[0072] In addition, where features or aspects of the disclosure are described in terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosure is also thereby described in terms of any individual member or subgroup of members of the Markush group.

[0073] As will be understood by one skilled in the art, for any and all purposes, particularly in terms of providing a written description, all ranges disclosed herein also encompass any and all possible subranges and combinations of subranges thereof. Any listed range can be easily recognized as sufficiently describing and enabling the same range being broken down into at least equal halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, tenths, etcetera. As a non-limiting example, each range discussed herein can be readily broken down into a lower third, middle third and upper third, etcetera. As will also be understood by one skilled in the art all language such as “up to,” “at least,” “greater than,” “less than,” and the like, include the number recited and refer to ranges which can be subsequently broken down into subranges as discussed above. Finally, as will be understood by one skilled in the art, a range includes each individual member.

[0074] All publications, patent applications, issued patents, and other documents referred to in this specification are herein incorporated by reference as if each individual publication, patent application, issued patent, or other document was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference in its entirety. Definitions that are contained in text incorporated by reference are excluded to the extent that they contradict definitions in this disclosure.

[0075] Other embodiments are set forth in the following claims.