Radiation device

Abstract

The invention relates to a radiation device comprising a housing, a single light-emitting unit, and a light-absorbing unit which is provided with an inlet opening and a reflector element. Said reflector element extends across the entire distance between the light-emitting unit and the inlet opening of the light-absorbing unit.

1 . An irradiation appliance, having: 
 a housing;    a single light-emitting unit which is arranged in the housing;    a light-receiving unit comprising an optical wave guide and having an inlet opening; and    a reflector element which extends over the entire distance between the light-emitting unit and the inlet opening of the light-receiving unit and has a smaller and a larger opening;    wherein the smaller opening faces the light-emitting unit, and the larger opening faces the light-receiving unit; and    wherein the inclination angle v of the reflector element follows the relationship:      ν=0.5×(δ−α)    where δ is the maximum emission angle at which the light beams intended to be injected into the optical waveguide leave the light-emitting unit, and a is the acceptance angle of the optical waveguide.    
   
   
       2 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the larger opening has a diameter that is less than or equal to that of the light-receiving unit ( 18 ).  
   
   
       3 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the smaller opening at least partially surrounds the light-emitting unit ( 11 ).  
   
   
       4 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the reflector element has an aperture angle that decreases in size continuously from the smaller opening to the larger opening.  
   
   
       5 . The irradiation device of  claim 1  wherein the reflector element has an aperture angle that decreases in size in at least one step between the smaller opening and the larger opening.  
   
   
       6 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the distance between the light-emitting unit  3  and the light-receiving unit is greater than half the diameter of the light-receiving unit.  
   
   
       7 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein the length of the reflector element is greater than the distance between the light-emitting unit and the light-receiving unit.  
   
   
       8 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the larger opening in the reflector element is covered by an optical protective glass.  
   
   
       9 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 8 , wherein the optical protective glass has blooming on one or both faces.  
   
   
       10 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the reflector element is a truncated cone which is reflective on the inside.  
   
   
       11 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 10 , wherein the inner surface of the truncated cone is metallically mirrored or is formed from a sheet with high optical reflection.  
   
   
       12 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 11 , wherein the sheet is composed of a metal with good reflection characteristics, or is coated with such a metal.  
   
   
       13 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 11 , wherein the sheet is a metal-free, multilayer interference reflector sheet.  
   
   
       14 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the light-emitting unit is a blue high-power light-emitting diode, comprising at least one light-emitting element whose size is at least 0.25 mm 2 , and the unit produces a radiation power between 100 and 1400 mW.  
   
   
       15 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 14 , wherein the at least one light-emitting element size is between 1 and 5 mm 2 , and the radiation power is between 200 and 800 mW.  
   
   
       16 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the light-emitting unit is thermally connected to the housing.  
   
   
       17 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 16 , wherein the housing is composed entirely or partially of a material of high thermal conductivity and thermal capacity.  
   
   
       18 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the housing is composed entirely or partially of aluminum, zinc or brass.  
   
   
       19 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein the light-emitting unit is additionally thermally connected to an element having a thermal capacity between 10 and 100 Joule/Kelvin.  
   
   
       20 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 19 , wherein the thermal capacity is between 20 and 50 Joule/Kelvin.  
   
   
       21 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the light-emitting element is mounted on a planar holding plate of high thermal conductivity.  
   
   
       22 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the light-receiving element is selected from a rigid optical waveguide rod or a flexible optical waveguide.  
   
   
       23 . An irradiation appliance, having: 
 a housing;    a single light-emitting unit which is arranged in the housing;    a light-receiving unit with an inlet opening; and    a reflector element which extends over the entire distance between the light-emitting unit and the inlet opening of the light-receiving unit and has a smaller and a larger opening;    wherein the smaller opening faces the light-emitting unit, and the larger opening faces the light-receiving unit; and    wherein the reflector element selectively deflects only those light beams whose emission angle from the light-emitting unit is greater than the acceptance angle of the light-receiving unit in the desired inlet angle range into the light-receiving unit, but leaves the other light beams unaffected.