Irradiation appliance

Abstract

The invention relates to a radiation device that includes a housing, a light-emitting unit and a light-absorbing unit which is provided with an inlet opening and a reflector element. The 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 having an inner surface in the shape of a truncated cone,   wherein the reflector element 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; and   wherein the smaller opening faces the light-emitting unit, and the larger opening faces the light-receiving unit.   
     
     
         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. 
     
     
         3 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the smaller opening at least partially surrounds the light-emitting unit. 
     
     
         4 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the reflector element has an aperture angle that decreases in size from the smaller opening to the larger opening. 
     
     
         5 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the distance between the light-emitting unit and the light-receiving unit is greater than half the diameter of the light-receiving unit. 
     
     
         6 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the length of the reflector element is greater than the distance between the light-emitting unit and the light-receiving unit. 
     
     
         7 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the larger opening in the reflector element is covered by an optical protective glass. 
     
     
         8 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 7 , wherein the optical protective glass has blooming on one or both faces. 
     
     
         9 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the reflector element is reflective on the inside. 
     
     
         10 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 9 , wherein the inner surface of the truncated cone is metallically mirrored or is formed from a sheet with high optical reflection. 
     
     
         11 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 10 , wherein the sheet is composed of a metal with good reflection characteristics, or is coated with such a metal. 
     
     
         12 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 10 , wherein the sheet is a metal-free, multilayer interference reflector sheet. 
     
     
         13 . 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. 
     
     
         14 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 13 , 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. 
     
     
         15 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the light-emitting unit is thermally connected to the housing. 
     
     
         16 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 15 , wherein the housing is composed entirely or partially of a material of high thermal conductivity and thermal capacity. 
     
     
         17 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 16 , wherein the housing is composed entirely or partially of aluminum, zinc or brass. 
     
     
         18 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 16 , wherein the light-emitting unit is additionally thermally connected to an element having a thermal capacity between 10 and 100 Joule/Kelvin. 
     
     
         19 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 18 , wherein the thermal capacity is between 20 and 50 Joule/Kelvin. 
     
     
         20 . The irradiation appliance as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the light-emitting element is mounted on a planar holding plate of high thermal conductivity. 
     
     
         21 . 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. 
     
     
         22 . 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 ν of the reflector element follows the relationship:
   ν=0.5×(δ−α)
 
   where δ is a maximum emission angle at which light beams intended to be injected into the optical waveguide leave the light-emitting unit, and α is an acceptance angle of the optical waveguide.