Solar simulator

Claim 1

A RADIANT ENERGY PROJECTOR FOR PROJECTING SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL LIGHT AND OTHER RADIANT ENERGY COMPRISING: A PLURALITY OF RADIANT ENERGY SOURCES; EACH OF SAID SOURCES HAVING ASSOCIATED THEREWITH AN OPTICAL SYSTEM; SAID OPTICAL SYSTEM COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF SUBSTANTIALLY IDENTICAL OPTICAL SUB-ASSEMBLIES, EACH OF SAID SUB-ASSEMBLIES BEING COMPOSED OF A PLURALITY OF OPTICAL ELEMENTS; THE OPTICAL ELEMENTS OF EACH SUB-ASSEMBLY MOST REMOTE FROM ITS ASSOCIATED RADIANT ENERGY SOURCE DEFINING THE FINAL OPTICAL AXIS OF SAID SUB-ASSEMBLY; THE OPTICAL ELEMENT IN EACH OF SAID SUB-ASSEMBLIES NEAREST TO THE RADIANT ENERGY SOURCE BEING CONCAVE MIRRORS POSITIONED RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER AND THE ASSOCIATED RADIANT ENERGY SOURCE SO AS TO COLLECT AT LEAST PART OF THE RADIATION EMITTED THEREFROM; THE OPTICAL ELEMENTS IN EACH OF SAID SUB-ASSEMBLIES BEING OF SUCH DIOPTRIC POWER AND RELATIVE POSITION AS TO COLLIMATE THE RADIATION COLLECTED BY THE CONCAVE MIRROR OF THE SUB-ASSEMBLY; SAID COLLIMATED RADIATION OF EACH SUB-ASSEMBLY THEREFORE BEING PARALLEL TO SAID FINAL OPTICAL AXIS OF THAT SUB-ASSEMBLY; EACH SAID FINAL OPTICAL AXIS BEING SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE FINAL OPTICAL AXES OF THE OTHER SUB-ASSEMBLIES IN THE SAME OPTICAL SYSTEM AND ALL THE OTHER OPTICAL SYSTEMS; SAID SUB-ASSEMBLIES BEING SYMMETRICALLY ARRANGED RELATIVE TO ITS ASSOCIATED RADIANT ENERGY SOURCE; THAT OPTICAL ELEMENT WHICH IS MOST REMOTE FROM THE ASSOCIATED RADIANT ENERGY SOURCE BEING A LARGE DIAMETER POSITIVE REFRACTIVE ELEMENT HAVING TWO OPTICALLY ACTIVE SURFACES; EACH OF SAID MOST REMOTE LARGE ELEMENTS HAVING ITS PERIPHERY CONTIGUOUS TO THE CORRESPONDING LARGE REFRACTIVE ELEMENTS OF THE OTHER OPTICAL SUB-ASSEMBLIES, THEREBY FORMING A LARGE COMPOSITE ARRAY OF LENSES, SO THAT THE CONTINUOUS AREA BEYOND SAID LENS ARRAY IS EVENLY ILLUMINATED.