Light projection assembly

Claim 1

Apparatus for projecting polarized light, comprising: a concave light reflector having an open mouth; a light source positioned within said reflector, said light source directing rays of light both directly from said source and indirectly off said reflector toward said open mouth of said reflector; a reflective-transmissive polarizer, configured in thin sheet form, positioned over said open mouth of said reflector, the reflecting components thereof being arranged generally orthogonal to the direction of said light rays passing through said open mouth, for linearly polarizing and transmitting one component of light incident thereon and for linearly polarizing and reflecting backwardly another component of said incident light, the two components having opposite polarization characteristics; and a quarter-wave plate located directly behind said polarizer for circularly polarizing said reflected component as it is reflected backward through said plate toward said concave reflector whereupon being reflected thEreby said reflected component suffers a reversal of polarization characteristics and is directed back through said quarter-wave plate and converted thereby to linearly polarized light with the same polarization characteristics as said transmitted component and is transmitted by said thin reflective-transmissive polarizer, the two components reinforcing one another resulting in a beam of substantially uniformly polarized light emanating from said apparatus.