Prismatic lenses for lighting fixtures

Claim 2

A lens for distributing light emitted by a light source to better illuminate an area in front of the light source, said lens comprising: a relatively thin light-transmitting material positioned between the light source and the area to be illuminated and having a front face presented toward the area to be illuminated and a rear face presented toward the light source, one of said faces being comprised of a plurality of adjacent convex surfaces, the other of said faces being comprised of a plurality of surfaces inclined with respect to the general direction assumed by the thin light transmitting material and arranged to form depressions in the material, each depression being located directly behind a convex surface on said one face, the other of said faces being further comprised of an intervening surface area located between the depressions and oriented generally in the direction assumed by the relatively thin lighttransmitting material, the convex surfaces, the inclined surfaces, and the intervening surface area being positioned relative to one another such that light from the light source, after passing through the lens, is concentrated in zones oblique to the general direction assumed by the light-transmitting material.

Claim 3

A lens according to claim 1 wherein the adjacent convex surfaces intersect, and the intervening surface area intersects the inclined surfaces.

Claim 4

A lens according to claim 2 wherein each depression is centered relative to a convex surface and the intervening surfaces are located directly opposite the junctures of adjacent convex surfaces.

Claim 5

A lens according to claim 3 wherein the depressions are V-shaped in cross-section with the apex of each V-shaped configuration being located directly opposite and centered relative to a convex surface.

Claim 6

A lens according to claim 4 wherein the spacing between the centers of adjacent depressions equals the width of the arcuate surfaces.

Claim 7

A lens according to claim 1 wherein each convex surface is formed about a center whereby it forms the segment of a circle.

Claim 8

A lens according to claim 6 wherein the width of each convex surface is between 1.00 and 1.87 times the radius of the convex surface.

Claim 9

A lens according to claim 6 wherein the thickness of the lens measured between the intervening surface area and the outermost portion of the convex surface is between 0.75 and 1.5 times the radius of the convex surface.

Claim 10

A lens according to claim 4 wherein the greatest angle between the opposed inclined surfaces which form the depression is between 40* and 78*.

Claim 11

A lens according to claim 4 wherein each depression is a groove and each convex surface forms a segment of a cylinder.

Claim 12

A lens according to claim 4 wherein each convex surface forms a segment of a sphere.

Claim 13

A lens according to claim 11 wherein each depression possesses the shape of a four-sided pyramid.

Claim 14

A lens according to claim 1 wherein the light-transmitting material is nonlaminate, and the front and rear surfaces thereof are completely exposed.

Claim 15

A lens according to claim 1 wherein the face comprised of the inclined surfaces and intervening surface area is presented toward the light source and the face comprised of the convex surfaces is presented toward the area to be illuminated.

Claim 16

A lens according to claim 1 wherein the intervening surface area is disposed at no more than 15* with respect to the general direction assumed by the light transmitting material.

Claim 17

A lens according to claim 1 wherein the intervening surface area is planar.

Claim 18

A ligHt fixture lens having the capability of concentrating light emitted from a light source in a light fixture in zones generaly oblique to the nadir of the lens to provide more pleasant illumination of the area beyond the lens and fixture, said lens comprising a nonlaminate light transmitting material which is relatively thin and has a rear face presented toward the light source and a front face presented toward the area to be illuminated, the rear face being comprised of a generally flat surface area presented substantially perpendicular to the nadir of the lens and a plurality of intersecting inclined surfaces presented at oblique angles with respect to the generally flat surface area to form generally V-shaped depressions in the light transmitting material, the front face being comprised of adjacent convex surfaces with each convex surface being presented in front of a different V-shaped depression and being centered with respect to that depression so that the junctures of adjacent convex surfaces will be in front of the generally flat surface area, the relative positioning of the convex surfaces, the inclined surfaces, and the generally flat surface area being such that the light from the light source, after passing through the lens, is concentrated in zones oblique to the nadir for the lens.

Claim 19

A ligHt fixture lens having the capability of concentrating light emitted from a light source in a light fixture in zones generaly oblique to the nadir of the lens to provide more pleasant illumination of the area beyond the lens and fixture, said lens comprising a nonlaminate light transmitting material which is relatively thin and has a rear face presented toward the light source and a front face presented toward the area to be illuminated, the rear face being comprised of a generally flat surface area presented substantially perpendicular to the nadir of the lens and a plurality of intersecting inclined surfaces presented at oblique angles with respect to the generally flat surface area to form generally V-shaped depressions in the light transmitting material, the front face being comprised of adjacent convex surfaces with each convex surface being presented in front of a different V-shaped depression and being centered with respect to that depression so that the junctures of adjacent convex surfaces will be in front of the generally flat surface area, the relative positioning of the convex surfaces, the inclined surfaces, and the generally flat surface area being such that the light from the light source, after passing through the lens, is concentrated in zones oblique to the nadir for the lens.

Claim 20

A lens for distributing light emitted by a light source to better illuminate an area in front of the light source; said lens comprising: a relatively thin one-piece light-transmitting material positioned between the light source and the lens and having a rear face presented toward the light source and a front face presented toward the area to be illuminated, the front face being comprised of a plurality of adjacent convex surfaces, the back face being comprised of a surface area extended generally in the direction assumed by the thin light-transmitting material and surfaces inclined with respect to that surface area to form depressions which open toward the light source and interrupt the surface area, the relative positioning of the depressions, the surface area and the convex surfaces, and the configuration of the depressions all being such that light from the light source, after passing through the lens, is concentrated in zones oblique to the general direction in which the light-transmitting material extends so that the concentration of light is minimized along the nadir to the lens.

Claim 21

A lens for distributing light emitted by a light source to better illuminate an area in front of the light source; said lens comprising: a relatively thin one-piece light-transmitting material positioned between the light source and the lens and having a rear face presented toward the light source and a front face presented toward the area to be illuminated, the front face being comprised of a plurality of adjacent convex surfaces, the back face being comprised of a surface area extended generally in the direction assumed by the thin light-transmitting material and surfaces inclined with respect to that surface area to form depressions which open toward the light source and interrupt the surface area, the relative positioning of the depressions, the surface area and the convex surfaces, and the configuration of the depressions all being such that light from the light source, after passing through the lens, is concentrated in zones oblique to the general direction in which the light-transmitting material extends so that the concentration of light is minimized along the nadir to the lens.

Claim 22

A lens according to claim 18 wherein the front and rear faces of the light-transmitting material are completely exposed.