Abstract The disclosure is a multiple-stage optical instrument consisting of conical lenses which reduce the size of an incipient beam of light as a means of producing a high-intensity concentrated beam. The beam is composed of parallel rays of coherent light similar to the laser beam. The beam concentrator, however, is powered by sunlight, and it produces concentrated solar beams as a source of energy without using electricity. Each stage of the beam concentrator consists of two component lenses; an upper lens with a planar section (face) which receives and transmits an incipient solar beam to a convex conical section on the opposite side of the lens, and a lower lens with a convex conical section which receives the beam refracted by the convex conical section of the upper lens and refracts the beam to a concave conical section on the opposite side of the lower lens. The beam is refracted three times and it emerges from the lower lens parallel to the incipient beam and concentrated 0.23 1/X, with 1/X denoting reduction in size. Any number of stages can be used, since the beams received and emitted are parallel. Moreover, the reduction in size is exponential. A three-stage concentrator, for instance, would reduce an incipient beam with a diameter of 82 mm to a concentrated beam with a diameter of 1 mm; 82 mm×0.23 3 =1 mm.
A conical beam concentrator comprising an upper component lens mounted above a lower component lens inside a casing, with each component lens having one or two conical sections with surfaces which refract light rays at prescribed angles, with all conical sections being aligned on a common axis which is parallel to the light rays entering and exiting the component lenses, with all surfaces of the component lenses not used for the refraction and transmission of light rays being opaque; (a) with the upper component lens having a planar section which receives parallel rays emanating from the sun, and a convex conical section which receives parallel rays transmitted from the planar section, (b) with the lower component lens having a convex conical section which receives parallel rays refracted by the convex conical section of the upper component lens, and a concave conical section which receives parallel rays refracted by the convex conical section of the lower component lens and which refracts the rays out of the lower component lens in a direction parallel to the common axis of the conical sections.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
180 words
A conical beam concentrator comprising an upper component lens mounted above a lower component lens inside a casing, with each component lens having one or two conical sections with surfaces which refract light rays at prescribed angles, with all conical sections being aligned on a common axis which is parallel to the light rays entering and exiting the component lenses, with all surfaces of the component lenses not used for the refraction and transmission of light rays being opaque; (a) with the upper component lens having a planar section which receives parallel rays emanating from the sun, and a convex conical section which receives parallel rays transmitted from the planar section, (b) with the lower component lens having a convex conical section which receives parallel rays refracted by the convex conical section of the upper component lens, and a concave conical section which receives parallel rays refracted by the convex conical section of the lower component lens and which refracts the rays out of the lower component lens in a direction parallel to the common axis of the conical sections.