Patents Assigned to Quarkstar LLC
  • Patent number: 10690294
    Abstract: In one embodiment, an LED lamp has a generally bulb shape. The LEDs are low power types and are encapsulated in thin, narrow, flexible strips. The LEDs are connected in series in the strips to drop a desired voltage. The strips are affixed to the outer surface of a bulb form to provide structure to the lamp. The strips are connected in parallel to a power supply, which may be housed in the lamp. Since many low power LEDs are used and are spread out over a large surface area, there is no need for a large metal heat sink. Further, the light emission is similar to that of an incandescent bulb. In other embodiment, there is no bulb form and the strips are bendable to have a variety of shapes. In another embodiment, a light sheet is bent to provide 360 degrees of light emission. Many other embodiments are described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2020
    Assignee: Quarkstar LLC
    Inventors: Robert V. Steele, Louis Lerman, Allan Brent York, Wilson Dau, Jacqueline Teng, George Lerman
  • Patent number: 10670226
    Abstract: A light-emitting device includes a lens of refractive index n having a spherical exit surface of radius R and a luminous element positioned such that at least a portion of an edge of an emitting surface of the luminous element lies on a sphere of radius R/n opposite the exit surface, whereby that portion of the edge of the emitting surface is aplanatically imaged by the spherical exit surface. The light-emitting device may further include one or more reflective sidewalls arranged to reflect a fraction of light emitted from the luminous element before it is refracted by the exit surface. A luminaire incorporating a housing and a light-emitting device of this type is also provided, which may include one or more additional optical elements such as reflectors or lenses to further direct and shape light from the light-emitting device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2020
    Assignee: Quarkstar LLC
    Inventors: George E. Smith, Robert C. Gardner
  • Patent number: 10634287
    Abstract: In one embodiment, an LED lamp has a generally bulb shape. The LEDs are low power types and are encapsulated in thin, narrow, flexible strips. The LEDs are connected in series in the strips to drop a desired voltage. The strips are affixed to the outer surface of a bulb form to provide structure to the lamp. The strips are connected in parallel to a power supply, which may be housed in the lamp. Since many low power LEDs are used and are spread out over a large surface area, there is no need for a large metal heat sink. Further, the light emission is similar to that of an incandescent bulb. In other embodiment, there is no bulb form and the strips are bendable to have a variety of shapes. In another embodiment, a light sheet is bent to provide 360 degrees of light emission. Many other embodiments are described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2020
    Assignee: Quarkstar LLC
    Inventors: Robert V. Steele, Louis Lerman, Allan Brent York, Wilson Dau, Jacqueline Teng, George Lerman
  • Patent number: 10634288
    Abstract: In one embodiment, an LED lamp has a generally bulb shape. The LEDs are low power types and are encapsulated in thin, narrow, flexible strips. The LEDs are connected in series in the strips to drop a desired voltage. The strips are affixed to the outer surface of a bulb form to provide structure to the lamp. The strips are connected in parallel to a power supply, which may be housed in the lamp. Since many low power LEDs are used and are spread out over a large surface area, there is no need for a large metal heat sink. Further, the light emission is similar to that of an incandescent bulb. In other embodiment, there is no bulb form and the strips are bendable to have a variety of shapes. In another embodiment, a light sheet is bent to provide 360 degrees of light emission. Many other embodiments are described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2020
    Assignee: Quarkstar LLC
    Inventors: Robert V. Steele, Louis Lerman, Allan Brent York, Wilson Dau, Jacqueline Teng, George Lerman
  • Patent number: 10551547
    Abstract: A troffer luminaire including (i) a light guide luminaire module having an optical extractor, and (ii) a reflector, where the reflector is configured to reflect light output by the optical extractor in a backward angular range toward a target surface in a forward angular range, and where a combination of the optical extractor and the first reflector is configured such that a ratio of maximum luminance to minimum luminance across the first reflector is less than a first predetermined ratio.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2020
    Assignee: Quarkstar LLC
    Inventors: Victor E. Isbrucker, Ingo Speier
  • Patent number: 10545276
    Abstract: A luminaire module including a plurality of light-emitting elements (LEEs) arranged to emit light in a forward direction; a light guide comprising a pair of opposing side surfaces extending from a receiving end of the light guide to an opposing end of the light guide, the light guide configured to guide light received at the receiving end from the LEEs in the forward direction to the opposing end, wherein the light guide is elongated along a transverse direction orthogonal to the forward direction; and an optical extractor elongated along the transverse direction and located at the opposing end of the light guide to receive the guided light, the optical extractor comprising a redirecting surface and an output surface, wherein the received light undergoes two reflections off the redirecting surface prior to being output through the output surface in an ambient environment as output light in a backward angular range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignee: Quarkstar LLC
    Inventors: Victor E. Isbrucker, Ingo Speier
  • Patent number: 10545279
    Abstract: The present technology relates to achieving a low manufactured cost and high design alignment robustness for fabrication of modular light guide luminaires featuring solid state light-emitting elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignee: Quarkstar LLC
    Inventors: Allan Brent York, Ingo Speier, Hans Peter Stormberg
  • Patent number: 10546983
    Abstract: A lighting device includes (1) one or more solid-state lighting (SSL) devices, (2) a thick, for example prism- or cylinder- or spherical- or dome-shaped scattering element, and (3) an optical extractor with a convex output surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignee: Quarkstar LLC
    Inventors: Roland H. Haitz, Ferdinand Schinagl
  • Patent number: 10548197
    Abstract: In a single lighting device including a large number of light-emitting elements (LEEs), the LEEs are divided into separately powered groups, and different combinations of the groups are fully energized to achieve the desired overall brightness. In some embodiments, the number of LEEs in each group has a binary relationship to the other groups. The resolution of the dimming is the brightness of the smallest group. In one example of five binary weighted groups of LEEs, 32 brightness levels can be achieved while the LEEs in the energized groups are fully ON. Thus, since there is no high frequency switching, there is substantially no power dissipation by the dimming control system, and there is limited noise or EMI created. The dimming control can be easily implemented with a logic circuit controlling a transistor switch for each group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignee: Quarkstar LLC
    Inventors: Wilson Dau, George Lerman, Ferdinand Schinagl, Jacqueline Teng, Allan Brent York
  • Patent number: 10520663
    Abstract: Illumination systems are described for illuminating a target area, e.g., a floor of a room, using active illumination devices in optical communication with passive illumination devices. The active and passive illumination devices of the illumination system are configured and arranged relative to each other in a variety of ways so a variety of intensity distributions can be provided by the illumination system. Such illumination system is implemented to provide light for particular lighting applications, including office lighting, garage lighting, or cabinet lighting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2019
    Assignee: Quarkstar LLC
    Inventors: Hans Peter Stormberg, Louis Lerman, Robert C. Gardner, Ingo Speier, Allan Brent York
  • Patent number: 10514149
    Abstract: A luminaire assembly includes: a substrate extending along a first direction comprising a first material having a first coefficient of thermal expansion; a plurality of light emitting elements (LEEs) secured to the substrate and arranged along the first direction; a light guide composed of a material having a second coefficient of thermal expansion different over an operating temperature range; a plurality of optical elements arranged along the first direction, each optical element being positioned to receive light emitted from a corresponding one or more of the LEEs and to direct the light to an edge of the light guide; a housing; and a heat coupling layer arranged between the substrate and the housing. The substrate and the heat coupling layer are constructed so that each of the plurality of LEEs, while secured to the substrate, remain registered with their corresponding optical element over the operating temperature range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2019
    Assignee: Quarkstar LLC
    Inventor: Ingo Speier
  • Patent number: 10495807
    Abstract: An illumination device includes light-emitting elements (LEEs); a light guide extending in a forward direction from a first end to a second end, the light guide being positioned to receive at the first end light emitted by the LEEs and to guide the received light to the second end; and an optical extractor coupled to the second end to receive the guided light. The optical extractor is formed from a transparent, solid material and includes a first output surface including a transmissive portion arranged and shaped to transmit a first portion of the guided light to the ambient in a forward angular range and a reflective portion arranged and shaped to reflect via TIR all the guided light incident on the reflective portion; and a second output surface arranged to transmit, to the ambient in a backward angular range, light reflected by the reflective portion of the first output surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2019
    Assignee: Quarkstar LLC
    Inventors: Allan Brent York, Ferdinand Schinagl, Wilson Dau, Louis Lerman, Hans Peter Stormberg
  • Patent number: 10473847
    Abstract: An illumination device includes one or more light-emitting elements (LEEs) arranged to provide light; a light guide includes a receiving end and an opposing end, the receiving end being arranged to receive the light provided by the LEEs. The light guide further includes a pair of opposing side surfaces extending along a length of the light guide between the receiving and opposing ends. The light guide is configured to guide the received light in a forward direction, along the length of the light guide toward the opposing end, and transmit a first portion of the guided light into ambient through one or more of the opposing side surfaces as sideways leaked light. The illumination device further includes an extractor located at the opposing end and configured to output into the ambient a remaining portion of the guided light—that reaches the opposing end—as output light in backward directions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Assignee: Quarkstar LLC
    Inventor: Allan Brent York
  • Patent number: 10473292
    Abstract: A luminaire module delivers light with a beam angle of ?. The luminaire module includes a light emitting module and a reflector positioned symmetrically about an axis. Light produced by the light emitting module exits the light emitting module from one or more spatially-extended light emitting portions. The light emitting portion(s) is (are) fully contained within a spatially extended notional design envelope which is used to guide the design of reflector and its corresponding reflective surface, such that when any light exiting the light emitting portions through the design envelope strikes the reflective surface of the reflector, the light does not return to the source and escapes from the luminaire module within a beam angle ?, with no more than a single reflection from a reflector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Assignee: Quarkstar LLC
    Inventors: George E. Smith, Robert C. Gardner, Roland H. Haitz, Louis Lerman
  • Patent number: 10429034
    Abstract: A variety of light-emitting devices are disclosed that are configured to manipulate light provided by one or more light-emitting elements (LEEs). In general, a light-emitting device includes one or more light-emitting elements (LEEs) disposed on a base surface that are configured to emit light, a first optical element having a first surface spaced apart from the LEEs and positioned to receive light from the LEEs, a transparent second optical coupled to the first optical element, and a reflector element adjacent the second optical element arranged to reflect a portion of light output from the second optical element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2019
    Assignee: Quarkstar LLC
    Inventors: John J. Uebbing, Roland H. Haitz
  • Patent number: 10408428
    Abstract: A variety of light-emitting devices for general illumination utilizing solid state light sources (e.g., light emitting diodes) are disclosed. In general, the devices include a scattering element in combination with an extractor element. The scattering element, which may include elastic and/or inelastic scattering centers, is spaced apart from the light source element. Opposite sides of the scattering element have asymmetric optical interfaces, there being a larger refractive index mismatch at the interface facing the light emitting element than the interface between the scattering element and the extractor element. Such a structure favors forward scattering of light from the scattering element. In other words, the system favors scattering out of the scattering element into the extractor element over backscattering light towards the light source element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2019
    Assignee: Quarkstar LLC
    Inventors: Roland H. Haitz, George E. Smith, Robert C. Gardner, Louis Lerman
  • Patent number: 10393944
    Abstract: A solid-state luminaire module includes one or more light-emitting elements (LEEs) and a light guide. The light guide includes a receiving end and an opposing end, the receiving end being arranged to receive the light provided by the LEEs; a pair of opposing side surfaces, extending along a length of the light guide between the receiving end and the opposing end, to guide the received light in a forward direction; and a plurality of redirecting interfaces spaced apart from each other and distributed along a portion of the length of the light guide adjacent the opposing end. The redirecting interfaces are configured to reflect a portion of the guided light in a backward direction as return light, such that the return light can transmit through the pair of opposing side surfaces into the ambient as output light of the luminaire module, the output light to propagate in backward directions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2019
    Assignee: Quarkstar LLC
    Inventor: Louis Lerman
  • Patent number: D887063
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2020
    Assignee: Quarkstar LLC
    Inventor: Ingo Speier
  • Patent number: D887064
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2020
    Assignee: Quarkstar LLC
    Inventor: Ingo Speier
  • Patent number: D887065
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2020
    Assignee: Quarkstar LLC
    Inventor: Ingo Speier