Thermal management of led-based illumination devices with synthetic jet ejectors
View Patent ↗An illumination device (b 1 - 01 ) is provided which comprises a housing (b 1 - 03 ) equipped with an aperture (b 1 - 37 ), first (b 1 - 33 ) and second (b 1 - 35 ) diaphragms disposed in said housing and in fluidic communication with said aperture, and an LED (b 1 - 15 ) disposed between said first and second diaphragms.
1. An illumination device, comprising:
a first housing;
a pedestal disposed in said first housing;
a synthetic jet ejector supported by said pedestal; and
at least one LED supported by said synthetic jet ejector.
2. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein said synthetic jet ejector has first and second opposing surfaces having first and second LEDs, respectively, disposed thereon.
3. The illumination device of claim 2 , wherein said synthetic jet ejector has third and fourth opposing surfaces having third and fourth LEDs, respectively, disposed thereon.
4. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein said synthetic jet ejector is essentially polyhedral in shape, wherein said synthetic jet ejector is attached to said pedestal across a first face of said polyhedron, and wherein at least one LED is disposed on each of the remaining faces of said polyhedron.
5. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein said LED is supported on a surface of said synthetic jet ejector, and wherein said synthetic jet ejector is adapted to emit a plurality of synthetic jets across said surface and adjacent to said LED.
6. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein said synthetic jet ejector has first and second diaphragms, wherein said pedestal has a longitudinal axis, and wherein said first and second diaphragms are oriented perpendicular to said longitudinal axis.
7. The illumination device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a threaded connector module adapted to rotatingly engage said illumination device to a source of electricity.
8. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein said synthetic jet ejector contains a plurality of apertures, and wherein said at least one LED is disposed adjacent to at least one of said plurality of apertures.
9. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein said pedestal comprises a heat pipe.
10. The illumination device of claim 9 , further comprising a threaded connector module portion adapted to rotatingly engage said illumination device to a source of electricity, and wherein one end of said heat pipe terminates in said connector module portion.
11. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein said synthetic jet ejector contains an active diaphragm and a passive diaphragm, and wherein said at least one LED is disposed between the active diaphragm and the passive diaphragm.
12. The illumination device of claim 11 , wherein at least one of said active and passive diaphragms has a reflective surface.
13. The illumination device of claim 11 , wherein at least one of said active and passive diaphragms has a surface which is reflective to the radiation emitted by said LED.
14. The illumination device of claim 13 , wherein said reflective surface is specularly reflective.
15. The illumination device of claim 13 , wherein said reflective surface is diffusely reflective.
16. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein said first housing is transparent or translucent to the light emitted by said at least one LED.
17. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein said first housing emits light.
18. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein said synthetic jet ejector comprises a second housing with first and second diaphragms disposed therein.
19. The illumination device of claim 18 , wherein at least one of said first and second diaphragms has a reflective surface.
20. The illumination device of claim 18 , wherein at least one of said first and second diaphragms has a surface which is reflective to the radiation emitted by said LED.
21. The illumination device of claim 20 , wherein said reflective surface is specularly reflective.
22. The illumination device of claim 20 , wherein said reflective surface is diffusely reflective.
23. The illumination device of claim 18 , further comprising first and second coils which drive said first and second diaphragms.
24. The illumination device of claim 18 , wherein said first diaphragm is an active diaphragm, and said second diaphragm is a passive diaphragm, and wherein said first diaphragm is in fluidic communication with said second diaphragm.
25. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein said at least one LED comprises a plurality of LEDS, and wherein said synthetic jet ejector is essentially polyhedral in shape, wherein each of said plurality of LEDs is disposed on a face of said polyhedron.
26. The illumination device of claim 25 , wherein said synthetic jet ejector contains a plurality of apertures, wherein a synthetic jet is ejected from each of said plurality of apertures, and wherein each face of said polyhedron that has an LED disposed thereon also has at least one of said plurality of apertures therein.
27. The illumination device of claim 26 , wherein each face of said polyhedron that has an LED disposed thereon is a polygon and has the LED centered on the polygon, and wherein one of said plurality of apertures is disposed adjacent to each of the vertices of said polygon.
28. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein said synthetic jet ejector contains a plurality of apertures, wherein a synthetic jet is ejected from each of said plurality of apertures, and wherein each LED of said at least one LED is disposed adjacent to at least one of said plurality of apertures.