The present invention is directed to an
infrared light
assembly (10, 30, 80, 90). A preferred embodiment of the light
assembly (10, 30, 80, 90) may be used on aircraft or other vehicles for landing, taxi mode, or search operations. The light
assembly (10, 30, 80, 90) preferably only requires about 10 to 20 watts of power. The light assembly (10, 30, 80, 90) may include a housing (12, 32, 82), a base (14, 34, 50), an IR
diode (16, 36, 60), and an
aspheric lens (18, 38). The base (14, 34, 50) is preferably connected to the bottom portion (22) of the housing(12, 32, 82), and the
aspheric lens (18, 38) is preferably connected to the top portion (24) of the housing (12, 32, 82). The IR
diode (16, 36, 60) may be mounted on the base (14, 34, 50). The housing (12, 32, 82) and the base (14, 34, 50) preferably have high
thermal conductivity, and they preferably act as heat sinks. In addition, a plurality of thermal electric coolers (20, 40, 70) may be positioned between the base (14, 34, 50) and the IR
diode (16, 36, 60) for additional dissipation of the heat generated by the light assembly. The IR diode (16, 36, 60) is adapted to emit
infrared light. The light assembly (10, 30, 80, 90) preferably maintains a substantially constant
operating temperature so that the peak emission of the IR diode (16, 36, 60) is substantially maintained. The
infrared light may radiate through the hollow of the housing(12, 32, 82) to the
aspheric lens (18, 38). The aspheric lens (18, 38) is preferably adapted to collimate infrared light. As a result, the light assembly (10, 30, 80, 90) may provide a collimated beam of infrared light having a NVIS
radiant intensity greater than about 2.