Patent 7712931 was granted and assigned to Whelen Engineering Company on May, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
An optical element is configured for use in conjunction with a directional light source such as an LED to form an illuminator. The optical element includes a light entry surface, a reflector and an emission surface. Each of the light entry, reflector and emission surfaces are surfaces of revolution defined by revolving straight or curved lines about an axis of revolution. The light entry, reflector and emission surfaces are configured to produce a radiation pattern from the illuminator that is collimated in a first direction and divergent or swept in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.