energized by current from conductors 14 and 16 it generates light as indicated symbolically in fig2 by rays r alternatively instead of a flip chip element 22 may be a light emitting element with one connection on each of the surfaces 22 a and 22 b as shown in commonly assigned u s pat no 6 106 127 incorporated herein by reference light emitting elements of these kinds are available in a variety of colors from agilent technologies a subsidiary of the hewlett packard company and sharp corporation of japan light emitting diodes are semiconductor devices that are readily available in a large variety of sizes power output color configuration etc a typical light emitting diode consists of a light emitting element and a lens the light emitting element is made of two semiconductor materials forming a junction so that when a current flows across the junction light is generated this light is then intercepted by the lens and directed in a predetermined direction to the inventor 39 s knowledge no illuminating devices are presently available which utilize only the light emitting element without a lens however the inventor has discovered that the light emitting element of diodes can be used effectively without any lens and in that how the element 22 is preferably used an illuminating device such as 10 having this configuration i e one that utilizes a light emitting element without a lens has several advantages first it can illuminate an object more evenly and across a greater surface area second light emitting element and its conductors can be made so small that they will be substantially invisible and hence provide an interesting and attractive esthetic aspect to any object thus illuminated the conductors.