Flat optical fiber light emitters

• US 20060024017A1
• Filed: 07/27/2004
• Published: 02/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lumitex Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Lumitex Incorporated
• Inventors: Spahnie, Brian M., Page, David J.
• Granted Patent: US 7,406,245 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 385/146
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/002 by shaping at least a portion of the light guide, e.g. with collimating, focussing or diverging surfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0021 for housing at least a part of the light source, e.g. by forming holes or recesses
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0036 2-D arrangement of prisms, protrusions, indentations or roughened surfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/004 Scattering dots or dot-like elements, e.g. microbeads, scattering particles, nanoparticles
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0073 Light emitting diode [LED]
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/10 of the optical waveguide type G02B6/02, G02B6/24 take precedence; devices or arrangements for the control of light by electric, magnetic, electro-magnetic or acoustic means G02F1/00; transferring the modulation of modulated light G02F2/00; optical logic elements G02F3/00; optical analogue/digital converters G02F7/00

Abstract

Light emitters are made of one or more cladded flat optical fibers having opposite flat sides and disruptions along at least a portion of the length of the fibers to cause light entering at least one end to be emitted from at least one side. The ends of the flat optical fibers may have substantially the same thickness as a light source and a width substantially equal to or substantially greater than the width of the light source for ease of optically coupling one or more such light sources to the flat optical fiber ends.

Claims

1. A light emitter comprising at least one flat optical fiber having opposite flat sides and opposite side edges and ends, the fiber having a cladded light conducting core that is cladded to keep light in for conducting light entering an end of the fiber, and disruptions along at least a portion of the length of the fiber to cause conducted light to be emitted from at least one side of the fiber, the fiber having a ratio of thickness to width of less than 0.5 and a ratio of thickness to length of less than 0.007.

2. The light emitter of claim 1 wherein the disruptions are made to cause light to be emitted in a pattern from one side of the fiber.

3. The light emitter of claim 2 wherein the pattern is uniform.

4. The light emitter of claim 2 wherein the pattern is non-uniform.

5. The light emitter of claim 1 wherein the disruptions are deformities in one or both sides of the at least one fiber.

6. The light emitter of claim 5 wherein the deformities are formed by roughening, marring, abrading, etching, grit blasting or thermoforming one or both sides of the at least one fiber.

7. The light emitter of claim 5 wherein the deformities are formed in the at least one fiber in a single inline process.

8. The light emitter of claim 1 wherein the disruptions comprise deformities in both sides of the fiber.

9. The light emitter of claim 8 wherein the deformities are formed in both sides of the fiber in a single inline process.

10. The light emitter of claim 1 which is comprised of a plurality of flat optical fibers each having disruptions along at least a portion of the length of each of the fibers to cause light to be emitted from at least one side of each of the fibers, the ends of the fibers in which light enters being disposed in a common plane in side-by-side relation to one another.

11. The light emitter of claim 10 wherein a plurality of the fibers are held together by an adhesive film.

12. The light emitter of claim 10 wherein a plurality of the fibers are held together by mechanical fasteners.

13. The light emitter of claim 10 wherein the disruptions are deformities in one or both sides of each of the fibers.

14. The light emitter of claim 13 wherein the deformities are formed in a plurality of the fibers in a single inline process.

15. The light emitter of claim 10 wherein at least one light source is optically coupled to an end of the fibers.

16. The light emitter of claim 15 wherein the light source is a surface mount light source.

17. The light emitter of claim 16 wherein the light source is a light emitting diode.

18. The light emitter of claim 17 wherein the light emitting diode is a poly light emitting diode or an organic light emitting diode.

19. The light emitter of claim 15 wherein the light source is attached to an end of the fibers by a mechanical fastener.

20. The light emitter of claim 15 further comprising a heat sink for cooling the light source.

21. The light emitter of claim 15 wherein one or more light sources are surface mounted on a circuit in close proximity to an end of the fibers.

22. The light emitter of claim 21 wherein the circuit is a flex circuit.

23. The light emitter of claim 15 wherein a plurality of light sources are optically coupled to one end of the fibers.

24. The light emitter of claim 10 wherein the fibers have a thickness of 0.035 inch or less.

25. The light emitter of claim 1 wherein at least one surface mount light source having substantially the same thickness as the fiber is optically coupled to an end of the fiber.

26. The light emitter of claim 25 wherein the at least one surface mount light source has substantially the same width as the fiber.

27. The light emitter of claim 25 wherein a plurality of surface mount light sources each having substantially the same thickness as the fiber and substantially less width than the fiber are optically coupled to an end of the fiber in side-by-side relation to one another across the width of the fiber.

28. The light emitter of claim 1 wherein the at least one fiber has a width of 0.070 inch or more.

29. The light emitter of claim 28 wherein the at least one fiber has a width of between 0.070 inch and three inches.

30. The light emitter of claim 1 wherein the at least one fiber has a length greater than five inches.

33. The light emitter of claim 1 wherein a hole extends through opposite sides of the at least one fiber to permit access to opposite sides of the light emitter through the hole.

34. The light emitter of claim 1 further comprising a reflective coating in intimate contact with cladding on one side of the fiber.

35. The light emitter of claim 34 wherein the disruptions comprise deformities in one side of the fiber.

36. The light emitter of claim 34 wherein the reflective coating is on the side having the deformities.

37. The light emitter of claim 35 wherein the reflective coating is on the side opposite the side having the deformities.

38. The light emitter of claim 34 wherein the reflective coating completely covers one side of the fiber, and only partially covers the other side leaving areas on the other side through which conducted light is emitted.

39. The light emitter of claim 1 wherein the end of the at least one fiber that receives light from the light source is shaped to redirect or focus the light into the end of the fiber.

40. The light emitter of claim 39 wherein the end of the at least one fiber is lens shaped.

41. The light emitter of claim 40 wherein the end of the at least one fiber is transversely rounded across the width of the fiber.

42. The light emitter of claim 1 wherein the end of the at least one fiber that receives light from the light source has a lens shape intermediate the width of the fiber.

43. The light emitter of claim 42 wherein the lens shape is recessed within the end of the at least one fiber.

44. The light emitter of claim 1 in combination with a keypad having one or more keys behind which the at least one fiber extends for backlighting the keys.

45. The light emitter of claim 1 in combination with a keypad having a plurality of rows of keys, and the light emitter includes a plurality of flat optical fibers having gaps between the fibers corresponding to the spacing between the plurality of rows of the keys so the fibers extend behind the plurality of rows of the keys for backlighting one or more keys in each row.

46. The light emitter of claim 1 in combination with a display, the at least one fiber extending behind the display for backlighting the display.

47. The combination of claim 46 wherein the display comprises a liquid crystal display.

48. The combination of claim 46 wherein the display comprises a graphic overlay.

49. The light emitter of claim 1 in combination with a medical instrument, the at least one fiber extending along at least a portion of the length of the medical instrument for lighting an area adjacent the medical instrument, the fiber being flexed to correspond to a shape of the medical instrument.

31-32. -32. (canceled)

50. A light emitter comprising at least one flat cladded optical fiber having opposite flat sides and opposite side edges and ends, the fiber being cladded to keep light in, at least one of the ends being adapted to receive light from a light source for conduction of the light within the fiber, the fiber having deformities in at least one of the sides to cause conducted light to be emitted from at least one of the sides, the fiber having a width that is at least ten times the thickness of the fiber and having a ratio of thickness to length of less than 0.007.

51. The light emitter of claim 50 further comprising a reflective coating in intimate contact with at least one of the sides to cause light emitted from the one side to be reflected back toward the other side.

52. The light emitter of claim 51 wherein the reflective coating is in intimate contact with the side of the fiber that has the deformities.

53. The light emitter of claim 51 wherein the deformities are in both sides of the fiber, and the reflective coating is in intimate contact with one of the sides to cause light emitted from the one side to be reflected back toward the other side.

54. The light emitter of claim 51 wherein the reflective coating completely covers one of the sides, and only partially covers the other side leaving open areas on the other side through which the conducted light is emitted.

55. The light emitter of claim 50 further comprising at least one surface mount light source optically coupled to an end of the fiber.

56. The light emitter of claim 55 wherein the at least one light source has a thickness and width substantially corresponding to the thickness and width of the fiber.

57. The light emitter of claim 55 wherein a plurality of surface mount light sources are optically coupled to an end of the fiber in side-by-side relation to one another across the width of the fiber, each of the light sources having a thickness substantially the same as the thickness of the fiber and a width substantially less than the width of the fiber.

59. The light emitter of claim 55 wherein the at least one light source is surface mounted on a flex strip adjacent an end of the fiber.

58. (canceled)

60. A light emitter comprising at least one flat cladded optical fiber having opposite flat sides and opposite side edges and ends, the fiber being cladded to keep light in, at least one of the ends being adapted to receive light from a light source for conducting the light within the fiber, the fiber having disruptions along at least a portion of the length of the fiber for causing light to be emitted from at least one of the sides, the fiber having a length of at least five inches and a width that is more than twice the thickness of the fiber.

61. The light emitter of claim 60 wherein the at least one fiber has a width of between 0.070 inch and three inches.

62. The light emitter of claim 60 wherein the at least one fiber has a thickness of no more than 0.035 inch.

64. The light emitter of claim 60 wherein the at least one fiber has a ratio of thickness to length of less than 0.007.

65. The light emitter of claim 60 which comprises a plurality of flat cladded optical fibers having disruptions along at least a portion of the length of each of the fibers for causing light to be emitted from at least one side of each of the fibers, the ends of the fibers in which light enters being disposed in a common plane in side-by-side relation to one another.

63. (canceled)