Optical devices for guiding illumination
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Optical devices for guiding illumination are provided each having a body of optical material with staircase or acutely angled ramp structures on its top surface for distributing light inputted from one end of the device from the front exit faces of such structures along certain angular orientations, while at least a substantial portion of the light is totally internally reflected within the body until distributed from such front exit faces. Optical devices are also provided each have a body of optical material having a bottom surface with acutely angled ramp structures and falling structures which alternate with each other, such that light is totally internally reflected within the device until reflected by such ramp structures along the bottom surface to exit the top surface of the device or transmitted through the ramp structures to an adjacent falling structure back into the device. Acutely angled ramp structures may be provided on both top and bottom surfaces of optical devices for distributing light along such top surface. Illumination apparatuses are also provided using such optical devices.
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Citations
65 Claims
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1. (canceled)
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2. An optical device for guiding illumination comprising:
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a body having a first surface and a second surface, each of said first and second surfaces being on opposite sides of the body in which said first surface has a plurality of ramp structures, said body has an optical axis extending along a dimension parallel to said second surface; and each of said ramp structures having a ramp surface at an acute angle with respect to said axis, and a front exit face at an acute angle with respect to the normal of said axis, in which light when inputted at one end of said device is substantially totally internally reflected within said body until substantially distributed from the front exit face of each of said ramp structures. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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9. (canceled)
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30-31. -31. (canceled)
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37. A device for guiding illumination having an optical axis comprising:
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a body having a top surface with a series of structures extending in the same direction as said axis of said device, and a bottom surface which extends along a direction parallel to said axis; and each of said structures comprises a rising surface followed by falling surface, in which said rising surface is angled with respect to said axis and said falling surface is angled with respect to the normal to said axis to enable substantial distribution of light when inputted said body at said one end from each said falling surface of said structures while being totally or substantially internally reflected along the rising surface of said structures and said bottom surface. - View Dependent Claims (65)
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38-52. -52. (canceled)
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53. An illumination apparatus comprising:
a light guiding device having a surface comprising a pattern of structures each having a ramp with a backwardly tilted front face. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 58, 59)
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57. (canceled)
Specification