ELIMINATION OF STITCH ARTIFACTS IN A PLANAR ILLUMINATION AREA
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Accused Products
Abstract
In one aspect, a planar illumination area includes two light-guide elements, each with an out-coupling region. At least a portion of each out-coupling region overlaps with at least a portion of the other. The overlapping region emits a substantially uniform light output power.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1-19. -19. (canceled)
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20. A planar illumination area substantially free of stitch artifacts, comprising:
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a first discrete light-guide element comprising (i) first and second non-parallel sidewalls spanning top and bottom surfaces, the first sidewall being reflective, and (ii) an out-coupling region partially bounded by the sidewalls; a second discrete light-guide element comprising (i) first and second non-parallel sidewalls spanning top and bottom surfaces, the first sidewall being reflective, and (ii) an out-coupling region partially bounded by the sidewalls, the first sidewall of the second light-guide element being adjacent and opposed to the first sidewall of the first light-guide element; and a third discrete light-guide element comprising an out-coupling region, at least a portion of the out-coupling region of the third light-guide element overlapping at least a portion of the out-coupling region of the first light-guide element, including the second sidewall thereof, to define an overlapping region having an area, wherein (i) light in the first light-guide element striking its first sidewall substantially reflects therefrom rather than travelling into the second light-guide element, (ii) light in the second light-guide element striking its first sidewall substantially reflects therefrom rather than travelling into the first light-guide element, and (iii) the overlapping region emits a substantially uniform light output over the area. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A planar illumination area substantially free of stitch artifacts, comprising:
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a first discrete light-guide element comprising (i) first and second non-parallel sidewalls spanning top and bottom surfaces, the first sidewall being polished, and (ii) an out-coupling region partially bounded by the sidewalls; a second discrete light-guide element comprising (i) first and second non-parallel sidewalls spanning top and bottom surfaces, the first sidewall being polished, and (ii) an out-coupling region partially bounded by the sidewalls, the first sidewall of the second light-guide element being adjacent to the first sidewall of the first light-guide element without overlap therebetween; and a third discrete light-guide element comprising an out-coupling region, at least a portion of the out-coupling region of the third light-guide element overlapping at least a portion of the out-coupling region of the first light-guide element, including the second sidewall thereof, to define an overlapping region having an area, wherein (i) light in the first light-guide element striking its first sidewall refracts and travels into the second light-guide element through its first sidewall, and (ii) the overlapping region emits a substantially uniform light output over the area.
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Specification