Light Emitting Decorative Panels

• US 20120087145A1
• Filed: 10/06/2010
• Published: 04/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/06/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Spin Master Incorporated (Spin Master Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Shoot The Moon Products II LLC
• Inventors: Hudson, William J., Schmidt, Christopher B., Small, David B.
• Granted Patent: US 9,134,008 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 362/601
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 11/00 Screens not covered by groups F21V1/00, F21V3/00, F21V7/00 or F21V9/00 characterised by cooling arrangements F21V29/502
• CPC Class Codes: F21Y 2105/00 Planar light sources
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0036 2-D arrangement of prisms, protrusions, indentations or roughened surfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0038 Linear indentations or grooves, e.g. arc-shaped grooves or meandering grooves, extending over the full length or width of the light guide
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/006 to produce indicia, symbols, texts or the like

Abstract

Light emitting decorative panels using a light source at the edge thereof that may have a desired uniformity of light emission from a pattern thereon, and which are not subject to local shadows (shading) in a pattern part from patterns or pattern parts between the respective pattern or pattern part and the light source. The elimination of shading is achieved by the depressions of a given geometry disposed in an arc having a center at the light source, and sizes each depression or arc segment of a depression in being chosen accordance with 1), the distance of the respective depression or depression segment from the source of light, and 2), the number of depressions between the respective depression and the source of light, with a second order correction for the position of depressions between the respective depression and the source of light.

Claims

1. A light emitting panel comprising:

a transparent sheet having first and second surfaces;

a source of light disposed to couple light into an edge of the sheet at a predetermined location on the sheet;

a pattern formed into the first surface of the sheet to emit light primarily from one of the surfaces of the sheet;

the pattern being defined by depressions in the first surface of the sheet to intercept some light passing through the sheet from the light source and redirect that light out from a surface of the sheet to illuminate the pattern;

each depression defining the pattern being disposed in an arc having a center substantially at the source of light;

each depression having a depth dependent on the combination of;

the distance of each depression from the source of light; and

the number of depressions between the respective depression and the source of light.

2. The light emitting panel of claim 1 wherein the depth of each depression is selected to provide a desired light uniformity across the illuminated pattern as viewed from one side of the sheet.

3. The light emitting panel of claim 1 wherein the depth of each depression in any pattern or pattern part is selected to avoid an apparent shadow in the respective pattern or pattern part because of another pattern or pattern part between the respective pattern or pattern part and the light source.

4. The light emitting panel of claim 1 wherein the depth of each respective depression is also dependent on the position of the depressions between the respective depression and the source of light.

5. The light emitting panel of claim 1 wherein the depressions are radially uniformly separated.

6. A light emitting panel comprising:

a transparent sheet having first and second surfaces;

a source of light disposed to couple light into an edge of the sheet at a predetermined location on the sheet;

a pattern formed into the first surface of the sheet to emit light from the second surface of the sheet;

the pattern being defined by depressions in the first surface of the sheet having a first surface of each depression angled with respect to the first surface of the sheet to intercept some light passing through the sheet from the light source and reflecting that light out the second surface of the sheet to illuminate the pattern;

the first surface of each depression defining the pattern being disposed in an arc having a center substantially at the source of light;

each depression having a depth dependent on the combination of;

the distance of each depression from the source of light; and

the number of depressions between the respective depression and the source of light;

the depth of each depression in any pattern or pattern part being selected to avoid an apparent shadow in the respective pattern or pattern part because of another pattern or pattern part between the respective pattern or pattern part and the light source.

7. The light emitting panel of claim 6 wherein the depth of each respective depression is also dependent on the position of the depressions between the respective depression and the source of light.

8. The light emitting panel of claim 6 wherein the first surface of each depression is angled with respect to the first surface of the sheet by approximately 45 degrees.

9. The light emitting panel of claim 6 wherein the first surface of each depression is made slightly irregular to broaden the viewing angle from the second side of the sheet.

10. The light emitting panel of claim 6 wherein each depression has a substantially triangular cross section defined by the first surface of the respective depression and a second surface substantially perpendicular to the first surface of the sheet.

11. Multiple light emitting panels, each in accordance with claim 6, the multiple light emitting panels being stacked with the first surface of each light emitting panel facing the same direction, each light emitting panel having a light source of a different color than the other light emitting panels.

12. The multiple light emitting panels of claim 11 wherein the multiple light emitting panels have multiple patterns thereon.

13. The multiple light emitting panels of claim 12 wherein one light emitting panel has a first part of a pattern thereon, and a second of the light emitting panels has another part of the respective pattern, whereby the respective pattern may be illuminated in different colors.

14. The light emitting panel of claim 6 wherein the source of light is a light emitting diode (LED).

15. The light emitting panel of claim 14 wherein the transparent sheet is shaded adjacent the source of light, to prevent light coupled into the sheet that is of too great an angle with respect to the first and second surfaces of the sheet to reflect off the first and second surfaces of the sheet, from being viewable by a person viewing the lighted replication of the pattern as viewed from the second side of the sheet.

16. A light emitting panel comprising:

a transparent sheet having first and second surfaces;

a source of light disposed to couple light into an edge of the sheet at a predetermined location on the sheet;

a pattern formed into the first surface of the sheet to emit light primarily from one of the surfaces of the sheet;

the pattern being defined by depressions in the first surface of the sheet to intercept some light passing through the sheet from the light source and redirecting that light out from a surface of the sheet to provide a lighted replication of the pattern;

each depression defining the pattern being disposed in an arc having a center substantially at the source of light;

each depression having a depth dependent on the combination of;

the distance of each depression from the source of light; and

the number of depressions between the respective depression and the source of light;

the depth of each depression in any pattern or pattern part being selected to avoid an apparent shadow in the respective pattern or pattern part because of another pattern or pattern part between the respective pattern or pattern part and the light source.

17. The light emitting panel of claim 16 wherein the depressions are radially uniformly separated.

18. The light emitting panel of claim 16 wherein the depth of each respective depression is also dependent on the position of the depressions between the respective depression and the source of light.

19. The light emitting panel of claim 18 wherein the depth of each depression is selected to provide a desired uniformity across the lighted replication of the pattern as viewed from one side of the sheet.