LIGHTING DEVICE
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A lighting device, comprising:
- one or more planar light guides, wherein each of the one or more planar light guides includes a respective back face for receiving light and a respective front face for emitting light,one or more light sources arranged to transmit light into the respective back face of the one or more planar light guides,one or more semi-transparent masking elements, wherein each of the one or more semi-transparent masking elements having a respective light diffusing surface arranged to partially diffuse light back into the one or more light guides and partially transmit light through a respective semi-transparent masking element so as to mask the one or more light sources, andone or more light absorbers arranged adjacent to the one or more light sources to absorb at least a fraction of light diffused from the respective diffusing surface of the one or more semi-transparent masking elements, or one or more retro-reflectors arranged adjacent to the one or more light sources to reflect at least a fraction of light diffused from the respective diffusing surface of the one or more semi-transparent masking elements back to an adjacent one of the one or more semi-transparent masking elements, wherein the one or more light absorbers or the one or more retro-reflectors are not optically connected to the one or more planar light guides.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a backlight for illuminating back lit displays (e.g. LC displays of LCD televisions). In order to enable a thin design of the backlight and a high uniformity of the light emitted by the backlight, an apparatus may be provided with transparent and diffusing masking elements that may mask individual light sources and may diffuse light back into a light guide. Absorbing elements and/or retro-reflective elements may be arranged proximate the light sources in order to avoid generation of bright spots or rings around the light sources.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A lighting device, comprising:
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one or more planar light guides, wherein each of the one or more planar light guides includes a respective back face for receiving light and a respective front face for emitting light, one or more light sources arranged to transmit light into the respective back face of the one or more planar light guides, one or more semi-transparent masking elements, wherein each of the one or more semi-transparent masking elements having a respective light diffusing surface arranged to partially diffuse light back into the one or more light guides and partially transmit light through a respective semi-transparent masking element so as to mask the one or more light sources, and one or more light absorbers arranged adjacent to the one or more light sources to absorb at least a fraction of light diffused from the respective diffusing surface of the one or more semi-transparent masking elements, or one or more retro-reflectors arranged adjacent to the one or more light sources to reflect at least a fraction of light diffused from the respective diffusing surface of the one or more semi-transparent masking elements back to an adjacent one of the one or more semi-transparent masking elements, wherein the one or more light absorbers or the one or more retro-reflectors are not optically connected to the one or more planar light guides. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 6, 7, 11, 12)
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4. (canceled)
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8. (canceled)
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9. (canceled)
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10. (canceled)
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13. (canceled)
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14. A method for illuminating a matrix of image forming transparent pixels of a display, the method comprises providing a lighting device which comprises
a planar light guide with a back face for receiving light and a front face for emitting light, first and second light sources arranged to transmit light into the back face of the light guide, first and second semi-transparent masking elements having light diffusing surfaces, where the masking elements are arranged to partially diffuse light back into the light guide and partially transmit light through the masking elements so as to mask the respective first and second light sources, and first and second absorbers arranged adjacent to the respective first and second light sources to absorb at least a fraction of light diffused from the diffusing surfaces of the respective first and second masking elements, or first and second retro-reflectors arranged adjacent to the respective first and second light sources to reflect at least a fraction of light diffused from the diffusing surfaces of the respective first and second masking elements back to the respective first and second masking elements, the method further comprises, arranging the matrix of image forming transparent pixels in front of the plate shaped light guide.
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21. A display for showing images, comprising:
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a matrix of image forming transparent pixels; and a lighting device arranged such that a front face of the lighting device faces a face of the matrix of image forming transparent pixels, wherein the lighting device comprises; one or more planar light guides, wherein each of the one or more planar light guides includes a respective back face for receiving light and a respective front face for emitting light; one or more light sources arranged to transmit light into the respective back face of the one or more planar light guides; one or more semi-transparent masking elements, wherein each of the one or more semi-transparent masking elements having a respective light diffusing surface arranged to partially diffuse light back into the one or more light guides and partially transmit light through a respective semi-transparent masking element so as to mask the one or more light sources; and one or more light absorbers arranged adjacent to the one or more light sources to absorb at least a fraction of light diffused from the respective diffusing surface of the one or more semi-transparent masking elements, or one or more retro-reflectors arranged adjacent to the one or more light sources to reflect at least a fraction of light diffused from the respective diffusing surface of the one or more semi-transparent masking elements back to an adjacent one of the one or more semi-transparent masking elements, wherein the one or more light absorbers or the one or more retro-reflectors are not optically connected to the one or more planar light guides and wherein the one or more light absorbers or the one or more retro-reflectors are separated from the one or more light guides by air or by a transparent material with a low refractive index. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification