Light guide plate of LED backlight unit

• US 7,350,958 B2
• Filed: 11/21/2006
• Issued: 04/01/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/23/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Inventors: Yang, Sung Min
• Primary Examiner(s): Husar; Stephen F
• Application Number:
  US11/602,303
• Publication Number:
  US 20070115689A1
• Time in Patent Office: 497 Days
• Field of Search: 362/610, 362/612, 362/613, 362/621, 349/65, 385/146, 385/901
• US Class Current: 362/621
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0016 Grooves, prisms, gratings, scattering particles or rough surfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0068 Arrangements of plural sources, e.g. multi-colour light sources
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 385/901 Illuminating or display apparatus

Abstract

A light guide plate of an LED backlight unit is disclosed. The light guide plate comprises a pair of wide planes facing each other, and a narrow plane formed between the pair of wide planes and constituting a thickness of the light guide plate. The narrow plane has an incident plane formed on a section of the narrow plane facing the LED light source, and one of the wide planes constitutes an exiting plane from which light entered from the LED light source exits. The incident plane has a plurality of elliptic cylinder-shaped grooves carved into the incident plane in a thickness direction of the light guide plate. As such, the elliptic cylinder-shaped grooves are carved into the incident plane of the light guide plate in the thickness direction, widening an incidence angle of which light can be transmitted therethrough.

Claims

1. A planar light guide plate for a backlight unit having an LED light source, comprising:

a pair of wide planes facing each other; and

a narrow plane formed between the pair of wide planes and constituting a thickness of the light guide plate, wherein the narrow plane has an incident plane constituted on a section of the narrow plane facing the LED light source, the incident plane having a plurality of elliptic cylinder-shaped grooves carved into the incident plane in a thickness direction of the light guide plate, and one of the wide planes constitutes an exiting plane from which light entered from the LED light source exits,

wherein the carved elliptic cylinder-shaped grooves extend in a thickness direction of the exiting plane of the light guide plate such that ellipses corresponding to the respective elliptic cylinder-shaped grooves are partially overlapped with each other.

2. The planar light guide plate according to claim 1, wherein each overlapped portion between the ellipses forms a pinnacle extending outward from the incident plane between the elliptic cylinder-shaped grooves.

3. The planar light guide plate according to claim 1, wherein each overlapped portion between the ellipses has a width 10-30% of that of the ellipses.

4. The planar light guide plate according to claim 1, wherein the ellipses have a ratio of a major axis to a minor axis in the range of 1.5:

1 to 3;

1.

5. The planar light guide plate according to claim 4, wherein the ellipses have a ratio of a major axis to a minor axis in the range of 1.8:

1 to 2.2;

1.

6. The planar light guide plate according to claim 1, wherein each of the ellipses has a major axis of 2 to 6 mm in length, and a minor axis of 1 to 3 mm in length.

7. The planar light guide plate according to claim 1, wherein each of the elliptic cylinder-shaped grooves is formed on a plane in which an extension between both ends of the major axis of the ellipse indented into the incident plane is parallel to the incident plane.