Light redirecting films including non-interlockable optical elements
First Claim
1. A light redirecting film comprising a thin optically transparent substrate having a light entrance surface for receiving light from a light source and an opposite light exit surface, at least one of the surfaces having a pattern of individual optical elements of well defined shape having at least two sloping surfaces and being quite small relative to the length and width of the substrate to redistribute light passing through the substrate in a predetermined angular distribution, at least some of the optical elements being non-interlockable optical elements having a geometric shape that prevents the non-interlockable optical elements from interlocking with each other, the non-interlockable optical elements being oriented and placed to produce a desired coverage of the portion of at least one of the surfaces of the substrate within the pattern of non-interlockable optical elements, wherein at least some of the non-interlockable optical elements intersect each other over an intersection area to achieve substantially complete surface coverage of at least one of the surfaces of the substrate within the pattern of non-interlockable optical elements.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The light redirecting films include a thin optically transparent substrate having a pattern of non-interlocking individual optical elements oriented and placed to produce a desired surface coverage of at least one of the surfaces of the transparent substrate of the transparent substrate occupied by the optical elements. At least some of the optical elements may have at least one flat surface and at least one curved surface that may intersect each other to a greater extent on the curved surface than on the flat surface to increase the relative percentage of flat surface area to curved surface area of the intersecting optical elements to increase the on axis gain of light passing through the film.
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Citations
40 Claims
- 1. A light redirecting film comprising a thin optically transparent substrate having a light entrance surface for receiving light from a light source and an opposite light exit surface, at least one of the surfaces having a pattern of individual optical elements of well defined shape having at least two sloping surfaces and being quite small relative to the length and width of the substrate to redistribute light passing through the substrate in a predetermined angular distribution, at least some of the optical elements being non-interlockable optical elements having a geometric shape that prevents the non-interlockable optical elements from interlocking with each other, the non-interlockable optical elements being oriented and placed to produce a desired coverage of the portion of at least one of the surfaces of the substrate within the pattern of non-interlockable optical elements, wherein at least some of the non-interlockable optical elements intersect each other over an intersection area to achieve substantially complete surface coverage of at least one of the surfaces of the substrate within the pattern of non-interlockable optical elements.
- 22. A light redirecting film comprising a thin optically transparent substrate having a light entrance surface for receiving light from a light source and an opposite light exit surface, at least one of the surfaces having a pattern of individual optical elements of well defined shape having at least two sloping surfaces and being quite small relative to the length and width of the substrate to redistribute light passing through the substrate in a predetermined angular distribution, at least some of the optical elements being non-interlockable optical elements having a geometric shape that prevents the non-interlockable optical elements from interlocking with each other, the non-interlockable optical elements being oriented and placed to produce a desired coverage of the portion of at least one of the surfaces of the substrate within the pattern of non-interlockable optical elements, wherein some portion of the area of the one surface of the substrate, within the pattern of non-interlockable optical elements, has an area that is not completely covered by the non-interlockable optical elements, and another portion or portions of the area of the one surface of the substrate, within the pattern of non-interlockable optical elements, has an area where the non-interlockable optical elements intersect each other over an intersection area which alters a perimeter shape of the intersecting non-interlockable optical elements and increases the amount of coverage of the surface of the substrate within the pattern of non-interlockable optical elements.
- 27. A light redirecting film comprising a thin optically transparent substrate having a light entrance surface for receiving light from a light source and an opposite light exit surface, at least one of the surfaces having a pattern of individual optical elements of well defined shape that are quite small relative to the length and width of the substrate to redistribute light passing through the substrate in a predetermined angular distribution, at least some of the optical elements being non-interlockable optical elements having a geometric shape that prevents the non-interlockable optical elements from interlocking with each other, the non-interlockable optical elements being oriented and placed to produce a desired coverage of the portion of at least one of the surfaces of the substrate within the pattern of non-interlockable optical elements, wherein the non-interlockable optical elements have at least one curved surface and at least one flat surface, and at least some of the non-interlockable optical elements are positioned to intersect each other over an intersection area in order to increase the amount of coverage of the surface of the substrate within the pattern of non-interlockable optical elements.
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36. A light redirecting film comprising a thin optically transparent substrate having a light entrance surface for receiving light from a light source and an opposite light exit surface, at least one of the surfaces having a pattern of individual optical elements of well defined shape having at least two sloping surfaces and being quite small relative to the length and width of the substrate to redistribute light passing through the substrate in a predetermined angular distribution, wherein at least some portion of the area of the one surface of the substrate, within the pattern of optical elements, has an area that is not completely covered by the optical elements leaving said area unpatterned, and wherein the position or placement of the optical elements on at least one of the surfaces is randomized.
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37. A light redirecting film comprising a thin optically transparent substrate having a light entrance surface for receiving light from a light source and an opposite light exit surface, at least one of the surfaces having a pattern of individual optical elements of well defined shape that are quite small relative to the length and width of the substrate to redistribute light passing through the substrate in a predetermined angular distribution, at least some of the optical elements being non-interlockable optical elements having a geometric shape that prevents the non-interlockable optical elements from interlocking with each other, the non-interlockable optical elements being oriented and placed to produce a desired coverage of the portion of at least one of the surfaces of the substrate within the pattern of non-interlockable optical elements, and wherein the position or placement of the non-interlockable optical elements on at least one of the surfaces is randomized.
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38. A light redirecting film comprising a thin optically transparent substrate having a light entrance surface for receiving light from a light source and an opposite light exit surface, at least one of the surfaces having a pattern of individual optical elements of well defined shape having at least two sloping surfaces and being quite small relative to the length and width of the substrate to redistribute light passing through the substrate in a predetermined angular distribution, wherein at least some of the optical elements intersect each other to achieve substantially complete surface coverage of at least one of the surfaces of the substrate within the pattern of optical elements, and wherein the position or placement of the optical elements on at least one of the surfaces is randomized.
- 39. A light redirecting film comprising a thin optically transparent substrate having a light entrance surface for receiving light from a light source and an opposite light exit surface, at least one of the surfaces having a pattern of individual optical elements of well defined shape that are quite small relative to the length and width of the substrate to redistribute light passing through the substrate in a predetermined angular distribution, at least some of the optical elements being non-interlockable optical elements having a geometric shape that prevents the non-interlockable optical elements from interlocking with each other, the non-interlockable optical elements being oriented and placed to produce a desired coverage of the portion of at least one of the surfaces of the substrate within the pattern of non-interlockable optical elements, wherein the non-interlockable optical elements have at least one curved surface and at least one flat surface, and at least some of the non-interlockable optical elements are positioned to intersect each other in order to increase the amount of coverage of the surface of the substrate within the pattern of non-interlockable optical elements, and wherein at least some of the non-interlockable optical elements are positioned to intersect each other to a greater extent on the curved surface than on the flat surface to increase the relative percentage of flat surface area to curved surface area of the non-interlockable optical elements to increase on axis gain of light passing through the substrate.
Specification