Layered dimmer system
First Claim
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1. A system, comprising:
- a substrate, having first and second oppositely facing surfaces;
a roughening layer, located on the first surface, where the first surface is intended to receive incident light; and
a patterned reflecting layer, having a first pattern which is different at different areas of the substrate, said patterned reflecting layer located on the second surface, said pattern reflecting layer having a pattern which causes different amounts of reflection on different areas of the surface.
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Abstract
A layered dimmer formed of different layers. The front layer may be a scattering layer, and the back layer may be a reflective layer. The light beam is scattered prior to reflecting, to avoid reflection back to form hotspots.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A system, comprising:
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a substrate, having first and second oppositely facing surfaces; a roughening layer, located on the first surface, where the first surface is intended to receive incident light; and a patterned reflecting layer, having a first pattern which is different at different areas of the substrate, said patterned reflecting layer located on the second surface, said pattern reflecting layer having a pattern which causes different amounts of reflection on different areas of the surface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A lighting system, comprising:
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a lighting element; a dimming element, said dimming element having a substrate, having first and second oppositely facing surfaces, a roughening layer, located on the first surface, where the first surface is positioned to receive incident light from said lighting element, and a patterned reflecting layer, having a first pattern which is different at different areas of the substrate, said patterned reflecting layer located on the second surface, said patterned reflecting layer having a pattern which causes different amounts of reflection on different areas of the surface; a moving element for said dimming element, which moves said dimming element so that different areas of said substrate are placed within the light beam; and a controller, which controls said lighting element, and said moving element, to place different areas of said dimming element in said incident light. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method, comprising:
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forming a beam of light along an axis; first, scattering said beam of light using a scattering layer that is on the first side of a dimming substrate; second, reflecting said scattered light using a patterned reflecting layer, which is patterned according to an amount of desired dimming;
said reflecting using a reflecting layer that is on a second side of the substrate; andpassing a dimmed beam which has been dimmed by both said scattering and said reflecting.
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30. A method, of dimming a beam of light, comprising:
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forming a beam of light along a path; at a first time, forming said beam of light at a first intensity; sensing a request to dim said beam of light; responsive to said request, first electronically reducing an intensity of the beam of light, second moving the dimmer into the path of said beam of light, and third increasing the intensity of the beam of light which is in the path.
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31. A method, comprising:
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forming a beam of light along an axis; detecting a first dimming command, and responsive to said first dimming command, scattering said beam of light using a scattering layer that is on the first side of a dimming substrate; detecting a second dimming command, and responsive to said second dimming command, reflecting said scattered light using a patterned reflecting layer, which is patterned according to an amount of desired dimming, where said reflecting using a reflecting layer that is on a second side of the substrate; and detecting a third dimming command, and responsive to said third dimming command, doing both of scattering said beam of light using the scattering layer that is on the first side of a dimming substrate and also reflecting said scattered light using the patterned reflecting layer which is patterned according to an amount of desired dimming, where said reflecting using a reflecting layer that is on a second side of the substrate passing a dimmed beam which has been dimmed by both said scattering and said reflecting.
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32. A system, comprising:
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a substrate, having first and second oppositely facing surfaces; a dimming layer, located on at least one of said surfaces, where said dimming layer has a semi-stochastic intensity pattern, which has light passing and light blocking areas forming a pattern, and a probability of an area being light blocking sets an amount of dimming, and is different at a first area than it is at a second area on the dimming layer. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35)
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36. A method comprising:
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controlling a dimmer device to move to a first location where dimming is carried out using a pattern of reflectors on a first surface; and second, controlling said dimmer device to move to a second location where dimming is carried out using frosting of an otherwise clear surface on said dimmer device. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38)
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Specification