Light guides
First Claim
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1. A light guide device comprising one or more light sources coupled to a light guide plate, wherein said light guide plate comprises:
- a first layer of light guiding material,a second layer of light guiding material which is mounted upon a surface of the first layer of light guiding material, andone or more light scattering features embedded within at least one of the first and second layers of light guiding material and located at the interface between the first and second layers of light guiding material,wherein light from the one or more light sources is guided within both the first layer of light guiding material and the second layer of light guiding material by total internal reflection,wherein said one or more light scattering features disturb the total internal reflection of the guided light and the disturbed light is emitted in a direction which is perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the direction of the guided light, andwherein the one or more scattering features are dispersed within a transparent ink.
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Abstract
This invention relates to a light guide plate and methods of manufacture. The light guide plate is suitable for use in a range of applications, particularly those which require backlighting for display units, for example, liquid crystal displays. The light guide plate comprises a combination of light guide layers and one or more scattering features.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A light guide device comprising one or more light sources coupled to a light guide plate, wherein said light guide plate comprises:
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a first layer of light guiding material, a second layer of light guiding material which is mounted upon a surface of the first layer of light guiding material, and one or more light scattering features embedded within at least one of the first and second layers of light guiding material and located at the interface between the first and second layers of light guiding material, wherein light from the one or more light sources is guided within both the first layer of light guiding material and the second layer of light guiding material by total internal reflection, wherein said one or more light scattering features disturb the total internal reflection of the guided light and the disturbed light is emitted in a direction which is perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the direction of the guided light, and wherein the one or more scattering features are dispersed within a transparent ink. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of producing a light guide device, comprising:
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producing a light guide plate which comprises;
(a) applying to a surface of a first layer of light guiding material one or more light scattering features; and
(b) mounting a second layer of light guiding material on the surface of the first layer of light guiding material such that the first and second layers of light guiding material are optically joined by applying the second layer of light guiding material directly to the surface of the first light guiding material and the one or more light scattering features, and said one or more light scattering features are located at the interface between the first and second layers of light guiding material; andcombining said light guide plate with one or more light sources, wherein step (a) comprises applying to the surface a transparent ink comprising the one or more light scattering features and curing the ink. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification