Detailed Description
The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, wherein the drawings are only for illustrating the structural relationship and related functions of the present invention, and the sizes or shapes or sizes of the various parts are not to be considered to be arranged in actual proportion and not to be limited by the present invention.
Referring to fig. 1 to 6, the present invention is a light guide plate 1 with high aspect ratio light guide hole 10 array, which is provided with an array of light guide holes 10 on a metal sheet 20 with a uniform thickness, for light to pass from a first surface 21 of the metal sheet 20 to a second surface 22 opposite to the first surface 21 through the metal sheet 20 perpendicularly; wherein the Aspect Ratio (or thickness Ratio, or plate thickness aperture Ratio, Aspect Ratio) of each light guide hole 10, i.e. the Ratio of the depth of each light guide hole 10 (or the thickness of the metal plate 20) to the width (or aperture) of each light guide hole 10 is close to 10 but not limited. The light guide plate 1 comprises a metal sheet 20, a plurality of first grooves 30, a plurality of second grooves 40, and a light guide hole array formed by a plurality of light guide holes 10.
The metal plate 20 is a metal sheet with uniform thickness, and includes a first surface 21 and a second surface 22 opposite to the first surface 21.
The plurality of first grooves 30 are formed and recessed on the first surface 21 of the metal plate 20 by etching, wherein the length of each first groove 30 extends along or parallel to a first direction, such as the direction indicated by the arrow X in fig. 1, but not limited thereto; the width of each first groove 30 is controlled by etching technique and process to be approximately (approximate) equal to the predetermined width (or aperture) of each light guide hole 10, such as 5-6 μm, but not limited thereto, wherein the depth of each first groove 30 is controlled by etching process to be approximately equal to or slightly greater than half of the thickness of the metal plate 20, for example, the thickness of the metal plate 20 is 50-60 μm (refer to fig. 4), and the depth of each first groove 30 is controlled to be approximately equal to or slightly greater than 25-30 μm, but not limited thereto.
The plurality of second grooves 40 are formed and recessed on the second surface 22 of the metal plate 20 by etching, wherein the length of each second groove 40 extends along or parallel to a second direction, such as the direction indicated by the arrow Y in fig. 1, but not limited thereto; the width of each second groove 40 is controlled by etching technique and process to be approximately (approximate) equal to the predetermined width (or aperture) of each light guide hole 10, such as 5-6 μm (refer to fig. 4), but not limited thereto, wherein the depth of each second groove 30 is controlled by etching process to be approximately equal to or slightly greater than half of the thickness of the metal plate 20, for example, the depth of each first groove 30 is controlled to be approximately equal to or slightly greater than 25-30 μm, but not limited thereto, when the thickness of the metal plate 20 is 50-60 μm (refer to fig. 4).
Referring to fig. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6, a first groove 30 and a second groove 40 formed on the first surface 21 and a second groove 40 formed on the second surface 22 form a corresponding relationship of up and down in the metal sheet 20, that is, a first groove 30 and a second groove 40 form a stacked relationship of up and down in the metal sheet 20.
Referring to fig. 4, 5 and 6, each first groove 30 and the corresponding second groove 40 further form an up-and-down crossing state in the metal sheet 20, so that each first groove 30 and the corresponding second groove 40 can generate a through-zone 50 in the up-and-down direction at the crossing position.
In the actual manufacturing process, the photoresist layers 60 and 70 are coated on the first surface 21 and the second surface 22, as shown in FIG. 3 but not limited thereto, and then a double-sided exposure process is performed to leave and set the photoresist openings 61 of the first grooves 30 and the photoresist openings 71 of the second grooves 40 by using a mask; then, a double-sided etching process is performed to etch and form each first groove 30 and each second groove 40 on the first surface 21 and the second surface 22, respectively. When a vertical through-region 50 is formed at the intersection of each first groove 30 and each corresponding second groove 40 during the etching process, i.e. when each first groove 30 and each corresponding second groove 40 are etched through at the intersection between the grooves, the etching is stopped, so that the width of the through-region 50 can be controlled to maintain the original predetermined width (or aperture) of the light guide hole 10 or maintain the original predetermined width of the light guide hole 10 within the allowable range. In addition, the etching shape inside the trenches of the first recesses 30 and the second recesses 40 may be over-etched due to the etching speed during etching, but since the double-sided etching is adopted, the shapes of the trenches of the first recesses 30 and the second recesses 40 on the first surface 21 and the second surface 22 are complete.
Referring to fig. 4, 5 and 6, since light can only pass through the through area 50 to pass through the metal sheet 20, each light guiding hole 10 is formed by each through area 50 and a local area (e.g. the first groove local 30a in fig. 4) of each first groove 30 perpendicular to the through area 70 and a local area (e.g. the second groove local 40a in fig. 4) of each second groove 40 perpendicular to the through area 70, respectively, so that light can pass through each light guiding hole 10(30a, 50 and 40a) to pass through the through area 50 from the first surface 21 or the second surface 22 of the metal sheet 20 to the opposite second surface 22 or the first surface 21, thereby achieving the operational effect of the light guiding plate 1.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the metal plate 20 is made of an etchable material, such as stainless steel, copper, aluminum, etc. but not limited thereto.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the length direction or first direction (X in fig. 1 without limitation) of each first groove 30 and the length direction or second direction (Y in fig. 1 without limitation) of each corresponding second groove 40 form an up-down cross or a non-cross in the metal plate 20; wherein when the first groove 30 and the corresponding second groove 40 form a cross-shaped vertical intersection, as shown in fig. 1, 2, 5 to 9, the shape of the through region 50 of the light guide hole 10 forms a rectangle; wherein when the first groove 30 and the corresponding second groove 40 form a non-criss-cross vertical cross, as shown in fig. 10, the shape of the through area 50 of the light guide hole 10 forms a diamond shape.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the metal plate 20 or the depth of each light guiding hole 10 is 50 to 60 μm, and the width dimension of the penetrating region 50 of each light guiding hole 10 is controlled to be 5 to 6 μm.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the length and width of the light guide plate 1 are both 5.5 inches (about 13.97cm), the thickness is 50 to 60 μm, 1920 light guide holes 10 are arranged in the length direction at equal intervals, that is, the length of two adjacent light guide holes 10 is about 72 μm apart, 1080 light guide holes 10 are arranged in the width direction at equal intervals, that is, the width of two adjacent light guide holes 10 is about 129 μm apart, so that the light guide plate 20 has a light guide hole array consisting of 1920 × 1080 light guide holes 10.
The light guide plate 1 of the present invention may have a light guide hole array with different numbers of light guide holes 10 or different patterns of light guide hole arrays, which are described below but not limited to the present invention.
Referring to fig. 7, the shape (rectangle) of the light guide holes 10 (penetrating regions 50) and the pattern of the light guide hole array of the light guide plate 1 of the present embodiment are similar to those of the embodiments shown in fig. 1 and 2, i.e. the first grooves 30 and the corresponding second grooves 40 form a cross-shaped vertical intersection, so the shape of the penetrating regions 50 of the light guide holes 10 forms a rectangle, but the difference therebetween is that: in the light guide hole array of the present embodiment, the first grooves 30 located in the same row (for example, fig. 7, which shares 4 rows in the transverse direction but is not limited) or the second grooves 40 located in the same column (for example, fig. 7, which shares 8 columns in the longitudinal direction but is not limited) are extended and connected in the length direction to form a continuous and longer first groove 30 or second groove 40, respectively, that is, two adjacent first grooves 30 are extended and connected in the length direction to form a longer first groove 30, or two adjacent second grooves 40 are also extended and connected in the length direction to form a longer second groove 40, but the use function of the light guide plate 1 or the light guide hole 10 array thereof of the present embodiment is not affected.
Referring to fig. 8, the shape (rectangle) of the light guide hole 10 (penetrating region 50) of the light guide plate 1 of the present embodiment is similar to the embodiment shown in fig. 1 and 2, i.e. the first groove 30 and the corresponding second groove 40 form a cross-shaped vertical intersection, so the shape of the penetrating region 50 of the light guide hole 10 forms a rectangle, but the difference therebetween is that: the pattern of the light guide hole array of this embodiment is different from the embodiment shown in fig. 1 and 2, that is, in this embodiment, a staggered pattern is formed between two adjacent rows of the first grooves 30 or between two adjacent rows of the second grooves 40.
Referring to fig. 9, the shape (rectangle) and pattern of the light guide holes 10 (penetrating regions 50) of the light guide plate 1 of the present embodiment are similar to the embodiment shown in fig. 8, that is, the first grooves 30 and the corresponding second grooves 40 form a crisscross pattern, so that the penetrating regions 50 of the light guide holes 10 form a rectangle, and a staggered pattern is formed between two adjacent rows of the first grooves 30 or between two adjacent rows of the second grooves 40. However, the difference between the two is: in this embodiment, compared with the embodiment shown in fig. 8, the length directions of each first groove 30 and the corresponding second groove 40 of this embodiment are respectively rotated by 45 degrees clockwise, i.e. the directions shown by the X arrow and the Y arrow in fig. 1 are respectively rotated by 45 degrees, but still form a cross vertically.
Referring to fig. 10, the pattern of the light guide hole array of the light guide plate 1 of the present embodiment is similar to the embodiment shown in fig. 8, i.e. a staggered pattern is formed between two adjacent rows of the first grooves 30 or between two adjacent rows of the second grooves 40. However, the difference between the two is: in this embodiment, each first groove 30 and each corresponding second groove 40 form a non-crisscross vertical intersection; in this embodiment, compared with the embodiment shown in fig. 8, the length direction (indicated by the arrow Y in fig. 1) of each second groove 40 in this embodiment is rotated by 45 degrees counterclockwise as shown in fig. 10, and thus the shape of the through region 50 of the light guide hole 10 is formed in a diamond shape.
In addition, referring to fig. 1 to 6, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a light guide plate 1 with an array of light guiding holes 10 with high aspect ratio, comprising the following steps:
step S1: an etchable metal sheet 20 is provided having a first face 21 and a second face 22 opposite the first face 21.
Step S2: etching the first surface 21 and the second surface 22 of the metal plate 20 by using an etching technique to form a plurality of first grooves 30 and second grooves 40 on the first surface 21 and the second surface 22 respectively; wherein the length of each first groove 30 extends along or parallel to a first direction (X), the width is controlled to be approximately (approximate) equal to the width (or aperture) of each light guide hole 10 by an etching process, and the depth is controlled to be approximately equal to or slightly greater than half of the thickness of the metal plate 20 by an etching process; wherein the length of each second groove 40 extends along or parallel to a second direction (Y), the width is controlled to be approximately (approximate) equal to the width (or aperture) of each light guide hole 10 by an etching process, and the depth is controlled to be approximately equal to or slightly greater than half of the thickness of the metal plate 20 by an etching process; wherein, a one-to-one correspondence relationship and a one-to-one intersection state between each first groove 30 and each second groove 40 are formed in the metal plate 20, so that each first groove 30 and each corresponding second groove 40 can etch at the intersection position to generate a through region 50 in the up-and-down direction, and the width dimension of the through region 50 is controlled to maintain the width (or aperture) of the light guide hole 10 or maintain the width within the allowable margin range of the light guide hole 10; wherein each light guiding hole 10 is composed of a part (30a, 40a) perpendicular to the through area 70 in each through area 50 and each first groove 30 and each second groove 40, so that each light guiding hole 10 can pass through the through area 50 from the first surface 21 of the metal plate 20 to the second surface 22 of the metal plate 20.
Step S3: a light guide plate 20 is completed and an array of light guide holes 10 is formed on the light guide plate 20.
In addition, the etching operation of step S2 may further include the following procedures without limitation: respectively coating a photoresist layer 60 and a photoresist layer 70 on the first surface 21 and the second surface 22 of the metal sheet 20; performing a double-sided exposure process and using a mask to leave and set the photoresist openings 61 of the first grooves 30 and the photoresist openings 71 of the second grooves 40, thereby determining the predetermined positions of the first grooves 30, the second grooves 40 and the light guide holes 10 (refer to fig. 3); then, performing a double-sided etching procedure to etch and form each first groove 30 and each second groove 40; wherein the double-sided etching process is stopped when each first trench 30 and each corresponding second trench 40 are etched at the crossing position to generate a vertical through region 50.
In addition, after the double-sided etching process is stopped, the photoresist layers 60 and 70 may remain on the first side 21 and the second side 22 of the metal plate 20 without being removed, so that the thickness of the photoresist layers 60 and 70 may be relatively reduced by the thickness of the metal plate 20 etched through.
Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following advantages:
(1) in actual manufacturing, when each first groove 30 and each corresponding second groove 40 are etched through at the intersection between the grooves, the etching operation is stopped, so that the width dimension of each through region 50 or each completed via 10 can be properly controlled.
(2) During the etching operation, the etching shape inside the grooves of the first recesses 30 and the second recesses 40 may be over-etched due to the etching speed, but since the double-sided etching is adopted, as long as the shapes of the grooves of the first recesses 30 and the second recesses 40 on the surfaces of the first surface 21 and the second surface 22 are complete, it is beneficial to improve the precision of the etching formation of the light guide holes 10.
(3) The present invention uses a mask to leave the photoresist openings 61 of the first grooves 30 and the photoresist openings 71 of the second grooves 40, so that the one-to-one correspondence relationship and the one-to-one intersection position of the first grooves 30 and the second grooves 40 on the metal plate 20 can be precisely set and controlled, that is, the first grooves 30, the second grooves 40 and the light guide holes 10 can be precisely etched and formed at the set correct positions, which is beneficial to improving the precision and the manufacturing yield of the light guide plate 1 of the present invention.
The foregoing is merely a preferred embodiment of this invention, which is intended to be illustrative, not limiting; those skilled in the art will appreciate that many variations, modifications, and even equivalent variations are possible within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.