GB2310525A

GB2310525A - Illuminated display device

Info

Publication number: GB2310525A
Application number: GB9603963A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ronnie Revell; Martin Revell; Gary William Morris
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1996-02-24
Filing date: 1996-02-24
Publication date: 1997-08-27
Also published as: GB9603963D0

Abstract

An illumination device for emitting an evenly dispersed area of light to illuminate a display face comprises a hollow body into which light from a source adjacent or within the device is supplied, the hollow body comprising a display panel 14 and a reflector panel 22 spaced therefrom and wherein at least one of these panels has a refractive area to enhance uniformity of the light seen through the display panel. The refractive area is suitably made up of prismatic material (strips 16, 26). The panels may be made up of white areas (44, 48) and prism strips (32, 46, Fig. 3), of opposed triangular formations. The device may be single-sided or double-sided. The single sided illumination display device has one illuminated face 18. Prismatic material 26 is attached to a white reflector panel 22 which is attached to opposing end panels to create a cavity. This reflector panel is textured, and curves furthest away from the light source. Prismatic material is used on front face(s) 16 whereby the prism orientation runs longitudinally away from the prismatic lens 28, which prism orientation runs parallel to adjacent light source. Double sided illumination display device has two illuminated faces (38, 40 fig 2). The prismatic material is treated in a controlled process to reflect/refract light. Prism orientation remains the same. The prism surface can face outward from the cavity (fig 5) or inwards (fig 6).

Description

ILLUMINATED DISPLAY The invention relates to an illuminated display device for providir 2 for example. an illuminated sign. Some such devices. lononvn in the art do not satisfactoriiy diffuse a consistent level of light across a display face of the device. The result can be that unwanted shadows appear in areas of lower light levels.

The invention seeks to avoid the problems of the prior art by using the uptical benefits of prismatic material to partially refract some light and partially reflect light to provide an even distribution of light.

One aspect of the present invention provides an illumination device for emitting an evenly dispersed area of light to illuminate a display face of the device which device comprises a hollow body into which light from a source adjacent or within the device is supplied said hollow body comprising a display panel providing said display face which is at least translucent and a reflector panel spaced therefrom and wherein at least one of the display panel and/or reflector panel has a refractive area to enhance uniformity of the light seen through the display panel.

According to one feature, there may be a lens for refracting light from said source and a light transmitting panel for transmitting light from said source to a point of use.

According to another feature of the invention. said display face may be provided by a sheet material received by the display panel.

According to a further feature of the invention the sheet material may be received externally of the device.

According to a further feature, a white panel may be spaced from the light source and optionally wherein said panel is shaped to enhance uniformity of the light seen through the display panel.

According to another feature of the invention a second display panel may be juxtaposed to display panel and comprising a further display face which is at least translucent and has a refractive area to enhance uniformity of the light seen through the display panel.

According to another feature of the invention. there may be a light receiving panel separating reflecting panel and/or second display panel from the first display panel wherein said light receiving panel receives light.

According to yet another feature, said light receiving panel may be a lens.

According to another feature of the invention, the refractive area may comprise a plurality of prism strips.

According to another feature of the invention, the refractive area may comprise a layer of prismatic material applied to the display panel.

According to another feature of the invention, the reflector panel may comprise a plurality of prism strips.

According to another feature of the invention, the reflector panel may comprise a layer of prismatic material applied to the display panel.

Optionally, the dimension of the prism width may be in a range of 0.010" to 0.016" and the prism height may be in a range of 0.005" to 0.010".

According to a further feature, the prismatic material may be of a thickness in the range of 0.015" to 0.025".

The invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows an exploded view of one embodiment of the display device; Figure 2 is a side elevation of another embodiment of the display device; Figure 3 is an exploded view of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a sectional element of the embodiment according to Figure 1 illustrating the orientation of the prism strips; and Figure 5 shows a sectional element of the embodiment according to Figure 2 illustrating the orientation of the prism strips.

Figure 6 is a sectional element of the embodiment according to figure 2 with an alternative orientation of the prism strips.

Referring now to Figure 1, there is shown an exploded view of an illumination device which comprises an upper section 10 constructed from transparent plastics material or other suitable material and a lower section 12 made from white plastics material.

Upper and lower sections are connected together by glue or other suitable means to create a box structure.

Upper section 10 comprises a display panel 14, a lens panel 18 and opposing end panels 20. Attached to display panel 14 is a layer of prism strips 16. In this embodiment, the layer of prism strips 16 is attached to the inner face of display panel 14. A layer of prism strips 28 is also attached to lens panel 18 and which when in use act as a lens for light entering the device.

Lower section 12 comprises a reflector panel 22 and opposing end sections 24.

Attached to the upper face of reflector panel 22 are a number of triangularly shaped prism strips 26. These strips 26 assist in reflecting and/or transmitting the light along the hollow section. The reflector panel 12 is curved to form the opposing side panel to lens panel 18 and to assist in facilitating a uniform distribution of light through the display panel.

According to Figure 1, the layer of prism strip 16 attached to the display panel 14 is positioned so that the prisms run longitudinally away from lens panel 18. The triangular portions of prism strips 26 connected to the reflector panel 12 are positioned likewise. The layer applied to lens panel 18 is positioned so that the prism strips run between opposing end panels 20. As shown in Figure 4, the prism strips on display panel 14 are oriented so that the flat side is facing the hollow portion as are the prisms on lens panel 18, illustrated in Figure 1. The orientation of the prisms on reflector panel 12 are oppositely disposed as illustrated in Figure 4.

When in sue, a light source is applied to lens panel 18 thereby allowing light to enter through lens panel 18 and is transmitted throughout the hollow section by partial reflection and/or transmission caused by the prism strips 16 and 26. A portion of light is also refracted through prism strips 16 to illuminate a sign positioned in close proximity to display panel 14.

Referring to Figures 2 and 3, is a double sided illumination device comprises sections A and B which form a box structure and are enclosed by lens panels 38,40 positioned along the top and bottom of the box structure.

Section A comprises a side panel 30 and display panel 32 being made from transparent plastics material. Section B is also constructed from transparent plastics material and comprises side panel 34 and display panel 36. In this embodiment, side panels 30, 34 are connected to display panels 32,36 respectively, but this particular construction is not essential.

Each side panel 30,34 has a white inner surface. Display panel 32 has a layer of prism strips 42 applied to its surface. The surface is then treated so as to produce triangular sections 44 of white appearance, as illustrated in Figure 3. Display panel 36 also has a layer of prism strips 46 applied to its surface and is similarly treated to produce triangular sections 48 with a white appearance. The triangular sections 44 of display panel 32 are oppositely disposed to the corresponding sections 48 of display panel 36.

The treatment process in producing the triangular sections 44,48 on the display panels is carefully controlled to facilitate partial refraction through the surface in order to facilitate a uniform distribution of light through each main panel.

A layer of prism strips 50,52 is also applied to lens panels 38,40 respectively. The orientation of the prisms and position of each layer 50,52 is illustrated in Figure 3.

The layer of prism strips 42,46 attached to display panels 32,36 respectively are positioned to run longtitudinally away from lens panels 38,40 as illustrated in Figure 3. The orientation of the prisms is illustrated in Figure 5 with the flat side of the layer facing the hollow portion. Optionally, the prisms can be inverted with the flat side of the layer facing outwards; this embodiment is shown in Figure 6.

Light is applied to the box structure through the lenses 38,40 thereby allowing light to enter the hollow section and transmitted throughout this section by partial reflection and/or transmission caused by the prism strips. A portion of light is also refracted through prism strips on display panels 32,36 to illuminate a sign positioned in close proximity to each main panel.

The illumination device is not limited to display devices. It is anticipated that this system can also be used for shelving, illuminating lettering and sign posting.

Therefore, it is anticipated that the positioning and orientation of the prism strips and/or white sections are not limited to those embodiments described above.

Likewise, the construction of the illumination device can be varied according to the optical and/or lighting requirements.

Claims

1. An illumination device for emitting an evenly dispersed area of light to illuminate a display face of the device which device comprises a hollow body into which light from a source adjacent or within the device is supplied said hollow body comprising a display panel providing said display face which is at least translucent, and a reflector panel spaced therefrom and wherein at least one of the display panel and/or reflector panel has a refractive area to enhance uniformity of the light seen through the display panel.

2. An illumination device which further comprises a lens for refracting light from said source and a light transmitting panel for transmitting light from said source to a point of use.

3. An illumination device according to claim 1 or 2 wherein said display face is provided by a sheet material received by the display panel.

4. An illumination device according to claim 3 wherein the sheet material is received externally of the device.

5. An illumination device according to any of claims 1 to 4 which further comprises a white panel spaced from the light source and optionally wherein said panel is shaped to enhance uniformity of the light seen through the display panel.

6. An illumination device according to any of claims 1 to 4 wherein a second display panel is juxtaposed to display panel and comprising a further display face which is at least translucent and has a refractive area to enhance uniformity of the light seen through the display panel.

7. An illumination device according to claim 6 further comprising a light receiving panel separating reflecting panel and/or second display panel from the first display panel wherein said light receiving panel receives light.

8. An illumination device according to claim 7 wherein said light receiving panel is a lens.

9. An illumination device according to any of the preceding claims wherein the refractive area comprises a plurality of prism strips.

10. An illumination device according to any of the preceding claims wherein the refractive area comprises a layer of prismatic material applied to the display panel.

11. An illumination device according to any of the preceding claims wherein reflector panel comprises a plurality of prism strips.

12. An illumination device according to the preceding claims wherein the reflector panel comprises a layer of prismatic material applied to the display panel.

13. An illumination device according to claims 9 to 12 wherein the dimension of the prism width is in a range of 0.010" to 0.016" and the height of the prism is in a range of 0.005" to 0.010"".

14. An illumination device according to any of claims 9 to 13 wherein the prismatic material is a thickness in a range of 0.015" to 0.025".

15. An illumination device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to or as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

16. The use of an illumination device according to any of the preceding claims to emit an evenly dispersed area of light to illuminate a display face.