US20090129119A1 - Light guide member, lighting apparatus using the light guide member, and method of fabricating the light guide member - Google Patents
Light guide member, lighting apparatus using the light guide member, and method of fabricating the light guide member Download PDFInfo
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- US20090129119A1 US20090129119A1 US12/236,022 US23602208A US2009129119A1 US 20090129119 A1 US20090129119 A1 US 20090129119A1 US 23602208 A US23602208 A US 23602208A US 2009129119 A1 US2009129119 A1 US 2009129119A1
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- light
- light guide
- guide member
- optical controllers
- cavity
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- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
- G02B6/0001—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings specially adapted for lighting devices or systems
- G02B6/0011—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings specially adapted for lighting devices or systems the light guides being planar or of plate-like form
- G02B6/0065—Manufacturing aspects; Material aspects
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
- B29C33/00—Moulds or cores; Details thereof or accessories therefor
- B29C33/38—Moulds or cores; Details thereof or accessories therefor characterised by the material or the manufacturing process
- B29C33/3842—Manufacturing moulds, e.g. shaping the mould surface by machining
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
- B29C33/00—Moulds or cores; Details thereof or accessories therefor
- B29C33/42—Moulds or cores; Details thereof or accessories therefor characterised by the shape of the moulding surface, e.g. ribs or grooves
- B29C33/424—Moulding surfaces provided with means for marking or patterning
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
- B29C35/00—Heating, cooling or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanising; Apparatus therefor
- B29C35/02—Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould
- B29C35/08—Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould by wave energy or particle radiation
- B29C35/0888—Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould by wave energy or particle radiation using transparant moulds
- B29C35/0894—Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould by wave energy or particle radiation using transparant moulds provided with masks or diaphragms
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
- B29C37/00—Component parts, details, accessories or auxiliary operations, not covered by group B29C33/00 or B29C35/00
- B29C37/0053—Moulding articles characterised by the shape of the surface, e.g. ribs, high polish
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29D—PRODUCING PARTICULAR ARTICLES FROM PLASTICS OR FROM SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE
- B29D11/00—Producing optical elements, e.g. lenses or prisms
- B29D11/00663—Production of light guides
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- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
- G02B6/0001—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings specially adapted for lighting devices or systems
- G02B6/0011—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings specially adapted for lighting devices or systems the light guides being planar or of plate-like form
- G02B6/0033—Means for improving the coupling-out of light from the light guide
- G02B6/0035—Means for improving the coupling-out of light from the light guide provided on the surface of the light guide or in the bulk of it
- G02B6/0036—2-D arrangement of prisms, protrusions, indentations or roughened surfaces
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- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
- G02B6/0001—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings specially adapted for lighting devices or systems
- G02B6/0011—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings specially adapted for lighting devices or systems the light guides being planar or of plate-like form
- G02B6/0033—Means for improving the coupling-out of light from the light guide
- G02B6/005—Means for improving the coupling-out of light from the light guide provided by one optical element, or plurality thereof, placed on the light output side of the light guide
- G02B6/0055—Reflecting element, sheet or layer
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- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02F—OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
- G02F1/00—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics
- G02F1/01—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour
- G02F1/13—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour based on liquid crystals, e.g. single liquid crystal display cells
- G02F1/133—Constructional arrangements; Operation of liquid crystal cells; Circuit arrangements
- G02F1/1333—Constructional arrangements; Manufacturing methods
- G02F1/1335—Structural association of cells with optical devices, e.g. polarisers or reflectors
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
- B29C35/00—Heating, cooling or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanising; Apparatus therefor
- B29C35/02—Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould
- B29C35/08—Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould by wave energy or particle radiation
- B29C35/0805—Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould by wave energy or particle radiation using electromagnetic radiation
- B29C2035/0827—Heating or curing, e.g. crosslinking or vulcanizing during moulding, e.g. in a mould by wave energy or particle radiation using electromagnetic radiation using UV radiation
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29K—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES B29B, B29C OR B29D, RELATING TO MOULDING MATERIALS OR TO MATERIALS FOR MOULDS, REINFORCEMENTS, FILLERS OR PREFORMED PARTS, e.g. INSERTS
- B29K2083/00—Use of polymers having silicon, with or without sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, or carbon only, in the main chain, as moulding material
Definitions
- Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to a light guide plate, a lighting apparatus using the light guide plate, and a method of fabricating the light guide plate, and more particularly, to a light guide plate used in a backlight or a front light that is used as a lighting apparatus for displays.
- backlight apparatuses illuminate flat panel display apparatuses such as liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatuses, and can be classified into direct type backlight apparatuses and light guide type backlight apparatuses according to a location of a light source.
- the light guide type backlight apparatuses are classified into flat type backlights and wedge type backlights.
- a light source is located right under a light-exiting surface so as to perform a surface-emission, and thus, a plurality of light sources can be arranged to improve a brightness and a light emitting surface can be increased.
- power consumption is increased, and it is difficult to diffuse the light sufficiently when the display is thinned. Then, a shape of a lamp in the light source is projected through a display screen, and thus, the uniformity of the brightness is degraded.
- a light guide type backlight apparatus has a structure, in which light is incident from an edge of the light guide plate and is discharged through a light-exiting surface of the light guide plate, which is perpendicular to the edge of the light guide plate. Since the light source is disposed on the edge or a side surface of the light guide plate, a lateral length of the light guide plate limits the number of light sources. In addition, although it is easy to make the light guide type backlight apparatus thin, a structure for evenly distributing the brightness throughout the light emitting surface is more complicated than that of the direct type backlight apparatus.
- a flat type backlight apparatus is used in monitors or cases requiring a high brightness.
- Light sources can be fixed on side edges or four corners of the light guide plate.
- a thickness of the light guide plate must be constant.
- a wedge type backlight apparatus is used when it is difficult to use a plurality of light sources because the power consumption is restricted, for example, in laptop computers.
- the wedge type backlight apparatus can be formed to have a structure, in which a surface, to which the light is incident, has a large area and the other surface has a small area, so as to reduce the weight of the wedge type backlight apparatus.
- Line sources or point sources can be used as the light sources used in the light guide plate type backlight apparatus.
- Cold cathode fluorescent lamps in which electrodes are formed on both end portions of a tube, can be used as the line sources, and light emitting diodes (LEDs) can be used as the point sources.
- CCFL can emit high-intensity white light, obtain the light having high brightness and high uniformity, and can be designed to each have a large area.
- CCFL are driven by radio frequency alternating current (AC) signals, and operate within a small temperature range.
- LEDs emit light having lower brightness and lower uniformity than that of CCFL, however, LEDs are driven by a direct current (DC) signal within a large temperature range and have a long lifespan.
- LEDs may be formed to be thin.
- a front light apparatus is located on a front portion of a display, and can be applied to, for example, a flexible display, which is referred to as e-paper.
- the light source is disposed on edges of the light guide plate, and the front light apparatus is installed on the front portion of the flexible display to provide the flexible display with illumination light.
- the light guide plate used in the front light apparatus must transmit the display light reflected from the flexible display while illuminating the light from the edges to the flexible display, which is located on the rear portion of the front light apparatus. Therefore, the light guide plate used in the front light apparatus must transmit the display light reflected from the display, as well as provide the display with the light from the light source efficiently.
- the present invention provides a light guide plate that can be commonly applied to both a backlight apparatus and a front light apparatus, a lighting apparatus using the light guide plate, and a method of fabricating the light guide plate.
- a light guide member including: a body, which is formed as a transparent plate, including a first surface and a second surface facing the first surface; and a plurality of dimple type optical controllers formed beneath at least one of the first surface and the second surface and having reflective surfaces that reflect light proceeding between the first and second surfaces of the body toward at least one of the first and second surfaces.
- a lighting apparatus including: a body, which is formed as a transparent plate, having a first surface and a second surface facing the first surface; a plurality of dimple type optical controllers formed beneath at least one of the first surface and the second surface and having reflective surfaces that reflect light proceeding between the first and second surfaces of the body toward at least one of the first and second surfaces; and light sources disposed on an edge of the body for irradiating the light between the first surface and the second surface.
- the lighting apparatus may further include: a reflective surface disposed on the other edge of the body to face the light source.
- the dimple type optical controllers are commonly formed on the first and second surfaces of the body, and the optical controllers on each of the surfaces reflect the light toward the opposite surface.
- the reflective surface of the optical controller is formed to be commonly inclined with respect to the first and second surfaces of the body to reflect the light proceeding in the body toward the surface facing the surface, on which the corresponding optical controller is formed.
- the optical controller includes at least two reflective surfaces facing each other, and there is a cavity, having an opening that is narrower than the bottom surface thereof, between the reflective surfaces facing each other.
- the reflective surface can be plane or curved, and the cavity can include the bottom surface that is in parallel with the first and second surfaces of the body or curved as a spherical or an aspherical shape.
- the size of the optical controller may increase as the optical controller is apart from the light source.
- the optical controller may have an asymmetric structure, that is, a length of the direction where the light is incident is shorter than the direction perpendicular to the light incident direction, and the length in the direction perpendicular to the light incident direction may be increased.
- the optical controllers can be arranged as islands or stripes on the body, and the density of the optical controllers can increase linearly or non-linearly as the optical controllers are apart from the light source.
- Each of the optical controllers formed as stripes is disposed to extend in a direction facing the light source.
- optical controllers of stripe shapes and the optical controllers of the island shapes are mixed on the body.
- a method of fabricating a light guide member including: forming a plurality of protrusion molds on a template having a flat surface, each of the protrusion molds including a top surface that is wider than a bottom and a side surface under the top surface and inclined toward the top surface; forming a transparent half-processed light guide member having a cross-section corresponding to the protrusion molds by applying a transparent material on the template on which the protrusion molds are formed; and separating the half-processed light guide member from the template and the protrusion molds so as to form the light guide member, which includes a first surface, a second surface facing the first surface, and a plurality of dimple type optical controllers, corresponding to the protrusion molds, in the first surface, wherein each of the optical controllers includes a reflective surface corresponding to the inclined side surface of each of the protrusion molds.
- the forming of the protrusion molds may include: forming a light blocking mask, having openings corresponding to the protrusion molds, on the template; forming a photosensitive layer for forming the protrusion molds on the template to cover the light blocking mask; irradiating light to the light blocking mask to form exposure regions corresponding to the shapes of the protrusion molds in the photosensitive layer; and developing the photosensitive layer to obtain the protrusion molds from the exposure regions.
- the light guide member may be formed of an elastic material, in particular, the elastic material may be polydimethylsiloxane.
- FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a lighting apparatus having a light guide member, according to an embodiment of the present invention
- FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an optical controller in the light guide member, according to the embodiment of the present invention.
- FIGS. 3A through 3E are perspective views showing structures of optical controllers according to embodiments of the present invention.
- FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the lighting apparatus 100 to illustrate a light proceeding structure of the optical controllers that each have reflective surfaces;
- FIG. 5 is a plan view showing changes in the sizes of light controllers and arrangements of the light controllers in the light guide member according to another embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a lighting apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.
- FIGS. 7A through 7J are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of fabricating the light guide member, according to an embodiment of the present invention.
- first,” “second,” and the like, “primary,” “secondary,” and the like, as used herein do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one element, region, component, layer, or section from another.
- the terms “front”, “back”, “bottom”, and/or “top” are used herein, unless otherwise noted, merely for convenience of description, and are not limited to any one position or spatial orientation.
- FIG. 1 is a partially cut perspective view showing a schematic structure of a lighting apparatus 100 including an integral type light guide member, according to an embodiment of the present invention.
- the lighting apparatus 100 includes a transparent plate-shaped body 101 having a first surface 101 a and a second surface 101 b facing the first surface 101 a.
- Light sources 110 are disposed close to a side of the body 101 , and a reflective layer 120 is selectively disposed on the opposite side of the body 101 .
- the light sources 110 are each an apparatus for injecting light into the body 101 , and the reflective layer 120 reflects the light incident to the side of the body 101 into the body 101 to improve a light-use efficiency.
- dimple type optical controllers 102 are formed in the first surface 101 a of the body 101 .
- the optical controllers 102 are each a cavity 102 c formed as a well extending downward from the first surface 101 a, and are distributed completely throughout the body 101 .
- the optical controllers 102 may be evenly distributed, or locally distributed.
- the dimple type optical controllers 102 that is, the optical controllers 102 each having a recessed shape, each include the cavity 102 c formed as a depression in the first surface 101 a of the body 101 , and reflective surfaces 102 a and 102 b that respectively form a side surface and a bottom of the cavity 102 c and reflect the light inside the body 101 .
- the reflective surfaces 102 a and 102 b reflect the light that is in the body 101 according to a difference between the refractive indexes of a medium of the body 101 and a medium of the cavity 102 c, and in particular, reflect the light proceeding between the first surface 101 a and the second surface 101 b toward at least one of the first and second surfaces 101 a and 101 b.
- the reflective surface 102 a forming the side surface of the cavity 102 c, is inclined with respect to the bottom surface of the cavity 102 c, and accordingly, the cavity 102 c has a narrow opening and the reflective surface 102 b is wider than the opening.
- the body 101 is formed of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to a thickness of 400 to 600 ⁇ m.
- the opening and bottom of the cavity 102 c have diameters of 12 to 13 ⁇ m and 25 to 35 ⁇ m, respectively.
- a depth of the cavity 102 c is 10 to 15 ⁇ m, and a pitch between the cavities 102 c is about 50 to 70 ⁇ m.
- the reflective surface 102 b can be disposed in parallel with the first and second surfaces 101 a and 101 b.
- the reflective surfaces 102 a and 102 b can be flat or curved, or mixed.
- the side surface of the cavity 102 c is continuously formed.
- the side surface of the cavity 102 c can be formed as a three-dimensional curved surface; for example, the cavity 102 c can be formed as a barrel having a bulged intermediate portion.
- FIGS. 3A through 3E show various examples of optical controllers according to embodiments of the present invention.
- FIG. 3A shows an optical controller 102 ( a ) having a truncated conical cavity.
- FIG. 3B shows an optical controller 102 ( b ) having a barrel type cavity that includes a narrow opening and a wide bottom surface.
- FIG. 3C shows an optical controller 102 ( c ) having a cavity formed as a truncated quadrangular pyramid. Although FIG. 3C shows the quadrangular pyramid type cavity, the optical controller 102 ( c ) may have a truncated pyramid type cavity for which an example is the truncated quadrangular pyramid type cavity.
- FIG. 3A shows an optical controller 102 ( a ) having a truncated conical cavity.
- FIG. 3B shows an optical controller 102 ( b ) having a barrel type cavity that includes a narrow opening and a wide bottom surface.
- FIG. 3C shows an optical controller
- FIG. 3D shows an optical controller 102 ( d ) having a slot type cavity that is linearly elongated.
- FIG. 3E shows an optical controller 102 ( e ) having a slot type cavity that is curved.
- various types of optical controllers can be obtained.
- the technical scope of the present invention is not limited by the shape of the optical controller.
- FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the lighting apparatus 100 to illustrate a light guide structure of the optical controllers 102 each having the reflective surfaces 102 a and 102 b.
- the light emitted from the light source 110 such as an LED is incident (or introduced) to the body 101 , proceeds in the body 101 , and then, is totally reflected by the reflective surfaces 102 a and 102 b of the optical controllers 102 to exit the plate-shaped body 101 in a direction 250 .
- the light that is not discharged out of the body 101 is reflected by the reflective layer 120 that is located on an opposite side of the light source 110 toward the inside of the body 101 , and then, the light reflected by the optical controller 102 is discharged out of the plate-shaped body 101 through the first surface 101 a.
- some of the light may be discharged through the second surface 101 b.
- a light emission direction of the light injected into the body 101 may vary depending on the requirements of the lighting apparatus 100 , for example, when an additional reflective layer (not shown) is formed on the second surface 101 b of the plate-shaped body 101 , in a backlight apparatus, the light is only emitted through the first surface 101 a.
- display light from the display must transmit through the front light apparatus, and the light emitted from the light source 110 is output to the display, for example, through the first surface 101 a, and the light incident to the first surface 101 a from the display must be output through the second surface 101 b.
- the optical controllers 102 can be arranged according to the required design of the light apparatus.
- a plurality of optical controllers 102 can be arranged in the light guide member 101 , and in the present embodiment, the further the optical controllers 102 are located away from the light source 110 , the concentration of the optical controllers 102 becomes higher. To do this, the distances or pitches between the optical controllers 102 can be linearly or non-linearly reduced as the optical controllers 102 are disposed further away from the light source 110 .
- the sizes of the optical controllers 102 can be differentiated so as to change the sizes of the reflective surfaces 102 a and 102 b, for example, so as to increase the area of the reflective surfaces 102 a and 102 b as the optical controllers 101 are further away from the light source 110 .
- FIG. 5 is a plan view of a lighting apparatus 100 having the body 101 , on which the sizes and concentration of the optical controllers 102 having various shapes are different according to the distance of the optical controllers 102 from the light sources 110 .
- optical controllers 102 ( a ), 102 ( c ), 102 ( d ), and 102 ( e ) are arranged in the first surface 101 a of the body 101 in the light apparatus 100 .
- the optical controllers 102 ( a ), 102 ( c ), 102 ( d ), and 102 ( e ) are arranged along lines that are arranged with constant intervals from the light sources 110 , and the concentration of the optical controllers in each of the lines increases as the lines are further apart from the light sources 110 .
- the density of each line can be adjusted by changing the sizes and lengths of the optical controllers 102 ( a ), 102 ( c ), 102 ( d ), and 102 ( e ).
- the LED as a point source, or the CCFL as a line source can be used as the light sources 110 , and the shapes or arrangement of the optical controllers 102 ( a ), 102 ( c ), 102 ( d ), and 102 ( e ) may be adjusted according to the type of the light sources 110 .
- the point source is appropriate for a front light apparatus, in which the light emission angle is not an important factor, and CCFL is appropriate for the line source.
- the optical controllers 102 can be commonly formed in both the first and second surfaces 101 a and 101 b of the body 101 as shown in FIG. 6 .
- a reflective plate 130 may be formed on the second surface 101 b so that the light proceeding toward the second surface 101 b can be reflected to the first surface 101 a, and thereby increasing the light-use efficiency. Therefore, the structure shown in FIG. 6 can be used as a backlight apparatus in an LCD.
- FIG. 6 In FIG.
- optical controllers 102 are symmetrically formed in the first and second surfaces 101 a and 101 b, however, the optical controllers 102 may be asymmetrically disposed in the first and second surfaces 101 a and 101 b, and the distribution concentration and the shapes of the optical controllers 102 in each of the first and second surfaces 101 a and 101 b may be changed according to the optical characteristics of the lighting apparatus 100 .
- the light guide member and the lighting apparatus according to the present invention may not use an additional optical film as used in conventional backlight systems for LCD devices. That is, the light guide member having engraved optical controllers, that is, the dimple type optical controllers, formed using a simple lithography process is used, and thus, a lighting apparatus that is thin and light-weight can be formed with low fabrication costs.
- the light guide member and the lighting apparatus according to the present invention can be used as a backlight system in an LCD device, and can be used as a backlight of flexible LCD devices or a front light system in next generation flexible displays such as e-paper.
- the lighting apparatus including the light guide member according to the present invention is applied as a front light apparatus, there is no air layer between the display and the light guide member, and thus, the reflection of external light can be reduced so as to improve visibility and a contrast ratio.
- the light guide member having the optical controllers 102 shown in FIG. 1 is fabricated, however, a light guide member having the other types of optical controllers 102 ( a ), 102 ( c ), 102 ( d ), and 102 ( e ) also can be fabricated.
- a light blocking material for example, a metal layer 302 ′
- a template 301 which is formed of a transparent material
- a photosensitive layer 303 ′ is coated on the metal layer 302 ′.
- the photosensitive layer 303 ′ is patterned to form a mask layer 303 .
- the photosensitive layer 303 ′ is patterned using a photolithography process, and in the present embodiment, the photosensitive layer 303 ′ is patterned using a positive photoresist and developed using a wet developer. Portions that are not covered by the mask layer 303 correspond to the openings of the cavities 102 c.
- the metal layer 302 ′ is patterned by a general wet or dry etching process using the mask layer 303 so as to form a light blocking mask layer 302 that is formed of a metal.
- a photosensitive layer 307 ′ covering the light blocking mask layer 302 , is formed on the template 301 .
- the photosensitive layer 307 ′ is formed using a negative photoresist.
- FIG. 7E light is irradiated to a bottom surface of the template 301 to form photosensitive regions 307 ′′, each of which is formed as an inverse prism shape, at the openings 302 a of the mask layer 302 .
- diffused light is supplied from the bottom surface of the template 301 .
- the diffused light can be obtained by forming a diffusion unit 308 between the light source and the template 301 .
- FIG. 7F when parallel light is used instead of the diffused light, as shown in FIG. 7F , the parallel light is incident to the template 301 in a first direction, which is inclined with respect to the template 301 , to form first exposure regions 307 a.
- FIG. 7G the parallel light is incident to the template 301 in a second direction, which is opposite to the first direction, to form second exposure regions 307 b. Therefore, the photosensitive regions 307 ′′ can be obtained.
- the photosensitive layer 307 ′ having the photosensitive regions 307 ′′ is wet-etched to form protrusion molds 307 .
- the protrusion molds 307 are obtained from the photosensitive regions 307 ′′ and are formed to correspond to the cavities 102 c of the light guide member 100 .
- a material for forming the light guide member 101 is deposited on the template 301 to cover the protrusion molds 307 so as to form a half-processed light guide member 308 .
- the material for forming the light guide member is an elastic material, for example, PDMS. After the PDMS is completely cured, the half-processed light guide member 308 is separated from the protrusion molds 307 and the template 301 , and post-processes are performed, then, the light guide member 101 having the dimple type optical controllers 102 can be obtained.
- the protrusion molds 307 are formed of a photosensitive material, however, the present embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto, and thus, the protrusion molds 307 can be formed of a metal. That is, when the light guide member 101 is fabricated using a metal master, the molds formed of the photosensitive material are duplicated, and after that, inverse shapes of the molds are fabricated using a plating process. Otherwise, inverse molds are fabricated using a positive photosensitive layer, and after that, the metal molds can be fabricated by plating the molds. As described above, since the light guide member 101 is formed of the elastic material, the duplication can be performed even when the metal molds are used. Therefore, the molds are not transformed in the duplication, and the template can be re-used.
- a light guide member and a lighting apparatus according to the present invention can be used as backlight systems of LCDs, and as front light systems of reflective LCDs or flexible displays such as e-paper.
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Abstract
Provided are a light guide member, a lighting apparatus including the light guide member, and a method of fabricating the light guide member. The light guide member comprises: a body, which is formed as a transparent plate, including a first surface and a second surface facing the first surface; and a plurality of dimple type optical controllers formed beneath at least one of the first surface and the second surface and having reflective surfaces that reflect light proceeding between the first and second surfaces of the body toward at least one of the first and second surfaces.
Description
- This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2007-0117357, filed on Nov. 16, 2007, and all the benefits accruing therefrom under 35 U.S.C. §119, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
- 1. Field of the Invention
- Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to a light guide plate, a lighting apparatus using the light guide plate, and a method of fabricating the light guide plate, and more particularly, to a light guide plate used in a backlight or a front light that is used as a lighting apparatus for displays.
- 2. Description of the Related Art
- In general, backlight apparatuses illuminate flat panel display apparatuses such as liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatuses, and can be classified into direct type backlight apparatuses and light guide type backlight apparatuses according to a location of a light source. In addition, the light guide type backlight apparatuses are classified into flat type backlights and wedge type backlights.
- In direct type backlight apparatuses, a light source is located right under a light-exiting surface so as to perform a surface-emission, and thus, a plurality of light sources can be arranged to improve a brightness and a light emitting surface can be increased. However, power consumption is increased, and it is difficult to diffuse the light sufficiently when the display is thinned. Then, a shape of a lamp in the light source is projected through a display screen, and thus, the uniformity of the brightness is degraded.
- A light guide type backlight apparatus has a structure, in which light is incident from an edge of the light guide plate and is discharged through a light-exiting surface of the light guide plate, which is perpendicular to the edge of the light guide plate. Since the light source is disposed on the edge or a side surface of the light guide plate, a lateral length of the light guide plate limits the number of light sources. In addition, although it is easy to make the light guide type backlight apparatus thin, a structure for evenly distributing the brightness throughout the light emitting surface is more complicated than that of the direct type backlight apparatus.
- A flat type backlight apparatus is used in monitors or cases requiring a high brightness. Light sources can be fixed on side edges or four corners of the light guide plate. In addition, in order to improve the brightness using a plurality of light sources, a thickness of the light guide plate must be constant.
- A wedge type backlight apparatus is used when it is difficult to use a plurality of light sources because the power consumption is restricted, for example, in laptop computers. The wedge type backlight apparatus can be formed to have a structure, in which a surface, to which the light is incident, has a large area and the other surface has a small area, so as to reduce the weight of the wedge type backlight apparatus.
- Line sources or point sources can be used as the light sources used in the light guide plate type backlight apparatus. Cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL), in which electrodes are formed on both end portions of a tube, can be used as the line sources, and light emitting diodes (LEDs) can be used as the point sources. CCFL can emit high-intensity white light, obtain the light having high brightness and high uniformity, and can be designed to each have a large area. However, CCFL are driven by radio frequency alternating current (AC) signals, and operate within a small temperature range. LEDs emit light having lower brightness and lower uniformity than that of CCFL, however, LEDs are driven by a direct current (DC) signal within a large temperature range and have a long lifespan. In addition, LEDs may be formed to be thin.
- On the other hand, a front light apparatus is located on a front portion of a display, and can be applied to, for example, a flexible display, which is referred to as e-paper. In the front light apparatus applied to the flexible display, the light source is disposed on edges of the light guide plate, and the front light apparatus is installed on the front portion of the flexible display to provide the flexible display with illumination light. The light guide plate used in the front light apparatus must transmit the display light reflected from the flexible display while illuminating the light from the edges to the flexible display, which is located on the rear portion of the front light apparatus. Therefore, the light guide plate used in the front light apparatus must transmit the display light reflected from the display, as well as provide the display with the light from the light source efficiently.
- The present invention provides a light guide plate that can be commonly applied to both a backlight apparatus and a front light apparatus, a lighting apparatus using the light guide plate, and a method of fabricating the light guide plate.
- According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a light guide member including: a body, which is formed as a transparent plate, including a first surface and a second surface facing the first surface; and a plurality of dimple type optical controllers formed beneath at least one of the first surface and the second surface and having reflective surfaces that reflect light proceeding between the first and second surfaces of the body toward at least one of the first and second surfaces.
- According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lighting apparatus including: a body, which is formed as a transparent plate, having a first surface and a second surface facing the first surface; a plurality of dimple type optical controllers formed beneath at least one of the first surface and the second surface and having reflective surfaces that reflect light proceeding between the first and second surfaces of the body toward at least one of the first and second surfaces; and light sources disposed on an edge of the body for irradiating the light between the first surface and the second surface.
- The lighting apparatus may further include: a reflective surface disposed on the other edge of the body to face the light source.
- The dimple type optical controllers are commonly formed on the first and second surfaces of the body, and the optical controllers on each of the surfaces reflect the light toward the opposite surface.
- The reflective surface of the optical controller is formed to be commonly inclined with respect to the first and second surfaces of the body to reflect the light proceeding in the body toward the surface facing the surface, on which the corresponding optical controller is formed.
- The optical controller includes at least two reflective surfaces facing each other, and there is a cavity, having an opening that is narrower than the bottom surface thereof, between the reflective surfaces facing each other.
- The reflective surface can be plane or curved, and the cavity can include the bottom surface that is in parallel with the first and second surfaces of the body or curved as a spherical or an aspherical shape.
- The size of the optical controller may increase as the optical controller is apart from the light source. In addition, the optical controller may have an asymmetric structure, that is, a length of the direction where the light is incident is shorter than the direction perpendicular to the light incident direction, and the length in the direction perpendicular to the light incident direction may be increased.
- The optical controllers can be arranged as islands or stripes on the body, and the density of the optical controllers can increase linearly or non-linearly as the optical controllers are apart from the light source.
- Each of the optical controllers formed as stripes is disposed to extend in a direction facing the light source.
- The optical controllers of stripe shapes and the optical controllers of the island shapes are mixed on the body.
- According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of fabricating a light guide member, the method including: forming a plurality of protrusion molds on a template having a flat surface, each of the protrusion molds including a top surface that is wider than a bottom and a side surface under the top surface and inclined toward the top surface; forming a transparent half-processed light guide member having a cross-section corresponding to the protrusion molds by applying a transparent material on the template on which the protrusion molds are formed; and separating the half-processed light guide member from the template and the protrusion molds so as to form the light guide member, which includes a first surface, a second surface facing the first surface, and a plurality of dimple type optical controllers, corresponding to the protrusion molds, in the first surface, wherein each of the optical controllers includes a reflective surface corresponding to the inclined side surface of each of the protrusion molds.
- The forming of the protrusion molds may include: forming a light blocking mask, having openings corresponding to the protrusion molds, on the template; forming a photosensitive layer for forming the protrusion molds on the template to cover the light blocking mask; irradiating light to the light blocking mask to form exposure regions corresponding to the shapes of the protrusion molds in the photosensitive layer; and developing the photosensitive layer to obtain the protrusion molds from the exposure regions.
- The light guide member may be formed of an elastic material, in particular, the elastic material may be polydimethylsiloxane.
- The above and other features of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:
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FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a lighting apparatus having a light guide member, according to an embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an optical controller in the light guide member, according to the embodiment of the present invention; -
FIGS. 3A through 3E are perspective views showing structures of optical controllers according to embodiments of the present invention; -
FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of thelighting apparatus 100 to illustrate a light proceeding structure of the optical controllers that each have reflective surfaces; -
FIG. 5 is a plan view showing changes in the sizes of light controllers and arrangements of the light controllers in the light guide member according to another embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a lighting apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention; and -
FIGS. 7A through 7J are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of fabricating the light guide member, according to an embodiment of the present invention. - The invention is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. This should not be construed as limiting the claims to the exemplary embodiments shown. Rather, these embodiments are provided to convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, the size and relative sizes of elements and regions may be exaggerated for clarity.
- It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being “on”, “disposed on”, “disposed”, or “between” another element or layer, it can be directly on, disposed on, disposed, or between the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers can be present.
- The terms “first,” “second,” and the like, “primary,” “secondary,” and the like, as used herein do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one element, region, component, layer, or section from another. The terms “front”, “back”, “bottom”, and/or “top” are used herein, unless otherwise noted, merely for convenience of description, and are not limited to any one position or spatial orientation.
- The terms “a” and “an” do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item. The suffix “(s)” as used herein is intended to include both the singular and the plural of the term that it modifies, thereby comprising one or more of that term (e.g., the layer(s) includes one or more layers).
- Reference throughout the specification to “one embodiment”, “another embodiment”, “an embodiment”, and so forth, means that a particular element (e.g., feature, structure, and/or characteristic) described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment described herein, and may or may not be present in other embodiments. In addition, it is to be understood that the described elements may be combined in any suitable manner in the various exemplary embodiments.
- Unless defined otherwise, technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as is commonly understood by one of skill in the art to which this invention belongs.
FIG. 1 is a partially cut perspective view showing a schematic structure of alighting apparatus 100 including an integral type light guide member, according to an embodiment of the present invention. - Referring to
FIG. 1 , thelighting apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment includes a transparent plate-shapedbody 101 having afirst surface 101 a and asecond surface 101 b facing thefirst surface 101 a.Light sources 110 are disposed close to a side of thebody 101, and areflective layer 120 is selectively disposed on the opposite side of thebody 101. Thelight sources 110 are each an apparatus for injecting light into thebody 101, and thereflective layer 120 reflects the light incident to the side of thebody 101 into thebody 101 to improve a light-use efficiency. - On the other hand, dimple type
optical controllers 102 are formed in thefirst surface 101 a of thebody 101. Theoptical controllers 102 are each acavity 102 c formed as a well extending downward from thefirst surface 101 a, and are distributed completely throughout thebody 101. Theoptical controllers 102 may be evenly distributed, or locally distributed. As shown inFIG. 2 , the dimple typeoptical controllers 102, that is, theoptical controllers 102 each having a recessed shape, each include thecavity 102 c formed as a depression in thefirst surface 101 a of thebody 101, andreflective surfaces cavity 102 c and reflect the light inside thebody 101. Thereflective surfaces body 101 according to a difference between the refractive indexes of a medium of thebody 101 and a medium of thecavity 102 c, and in particular, reflect the light proceeding between thefirst surface 101 a and thesecond surface 101 b toward at least one of the first andsecond surfaces reflective surface 102 a, forming the side surface of thecavity 102 c, is inclined with respect to the bottom surface of thecavity 102 c, and accordingly, thecavity 102 c has a narrow opening and thereflective surface 102 b is wider than the opening. - According to the present embodiment of the present invention, the
body 101 is formed of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to a thickness of 400 to 600 μm. The opening and bottom of thecavity 102 c have diameters of 12 to 13 μm and 25 to 35 μm, respectively. In addition, a depth of thecavity 102 c is 10 to 15 μm, and a pitch between thecavities 102 c is about 50 to 70 μm. - The
reflective surface 102 b can be disposed in parallel with the first andsecond surfaces reflective surfaces cavity 102 c has a curved side surface, for example, when thecavity 102 c has a truncated conical side surface, the side surface of thecavity 102 c is continuously formed. In addition, the side surface of thecavity 102 c can be formed as a three-dimensional curved surface; for example, thecavity 102 c can be formed as a barrel having a bulged intermediate portion. -
FIGS. 3A through 3E show various examples of optical controllers according to embodiments of the present invention.FIG. 3A shows an optical controller 102(a) having a truncated conical cavity.FIG. 3B shows an optical controller 102(b) having a barrel type cavity that includes a narrow opening and a wide bottom surface.FIG. 3C shows an optical controller 102(c) having a cavity formed as a truncated quadrangular pyramid. AlthoughFIG. 3C shows the quadrangular pyramid type cavity, the optical controller 102(c) may have a truncated pyramid type cavity for which an example is the truncated quadrangular pyramid type cavity.FIG. 3D shows an optical controller 102(d) having a slot type cavity that is linearly elongated.FIG. 3E shows an optical controller 102(e) having a slot type cavity that is curved. As described above, various types of optical controllers can be obtained. In addition, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited by the shape of the optical controller. -
FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of thelighting apparatus 100 to illustrate a light guide structure of theoptical controllers 102 each having thereflective surfaces - Referring to
FIG. 4 , the light emitted from thelight source 110 such as an LED is incident (or introduced) to thebody 101, proceeds in thebody 101, and then, is totally reflected by thereflective surfaces optical controllers 102 to exit the plate-shapedbody 101 in adirection 250. Here, the light that is not discharged out of thebody 101 is reflected by thereflective layer 120 that is located on an opposite side of thelight source 110 toward the inside of thebody 101, and then, the light reflected by theoptical controller 102 is discharged out of the plate-shapedbody 101 through thefirst surface 101 a. Through the above internal reflecting structure, some of the light may be discharged through thesecond surface 101 b. A light emission direction of the light injected into thebody 101 may vary depending on the requirements of thelighting apparatus 100, for example, when an additional reflective layer (not shown) is formed on thesecond surface 101 b of the plate-shapedbody 101, in a backlight apparatus, the light is only emitted through thefirst surface 101 a. However, in a front light apparatus, display light from the display must transmit through the front light apparatus, and the light emitted from thelight source 110 is output to the display, for example, through thefirst surface 101 a, and the light incident to thefirst surface 101 a from the display must be output through thesecond surface 101 b. Theoptical controllers 102 can be arranged according to the required design of the light apparatus. - A plurality of
optical controllers 102 can be arranged in thelight guide member 101, and in the present embodiment, the further theoptical controllers 102 are located away from thelight source 110, the concentration of theoptical controllers 102 becomes higher. To do this, the distances or pitches between theoptical controllers 102 can be linearly or non-linearly reduced as theoptical controllers 102 are disposed further away from thelight source 110. In addition, when theoptical controllers 102 are distributed to be set apart from each other, the sizes of theoptical controllers 102 can be differentiated so as to change the sizes of thereflective surfaces reflective surfaces optical controllers 101 are further away from thelight source 110. -
FIG. 5 is a plan view of alighting apparatus 100 having thebody 101, on which the sizes and concentration of theoptical controllers 102 having various shapes are different according to the distance of theoptical controllers 102 from thelight sources 110. - The various types of optical controllers 102(a), 102(c), 102(d), and 102(e) are arranged in the
first surface 101 a of thebody 101 in thelight apparatus 100. The optical controllers 102(a), 102(c), 102(d), and 102(e) are arranged along lines that are arranged with constant intervals from thelight sources 110, and the concentration of the optical controllers in each of the lines increases as the lines are further apart from thelight sources 110. The density of each line can be adjusted by changing the sizes and lengths of the optical controllers 102(a), 102(c), 102(d), and 102(e). - The LED as a point source, or the CCFL as a line source can be used as the
light sources 110, and the shapes or arrangement of the optical controllers 102(a), 102(c), 102(d), and 102(e) may be adjusted according to the type of thelight sources 110. The point source is appropriate for a front light apparatus, in which the light emission angle is not an important factor, and CCFL is appropriate for the line source. - The
optical controllers 102 according to the embodiments of the present invention can be commonly formed in both the first andsecond surfaces body 101 as shown inFIG. 6 . At this time, areflective plate 130 may be formed on thesecond surface 101 b so that the light proceeding toward thesecond surface 101 b can be reflected to thefirst surface 101 a, and thereby increasing the light-use efficiency. Therefore, the structure shown inFIG. 6 can be used as a backlight apparatus in an LCD. InFIG. 6 ,optical controllers 102 are symmetrically formed in the first andsecond surfaces optical controllers 102 may be asymmetrically disposed in the first andsecond surfaces optical controllers 102 in each of the first andsecond surfaces lighting apparatus 100. - The light guide member and the lighting apparatus according to the present invention may not use an additional optical film as used in conventional backlight systems for LCD devices. That is, the light guide member having engraved optical controllers, that is, the dimple type optical controllers, formed using a simple lithography process is used, and thus, a lighting apparatus that is thin and light-weight can be formed with low fabrication costs. The light guide member and the lighting apparatus according to the present invention can be used as a backlight system in an LCD device, and can be used as a backlight of flexible LCD devices or a front light system in next generation flexible displays such as e-paper. In particular, when the lighting apparatus including the light guide member according to the present invention is applied as a front light apparatus, there is no air layer between the display and the light guide member, and thus, the reflection of external light can be reduced so as to improve visibility and a contrast ratio.
- Hereinafter, a method of fabricating the light guide member according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the current embodiment, the light guide member having the
optical controllers 102 shown inFIG. 1 is fabricated, however, a light guide member having the other types of optical controllers 102(a), 102(c), 102(d), and 102(e) also can be fabricated. - Referring to
FIG. 7A , a light blocking material, for example, ametal layer 302′, is formed on atemplate 301, which is formed of a transparent material, and then, aphotosensitive layer 303′ is coated on themetal layer 302′. - Referring to
FIG. 7B , thephotosensitive layer 303′ is patterned to form amask layer 303. Thephotosensitive layer 303′ is patterned using a photolithography process, and in the present embodiment, thephotosensitive layer 303′ is patterned using a positive photoresist and developed using a wet developer. Portions that are not covered by themask layer 303 correspond to the openings of thecavities 102 c. - Referring to
FIG. 7C , themetal layer 302′ is patterned by a general wet or dry etching process using themask layer 303 so as to form a lightblocking mask layer 302 that is formed of a metal. - Referring to
FIG. 7D , aphotosensitive layer 307′, covering the light blockingmask layer 302, is formed on thetemplate 301. In the present embodiment, thephotosensitive layer 307′ is formed using a negative photoresist. - Referring to
FIG. 7E , light is irradiated to a bottom surface of thetemplate 301 to formphotosensitive regions 307″, each of which is formed as an inverse prism shape, at theopenings 302 a of themask layer 302. To do this, diffused light is supplied from the bottom surface of thetemplate 301. The diffused light can be obtained by forming adiffusion unit 308 between the light source and thetemplate 301. On the other hand, when parallel light is used instead of the diffused light, as shown inFIG. 7F , the parallel light is incident to thetemplate 301 in a first direction, which is inclined with respect to thetemplate 301, to formfirst exposure regions 307 a. Then, as shown inFIG. 7G , the parallel light is incident to thetemplate 301 in a second direction, which is opposite to the first direction, to formsecond exposure regions 307 b. Therefore, thephotosensitive regions 307″ can be obtained. - Referring to
FIG. 7H , thephotosensitive layer 307′ having thephotosensitive regions 307″ is wet-etched to formprotrusion molds 307. Theprotrusion molds 307 are obtained from thephotosensitive regions 307″ and are formed to correspond to thecavities 102 c of thelight guide member 100. - Referring to
FIG. 71 , a material for forming thelight guide member 101 is deposited on thetemplate 301 to cover theprotrusion molds 307 so as to form a half-processedlight guide member 308. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the material for forming the light guide member is an elastic material, for example, PDMS. After the PDMS is completely cured, the half-processedlight guide member 308 is separated from theprotrusion molds 307 and thetemplate 301, and post-processes are performed, then, thelight guide member 101 having the dimple typeoptical controllers 102 can be obtained. - In the above description, the
protrusion molds 307 are formed of a photosensitive material, however, the present embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto, and thus, theprotrusion molds 307 can be formed of a metal. That is, when thelight guide member 101 is fabricated using a metal master, the molds formed of the photosensitive material are duplicated, and after that, inverse shapes of the molds are fabricated using a plating process. Otherwise, inverse molds are fabricated using a positive photosensitive layer, and after that, the metal molds can be fabricated by plating the molds. As described above, since thelight guide member 101 is formed of the elastic material, the duplication can be performed even when the metal molds are used. Therefore, the molds are not transformed in the duplication, and the template can be re-used. - A light guide member and a lighting apparatus according to the present invention can be used as backlight systems of LCDs, and as front light systems of reflective LCDs or flexible displays such as e-paper.
- While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.
Claims (24)
1. A light guide member comprising:
a body, which is formed as a transparent plate, including a first surface and a second surface facing the first surface; and
a plurality of dimple type optical controllers formed beneath at least one of the first surface and the second surface and having reflective surfaces that reflect light proceeding between the first and second surfaces of the body toward at least one of the first and the second surfaces.
2. The light guide member of claim 1 , wherein one of the plurality of dimple type optical controllers comprises a cavity formed as a depression in the first surface, and the cavity includes a reflective surface and a bottom surface surrounded by the reflective surface.
3. The light guide member of claim 2 , wherein the cavity is formed as a truncated conical shape or a truncated pyramid shape.
4. The light guide member of claim 1 , wherein the body has an side facing light sources that supply light, and the reflective surface of the one of the plurality of dimple type optical controllers becomes larger as the optical controllers are further apart from the side.
5. The light guide member of claim 1 , wherein the body comprises side facing light sources that supply light, and the cavity of the one of the plurality of dimple-type optical controllers has an asymmetrical structure, which extends in a direction perpendicular to a propagating direction of the light.
6. The light guide member of claim 2 , wherein the cavity comprises a bottom surface that is parallel with at least one of the first surface and the second surface of the body.
7. The light guide member of claim 4 , wherein a length of the cavity of the one of the plurality of dimple-type of the optical controllers is proportional to the distance of the one of the plurality of dimple-type optical controllers from the side.
8. The light guide member of claim 1 , wherein the light guide member is formed of an elastic material.
9. The light guide member of claim 8 , wherein the elastic material comprises polydimethylsiloxane.
10. A lighting apparatus comprising:
a body, which is formed as a transparent plate, having a first surface and a second surface facing the first surface;
a plurality of dimple type optical controllers formed beneath at least one of the first surface and the second surface and having reflective surfaces that reflect light proceeding between the first and second surfaces of the body toward at least one of the first and the second surfaces; and
light sources disposed on a first side of the body which irradiate the light between the first surface and the second surface.
11. The lighting apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising:
a reflective surface disposed on a second side of the body, facing the light sources.
12. The lighting apparatus of claim 10 , wherein one of the plurality of dimple type optical controllers is a cavity formed as a depression in the first surface, and the cavity comprises a reflective surface and a bottom surface surrounded by the reflective surface.
13. The lighting apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the cavity of the one of the plurality of dimple type optical controllers is formed as a truncated conical shape or a truncated pyramid shape.
14. The lighting apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the body comprises an side facing the light sources that supply light, and the reflective surface of the one of the plurality of dimple type optical controllers becomes larger as the optical controllers are further apart from the side.
15. The lighting apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the body comprises an side facing light sources that supply light, and the cavity of the one of the plurality of dimple type optical controllers comprises an asymmetrical structure, which extends in a direction perpendicular to a propagating direction of the light.
16. The lighting apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the cavity comprises a bottom surface that is parallel with at least one of the first surface and the second surface of the body.
17. The lighting apparatus of claim 14 , wherein a length of the cavity of the one of the plurality of dimple type optical controllers is increased, as the optical controllers are further apart from the side.
18. The lighting apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the light guide member is formed of an elastic material.
19. The lighting apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the elastic material comprises polydimethylsiloxane.
20. A method of fabricating a light guide member, the method comprising:
forming a plurality of protrusion molds on a template having a flat surface, each of the plurality of protrusion molds including a top surface that is wider than a bottom and a side surface under the top surface and inclined toward the top surface;
forming a transparent half-processed light guide member having a cross-section corresponding to the plurality of protrusion molds by applying a transparent material on the template on which the plurality of protrusion molds are formed; and
separating the transparent half-processed light guide member from the template and the plurality of protrusion molds so as to form the light guide member, which includes a first surface, a second surface facing the first surface, and a plurality of dimple type optical controllers, corresponding to the protrusion molds, in the first surface, wherein each of the plurality of dimple type optical controllers includes a reflective surface corresponding to the inclined side surface of each of the plurality of protrusion molds.
21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the forming of the plurality of protrusion molds comprises:
forming a light blocking mask, having openings corresponding to the plurality of protrusion molds, on the template;
forming a photosensitive layer for forming the plurality of protrusion molds on the template to cover the light blocking mask;
irradiating light to the light blocking mask to form exposure regions corresponding to the shapes of the plurality of protrusion molds in the photosensitive layer; and
developing the photosensitive layer to obtain the plurality of protrusion molds from the exposure regions.
22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the photosensitive layer is exposed to diffused light that is incident to a bottom surface of the template.
23. The method of claim 21 , wherein the photosensitive layer is exposed to parallel light that is incident to the bottom surface of the template in a direction inclined with respect to the bottom surface of the template.
24. The method of claim 20 , wherein the light guide member is formed of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS).
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KR1020070117357A KR101345384B1 (en) | 2007-11-16 | 2007-11-16 | light guide plate, lighting apparatus using the plate and fabrication method of the plate |
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US15/174,807 Active US10048431B2 (en) | 2007-11-16 | 2016-06-06 | Light guide member, lighting apparatus using the light guide member, and method of fabricating the light guide member |
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WO2013148589A1 (en) * | 2012-03-27 | 2013-10-03 | Qualcomm Mems Technologies, Inc. | Light guide with internal light recirculation |
US20140153285A1 (en) * | 2012-11-30 | 2014-06-05 | Rambus Delaware Llc | Lighting Assembly with Defined Angular Output |
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EP2937626A1 (en) * | 2014-04-23 | 2015-10-28 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd | Backlight device and three-dimensional display apparatus having the same |
US20160095222A1 (en) * | 2014-09-30 | 2016-03-31 | Point Engineering Co., Ltd. | Chip Substrate Comprising Cavity with Curved Surfaces |
US20170097456A1 (en) * | 2015-10-02 | 2017-04-06 | Korea Advanced Institute Of Science And Technology | Backlight unit capable of local dimming |
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US10969081B2 (en) | 2017-07-12 | 2021-04-06 | Exaoptonix Inc. | Multi-sided luminous lighting member and three-dimensional lighting device using same |
CN107498753A (en) * | 2017-09-13 | 2017-12-22 | 上海小糸车灯有限公司 | Mold insert made from tubulose light guide injection mold mold insert processing method and use this method |
US10705289B2 (en) * | 2018-06-14 | 2020-07-07 | Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha | Lighting device and display device |
US20190383995A1 (en) * | 2018-06-14 | 2019-12-19 | Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha | Lighting device and display device |
US20200284971A1 (en) * | 2019-03-05 | 2020-09-10 | Au Optronics Corporation | Backlight module |
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Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
KR20090050747A (en) | 2009-05-20 |
US20160282546A1 (en) | 2016-09-29 |
US10048431B2 (en) | 2018-08-14 |
KR101345384B1 (en) | 2013-12-24 |
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