Modular Light Guide Assembly for Appliance Displays and Touch Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing appliance displays face high costs due to custom-manufactured light guide sheets and issues with capacitive touch functionality caused by thermal cycles in light boxes, which lead to false key presses.
Innovation Solution
The use of modular light guides that are identical or selected from a small set, inserted into a frame with ledges to prevent passage through the front surface, and secured by a printed circuit board with heat stakes, allowing for uniform light diffusion and capacitive touch capability through a label and light guide combination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If custom-manufactured light guide sheets are used, then light diffusion quality is improved, but manufacturing cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the light guide system into separate modular components: individual light guides that can be inserted into frame openings. This segmentation allows using simple, inexpensive light guide pieces instead of requiring a single custom-manufactured sheet with complex diffusion patterns, thereby reducing manufacturing cost while maintaining light diffusion quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal frame structure with standardized openings that can accommodate different light guide configurations. The frame and light guide design allows the same basic components to serve multiple display element requirements, reducing the need for custom-manufactured parts and lowering overall manufacturing cost.
2Adaptability or versatility
If capacitive extenders are placed between display surface and printed circuit board, then capacitive touch capability is enabled, but false key presses occur due to thermal cycles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the capacitive extender component from the display assembly and replaces it with the light guide structure itself. The light guide serves dual purposes: optical guidance and capacitive touch sensing. This extraction eliminates the thermal cycle compatibility issues associated with separate capacitive extenders while maintaining capacitive touch functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the capacitive touch function with the light guide structure. The light guide material and configuration are designed to provide both optical guidance for LEDs and capacitive sensing capability, eliminating the need for separate capacitive extender layers that are prone to thermal expansion mismatches and false key presses.
3Adaptability or versatility
If light boxes with capacitive extenders are used, then capacitive touch functionality is achieved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the capacitive touch function into the light guide structure itself. By designing the light guide to serve both optical and capacitive sensing functions, the patent eliminates separate capacitive extender layers and reduces overall device complexity while maintaining capacitive touch functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The light guide structure is designed with multi-functionality, serving as both an optical element for LED light guidance and a capacitive sensing element for touch input. This universal design reduces the number of separate components needed, thereby simplifying the overall device structure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution reduces costs by reusing light guides across various appliances and minimizes false key presses by ensuring consistent light emission and capacitive touch functionality.
Implementation Method 1
light guides that diffuse light emitted by light emitting diodes
Data Source
AI summary
Example appliance displays having modular light guides and methods of assembling the same are disclosed. An example appliance display includes a printed circuit board having a side-fire light emitting diode attached to a surface of the printed circuit board, a frame having a plurality of heat stakes to operatively connect the printed circuit board to the frame, and a light guide inserted into an opening defined in the frame, wherein the light guide guides light emitted by the light emitting diode through the opening defined in the frame, and wherein the printed circuit board retains the light guide in the opening when the printed circuit board is heat staked to the frame.