Segmented Light Guide for Uniform Luminosity Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Illumination devices with light guides experience uneven luminosity distribution due to light attenuation with distance from the source, affecting display quality in devices like liquid crystal display devices.
Innovation Solution
The use of a light guide with a clad and cores, where the light source is incident on the cores within grooves, allowing for controlled luminosity distribution through individual adjustment of light-emitting diodes and their alignment, and a controller to manage the luminosity of each light source independently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single light source is used in a light guide, then the structure is simple, but the luminosity distribution becomes uneven with stronger light near the source and weaker light at distance
Solution Approach 1:
The light guide is divided into multiple grooves, and each groove contains a separate light-emitting element. This segmentation allows independent control of each light source, enabling uniform luminosity distribution across the light guide by adjusting individual element intensities, thus resolving the contradiction between structural simplicity and luminosity uniformity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a single linear light source to a two-dimensional array of light-emitting elements distributed across multiple grooves. This dimensional change enables spatial control of light emission, allowing uniform illumination across the entire light guide surface while maintaining reasonable structural complexity.
2Illumination intensity
If multiple light sources are used to achieve uniform luminosity distribution, then the luminosity uniformity improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple light-emitting elements are integrated into a single light guide structure with shared grooves and exit surfaces. This merging approach achieves uniform luminosity distribution through coordinated control of multiple elements while avoiding the complexity of completely separate illumination systems, as all elements work together within one unified structure.
3Ease of operation
If light sources are arranged in a single row, then the alignment is simple, but the control precision over different display areas is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The light guide is segmented into multiple grooves arranged in rows and columns, with each groove containing controllable light-emitting elements. This segmentation enables independent control of luminosity for different display areas, achieving high precision luminosity control while maintaining simple alignment through the regular grooved 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 approach ensures uniform luminosity distribution across the light-emitting surface, preventing hot spots and improving display quality by allowing precise control of light emission areas.
Implementation Method 1
a clad surrounding the core and having a lower refractive index than the core
Data Source
AI summary
According to one embodiment, an illumination device includes a light source, clad, and a plurality of cores. The clad includes a first edge at a light source side, a second edge opposite to the first edge, and a plurality of grooves formed by a plurality of partitions extending in parallel to each other from the first edge to the second edge. The cores are accommodated in the grooves, and each core includes an incident surface on which light from the light source is incident and an exit surface exposed from the groove to emit the light incident on the incident surface.