Frontlit illuminated touch panel
Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorsGary Boyd, Stephan Pankratz
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A frontlit touch panel for use with a reflective light valve, comprising a front light guide having at least one light input face that supplies light to the guide, a viewing face, a light output face opposite the viewing face, and at least one component of a touch-sensitive transducer, the light output face having a light extraction layer thereon having a substantially flat light exit face and containing buried reflective facets that extract supplied light from the guide through the light exit face. The touch panel can be used with a light source, reflective light valve and suitable control electronics to form a compact, efficient illuminated touch panel display assembly.
Claims24
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A flexible film having a substantially flat lower surface and a non-planar upper surface having finely-shaped projections with a generally trapezoidal cross-section comprising riser, plateau and facet portions flanked by land portions, wherein the facets have varied dimensions, pitch or angular orientation such that if the plateaus are laminated to the light output face of a substantially planar light guide having at least one light input face that supplies light to the guide, a viewing face and the light output face opposite the viewing face, the facets will reflect and thereby extract supplied light from the guide through the light exit face and the supplied light will be evenly distributed across the viewing face.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.