Fabrication of optically smooth light guide
AssigneeMicrosoft Corporation
InventorKurt Allen Jenkins
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Embodiments related to the fabrication of a light guide are provided. One disclosed embodiment comprises extruding a thermoplastic polymer through a die to form an extrusion, machining the extrusion to one or more fixed dimensions, and maintaining a face of the extrusion in contact with a heated mold surface to soften or melt the face of the extrusion while applying pressure to the extrusion.
Claims20
A method for making a light guide, comprising:
- extruding a thermoplastic polymer through a die to form an extrusion;
- machining the extrusion to one or more fixed dimensions;
- and
- after machining the extrusion, maintaining a face of the extrusion in contact with a heated mold surface to soften or melt a surface layer of the face of the extrusion while applying pressure to the extrusion to smoothen the surface layer while not melting or softening a least some thermoplastic polymer beneath the surface layer.
(canceled)
A method for making a light guide, comprising:
- extruding a thermoplastic polymer through a die to form a wedge-shaped extrusion;
- machining the wedge-shaped extrusion to one or more fixed dimensions;
- after machining the wedge-shaped extrusion, maintaining a first face of the wedge-shaped extrusion in contact with a heated, flat, and optically smooth mold surface to soften or melt a surface layer of the first face while applying pressure to the wedge-shaped extrusion;
- maintaining a second face of the wedge-shaped extrusion in contact with a heated surface having features complementary to a Fresnel lens to soften or melt a surface layer of the second face while applying pressure to the wedge-shaped extrusion.
An apparatus for making a light guide by forming an extrusion and compression molding one or more faces of the extrusion, the apparatus comprising:
- an extrusion die having a quadrilateral opening;
- a compression mold comprising a set of heatable platens and configured to contact and to soften or melt the one or more faces of the extrusion while applying pressure to the extrusion;
- wherein the heatable platens present an optically smooth first surface to the extrusion and enclose a void to accommodate the extrusion, the void and the quadrilateral opening having one or more dimensions substantially in common.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.