Method of manufacturing a light guide assembly
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsGary McBroom, David McDaniel, Chang Kim
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of manufacturing a light guide assembly includes the steps of providing a light guide array made of a light-transmissive material and having a top portion and an integral bottom portion supporting the top portion, wherein grooves are formed on a top surface of the top, providing an optical isolation frame of interconnected slats made of an opaque material wherein the slats are arranged and profiled to correspondingly match the grooves in the light guide array, bonding the light guide array and the optical isolation frame to each other, and removing the bottom portion of the light guide array.
Claims20
A method of manufacturing a light guide assembly, comprising the steps of:
- a. providing a light guide array made of a light-transmissive material and having a top portion and an integral bottom portion supporting the top portion, wherein the top portion has one or more inner grooves formed in a top surface thereof defining light guides on either side of the inner grooves and an outer groove formed in the top surface about the perimeter of the top portion;
- b. providing an optical isolation frame comprising a frame of interconnected slats made of an opaque material, wherein the slats are arranged and profiled to correspondingly match the respective arrangement and profiles of the inner grooves and outer groove of the light guide array;
- c. bonding the light guide array and the optical isolation frame to each other such that the slats in the optical isolation frame are disposed within their corresponding grooves in the light guide array;
- and
- d. removing the bottom portion of the light guide array.
A method of manufacturing a light guide assembly, comprising the steps of:
- a. providing a light guide array made of a light-transmissive material and having a top portion and an integral bottom portion supporting the top portion, wherein the top portion has one or more inner grooves formed in a top surface thereof defining light guides on either side of the inner grooves and an outer groove formed in the top surface about the perimeter of the top portion;
- b. providing an optical isolation frame comprising a frame of interconnected slats made of an opaque material, wherein the frame comprises one or more inner slats each corresponding to a respective inner groove and one or more outer slats corresponding to the outer groove, wherein each inner slat has a generally triangular or generally trapezoidal inner slat profile and each outer slat has a generally right triangular or generally semi-trapezoidal outer slat profile, wherein the slats are arranged and profiled to correspondingly match the respective arrangement and profiles of the inner grooves and outer groove of the light guide array;
- c. bonding the light guide array and the optical isolation frame to each other such that the slats in the optical isolation frame are disposed within their corresponding grooves in the light guide array;
- and
- d. removing the bottom portion of the light guide array.
A method of manufacturing a light guide assembly, comprising the steps of:
- a1. providing a light guide array blank made of a light-transmissive material and having a top portion and an integral bottom portion supporting the top portion;
- a2. forming one or more inner grooves in a top surface of the top portion defining light guides on either side of the inner grooves and forming an outer groove in the top surface about the perimeter of the top portion;
- b. providing an optical isolation frame comprising a frame of interconnected slats made of an opaque material, wherein the slats are arranged and profiled to correspondingly match the respective arrangement and profiles of the inner grooves and outer groove of the light guide array;
- c. bonding the light guide array and the optical isolation frame to each other such that the slats in the optical isolation frame are disposed within their corresponding grooves in the light guide array;
- and
- d. removing the bottom portion of the light guide array.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.