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US 5,700,077 AGranted
Line light source including fluorescent colorant
AssigneeMinnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
InventorsJohn F. Dreyer, Jr., Thomas I. Bradshaw, David M. Burns, Lee A. Pavelka, Bruce D. Orensteen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A line light source includes point light source and a light distribution assembly for transporting light from the point source. A fluorescent colorant is included in the light distribution assembly.
Claims10
A line light source comprising:
- a light source;
- a light distribution assembly optically coupled to said light source and including:
- (a) a hollow, tubular housing having a first end and a second end and having a length extending along a major axis of said housing, at least a portion of said housing comprising a substantially optically transparent material;
- and
- (b) a light conduit disposed substantially entirely within and extending along at least a portion of the length of said housing, said light conduit consisting essentially of a thin film of a totally internally reflecting material,
- wherein at least one of the tubular housing and the light conduit comprises a polymeric matrix, and a fluorescent colorant, and wherein the fluorescent colorant contains a dye selected from the group of dyes consisting of thioxanthone, perylene imide and thioindigoid compounds and wherein the fluorescent colorant is present in an amount sufficient generate fluorescent light detectable to the naked eye in response to ambient daytime lighting conditions.
3 more elements
A line light source comprising:
- a light source;
- a light distribution assembly optically coupled to said light source and including:
- (a) a hollow, tubular housing having a first end and a second end and having a length extending along a major axis of said housing, at least a portion of said housing comprising a substantially optically transparent material;
- (b) a light conduit disposed substantially entirely within and extending along at least a portion of the length of said housing, said light conduit consisting essentially of a thin film of a totally internally reflecting material;
- wherein at least one of the tubular housing and the light conduit comprises a polymeric matrix, a colorant, and hindered amine light stabilizer, and wherein the colorant contains a dye selected from the group of dyes consisting of thioxanthone, perylene imide and thioindigoid compounds and the polymeric matrix comprises polycarbonate, and wherein the fluorescent colorant is present in an amount sufficient to generate fluorescent light detectable to the naked eye in response to ambient daytime lighting conditions.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.