Patents Examined by Meghan Dunwiddie
  • Patent number: 9341888
    Abstract: A through hole penetrating in a vertical direction and a slot which is separated from the through hole in the direction along the sheet surface and is long in a separating direction are provided on a light reflection sheet supported on a support body supporting a light source for reflecting light emitted from the light source, and there are provided a first shaft member fitted in the through hole for setting a position of the light reflection sheet with respect to the support body, and a second shaft member fitted in the slot to enable a relative movement in a longitudinal direction of the slot for setting the position of the light reflection sheet with respect to the support body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hideto Takeuchi, Toshiyuki Fujita, Tatsuo Sugahara, Yuuki Kawamura, Mamoru Yahata, Hiroshi Takahashi, Keita Ito, Kenzo Toshiyuki, Kenichiro Ito, Kazuki Nakamichi, Tomoo Sasaki, Kenta Moribe
  • Patent number: 9131558
    Abstract: A direct lighting system and method is provided that includes a plurality of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) secured within a light fixture. The lighting system further includes a diffusive transmissive element adapted to transmit light from the LEDs therethrough and provide diffused light to an area requiring illumination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2015
    Assignee: Luminator Holding LP
    Inventors: Sheldon Lee Rohde, Ramin Safavi, Marty Masias, George Berman, Kent Solberg, Valeriy K. Berger, Dan Kelleher, Labon Ruth, John F. Barr, Derek B. Vinson
  • Patent number: 9121588
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a display device includes: a plurality of light guide units; a light source; a support substrate; a first electrode transmissive to light provided on the second major surface; a counter substrate opposed to the second major surface and provided away from the first electrode; a second electrode transmissive to light provided on a surface of the counter substrate opposed to the second major surface; and a plurality of spacers provided between the support substrate and the counter substrate and arranged between adjacent ones of the plurality of light guide units when projected onto a plane parallel to the first direction and the second direction. Optical characteristics in a region which is surrounded by adjacent ones of the spacers, the first electrode and the second electrode are changed by a voltage which is applied between the first electrode and the second electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Yutaka Nakai, Tsuyoshi Hioki
  • Patent number: 9122099
    Abstract: The present invention provides a backlight module, which at least comprises: a liquid crystal panel and a backlight sheet. The back of the liquid crystal panel is provided with multiple fastening devices which are provided with a holding portion thereon. The backlight sheet is provided with an assembling portion corresponding to the holding portion thereon. The fastening devices fix the liquid crystal panel on the backlight sheet by latching the assembling portion to the holding portion. The present invention also discloses a liquid crystal display device comprising the backlight module structure mentioned above. The backlight module and the liquid crystal display device according to the present invention can realize the backlight module without frame or with narrow frame structure and improve the assembling efficiency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Dehua Li
  • Patent number: 9121981
    Abstract: The present invention provides a light unit, comprising a printed circuit board equipped with a plurality of LEDs; and a light guide member equipped with mounting grooves to house the LEDs. It is preferred that the light guide member comprises one surface and another surface facing the one surface; a first density pattern area and a second density pattern area having higher density than that of the first density pattern area are formed in the one surface; and the second density pattern is disposed in an area closer to the light emitting surface of the LED than the first density pattern area. According to the present invention, hot spots can be removed by forming high density optical patterns on the upper surface of a light guide member and diffusing the light of LEDs; meanwhile, the transmission range of light can be extended and light extraction efficiency can be improved by disposing low density optical patterns in adjacent areas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: LG INNOTEK CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jong Sun Kim, Sang Jun Park, Kyoung Soo Ahn, Kyoung Jong Yoo, Yong In Lee
  • Patent number: 9121581
    Abstract: The present invention proposes a LED Christmas light, using an LED bulb with four connection pins to insert in a soft core configured with four through holes allowing the four connection pins to be passed through and bended configured on the bottom thereof, and the soft core being inserted in a soft head with four convex plates in pairs face-to-face and extended to the bottom face thereof configured on the inside thereof, where an engagement space is formed between each two adjacent convex plates in the soft head, allowing four metal conducting sheets with a conducting wire to be engaged therewith, and a blocking plate adapted to isolate the conducting wire of each metal conducting sheet is configured on the center of a face of each convex plate, thereby allowing one LED Christmas light unit to use an LED bulb with a light source of more than four colors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Inventor: Mei-Ling Peng
  • Patent number: 9121565
    Abstract: An automotive light including a rear shell which is substantially tub-shaped and is structured so as to be fixed onto the vehicle body; a front lenticular half-shell which is provided with at least one portion made of transparent or semitransparent material, and is arranged to close the mouth of the rear shell; and at least a first main light source which is structured so as to emit light when electricity powered, and is placed within the rear shell in such a position as to backlight a corresponding transparent or semitransparent portion of the front lenticular half-shell; the automotive light further including at least one light-guiding section-bar made of light-conducting material, which is placed on the bottom of a corresponding slot or groove specifically obtained within the rear shell; and at least one auxiliary light source which is structured so as to emit light when electricity powered, and is placed within the rear shell so as to direct the emitted light directly into the body of the light-guiding se
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: Automotive Lighting Italia S.p.A.
    Inventors: Franco Marcori, Sara Paroni, Marco Svettini
  • Patent number: 9123267
    Abstract: A light panel includes a light panel front (2) made of a translucent, self-supporting structure having a forward panel (10) distanced from a rear panel (12) via cross-linking walls (11) and arranged in the light panel to transmit light from one or more light sources (3) arranged behind the light panel front. A light scattering medium is arranged between the light source (3) and the forward panel (10) of the light panel front.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Inventor: Anders Rensmo
  • Patent number: 9122096
    Abstract: The invention relates to the field of LCDs, and more particularly to an LED lightbar for a backlight module, and a backlight module. The front face of the LED lightbar is provided with LED lights, and the back face of the LED lightbar is a plane used for the sticking of a thermal conductive adhesive; the back face of the LED lightbar is provided with positioning edge(s) used for positioning the thermal conductive adhesive, and the positioning edge(s) is protruded from the back plane of the LED lightbar. The back face of the LED lightbar for a backlight module of the invention is provided with positioning edge(s) used for positioning the thermal conductive adhesive, and the positioning edge(s) is protruded from the back plane of the LED lightbar. When sticking the thermal conductive adhesive, the operator can align the thermal conductive adhesive with the edge of the positioning edge(s) to tidily stick. If being tidily stuck, the thermal conductive adhesive is tightly matched with the LED lightbar.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: SHENZHEN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Yue Wu
  • Patent number: 9121989
    Abstract: Provided is an illuminating device capable of uniformalizing intensity distribution in a plane of light that is emitted to the outside even when a light source includes a non-emitting portion or a low reflective portion. The illuminating device includes a light source including a plurality of light-emitting elements, and a light guide member including an entrance face opposing the light source, from which light emitted from the light source enters the inside of the light guide member, wherein the light source includes a non-emitting portion where the light-emitting elements are not disposed, and wherein light projected from a portion of the light source, the portion being close to the non-emitting portion, onto the entrance face of the light guide member is higher in intensity than light projected from the other portion of the light source onto the entrance face of the light guide member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yasumori Kuromizu
  • Patent number: 9121552
    Abstract: An LED lamp A1 includes an LED unit 1 in the shape of a straight tube with a plurality of LED modules 12 fixed therein, and also includes a pair of bases 2 that receive electric power from outside and are attached to the ends of the LED unit 1 spaced in the longitudinal direction of the LED unit. The LED unit 1 and the bases 2 are rotatable relative to each other about an axis extending in the longitudinal direction. With this arrangement, the direction of light emission can be changed, with the LED lamp attached to a general-use fluorescent lighting fixture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: ROHM CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Hideharu Osawa
  • Patent number: 9122011
    Abstract: A display device includes: a display panel assembly; and a backlight unit. The backlight unit includes an optical sheet, a reflective sheet and a light source. One of the optical sheet and the reflective sheet includes a material which supplies a sound by receiving an electrical field.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: SAMSUNG DISPLAY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Joon Hak Oh, Ha-Yun Kang, Jong Seo Lee
  • Patent number: 9121583
    Abstract: An illumination apparatus (13) is configured so that the position of a pair of power supply terminals can be arbitrarily adjusted in the rightward/leftward direction corresponding to the interval between posts, and the position of the illumination apparatus can be arbitrarily adjusted in the forward/backward direction corresponding to the length of shelf supports. The illumination apparatus (13) includes a pair of power supply terminals (14, 15). The power supply terminal (14) (positive power supply terminal) comes in contact with a shelf support (6), and the power supply terminal (15) (negative power supply terminal) comes in contact with a shelf support (7) to supply power to the illumination apparatus (13). The illumination apparatus (13) is positioned between a shelf board (8) and the shelf supports (6, 7) via the power supply terminals (14, 15).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Inventor: Takafumi Takeuchi
  • Patent number: 9121558
    Abstract: An LED luminaire has a dye-sensitized solar cell for converting light emitted from a light source to electric energy and uses the converted electric energy. Since the dye-sensitized solar cell plays a role of a louver, the LED luminaire may reflect or shield light and convert wasted light into power. Further, since energy consumption and green-house gas generation decrease, it is possible to provide an environment-friendly LED luminaire. Moreover, if the power generated by the dye-sensitized solar cell is used for cooling the LED luminaire, it is possible to enhance heat dissipation efficiency of the LED luminaire.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: University-Industry Cooperation Group Of Kyung Hee University
    Inventors: Jeong-Tai Kim, Won-Woo Kim, Geun-Young Yun
  • Patent number: 9121980
    Abstract: A light guide element and a method for manufacturing the same, and a lighting fixture are described. The light guide element includes a light guide body, a plurality of first and second microstructures corresponding to each other. The light guide body includes a first and a second light-emitting surface opposite to and parallel to each other. The first and second microstructures are respectively disposed on the first and second light-emitting surfaces by a first arrangement rule based on a first datum line and a second arrangement rule based on a second datum line. The first datum line is different from the second datum line. In a normal direction of the first light-emitting surface, each second microstructure laps over the corresponding first microstructure in part. When an incident light enters the light guide body, a first and a second mesh patterns are respectively formed on the first and second light-emitting surfaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: Radiant Opto-Electronics Corporation
    Inventors: Wei-Chen Lin, Hui-Ching Hsueh
  • Patent number: 9121983
    Abstract: A device with a display and a front light guide layer above the display providing illumination for the display, with a light barrier to prevent light leakage from the front light guide layer. A light source introduces light into the front light guide layer, which distributes light evenly throughout itself, and emits light from its edges. A light barrier, such as a foam or epoxy layer, prevents any extraneous light from escaping the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Cornell J. Cantos
  • Patent number: 9121566
    Abstract: An optical device, in particular for a motor vehicle, such as a lighting or indicating device, this device comprising at least two light sources associated with different predetermined photometric functions and a principal light guide comprising an emergent end and arranged to guide the light generated by the light sources towards this emergent end, so that this emergent end defines a common illuminating surface for the two photometric functions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: Valeo Vision
    Inventor: Antoine de Lamberterie
  • Patent number: 9124308
    Abstract: Furniture components, such as office furniture components, are configured to include electronic components that transfer electrical power to peripheral electronic devices via wireless technologies, including conductive and inductive technologies. The articles of furniture may include grommet devices received within work surfaces, the grommet devices incorporating or housing the electronics of wireless power systems. The articles of furniture may also include the electronics of wireless power systems physically embedded or integrated within work surfaces in a manner in which the continuous surfaces of the work surfaces are maintained, and the work surfaces may optionally further include lighting or other indication features to indicate the locations of the electronics to a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: Kimball International, Inc.
    Inventor: Keith E. Metcalf
  • Patent number: 9121982
    Abstract: A light-emitting device which has a plate-shaped light guide (102) having front and rear surfaces (106, 108), being major surfaces, and edge surfaces (110, 112, 114, 116); and a light source (104) arranged at the plate-shaped light guide at such a position that the generated light is entered into the plate-shaped light guide and propagates in a substantial direction of propagation that is parallel with the front surface. At least a portion of the plate-shaped light guide includes a three-dimensional surface structure (118) arranged to provide a controlled light output through at least one of the front and rear surfaces and at least one of the edge surfaces. The controlled light output is controlled in terms of light output characteristics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V.
    Inventors: Dorien Cato Van Der Lans, Bart Andre Salters
  • Patent number: 9074743
    Abstract: A lighting assembly comprising a housing including a front surface and a back surface, a plurality of light emitting elements on a printed circuit board (PCB) within said housing, and a reflector proximate the light emitting elements. The reflector comprises a plurality of reflective cups, wherein each reflective cup is configured to receive a respective light emitting element. The reflector is adapted to reflect light emitted from the plurality of light emitting elements in accordance with a desired light distribution pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: The Sloan Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Matthew Heim, Timothy Drew Ferrie, John Koteles, Min Gwak, Sam Fisher