Patents by Inventor Daniel J. Schmidt

Daniel J. Schmidt has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20240151880
    Abstract: An optical film includes a structured film and a light control film formed on the structured film. The structured film includes a substrate and a plurality of polymeric microstructures formed on a major surface of the substrate. Each microstructure includes an optical facet and a sidewall meeting the optical facet at a ridge of the microstructure. The light control film includes an optically transparent material disposed on and covering the plurality of polymeric microstructures, and a plurality of optically absorptive louvers formed in the optically transparent material opposite the structured film. The louvers extend along a longitudinal direction and are spaced apart along an orthogonal transverse direction. The louvers have an average depth D into the optically transparent material and have an average width W in the transverse direction. D/W can be greater than 2. The optical film is integrally formed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 4, 2020
    Publication date: May 9, 2024
    Inventors: Tao Liu, Tri D. Pham, Gary T. Boyd, Daniel J. Schmidt, Caleb T. Nelson, Owen M. Anderson
  • Publication number: 20240142673
    Abstract: An optical film has a major surface including a plurality of microstructures. Each microstructure includes an optical facet and a sidewall meeting the optical facet at a ridge of the microstructure. The optical facet and the sidewall define an oblique angle therebetween. For each microstructure in at least a majority of the microstructures, an optically absorptive layer is disposed on the sidewall. The optical film can include a polymeric layer having a microstructured surface at least partially coated with an inorganic optically transparent layer. The optically absorptive layer can an average thickness t where 100 nm<t<1 micrometer. A first layer can be disposed between the sidewall and the optically absorptive layer where the first layer has a lower extinction coefficient than the optically absorptive layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 29, 2020
    Publication date: May 2, 2024
    Inventors: Tao Liu, Gary T. Boyd, Daniel J. Schmidt, Caleb T. Nelson, Owen M. Anderson, Tri D. Pham
  • Publication number: 20240118463
    Abstract: A light control film comprises a light input surface and a light output surface opposite the light input surface. Alternating transmissive regions and absorptive regions are disposed between the light input surface and the light output surface. The absorptive regions have an aspect ratio of at least 30 and the alternating transmissive region and absorptive regions have a relative transmission at a viewing angle of 0 degrees of at least 75%.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 12, 2023
    Publication date: April 11, 2024
    Inventors: Daniel J. Schmidt, Caleb T. Nelson, Kevin W. Gotrik, Raymond J. Kenney, John A. Wheatley, Kenneth A. Epstein, Gary T. Boyd, Corey D. Balts
  • Publication number: 20240122043
    Abstract: An optical system includes a light source, an optical film curved about a first axis, and a light control film curved about the first axis and disposed between the light source and the optical film. The optical film includes a microstructured first major surface and an opposing second major surface. The microstructured first major surface defines a linear Fresnel lens including a plurality of Fresnel elements extending longitudinally along the first axis. The first major surface of the optical film faces of the optically transmissive regions, a centerline between adjacent optically absorptive regions is substantially normal to a major surface of the light control film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 29, 2020
    Publication date: April 11, 2024
    Inventors: Tao Liu, Gary T. Boyd, Daniel J. Schmidt, Caleb T. Nelson, Owen M. Anderson, Tri D. Pham, Encai Hao, Shu-Ching Fan
  • Publication number: 20240113935
    Abstract: Techniques are described for providing users with access to computer networks, such as to enable users to interact with a remote configurable network service in order to create and configure computer networks that are provided by the configurable network service for use by the users. Computer networks provided by the configurable network service may be configured to be private computer networks that are accessible only by the users who create them, and may each be created and configured by a client of the configurable network service to be an extension to an existing computer network of the client, such as a private computer network extension to an existing private computer network of the client. If so, secure private access between an existing computer network and new computer network extension that is being provided may be enabled using one or more VPN connections or other private access mechanisms.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 18, 2023
    Publication date: April 4, 2024
    Applicant: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Eric Jason Brandwine, Clarissa Loree Cook Brandwine, Daniel T. Cohn, Andrew J. Doane, Carl J. Moses, Stephen E. Schmidt
  • Patent number: 11947135
    Abstract: A light control film is described comprising alternating transmissive regions and absorptive regions disposed between a light input surface and a light output surface. The absorptive regions have an aspect ratio of at least 30. In some embodiments, the alternating transmissive regions and absorptive regions have a transmission as measured with a spectrophotometer at a viewing angle of 0 degrees of at least 35, 40, 45, or 50% for a wavelength of the range 320-400 nm (UV) and/or at least 65, 70, 75, or 80% for a wavelength of the range 700-1400 nm (NIR). In another embodiment, the absorptive regions block light at the light input surface and light output surface and the maximum surface area that is blocked is less than 20% of the total alternating transmissive regions and absorptive regions. Also described are various optical communication systems comprising the light control films described herein and methods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: 3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY
    Inventors: Daniel J. Schmidt, Caleb T. Nelson, Kevin W. Gotrik, Raymond J. Kenney, John A. Wheatley, Kenneth A. Epstein, Gary T. Boyd, Corey D. Balts
  • Patent number: 11940689
    Abstract: A light control film comprises a light input surface and a light output surface opposite the light input surface; alternating transmissive regions and absorptive regions disposed between the light input surface and the light output surface, wherein the absorptive regions comprise a core having a first concentration, C1, of a light absorbing material sandwiched between cladding layers having a second concentration, C2, of the light absorbing material, wherein C2<C1, and wherein the cores have an aspect ratio of at least 20.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: 3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY
    Inventors: Daniel J. Schmidt, Kevin W. Gotrik, Nicholas A. Johnson, Raymond J. Kenney, Caleb T. Nelson, Kenneth A. Epstein
  • Patent number: 11925177
    Abstract: A continuously variable nozzle system includes a nozzle body (5) with an inlet and an outlet. A conduit is defined between the inlet and the outlet by a series connection of components which includes a flow meter (10). The flow meter (10) has a chamber (83) with internal helical splines (82) that are configured to interact with a spray liquid passing through the chamber (83) and create a cyclone-like effect. A sphere (52) is located inside the chamber (83) for free movement along a circular path (106). A sensor is located outside of the chamber (83) and configured to detect motion of the sphere (52) and generate an output (9) signal in response to detected motion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: Intelligent Agricultural Solutions LLC
    Inventors: Marshall T. Bremer, Nicholas Butts, Todd A. Meidinger, Benjamin J. Wolbaum, Daniel R. Wood, Jr., Michael D. Schmidt
  • Publication number: 20240045115
    Abstract: An optical construction includes a lens film having outermost first and second major surfaces. The first major surface includes a plurality of microlenses. A multilayer mask having an average thickness of less than about 0.5 times an average focal length of the microlenses and an optical density of greater than about 2 is disposed on the second major surface. The multilayer mask includes polymeric first and second mask layers where each of the first and second mask layers has an optical density of greater than about 0.3. The multilayer mask defines a plurality of laser-ablated through openings therein that are aligned to the microlenses in a one-to-one correspondence. An optical transmittance of the optical construction as a function of the incident angle has a transmitted peak having a peak transmittance T1 and a corresponding full width at 20 percent of maximum W1, where T1/W1?2.4%/degree.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 14, 2021
    Publication date: February 8, 2024
    Inventors: Neeraj Sharma, Przemyslaw P. Markowicz, Daniel J. Schmidt, Timothy J. Reddy, Mark A. Roehrig
  • Patent number: 11885989
    Abstract: A light control film, comprises a light input surface and alight output surface opposite the light input surface. Alternating transmissive regions and absorptive regions are disposed between the light input surface and the light output surface. The absorptive regions have an aspect ratio of at least 30 and the alternating transmissive region and absorptive regions have a relative transmission at a viewing angle of 0 degrees of at least 75%.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: 3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY
    Inventors: Daniel J. Schmidt, Caleb T. Nelson, Kevin W. Gotrik, Raymond J. Kenney, John A. Wheatley, Kenneth A. Epstein, Gary T. Boyd, Corey D. Balts
  • Publication number: 20230393312
    Abstract: A light control film comprising a light input surface and a light output surface opposite the light input surface; alternating transmissive regions and absorptive regions disposed between the light input surface and the light output surface, wherein each absorptive region has an aspect ratio of at least 30, and wherein each transmissive region has a first refractive index; and a plurality of low index layers, wherein each low index layer is disposed between each transmissive region and an adjacent absorptive region, and wherein each low index layer has a second refractive index less than the first refractive index of each transmissive region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 18, 2021
    Publication date: December 7, 2023
    Inventors: Raymond J. Kenney, Tao Liu, Kevin W. Gotrik, Caleb T. Nelson, Nicholas A. Johnson, Daniel J. Schmidt
  • Publication number: 20230109003
    Abstract: A light control film comprises a light input surface and a light output surface opposite the light input surface; alternating transmissive regions and absorptive regions disposed between the light input surface and the light output surface, wherein the absorptive regions comprise a core having a first concentration, C1, of a light absorbing material sandwiched between cladding layers having a second concentration, C2, of the light absorbing material, wherein C2 < C1, and wherein the cores have an aspect ratio of at least 20.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 12, 2022
    Publication date: April 6, 2023
    Inventors: Daniel J. Schmidt, Kevin W. Gotrik, Nicholas A. Johnson, Raymond J. Kenney, Caleb T. Nelson, Kenneth A. Epstein
  • Publication number: 20230024412
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a light control film and a method of manufacturing the same. The method includes providing a microstructured film. The microstructured film includes a plurality of light transmissive regions alternated with channels. The microstructure film is defined by a top surface and a pair of side surfaces of each light transmissive region and a bottom surface of each channel. The method further includes coating the pair of side surfaces of each light transmissive region and the bottom surface of each channel with a coating. The coating includes light absorbing particles that are dispersed in a liquid. The method further includes drying the coating such that the light absorbing particles are selectively deposited on the pair of sides surfaces of each light transmissive region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2020
    Publication date: January 26, 2023
    Inventors: James E. Lockridge, Kevin W. Gotrik, Raymond J. Kenney, Caleb T. Nelson, Daniel J. Schmidt, Riley J. Hillstrom
  • Publication number: 20230028958
    Abstract: A light control film comprises a light input surface and a light output surface; alternating transmissive regions and absorptive regions disposed between the light input surface and the light output surface; and TIR cladding layers. The TIR cladding layer having a refractive index, nTIR. The transmissive regions alternate between high refractive index transmissive regions having a refractive index, n2, and low refractive index transmissive regions having a refractive index, n1. The absorptive regions comprise a core having a refractive index, ncore, adjacent an AR cladding layer; wherein n1<n2 and nTIR<n2. The TIR cladding layers are adjacent the high refractive index transmissive regions. The cores have an aspect ratio of at least 20. The high refractive index transmissive regions have a wall angle of 6 degrees or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 18, 2020
    Publication date: January 26, 2023
    Inventors: Tao Liu, Nicholas A. Johnson, Raymond J. Kenney, Caleb T. Nelson, Daniel J. Schmidt
  • Patent number: 11550183
    Abstract: A light control film comprises a light input surface and a light output surface opposite the light input surface; alternating transmissive regions and absorptive regions disposed between the light input surface and the light output surface, wherein the absorptive regions comprise a core having a first concentration, C1, of a light absorbing material sandwiched between cladding layers having a second concentration, C2, of the light absorbing material, wherein C2<C1, and wherein the cores have an aspect ratio of at least 20.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company
    Inventors: Daniel J. Schmidt, Kevin W. Gotrik, Nicholas A. Johnson, Raymond J. Kenney, Caleb T. Nelson, Kenneth A. Epstein
  • Publication number: 20220342126
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing an optical film includes providing a base film. The base film includes a substrate defining a first surface and a second surface. The base film also includes a plurality of structures defining an upper surface and at least one side surface extending from the corresponding upper surface to a base portion. The method also includes depositing a catalyst material on each of the plurality of structures and the base portion to form a catalyst layer thereon. The method further includes selectively removing the catalyst layer from the upper surface of each of the plurality of structures and the base portion while retaining an activity of the catalyst layer on the at least one side surface of each of the plurality of structures. The method includes forming a metallic layer on the at least one side surface of each of the plurality of structures.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 28, 2020
    Publication date: October 27, 2022
    Inventors: Daniel M. Lentz, Kevin W. Gotrik, Jeremy K. Larsen, Caleb T. Nelson, Daniel J. Schmidt, Fei Peng
  • Publication number: 20220252770
    Abstract: A light control film is described comprising a light input surface and alight output surface opposite the light input surface; alternating transmissive regions and absorptive regions disposed between the light input surface and the light output surface, wherein the absorptive regions comprise light-absorbing or light-reflecting particles and a dried aqueous dispersion of an organic polymer. The light control film can have improved on-axis transmission in combination with sufficiently high sheet resistance such that the film does not detract from the responsiveness of a touch screen of an electronic device. Also described is a coated article and method of making.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 3, 2020
    Publication date: August 11, 2022
    Inventors: Daniel J. Schmidt, Kevin W. Gotrik, James E. Lockridge, Caleb T. Nelson, Bradley L. Givot, Morgan A. Priolo, Luke A. Schroeder
  • Publication number: 20220221624
    Abstract: Light control films comprise a light input surface and alight output surface opposite the light input surface and alternating transmissive regions and absorptive regions disposed between the light input surface and the light output surface. The absorptive regions have an aspect ratio of at least 30 and are canted in the same direction. The alternating transmissive regions and absorbing regions have a maximum relative transmission at a viewing angle other than 0 degrees.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 11, 2020
    Publication date: July 14, 2022
    Inventors: Raymond J. Kenney, Owen M. Anderson, Kevin W. Gotrik, Nicholas A. Johnson, Kenneth A. P. Meyer, Caleb T. Nelson, Daniel J. Schmidt
  • Publication number: 20220178749
    Abstract: An optical device is disclosed and includes an optical sensor, a plurality of photosensitive pixels disposed on the optical sensor, a wavelength-selective optical filter in optical communication with the photosensitive pixels, and a plurality of spatially-variant written regions disposed in the optical filter, the written regions having a transmission spectrum and each of the written regions being larger than each of the pixels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2020
    Publication date: June 9, 2022
    Inventors: John A. Wheatley, Mark A. Roehrig, Audrey A. Sherman, Del R. Lawson, Gilles J. Benoit, Daniel J. Schmidt, Jonah Shaver, Raymond J. Kenney, Zhaohui Yang
  • Patent number: 11280942
    Abstract: An exposed-lens retroreflective article including a binder layer and a plurality of retroreflective elements. Each retroreflective element includes a transparent microsphere partially embedded in the binder layer. At least some of the retroreflective elements comprise at least one color layer comprising a bi-layer structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company
    Inventors: Daniel J. Schmidt, Matthew S. Stay, Michael A. McCoy, Kui Chen-Ho, Richard S. Buckanin