LIGHT GUIDE PLATE WITH MULTI-DIRECTIONAL STRUCTURES
A light guide plate with multi-directional structures includes a main body, a plurality of first microstructures and a plurality of second microstructures. The main body includes a light-incident surface, a light-emitting surface and a reflecting surface. The light-incident surface connects the light-emitting surface and the reflecting surface. The first microstructures are disposed on the light-emitting surface or the reflecting surface and arranged along a first extending direction. The second microstructures are disposed on the light-emitting surface or the reflecting surface and arranged along a second extending direction. The second microstructures and the first microstructures are disposed on the same plane and intersect with each other. Each of the second microstructures is a single stripe pattern, and has a width which becomes gradually smaller from one end of the second microstructure near the light-incident surface to the other end of the second microstructure away from the light-incident surface.
This application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/222,936, filed on Jul. 28, 2016, which is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/100,028, filed on Dec. 9, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,435,936, which is issued on Sep. 6, 2016 and claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number 102129835, filed Aug. 20, 2013. The entire disclosures of all the above applications are hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND Field of InventionThe present invention relates to a light guide plate. More particularly, the present invention relates to a light guide plate with multi-directional structures.
Description of Related ArtA light guide plate has a light-incident surface, a light-emitting surface and a reflecting surface. Light emitted by a light source enters the light guide plate from the light-incident surface, and exits from the light-emitting surface. In order to mix the light pass through the light guide plate uniformly, microstructures (such as dotted microstructures or striped microstructures, a.k.a. lenticular microstructures) are generally disposed on the light-emitting surface or the reflecting surface of the light guide plate. However, the surfaces with dotted microstructures are rough and may scatter the light, such that the light exiting from the light-emitting surface of the light guide plate has a non-uniform direction, and its light energy is not concentrated, thus further resulting poor luminance.
Another conventional skill is to dispose striped microstructures with different extending directions on a light-emitting surface and a reflecting surface of a light guide plate. Luminance generated by the light guide plate with the striped microstructures is better than that by the light guide plate with dotted microstructures, but the light guide plate with the striped microstructures is likely to generate bright and dark lines which will affect optical appearance of the light guide plate.
Hence, there is need to develop a light guide plate to overcome the foregoing problems.
SUMMARYOne aspect of the present invention is to provide a light guide plate with multi-directional structures for simultaneously controlling light-emitting angles and optical trends of the light guide plate by alternately disposing first microstructures and second microstructures on the same plane of the light guide plate, thereby achieving light-mixing and more uniform light emitting effects. Furthermore, the uniformity of the overall light-emitting appearance of the light guide plate can be promoted by roughening or hazing surfaces of the first microstructures and second microstructures. In addition, the aforementioned first microstructures and second microstructures can be manufactured by using the existing microstructure processes or equipment without needing to additionally purchase new process equipment, and thus no additional cost burden is imposed to the manufacturing process.
According to the aforementioned objects, the present invention provides a light guide plate with multi-directional structures. The light guide plate includes a main body, a plurality of first microstructures and a plurality of second microstructures. The main body includes a light-incident surface, a light-emitting surface and a reflecting surface. The reflecting surface is opposite to the light-emitting surface. The light-incident surface connects the light-emitting surface and the reflecting surface. The first microstructures are disposed on the light-emitting surface or the reflecting surface, and the first microstructures are arranged along a first extending direction. The second microstructures are disposed on the light-emitting surface or the reflecting surface, and the second microstructures are arranged along a second extending direction. The second microstructures and the first microstructures are disposed on the same plane and intersect with each other. Each of the second microstructures is in a single stripe pattern, and has a width which becomes gradually smaller from one end of each of the second microstructures near the light-incident surface to the other end of each of the second microstructures away from the light-incident surface.
According to the aforementioned objects, the present invention provides another light guide plate with multi-directional structures. The light guide plate includes a main body, a plurality of first microstructures and a plurality of second microstructures. The main body includes at least one optical surface. The first microstructures are disposed on the at least one optical surface, in which the first microstructures are arranged along a first extending direction. The second microstructures are disposed on the at least one optical surface, in which the second microstructures are arranged along a second extending direction, in which the second microstructures and the first microstructures are disposed on the same plane and intersect with each other, in which each of the second microstructures is in a single stripe pattern, and has a width which becomes gradually smaller from one end of each of the second microstructures to the other end of each of the second microstructures.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, each of the first microstructures is intercepted by each of the second microstructures.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first extending direction is vertical to the second extending direction.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, each of the first microstructures or each of the second microstructures is a convex portion or a concave portion.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, when each of the second microstructures is the convex portion, a height of the convex portion becomes gradually smaller from the end of each of the second microstructures near the light-incident surface to the other end of each of the second microstructures away from the light-incident surface; when each of the second microstructures is the concave portion, a depth of the concave portion becomes gradually smaller from the end of each of the second microstructures near the light-incident surface to the other end of each of the second microstructures away from the light-incident surface.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, a cross-sectional profile of each of the first microstructures is in a V-shape or an inverted V-shape, and a first angle and a second angle are respectively included between two respective surfaces of each of the first microstructures and the light-emitting surface or the reflecting surface.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, a cross-sectional profile of each of the second microstructures is in a V-shape, an inverted V-shape, an arc-shape or a trapezoid-shape.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, every two adjacent first microstructures are equidistantly arranged, and every two adjacent second microstructures are equidistantly arranged.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, every two adjacent first microstructures are equidistantly arranged, and every two adjacent second microstructures are non-equidistantly arranged.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, every two adjacent first microstructures are non-equidistantly arranged, and every two adjacent second microstructures are equidistantly arranged.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, every two adjacent first microstructures are non-equidistantly arranged, and every two adjacent second microstructures are non-equidistantly arranged.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, at least one portion of the first microstructure has a hazy surface, a matte surface, a hair-lined surface or a rough surface.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, at least one portion of the second microstructure has a hazy surface, a matte surface, a hair-lined surface or a rough surface.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are by examples, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.
The invention can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the embodiment, with reference made to the accompanying drawings as follows:
Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.
Referring to
In the light guide plate 100, the main body 120 may be a transparent element or other equivalents. The main body 120 mainly includes at least one optical surface, such as a light-incident surface 122, a light-emitting surface 124 and a reflecting surface 126. The reflecting surface 126 and the light-emitting surface 124 are respectively located on the two opposite sides of the main body 120. In addition, the light-incident surface 122 connects the light-emitting surface 124 and the reflecting surface 126. In other words, two opposite sides of the light-incident surface 122 are respectively connected to a side of the light-emitting surface 124 and a side of the reflecting surface 126. A light source 190 is disposed by the light-incident surface 122, and light emitted by the light source 190 may enter the light guide plate 100 from the light-incident surface 122. The first microstructures 140 and the second microstructures 160 are disposed on the same plane. In other words, the first microstructures 140 and the second microstructures 160 are simultaneously disposed on the optical surface of the main body 120. In the present embodiment, the first microstructures 140 and the second microstructures 160 are simultaneously disposed on the light-emitting surface 124 or the reflecting surface 126. In some embodiments, the first microstructures 140 and the second microstructures 160 are simultaneously disposed on both light-emitting surface 124 and reflecting surface 126. Moreover, the first microstructures 140 and the second microstructures 160 on the same plane may intersect with each other. In one embodiment, each of the first microstructures 140 is intercepted by each of the second microstructures 160.
As shown in
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
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It is noted that the second microstructures 160 shown in
Referring to
Similarly, in one embodiment, a distance between every two remaining first microstructures 240 after being intercepted by the second microstructures 260 and a length of each of the remaining first microstructures 240 can be changed by adjusting the height H and the width W of each of the second microstructures 260. Therefore, the optical trends of the light guide plate 200 can be changed by adjusting the height H and the width W of each of the second microstructures 260. In one embodiment, the reflecting surface 226 may be disposed with V-shape structures 280 or other microstructures with similar functions.
Comparisons between a third embodiment and the conventional light guide plates are described below. Referring to
Referring to Table 1, Table 1 is a comparison table of luminance obtained by respectively using the light guide plates of the aforementioned the third embodiment, the first comparative example, the second comparative example and the third comparative example collocated with three optical films and four optical films. As shown in Table 1, in the third comparative example, the V-shape structures with different extending directions respectively disposed on the light-emitting surface and the reflecting surface of the light guide plate help to increase luminance. However, the light guide plate of the third comparative example may cause an adhesion problem between the light guide plate and the optical films and an appearance problem of bright and dark lines. On the contrary, in the third embodiment, because the light guide plate has the first microstructures and the second microstructures disposed on the reflecting surface, not only the aforementioned adhesion and appearance problems can be solved, a better luminance effect can be generated.
Referring to
Referring to Table 2, Table 2 is a comparison table of luminance obtained by respectively using the light guide plates of the aforementioned the fourth comparative example and the fifth comparative example collocated with a turning film. As shown in Table 2, luminance effect obtained by the light guide plate in the third embodiment is apparently better than the light guide plate in the fourth comparative example and the light guide plate in the fifth comparative example.
In other embodiments, the light guide plates 100 and 200 with the first microstructures 140 and 240 and the second microstructures 160 and 260 can achieve the objects of adjusting light-emitting beam angles and optical trends of the light guide plates 100 and 200. Meanwhile, at least one portion of surfaces of the first microstructures 140 and 240 or the second microstructures 160 and 260 may be formed as hazy surfaces, matte surfaces, hair-lined surfaces or rough surfaces by a sandblasting or laser treatment, so as to increase dimming effect of the first microstructures 140 and 240 and the second microstructures 160 and 260.
According to the aforementioned embodiments of the present invention, the present invention can simultaneously control light-emitting angles and optical trends of the light guide plate by alternately disposing first microstructures and second microstructures on the same plane of the light guide plate, thereby achieving more uniform light-mixing and light emitting effects. Furthermore, the uniformity of the overall light-emitting appearance of the light guide plate can be promoted by roughening or hazing the surfaces of the first microstructures and second microstructures. In addition, the aforementioned first microstructures and second microstructures can be manufactured by using the existing microstructure processes or equipment without needing to additionally purchase new process equipment, and thus no additional cost burden is imposed to the manufacturing process.
Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain embodiments thereof, other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims.
Claims
1. A light guide plate, comprising:
- a main body comprising a light-incident surface and an optical surface connected to the light-incident surface;
- a plurality of striped structures disposed on the optical surface; and
- a plurality of light-adjusting structures disposed between the striped structures, wherein each of the light-adjusting structures comprises a first light active surface and a second light active surface connected to the first light active surface;
- wherein the first light active surface faces towards the light-incident surface, and the second light active surface faces towards a side of the main body opposite to the light-incident surface, and the first light active surface and the second light active surface are inclined relative to opposite sides and are formed in non-symmetrical shape;
- wherein a first angle is formed between the first light active surface and the optical surface, and a second angle is formed between the second light active surface and the optical surface, and each of the first angle and the second angle is an acute angle.
2. The light guide plate of claim 1, wherein side edges of the first light active surface and the second light active surface of the each of the light-adjusting structures are connected to surfaces of the adjacent striped structures.
3. The light guide plate of claim 1, wherein an extending direction of each of the striped structures is vertical to an extending direction of the light-incident surface.
4. The light guide plate of claim 1, wherein
- the main body has an opposite light-incident surface which is opposite to the light-incident surface; and
- one end of each of the striped structures is connected to the light-incident surface, and the other end of each of the striped structures is connected to the opposite light-incident surface.
5. The light guide plate of claim 1, wherein the first angle is greater than the second angle.
6. The light guide plate of claim 1, wherein light-adjusting structures are continuously or non-continuously arranged along the striped structures.
7. The light guide plate of claim 1, wherein each of the striped structures is a convex structure or a concave structure.
8. The light guide plate of claim 1, wherein the optical surface is a light-emitting surface or a reflecting surface.
9. The light guide plate of claim 1, wherein light guide plate, the striped structures are continuously arranged or non-continuously arranged.
10. The light guide plate of claim 1, wherein a width of each of the striped structures becomes gradually greater from one end of each of the striped structures near the light-incident surface to the other end of each of the striped structures away from the light-incident surface.
11. A backlight module, comprising:
- a light guide plate as claimed in claim 1; and
- a light source disposed adjacent to the light-incident surface of the light guide plate;
- wherein the light guide plate is collocated with at least one film;
- wherein the first microstructures and the second microstructures are disposed on the same plane of the light guide plate and are on a separate plane than of the at least one film.
12. A light guide plate, comprising:
- a main body comprising a light-incident surface and two optical surfaces which are connected to the light-incident surface;
- a plurality of striped structures disposed one of the optical surfaces; and
- a plurality of light-adjusting structures disposed between the striped structures and are arranged along a first direction which is vertical to the light-incident surface, wherein each of the light-adjusting structures has a first light active surface and a second light active surface connected to the first light active surface;
- wherein the first light active surface and the second light active surface of each of the light-adjusting structures are arranged along the first direction and are connected to each other to form a connecting line, each of the first light active surfaces and the second light active surfaces has a side edge which is not parallel to the connecting line, and the side edges of the first light active surface and the second light active surface of the each of the light-adjusting structures are connected to surfaces of the adjacent striped structures.
13. The light guide plate of claim 12, the light guide plate further comprises a plurality of optical structures disposed on the other one of the optical surface, wherein the optical structures are arranged along a second direction which is parallel to the light-incident surface, and an arrangement direction of the optical structures are vertical to the arrangement direction of the light-adjusting structures.
14. The light guide plate of claim 13, wherein each of the optical structures has a first connecting surface and a second connecting surface connected to the first connecting surface, the first connecting surface and the second connecting surface of each of the optical structures are arranged along the second direction and are connected to each other to form a ridgeline wherein the ridgeline of each of the optical structures is vertical to the connecting line of each of the light-adjusting structures.
15. The light guide plate of claim 12, wherein an extending direction of each of the striped structures is vertical to an extending direction of the light-incident surface.
16. The light guide plate of claim 12, wherein
- the main body has an opposite light-incident surface which is opposite to the light-incident surface; and
- one end of each of the striped structures is connected to the light-incident surface, and the other end of each of the striped structures is connected to the opposite light-incident surface.
17. The light guide plate of claim 12, wherein light-adjusting structures are continuously or non-continuously arranged along the striped structures.
18. The light guide plate of claim 12, wherein each of the striped structures is a convex structure or a concave structure.
19. The light guide plate of claim 12, wherein the optical surface is a light-emitting surface or a reflecting surface.
20. The light guide plate of claim 12, wherein light guide plate, the striped structures are continuously arranged or non-continuously arranged.
21. The light guide plate of claim 12, wherein a width of each of the striped structures becomes gradually greater from one end of each of the striped structures near the light-incident surface to the other end of each of the striped structures away from the light-incident surface.
22. A backlight module, comprising:
- a light guide plate as claimed in claim 12; and
- a light source disposed adjacent to the light-incident surface of the light guide plate;
- wherein the light guide plate is collocated with at least one film;
- wherein the first microstructures and the second microstructures are disposed on the same plane of the light guide plate and are on a separate plane than of the at least one film.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 8, 2019
Publication Date: Nov 28, 2019
Inventors: Chia-Yin CHANG (KAOHSIUNG), Po-Chang HUANG (KAOHSIUNG), Chih-Chiang CHANG (KAOHSIUNG), Shan-Fu CHANG (KAOHSIUNG), Shin-Bo LIN (KAOHSIUNG)
Application Number: 16/535,098