Linear lighting device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10901131-B2
Application number	US-202016775655-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 29, 2020
Priority date	Jan 29, 2019
Publication date	Jan 26, 2021
Grant date	Jan 26, 2021

Abstract

A luminous glazing is provided that includes a pane and a light guide. The pane has two opposite faces and is transparent in the visible spectrum. The light guide has a core surrounded by a cladding so that the core is capable of guiding light along the longitudinal extension of the light guide. The light guide includes a light scattering element so that when light is injected into one of the end faces if the light guide, the light guide is a side-emitting light guide and forms a linear light source. The light guide extends along the faces and is disposed on one face such that the light scattering area is spaced apart from the face and so that light guided in the core, scattered, and laterally exiting from the light guide enters the transparent pane through the face and is be transmitted through the pane to the opposite face.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A luminous glazing, comprising:
a pane transparent in a visible spectral range and having two opposite surfaces; and
an elongated light guide having a first end face, a second end face, and a longitudinal extension therebetween, the elongated light guide comprising a core surrounded by a cladding, the core having a higher refractive index than the cladding so that the core is capable of guiding light along the longitudinal extension,
the elongated light guide includes a scattering element so that light guided in the core is scattered out in distributed manner along the longitudinal extent in a light scattering area so that when light is injected into one of the first and second end faces the elongated light guide functions as a side-emitting light guide and forms a linear light source, and
the elongated light guide extends along and is disposed on a surface of the two opposite surfaces such that the light scattering area is spaced apart from the surface and so that light guided in the core, scattered by the light scattering element, and laterally exiting from the elongated light guide enters the pane through the surface and can be transmitted through the pane to an opposite surface of the two opposite surfaces.

2. The glazing of claim 1 , wherein the elongated light guide has a feature selected from a group consisting of: an inner core extending within the core along the longitudinal extension, a glass inner core extending within the core along the longitudinal extension, a plurality of the scattering element, a plurality of the scattering element that comprise pores, a plurality of the scattering element that comprise crystallites, a plurality of the scattering element that comprise particles, a plurality of the scattering element that comprise phase-separated zones, and combinations thereof.

3. The glazing of claim 1 , further comprising a feature selected from a group consisting of: a transparent adhesive bonding the elongated light guide to the surface so that light emitted laterally from the elongated light guide is directed through the transparent adhesive to the surface, a transparent optical coupling medium provided between the elongated light guide and the surface of the pane, which establishes a releasable connection between pane the and the elongated light guide, the elongated light guide having a non-circular cross section, the elongated light guide having a polygonal cross section, the elongated light guide having a truncated ellipsoidal cross section, the elongated light guide having a truncated parabolic cross section, the elongated light guide having a flattened cladding section defining a contact surface of the elongated light guide on the surface of the pane, the elongated light guide having a diameter ranging from 200 μm to 3 mm, a ratio between a diameter of the elongated light guide and a thickness of the pane in a range from 0.01 to 5, a ratio between a diameter of the elongated light guide and a thickness of the pane in a range from 0.02 to 2.5, the pane having a thickness from 1 mm to 20 mm, the pane having a thickness from 2.5 mm to 8 mm, the light scattering area being a distance from the surface in a range from 100 micrometers to 3 millimeters, the cladding having a reflective coating that is configured to influence spatial light distribution, the elongated light guide extending on the surface along a line that is curved at least in sections thereof, the elongated light guide being coupled to the surface such that a ratio between luminous flux directly emanating from the elongated light guide and radiated by the glazing without total internal reflection within the pane and luminous flux emitted from the pane remote of the elongated light guide after total internal reflection is in a range from 0.01 to 500, the elongated light guide being coupled to the surface such that a ratio between luminous flux directly emanating from the elongated light guide and radiated by the glazing without total internal reflection within the pane and luminous flux emitted from the pane remote of the elongated light guide after total internal reflection is in a range from 0.3 to 10, an intensity of the light exiting from the pane at a distance from the elongated light guide that decays by a factor of 1/e within a distance of at most 50 times the diameter of the elongated light guide, and combinations thereof.

4. The glazing of claim 1 , wherein the elongated light guide is optically coupled to the surface such that a part of the light emitted laterally from the elongated light guide enters the pane and is guided in the pane through total internal reflection.

5. The glazing of claim 1 , wherein the pane has light output elements that either cause light guided in the pane by total internal reflection to exit from the pane or are excited by the elongated light guided in the pane to emit light by fluorescence or phosphorescence.

6. The glazing of claim 1 , further comprising a semiconductor light emitter coupled to the elongated light guide.

7. The glazing of claim 1 , wherein the pane has a curvature and the elongated light guide is disposed thereon so as to follow the curvature.

8. The glazing of claim 7 , wherein the curvature of the pane has a first radius and the elongated light guide has a second radius, wherein the first radius is at least 500 times larger than the second radius.

9. The glazing of claim 1 , wherein the elongated light guide is arranged on the surface at a distance from an edge of the pane.

10. The glazing of claim 1 , wherein the elongated light guide is a single optical fiber or a fiber bundle comprising a plurality of side-emitting optical fibers.

11. The glazing of claim 1 , further comprising a light blocking element arranged on the opposite surface, the light blocking element partially blocking light transmitted from the elongated light guide through the pane from exiting through the opposite surface.

12. The glazing of claim 11 , wherein the light blocking element is a light deflecting element that redirects incident light back into the pane.

13. The glazing of claim 1 , wherein the elongated light guide is arranged in such a way or optically coupled to the pane in such a way that emitted light has a direction obliquely relative to a normal of the surface.

14. The glazing of claim 1 , further comprising a profiled holder connected to the pane, the profiled holder holding the elongated light guide in contact to or at a distance from the surface.

15. The glazing of claim 1 , wherein the pane has an edge that is light-reflective so that light guided within the pane through total internal reflection and incident on the edge is reflected back into the pane.

16. The glazing of claim 1 , wherein one of the two opposite surfaces has a groove in which the elongated light guide is disposed.

17. The glazing of claim 1 , wherein the pane is sized and configured to a use selected from a group consisting of an external glazing, a vehicle glazing, a roof glazing of a vehicle, and a building glazing.

18. A method for producing a luminous glazing, comprising:
providing a pane that is transparent in the visible spectral range and has two opposite faces;
providing an elongated light guide that is capable of guiding light along a longitudinal extension of the elongated light guide, the elongated light guide including a light scattering element that causes light guided in the core to be scattered out in a distributed manner along the longitudinal extension in a light scattering area so that when light is injected into end faces of the elongat

Assignees

• Schott Ag

Inventors

• Schabacker Stephan
• Woelfing Bernd
• Senner Eric

Classifications

• G02B6/0065

  Manufacturing aspects; Material aspects · CPC title

• B60J1/00

  Windows; Windscreens; Accessories therefor (B60J10/00 takes precedence; air curtains instead of windows B60J9/04 {; sealing strips for windshields B60J10/70; sealing sash guides for sliding window panes B60J10/74; glass partitions inside vehicles to protect occupants against personal attack B60R21/12}) · CPC title

• G02B6/001 Primary

  the light being emitted along at least a portion of the lateral surface of the fibre · CPC title

• G02B6/0055

  Reflecting element, sheet or layer · CPC title

• G02B6/0036

  2-D arrangement of prisms, protrusions, indentations or roughened surfaces · CPC title