Illuminating glazing unit with through-hole for light injection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11331885-B2
Application number	US-201816499585-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 30, 2018
Priority date	Mar 31, 2017
Publication date	May 17, 2022
Grant date	May 17, 2022

Abstract

An illuminating glazing unit includes a first transparent sheet of glass drilled with a through-hole delimited by an internal wall; at least one inorganic light-emitting diode including an emission surface emitting light in a main direction of emission substantially orthogonal to the emission surface; and a light guide element including an input face arranged facing the emission surface, a body and an output face arranged facing the internal wall, the light-emitting diode having an emission cone of at least 80°.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An illuminating glazing unit comprising:
a first transparent sheet of glass or plastic drilled with a through-hole delimited by an internal wall,
a plurality of inorganic light-emitting diodes each comprising an emission surface for emitting light in a main direction of emission substantially orthogonal to the emission surface, and
a light guide element having an outer periphery and comprising an input face arranged facing the emission surface, a body and an output face arranged facing the internal wall,
wherein the light guide element extends along the internal wall of the through-hole and is common to said plurality of inorganic light-emitting diodes such that the input face of the light guide element receives light emitted by each of said plurality of inorganic light-emitting diodes,
wherein the input face and the ouput face of the light guide element each form at least part of the outer periphery of the light guide element.

2. The glazing unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the input face is spaced away from the emission surface, or is in optical contact via an adhesive with the emission surface or is in physical contact, and/or the output face is spaced away from the internal wall or is in optical contact via an adhesive or is in physical contact.

3. The glazing unit as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the output face is in optical contact via an adhesive with the internal wall.

4. The glazing unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the body is housed in the through-hole, the input face being a non-planar surface, and/or the output face being a non-planar surface.

5. The glazing unit as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the non-planar input face is equipped with a light redirection system belonging to the following list: a Fresnel lens, a convex lens, a grating, an array of convex micro lenses and a collimation system, the redirection system forming an integral part of the body of the light guide element, or the redirection system being attached to the body of the light guide element by optical bonding.

6. The glazing unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the input face faces the through-hole or is even in the through-hole.

7. The glazing unit as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a second sheet of glass and a lamination interlayer placed between the first sheet and the second sheet.

8. The glazing unit as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the lamination interlayer or the second sheet of glass forms a bottom for the through-hole, the body of the light guide element facing the bottom of the through-hole.

9. The glazing unit as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the body of the light guide element comprises a reflective external coating and is assembled in the bottom of the through-hole or assembled on an interior face of a cover closing the through-hole, the cover delimiting a cavity enveloping the through-hole.

10. The glazing unit as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the through-hole has a first characteristic dimension in a reference direction, the body of the light guide element being assembled on a mounting carrier that has a second characteristic dimension in the reference direction that is smaller than the first characteristic dimension, the mounting carrier being placed on the lamination interlayer or on the second sheet of glass.

11. The glazing unit as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the mounting carrier is reflective or is opaque and wherein, when the light guide element has a transparent free external wall, at least part of the body facing the mounting carrier is spaced away from the mounting carrier.

12. The glazing unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said light-emitting diodes are positioned facing the first sheet at the periphery of the through-hole.

13. The glazing unit as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a cover closing the through-hole, the cover delimiting a cavity enveloping the through-hole.

14. The glazing unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the light guide element is assembled with the first sheet by bonding at the interface between the internal wall of the through-hole and the output face of the light guide element using an optical adhesive.

15. The glazing unit as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a light extraction system for extraction of the light guided in the first sheet, the light extraction system being a diffusing layer facing or on one of the main faces of the first sheet or a texturing of one of the main faces of the first sheet, or alternatively diffusing elements in the first sheet.

16. The glazing unit as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a light extraction system for extraction of the light guided in the first sheet, the light extraction system being a diffusing layer facing or on one of the main faces of the first sheet or a texturing of one of the main faces of the first sheet, or alternatively diffusing elements in the first sheet.

17. The glazing unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the output face of the light guide element extends along an entire periphery of the internal wall of the through-hole.

18. The glazing unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the output face is a textured output face.

19. The glazing unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a height of the input face is greater than a height of the output face.

20. The glazing unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the through-hole has a closed cross section and has a curved shape, wherein the output face of the guide element follows an entire periphery of the through-hole.

21. The glazing unit as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said light-emitting diode has an emission cone of at least 80° .

22. An illuminating glazing unit comprising:
a first transparent sheet of glass or plastic drilled with a through-hole delimited by an internal wall,
a plurality of inorganic light-emitting diodes each comprising an emission surface for emitting light in a main direction of emission substantially orthogonal to the emission surface, and
a light guide element having an outer periphery and comprising an input face arranged facing the emission surface, a body and an output face arranged facing the internal wall,
wherein the output face of the light guide element faces and extends along the internal wall of the through-hole and is common to said plurality of inorganic light-emitting diodes such that light emitted by each of said plurality of inorganic light-emitting diodes is transmitted towards the internal wall via said output face of the light guide element, and

wherein the plurality of inorganic light-emitting diodes is arranged such that the emission surface of each of the plurality of inorganic light-emitting diodes is oriented to face the outer periphery of the light guide element and each of the plurality of inorganic light-emitting diodes emits light away from a nearest part of the internal wall, said light guide element being constructed to redirect said light toward the internal wall of the through-hole.

23. The glazing unit as claimed in claim 22 , wherein the output face of the light guide element extends along an entire periphery of the internal wall of the through-hole.

24. An illuminating glazing unit comprising:
a first transparent sheet of glass or plastic drilled with a through-hole delimited by a lateral internal wall,
an inorganic light-emitting diode comprising an emission surface for emitting light in a main direction of emission substantially orthogonal to the emission surface, the inorganic light-emitting dio

Assignees

• Saint Gobain

Inventors

• Hennion Alexandre
• Berard Mathieu

Classifications

• G02B6/0095

  Light guides as housings, housing portions, shelves, doors, tiles, windows, or the like · CPC title

• B32B17/10036 Primary

  comprising two outer glass sheets · CPC title

• B32B17/10541 Primary

  comprising a light source or a light guide · CPC title

• G02B6/0031

  Reflecting element, sheet or layer · CPC title

• G02B6/0021

  for housing at least a part of the light source, e.g. by forming holes or recesses · CPC title