Appeal No. 2004-1069 Page 9
Application No. 09/569,616
opposite the entry surface 74, can be coated with a light reflecting material to reflect
light back towards the entry surface 74. The length of the first beam expanding light
pipe 14 (i.e., the distance between the entry surface 16 and the end surface 18, as
shown in Figure 1) and the second beam expanding light pipe 70 (i.e., the distance
between the entry surface 74 and the end surface 79) are each determined so that the
planar beam exiting the second beam expanding light pipe 70 has desired dimensions.
The light expanding system 200 shown in Figure 7 includes a beam collector 28'
and beam expanding light pipe 14' (first beam expanding light pipe), as described
above with respect to Figure 4, and a second beam expanding light pipe 70'. The
second beam expanding light pipe 70' is similar to the second beam expanding light
pipe 70 described above with respect to Figure 6, differing only in the orientation with
respect to the first beam expanding light pipe 14' (first beam expanding light pipe 14 in
Figure 6). Light exiting the second beam expanding light pipe 70' is directed up in the
plane of Figure 7, while light exiting the second beam expanding light pipe 70 is
directed down in the plane of Figure 6. In the light expanding system 200, a thin layer
of laminating adhesive 71 is used to attach the emission surface 22' of the first beam
expanding light pipe 14' to the entry surface 74' of the first beam expanding light pipe
70'. The prismatic diffuser shown in Figure 5A can also be placed on top of the beam
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Last modified: November 3, 2007