Did You Know...
...that after Parker Brothers executives turned down the game of Monopoly because it had "52 fundamental errors" (including taking too long to play), a copy of the game wound up in the home of the company president who stayed up until 1 a.m. to finish playing it? He was so impressed by the game that the next day he wrote to inventor Charles Darrow and offered to buy it!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8052294 | Direct type back light unit for liquid crystal display device A back light unit for a liquid crystal display device for improving uniformity of the light and dispensing with optical sheets. The back light unit includes a light source having a holographic pattern formed on a surface thereof opposite the display device which is ... | 11/08/2011 |
| 8016442 | Illuminated indicating devices for instrument panels An illuminated indicating device includes a dial plate, a pointer, a first light source, a light guide and a light filter. The first light source emits a beam of light and the light guide diverts the beam of light into a first light to the pointer and a second light... | 09/13/2011 |
| 7753540 | Illuminable indicator and light engine therefor An illuminable indicator (40) has an opaque base (42); a cover (44) for the base (42), the cover (44) having a formed design (46) therein having a given circumference with an area (48) defined by the circumference, th... | 07/13/2010 |
| 7637623 | Flood lit cluster An example light guide assembly for illuminating a display of an instrument cluster includes a light receiving portion, a light propagating portion and a reflective surface between the light receiving portion and the light propagating portion. The light receiving po... | 12/29/2009 |
| 7628500 | Luminous keyboard A luminous keyboard includes a cap which has a bottom lid with a first light directing zone formed thereon. The cap also has a first light blocking surface on an outer surface corresponding to the first light directing zone. At least one luminous unit is provided to... | 12/08/2009 |
| 7566138 | Light guiding body and lighting apparatus having the same A light guiding body configured utilize light emitted by a light source for lighting and a lighting apparatus having the light guiding body are provided. The light guiding body has a base, lighting portions and leg portions. The base is formed by a light intake surf... | 07/28/2009 |
| 7517103 | Light correction member, light diffusion member, display member, and display using the same A display includes a display lightguide, on which a shape of a display character is formed in three dimensions, a light source, emitting a light toward the display lightguide, and a light collection portion, provided between the light source and the display lightgui... | 04/14/2009 |
| 7513632 | Direct-illumination backlight apparatus having transparent plate acting as light guide plate A direct-illumination backlight apparatus using LEDs includes a flat reflective plate, an LED light source, a transparent plate, a scattering pattern, and a light guide. The light guide serves to introduce a partial light from an LED light source at such an angle th... | 04/07/2009 |
| 7513631 | Lighting device A lighting device including an LED, which is located immediately below a first illumination window, for illuminating not only the first illumination window but also a second illumination window. The lighting device includes a light guide plate for transmitting light... | 04/07/2009 |
| 7478913 | Back-lit displays with high illumination uniformity A directly illuminated display unit has a display panel and one or more light sources disposed behind the display panel. A diffuser is disposed between the light source unit and the display panel and a light diverting layer is disposed between the one or more light ... | 01/20/2009 |
| 7455415 | Operation device A compact operation device that illuminates illumination windows with a simple structure and has a high level of design freedom. The operation device has an ornamental panel including operation portions and illumination windows. An elastomeric sheet below the orname... | 11/25/2008 |
| 7441913 | Lighting system for displays in vehicles A lighting system (10) for displays, in particular in motor vehicles, comprises: a support (12), at least one first lighting means (14) for punctiform illumination, which is disposed on the support (12), a second lighting means (16... | 10/28/2008 |
| 7431487 | Concatenated light pipe An illuminated assembly such as an illuminated electronic input control assembly adjusts to the shape of a receiving assembly. The illuminated assembly includes an illumination source module and an illuminated module. Advantageously, the illumination source module a... | 10/07/2008 |
| 7431475 | Radiator for light emitting unit, and backlight device The present invention provides a radiator for a light emitting unit, annexed to the light emitting unit including a multiplicity of light emitting diodes mounted on substantially the same axis line on a first principal surface of a wiring substrate. The radiator inc... | 10/07/2008 |
| 7427144 | Direct type backlight module A direct type backlight module (30) includes a base (21), at least two lamp-fixing units (22) and at least one lamp tube (20). Each lamp-fixing unit is disposed on each corresponding opposite ends of the base. Each lamp-fixing unit includ... | 09/23/2008 |
| 7407316 | LCD backlight system using light emitting diode chip A backlight system and an LCD employing the backlight system. The backlight system includes a plurality of light emitting devices arranged on a base plate to form a plurality of lines each including a plurality of light emitting devices, and a light guide panel havi... | 08/05/2008 |
| 7399098 | Illuminating apparatus for operating section The present invention is configured so that one light emission source such as a light emitting diode is placed inside an operation knob in front of a light guiding piece or in a bearing of the operation knob. A light beam from the light emission source is emitted to... | 07/15/2008 |
| 7380952 | Front panel apparatus for electric apparatus In a front panel apparatus for an electric apparatus including a volume knob partially exposed outward from an operating port opened at a front panel of a casing of a disk drive, and a light emitting diode for emitting light based on a starting signal of the disk dr... | 06/03/2008 |
| 7374323 | Self-illumination applique system and method The various embodiments of the present invention generally include a display device having a surface with indicia formed thereon. The indicia are indicative of at least one vehicle parameter. The display device includes a light guide connected to the surface and a l... | 05/20/2008 |
| 7364337 | Flexible backlight unit for key of input device Provided is a backlight unit for a key of an input device. The unit includes a light guide plate and at least one light emitting unit. The light guide plate is formed of flexible transparent resin and has a light guide pattern portion in which a plurality of engrave... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7365991 | Dual LED board layout for lighting systems Circuit boards for lighting systems have identical LED landing zones printed on the board. Each zone includes at least two sets of LED contact pads. One pad set is configured to mate with contacts of an LED of a first structural type, e.g. from a first product line ... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7360910 | Internally illuminated sign An illuminated sign, internally illuminated by a source such as one or more LED'S generally located at one end, and having a character panel with at least partially transmissive portions to define the characters of the sign. The character panel is curved so as to fa... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7355438 | Electronic circuit An electronic circuit for terminating a plurality of conductors at a node of a network, including means to detect current flowing through one of the conductors and means to switch between a continuing circuit, whereby continuity of the network is maintained, on dete... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7350932 | Pressed key structure with lighting module The present invention concerns to a press key structure with a light module in use of illuminant variation for arrow keys of an appliance. The press key structure with light module comprises a key base plate, a light source, a spread slice and a light guiding cap. T... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7350954 | Display apparatus An holder or support for a backlit component is disclosed which provides display lighting for the backlit component. The holder may be a one-piece holder and may be made from a polymeric material including one or more fluorescing materials and/or diffusing substance... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7349144 | Exterior electrochromic reflective mirror element for a vehicular rearview mirror assembly An exterior electrochromic reflective mirror element for a vehicular exterior rearview mirror assembly comprises an electrochromic cross-linked polymeric solid film disposed between a first substrate and a second substrate. The electrochromic cross-linked polymeric ... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7342707 | Indicators and illuminators using a semiconductor radiation emitter package A vehicle lamp assembly includes a housing and an LED lamp carried in the housing. A signal mirror includes a mirror and an LED lamp. The LED lamp includes a heat extraction member. ... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7340273 | Portable communication terminal with improved light emission structure A portable communication terminal includes a front case, a plurality of operation buttons, a rubber sheet, and a light-emitting diode. The front case has a plurality of openings. The plurality of operation buttons are placed in the respective openings to operate the... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7334925 | Lighted exterior rearview mirror system A lighted exterior rearview mirror system for a vehicle comprises an exterior rearview mirror assembly adapted for mounting to a side of a vehicle. The exterior mirror assembly includes a reflective element having a heater and a breakaway joint assembly having stati... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7331683 | Decorative article and vehicular lamp A decorative article capable of being used in combination with an article having a light source and of remarkably improving the decorative effect together with the light source. The decorative article is attached to an article having a light source, and comprises, a... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7332210 | Gradient dot pattern for reducing visible step lines on the face of an applique Various manufacturing techniques may be employed to construct an appliqué for use in an instrument cluster. In one commonly employed technique, an appliqué may be formed by applying different colored ink layers onto a surface of a polycarbonate sheet using a silk ... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7328290 | System and method of automatically switching control of a bus in a processor-based device A system and method of automatically switching control of a bus in a processor-based device is provided. In a server, control of a bus is automatically switched from a controller mounted on the system board to a controller located on an optional expansion card upon ... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7322712 | Bottom-lighting module The provided bottom-lighting module comprises a bezel, a protrusion and at least one lamp. The bezel has at least one aperture with a first circumference and a second circumference. The bezel comprises a main body and at least one inclined wall extending upward from... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7324080 | Backlighting in liquid crystal flat panel display Techniques for providing backlight techniques in liquid crystal flat panel displays are disclosed. According to one aspect of the techniques, the source to backlight a liquid crystal panel includes a plurality of light emitting diodes that are in at least three colo... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7320531 | Multi-colored LED array with improved brightness profile and color uniformity A backlight uses an array of red, green, and blue LEDs in a mixing chamber. The mixing chamber has reflecting surfaces and a top opening for illuminating LCD layers. A desired brightness profile and better color uniformity are obtained by using techniques including ... | 01/22/2008 |
| 7312927 | Head-up display A straw holder for supporting a drinking straw in the mouth of a bottle is presented. The holder includes a straw support portion dimensioned for placement across the mouth of a bottle. The straw support portion includes an aperture designed to receive a straw there... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7312719 | System and method for diagnosing breakdowns of a switch by using plural LEDs A system for diagnosing breakdowns of a switch by using plural light emitting diodes (LEDs) on a front panel (10) of the switch includes: plural port LEDs (31, 32, 33, 34, . . . 3n), a user interface (50) for generating an instruction to ... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7309138 | Backlight module and method of assembling the same A backlight module and method of assembling the same. At least one fitting structure is formed on each of the top surface and side surface of an exterior frame of the backlight, and a fitting member is provided for each fitting structure. A plurality of fitting stru... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7301523 | Liquid crystal display device In a liquid crystal display device including a liquid crystal display panel and a backlight, the present invention provides a detection-use pixel having the same constitution as respective pixels constituting a liquid crystal display part in the liquid crystal displ... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7294802 | Lighting and usability features for key structures and keypads on computing devices A keypad is provided for a computing device. The keypad includes one or more lighting devices or mechanisms for illuminating a plurality of keys structures. In an embodiment, the plurality of key structures are formed from a milky material. ... | 11/13/2007 |
