Did You Know...
...that when IBM conducted a market study of Chester Carlson's invention in 1959, the company concluded that it would take only 5000 units of his new product to saturate the market? IBM therefore declined to be part of the new product introduction. Too bad for IBM. Carlson's invention was the xerography process, and his new product was the beginning of the Xerox Corporation. It is estimated that every day, worldwide, 3,000,000,000 copies are made!!
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7926994 | Uniform light production system and apparatus A light production system and apparatus for adjusting the uniformity of light is provided. The apparatus comprises a light reducing portion, having an area less than that of an exit of an integrator, for reducing the brightness of a central area of light emitted fro... | 04/19/2011 |
| 7845838 | Light emitting diode lamp A light emitting diode (LED) lamp includes a lampshade, a light guide pole and a plurality of LEDs. The light guide pole is of light permeable material and received in the lampshade. A plurality of irregular elements is formed on an outer surface of the light guide ... | 12/07/2010 |
| 7708441 | Moving light spots in illumination fibers An electronic display includes a light source system and a light guide system, where the light guide system emits light features laterally, i.e., from the side, at selected positions along its length. The light source system includes one or more electronically contr... | 05/04/2010 |
| 7654715 | System and method for illuminating a specimen with uniform angular and spatial distribution A system for illuminating a specimen are disclosed herein. In general, the system may include an illumination source configured to generate light with an uneven distribution at a pupil plane and field stop of the system, a lightpipe coupled for redistributing the li... | 02/02/2010 |
| 7415176 | Method and device to improve backlight uniformity A hot spot filter for a light guide is created by taking an image of the light output pattern of an illiuminated light guide. The hot spot filter may be a film, a layer, or an additional liquid crystal display dedicated to attenuating bright spots from the light gui... | 08/19/2008 |
| 7350934 | Illuminated display system An illuminated display system is disclosed. The illuminated display system includes a circuit board with a front surface and a rear surface, and a plurality of light-passing holes. At least one light pipe is arranged on the rear surface of the circuit board. The at ... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7352510 | Light-pipe integrator for uniform irradiance and intensity Two integrating light pipes are optically coupled to a focusing element to produce light with uniform irradiance and intensity profiles. The first ILP stage is used to receive spatially non-uniform light from a single or multi-color source and produce a uniform irra... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7327408 | Illuminator that generates linearly polarized light for microdisplay based light engine A hollow sphere with a scattering (e.g., white diffusive) interior surface directs light input from at least one input light source to an exit. In one embodiment, an internal hot mirror and phosphor are positioned to intercept the input light on which visible light ... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7325930 | Image projection lighting device An improved image projection lighting device is disclosed. Commands received by a communications port of the base housing may be acted upon to change zoom and focus values of a zoom and focus lens. A cooling system may be provided which compares an input air tempera... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7284883 | Free-cavity, double-diffusing indirect lighting luminaire A lighting system and device for providing indirect light using free-cavity, double-diffusing configurations are disclosed. In accordance with the embodiments of the invention, a lighting fixture comprises a cover structure with a diffusion layer and a reflective pl... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7283230 | Semiconductor forensic light kit A semiconductor forensic light kit is disclosed. The forensic light kit may use a variety of semiconductor light sources to produce light that contrasts forensic evidence against its background for viewing, photographing and collection. Example semiconductor light s... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7280726 | Controlled-intensity multiple-frequency multiple-axis illumination of macroscopic specimens from a single light source using special bifurcated cables In one embodiment a macroscopically-sized specimen is illuminated with radiations of selectable multiple intensities and frequencies for viewing along a single viewing axis. A stage supports specimen to be observed. First and second illumination sources provide resp... | 10/09/2007 |
| 7273309 | Display device comprising a luminous element with an emission characteristic of controllable solid angle The invention relates to a display device including a luminous element and a light guide which has coupling locations and decoupling locations and transports a light signal that is emitted by the luminous element. The inventive luminous element has a radiation chara... | 09/25/2007 |
| 7267462 | Light bar defogger A lighting apparatus comprises a housing assembly, a light bulb socket and a forced air generation device. The housing assembly includes a light opening in a front wall thereof and an air delivery opening in a bottom wall thereof. The light bulb socket resides withi... | 09/11/2007 |
| 7258474 | Headlamp with beam patterns formed from semiconductor light sources Headlamp systems are provided that form desired beam patterns from light supplied by semiconductor light sources. The systems include a source array of semiconductor light sources and a lens system to produce the spread components of desired beam patterns and a sour... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7256385 | Display device with combined light guide An indicating instrument including a light guiding system having at least a first and second light guides, a sensor disposed at a first end of the first light guide and configured to receive incident ambient light that has traveled through the first light guide, a l... | 08/14/2007 |
| 7242313 | System for providing pathway indications through unlit areas An auxiliary lighting system contains at least one photoelectric cell to convert ambient light into energy and at least one light emitting diode. The photoelectric cell converts ambient light into energy which is stored in a storage cell. A switching system provides... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7223958 | Device for and method of driving an electro-optical device To provide an electro-optical device, such as a display or a printer head having a self-luminous element, in which a light-emitting state of a light-emitting element is detected. The electro-optical device comprises a plurality of pixel units arranged in a display r... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7201509 | Lighting unit with light source and optical waveguide The invention relates to a lighting unit with at least one light source and at least one optical waveguide following the light source, said waveguide having at least one light transmitting surface. To this end, the lighting unit has at least one reflector. In additi... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7198396 | Apparatus for providing light in a structure Described herein is an apparatus for providing light to a structure consisting of a plurality of fibers, each said optical fiber having an emitting end and a receiving end, the emitting ends of the optical fibers for mounting in the plurality of apertures in the str... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7198398 | Adjustable-aim light pipe fixture An adjustable-aim light pipe fixture, comprising a generally spherical eyeball for receiving an end of a light pipe is disclosed. The eyeball has a longitudinal axis coincident with a longitudinal axis of that portion of the light pipe that is received in the eyebal... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7195383 | Headlights for vehicles Headlight for motor vehicles, comprising at least one light source and at least one light guide associated with each light source, into which the light emitted by the light source can be coupled via a light coupling surface, wherein each light guide is associated wi... | 03/27/2007 |
| 7187866 | System for distributing information and energy using fiber optic and optical wireless networks Disclosed is a system for distributing information and photonic energy into at least one room of a building, comprising a lighting generator for generating visible light energy, an infrared (IR) heat generator for generating IR heat energy, and an optical fiber subs... | 03/06/2007 |
| 7182496 | Multiple LED focused lighting device A multiple LED based lighting device for commercial indoor or outdoor architectural applications is disclosed. The lighting device uses multiple LEDs which are arranged in a symmetrical array in order to combine their light output. The LEDs are supported in a fixed ... | 02/27/2007 |
| 7181855 | Methods and devices for enhancing intensity of on-surface lines cast by laser line projectors or the like Given a situation where a projected laser line appears to have terminated or faded as it intersects with a work-surface (e.g., a wall), a fan-out redirecting means is used to capture and redirect energy radiating above and parallel to, or radiating away from the giv... | 02/27/2007 |
| 7172326 | Optical filter system employing a tilted reflector An illumination system comprising a light source that emits light of a first sense and a second sense. The illumination system also comprises a collimator that collimates light from the light source along an optical axis and within a maximum angle with respect to th... | 02/06/2007 |
| 7168841 | Backlight module having independent light source A backlight module including an independent light source is provided. The backlight module includes a light generation device, a light transmission device, a light mixing device and a planar light generation device. The light generation device may include one or mor... | 01/30/2007 |
| 7167630 | Beam shaper and imaging head having beam shapers Beam shapers, imaging heads formed using such beam shapers and methods are provided that are adapted to shape a light beam for use in imaging. In accordance with one method described herein a light beam is received and the light beam is reflectively scrambled to for... | 01/23/2007 |
| 7164536 | Optically coupled toroidal lens:hemi-bead brightness enhancer for total internal reflection modulated image displays A brightness enhancing structure for a reflective display. A plurality of transparent hemi-beads form a film substantially covering and protruding inwardly from the structure's inward surface. A corresponding plurality of microstructured toroidal lenses are provided... | 01/16/2007 |
| 7160013 | Medical diagnostic device A medical diagnostic device with illumination, wherein the device is composed of a handle or the like in which the batteries are received and of a head which is placed on the handle. The switching transformer is arranged in a sleeve which is insertable into the hand... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7156542 | Vehicle headlight system having digital beam-forming optics A vehicle headlight system including a light source, digital beam forming optics optically coupled to the light source, and a memory storing a plurality of light illumination patterns. The memory is electrically coupled to the digital beam forming optics. The digita... | 01/02/2007 |
| 7144130 | Illumination device An illumination apparatus for illumination of light by emitting light from LED for each of RGB colors capable of optionally setting a color temperature and controlling the brightness after the setting while maintaining the color temperature as it is, in which a ligh... | 12/05/2006 |
| 7132662 | Flexible liquid-filled radiation detector scintillator A flexible scintillation-type level detector (10), in which the scintillator (18) is made from a flexible tube (12) substantially filled with a liquid scintillating material (16) to provide flexibility in at least two, and preferably thre... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7128866 | Rapid prototyping apparatus and method of rapid prototyping The invention relates to a rapid prototyping apparatus for the manufacturing of three dimensional objects by additive treatment of cross sections comprising a wholly or partially light-sensitive material, said apparatus comprising at least one light source for illum... | 10/31/2006 |
| 7128431 | Display device The invention relates to a display device, especially in a motor vehicle, comprising a display (2) which can be illuminated by a light source (1), and a light guide (7) which is arranged between the light source (1) and the display (2 | 10/31/2006 |
| 7123140 | Network for remote administration of street lighting inter alia and methods to carry out said administration A wireless network for remotely controlling at least one lamp includes a first radio transceiver associated with the at least one lamp and a second radio transceiver. The first radio transceiver further includes a circuit for controlling the at least one lamp as a f... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7121690 | Constructive occlusion with a transmissive component Constructive occlusion type lighting systems utilize a reflective mask to cover a portion of an active optical surface, typically a Lambertian surface formed by the aperture of a diffusely reflective cavity, in order to distribute radiant energy with a tailored inte... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7119337 | Infrared radiation sources, sensors and source combinations, and methods of manufacture A blackbody radiation device (110) includes a planar filament emission element (102) and a planar detector (104) for respectively producing and detecting radiation having width dl/1 less than about 0.1 to test a sample gas, where 1 is the wavele... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7113670 | Method and device to improve backlight uniformity A hot spot filter for a light guide is created by taking an image of the light output pattern of an illuminated light guide. The hot spot filter may be a film, a layer, or an additional liquid crystal display dedicated to attenuating bright spots from the light guid... | 09/26/2006 |
| 7108413 | Sampling for color control feedback using an optical cable Light is mixed within a mixing cavity. Light is transported from the mixing cavity, through an optical cable, to a color sensor. The transported light is sampled by the color sensor. Light color within the mixing cavity is controlled based on information from the tr... | 09/19/2006 |
