Light source module and light guide plate

This application claims the priority benefit of China application serial no. 201921516282.5, filed on Sep. 12, 2019. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.

The invention relates to a light source module and a light guide plate, and more particularly, to a light source module and a light guide plate having a plurality of optical microstructures.

With the advancement of lighting technology, besides lamps generally for providing a lighting function, decorative lighting panels for providing a decorative effect have been developed. In such a decorative lighting panel, optical microstructures are formed on a back surface of a light guide plate, and a position of each optical microstructure and an angle of a reflective surface are configured according to an effect needing to be presented by the decorative lighting panel. After being incident from a side surface (light incident surface) of the light guide plate, light emitted by a light source may be reflected via the optical microstructures, transmitted to a front surface (light emitting surface) of the light guide plate and emitted therefrom, so that a user may view static or dynamic patterns and texts composed of light from the front surface of the light guide plate. However, after the light emitted by the light source is reflected in the light guide plate, only a small part of the light passes through the light emitting surface and is projected straight ahead of the light guide plate, that is, light utilization efficiency is not good. In addition, as the effect to be presented by the decorative lighting panel is more complex, more optical microstructures need to be disposed, which increases the difficulty and cost of a manufacturing process for the light guide plate.

The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the described technology and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art. Further, the information disclosed in the Background section does not mean that one or more problems to be resolved by one or more embodiments of the invention was acknowledged by a person of ordinary skill in the art.

The invention provides a light source module and a light guide plate, which improve light utilization efficiency and reduce the difficulty and cost of a manufacturing process.

Other objectives and advantages of the invention may be further understood from the technical features disclosed in the invention.

In order to achieve one or a part or all of the above objectives or other objectives, the embodiments of the invention provide a light source module including a light guide plate and a plurality of light emitting elements. The light guide plate includes a main plate body and a plurality of optical microstructures. The main plate body has a light emitting surface and a back surface opposite to each other, and has a light incident surface connected between the light emitting surface and the back surface. The optical microstructures are formed on the back surface. Each of the optical microstructures includes at least two sections connected to each other, each section having a reflective surface. The light emitting elements are disposed on the light incident surface, and light emitted by each of the light emitting elements is reflected by at least some of the reflective surfaces and transmitted to the light emitting surface. In any one of the optical microstructures, the reflective surfaces are not parallel to each other.

In order to achieve one or a part or all of the above objectives or other objectives, the embodiments of the invention provide a light source module including a light guide plate and a plurality of light emitting elements. The light guide plate includes a main plate body and a plurality of optical microstructures. The main plate body has a light emitting surface and a back surface opposite to each other, and has a light incident surface connected between the light emitting surface and the back surface. The optical microstructures are formed on the back surface. Each of the optical microstructures includes at least two sections connected to each other, each section having a reflective surface. The light emitting elements are disposed on the light incident surface, and light emitted by each of the light emitting elements is reflected by at least some of the reflective surfaces and transmitted to the light emitting surface. In any one of the optical microstructures, the light emitted by at least some of the light emitting elements is reflected by the reflective surfaces respectively and transmitted along a same light emission direction.

In order to achieve one or a part or all of the above objectives or other objectives, the embodiments of the invention provide a light guide plate which is applicable to a light source module including a plurality of light emitting elements. The light guide plate includes a main plate body and a plurality of optical microstructures. The main plate body has a light emitting surface and a back surface opposite to each other, and has a light incident surface connected between the light emitting surface and the back surface. The optical microstructures are formed on the back surface. Each of the optical microstructures includes at least two sections connected to each other, each section having a reflective surface. In any one of the optical microstructures, the reflective surfaces are not parallel to each other, and are configured to reflect light emitted by at least some of the light emitting elements respectively to transmit the light to the light emitting surface.

In order to achieve one or a part or all of the above objectives or other objectives, the embodiments of the invention provide a light guide plate which is applicable to a light source module including a plurality of light emitting elements. The light guide plate includes a main plate body and a plurality of optical microstructures. The main plate body has a light emitting surface and a back surface opposite to each other, and has a light incident surface connected between the light emitting surface and the back surface. The optical microstructures are formed on the back surface. Each of the optical microstructures includes at least two sections connected to each other. Each of the sections includes a reflective surface. The light emitting elements are disposed on the light incident surface. Light emitted by each of the light emitting elements is reflected by at least some of the reflective surfaces and transmitted to the light emitting surface. In any one of the optical microstructures, the reflective surfaces are configured to reflect the light emitted by at least some of the light emitting elements respectively to transmit the light along a same light emission direction.

Based on the above, the embodiments of the invention have at least one of the following advantages or effects. In the light guide plate of the invention, each optical microstructure has at least two reflective surfaces not parallel to each other, so that the at least two reflective surfaces may be used to respectively reflect a plurality of light rays from different light emitting elements, which may be effectively emitted after being reflected by a single optical microstructure, thereby improving the light utilization efficiency. In addition, if at least two different reflective surfaces are disposed on a single optical microstructure as described above, a sufficient number of reflective surfaces may be provided by a small number of optical microstructures, thereby simplifying a manufacturing process.

Other objectives, features and advantages of the present invention will be further understood from the further technological features disclosed by the embodiments of the present invention wherein there are shown and described preferred embodiments of this invention, simply by way of illustration of modes best suited to carry out the invention.

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic rear view of a light source module according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the light source module of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 illustrates a single optical microstructure of a light guide plate of FIG. 1 in a region A.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the optical microstructure of FIG. 3 along a line I-I.

FIG. 5 illustrates a single optical microstructure of a light guide plate according to another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a single optical microstructure of a light guide plate according to another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates a single optical microstructure of a light guide plate according to another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic rear view of a light source module according to another embodiment of the invention.

In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. In this regard, directional terminology, such as “top,” “bottom,” “front,” “back,” etc., is used with reference to the orientation of the Figure(s) being described. The components of the present invention can be positioned in a number of different orientations. As such, the directional terminology is used for purposes of illustration and is in no way limiting. On the other hand, the drawings are only schematic and the sizes of components may be exaggerated for clarity. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Unless limited otherwise, the terms “connected,” “coupled,” and “mounted” and variations thereof herein are used broadly and encompass direct and indirect connections, couplings, and mountings. Similarly, the terms “facing,” “faces” and variations thereof herein are used broadly and encompass direct and indirect facing, and “adjacent to” and variations thereof herein are used broadly and encompass directly and indirectly “adjacent to”. Therefore, the description of “A” component facing “B” component herein may contain the situations that “A” component directly faces “B” component or one or more additional components are between “A” component and “B” component. Also, the description of “A” component “adjacent to” “B” component herein may contain the situations that “A” component is directly “adjacent to” “B” component or one or more additional components are between “A” component and “B” component. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

FIG. 1 is a schematic rear view of a light source module according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the light source module of FIG. 1 . Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , a light source module 100 of the present embodiment is, for example, a decorative lighting panel and includes a light guide plate 110 and a plurality of light emitting elements 120 . A main plate body 112 of the light guide plate 110 has a light emitting surface 112 a and a back surface 112 b opposite to each other, and has a light incident surface 112 c connected between the light emitting surface 112 a and the back surface 112 b . The light emitting elements 120 are, for example, light emitting diode elements, and are disposed on the light incident surface 112 c of the main plate body 112 . Light emitted by each of the light emitting elements 120 enters the main plate body 112 from the light incident surface 112 c and is reflected in the main plate body 112 and projected from the light emitting surface 112 a , so that a user may view a static or dynamic pattern and text composed of light from the light emitting surface 112 a.

FIG. 3 illustrates a single optical microstructure of the light guide plate of FIG. 1 in a region A. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the optical microstructure of FIG. 3 along a line I-I. Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 , in detail, the light guide plate 110 includes a plurality of optical microstructures 114 ( FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 illustrate one optical microstructure 114 ). The optical microstructures 114 are formed on the back surface 112 b of the main plate body 112 . Each of the optical microstructures 114 includes, as shown in FIG. 3 , at least two sections 114 a connected to each other, each section 114 a having a reflective surface 114 a 1 . Light emitted by each of the light emitting elements 120 (two light rays L and L′ emitted by two light emitting elements 120 , illustrated in FIG. 1 ) is reflected by at least some of the reflective surfaces 114 a 1 and transmitted to the light emitting surface 112 a.

In any one of the optical microstructures 114 , two adjacent sections 114 a are relatively bent such that the reflective surfaces 114 a 1 are not parallel to each other, as shown in FIG. 3 . Thus, the at least two reflective surfaces 114 a 1 may be used to respectively reflect a plurality of light rays (light rays L and L′ as shown in FIG. 1 ) from different light emitting elements 120 , which may be effectively emitted after being reflected by the plurality of reflective surfaces 114 a 1 of a single optical microstructure 114 and transmitted along a same light emission direction D, thereby improving light utilization efficiency. By forming each of the reflective surfaces 114 a 1 to have an appropriate tilt angle, the light emission direction D may be controlled to, for example, be perpendicular to the light emitting surface 112 a of the light guide plate 110 , so that the user located straight ahead of the light emitting surface 112 a may clearly view a static or dynamic pattern and text composed of the light rays. In addition, if at least two different reflective surfaces 114 a 1 are disposed on the single optical microstructure 114 as described above, a sufficient number of reflective surfaces 114 a 1 may be provided by a small number of optical microstructures 114 , thereby simplifying a manufacturing process and increasing transparency of the light guide plate 110 .

Referring to FIG. 4 , in the present embodiment, an angle θ 1 between each of the reflective surfaces 114 a 1 and the back surface 112 b is, for example, between 25 degrees and 65 degrees. In addition, an angle θ 2 between a normal N 1 of each of the reflective surfaces 114 a 1 and a normal N 2 of the light incident surface 112 c is, for example, less than 90 degrees. In other embodiments, the angle θ 1 and the angle θ 2 may be of other suitable sizes than those illustrated in FIG. 4 , and are not limited by the invention.

The invention does not limit the number of sections of each optical microstructure and a connection manner therebetween, which will be exemplified below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 5 illustrates a single optical microstructure of a light guide plate according to another embodiment of the invention. The embodiment of FIG. 5 differs from the embodiment of FIG. 3 in that the optical microstructure 114 of FIG. 5 includes three sections 114 a connected sequentially. In other embodiments, the optical microstructures 114 may include a greater number of sections 114 a according to design needs.

FIG. 6 illustrates a single optical microstructure of a light guide plate according to another embodiment of the invention. The embodiment of FIG. 6 differs from the embodiment of FIG. 5 in that the optical microstructure 114 includes a first section 114 a ′, a second section 114 a ″ and a third section 114 a ′″, wherein the first section 114 a ′ and the second section 114 a ″ are connected to a same end of the third section 114 a ′″ to constitute a Y-shaped structure. In other embodiments, the optical microstructure may include a greater number of sections to constitute a structure of, for example, an asterisk (*) shape or other shapes.

FIG. 7 illustrates a single optical microstructure of a light guide plate according to another embodiment of the invention. The embodiment of FIG. 7 differs from the embodiment of FIG. 5 in that the optical microstructure 114 includes a first section 114 a ′, a second section 114 a ″ and a third section 114 a ′″, where a relative bending direction of the first section 114 a ′ and the second section 114 a ″ is opposite to a relative bending direction of the second section 114 a ″ and the third section 114 a ′″ to constitute a zigzag structure.

The above optical microstructures 114 may be configured to generate a mosaic effect in addition to reflecting light from the light emitting elements 120 to generate a corresponding pattern or text, which will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 8 is a schematic rear view of a light source module according to another embodiment of the invention. A light source module 100 ′ shown in FIG. 8 differs from the light source module 100 shown in FIG. 1 in that a light incident surface 112 b of a main plate body 112 ′ of the light guide plate 110 of FIG. 8 is divided into a plurality of blocks B, the orientation of a reflective surface of an optical microstructure in each block B is different from the orientation of a reflective surface of an optical microstructure in another block B adjacent thereto, and a mosaic visual effect may be generated by controlling a light emitting sequence of each light emitting element 120 or by different view angles of a user.

Based on the foregoing, the embodiments of the invention have at least one of the following advantages or effects. In the light guide plate of the invention, each optical microstructure has at least two reflective surfaces not parallel to each other, so that the at least two reflective surfaces may be used to respectively reflect a plurality of light rays from different light emitting elements, which may be effectively emitted after being reflected by a single optical microstructure, thereby improving the light utilization efficiency. In addition, if at least two different reflective surfaces are disposed on the single optical microstructure as described above, a sufficient number of reflective surfaces may be provided by a small number of optical microstructures, thereby achieving simplifying a manufacturing process and increasing the transparency of the light guide plate.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form or to exemplary embodiments disclosed. Accordingly, the foregoing description should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. Obviously, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in this art. The embodiments are chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its best mode practical application, thereby to enable persons skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use or implementation contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents in which all terms are meant in their broadest reasonable sense unless otherwise indicated. Therefore, the term “the invention”, “the present invention” or the like does not necessarily limit the claim scope to a specific embodiment, and the reference to particularly preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention does not imply a limitation on the invention, and no such limitation is to be inferred. The invention is limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims. The abstract of the disclosure is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract, which will allow a searcher to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure of any patent issued from this disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Any advantages and benefits described may not apply to all embodiments of the invention. It should be appreciated that variations may be made in the embodiments described by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims. Moreover, no element and component in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element or component is explicitly recited in the following claims.