Invalidity dossier
US 3070913
Edge-lighted panel
Current assignee: MILLER DIAL AND NAME PLATE CO
Added 9/23/2026, 2:48:10 PM
Active provider: DeepSeek · deepseek-flash
Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview — US 3,070,913 ("Edge-lighted panel")
Bibliographic data (from the supplied text): Inventor John D. Miller; original assignee and current assignee listed as Miller Dial and Name Plate Co.; application no. US611891A; priority/filing date 1956-09-25; publication (grant) date 1963-01-01; legal status "Expired – Lifetime," with anticipated expiration listed as 1980-01-01. Classifications include B60Q3/14 (vehicle dashboard lighting through the surface to be illuminated), H01R33/05/33/18 (two-pole lamp couplings), and Y10S116/36 (illuminated dial and pointer).
Purpose (from the description): To provide an edge-lighted panel in which light from a bulb is introduced into a transparent thermoplastic light-transmitting sheet (e.g., methyl methacrylate — Plexiglas or Lucite) so that the light rays entering "at all angles" illuminate lettering formed in an overlying opaque sheet, producing readable indicia such as dial faces or name plates.
Plain-language scope (from the description, not claims): A central light-transmitting sheet (10) carries thin white translucent plastic sheets (12) on either side, to which electrically conductive sheets (14) — preferably aluminum, anodized non-conductive where current flow is not wanted, dyed or painted black for daytime contrast — are affixed. Letters (18) are made by engraving, etching, embossing, or grinding through the metal/plastic combination. The conductive sheets themselves serve as conductors: terminals (22, 24) with conductive washers contact them, and a bulb (34) sits in a threaded non-conductive light-transmitting plastic tube (32) within a bore, held by a conductive spring (36) and conductive cap (38), completing a circuit through the plates. In the FIG. 4–5 modification, the rear sheet is split into electrically isolated areas (44, 46) with a contact post (48), using only one side to carry current. In FIGS. 6–7, the invention is embodied in an insert (100) mountable in a cutout (101) of a lightweight panel and optionally carrying an instrument dial or meter. The cap may be colored to blend with the panel.
Limits of the excerpt: The supplied text does not include the numbered patent claims (only "prior art keywords" such as panel, sheet, light, edge, bulb appear), so the exact claim scope and claim language cannot be stated. It also omits most of the drawings and the balance of the description following the FIGS. 6–7 discussion ("as heretofore set f…").
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US3070913/en (fetched 2026-09-23).
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:51:58 PM
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Litigation summary
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Proceedings on file (0)
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PTAB challenges
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Assignment history
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Prior art
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Obviousness
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Extensions
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Derivative works
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