US 6011602

Patent Overview — US6011602A

Title: Lighting apparatus with a light guiding body having projections in the shape of a trapezoid

Patent number: US6011602A (application US08/860,631)

Original assignee: Seiko Epson Corp. Current assignee listed as BOE Technology Group Co Ltd (the source notes listed assignees may be inaccurate).

Inventors: Satoru Miyashita, Osamu Yokoyama, Tatsuaki Funamoto

Key dates:

• Prior art date / earliest priority: 1995-11-06
• Filing date: 1996-11-06
• Publication (grant): 2000-01-04
• Anticipated expiration: 2016-11-06; legal status listed as "Expired – Lifetime"

Purpose and plain-language scope (from the supplied text):
The patent concerns a lighting apparatus, i.e., a light-guiding body (a plate-like light guide) used to distribute light, typically in a liquid crystal display. The distinguishing feature named in the title is that the light-guiding body has projections shaped like a trapezoid.

The supplied classifications indicate the subject matter: liquid-crystal display construction and structural association with optical devices such as polarizers or reflectors (G02F1/1335); and planar/plate-like light guides with means for improving coupling-out of light, including linear indentations or grooves, prismatic sheets or brightness-enhancement layers, reflecting elements, and polarization effects (G02B6/0011, 6/0033, 6/0035, 6/0038, 6/005, 6/0053, 6/0055, 6/0056). Prior-art keywords listed include "light," "lighting apparatus," "output," "liquid crystal," and "crystal display."

In plain terms, the disclosure appears to cover a lighting apparatus in which light travels through a guiding body and is extracted via trapezoid-shaped projections, with the light output directed toward a liquid crystal display.

Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US6011602](/patent/US6011602)/en

What the excerpt does not establish:
The supplied text contains no claims, no abstract, no detailed description, no drawings, and no cited prior-art references. It therefore does not establish the specific claim language, the exact geometry or dimensions of the trapezoidal projections, the number or arrangement of components, or the technical advantage asserted. It also does not establish inventorship details beyond the three names listed, the basis for the 2016 reassignments, or the accuracy of the listed current assignee.