Light Guide Film

Clad Flat Fiber^TM 

Our Proprietary Light Guide Film Technology

Light guide films typically have a thickness of 0.05” or more, and are made from polymers such as acrylic or polycarbonate. Side view LED’s are attached to the edge of the film. Cutouts can be made in the film to place side view LEDs at the appropriate location. Several technologies exist to extract the light through optical features including laser microdots, half-tone printed inks, and mechanically pressed shapes.

The light rays from the side view LED travel through the film and are refracted upwards towards the surface of the overlay once it hits these optical features, producing an illumination effect. Uniformity of this effect can be controlled through patterns and materials. A back reflector is utilized to further capture any light that is transmitted downward from the light emitting surface. Opaque materials can be utilized to block light in undesired areas.

Our patented Clad Flat Fiber™ (CFF) technology utilizes a tri-extruded film in thicknesses of 0.2mm, 0.3mm or 0.45mm. The core material is acrylic or polycarbonate, and the tri-layer construction adds significant value. The cladding layers provide total internal reflection through the core until we modify it per your needs. The CFF technology allows for a printed back reflector to lower total thickness and improve ease of assembly.

Lumitex can additionally integrate printed circuits onto CFF to eliminate the need for a separate electronics. We engineer a project specific optical design to optimize both light intensity and appearance. As part of the Lumitex Value Added System (L-VAS) we can specify the LED locations, design the electronics, and provide a complete light guide assembly including diffusion layers and brightness enhancing films.

Our Light Guide Film Technology is well suited for the following applications:

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